Orlando Vacation Homes Rentals

posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 30

Disney released quarterly earnings today with third quarter profit dropping 26%. The most important item for Orlando businesses was the fact that domestic park attendance actually rose 3% mainly due to heavy discounting. International parks and resort attendance dropped 9%. CEO Bob Iger also indicated that the company did see signs of economic stabilization.

The big question for any local businesses is how long the discounting will continue. The Disney CFO, Tom Staggs, indicated that discounts such as the “Buy 4, Get 3″ promotion will continue as long as the economy remains weak. Without this heavy discounting, the drop in local transient leisure hotel occupancy would be even more dramatic.

Feedback from our sources indicates that proximity to the Disney parks is even more paramount from an occupancy impact. It’s pretty apparent that hotels further from the parks are really struggling. As it relates to vacation homes, distance to the attractions is important as well. Our site makes an attempt at profiling over 80 vacation home communities on several factors including distance to major attractions.

Disney Earnings

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 29

The group travel segment which has been the core of the hotel industry in Orlando has discovered the operational and financial benefits of staying in Orlando vacation homes. Group travel insiders are embracing vacation homes as a viable alternative to Orlando.

For example, a baseball team from Puerto Rico that we are personally familar with has booked a hotel in Orlando every year for the last 17 years. This year the coach booked a vacation home. The coach explained that he has 18 people in his group, and they would normally book 7 hotel rooms. Last year this cost him $420 a night. This year they booked a seven bedroom vacation home in Emerald Island for $270 a night. This saved the team $150 a night over 6 nights or approximately $900 total.

Next, the coach explained that rather than eating out for breakfast and dinner, they buy groceries and cook together in the home’s spacious kitchen. This saved the team he estimated another $116 a day.

Bottom line, he estimates that the group saved $1600 +/- over the 6 night stay by booking a vacation home.

We inquired as to how the team liked staying in the house and he explained: “The kids loved it, all the rooms had televisions, they could swim in the pool and visit the amenity center clubhouse and on the last night we did a great barbecue”.

As the benefits of vacation homes become understood, more and more groups are booking them. We have seen family reunions, religious groups, sports teams, high school bands and this year many high school groups from Latin America switching to vacation homes instead of traditional hotel rooms.

Group Bookings - Orlando Vacation Homes

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 27

Universal Studios Orlando has teamed up with Warner Brothers and has broken ground in Universal’s Island of Adventure for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The magnitude and scale of the project is reflected in its 2 year construction timeframe and has been dubbed “a theme park within a theme park”. We have received several e-mails from Orlando vacation home renters regarding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Universal Studios Orlando opening dates. We are not aware of a hard opening date, but many hope it may open as early as 2010. Subscribe to our feed so we can keep you updated.

From the street level, Hogwarts Castle can clearly be seen under construction. In addition to the castle, the Harry Potter theme park is believed to have backdrops that also include Hogsmeade Village and the Forbidden Forest.

Harry Potter Orlando promises to be a totally interactive and immersive environment with rides, attractions, shops and restaurants. Stuart Craig, the creative mind behind the film,  is managing the project at Universal Studios. This will keep the attraction true to its roots and with blessings from the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter theme park is currently the largest theme park expansion in Universal Orlando and promises to bring thousands of tourists to the area.

If you are planning a visit to the Orlando area and want to enjoy all that the area has to offer, rent a spacious vacation home. Don’t get stuck in a cramped hotel room. We always suggest renting an entire house - enjoy an Orlando vacation home. Follow our blog for community reviews including a Harry Potter Universal Studios update, and the latest area attraction news.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 26

On a previous post, we highlighted opportunities for green vacation activities in Orlando. These activities are tremendous low cost local options for you and your family to enjoy the outdoors and/or natural living. One of the goals of this website is to promote area attractions, especially eco-friendly activities near most vacation home subdivision locations in Kissimmee and Davenport.

