In my family we have four people. Two of them are under ten and don’t take up that much room. They’re past the age where they need five-hundred supplies just to survive, so as long as I stick to my PERFECT PACKING LIST our family unit meets the requirements to stay in just about any room at Walt Disney World. However, I always seem to feel crowded in my resort room (with the exception of the times I’ve stayed using Vacation Club points), and always long for just a little more privacy.

If I had baby #3  (which is NOT in the plan for me by the way) that means my options would become much more limited. You see, once you hit Five in your party your resort room possibilities are fewer, and usually end in you dropping SIGNIFICANTLY more money to stay “on-property” in places like the new Art of Animation Suites, Deluxe Villa, or a Cabin at Fort Wilderness. As blended families have become more common, this becomes an issue for parents and step-parents who want to bring ALL of the children to Disney at one time inexpensively. And even more commonly we bring grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, family friends on our trips. Which requires many more rooms. More rooms = more money.

Have you considered renting a house off property?

DIVA TIP – What I have learned is that at WDW what you don’t pay for in money, you pay for in time. So the more convenient something is the more it is likely to be expensive (the resorts on the monorail are a prime example). However, as long as you plan ahead being off property is not that bad.  If a house is 9 miles away from Animal Kingdom Parking lot (which you can determine by using Google maps) once you add in the tram-ride from the parking lot you’re pretty close to the same amount of time you would spend riding a bus from All Star Music Resort to that park (THAT’S ASSUMING YOU CATCH THE FIRST BUS!).

VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) has a large collection of houses and condos available. If you follow THIS LINK it takes you to all the rentals available in the Central- Disney – Orlando area .

STEP 1. Determine is where you’d like to be and how close you want to be to Walt Disney World’s Main Gate and pick one of those areas. I’ve found Lake Buena Vista,  Celebration, and Kissimmee area has a TON of properties available for rental and they’re very close to Disney property.

STEP 2. Decide how many rooms you need. Don’t be afraid to give your kids their own bedroom

STEP 3. Type your trip dates in.

STEP 4 – Sort through the pictures and find houses that have the amenities you’d like within your price range. You will be shocked how many have their own pools and hot-tubs, free wi-fi, grills, and of course FULL kitchens (which can really save on dining with large groups!).

STEP 5 – Use the Email Owner Widget to get info about availability and price. Don’t be afraid to negotiate with them.

Just to show you an example. My family and I are renting a SIX BEDROOM, FOUR BATH house in Celebration, about 10 miles from Disney. The house sleeps 15 people, and has three master suites (a king-size, and two queen-size), and a double bedroom, a twin and a Disney themed bedroom with bunk beds. The living room has three leather sofas, a 52″ television, a dining room that will seat eight people. It also has an air-conditioned game room with a pool table, sofa and tv, lets not forget the laundry room which saves on packing!

Oh and did I mention the HEATED POOL and hot tub? Well don’t let me forget that!

I have a different Spring Break than my son does, so we’re actually needed accommodations for 14 days. My daughter and I will be there 4 days, then the boys will join us for 4 days, then we fly home and my husband and son stay for 6 more days.

For us to stay in a Value Resort (Pop Century) during those same 14 days the 1 bedroom for just the 4 of us would be $2,302 according to the wdw reservations site. If we went  a Moderate, like Port Orleans- Riverside, it would run me $3,303.00. Thats before you get a single park ticket or eat any food.

Grand total for my 6 bedroom vrbo.com rental for 14 days…$1990.00. That is correct, a sweet house for 300.00 LESS than 1 bedroom value resort.

And this is just ONE example of the kind of deals you can get on www.vrbo.com. We have friends who are joining us each of those weeks and helping defray some of the cost, so it will actually cost our family half of that. AND everybody has their own room.

Just something to consider before you book your next Disney Vacation and need more room.

- The Disney Diva

www.tipsfromthedisneydiva.blogspot.com