Come and talk to me about Florida (disney) with a 2 and 4 yr old and a villa...

[shhhh]

Anyone stayed in a VILLA in Florida.?
We think it may be a better option for the 2 of us and it seems a cheaper option atm (Hotels/flights on package hols are coming out at around £6k..!)

I need Villa suggestions..I know MN had an advert for places to stay that were child friendly but can't find it now...
I would ideally like somewhere nice and modern BUT child friendly (baby gates etc) as I worry about pools etc.

Also is now a good time to go with ds being 2 and dd 4..? Just if we wait till next yr baby 3 may be here or on route iykimw..(which will then put us back another 2 years..)

Also needs to be august as dh's self employed and his contract comes to an end then, also dd is having school taster sessions and there's none in august..

any advice is appreciated.

BTW, its been suggested not to cut back on the flights due to length of fight and space...

We have actually not stayed at a villa but at the Sheraton Vistana Villages (which we did through Virgin). They are on the real quiet end of I Drive. They are all apartments, we have always had a two bed one with proper kitchen. Boys have own ensuite bathroom as we do. Nice sitting room and dining area. We love it there. My boys are a bit older (12 next month and 9) and they prefer to play in the pool with other kids on our rest days.

thought my ears were burning
thanks for the recommendation bellavita

As others have said, August isn't the ideal time due to heat etc but if its then or never I wouldn't not go. I've been the last two summers with my DCs and although easter is preferable as far as I'm concerned, its just not always possible.

If you are doing Disney, I'd recommend just Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom for the little ones.
Seaworld is lovely for little kids as it has a children's play area, shamus happy harbour with lots of lovely splashy areas to cool them (and you) down.

My villa is 4 miles from disney with a private pool. There are patio doors out to pool from lounge with a pool alarm and also on the door from the en-suite bathroom. Most villas have them and indeed I think it is a legal requirement for rental properties.

You already have details of my management company website but I also have another website which is here

Ooh Animal Kingdom is fab - this was one of my favourite places.

Hope you didn't mind me mentioning your name and copying and pasting the info mumoverseas?

thats fine bellavita, as long as you don't want commission

I love animal kingdom and a good hint is to get there when it opens and head straight to the animal safari ride at the far side of the park as its best first thing as you see more animals. (actually saw more animals on this than on safari in kenya )

Well maybe next time..

this is making me wish I was going this year. For some crazy reason (probably the fact we have 4 kids) we have decided against Florida this year and are going to DLP. Think I might regret that decision

What is DLP [dumb emoticon]

Ah and here is me warning Shhh about the flippin temperatures in August in Florida - we are going to Las Vegas the middle two weeks of August which is going to be just as hot - but I console myself that the flights were cheaper those two weeks....

Disneyland Paris.

what were you thinking?????

Tis a bit like this.....

Have a "vacation ownership" - timeshare to you and me! Florida is our home resort. Been there for the last three years and fancied a change and thought we would use the exchange company to go to europe - less flying time, cheaper flights yada yada yada.

We only got confirmation of one of our two weeks and we waited and waited and nothing. I thought if we were paying for flights for one week, we did not want to pay for flights to go somewhere else later on for the 2nd week.

So, they had availability for two weeks in Las Vegas and when I checked the flights they were reasonable.

Next year I think we will turn our weeks into points and do a points/cash hotel in europe rather than trying to go through the exchange company.

Hi We have been in April for the last three years, but last year we went in August as well and found the queues a lot quicker. In August the restaurants were a lot quieter, in April you turned up and had to wait. As the weather can be mixed in August you get very hot days and some cooler days. We tend to go Middle/end August when the Floridians and New Yorkers have gone back to school it makes alot of difference. If you fast pass the rides you should be ok. With all the water fountains and air conditioning in the Disney shows you will love it. We Do and our age ranges from 11 to 71 years Go for it !!

How near to the villa's are the shops - Walmart type ones and 'corner' shop types?. I have this vision of rows and rows of villas with no shops / take aways / cafes but i'm guessing that's a bit silly.

Well, tbh, you need a car to go to the corner shop! I suppose their take on a corner shop is a Seven Eleven which you would find at a petrol station.

Their normal roads are two/three lanes wide each side...

Where we usually stay, there is a Publix about 3 or 4 mins drive away and Walmart was probably about 10 mins drive.

Thankyou . I can't wait - there are 10 of us going in all - but we have (very wisely i think) hired three cars so we can all get away from each other .

thanks mumoverseas..have lookd at your villa and will show it to dh at the wkd once he is home...

I guess there are pro's and con's to going to DW in aug and with the kids at the current ages....

