mxylplik2

I've seen many websites offering rentals of houses for as cheap as $99 / night. For that price, you get up to three bedrooms, a private pool, a community pool and SPACE. I will be traveling with another couple and two kids.

Why do peple pay a lot more money for a lot less space? What am I missing here?

I can see this to be a potentials scam. I call the "owner", pay money, go down there and there is no house or its run down or its locked, etc.

Finally, if this is "legit", I'd rather deal with an agent than directly with an owner. As mentioned previously, I how do I know this is an owner I can trust? At least with an established company, you can do more "checking" and there is someone there if there is a problem.

Thanks.

emd

We stayed in hotels on many times before we started renting homes. Many people have no idea the rental houses are available at very reasonable prices. And I suppose many of those who are aware have the same fears you do.
We have done it both ways, w/rental agency and more recently w/private owners. The rental agencies charge more on the basic rental and even more once you add up the fees and get total cost. I did feel like I had some peace of mind dealing w/an agency but you know what? The management company the agency used to deal w/problems turned out to be awful. We had a pool problem that never got fixed while we were there on that trip. Since then I have rented several houses from private owners and have had no problems. I am careful w/the owners I choose, I email w/them extensively and always get a written contract. The last house I rented at Christmas 2004 was from a British owner and he had a caretaker couple who lived a few blocks away. Everything went great. We have rented through private owners on vacationhomes.com, orlandovillas.com and VRBO.com. All were good experiences.
If you are considering a home from an individual, read the post done by Marvin Floyd, the general manager of VRBO, on this site. Go to the "Other" forum and put VRBO in the search box. It is in the first post that comes up in the search results. He gives good advice on how to best go about renting from an individual on an internet site.

kopp

For a larger group such as yours, a home does seem like a good idea. In fact, when I travel with extended family, we many times do the same.

In Orlando, I think you will find the rental homes a further distance away from the parks than many prefer. If you're looking at some off the Irlo Bronson Hwy., you might look at distances. That road is pretty long with lots of traffic and signal lights.

A bigger negative to me is that you have to pre-pay, with the cancellation policies not to my liking. Generally if you cancel within 30 days or so of arrival, you forfeit a large, if not all, of your payment. I prefer to keep my options open.

Also, there is the problem that can occur where the unit you rent isn't quite what the website indicated, and you have no place else to go.

But there are many wonderful looking properties in the area. If you do rent a home, I'd sure like to hear a trip report on how it went for you.

Happy travels!

schmerl

If people are visiting Disney World or Universal, there are perks to staying in the on-site hotels. It makes it a lot easier to enjoy the parks.

GoTravel

To stay onsite.

When we visit Disney, we stay onsite at Disney.

When we visit Universal, we stay onsite at Universal.

beentheretwice

http://www.elegantfloridavilla.com/

We stayed at this house during our visit to Orlando. Downside: you need a car. Upside: cheaper, private pool, space to have privacy, quiet, quick access to necessities. You deal directly with the owner, who uses a management company.

I think the biggest downside to renting a condo or home would be the necessity of a car. Hotels offer shuttles. Personally, I like to be able to pack light and do laundry, and have a kitchen. We eat and sleep better.

emd

The houses we stay at are in the Formosa Gardens area, across 192 from the road that takes you into the Anmial Kingdom side of Disney. Door to door was 3 miles from the house we stayed at in Dec. to Animal Kingdom. There are several different housing developments in that area (Windsor Palms, etc.), by the old Splendid China which is now closed.

We used to stay onsite when the kids were younger and it was very convenient. But now we can't do one hotel room comfortably and it is much more comfortbale and happy is everyone has their own space, esp. to get ready in the monring and to have downtime at end of the night. Two teens and two adults in one hotel room is not fun for us.

tracys2cents

Yeah you can find decent homes for $99 per night at certain times of the year...but you can also find decent hotel rooms at $39 and $49 per night at those same times of year.