Many prospective visitors to Central Florida often don’t know about the array of Kissimmee resorts as a viable option for leisure travel to the area. Kissimmee Florida vacation home resorts provide a multitude of options including location, premium amenities and privacy. Kissimmee also surprises many visitors with the variety of seasonal events and activities held in the city. For the city’s official website, please click on this Kissimmee link.
Many of the main theme parks and attractions in the region are adjacent to Kissimmee. This includes Walt Disney World®, Gatorland and Old Town with the latter attraction actually located in Kissimmee. As far as locations in Kissimmee, we tend to break into East Kissimmee, West Kissimmee and South Kissimmee.
The west end of Kissimmee tends to be the closest to Walt Disney World® and contain the largest number of vacation home communities. However, some of the newer vacation home resorts are in the southern portion of the city near Poinciana and Davenport.
Kissimmee Resorts
Privacy is also a big factor for many vacation home resorts in Kissimmee. For instance, you’ll find many gated communities in Kissimmee. Each of our opinion reviews of Kissimmee resorts has a narrative whether the property is gated and/or guarded for your convenience. We recommend you always check when making a reservation to make sure the gates are working and whether the gate is still manned as these can be subject to change at any time.
The selection of a vacation home resort for your family or group is an important decision. Our site contains over 80 reviews with other information including photos, maps, Google street scenes (if available), videos and other features. All of this information provides you with additional knowledge to help make an informed decision.
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Although the list is long, some of the highly rated vacation home resorts in Kissimmee include Bella Vida Resort, Encantada Resort, Oakwater Resort, Emerald Island Resort, Windsor Palms and Windsor Hills Resort among others. Each one of these resorts is reviewed in individual detail on the main page of our site.
The recent Super Bowl ads sponsored by the HomeAway® vacation site generated record internet traffic according to the company. In a company press release, HomeAway® announced that visitors to the company’s website jumped five-fold from daily averages after the Super Bowl ads debuted. The celebrity advertisements feature onetime comedy superstars Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo (aka Griswolds) from their 1980’s “National Lampoon” Vacation movie. The catchy ads certainly help bring a spotlight to vacation rentals as a major player in the lodging industry.
Spending millions on splashy ads provides a spark to a national mainstream interest in vacation rentals. However, longer term, it will be the quality of the underlying experience with the individual vacation homes that determines success in the longer term. This is true regardless of what destination is being considered. Ads bring in new customers, but referrals from satisfied customers provide a stream of home renters for years to come.
The problem with the presentation of vacation rentals is that it is very difficult for the average consumer to evaluate the value proposition (i.e quality and expectations) posed by individual vacation home communities. This is even more pronounced for “vacation rentals by owner” homes as opposed to rental homes managed by a professional management company. Additional resort reviews are needed to help consumers.
This site provides reviews of over 80 vacation home communities designed to assist prospective Orlando vacation home renters. The opinion reviews posted on the main page are designed to provide the prospective consumer with details related to resort location, amenities and community information.
Regardless of whether the consumer is interested in a HomeAway® Orlando Florida home or one advertised by a management company, professional reviews provide additional insight and reduce perceived risk for anyone wishing to book a vacation rental.
In the first bit of postive news for Florida tourism, travel to Orlando turned positive in January 2010. This is according to the most recent year over year volume comparisons for the Orlando International Airport. Please click on the following link for the latest report: http://www.orlandoairports.net/press/2010/20100308.htm.
The latest report indicates the following air passenger results:
Overall air passenger volume to the OIA was up 2.93% in January 2010 compared to January 2009
Domestic volume increased 2.76% and international traffic increased 4.63% for that same period
Typically air passenger volumes have been a leading indicator for the local tourist economy along with an accurate predictor for resort and lodging occupancies. This is a good early sign. Other financial signs seem to indicate that we have reached a short term trough and that economic conditions should improve from here.
What does this mean for the average traveller wishing to visit Florida in 2010? With new attractions in Orlando opening for early summer, resorts should begin to fill quickly. We would recommend that one should not wait until the last minute or many highly desired communities will fill during the higher occupancy periods. As occupancies and bookings begin to rise, the cheap deals will also vanish. For a recent post on our advice for the best times to visit Orlando, click here.
