Walt Disney Area Standard home Villas questions

[disneytravels]

Hey guys I usually stay on International Drive when I travel to Florida, however next year I'm travelling in March for 3 weeks with family. We have decided to get a villa and found a nice 3 bedroom villa on travel republic called 'Walt Disney area standard homes' and was wondering I anyone knows where these villas are located, it says Kissimmee however Kissimmee is massive the only thing it tells me is where the keys are picked up. even if its a bunch of different ones at least so I know roughly where we will be staying
and has anyone had any trouble with them, are they all up to standard etc?

thanks so much in advance guys!

[princess allie]

Not booked with travel Republic before, but have had allocated on arrival. We were lucky and both times had no issues with the villa, but I’ve seen some horror stories of old, dirty villas being allocated. Personally I would try and get a private villa, possible a Dibb villa? We usually get ours from Homeaway. We are in the same villa this year as last year, as we get on well with the owner and like the villa. Personally, I’d avoid allocated on arrival now if at all possible, it’s really just a lottery.

[ManCity]

I haven't used them myself, but a few things to note. 'Disney area' in the headline means anywhere within a 20 mile, 30 minute drive of Disney. If you read the smaller print more carefully, it doesn't just say 'Kissimmee' but also 'and US27 area' - that adds in Davenport, Clermont and Haines City. If you look at villa ads elsewhere you will see they use adjectives like Premium, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Executive, Executive Plus, Platinum, Ultimate - but this is described as 'Standard' which doesn't convey the same idea of high quality - something older or more basic perhaps. If you look at the address you see it is Ocean Holidays - who sell villas themselves on their own web site, but their's are described as Executive upwards - so are they offering Travel Republic something more basic they are not prepared to offer under their own brand name? Ocean will get the villas from a local management company who probably have several hundred villas spread over 40 or 50 communities. All villas are individually owned by private owners - so they are all different. The Travel Republic photo is just a generic one. You are booking through 3 middlemen, who will all take their cut, so the owner who is actually providing the accommodation may only get 70% of what you are paying. The owners and the management company are possibly taking direct bookings for the properties, so 'allocated on arrival' gets whatever is left. That could be an unpopular villa, that you wouldn't choose if you saw it in advance, or it could be a new owner who has only just starting renting so hasn't got any bookings yet. It is pot luck.

Wouldn't you rather choose a villa for yourself (which takes more research), or at least choose the community? It all depends on your budget, how fussy you are, how much time you have for research and your expectations. There are certainly bargains to be had and you can have a great vacation, just be realistic.

[disneytravels]

thanks for the advice Alison!
was wondering though your saying you have had allocated on arrival was wondering if you knew were abouts the villas are even located at all? I literally have no idea and just trying to plan ahead etc.

thanks in advance

steph x

[nanu]

Originally Posted by disneytravels

thanks for the advice Alison!
was wondering though your saying you have had allocated on arrival was wondering if you knew were abouts the villas are even located at all? I literally have no idea and just trying to plan ahead etc.

thanks in advance

steph x

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If you look on the villa location map, it could be any one of those communities plus others that aren't shown. Allocation on arrival could be absolutely anywhere. I have done villas in a named community before, but again, it's pot luck what you get. The past couple of times I have booked directly with an owner and to be quite honest, the standard of villa was much higher renting privately.

[Pussycat Doll]

If it’s allocated on arrival, they can be anywhere within 20 miles of the attraction area. Usually they are Kissimmee, Davenport, Clermont or Haines City

[Firstxmastrip]

we've done aoa twice, (a few years ago now) first was a disney area home with thomas cook, ended up out at town centre which we found too far. Second was with kenwood travel disney area homes. Theirs are in the formosa gardens area and we got emerald island. Much better area and since then we have just booked a dibb villa in sunsets lakes as thats our favourite place.

[alvin_purple]

I know it can be a bit misleading, but the pictures of the "nice 3 bedroom villa" will obviously not be the villa you get.

If you can find a Dibb villa that suits your needs then I'd vote for that.
Unfortuntly I've never been able to find a Dibb villa.
So I use a website called homeaway.
This will show the actual villa you will be getting.

[claireyfairy8]

The standard in these villas tends to be a little more basic.
Typically they are owned by less involved owners (and I am not dissing them) but they don't often have as much mod cons, fun extras.

Each villa is indivudually owned so it's impossible for them to guarantee the standard will be the same. You may get "lucky" and get "upgraded" i.e. they oversold on the standard and upgrade you to something better.

As above, the area is massive and you could be anywhere.

I would always encourage to book directly with the owner, find something that suits you and your family. No matter where I was, I wouldn't do AOA.