Renting a home near Disney World

[sockmonkeygirl]

Im surprised there's not more discussion here. We will be travelling as a family of 6 or 7 (3 or 4 adults) and the Disney choices seemed pricey or limited in size. We found a 4 bedroom home that is 10 minutes from Disney World enterance. It has its own private pool. $600 for the week.

Id like someone to point out some pros and cons I may not be aware of. Cuz to me, looks like a great deal. Thx!! :shrug:

 

[Nemo14]

Im surprised there's not more discussion here. We will be travelling as a family of 6 or 7 (3 or 4 adults) and the Disney choices seemed pricey or limited in size. We found a 4 bedroom home that is 10 minutes from Disney World enterance. It has its own private pool. $600 for the week.

Id like someone to point out some pros and cons I may not be aware of. Cuz to me, looks like a great deal. Thx!! :shrug:

We've done this every February (Presidents' Week) for the past 10 years with a group of 8-10 or 12 and have never had a bad experience. A few glitches, but nothing serious. We love having the privacy of our own bedrooms, our own pool (and we usually have a hot tub too), kitchen facilities and washer/dryer. You'll be told how you have to pay for parking every day, and how you're not immersed in the magic (or the prices!), but to us, it's our favorite vacation. Have fun!

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

Thanks, Nemo! I think for a larger party, it may be the way to go. As far as being emersed in Disney, Im kind of used to a slow and steady pace here at home, and think Ill enjoy having someplace condusive to winding down. Kinda wish we were getting a hot tub, but the house I have my eye on doesn't have one. Not even a jetted tub in the bathroom. Darn.

Paying for parking daily (will I have to pay multiple times per day if I leave the park and then return?) and no extra magic hours, no free transportation to the parks and no meal plan. Considering all this, I still think the house should suit us well.

 

[lilclerk]

Paying for parking daily (will I have to pay multiple times per day if I leave the park and then return?) and no extra magic hours, no free transportation to the parks and no meal plan. Considering all this, I still think the house should suit us well.

No, you only pay once per day.

I absolutely agree, for a large party renting a house is an excellent deal!

 

[Nemo14]

Thanks, Nemo! I think for a larger party, it may be the way to go. As far as being emersed in Disney, Im kind of used to a slow and steady pace here at home, and think Ill enjoy having someplace condusive to winding down. Kinda wish we were getting a hot tub, but the house I have my eye on doesn't have one. Not even a jetted tub in the bathroom. Darn.

Paying for parking daily (will I have to pay multiple times per day if I leave the park and then return?) and no extra magic hours, no free transportation to the parks and no meal plan. Considering all this, I still think the house should suit us well.

When are you planning to go?

 

[Nemo14]

My thing about EMH is that we very rarely take advantage of the evening ones, since we find them far busier than the reguloar daytime hours (especially if there have been weather issues during the day). We almost always have our own car even when staying on property, and much prefer that to being packed like sardines into Disney busses. and the meal plan is no great deal for us either - we very rarely eat a huge dinner when at the parks.

 

[DisneyJoe]

With groups of 6-7 or 10-12 people, how do you get from the house to the parks and back?

What if some of you want to go to one park and some want to go to another?

We took a trip in 2002 with 4 families (15 people) and we all kept very different schedules - we would have needed 4 rental cars if we were off-site.

Just curious.

 

[Nemo14]

We always have a car to get from the house to the parks, which we would have anyway.

We all start in the same park. With cell phones it's pretty easy to keep track of each other once the group seperates. We all agree to meet up at a designated place at whatever time, depending on what our evening plans are.
It works well for us, but I'm sure others would prefer to spend the extra $$ on a resort room. Whatever floats your boat, as they say!

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

We are hoping to go April 18-25. My husband hasn't gotten his vacation approved yet. He may end up getting approved for the week before or the week after.

As far as travelling from an off-site rental to the Disney Parks...we are driving to FL so we'll have our car, but, I have seen a few resorts with shuttle transportation to the parks. That would be a double bonus. Saving money by staying off-site, and having transportation taken care of as well.

 

[sueuk]

We've rented a 3 bed villa (home) whenever we've gone to Florida with more than the 2 of us - because usually we are paying and we always have a great time. There are pros and cons,(and with free dining, parking, less petrol etc WDW is winning) but for a family they work out really well. We would always choose a Disney resort if possible, but would rather stay in a villa than an offsite hotel. Have a great time.