For reviews on many resorts located in Central Florida, consult our ratings and profiles of over 80 area resort communities. Some of the top rated vacation rentals in 2010 include Bella Vida, Cumbrian Lakes, Encantada Resort, Oakwater Resort, Reunion Resort, Tuscan Hills and Watersong Resort. All of these resorts are comprehensively reviewed along with critical details to enjoy your stay.
With the recent announcement of Legoland® Orlando as reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Central Florida adds another quality attraction to the region. The new park will be located in Winter Haven, Florida which is located about 30-40 minutes south of most Kissimmee and Davenport vacation home communities. So when will Legoland Orlando open? Although more information about Legoland® Florida will emerge as we get closer to the opening date, a few key details are clear:
Legoland is owned and managed by Merlin Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group which owns SeaWorld
The park was purchased for $22 million with new upgrades and rides for the park reportedly costing Merlin Entertainment at least 5 times that amount
The new site for Legoland is on the historic Cypress Gardens attraction and gardens and should be ready by late 2011. Some signature landmarks from the historic park will remain such as Splash Waterpark
The park will be oriented to children ages 3 to 12 years old
Legoland Orlando’s sister park in Carlsbad, CA attracts about 6,000 visitors daily
The attraction will feature roughly 40-50 mini cities, whimsical animals and Americana constructed of LEGO® blocks
Most Orlando area vacation homes are in proximity to Legoland® Florida, Universal Studios® and the Walt Disney World® theme parks. Consult our freshly updatedOrlando resort reviewsof over 80 communities in Central Florida and Four Corners area for detailed profiles and ratings. These reviews pinpoint location, amenities and other important information for planning your Central Florida vacation.
Halloween Horror Nights 2010 (HHN 2010) at Universal Studios Florida® and Islands of Adventure® will begin in September, 2010 and conclude on October 31, 2010. This spine-chilling attraction is always one of the area’s most popular events and is in fact one of the largest seasonal themed events of its kind in the country. It must be noted that this attraction is too intense for smaller children.
The Halloween Horror Nights 2010 activities include a Halloween parade, haunted homes, frightening scare zones, lively dead entertainment, and themed performances. This year’s occasion also includes a Rocky Horror Picture Show salute plus scary appearances by an array of monsters, beasts, ogres, hellions and devilish creatures.
For additional details on Halloween Horror Nights 2010, please visit Universal’s HHN website.
Although HHN is a quite a scary attraction, you want your vacation accommodations to be much less dramatic. Vacation home rentals provide a “scare-free” environment that the whole family can enjoy while on vacation. This website provides profiles on over 80 resort communities that are located near the parks and major attractions. Most vacation rentals have private pools, wireless internet, game rooms and other premium home luxuries.
Finding a 7 bedroom vacation home in Orlando is not hard, but only certain communities have homes of this size and maximum occupancy.
Seven bedroom vacation homes in Orlando can typically comfortably sleep 14 to 17 persons depending on the number of beds and pull-out couches. These expansive homes are great for family reunions and large families.
Highly rated resort communties that include such large homes include: Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island, Reunion Resort and Formosa Gardens. Refer to our reviews of all of these luxury resort communities along with many others in the area on our main page.
Typically these 7 bedroom vacation homes offer as many as 7 bathrooms along with private pools and televisions in numerous rooms. Game rooms often placed in the garage are often featured in these premium homes as well. Be sure to check the home amenities offered when making any reservation.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational staff recently announced a great new promotion on Friday, March 26th during the Bay Hill PGA tour golf event. The name for the promotion is Wine and Dine on 9 which will be held from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. that day. The special event pass is sold separately and will entitle you to appetizer and wine samples from such great local restaurants as Morton’s, Flemings, Timpano’s and The Capital Grille. If you love food, you don’t have any excuses not to attend this event!
Player commitments for the Palmer Invitational continue to roll in. As of this date, player commitments include Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, local resident Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Kenny Perry, Vijah Singh, Bubba Watson and rising star Brandt Snedeker. Daily player pairings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational are announced on the event website. Tournament proceeds benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.
