Renting a pool home

[mill4023]

I'm trying to plan a trip for 2 weeks in June, with my wife and 5 kids. We've stayed on-site and off-site before, but never in a rental home. So this time, we are planning to rent a pool home, probably a 4 bedroom.

I'm trying to stay on as much of a budget as possible. With the number of options out there, it's a little overwhelming trying to sift through everything and find what we are looking for.

So I'd love to have suggestions from those who have done this before, whether there is a specific house you can recommend, or just a specific resort that you like better than others.

Windsor Hills and Emerald Island are the two I've been mainly looking at so far, because those are the two that seem to get discussed the most on the DIS. From what I've found so far, Windsor Hills seems to be higher priced than Emerald Island. Most of the quotes I've had from Windsor Hills for a 4 bedroom for 2 weeks have ranged from $2500 to $3500. I've had several quotes on nice looking 4 bedrooms in Emerald Island for under $2000, which is the price we'd really like to stay under. I even had one that looked nice for less than $1500.

What other resorts should we consider?
Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sympatico]

Subdivisions in the Formosa Gardens area: Those that have a manned security gate: Windsor Hills, Emerald Island and Windsor Palms; those that have a code gate: Formosa Gardens Estates, Acadia Estates, Sunset Lakes; those that have no gate: Rolling Hills, Indian Creek, Oak Island Cove and Harbour and a little further away Indian Ridge and Oaks, Lindfields.
The ones in the FG area would be the closest to Disney. It takes about 5 - 7 minutes to the parking lot of Animal Kingdom using Sherberth Rd. about the same to DHS using World Drive. To MK and Epcot parking lots it's about 12 - 15 min.
Some of the homes will be older than others. Most have been built since 1995ish. Some look like the need an upgrade and some have been recently rennovated. The Windsor Hills homes have been built since 2005 and some in the new section just last year. Emerald Island homes 2003/4.
Since all of these are in the same area there's really no bad ones, it's just according to whether the security gates make a difference to you. Each house is individually owned so the upkeep, type of decor, cleanliness, electronics, what the price includes depends on each owner and management company. Some (most) have games rooms in their garages, some have free long distance, wifi/broadband, gas BBQ, kids stuff like strollers, cribs etc. Some charge for some of these things and some have them for free.
There's also other areas that are further away. Out on hwy 27 there's many subdivisions. When you look on vrbo or wherever it's the Clermont and Davenport areas. The Davenport area also extends to the Champion's Gate area ( around exit 58 to exit 55).
The Poincianna Blvd. area also has many. These would be around Terra Verde on the map.
I don't think you'll need extra pool heat in June but if you do make sure it's included in the price.
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13
Formosa Gardens area: Windsor Hills #1, Em Is #15 click the markers for the others.
Davenport: on 27: Tuscan Hills #79, Glenbrook #96 etc.
: Champions Gate area: Reunion # 21, Grand Reserve #2 etc
Poincianna Blvd: Terra Verde #62 Bellavida #68 etc.
When you do find a home ( owner's name) you can check out the property appraiser sites to make sure of ownership and paid taxes. There's also the zillow site that will show what homes are for sale or recently bought.
We like the Formosa Gardens area because of it's closeness to everything but being close to Disney sometimes costs more.
I presume you'll have a car because it's essential for staying in a rental home. Most of the ones we've stayed in have been 6 + bedrooms so I can't help you on the 4 br. ones.
Good luck with your search, there's many to choose from.

 

[mill4023]

Thanks for all the info.

Being close to the parks is definitely a priority.
Since it will be hot in June, we plan to do mornings and evenings at the parks and spend some of our afternoons doing swim or nap breaks at the house.

But if we can save a decent amount of money by staying 20 minutes from MK instead of 15, that 5 minutes isn't a big deal.

I know you can't help with any specific 4 bedrooms, but since you've stayed at so many places, any advice you can give me on the developments would be great.

Are there some that you like more than others?
Or do you just look for the house you like, regardless of which development it is in?

