All-Star Staying Off Disney As A World's Competitor

Check out VRBO. We save a lot of money renting these homes with a group of friends and they are usually gorgeous and well-appointed. All have private in-ground pools, too.

VillaDirect has amazing houses the same price (or cheaper, or even half the price) as the cheapest hotel rooms at disney. you could probably comfortably sleep 7-10 people in even a 4 person house. i strongly recommend it. you could always just drive the kids to hang out at the disney resorts. its soooooo worth it! actually, its only a 5 mintue drive to ESPN anyway like seriously 5 minutes. Do it!

Congratulations on your bid!!!

Our team has stayed off property the last two years at a condo complex. The pros are: a quiet place to stay when you want to escape the Disney madness, full kitchens which reduces the food budget, a good way for the team to bond because they are not so distracted, and a place for parents to stay that might not want to go to the parks. The con, in addition to not being where the action is (which might be a pro for some), is transportation. You need to have your own transportation to everything. To accomodate a team that will have a variety of interests in their spare time, it is best to have a good number of rental cars available. Our first year, we had a smaller number of larger vans for transportation and that turned out very poorly. It created lots of drama.

The good news is with receiving your bid so early, you have lots of time to explore your options.

ShutItDown said:

VillaDirect has amazing houses the same price (or cheaper, or even half the price) as the cheapest hotel rooms at disney. you could probably comfortably sleep 7-10 people in even a 4 person house. i strongly recommend it. you could always just drive the kids to hang out at the disney resorts. its soooooo worth it! actually, its only a 5 mintue drive to ESPN anyway like seriously 5 minutes. Do it!

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Are these similar to VRBO? I need to check these out. Besides Disney we have started using this service everywhere we go on vacation. The homes are beautiful, clean and privately owned, so they are well maintained. And we save a LOT of money when the entire extended family travels together. We average about 75% savings over the cost for my extended family to stay in a medium quality hotel.

If you plan on going to the Disney Parks at all consider the park pass expense. One day to just one theme park can be $90 per person. A park hopper pass is $125 but worth it since you can visit multiple parks per day. 4 days at the park is almost equal to the Worlds package price so that is something to consider.

Congrats! Having stayed off the resort, I prefer it!! You get a better room, more sleep, and the team can get a bus to travel to the competition venue. It keeps athletes out of trouble, and focused. There are lots of nice places that are less expensive and easy to get to!

TheUltimateFan said:

Are these similar to VRBO? I need to check these out. Besides Disney we have started using this service everywhere we go on vacation. The homes are beautiful, clean and privately owned, so they are well maintained. And we save a LOT of money when the entire extended family travels together. We average about 75% savings over the cost for my extended family to stay in a medium quality hotel.

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i just compared at least the housing. I was able to find houses (that sleep 2-6) for like 60$-120 a day. Plus its in a gated community with a public pool and tennis courts and parks and such. Ive never ever stayed on site at least when i go with family, and even when i went for pop warner we stayed at these. its so beautiful too. I believe both sites are similar you just have to shop around. Im excited already just looking at these

Here's another place we've stayed. Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa (Orlando, FL) - Hotel Reviews - TripAdvisor

We had the penthouse and it was beyond gorgeous with 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 upscale kitchens, laundry facilities, a 60' balcony - furnished - and a bar. However, the neighbors who are permanent residents complained if we were on the balcony past 10 o'clock PM and the cost was double that of a private home. It backs to a mall and has onsite restaurants, spa and similar facilities, though.

This location appears closer to WWS but actually takes longer to commute than the area where the VRBO homes are. We stay in the general area of the Windsor Hills subdivisions and time to the park is under 15 minutes.

Hilton Vacation Club, Parc Soliel is amazing. Huge rooms for a 1/3 the price of Disney, very close to the parks. Only (major) con, you can only book 30 days out, if you aren't a Hilton Vacation Club member. Also, look into renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. You can get a great condo like room at Disney for half the cost.

I'm with @KCADAD . Staying off-property allows athletes the chance to focus, away from the hoopla, and affords less chance for them to get caught up in the mischief. They can actually get some sleep!
On the other hand, they don't feel as if they got the "true" Worlds experience. Transportation is a factor (thank goodness we were a small team last year and only had to organize 4 or 5 rental cars to get the kids to WWoS.)

Congratulations!!!!!!!

The rental market in Orlando is oversaturated and because of that you can get housing reasonable. The houses seem to be built for rental income. More than one master suite in a house. Lots of 5 or 6 bedroom houses and most with their own inground pool. People turn their garages into rec rooms that will have pool tables and other stuff. If you go to VRBO it's a little overwhelming because their is so much. It sorts it by subdivision. You best bet is to find out the subdivisions with good location to WWof S and start from there.

We have stayed off site several times. If you check in advance transportation isn't that bad. Check out Buena Vista resort, one year they provided transportation to Disney. Great place and great price!

Also, CONGRATULATIONS on your bid!!!