Anyone been with first choice to orlando and stayed in one of their villas?

[africanprincess]

Hi all, looking to book with first choice for next april..like the look of their villas in kissimine, anyone been with them? Also for 2 weeks from the 10th april 08, 2 adults 3 children (will be 10, 8 and 3), villa accomodation total cost £2,900 is that a good deal?? (I think so, but may be wrong!) we are florida virgins, any help will be appreciated, before I make that commitment (grin)

Hi there, we have a villa in Kissimmee. Do you know which development you will be on? You need to be near marker 5 of the 192 to be near the action.

Do not book a villa in Davenport, they are cheap because of all the travelling you have to do to get anywhere.

I would say that price sounds very good for next Easter. My villa for two weeks next Easter is £1800 (it does sleep 10) but it gives you an idea of costs and that would be plus flights.

Remember if you are going to the parks (Disney,Sea World,Universal) you'll need to budget about £1000 for those.

Book any special meals well in advance. THey will get very booked up for Easter.

Get a book called The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Great book, loads of tips and phone numbers. It is discounted on amazon.

secondhandrose...thank you very much(grin). On their website, it says "all homes are located in orange tree, tuscan ridge, hampton lakes, the manors at westbridge, town center or similar. In your opinion, will one week be enough or is two weeks better..oh by the way a car is included in the price. Look forward to your response

Hi there, a car is included in the price but insurance is not. You need to budget £400-£500 for this for the two weeks. You MUST buy insurance or you will be liable for any costs in an accident and it is not worth the risk.

Take a look at www.mousesavers.com for deals on rental cars. The package company is not saving you any money at all with their 'free' car.

In my opinion two weeks is not enough let alone one!

Just googling them - Hampton Lakes is too far, Tuscan Ridge too far they are in Davenport (just google the resorts). Davenport is too far for the parks unless you like to sit in traffic. Town center is a better area as it is on the 192.

The resorts you should be looking at are
Windsor Hills - www.windsorhillsrent.com
Windsor Palms - www.windsor-palms-florida.net
Emerald Isle

These 3 are resorts so you get a communal pool, games room, fitness room etc and these homes tend to cost more.

Developments in a great position but are just houses on their own with no communal facilities include

Rolling Hills
Formosa Gardens
Indian Ridge

Please check the address carefully before booking - unfortunately they ALL claim to be 10 minutes from Disney (yes at 3am on a Sunday morning they might be!).

Another place to look for villas is www.vrbo.com you can search by resort so they are easy to sift through.

Hope I haven't confused you too much. I am going to Florida tomorrow so won't be on Mumsnet but I will be back in a while so Bump this thread around 22nd - 23rd April if you would like more tips.

Bumping for AP

Hi Secondhandrose (grin) hope you had a lovely break. I have been doing a lot of thinkin and researching about the whole Orlando trip. I deceided to call Virgin for advise and a lovely operator advised me to stay Quality Inn in International drive, doing the parks for 1 week and "other things" for another. She gave me a quote of £2,755 for 5 of us (2 adults, 3 kids) for April 10th 2008...apparently they offer free breakfast or something with this hotel..your thoughts please..still confused (hmm) thanks

There are two Quality Inns on I Drive. One is north of I Drive (its called the Quality Inn International) and the other is on the southern quieter (and nicer) end of I Drive.

I have previously stayed in the Quality Inn on I Drive and the breakfast although free was pretty much poor. Also this hotel has external corridors and stairwells - you can see people walk past your room window.

Look at www.tripadvisor.com for up to date reviews of hotels in the Orlando area. They'll be far more informative than an agent on commission.

thanks for that..i suppose that's what makes things confusing..i will look on their website and see which one they are referring to. Tripadvisor has mixed reviews with some saying it's noisy and others saying it's a reat base...did you go with children?

I wouldn't stay in a hotel when you can have a home with a splash pool for the same money. You have to go to sleep when the kids do or tiptoe round them. You have no kitchen and no where to wash your clothes.

We stayed in a Disney hotel for two nights this time, never again. Cramped and uncomfortable, one bathroom with loo included between us. Nice view but we couldn't wait to get away in fact we were supposed to stay for 3 nights and checked out after two.

I stayed in a Kissimmee villa through First Choice it was quite a few years ago though in 1993 (I was 17)! It was fab there's nothing like having your own pool and the freedom of being at home.

pity tripadvisor dont have reviews on villas!..you are right, sharing space with other people (hundreds of others in fact) isnt ideal...still thinking, giving myself till end of next week before prices start going up again

AP, the resorts of Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms and Emerald Isle are only 2-3 years old at the most so you aren't going to get and old worn out villa as they are all so new.

Go on to www.windsorhillsrent.com and put in an enquiry for 3 bed town homes & 4 bed homes (see the drop down box. Do NOT do a general enquiry or you will receive hundreds of replies (mostly auto responses). Put your dates in and see what quotes you get back. Every renter has to add 13% tax to their quote so make sure you find out if it is included in their price or not.

Don't go the hotel route or you'll need a holiday when you get home, stick to one of the resorts I have mentioned above and you'll be very close to Disney.