One of the newer attractions in the area is the Florida Eco Safari Zipline. Although this activity is equivalent in cost to many of the area theme parks, the Florida Eco Zipline does give you the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and discover the area’s natural environment. These zipline action adventure attractions are popping up in many destinations. This is the first zipline tour in the Orlando area. If you cannot do the zipline, enjoy the animal safari activities. Florida EcoSafaris also donates 30% of all Safari revenues to support the Allen Broussard Conservancy, an organization devoted to preserving Florida’s native wilderness.

Florida Eco Safaris is located at 4755 North Kenansville Road in St. Cloud, Florida. Enjoy a taste of the action packed Florida Eco Safari Zipline in the attached video clip. Also, see our map to the Florida Eco Safari Zipline.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 23

The benefits of a spacious vacation home over a typical cramped hotel room are numerous. Additional amenities demanded by Orlando vacation home guests include:

1. Private pool – Yes, people who rent a vacation home love having their own private pool. Many visitors to Orlando like to relax by the pool or go for a swim in the privacy of their own home.
2. Gameroom for the kids– If you are coming to Orlando, there is always plenty to do for the kids. However, a gameroom with foosball and table tennis can help keep them occupied.
3. Internet access– In today’s 24 hour information world, internet access is becoming more and more important. Many vacation homes offer internet access as do many of the community club houses.
4. Full kitchen – Fortunately this comes standard in nearly all vacation homes. Also, expect washer dryers and televisions in most bedrooms and living spaces.
5. BBQ – It’s great to cook out by the pool with a proper grill. Often these have to be requested, but more and more home rentals provide them as a standard item.

Of course, these amenities are generally not available in cramped hotel rooms. A vacation home not only offers all the benefits of a house, but often goes above and beyond to meet renter expectations. Homes ensure all the joys of staying in sunny and fun destination such as Orlando, and with privacy and comfort.

Orlando Vacation Homes - Pool

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 21

Celebration, Florida is a fantastic idea for a half-day day trip for any visitors to Orlando and Central Florida. The town is host to one of our favorite local events, the Celebration Exotic Car Show. The small town family friendly atmosphere, vibrant shopping activity and quaint homes should be enjoyed by all guests to the area.

Although the homes in Celebration are not typically zoned for short term rentals, it is located in proximity to many of the vacation home rentals in Kissimmee, Davenport and Orlando being relatively close to Disney.

Our favorite fun activities in Celebration include:

1. Playing with the kids in the synchronized water fountains in the downtown area.

2. Seeing a movie at the AMC theatre.

3. Dining at the upscale Cuban cuisine establishment Columbia Restaurant.

4. Enjoying an adult beverage at the Celebration Town Tavern.

5. Shopping in the small quaint shops on Market and Front Streets.

6. Oogling over the beautiful homes in the town.

Enjoy our brief video of Celebration and some of the fun activities in and around Celebration, Florida. The downtown area is less than 20 minutes from most vacation homes in the area. We have also added a map of Celebration below for you convenience.

Celebration Florida

Photos of Celebration Florida

Columbia Restaurant Celebration Florida

Celebration Town Tavern

Celebration Florida Images

Celebration Florida Vacation Homes

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 19

Regardless of how you feel about social policy, recently proposed tax and economic policies could be doubly hurtful to the domestic vacation home industry.

As many real estate markets are beginning to work off excess inventory, the new higher tax policies for the higher income earners might not be good for vacation home owners.

Collectively the vacation home industry has a substantial impact on our national economy. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, there are 8.1 million vacation homes and 40.5 million investment properties in the United States.

First, the newly proposed tax policies would push the average state and local tax rates over 50% for the higher income earners in many states according to the July 20th, 2009 edition of Barrons Magazine.

Moreover, the top five highest combined taxed states would be Oregon, Hawaii, New York, California and Rhode Island with a potential combined tax rate over 56% on taxable income for their top income earners. Other than Florida, Utah, Colorado and North Carolina, these states represent some of the highest areas for second home/vacation home ownership. In other words, as people leave these states to seek lower taxes vacation home owners and the vacation home industry will be effected disproportionately hard as housing inventories swell. In addition, taxing higher income earners (prime second home home buyers) will decrease their level of disposable income and ability to buy vacation homes.