 

[sympatico]

We have found that it's more getting the best house rather than the subdivision especially those that are in the same area. WHills, WPalms, Emerald Island all have community/resort facillities: big main pools, clubhouse, playgrounds etc. which may be important to you but we've found that we rarely use these when we have our own pool and our grandkids (ages2-7) like "their own pool" rather than going to the community pool. And they even have fun in the game room at the house. If you're going to the parks every day then you really don't have much time for extras.
We like having our own pool because it's much more relaxing to use that than packing up everyone to go to the resort pool.
Basically the only difference in some of the subdivisions is the security gates but that being said we didn't feel less secure when we stayed at Indian Creek.
I've got a number of 4 br bookmarked just in case we go late Feb (just husband and I). Some of them are 4 br townhouses with pools at Encantada. This is also in the Formosa Gardens area.

 

[mill4023]

If we have our own pool, I don't think we'd use the resort amenities much either.
We are planning to do 2 weeks and only spend 7 or 8 days at the parks, so we do plan on having some downtime to relax.

I'm not worried about a gated community.

I guess I was just looking for recommendations on which developments tended to have lower prices, but still had nice homes and were close to the parks.

 

[HoliPoli]

deleted

 

[MichelleVW]

I've stayed at Emerald Island twice and loved it. The location is perfect. This past summer we rented a 7 bedroom pool house for 12 of us and it was perfect. It's easy to come and go to the parks and coming home from a hot park to jump in the pool (that you don't have to share) is AWESOME!

 

[sympatico]

If we have our own pool, I don't think we'd use the resort amenities much either.
We are planning to do 2 weeks and only spend 7 or 8 days at the parks, so we do plan on having some downtime to relax.

I'm not worried about a gated community.

I guess I was just looking for recommendations on which developments tended to have lower prices, but still had nice homes and were close to the parks.

The FG area developements are closest to the parks. The non-gated, non-resort type tend to have lower prices than the others. You basically have to go through the hundreds of listings and pick a few that look like what you want and are close to your budget and ask for a quote for your dates. You can often get a better price than what is listed on the site. Sometimes you get a discount for more than one week. Try vrbo.com , homeaway.com, ownersdirect.co.uk etc.
You could also try floridasunvacationhomes.com or orlando4villas.com

 

[IslandBreeze]

We stayed at Encantada off 192 - great place.

 

[IslandBreeze]

if you go to moremouse dot com it shows all the listings

 

[IslandBreeze]

Not too far away from old town down in kissimee

 

[horseshowmom]

We just got back from a house in Sunset Lakes. It was incredibly close to Animal Kingdom (we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma one morning) using the Sherbeth Road shortcut.

The owner was excellent to deal with and kept in communication. We paid $100 per night total during Christmas week (didn't get pool heat because I knew we wouldn't use it). He advised me that he could make a better deal during times that weren't considered high time.

The house had 5BR/4BA and was backed up to a lake. It had a private screended pool, a pool table, air hockey, and foosball. It also came with strollers, etc. if anybody needed them.

The house had two master suites and 3 other bedrooms (with either two twins or a twin and a bunkbed - some were Disney themed).

They have a management company that handled problems. When we arrived, we turned the heat up (it was very cold in FL that week) and left for dinner. When we got back, it hadn't heated up at all. We called the owner who told us to contact the management company (this was about 10 p.m. on a Saturday night). They had somebody out to the house quickly to fix the problem. We were very pleased with the service.

 

[bcinohio]

We stayed at Sunset Lakes in July and it was great. The house was on www.vrbo.com and it is listing #256608. Very close to the parks. I would go back in a second.

Have fun.

 

[mill4023]

We stayed at Sunset Lakes in July and it was great. The house was on www.vrbo.com and it is listing #256608. Very close to the parks. I would go back in a second.

Have fun.

Thanks.
I'm definitely considering Sunset Lakes. The prices are good and most of the pools look like they either have a lake view or at least privacy. That's one thing I'm not thrilled about with a lot of the houses in Emerald Island. Many of them look like the view from the pool is neighbors pools all around you.

