Where to start when looking for a Villa - advice please

[BigPetesWife]

Hi, we are looking to book a villa for a week to ten days (not sure of our exact dates yet), but that's as much as we know. I'm not sure what I should be looking for in a good villa and what sort of questions we should ask. So, any advice for Villa first timers. We've only ever stayed onsite at Disney, so staying anywhere else is a bit new and daunting for me.

Thank you for any help that you can give.

[Tinkjon]

You can't beat the area around Formosa Gardens. This means communities such as Indian Creek, Emerald Island, Oak Island, Sunset Lakes etc. Have a look at the communities map on this form. Its SO easy to drive from there and they're the closest areas to Disney parks.

Must have a proper pool (not the 'splash pools' that you get with townhouses - you want a villa, not a townhouse) and a lanai (shaded area by the pool. You dont want to be sitting in Florida sun (or rain!) so lanais are a must.

I recommend Alexander Homes for booking - we always go with them and have never had any problems.

[Pixiebelle]

There are some stickies at the top of the accommodation forum about villa searches that should help with working out how to narrow it down. There are also plenty of Dibb villas to choose from on here so pop a request in the villa rental section and owners will respond if they have availability. Plus the advantage you have with this is that you can get in direct contact with the owner and not have to deal with any middle men. We are friendly bunch and more than happy to answer any questions that you should have.

Good luck with your search!

[arkv1lla]

As pixiebelle says above get in contact with the owner direct, that way you can ask as much as you need to

If you pop your dates into the villa requests section the owners who have your dates available can reply

Most owners are taking 2020 bookings and some are even taking 2021 ( I'm only taking 2020 at the moment)

Enjoy choosing 😊

Sandra

[Smilesonfaces]

I think you are best working out what you actually want first- number of bedrooms, pool, hot tub, price, games room ?
I don’t think the location matters as much as the actual villa.
We have booked home away but they seem pricey on there now. Have also booked a dibb villa.

[jlbf06]

We have stayed in a few and used to own one. We love the Formosa Gardens area for convenience. DH loves to have a modelo in the spa so that’s a must have and we like a good size deck rather than just a skimpy walkaround one. The last dibb one that we stayed at was really homely and it had everything down to ponchos/shower seat/plush mickeys/dishwasher tabs. It felt like we were treated like friends staying rather than strangers iykwim! We’ve booked to go back again for Christmas. The one before that was at the other end (east) of the 192 and we did feel as though we spent a lot of our holiday sitting at traffic lights! We also like that the last one was all on one level, the stairs at the one before were high/steep. I think you just know though when you see the right one?

Make sure your price includes taxes, fees and pool heat (if you want it).

[Milpston]

My only advice would be to do lots of looking and research on lots of different villa sites. I did this to work out what I wanted, what we needed and what we definitely didn't want. I have ended up back at The Dibb for both our recent bookings. Once I knew what I wanted I put a request on the villa section on here and booked with one of the owners that responded.
I wouldn't get too hung up on the exact location of the villa in the early stages as you could rule out the perfect villa for you. Whilst I agree the Formosa Gardens area is a great location, an extra 5-10 min drive from Disney isn't really going to make any odds to me.