Yet another question re: staying offsite!

[jen54321]

Hi all,

Sorry if this question is repetitious. I did read through this forum but didn't see what I was looking for.

We are planning a family trip with 13 of us! Normally we stay on site when it is only the two of us but since this is such a big crowd we decided to go the villa rental route. We have never rented a villa so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to where we should stay?

Our priority list is as follows:
- Pool/hot tub not overlooked - with option to pay for hot tub heat
- Less than 15 minutes from Disney (is the 15 mins drive annoying?)
- decent price (that's subjective isn't it! but we do have to convert from CA$)
- has a BBQ (we love the flame!)
- games room (not that important)

Has anyone stayed in a villa that would match this description? Also, are there areas that should be avoided?

I have been searching villa direct and will probably fill out the quote form but wanted to know if anyone here had any suggestions first.

Thanks!
Jen

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Hello Jen,
Great list of questions and choices. I can suggest to you any of the neighborhoods that are off 192 Maingate area. You will probably need a 5 bed home because of the size of your party or 2 4 bed homes close to each other if you want to spread out some.

Some of the neighborhoods I can reccommend would be.
Indian Creek
Oak Island Cove
Emerald Island -Gated
Windsor Palms - Gated
Rolling Hills
I know I have missed some neighborhoods but These are a good starting point.
I can send you a map from Indian Creek the back way to the Disney Parks and that is 4 Miles to Disney so the drive to the parks is not bad at all!
What time of year are you planning on going that will effect the traffic getting to the parks.

"decent price (that's subjective isn't it! but we do have to convert from CA$)"
Most homeowners will quote you a price in USA dollard or GPB's, and will be very helpful with that part of it for you.
I think once you experience a great home you will be hooked on them!
Have a great time planing your trip and enjoy your trip!

 

[JANNYANS]

5 bed homes will sleep 12 and that is with either rollaway beds or using a sleeper sofa.For more comfort you need a 6 bed .

When you do an inquiry out your requests down so owners will know whether it is worth answering to avoid wasting your time .

All areas are good some are a little further out than others but when you figure you can spend a lot of time waiting for a bus to go from a park to your hotel does it really makes that much difference an extra 5 /10 mins?

Good luck in your search

 

[mbb]

 

[mbb]

Hi Jen

Karen and Jan gave you some great info

We planned a trip for extended family a few years ago, and our list was virtually identical to yours

I would start with your bedding arrangements in your General Inquiry...how many kings, queens, etc.

Keep in mind too, that lots of owners are UK based, and their king size beds are the equivalent to our queen.

I usually put USKing, USQueen in our GIs.
Do you require master suites? As in, the mstr beds have baths attached? Or are family bathrooms, ie, shared, ok?

For our large group, the same number of bathrooms as bedrooms was CRITICAL for one of our families. So that went to the top of the list....and really narrowed down the search parameters.

Our general list - for just our family of 4 and my parents- looks something like this:
4 beds
2 master suites
South/SW facing pool
Hot tub - stand alone, or attached with additional/independent heating capabilities to 104*
TV's cable in every bedroom
WIFI enabled
Gas barbeque
No leather furniture

I know, that's a little weird, just not something we enjoy.

We get lots of replies, and in particular, use these websites:
www.orlandovillas.com
www.onlinefloridavillas.com
www.villasflorida.com
www.lastminutevillas.net is good too
as is, www.fabvillas.com

Oh, and we don't find the drive from the Highway27 communities to be that bad at all. Staying within a mile or so of the 192 junction will keep you to the 15-20minute timeframe for driving.

Further down the 27, you can connect to the I4, easily


HTH!

 

[spiceycat]

here is a map

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa/map.htm

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We stay in our timeshare and don't rent villas, so I can't comment on any of those questions.

I can comment on whether the 15-minute ride being annoying. We don't find it to be at all. We can only compare it to waiting for busses at WDW and waiting for boats at USO, and I'll take a car any day over those options.

Leaving the parks in the afternoon, we use that ride to pick up anything we might need, too, like tonic water for cocktails, fresh milk or bread, maybe some better sunscreen from the drugstore. Whenever we stay onsite at either WDW or USO, we feel almost too secluded to head out to get some sundries. When you're driving right by Publix and Walgreens on your way back to the villa, it's just too easy to pop in and grab whatever you might be needing -- at a reasonable cost, too!

 

[crjack]

We stayed in Windsor Hills this past July and I didn't see it listed on some of the resort lists but it is an easy commute to all of the parks. Right off 192 and only about 2 miles to AK.

It had lots of 6 bedroom homes. We stayed in Windsor Palms previously and loved it but both homes were only 4 brdm. Emerald Island has lots of beautiful 6 bedroom homes as well and sometimes lots of competition can help you in the pricing dept.


We use www.vrbo.com quite often for Florida and other locations and for Windsor Hills we had great luck with www.windsorhillsrent.com.

I think you will find many lovely homes that meet your needs. Have a great time.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

The only thing I can say about I4 is everytime we are there, there are always back ups and slow moving traffic on I4. We drive other roads to avoid I4 if we can.
That is just our personal experience... LOL

 

[abteer]

http://vacationneardisney.us/index.html

I found this from vrbo, and they sent me a link to their homes. This IS the best price I have ever found for a rental home, they don't have a bbq, but give you a listing for a rental company that does. The deposit is only 200 dollars and it comes off of your total. Depending on season, the lowest weekly rate is $627 with taxes!! You can't beat that! We did not go this route because my sister in law decided not to travel down with us and we didn't need that much room, so we went with a timeshare tour vacation to save us money.

 

[jen54321]

Just wanted to update everyone on our choice. We have decided to stay in a villa in Emerald Island. The place looks beautiful! Can't wait!!

I also found this link on the disboards and thought I would put it here again in case anyone else was following this thread. It is a great map of US192 - the road the leads to many of the villa areas. I think it is also called Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy.

http://www.kissimmee-us192.com/map/map2/kiss192map2.htm#frmosa

Cheers,
Jen

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Jen,
Great News about a home in EI that is a beautiful resort area!! I know you will have a great trip! I can't wait to hear how much fun you all had!