Hi Everyone, Advice needed .......

[SWISEMAN]

Hello, I have joined this forum today in the hope of getting further infomation / advice on booking my first Villa Holiday.

Yesterday i booked flights with Virgin for the 25th February for 14 nights holiday. I have never before been to Florida/Disney and just dont know where to start.........

I am looking for a luxury villa to accomodate Myself, Huband and two kids aged 13 & 10, also my Mother and Father. Ideally a 4/5 Bedroom Villa would suit.

What areas do you suggest that i start looking at??

Also any tips on booking car rental or attraction tickets would be very helpful.

Thanks

[blott]

Welcome to the forum.

Rule number one - don't panic! [msnwink]

Have a look at the site links on the top of each forum page and you'll find loads of lovely villas to choose from. If you can't decide on any particular one, then just make a general enquiry and you'll get replies from home owners who have your dates available. Make sure that you enquire on all the above sites as each one has different owners and homes and this will give you the widest possible choice.

All the areas on the above sites are within a maximum of 20 mins of Disney and would be ideal for a first time visit.

You can also get great car rental from the car rental link above where the prices are great and the service is second to none.

Ditto that with the park tickets link also. So you can get every component for your trip on this one great site.

Then comes the fun part - choosing one of them.

And then the next part (the best one) packing up and off you go!

[SWISEMAN]

Thanks for your speedy reply ...... can see i am going to be glued to the computer for days. [msnsmile]

[steph_goodrum]

Hi and welcome to the forum and have fun choosing your holiday accommodation.
Having the flights booked is a good start because then you know your dates. Once you have enquired through the sites listed then you will know what is available and can select what is appropriate for your family. It's such an easy process that you'll probably wonder why you havent done it before and decided for yourself what suits rather than leave it to an agent to allocate their accommodation.

The only other critical factors to do apart from your car hire are insurance and our online ESTA application if you havent done it as you are travelling in just a few weeks would be a good idea incase of any complications. (I am assuming you intend to use the visa waiver scheme?

[carl mcguigan]

Welcome, it's true it all seems a little daunting the first time, but with all the help available on the forum it'll be a breeze.
have a great Holiday.

[Nielsen]

I can only second the advise from above. Please remember to ask as many questions as you want as this site will give you the best chance of being as preparred as you need to be giving you more time to enjoy your holiday once you get there.
Start with a big "want list" and then bit by bit dwindle it down to something manageable. Be sure to insert some rest days by the villa pool, otherwise it is very easy to get "park overload".

Have fun and enjoy.....

TOM

[FraserLynn]

The biggest problem you will have is trying to choose which one of the lovely homes to book. From my experience once you put out a general inquiry, you will receive literally hundreds of responses to work through. One thing I do is set up a sub folder in my email inbox to put the shortlist in. As each email arrives I do a very quick vet and if I like the look if it, I file it in the subfolder to work through later. If you don't do this you end up getting a bit "Villa email blind" as they all merge into one and you can't find the one you liked again in the deluge of emails.

Then i just repeat the process working through the shortlist, but looking at the villa in much more detail and checking it against the list of important things we have drawn up.

Also (I hope this doesn't offend anyone), but a south facing pool is a must if you are going in February. We always go in Feb and IMHO it is a really important factor at that time of the year as it can be a bit chilly outside of the pool if you are not in the sun.

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by FraserLynn
Also (I hope this doesn't offend anyone), but a south facing pool is a must if you are going in February. We always go in Feb and IMHO it is a really important factor at that time of the year as it can be a bit chilly outside of the pool if you are not in the sun.[/quote]The pool facing south isn't necessarily the critical factor - it's the height of the house, the size of the pool deck, whether there are any homes close by, the height of those, etc. So don't pass by any that aren't south facing without asking questions first.

[another]

Hi and welcome to the forum [msnsmile] I agree totally with all the advice given so far, I hope you have great fun choosing a villa for your holiday and have a fantastic time in Florida [msnsmile]

[steph_goodrum]

Fraser
We have a west facing pool and swam every day for 3 weeks over December so am afraid I would have to disagree that a south facing pool would be a must. Admittedly ours is open to the south side as we are on the corner of a culdesac and the house round the corner is set well back.