There are over 90 vacation home communities in the Disney area with over 20,000 homes to choose from.
Before selecting a home (or even a community), you may want to consider the following questions:
What type of home do you want to rent? – A condo, town home or a single family home?
What type of community do you need? – Gated and/or guarded community, and with extensive resort amenities?
Location? How close do you want be to the parks and which attractions? – Disney, Universal Studios, Sea World or the Orlando Convention Center?
How many people will be staying in the house? – How many bedrooms will you need? – Some vacation homes in the Orlando area have as many as 8 bedrooms and can sleep 18 people.
What additional amenities do you want? – A private gameroom for the kids, heated pool (typically costs extra), internet access, spa, etc…?
If you are working with a professional vacation home management company with extensive area knowledge, they will be able to guide you through the multitude of available options in the area. They can also help you make a more informed rental decision.
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.
To provide our website visitors with the highest quality user experience, we are now adding Disney World vacation rental video clips in high definition. We’ll gradually add these to the site as our evaluators are able to film the individual resort communities. The video podcasts are meant to capture a snippet of what to expect from each community.
We now have over 80 Disney World vacation home communities profiled on our website. In addition to the videos, we have maps, news and tips for your Orlando vacation.
Our evaluators provide you with an independent rating along with basic information for each resort. Each Disney World vacation rental community is reviewed on our main page for your convenience.
We hope you find these consumer profiles to be valuable in selecting your Disney World vacation home accommodations. The on-site community reviews are conducted by independent evaluators who focus on quality and a variety of factors.
As an example, see our video review of Emerald Island vacation home community in Orlando – Kissimmee below.
We get e-mails periodically regarding recommendations for the best “Walt Disney World travel guide books” and the best tips for Walt Disney world vacations. Although this is highly subjective, we thought we would do a little research to answer that question. According to Amazon.com sales rank figures, and assuming sales is a barometer of quality, the top Walt Disney World guide books are:
* The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009, by Bob Sehlinger. Ranked #1 in Travel – North America and #275 books overall by the website
* The Complete Walt Disney World, by Julie Neal. Ranked #2 in Travel – Florida and #549 books overall
* Birnbaum Travel Guides: Birnbaum Travel Guides, Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2009. Ranked #6 in Travel Books - Reference and Tips and #5608 overall by Amazon
* Passporter’s Walt Disney World 2009, by Jennifer Marx. Ranked #33 in Travel books United States by Amazon
* The Hassle Free Walt Disney World Vacation 2008, by Steven M. Barrett. Ranked #97 in Travel books United States
Although none of these guide books typically recommend nor cover Orlando vacation rentals, they are nonetheless useful planning tools for your next Disney vacation. Orlando vacation homes are a great alternative to area hotels when you consider amenities such as pools, self-catering kitchens, multiple bathrooms and bedrooms and other living rooms all for typically the price of a hotel room.
We have personally met Julie Neal (#2 on the list). Julie and her husband spend most of the year in the Disney parks. The beginning of their book always starts with all of the latest and greatest new additions to the Disney parks over the last year. We highly recommend the book which is covered in a newer post – click here.
Disney will be an imminent sponsor of various Earth Day events and activities. The Disney store will unveil new eco-friendly t-shirts and tote bags for sale in gift shops. These commercial items will be made of recycled water bottles and other plastic items. According to the website, free commemorative Earth Day water bottles will be exchanged for every three plastic bottles brought in by park guests. Several Disney parks including Animal Kingdom® will be passing out Earth Day buttons and have conservation storytellers for the kids. Some of the Disney lodging facilities will also be planting trees to mark the occasion.
Disney has announced a partnership with USA Today that anyone who buys a ticket during the first week to the Disneynature ”EARTH” film narrated by James Earl Jones will get a tree planted in their honor. The film will chronicle the amazing journey of polar bears, elephants and whales across the globe and will debut on April 22nd. Existing Disney attraction such as Expedition Everest® and Rafiki’s Planet Watch® already reinforce the precocious message that we must have for saving our planet.
This site also applaudes Disney and their facilities and parks for their dedication to greening throughout the year. A quick scan of the Florida Green Lodging web page reveals that all 23 Disney lodging facilities have received a “one palm” certification designation to honor their environmental commitment from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Caribbean Beach, Contemporary and all others have received this distinction.
Walt Disney World® July 4th 2009 Celebrations / Events
For all events, be sure to call 407-W-Disney (407-934-7639) before you go, as some of these events can change schedule without notice. Firework displays in Central Florida are subject to several factors such as weather, so always call ahead and confirm.
All Fourth of July celebrations at the major parks – Magic Kingdom®, Epcot®, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios ™ are all great places for breathtaking and spectacular fireworks.
Downtown Disney®
Downtown Disney® is scheduled for it’s fireworks show at 10.30 PM. It is a great place to be after a little shopping and trying out some of the local restaurants in the area.
Disney’s Magic Kingdom®
The big show is called “Disney’s Celebrate America! – A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky”, and scheduled to start at 9:00 PM and is arguably one of the best fireworks displays on the 4th of July in Central Florida. In addition, the park has a 10:30 PM and 12:30 AM “spectromagic” night time parade.
