2016 Disney Trip

We are headed to Disney this summer for 32 nights. It was a difficult decision because we have several expensive activities going on, regardless, in the balance of it all we determined this trip could fit in our budget.

My wife was struggling to find a villa to rent, so, I volunteered to help.

I went to Homeaway, entered all our criteria, and was presented with 80 possibilities. I then went through each of the 80 and looked for things to disqualify the house:

- it had to be within the triangle between i4, 429, and 193. Best location: http://relocatingtodisney.blogspot.com/2015/05/where-is-best-location-for-villa.html?m=1

- no negativity in the reviews. Owners get to delete reviews and often write their own so if there is something bad? Something is wrong. http://relocatingtodisney.blogspot.com/2015/06/can-you-trust-villa-reviews.html?m=1

- washer and dryer couldn't be in the garage (it is too hot in the garage during summers)

- we wanted a kitchen with a view of the pool and a bedroom that looked out the front of the house

- private pool area

- avoid houses with walls in the back yard that back up to highways

This analysis took a very long time, but in the end I narrowed the search to 20 possibilities.

I ranked the possibilities by cost, and sent my first email to the cheapest 12 houses. Remember the first email to the owner is to simply confirm dates and rates. You want to make sure the owner is real (a step toward confirming the property is real) and many owners do not keep the homeaway calendar up to date. Also, some owners like to avoid homeaway fees by directing you to their own websites. Here is the approach I use for contacting villa owners: http://relocatingtodisney.blogspot.com/2015/05/sixteen-questions-to-ask-before-renting.html?m=1

Twelve emails went out, many have already responded and we are into the next round of communications as we further narrow the search and decide what to rent.

Stay tuned to learn more about our 2016 trip!