 

[stazmatic]

Subdivisions in the Formosa Gardens area: Those that have a manned security gate: Windsor Hills, Emerald Island and Windsor Palms; those that have a code gate: Formosa Gardens Estates, Acadia Estates, Sunset Lakes; those that have no gate: Rolling Hills, Indian Creek, Oak Island Cove and Harbour and a little further away Indian Ridge and Oaks, Lindfields.
The ones in the FG area would be the closest to Disney. It takes about 5 - 7 minutes to the parking lot of Animal Kingdom using Sherberth Rd. about the same to DHS using World Drive. To MK and Epcot parking lots it's about 12 - 15 min.
Some of the homes will be older than others. Most have been built since 1995ish. Some look like the need an upgrade and some have been recently rennovated. The Windsor Hills homes have been built since 2005 and some in the new section just last year. Emerald Island homes 2003/4.
Since all of these are in the same area there's really no bad ones, it's just according to whether the security gates make a difference to you. Each house is individually owned so the upkeep, type of decor, cleanliness, electronics, what the price includes depends on each owner and management company. Some (most) have games rooms in their garages, some have free long distance, wifi/broadband, gas BBQ, kids stuff like strollers, cribs etc. Some charge for some of these things and some have them for free.
There's also other areas that are further away. Out on hwy 27 there's many subdivisions. When you look on vrbo or wherever it's the Clermont and Davenport areas. The Davenport area also extends to the Champion's Gate area ( around exit 58 to exit 55).
The Poincianna Blvd. area also has many. These would be around Terra Verde on the map.
I don't think you'll need extra pool heat in June but if you do make sure it's included in the price.
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13
Formosa Gardens area: Windsor Hills #1, Em Is #15 click the markers for the others.
Davenport: on 27: Tuscan Hills #79, Glenbrook #96 etc.
: Champions Gate area: Reunion # 21, Grand Reserve #2 etc
Poincianna Blvd: Terra Verde #62 Bellavida #68 etc.
When you do find a home ( owner's name) you can check out the property appraiser sites to make sure of ownership and paid taxes. There's also the zillow site that will show what homes are for sale or recently bought.
We like the Formosa Gardens area because of it's closeness to everything but being close to Disney sometimes costs more.
I presume you'll have a car because it's essential for staying in a rental home. Most of the ones we've stayed in have been 6 + bedrooms so I can't help you on the 4 br. ones.
Good luck with your search, there's many to choose from.

You are a wealth of knowledge. I am looking for a 6 bedroom and would appreciate any recommendations. I have been through vrbo.com and submitted requests, but they are all starting to look the same to me.
Thanks!

 

[MichelleVW]

You are a wealth of knowledge. I am looking for a 6 bedroom and would appreciate any recommendations. I have been through vrbo.com and submitted requests, but they are all starting to look the same to me.
Thanks!

This is the house we rented last summer. It has 7 bedrooms and a pool. We loved it.

http://www.vrbo.com/global/siteFrame.aspx?l=11849&k=1

 

[sympatico]

You are a wealth of knowledge. I am looking for a 6 bedroom and would appreciate any recommendations. I have been through vrbo.com and submitted requests, but they are all starting to look the same to me.
Thanks!

We stayed in this 6br one in Windsor Hills Nov 2009:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p250801 Very nice, brand new when we stayed there and owners were great.
Stayed at this 7 br one Nov 2010 in Emerald Island:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p253707
Owners and management company were great. Lots of new things added like new pool loungers, LCD TVs, lots of towels.

 

[Swank]

We have stayed in pool homes three times in Indian Creek. As a prior poster said it does not have a gate, but we did feel safe. All the homes had a pool and Security systems. The homes we stayed out were sometimes a little worn (nothing major, carpet tile) but were spotless clean.

As some have posted above, I would use search sites to find a home. You can do a search for your criteria. We made sure that the home we got had a Game room and a Spa attached to the pool. The spa was key because after a day in the parks nothing beat sitting in the hot spa.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We have stayed at WH 3 times and last time we stayed at Indian Creek..it was only 2 minutes further to the parks than WH, cheaper and we had our own pool! We stayed at Happiness House and LOVED it! http://www.vrbo.com/266110
They also own a few other pool homes in IC. http://www.houseforrentflorida.net/en/index.php

 

[3pletprincesses]

When we stay off site, we always stay here http://www.bbvacationhomes.com/details.php?nb=2540 or there http://www.bbvacationhomes.com/photo.php?n=2500 It's about 15-20 minutes from Disney. It's our homes away from home.