Second, look at unemployment in these five states. According to the latest US Bureau of Statistics, the average unemployment rate for these five states is 10.5%, a full point above the national average. In fact, Oregon, California and Rhode Island are also in the top five for highest unemployment. The vacation home industry has been a source of high paying jobs for some time. Again, raising marginal tax rates will not only sting areas with high vacation home ownership, these actions will only likely cause the employment situation to get worse.

Regardless of your political stripes, raising combined marginal tax rates could hit the vacation home industry hard in a time when market conditions showed some signs of improvement.

As always don’t rely on an opinion, always consult a CPA before making a tax decision of any kind.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 17

We continue a theme from a previous post due to reader comments and e-mails. As a former hotelier, it was not uncommon for some media companies to actively solicit written reviews about our hotel on various travel web and review sites. At the time, it was described as “reputation management”. Packages typically came in number of reviews per month (i.e. 30 reviews a month would cost $150). A small price to pay for those who desired to drive reservations to their hotel via higher consumer rankings on the website. This may come as shocking news for some people.

Individuals expressed concern to the professional review writers that multiple reviews from one IP address (its like a computer phone number) would be detected by the review site, but managed review writing is now so advanced that every post can be written by the same author with a different IP address. 

I always declined such offers due to ethical reasons, and often can spot anomalies when I personally review hotel ratings on some sites.

The UK Times Online recently exposed a similar practice in the hospitality industry (read here) putting into question the reliability of some consumer review sites.

As technology junkies, one of our favorite technology review sites is CNET. This site not only provides consumer reviews, but is balanced by a professional and independent review from CNET itself (see it here). As a technology consumer, we always look at the professional review first (given their purported independent level of knowledge and expertise), and then look at the consumer reviews for possible other nuggets of information.

As a result, we think it is credible for review sites in the vacation home industry to have an independent knowledgeable review / opinion first, and unbiased vacation reviews as a follow-up. This could be applied to reviews of Orlando, Clermont, Kissimmee and Davenport Fl vacation homes. Let us know if you have any comments.

Vacation Home Reviews

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 16

Like promoting any hospitality product, having great vacation home video and photography to highlight benefits are a must for any vacation home owner.

However, we always recommend the vacation home rental consumer check several reviews from the vacation home and/or community before they book in addition to reviewing the photography and video available. Today there many review sites on the internet.

It is easy to market Florida with pictures of beautiful blue skies, clear blue pools and great camera angles to make a standard holiday rental in Orlando look palatial. However, you want to make sure that what you see is what you get. Get on-line and check out the rental reviews.

One additional way get some assurance you are booking a great product is to reserve with a credible and reputable vacation home management company. Ask for references and check out their professional memberships and affiliations on their website.

Vacation Home Photos - Check out the Reviews First and Book with A Credible Vacation Home Management Company

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 15

The only thing preventing an utter meltdown in public tax receipts in Florida is an increase in international tourism. The robust trend for growth of international tourism to Orlando  is something we have blogged about in the recent past.

From a national perspective, international tourism was up 3% from April, 2009 to April, 2008 according to the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI).

Luckily for Florida, the growing middle class in many South and Central American countries has led to several sharp increases. Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina all increased year-over-year tourism to the United States by at least 20%.

From an international air traffic standpoint, international passenger counts to Orlando were up 13.6% in May, 2009 versus May, 2008. The domestic air passenger volume was down 10.2% over that same period according to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

The global passenger news certainly cushioned the overall drop of 8.6% volume decrease. Moreover, year-to-date international travel volume is up 3.4% with many of the countries mentioned above as star performers.

Brazil continues its 35 month continuous string of increasing tourism to the United States.

International Tourism to Orlando Up 2009

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