My family plans a trip to Disney World in Orlando in early June. With two teenage daughters, we need the space of a suite or condo. We are looking for a place which is (1) off-site, but close to the disney park, (2) with reliable and regular shuttle service to disney, (3) a great pool area.
Can anyone help us with some suggestions??

Your teenage daughters would probably enjoy onsite accommodations better due to the wonderful public transportation and the freedom away from mom and dad. What about two rooms at on of the All Stars? I've paid as little as $49 thanks to www.Mousesavers.com .

That said, I think Vistana would probably be the best condos with a shuttle. It is timeshare but I'm sure you can also rent through them.

You could try allstarvacationhomes.com or vrbo.com - both rent private homes or condos. Some have pools, but probably not shuttles.

There's also a Summerfield Suites across from the Downtown Disney park entrance. (It may be called Springfield Suites - sorry, I can't remember.) My sister, her family and my parents stayed there in a two-bedroom with a kitchen and it was pretty nice. Around $200 a night then - that was about 2-3 years ago though. They had a shuttle and a pool.

What's your budget? Two cheap rooms might also be a great idea as GoTravel suggested. Also check out Disney's Home Away From Home resorts.

What a perfect screen name, stonepasser. I can't think of anything more excrusciatingly painful than passing a stone unless it would be reading one of your many posted diatribes on Fodors.

Too funny Neopolitan!

Stonepasser - what does your post have to do with the question being asked? It's about Disney, not the Bahamas.

"Stonepasser" is the latest alias of a psychotic German businessman named Harald Fuhrmann who uses travel forums like this to badmouth the Bahamas-- mostly due to sour grapes over failed business ventures and lawsuits, etc. These posts should disappear shortly (Fodor's editors are on to him and his insane rants).

Have you looked at the New Famiy Suites at the WDW All-Star Music resort? Here is a link that gives some information: http://allearsnet.com/acc/g_asuites.htm

The WDW Pop-Century & All-Star resorts also have ajoining rooms which might be a good option for you. Check mousesavers.com for discount codes. There is also generally a AAA discount. If you talk to the Disney reservations people, ask about discounts. They aren't allowed to offer them but they are allowed to tell you about them if you ask. The reservations people are very nice and won't pressure you to make a commitment.

When you stay on WDW property, WDW provides free transportation to and from the Orlando airport - the service is called "Disney's Magical Express". And the on-property bus system is really wonderful - you'll feel very safe letting the girls use the buses alone if they want to do something you don't, like stay later in a park.

Check the shuttle information carefully for whatever hotel you choose - we stayed off-property (at a Hampton Inn) once and the last shuttle of the day was the same time as park closing which made it impossible to see Fantasmic at MGM or Illuminations at Epcot so we had to take a cab which really cut into the supposed savings by staying off property. Also, some hotels charge shuttle service. Find out if the charge is per day? per person?

We onced stayed at the Holiday Inn Maingate East and had plenty of room at a reasonable cost. The pool was nice. But we had a rental car so I don't know about shuttles.

Orange Lake Country Club Condo in Kissimmee is nice but they charge for the shuttle and there is a day-use fee for their fancy pool.

We now always stay on property - generally at the All-Star movies although we're planning to try Pop Century next time. We watch for a good promotion and feel that the benefits that come with the room make it the best value.

Have you bought your park tickets yet? ticketmania.com and mapleleaftickets.com are two reputable companies that provide a bit of a savings on WDW tickets. Also, Disney themselves offer a discount on advance purchase of tickets.

You may want to try Sheraton Vistana Resorts. I needed an extra night and they quoted $149 for a 2 bedroom condo that sleeps 8. I think you'll need some kind of "card", AAA, AARP, etc. Yes, it is a timeshare, but it's not like it's the plague.

When I was eight years old I ate nine hotdogs at a New York Yankees game.

Sometimes elephants scare me.

I saw H.R. Puffinstuff on my way to work today.

George Bush chokes on pretzels.

Thanks for the giggle, GoTravel!

Since you specifically said you want to be off site, I concur with those recommending Vistana Village. It is a very nice project (part of sheraton) and seems to meet all of your criteria, i.e. off site but close (reasonably at least) to Disney, does offer shuttle service, and a good pool (more than one if I remember correctly). The 2 BR villa would meet your needs very well and they are fairly nice. Besides the pools, there are numerous other activities on site and being family oriented I am sure your 2 girls won't have trouble finding others in their age range as well.

wdwinfo.com, allearsnet.com, and mousesavers.com all make some suggestions about good off-property options.

Just FYI - the Disney Magical Express became a very political issue at the airport (cab companies against it, airport losing revenue because of it) and at one time the greeter were even banned from an area of the airport. It has now been resolved, and will continue through 2011.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...dlines-tourism

I totally agree with traveladdict on the vrbo.com suggestion. For about $100 a night,we rented a home in Orlando on vrbo and we had a master suite, 3 bedrooms and our own private heated pool. Even an orange tree in the backyard. It was so great having a full kitchen so we did not have to eat all meals out. In the morning, the kids wanted a quick breakfast so we could quickly start on our way! Our moody teens got their own rooms and some "downtime" at night, kept arguements to a minimum and the two younger ones lived in the pool! We will never go back to hotel rooms again!

Another vote for staying on-site. The value resorts (ie the All-Stars and Pop Century) range from $79-109/night depending on season and are clean and cute. Just keep in mind when you're pricing your trip that you'll have to pay for gas, parking, etc if you're not on-site!

I would go for the house or large condo. The all stars rooms are actually well appointed for the size. But with two teens, I think you'll have better "bang for the buck" with the house/condo option.