How far is too far?

[Claireasol]

Hi all

I am struggling to find a suitable villa for us. Our flights are booked so now need a bed I've had lots of 'sorry we are booked' emails. We are going in 11 weeks!

I have found one in Southern Dunes that pretty much ticks the boxes, but it's much further out than I actually wanted to go. It's in Southern Dunes. I have done a search on here and there is mixed feelings as expected however some people have mentioned the traffic can make the travelling time to the parks up to an hour... is it really that bad? The description actually says 20 mins from the parks (I know most say this!). The area is lovely I hear but i'm just not sure about how far south it is and how long we spend in the car each day - potentially stop / starting in traffic.

What would you do?

[oeamon]

if you put your criteria here the some dibbers might be least able to help you narrow you search as some will have knowledge of the which communities have the type of properties you require. on a rough calculation you should be travelling after Easter rush so should be no issue getting a place

[mick]

Sorry if I missed the link in oeamon's post but try this DIBB villa enquiry and those that fit your requirements will let you know


We don't go to the parks now so driving time not an issue I'm afraid


https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=94

Mick

[mick]

Originally Posted by Magnificent

I think sometimes people get very hung up on being 2, 4, 6, 8 even 10 minutes closer to the parks but when they're going to anywhere from 8-18 hours a day in the villa, it's the villa itself that's important.

Ideas of costs for a selection of communities from uber website to Magic Kingdom going west on 192, then down 27*:
$15.54 Emerald Island (about 1/2 way along 192 to 27 from World Drive)
$18.86 High Grove (27/192 junction)
$20.53 Legacy Park (about 1/4 way down 27 to I4)
$23.36 Hampton Lakes (about 1/2 way down 27 to I4)
$25.42 Ridgewood Lakes (about 1/2 way down 27 from I4 to Haines City)
$27.64 Southern Dunes (just north of Haines City)
* Championsgate communities similar in price/distance to High Grove and Legacy Park.

Given time is money, this probably offers a relatively good guide. No big step changes there - it's a continuum.

See more...

When we used to visit the parks regularly before 2010 and staying in the Berry Town Center area I always used to respond to this question in the same way.

Firstly before the Florence Villa Grove Road, Westside Boulevard, Funie Steed Road "short cut" was an option I used to say that you could lose 10 minutes simply by catching every light on 192 on red.

Secondly when you park up at MK for instance you could be lucky and get parked at the end nearest the trolley or, if not, a ten minute walk from the far end of the parking lot.

In my humble opinion the villa facilities are far more important than an "alleged" driving time to the parks.


Mick

[JulieB01]

Claire

I own a villa on Southern Dunes, whilst it is probably the furthest away from the parks, the suggestion of an hour away seems extreme. If it has taken someone an hour to get from SD to Disney then i suspect the issue was more than just heavy traffic, probably an accident or breakdown somewhere, which could happen at any time on any route.
Id be more concerned about the facilities the villa itself offered.

But that is just my opinion

Julie

[stupet11]

I agree with the above - if the villa holiday works for you it really doesn't matter that much - we found the time ramps up in and around the parks depending on traffic, an any extra miles further out are done quickly.

The whole commute doesn't really work for us, and tend to go for town houses which really can be much closer to everything (including walking to restaurants) - even worked when there were 5 of us. So a thought if you really want to get down the travel time.

[Gryff]

We are 1 mile north of the dunes which is a beautiful community with 3 walkable supermarket 3 walkable restaurants not including the clubhouse and all the other chains and several independents 20 mins away in Winter Haven we can do Disney in22 mins but like everywhere it's traffic dependant
All the community's down our end are very popular for rentals
Helen.

[EssexSue]

I think timings are like how long is a piece of string so we prefer to quote distance.

[Ridersmom]

I have stayed off site and on, although not offsite for many years. To me that is the big difference if you are worried about travel time. As someone said, much of the time getting in to the parks is on Disney property- getting into the parking lot, parking, getting to the tram, getting into the park. If you want quick entry (and convenience) stay on site and take a bus to the park-you get dropped off at the entry and save the 20 minutes or more it takes from parking a car to getting in to the park.

I am not sure it matters if it takes you 10 or 20 minutes to get on property. It is the rest of the trip that adds to the commute time.

[EssexSue]

We always, and I mean always, end up the wrong end of the parking line. This was particularly annoying at Sea World when caught in a storm! We were the wrong side of the bridge and could practically see the blooming car from where we were sheltering!