The majority of Orlando holiday goers are going to recommend to everyone that they stay at an on-site hotel, either at Disney or Universal. Don't get me wrong they will have their advantages but their is a large number of people that will prefer to stay off-site. People might want to stay off-site for many reasons, they might not want to be totally immersed in the theme park atmosphere, the might want their own private space that's just theirs. There are two way to do off-site, an off-site hotel or hiring your own private villa. Whenever we went to Orlando we always stayed in an off-site villa, mainly due to the price difference but we also liked the idea of having our own private pool to come back to after a day at the parks.
Off-site Hotels
Off-site hotels can not only be cheaper but even the higher end hotels can have better value than Disney. Not paying for the Disney name, reputation and location can work out as a pretty good deal as there is more competition between off-site hotels to keep prices low. If you aren't looking for a bargain hotel and you prefer luxury there are more than enough around Orlando. Hotels such as the Four Seasons is actually on Disney property so you get the benefit of the perfect location. The Swan & Dolphin resort has the perfect location right on the Disney Boardwalk and offers more amenities than any other Walt Disney World resort hotels and can usually be booked for half the price of a Walt Disney World Moderate-tier hotel.
Deals
In order to compete with off-site hotels, Disney have tons of deals on their own with vacation packages tailored towards first time visitors and for the Disney regulars, they know that although Disney is fantastic, you can get good deals else where. So for a budget or value hotel at about $80-120 a night at Disney, you can get a comparable equivalent for an off-site hotel at about $40 a night. It's the same for luxury hotels, a high end hotel at Disney can cost upwards of $300 a night meanwhile off-site you can get one for $150 a night.
Of course I'm a bit biased when it comes to hotels or villas. When we visited on holiday, we always rented out a villa, however when I lived there I did stay in an off-site hotel for over 3 months. So I've included a fair few tips when it comes to renting villas.
Villa size
Villas come in all shapes and sizes (although some of them look pretty similar) so you have plenty to choose from when you are hunting. There is a huge community online where you can rent villas near Disney World, from condos with 2 - 3 bedrooms to homes with upwards of 5 bedrooms with pools and Jacuzzi's.
Tip #1
You will usually get a private pool in houses with 4 bedrooms or more.
Tip #2
More often than not the larger houses with 5/6 bedrooms are cheaper than the small villas as there are so many of them.
Location
Choosing the right location is important, if you need to take a midday break you don't want to travel too far so try to strategically choose your location. Although I would love to experience a Disney hotel, my family and I always stayed in villas when we visited Orlando. It's a big price difference not to mention you get the privacy of your own pool. We always stayed in the Kissimmee area, it is so close to the parks, it's only a 20 minute drive to Walt Disney World and is just down the road from a huge Wal-Mart. Some neighbourhoods come with different amenities such as a community pool, playground, gym etc. Check out the VR360homes website, we use this site every time we want to pick an Orlando villa, it's fantastic. It is always easier to rent a villa with a good management company incase of anything going wrong but it is always cheaper to rent directly from the owner instead of going through the management company. The management companies usually charge more for commission so it makes it cheaper for you to go through the actual owner.
Tip #3
Check out the DIPP villa map to look for the best areas to rent villas!
Tip #4
Always ask questions before booking a villa, things like how old the photos are, if it is through a management company in case something goes wrong etc.
Transport
Whenever we went out on holiday we always rented a car. The bus system isn't the best in Orlando but then again where is there. Some neighbourhoods with a lot of villa rentals sometimes offer shuttles but I don't suggest relying on them for your trip. There are tons of car rental companies at Orlando International Airport but we always go with Enterprise. Although my parents always dealt with the car rentals we never had any issues, there was one situation where the car we booked wasn't available so we got an upgrade so you can't complain.
Tip #5
Check MouseSavers for discounts on car rentals.
Tip #6
Check out the service AutoSlash, they track prices and notify you when the prices go down.
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