VRBO advice?

[Zippa D Doodah]

I'm studying up on VRBO around WDW. I need someone to take me to school about the ins and outs of area VRBO options. Are they as good a deal as they seem?

We are a family of four (youngest is 17) staying seven nights in July. I was looking at Wilderness Lodge, but am seeing very attractive VRBO choices starting at 1/3 the cost of WL. This would be something we have not done before in all of our many WDW trips

 

[spiceycat]

all timeshares offsite are cheaper than Disney. being close to the theme parks and free transportation to the parks and airports - as well as a long list of other stuff is the reason why.

 

[prprincess]

I've rented from VRBO a few times for our trips to Orlando and Puerto Rico, and yes, you can find very good deals. I'm not going to lie, the first time I rented, I was nervous. But it was very easy connecting with the property owner and we communicated as often as needed (I am still friends with an owner!!).

I would just make sure that the listings you are considering have been reviewed by several renters. If you find that you love a property but it has no reviews, check HomeAway or the property management company's website (if not a private owner). Rentals get posted on multiple sites and nine times out of ten they'll have reviews listed on other sites if not on VRBO.

And select three or four properties that you like before reaching out to the owners for quotes--oftentimes the calendars aren't updated, so they may already be booked for your dates, or people don't get back to you in a timely fashion (which to me was a sign). Also, take into consideration ALL of the costs involved--there usually are cleaning costs, extra fees if you'd like the pool heat turned on, etc. Make sure to get a formal contract from the owner, and don't be afraid to ask questions! Good luck and have fun!

 

[sympatico]

This is a map of the area. The Disney Maingate West area along 192 is where you'll find the closest rentals to Disney. There are other areas off Poincianna Blvd on the eastern end of 192. Also along 27 north and south and the Champions Gate area around exit 58 off I - 4 there are a lot of subdivisions. Here's a map that has the subdivisions marked with blue markers. Disney has pink markers and the red markers show a few of the many restaurants in the area. Windsor Hills, marker #1 is one of the closest to Disney. Just click on the blue markers around and to the left and you'll see many others.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...,-81.59734768774416&spn=0.068335,0.11055&z=13
Click on the info on the left side and it will list all the markers. Zoom in for a close look at the area.
We stay in the Windsor Hills / Formosa Gardens area usually.

 

[Cbrtls5]

Thanks!

 

[BigredNole]

Almost everything offsite will be less than Disney. It all depends on what you are looking for, the distance you are willing to deal with, and whether you have a car or not.

The BIGGEST advice I can give on VRBO is not to take their quotes as gospel. You can find cheaper rates elsewhere for the same thing. This may not always be the case, but it is a good starting place to find a ceiling for the overall price. For instance, when you see the "Get an instant quote" price, this is the MOST you will spend for it. From there, research other places to rent from, find owners directly, and find owners that are the highest level owners if it is a timeshare rental. Rates can vary by room for your stay. Owners rates can range from $60/nt to over $500/nt for the same room.

 

[Klayfish]

Short answer is yes, the deals are as good as they seem. Offsite condos/townhomes are far cheaper than staying onsite. We have used VRBO about 10-12 times now, if not more, and always had great success. Already good advice given in this thread. We look to look for private owner places, we feel they have a more personal touch and may be in better condition. They're not hard to find. We typically pay $55-$85/night for a 3 or 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo/house. Just depends on the community we're staying in. They're all very nice, some are just more expensive. I would suggest looking near Rt. 192. It runs east/west across the south side of WDW. There are pockets of places just to the east and just to the west. Typically a 7-10 minute drive to WDW.

 

[gatormom2tots]

I have found often the "instant quotes" are actually LESS than what the owners quoted me when contacting them directly. It seems sometimes these instant quotes are based on the cheapest available, even when you put in your exact dates. I am guessing it has something to do with the way the owners set up their calendars. And many calendars are not kept up to date.

Always look for those with RECENT reviews.

Look for quick response. If they take a week to respond, who knows what the response time will be if there is an issue.

We have also run into issues twice when the home we were going to rent is actually on the market- which would result in different owners (and therefore no idea what TYPE of owners and how they will take care of the property). This was never told to us- it only came up after googling the exact address after a ressie had already been made. The one time it present no issue (it sold literally 3 days before our ressie and the new owners were VERY accommodating- we have since secured another reservation with the new owners for next summer) the other time we cancelled since we were still several months out.

 

[wmjeffer]

If you want to stay off-site in a private rental but have a little more protection than VRBO/Homeaway, you can try an agency (I've personally used Magical Vacation Homes). The prices seemed comparable with the private rentals, but I thought any grievances would be handled more efficiently with an agency (we did have to call once because we couldn't figure out how to use their fancy lock, lol - we were leaving for an ADR so I was VERY happy to talk to someone right away).

 

[The Hunchback]

You will most likely need a rental car and pay for parking at Disney. None of our VRBO properties had transportation options. We found that adding a small car rental was still a bettter deal than an onsite hotel. Plus we ate breakfast in and sometimes took heavy duty snacks to be lunch.

The extra bathroom was great to.

 

[dragitoff]

I've used VRBO and management companies for off-site stays and now own a vacation home myself in Champions Gate. We're a family of 8 so staying onsite for us gets VERY expensive. I will say that one major perk of renting through a management company rather than VRBO is some, not all, VRBO owners are not local and cannot offer some of the services major management companies can. That's one thing to consider. Some management companies offer services that rival concierge services at nice hotels while others offer the basics of check-in/check-out and emergency contact info. Some management companies even offer special deals for free or discounted rental cars as that will be needed when staying offsite at most places like the PP mentioned.