 

[corey154]

I just read a trip report on another forum where the family rented a house with a pool and loved it. They used their AAA for parking passes at the parks. They liked having their own pool, having pizza hut deliver dinner at the end of the day, and when it was raining they came back from the parks and played games and relaxed. It sounded like the biggest pro to this was not having other kids in the pool splashing your family or dealing with rude people...at the end of the day they had their own space to spread out and relax.

 

[wm49rs]

We actually shared a house with another family a couple of years ago, and things worked out quite well. We split the travel to and from the parks, split the parking costs, and took turns lugging the cooler of lunches and snacks during the day. All in all, it worked out really well....

 

[MAGICFLOP]

It can be a good affair, especially if you are a person that doesnt like hotels. Hotels have people coming in your room to clean and their noisy. Renting a house you can use your own pool and save money by loading up the fridge from the supermarket.

In the past I rented my house out. Mostly to people from the UK. They would rent weekly and I had it booked thru travel agents. I stoped a few years back because it was not worth it. Now I just keep my house empty and shoot to Fl when ever I see cheap fares.

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

I SO want to have a vacation home one day. Not sure if it will ever happen..but a girl can dream, right?

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

Just booked 9 days at a home in Indian Ridge Oaks Community. Anyone familiar with this community? (I'm psyched, and can't wait) :sohappy:

 

[celandinesmith]

Hi,
Its very good to have a house or villa near disney world.More and more people are using the internet to look for vacation villas. As a villa owner you should utilise the power of the internet to achieve a good flow of regular bookings.A villa provides a fresh and different holiday home whenever you choose to go.And for families and friends looking for the perfect group getaway, our villa holidays tick all the right boxes for freedom and flexibility.

 

[Ghall]

Can anyone recommend the best area to rent a house near Disneyworld? There seems to be so many houses to rent on the internet, how do you chose the best one?

 

[ddhess]

Rental House Near Disney

We have rented houses for our last two visits to Disney. Recently, we rented in Emerald Isle and prior to that Lindfields. Both were great for our families. These two areas are in Kissimmee on Hwy 192. Some suggestions to use to find a home:

1. Try www.vrbo.com and then select Kissimmee or Orlando to find a selection of homes.
2. The areas we stayed in were "older" homes, but nice. The internet pictures you see posted, might portray new, luxury homes.
3. Contact the owner of the home you are interested in. See if you can get an "all inclusive" better price including rental, taxes, pool heat, BBQ, cleaning fee, etc. The listed rental price does not include these other fees.
4. Read any reviews of prior renters, if any.
5. Use a credit card to secure your reservation. If there is a problem, you have some recourse.
6. When you arrive at the home, bring the rental contact information. You are obligated to report any damage, stains, etc. within 24 hours of arrival that was caused by prior tenant.
7. We use a cell phone camera to take pictures of the interior and exterior of the home upon leaving.
8. There are plenty of shopping areas and restaurants on Hwy 192.
9. Know the "short-cut" to get to World Drive off 192. Saves some time.
10. Some homes offer low cost damage insurance. Might we worth the cost.
11. Most houses in this area state they are 10 mins to Disney. Realize that it means 10 mins. till you get to World Drive. Magic Kingdom is another 10 minutes away. But traffic flows great!
12. Yes, parking at Disney is $14/day so factor that into your cost.

We love renting these vacation homes. Great to have a large home, lots of bathrooms, pool, BBQ, etc. We just eat breakfast and then eat out for lunch and dinner at the Parks. Momma don't have to cook and clean!

Hope this helps!

Doug

 

[Dubman]

Can anyone recommend the best area to rent a house near Disneyworld? There seems to be so many houses to rent on the internet, how do you chose the best one?

We just stayed in Windsor Hills http://www.windsor-hills-resort.com/ .. It's a gated community with lots of things to do in the resort alone.. It's about 2 miles from world drive making it one of the closest to Disney World property. ~10 minutes from the house, to the parking spot in Magic Kingdom.. We rented a 5 bedroom/5 bath home from www.disneyvacationhome4rent.com .. We stayed in Donalds Fun House. Depending on how much room you need, and how much you want to spend, this place could be ideal! Very clean, modern, etc.. If you don't need that much room, just do a search for other homes/villas in the same resort.. There are lots of them! The villas looked to be a good size and were mostly 2 bedroom/2 bath setups.. Contact Patti at the above website if interested in either of her homes.. She and Hayley at the rental management company were great to deal with! I don't think you will find a development any closer to Disney than this one.. We also felt very secure there and the guard station was staffed 24/7.. Good luck!

 

[Ghall]

Thanks for the information on renting a house near Disney. Just going to have a look at those web sites now.