Sandy Ridge - BEWARE!!!

[pbbbtech]

To anyone thinking of renting a vacation home in the greater Orlando area, BEWARE OF SANDY RIDGE. Yes, you are fairly close to Disney (they advertise 15 minutes; this is to the entrance of the “city” of Disney. The reality is, it takes at least 30 minutes to arrive at your chosen park). Anyway, these “villas” at Sandy Ridge are right on top of each other. Yes, you get a private pool, but each pool cage is literally STEPS from each of your next door neighbors. Therefore, you get ZERO privacy, and do the math: you can only imagine the noise factor. Look it up on google maps and you’ll see how close together these properties are.

We experienced screaming children from morning till night – no matter what room of the house we were in. Yes, I am talking INDOORS. Then once the children finally conk out, the inconsiderate, loud, partying, drinking, smoking adults swarm the pool into the wee hours of the morning. Oh, and that’s only the NEXT door neighbors. You also have to contend with the people ACROSS THE STREET, which is a skinny road that barely accommodates two cars to pass by each other (people actually park on the grass - it’s that bad). Which makes zero sense, since this subdivision is out in the middle of nowhere and had plenty of developable land when it was built. ???

My advice is, avoid this area at all costs. The noise is atrocious. Our time at Disney was cut into considerably, taking into effect that we were thoroughly exhausted from not getting any sleep at Sandy Ridge. We really wish we would have just booked a hotel room right at Disney: no 30+ minute drive each day, no parking charges, but best of all: one can retreat to his/her room to escape the noise from the pool. There is no way to escape the noise of Sandy Ridge neighbors.

 

[dougsmom98]

Wow. Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. I really think you just had bad luck.

We have never stayed at Sandy Ridge, but we have stayed in two developments nearby and we really like this area. We don't think the drive is that bad. We leave early to get to the parks at opening and I-4 has always been a breeze. That being said, our first few times staying in villas, we stayed in the Formosa Gardens area (which is really close). We didn't start staying further out in the Davenport area until we became more familiar with the Orlando area and we figured out different routes we could take to get to different places. We have found the deals in Davenport are so good that it is worth the extra 10-15 minutes of our time to travel to the parks from there in order to save hundreds of dollars for our family of six. The most we have ever spent on accommodations in this area is $1200 including taxes, fees, and pool heat. That is for a 5-6 bedroom home that we split the cost with my parents and in laws.

We also have never heard the neighbors in any of the developments we have stayed at. One of the things I like about the Davenport area is that a lot of the communities have full time residents living in them and fewer people on vacation, so it is quieter. We have always had the windows closed and central air/heat on too, so we never noticed any noise.

I hope you still had a magical time at the parks.

 

[Beccabunny]

OP, sorry to hear about your experience. I'm wondering, have you ever stayed in any of the communities closer to WDW? I've only stayed at Windsor Hills, and I'd like to know how the communities compare in terms of how closely spaced the houses are. I had looked into houses in Sandy Ridge and they seem to get good reviews on VRBO. No complaints of noise.

Dougsmom, can you name some of the communities in the Davenport area that you would recommend?

 

[sympatico]

Sandy Ridge really isn't any different than most of the rest of the subdivisions. The homes are really close together in all of them. We've never really had a problem with noise but as with any stay even in hotels you may get someone or family in the next room or property that are noisy. Not much you can do about it.
We've stayed in Reunion and Grand Reserve in that general area and didn't mind the drive. When most owners tell you how long it takes to get to Disney, they usually mean to get on Disney property not to a specific park. Once you get on Disney property it can take you another 5 or 10 minutes to the parking lots and another 5 or 10 minutes to get into the parks.
Sorry your stay was so noisy but it isn't always that way.

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks for posting this. I've been mulling over trying one of these places and the possibility of a lot of noise hadn't even occurred to me. I guess that you can run into that anywhere but ugh, I hate a really noisy place!

 

[tednvon]

Hi, I also am sorry that this was a bad experience but to blame one community is really not fair to Sandy Ridge.

To echo thoughts from Wanda, If you do a Google search of the entire area and look at 20 communities from the satellite you will see rental homes are stacked very close in all of them except for about two communities, Formosa Gardens and intersestingly Indian Ridge. They are kind of polar opposites in that FG is very high end and IR is basic 3-4 bedroom homes with pools and less than a mile apart. IR was built in late 70's and just has larger lots.

We stay 3 months in Sunset Lakes where the homes are 8- 10 feet apart, roads narrow, yards small, and cookie cutter homes. About 2-3 weeks out of the winter we have a noisy neighbor or two and the noise does carry and kids in the pool can be loud.

So my two cents is not to condemn Sandy Ridge but to say I am sorry for a bad experience that could happen anywhere, even Holiday Inn.

From Sunset Lakes it is 8-10 minutes to Disney "property" and then 5-15 minutes to the parks depending on which park...still lots faster than the Disney Bus system, IMHO. Sridge is about 5-8 minutes farther south down Old Lake Wilson and Reagan Parkway, but still a handy drive to the parks.

I would bet that if you try it again off site, next time the vacation gods will be with you and it will be a quiet enjoyable stay!

Ted

 

[isla bonita]

So sorry to hear you experience was so loud.