Oh so many decisions to make..
I thought it would be straight forward

bellavita we used to have timeshare but found it got really expensive with all the maintenance fees and exchange fees through RCI so (whilst staying in the timeshare at Lake Buena vista) went out and bought the villa (it was raining and not much else to do )
Where is your timeshare out there? Our villa is just off the 192 down a little road between the sizzler and ponderosa (assuming you know the area)

portblack, like bellavita says, you have to have a car out there unless you are staying in a disney resort hotel. Most rental villas are only a few miles from shops/restaurants and of course, the mini golf

We did it with dd aged 2.5 in a villa. It was fab! On the coast though, and tbh we didn't go to any Disney-type things. There are other, less expensive things to do if you don't fancy the big parks.

Sure it's hot, but so is Spain in August and in Florida EVERYTHING has amazing air-con, including the covered areas for queues at Disney, if I remember rightly! Any rain in August dries up almost instantly but it is very humid.

There is loads to do, your kids will love it and if you get a villa with a pool, you will too. We didn't eat out on an evening much, had a lovely barbeque (supermarkets there are fab) and sat drinking wine at the side of the pool after dd was in bed. It was fantastic and I would do it again in a second, even with dd now 3.5 and 3 month old ds.

I know I sound like a travel agent but it really was the best holiday. Enjoy!

You will have a great time PortBlacks - good idea re the cars.

Just one thing to bear in mind...

We went to Walmart, found it noooo problem. Parked up, went in, did some shopping, came out and it was dark. We thought we had come out of the car park the way we went in (these places are huge) but after a few mins of driving, realised we had made a mistake and it took over an hour of driving round to get back to somewhere we knew. I think we ended up in Kissimmee somewhere .

It is worthwhile getting your bearings before going in somewhere. Or get a car with a sat nav.

Mum - this is our home resort - on the quiet end of I Drive (about 2 mins from Seaworld)

Do you mean the Ponderosa and Sizzler near the Caribe Royal resort - we would go past on our way to Disney.

I know what you mean about the fees etc, it cost us a whole lot more with the dollar being so low at the beginning of this year.

My parents live in florida and I spend a month or so there every year, we used to have a house in Orlando and so I've been to disney countless times.

Anyway, I think that august is a pretty bad time to visit fl owing to the humidity and the lines in disney. But if you have to visit at this time my suggestion is to rent a villa nearby, then be there first thing in the morning when disney opens, coming up to lunch time when the day gets unbearably hot (it was 32 degrees and nearly 100% humidity when I was there last august) go back to the villa, eat lunch, nap, swim in the pool. Go back to disney at 4pm to 6pm and then stay there for the evening (that way you get to see the fireworks too) or as long as you can keeping bedtime in mind!

In august the lines are really long for rides, over an hour. Make sure you take lots of water. Get the special passes for all rides so the kids don't have to stay in these crazy length lines in the heat. They will only be miserable staying still for so long!

Its a great place, I love disney, and you should go to old town and places like that in the evening. But do avoid 12-4pm and relax back at the villa.

Buy the uv screen for the buggy (smyths sell them).

Also don't just stay in kissimmee area, go visit the coast for a few days, st petes beach for example. Florida is a lovely place (everglades, fab beaches) and i always feel its a pity when people only see the disney side of it.

HTH

There are loads of websites with villas but I have always booked with ownersdirect and never had a problem. 4 beds, 2 living rooms, 3 bathrooms, gamesroom( garage) swimming pool for £500 per week this year in Seasons resort. Not bad I thought.

bellavita, I'm pretty sure thats where I stayed years ago when I bought my villa. Right near my favourite shopping mall, Premium Outlets?

My villa is down Old Lake Wilson road which is up by Formosa Gardens. Am not sure where the place you are referring to is.

Agree with AandO you must go to Old Town in the evenings, it is fab and on certain nights (think Fri & Sat) it is car night when loads of people with classic cars drive them up and down.

meadow, my house has 4 beds, 2 baths, gamesroom and private pool from £400 per week in August, less off peak. You should shop around

We have stayed at Sheriton Vistana Resort in Lake Buena Vista the last two times we have been. It is a great place to stay, we have the 2 bedroom apartment so the DDs get their own en-suite room with t.v. they love it!!

We are going again this year but have decided to stay at a Disney Vacation club for a change. They have some good offers on at the moment if you travel before the end of the year.

I have been in July/August and if I am honest would not travel then again. It was very humid and rained alot. However, you will always have a good time in Disney and everywhere is air conditioned. The water parks are fantastic then but are heaving. Also the queues are loooooong!

We took our Dds when they were 2 & 5, 4 & 7, 5 & 9 and this year they will be 7 & 10!

We have enjoyed all the times we have been although I do admit I enjoy it more now they are older!

You will have a great time if you go.

Yep mum tis near the Premium Outlet.

I am obviously thinking of a different Sizzler and Ponderosa...

WOW ! thanks for the info everyone...went away for a moment and loads of info given..

Bellavita,the shearaton village you linked to look devine...More to shown dh.

Thanks again. x