where to stay?

[Spuddybaby]

this is just somehting i was wondering...
I have only been to disney the once, and that was November 2002.
We (me, my fiance, and my parents) on the advice of my fiance booked to stay in Disney All Stars.
We had the most amaxing holiday.so much so, that we booked to go again for this november (2004) after being back for 6 months!

Anyway, when we were booking it i mentioned about maybe staying somewhere else (international drive or universal) but my fiance would have none of it. she has stayted in disney and on internaitonal drive before but said that disney was by far the best place to stay. We book iwth virgin so staying in disney has the added bonus of not having to pay for any disney parks.

does anyone else agree with the fact that disney is by far the best place to stay? i know there are a lot of villa people on the forums, so it would be interesting to see what people think.
Personally i think i will always stay in disney, as we go to florida for the magic, so its what we want. plus i wouldnt want to book somewhere else and not enjoy it as much and 'waste' a holiday so to speak!

[brizzle]

I've stayed on the 192 in Kissimme, International Drive and Disney (Animal Kingdom Lodge) on the relatively few visits I've made. Not done a Villa yet but I will have come April/May.

All the places I have stayed so far have good points.
International Drive for example is not on site, in some parts is a little 'tacky' but has a lot more facilities than staying in a Disney property and is a lot more reasonably priced. I also like the fact I can have a nice evening stroll to my meal and a couple of beers before wandering back by foot.
Disney on the other hand has the immersive Disney experience but less options and more expensive.

I personally think that you can't go wrong wherever you stay and each is a different experience in their own right.
We split our last stay 9 days International Drive/5 days Disney. Maybe a split stay is a way to decide which you prefer, if any, more.

I can't wait to try the Villa with my own space from 2 rugrats who get cabin fever in what little time we spend indoors. With numerous rooms and our own pool we should be a little more relaxed when not out eating, theme parking, shopping :)

Brizzle

[huckleberry house]

I have never stayed on Disney property before so cant comment for myself but I have more than one set of guests that have and since staying at my villa they have said they would never consider Disney again and would always rent a villa,each to their own I suppose but it could be worth trying a Villa and doing your own comparison.

Lesley

[Pluto]

We stayed in a Disney Hotel on our first visit to Orlando 14 years ago, but since discovering villa holidays would never stay in any hotel in Orlando again. We have stayed in a number of villas, mostly booked as part of a package holiday.

I think that once you have stayed in a villa you could never go back to staying in just one room - and then there is the luxury of coming home each day to your own private pool - heaven.[msnsmile]

[Harmony]

We own a villa and love staying in it. It's our home in the USA. Having said that, I quite fancy doing a short stay in a Disney Hotel just for the experience. I would not want to do a full holiday in Disney. Florida has so much more to offer and staying in Disney you would not get to see all the varied other options such as airboat rides, Kennidy Space centre, the beaches, and of course the shopping malls (a big draw for the ladies especially. Disney is wonderful, so is Universal and Seaworld but do try to see some of the other things Florida can offer.

Jeff

[lisi]

Villa every time. It's just so relaxing - they are all geared up with everything you need so if you don't feel like eating out you can get all you want at Publix. The pool is the great thing though when you get back from the parks weary and footsore - gin & tonic, lovely swim - what more could you ask for. Everything is so near at hand too if you do decide to eat out - you are spoilt for choice. I'd never go back to a hotel

Lisi [8D]

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

I know it's not quite the same but we stayed in a Disney hotel at Disneyland Paris a few months ago and would never do it again. The place was dirty, the room smelled when we walked in, the whole place was very overpriced (about $7 for a small bottle of Bud for example) and the hotel pool was manic - kids everywhere - you could hardly see the water for people!

[Ann]

as a villa owner i have to say a villa gives you so much more
we were over a few years ago and friends of ours 2 adults 2 kids were staying at The carribean beach resort in Disney but at the end of the day they only had 1 room between 4 of them and had to walk a fair distance every time they wanted something to eat and it was pricey
they ended up staying with us for 5 of the 14 nights and they booked a villa the following year as they thought it was so much better

[Drew]

First visit we stayed in a Holiday Inn Family Suites hotel near Disney. Last year when we were looking for a villa to buy we stayed in a 3bed house in Venetian Bay, off 192 with better facilities and costing much less. Next time I will have the whole family staying - from Gran, through my older two sons and their partners, and my youngest son with his friend, all staying under the roof of our own very comfortable villa with its very own pool (and we are only 5 minutes from Disney). If we had to rent, the cost would be not much more than when we had one room with limited facilities and two beds in the Holiday Inn. If the 9 of us had to book into a hotel I dread to think of the cost. Biased I know, but for me there is no contest.

[benfilo]

hi Spuddybaby
We stayed at the All Star it was about 8 yrs ago but it was fantastic. it was February so pretty quiet,I remember waiting for a bus to MGM outside the hotel,one of those large double length one stopped with epcot on the front. Because ther was no one on it and no one waiting he took us to MGM,our own stretch limo.
I think if you are just booking 1 room Disney is hard to beat(and I am soon to be an owner), but if it is a couple of rooms it will work out a lot cheaper to book a villa especially if you get flight onlys and rent your own car, and rent a villa direct off one of these fine people

[Geodan]

Hi have been to Florida quite a few times,and although i've never stayed at one of the Disney resorts,i have stayed on i-drive.
It's true that you can wander around the shops on i-drive and go to the many places to eat,but when you go back to your hotel after a long day and all 4 of you are tired,you find that there is nowhere to relax,the kids want to go to the pool,but need supervision,and you can't be bothered to walk all the way down there.And when you do get to the pool,you find that you've forgotten something,and have to trek back to your room (with the kids if you are on your own)to get it. When all you want to do is relax. Give me a Villa anytime......

Keith...

Sorry for the essay..

[Ruth]

We stayed at The Contempory for 2 weeks when we only had 2 children, as I thought it would be more fun than a villa. How wrong was I. All of us crowded into one room. The kids choice of TV channel the whole time. No screen round the hotel pool so there were ducks swimming on it (I personally love ducks but do not want to share the water we are in with them as I know the bugs they carry[xx(]). We had to eat out ALL the time, even breakfast. It was really expensive and we were totally fed up with the food by the end of our holiday.

Now I am one of Disney's biggest fans, we are annual pass holders and I love all the parks. We even stayed in a Disney hotel for one night at Christmas when our villa was booked. But 2-3 nights would be the maximum I would stay in one, certainly not our whole holiday. A villa is much better in every department in our opinion:)

[Dee0747]

We live in the US and get get to Florida anytime we want in 2 hours. The only way we would now go is to rent one of these gorgeous Villa's. The first time we rented one was 2 years ago. It was a beautiful one in Eagle Pointe. My kids loved having the pool at all times. We love the fact that with 2 small kids we did not have to eat breakfast out everyday and were able to have a fully stocked kitchen for late night snacks. We loved the fact that we had laundry facilities, so we were able to bring less clothes and just wash what we had to. Being off 92, there are tons of places to eat and yet you are still close to all attractions. We have stayed in Disney hotels in the past, but with kids, this was and will be the only way for us to go.
The price we will be paying for 8 nights in May is about what we would be paying for 3 or 4 in a Disney owned Hotel. Just my opinion though.
Denise[:I]