I also had a group near us one time that were crazy loud at all hours I guess they were on a different time zone then us and when we were going to sleep they had just gotten started. Lucky for us they had to accomidate to ours and no crazy hours for the rest of the week.

The homes in florida are very close unlike what we have here in RI. I live on over an acre. Very unheard of down in most of Florida. In many of the rental communities they are even closer just because they are short term rentals.

All of florida like here back home have ordinances that have quiet time after 11:00 in the evening. Next time call the local authority and they will enforce just this.

Hope your next trip is a much quieter one for all of you.

 

[pbbbtech]

Thank you for all your kind replies. Yes, I realize that Sandy Ridge is not the only subdivision that has homes on top of each other - but I just really wanted to make sure that no one goes into booking one of these units without realizing just how close to each other they are. These people go so nuts that you'd think they've never seen/been in a pool before? Good God. Never in my wildest dreams did I think my vacation would be ruined by noisy neighbors who aren't even in the same building as myself!?!? Something for everyone to consider. Someday we want to go back and actually experience Disney fully rested, 'cuz this sure wasn't it.

 

[dougsmom98]

Dougsmom, can you name some of the communities in the Davenport area that you would recommend?

Hi. We stayed in Windwood Bay once 3 years ago, and Grand Reserve the last two times. Both of those resorts are in the Champions Gate area. This is a nice, quiet area near the community that the original poster stayed. Here is a villa map that will show you where these communities are.

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa-map.php

5 years ago we stayed in Regal Palms which is over on 27 and the year after that, we stayed in the Solana Resort.

Both areas have their good and bad points. The Champions gate (Windwood Bay, Grand Reserve...) area uses exit 58 off I-4. I think the Disney exits are between exits 62-64. Right off the exit is a Publix supermarket, a McDonalds that is open 24 hours, a Subway, a Walgreens, and a pizza place. Most of the developments are off of Ronald Reagan Parkway (Loughman Road). There is also a road of Ronald Reagan Parkway called Lake Wilson Road. If you take this road, there is another Publix Supermarket plaza and Papa John's Pizza place. If you continue to follow this road for 4-5 minutes, you will run into 192 West which is where there are tons of eating options (TGI Fridays, Golden Corrall, Bob Evans, Perkins, Cracker Barrell, Ponderosa, Waffle House, Outback Steakhouse...). This is near the Windsor Hills area that is so popular on these boards. I like this area because it has easy access to I-4 and 192.

The 27 area is also nice. 27 is off of 192. Both Regal Palms and the Solana Resort are south of the 192 and 27 junction. There is a Pub restaurant down this way, an Applebees and a Publix. North of the 192 junction about a mile is a Super Wal Mart and a couple of other fast food type restaurants. It's easy access to 192 and all the food/shopping options makes it a nice area. If you stay on 27, you will want to get to WDW by going towards the Formosa Gardens area and take the Sherbeth Road shortcut to the parks or the newer 429 toll road.

All that being said, I think the first time someone stays off site, unless they really need to save a lot of money, they might want to try a community closer to the parks such as Indian Creek, Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills, Emerald Island, Sunset Lakes... I think staying in one of these communities off of 192 will give you the bearings you might want for future off site options. Once we got comfortable with the Formosa Gardens area we ventured further down 192 toward 27 for a drive to see what else was there. We also took a drive on 27 to see if we could handle staying that far out, we could, so we tried that for a few years. Then I found some deals over in the Champions Gate area, so I came here for advice and got some good info from Sympatico. We like this area and we keep going back but the reason we like this area is because it has easy access to the two other areas we are comfortable with (192 and 27).

Please don't hesitate to ask questions about any of these areas.

 

[kksmom92]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience there. We have always had a great experience so that's why we keep going back and never felt like trying someplace different.

The first year we did have houses on the left of us and behind us, but it wasn't that big of a deal since we were at the parks a majority of the time and when we were home in the pool we never saw anyone else until the end of our trip and thankfully their kids were well behaved.

Since that time we have found another owner and always rent from him. We have no neighbors in the back as it's woods and while we have houses on the sides of us, I assume they are also rentals as only once has anyone been in one of the houses and even then they came our last day there so we had total privacy and quiet and I loved that!

Of course I should say that when we go it's usually Feb too during the low season so maybe that's why it's quieter?

Regarding the drive.. .maybe it's because it's the only place we've ever stayed (besides my DH and I staying at All Star Resorts our first year) I don't think of the drive as being that bad as you only have 2 red lights (if I remember right) between Sandy Ridge & I-4. The longest part of the drive to us is from the I-4 exit and the parking lots due to we just want to get there and get on the rides... for some reason the ride from the parking lots to I-4 on the way home goes lots faster.

Once again sorry to hear you had such a terrible time. I wonder too if it's the area of Sandy ridge that's louder than another? The house we stay at is on Scrub Jay Way.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

pbbb- You have my sympathies...nothing is more frustrating than to plan and pay for a vacation and to have something like this happen. I appreciate the warning. We are staying off property for the first time on our next trip, but just for part of the trip. Should be an interesting experience.
I really do sympathize with you. We rented a villa in St John, USVI last November that was not cheap, and was absolutely beautiful on it's website. Was a run down mess in real life. To say we were unhappy would be an understatement. Not quite the same thing, but close enough to understand how you felt.