Which community

[taffy]

I'm crossed eyed already trying to find best location for us.
We have decided to find the location and then look for the accommodtion.
We will be flying into Sanford Airport. So we want something near International Drive and the main route to Disney resorts.
Any ideas greatly received
Taffy

Are you looking for a villa or a hotel?

I would not base my accomodation on being ID its much nicer to be away from ID and nearer the Disney Main Gate area ie 192/27[msnwink]

[Paula D-S]

I would agree with Julie (Mach 2) you will find most communties are within a 10 - 15 minute drive from Disney.
Decide what you want ie; number of bedrooms, private pool, games room, whether you want the community pool/club house some communities have and go from there.
Then send out enquiries to OFV,OV,VF you won't be disappointed.[msnsmile2]

[ellie]

You will not find villas on International Drive or anywhere near, Taffy. It is definitely hotel row!
But most areas off the 192 or the 27 have easy access to Disney and Universal, so it is not a problem.

With great roads like the 417 Greeneway Toll from Sanford, you won't have any problem accessing homes south of International Drive, it is only about 20 mins more from this airport.

You will have the added advantage of returning to a villa that is still within easy access of everything you need, but is away from all the crowds. We like the fact that we can pop back to our home to re-charge the batteries after a day at the parks, and still be close enough to return for the fireworks etc. in the evening. Even if you stay on International Drive and have a hotel which offers you free transport to the parks, it will take you considerably longer, as you will have to wait for buses etc.

Take a look at some of the villas on these sites and see what I mean.

Hope you find something suitable soon, but you will have a lot of fun looking.:)

[KevinT]

Hi Patricia, welcome to the forum.

Short term rental homes in the Orlando / Kissimmee area need to be licenced and are zoned as such. There are very few (if any) such zones close to International Drive and Universal although there are a large number of hotels and suites in that area. Most of the pool villas and townhomes are situated closer to Disney (along the US192 and SR27 highways).
I think that one of the dificult things for UK guests to grasp initially, is the size of the area. Wherever you want to travel to , whether to Disney, Universal, Seaworld or the shopping malls will often entail 15 to 40 mins driving. (If you're very close to Disney or Universal, it will still be a fair distance from the other attractions).
As Julie says - best course of action is to decide what type of accommodation will suit your family best (pool villa /townhouse/hotel or room suite) and then look at areas.
Both the 192/27 and I/Drive are roughly the same travelling times from Sanford (as you would take different access roads, some of which are not as busy!)
If you have any questions at all about the accommodation or any other aspect of the holiday, ask away - or use the "Search" facility on the forum.
Happy hunting! [msnsmile2]

[mizzy]

Hi Patricia

we did our first holiday to florida the DIY way ourselves booking a villa through this site and it was a great success

it was lovely to be able to tour the villa ,the kids had chosen their bedrooms before we left the UK and we knew exactly what we where getting for our money

we choose our villa by looking at the number of bedrooms we would need first and then used the community info and location map to prioritise our short list

we have already booked our next villa for march 2007



:Dand i cant wait

Mizzy

[LiesaAnna]

have fun looking!!!
we stayed at Terra Verde close to everything!! and it was great,

[Ray&Sarah]

You won't go wrong with booking a villa from one of the sites attached to this forum. If you check out the communities map you will be able to see where they all are in relation to the theme parks. Just decide how many bedrooms you want and if there are any other specific requirements you need and send out an enquiry. Happy hunting.[msnsmile]

[abbeyvillas]

Hi Taffy,

There is so much choice in Orlando you really need to prioritise where you want to go and what sort of accommodation you would prefer. As several people have mentioned International Drive is the neon-lights, strings of hotels area, which does suit alot of people but the majority of villas are a bit further South towards Disney. Villa guest usually appreciate some peace & quiet after a hectic day at a park. The Interstate 4 is the main road which provides easy access to the attractions from one side of Orlando to the other. The road is very easy to use and theme parks are well sign-posted, each Junction is numbered (representing the number of miles from Tampa) e.g. Magic Kingdom/ Downtown Disney are Junction 62 and for Universal/ I-Drive you exit at Junction 74 (12 miles apart).
Hope this helps, enjoy your holiday wherever you choose to stay!

[shenon]

Hi Taffy
i am just really going to echo what has already been said, i would firstly decide how many bedrooms and what other facilities you would like...then i would send out requests to

http://www.orlandovillas.com/

http://www.villasflorida.com/

http://www.onlinefloridavillas.com/

Most villas are within easy reach of most of the attractions.
Good luck with your search
[lucky]

[Cruella DeVilla]

There are a wealth of villas on the the three OV sites, you should make a short list of what you are after and then spend time trawling through the replies. If you narrow your search down and specify what you require it should narrow your search and subsequent replies a little. You will be surprised at just how many you will receive.:D