Epcot®
Epcot® on the 4th of July adds a spectacular display to its traditional fireworks show. If you go to the American Pavilion, there are various performances during the day in celebration of the event. For show times, check with the park directly at the phone number above.
Hollywood Studios™
At 9.00 PM on the 4th of July, Disney’s Hollywood Studios™ has a patriotic firework special. In addition, at 10:30PM the Hollywood Studios ™ traditional “Fantasmic” show will also commence.
We have received many inquiries related to the relationship between distance to the Walt Disney World Resort ® and nightly rates for Disney area vacation rentals. After carefully looking at rental rates on several websites, there are too many other factors that come into play for explicitly determining a hypothetical market rate for the consumer. These pricing factors include size of home, reputation of vacation home community, amenities and location. The plethora of choices and options are some of the many reasons why vacation homes are so superior to hotels.
On our site, we profile many Disney area vacation home communities, including the ability to assess what factors are most important to you. We are currently updating our site to better allow you to sort through the comprehensive information we have available. We also include video of most vacation homes and resort communities near Disney on the site. This will put you in a better position to lower the risk related to booking a vacation home that meets your personal needs and expectations.
As we have stated before, it pays to shop around when renting vacation condos, townhomes and traditional vacation homes alike in the Orlando area.
Unlike hotels which have designation programs designed to evaluate quality levels (Mobil, AAA), individual vacation homes are very difficult to evaluate. Some websites do attempt to post consumer reviews, but that information is often limited and dated, but can be helpful after being paired with our vacation home community rating reviews and opinions. We have now posted over 40+ community profiles, and add more on a weekly basis which include most vacation rentals near Disney.
Orlando vacation homes for rent consumer guide. Rentals based in Orlando and Kissimmee Florida for villas, houses and condos all close to Disney. Helpful tips, maps and pictures with independent community ratings.
As we have warned you on several recent blog posts, the leading indicators from local hotel occupancy stats were accurate predictors of the Disney Corporation’s earnings release today (1). Figures released today indicate that theme park/resort revenue had only dropped 4%, but due to heavy discounting partially at lower margins, overall segment profits dropped 24%. Although the theme park and resorts segment is only a small portion of overall earnings, today’s earnings news cannot help bolster confidence that business conditions will improve soon.
Perhaps most troubling from a company standpoint was the CEO’s comments relating to the entertainment sector of the company. Iger: “Competition for people’s time is increasing and the abundance of choice is allowing consumers to be more selective,” he told analysts on a conference call. “This clearly has had an impact on broadcast television and may have a long-term potential impact on the DVD business.” Although this comment was directed towards DVD business, the concern here is that this may also reflect changes in kids’ tastes for video games over attending theme parks. This also portends for more tightening of the labor market for one of Orlando’s largest employers and the major driver for the vacation home industry.
If you are planning on coming to Orlando on a vacation package in 2009, staying on-site in the major parks makes a lot of sense. These hotels have become as competitive as staying off-site. However, if you are in need of more than one room for your vacation in Orlando, privacy and some extra space, an Orlando vacation home rental is a logical alternative offering tremendous value.
The Walt Disney World Resorts ® in Orlando, as we mentioned before, have rolled out some stellar promotions for 2009 to attract guests.
Historically some of the big parks in Orlando have been slow to react to economic swings, but expert MBAs in the revenue management departments and seasoned sales teams are now getting it right.
The Walt Disney World ® parks and sunny weather are the main reasons tourists flock to Orlando. Universal Studios® , SeaWorld ® and the Orlando Convention Center all run a close second.
As a large theme park, Disney ® is able to offer promotions that make it very difficult for regular off-site hotels to compete. Programs that have been recently introduced include “buy 4 days/nights, get 3 free“ with spendable gift cards, various dining programs, free transportation and park tickets that make the on-site hotel experience extra appealing.
One realm that has yet to be explored by the major Orlando parks is the vacation home concept. This remains the domain of the individual and professional management companies.
If you are booking a hotel, take a serious look at staying on-site, but if you are in need of more than a room, some extra space and privacy, an Orlando vacation home makes great sense. For the benefits of staying in a nearby vacation home, check out a professional Orlando vacation home management company today.
You can buy a hotel room and a ticket combination package with spendable gift cards included
or amazing values which make it tough for area hotels and other accommodations to compete. Although we don’t promote any company on this web site, this appears to be such a great deal it deserves to be mentioned.
As always, if in doubt, we advocate buying your tickets directly from any theme park you are attending.
Many metro Orlando area hotels we spoke to agree that the “Big Park” is offering some fantastic promotions making it difficult for them to compete even at the economy level. This may be due in part to the fact that the hotel industry in metro Orlando has seen some staggering drops in room revenue (RevPAR) recently. This may also be further evidence of the magnitude and nature of the global recession.
However, Orlando area vacation homes still remain a competitive alternative to all area hotels, as they affordably offer a family or group of people the benefits of an entire house for a little more than the price of a hotel room. We recommend you shop around, assess your needs, and make your own decision. As always, we will try to keep you informed.
