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.

<a href=”http://www.onlytravels.com/”>OnlyTravels

Moreover, from our same sources, higher quality vacation rentals have held their pricing a little firmer than the lower rated vacation home inventory out there. In our opinion, this is mainly due to the fact that lower quality vacation communities have less of a referral base to work from.

The highest rated communities have a strong consumer following that keeps demand relatively more constant, and pricing more stable. That of course is good and bad for the consumer. Second, homes managed by a reputable high quality management company also tend to firm up pricing due to the same reason – a quality track record with past guests who actively refer friends and associates.

Our website seeks to provide a solution for the prospective vacation rental consumer to provide better quality review and ratings information for area vacation rentals.

You’ll now find over 70+ resort communities rated, profiled and with short videos of common areas to empower you to make the best decision based on your needs.

This type of independent rating can be paired up with advertised rates to help you find the best summer deals for Orlando vacation rentals.

In almost all cases, vacation homes are a much better overall value proposition than area hotels. Good luck!

Orlando Summer Vacation Home Rentals

Let’s be clear, no one can predict the future. If we could, we wouldn’t be writing a blog. This post is  just an opinion. DISCLAIMER. As with any economic opinion, take it with a grain of salt. The authors of this blog are not professionals and do not give out professional advice.

The Orlando vacation house market has been hit hard, especially for many buyers who purchased vacation homes around the years 2005-2006. Prices have dropped in some vacation home subdivisions over 30% from their peak 2 to 3 years ago. For the metro Orlando area as whole, prices appear to have dropped. Click HERE STATISTICS(1).

There are arguments that prices will continue to DROP(2):

Vacation houses are much harder to finance than primary homes, and in the current market even primary homes are now hard to finance (2A).

Foreclosures are piling up. As people struggle with their primary home mortgage, they may give up their second homes.(2B)

There are large inventories (2C).

A few vacation home subdivisions struggle with upkeep of resident exterior areas. Vacation home managment struggles to keep this under aesthetic control for vacationers.(2D)

Banks will begin to compete against each other to sell foreclosed homes, and this could negatively effect vacation home pricing (2E)

Tourists are cutting back big time on Orlando (2F).  Thus, the demand for vacation rentals is also dropping. This means that owners have less income to pay the current mortgage which increases the risk of foreclosure.

In a depressed economy, the last thing people often want to do is buy a vacation home, but the first thing they may want to do is sell if they own one (2G).

Homeowners unable to refinance their vacation homes (they may owe more than the home is now worth) might let the home foreclose if they are unable to modify the loan terms (2G1)

When the world is facing an economic crisis (2I), discretionary items such as vacation homes are no longer in demand. If the USA enters a severe recession, the demand for some vacation home products could dry up.

There are arguments that prices will STABILIZE(3):

It would appear that the rate of price decline in some subdivisions is SLOWING(4) down, but prices are still dropping.

Some subdivisions are making the transition from primarily a short term rental market to subdivisions that cater to full-time owner occupiers as the prices drop, and the vacation homes become affordable relative to regular homes.

The government is reacting on a massive scale to solve the problem(4A).

There are some SIGNS(5) that the number of home sales has been increasing.

In conclusion, vacation homes in the Orlando and Kissimmee area face a unique set of circumstances that has allowed for significant price drops from their peak prices over the last 2 to 3 years. Forecasting the future with absolute certainty is an impossibility.

Subscribe to our blog for in depth graphical analysis and forecasts scheduled to be released next month. Click here to subscribe.

As always, please consider the people writing this post/bog to be unprofessional and incompetent at all times. Due to your own due diligence at all times use an Orlando appraisal company, real estate attorney and other professionals accordingly.

1. Call the Orlando vacation home management company directly- This will give you a feel of the type of customer service the company offers. Are the individuals that answer the phone courteous, professional and knowledgeable? Are you treated like a number or does the staff really try to make suggestions based on your Orlando vacation villa rental needs?
2. Homeowners are not always the best source for directly booking an Orlando vacation villa rental - This often is the cheapest route in terms of rental rate, but if something goes wrong, an owner may not be in town to help you. So if renting by owner, do your homework. If they do not have staff personnel to respond quickly and often the quality assurance of your stay could be in question.(see other related blog posting on this topic).
3. Better Business Bureau Linkage - Look for the BBB sign on the Orlando vacation home management company’s website. You should be able to click on the logo and see the company’s history with vacation home consumer comments. Without this important feature, the vacation villa management company may not be fully disclosing its operational history.
4. Other Affiliations – Look for the vacation home management company to be well established and be members of various other professional organizations in their area. Often these affiliations are clearly shown on their web site.

Again, there are lots of vacation home management companies in the Orlando area. If you do a little shopping of Orlando vacation home reviews and ratings on this blog, you will greatly increase your odds of having a great Orlando vacation home rental experience with no surprises. Chances are that your overall Orlando vacation will be positive as well.

Disney responded by rolling out a new “buy 4 days/nights, get 3 free” promotion. This is strong evidence of the weakness coming into 2009, and the theme park market will need to perform some heavy discounting in the new year to stay on par with last year.

Disney Earnings Impact Orlando Vacation Villa Homes

Presumably area hotels must do the same to bring in their market share of tourist dollars. Vacation home rates will almost assuredly follow suit because staying in a home is an upgrade from the regular hotel stay, and that consumers may not be in the financial mood to take advantage of that upgraded experience. The dollar has also appreciated making foreign exchange rates less attractive for international travelers. Although air travel pricing has been sluggish to drop, gasoline pricing has been cooperative for the consumer lately. We suspect that regional drive-to traffic may need to replace lost international traffic in 2009 if Orlando vacation homes to rent are to keep pace with last year’s figures. In that light, vacation home marketers must do a better job of highlighting the advantages of a vacation home over a hotel stay and then delivering on that Orlando vacation promise.

 

Disney area vacation villas are a tremendous lodging value for anyone considering visiting Florida.

- In addition to a wise Orlando vacation villa accomodations decision, here are some tips when visiting Orlando and the Disney parks:

• Always check to see if schools are out in a large part of the country. If that is the case, Walt Disney World will be packed. Remember, if you are visiting from the UK, American holiday dates are different, so do your homework. 

• Get the Fastpass system – it’s the greatest thing Disney has done in the parks since eliminating the E-ticket.  The Fastpass system gives you reservations on certain attractions and lets you avoid the lines. In each park, your first action upon entry is to find the most popular ride you really want to ride. Then go get a Fastpass for it, then go do something else until your reservation comes up. 

• Disney restaurants are always sold out so call the Disney restaurant reservation line and make dinner reservations several weeks in advanceespecially during busier weeks. 

• If you are coming during peak season, you have to be at the park the moment it opens or your life and vacation will be hell. 

• With the possible exception of the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, all Disney thrill rides are tamer than their equivalents at other parks (like Six Flags).  For hardcore rides, you may want to go to Sea World or Universal.

• Study Disney ticket pricing.  There are so many great deals with many variables. Do not buy a ticket from anyone but Disney. There are too many scam artists out there. Tickets can be bought direct from the Disney web site.

• Staying on site Disney at their All Star Resort can be as good a deal as staying in an off site hotel if you have a small family and want to stay in a hotel
• For larger families, renting a vacation villa home close to Disney is a better choice. You can cook all your own food, have more privacy, and relax in your own pool.