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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:08 AM  
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DisneyDaffodil
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Mobile Villa without car trip reports

Can anyone suggest any trip reports I could read that the poster has stayed in a villa, or even an offsite hotel, without a car?

We have only stayed onsite before and are considering 2022 in a villa but DH doesn’t want to drive so we wondered how practical this is without a car, using Uber/Lyft. We have used these for trips to the malls from Disney and have found them to be efficient and reasonably priced. Our worry is will we have time to go to a park in the day, eat offsite in the evening and possibly return to a park for fireworks or an evening visit? We wouldn’t do this every day as we like the idea of a few restful mornings or evenings at the pool in a villa but we would spend quite a few evenings in a park too.

Which villa areas or offsite would be the easiest to stay in for Uber access to Disney? We would also like to be within close distance of places to eat and a supermarket too if possible. Any suggestions as I’m not sure where to start with our new plan.

I’ve started by looking at villas advertised in here and they look fantastic, but have no idea of area. How early do we need to book a villa? Would it be 18 months earlier than visit as in an onsite stay or do they not need to be booked quite that early?

TIA for any info and tips or pointers towards a trip report. We are looking forward to trying Florida in a different way 😀

Sue
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:18 AM  
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itz_baseline
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Not sure about trip reports, but it very doable with Uber/Lift.

Windsor Hills is probably one of the closest villa communities to Disney and is just off the 192 so plenty of eating places and supermarkets.

From my experience, as a lot of the people booking villas are obviously doing it DIY, they wait to secure flights which on the whole don’t get released until about 11 months out before confirming villa.

We tend to secure our flights first as you often get cheaper flights by going to something like 17 days than you do for 14 days. Once we have dates confirmed we then go get a villa usually at 10 months and there’s still loads of choice available.

The later you leave it the better you have the chance of negotiating a bit of a discount with the owner as obviously they will want to start filling it up and not have it left empty... but there will be less choice.

Some people will find their perfect villa though and want to secure it at 18 months out so this isn’t unusual though.
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:23 AM  
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Gryff
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Any of the communities on the 192 would be doable without a car
Why not look at the villa location map to help with your choice
As Op says Windsor Hills might suit with Walmart being walkable
There are dibb villas and town houses there and many more dibb homes around the area
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:28 AM  
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DisneyDaffodil
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Originally Posted by itz_baseline View Post
Not sure about trip reports, but it very doable with Uber/Lift.

Windsor Hills is probably one of the closest villa communities to Disney and is just off the 192 so plenty of eating places and supermarkets.

From my experience, as a lot of the people booking villas are obviously doing it DIY, they wait to secure flights which on the whole don’t get released until about 11 months out before confirming villa.

We tend to secure our flights first as you often get cheaper flights by going to something like 17 days than you do for 14 days. Once we have dates confirmed we then go get a villa usually at 10 months and there’s still loads of choice available.

The later you leave it the better you have the chance of negotiating a bit of a discount with the owner as obviously they will want to start filling it up and not have it left empty... but there will be less choice.

Some people will find their perfect villa though and want to secure it at 18 months out so this isn’t unusual though.
Thank you, that’s all really useful and reassuring.

We’ve been 3 times before, and twice was diy so I would be happy to book it all myself. It’s good to hear it could be booked when flights are released as I do find it a bit stressful committing to dates 18-24 months in advance

I hadn’t considered adding a few days on, I thought the villa would only be available in weekly blocks, so 7 14 21 days. A 16-17 night stay would be a great idea 😀
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:31 AM  
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DisneyDaffodil
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Originally Posted by Gryff View Post
Any of the communities on the 192 would be doable without a car
Why not look at the villa location map to help with your choice
As Op says Windsor Hills might suit with Walmart being walkable
There are dibb villas and town houses there and many more dibb homes around the area
Thank you, it’s good to hear that it’s doable without a car. I did notice the location map on here but I was using my phone which wasn’t ideal for maps. I will take a better look on the PC later and check out locations and look at Windsor Hills.
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:35 AM  
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Gryff
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Many owners will have a minimum night stay we have a five night minimum
But most are happy with odd numbers no specific day of change over etc
We often have bookings for 9 nights if guest# are doing a split stay on /off site or heading to the beach before or after the theme parks have fun looking
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:38 AM  
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Mrs sun
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We have been to Orlando 6 times always in a villa (sunset Lakes) and always with a car, our last trip we tried Uber/ lift one night and we could both have a wine or two with our meal🤣. Than night changed Orlando for us! Hubby is not too keen on driving there so we got Uber to the parks too and it was a dollar or so cheaper than car park cost !
I can honest say it is very very doable without a car though having said that we will still have one for the shopping trips.
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Old 4 Jun 20, 08:57 AM  
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vampiress88
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We did a villa on highland reserve. Lovely place but we had a car.
I’d probably look at how much Uber was from the villa you want to the parks etc and work out rough costs that way.

We wouldn’t do an Uber as we like to drive to the beach which was 2 hours away, have two young kids so car seats are a must and actually driving isn’t bad at all. I was so scared to do it but then hubby wanted beer so I drove home from dinner which was fine little trips. Then his back went and I was left to do all the driving for over three days. It’s actually easier to drive over there than over here. No squeezing into stupid little parking spaces either.

So on Uber from where we stayed to Epcot would have been $19.54 one way

Edited at 09:00 AM.
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Old 4 Jun 20, 09:42 AM  
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nothingless
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My brother and sister-in-law did the parks without a car with a baby and a 2-year-old last year. They stayed off-site and just Ubered to the parks, and frequently used my tips of taking an Uber to and from the Contemporary if going to MK, and to and from the Beach Club or Boardwalk if going to and from Epcot. They found it very doable and not a problem - but they were staying in a nice hotel with free breakfast and no groceries needed.

I've stayed in Windsor Hills twice now and it is indeed pretty close to the parks. However I will say - walking to Walmart is possible but it's quite a hike and going up & down a hill as well with little shade. I definitely wouldn't fancy it in the summer especially if carrying heavy bags back! Secondly, the guards at the community gate are pretty strict. I wanted to have a parcel delivered by USPS and they weren't allowed to get on to the property. We had a leaflet in our villa that explained if you were having takeaway food delivered, you'd need to ring the guard house at the gate and notify them every time. We found it a bit of a faff, to be honest, although I understand why it needs done. I never tried using Uber from Windsor Hills, but I assume it may be a similar thing where you might need to phone the guard house every single time you're getting picked up, so they'll let the Uber driver go up to your villa.

Also, lastly, our last villa in Windsor Hills was aaaaalll the way in the back of the community, so we tended to take the car even to the community pool, it honestly was a bit too far too walk and pretty hilly too. As we hadn't paid for pool heating (this was in February) the water was way too cold in our private pool. Just to keep in mind for yourself - Windsor Hills is pretty spread out so if you plan on using the community facilities, clubhouse, pool, etc, make sure your villa is located near these!

Edited at 10:17 AM.
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Old 4 Jun 20, 09:59 AM  
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jdouds
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It can be done but we could not imagine not having a car. Just for all the simple things we do and not having to wait for transport. Driving is so easy and the cost as a part of your holiday is minimal. If you dr to parks there are charges which could be offset against Uber but it’s just not as easy.
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