If you are also looking to play a little golf in Orlando during the tournament, we suggest reviewing a recent post on the best golf villas in Orlando. We covered some of the best vacation rental communities located on or adjacent to area courses. These golfing communities in the Orlando area include Reunion Resort, Highlands Reserve, and Windsor Palms. If you want to simply attend this great local event, consult our reviews of over 80 great resorts in Central Florida located on our main page. Most vacation home communities are located just 20-25 minutes away from this PGA tour event.
Brand new content is always added to our Orlando reviews section of this website.
Over 75 vacation home communities are evaluated including such top resorts as Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills and Emerald Island. The latest resort community review update was for Cane Island Kissimmee. As a summary, the review process for this blog includes:
A review of the quality of all resort amenities (playground, pools, clubhouse, tennis courts, etc…).
The cleanliness and maintenance of all resort grounds.
A random exterior review of 40 continuous vacation homes in the community or in the case of a condominium style resort, a review of multiple buildings.
Evaluation of the location of the resort community in relation to the Disney parks.
Our Orlando reviews are continuously updated to provide fresh material including pictures, video and photographs. With each posted review, you’ll have the opportunity to read, review and research.
Each Orlando vacation home community is given an overall star rating ranging from One to Five stars. The overall resort rating is based on all of the criteria mentioned above, as well as other attributes included in the review process.
We re-evaluate each community every six months for optimal insight. The timeliness of every review is critical to avoid the information getting “stale”. We often see reviews on some websites that are more than one year old, and we believe that the value of these reviews to decline sharply over time. Vacation home community quality is quite dynamic because of the heavy impact of community management.
Only 1 in 4 vacation home resorts have attained a Four or Five star resort rating on this site. This is a mark of distinction held for the premium quality vacation home communities in Orlando. Also, review our website for news and events for vacation home renters. We hope the blog and reviews help simplify your vacation planning.
As we always state, our reviews are opinion based and as a result, individual opinions may vary. We would also like to note that the quality of each individual home within the same community can also vary significantly depending on the owner, and quality of vacation home management.
Look for our new site in the near future that will allow consumers to directly comment on and rate vacation home communities in the Central Florida area.
Anticipation continues to build around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening date Universal Studios. Universal Studios Isands of Adventure recently announced an achievable target date of May 28, 2010, but the park cannot guarantee a full opening before this date. Theme Park Insiders indicate that a full opening may not be anticipated by then, but some type of advance ”soft opening” should be minimally available.
Typically opening any new theme park would involve several weeks of testing operations to handle peak volume. This training period is commonly called a soft opening. Moreover, the park may pursue this soft opening option for several weeks, and then declare the park fully open on May 28th as the Theme Park Insiders indicate.
One thing for certain is the fact that Orlando will bask in the glow of Harry Potter’s media attention for the next several months. The opening of the Harry Potter attraction also helps build a healthy competition for quality entertainment with Disney.
Considering the state of the recessed local and state economy, the new Harry Potter attraction at the Islands of Adventure Universal will help fill up vacation homes and other accomodations from the first day of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s opening date.
The closest villas to Harry Potter World and Universal Orlando would generally be Vista Cay and the Isles at Cay Commons. Both of these resort communities are rated 4 Stars (out of a possible 5 Stars) and are located just minutes from the attraction. Consult our reviews of both Vista Cay and the Isles of Cay for more detailed information. This site also profiles over 75+ additional vacation rental choices in the Central Florida area on the main page of this site.
The resort reviews on this website are updated on a regular basis. In the case of Cane Island in Kissimmee, the initial evaluation of Cane Island was completed six months ago and has been further updated after our recent visit.
The actual resort rating is based on a combination of multiple attributes including:
* Overall Appearance of Resort
* Cleanliness of Vacation Community Grounds
* Overall Quality of Resort Amenities
Cane Island in Kissimmee is now a mix of a vacation condominium community and an apartment complex.
The Cane Island amenities include sun deck, fitness room, whirlpool spa and game room. The resort also has some excellent water features including a fountain at the resort pond and an ample community clubhouse pool. Cane Island is a mid-rise condominium complex with an apartment style build with many additional positives including location, complex and variety of amenities.
We will re-evaluate all vacation communities regular for changes. As always, please read our disclaimer for guidance on the opinion reviews and evaluation process. Consult our main page for ratings on over 80 resort communities including additional reviews of luxurious villas in Kissimmee.
