Save Big at Disney: Staying Off-Site Can Be More Magical!

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You made it, I knew you would. Welcome to the 1st of November
Great British Mickey Waffle podcast.
And there's the Halloween lanterns and nowhere to be seen
in Magic Kingdom. And the Christmas decorations
appeared overnight. It appears everyone is preparing
for the festive season, however we're going to keep you sane.

(00:21):
We thought we'd go even more long term on the planning
footing and share with you something that came up from our
previous mid month show. So if you're not staying within
the Disney Resort bubble, what options do you have that retain
the magic will possibly allow you to either sparkle of your
very own? I'm John, Welcome to November.

(01:05):
Time for the heating to go on, the big coat to make a return.
And at this time, the big coat'snearly being worn inside the
house as well. Although I did read, I did read
that last week, the overnight temperatures in Orlando were
just as cold as here. So I must admit that would be 1
shock to the system with me thismonth to share the Disney

(01:26):
musings and festive glitter in those days of darkness.
That's the last. We're going to say festivity.
We've got Ben. How are you?
I'm good, getting festive and got to dig out the big coke
because January trip coming up. Well, we need it to take it to
Orlando. You might I.

(01:46):
Refuse. Was that well, always take the
weather with you. That's.
I want to leave cold weather behind.
Yeah, definitely. And as you heard, we've also got
Becca, as always. Hi, Becca.
Hello, how are you? I'm all right, I'm more I'm more
intrigued because actually therewas it was the three of us who
did the mid month show from October and actually we had the

(02:11):
most amazing amount of questionsfrom people listeners.
The listener had must have had at least 25 questions for us to
sift through. And but it was so good.
And we actually felt that this, the topic for this month was
actually worthy of a whole show of its own.
So a massive thank you for asking that question.
So we we've got had a little bitof a head start on this in a

(02:34):
way, and then we throw Claire into the mix.
How are you, Claire? I'm very, very good, thank you,
John. And then they're talking about
the listener. Makes me think of the old Terry
Wogan show where he used to makenames for people.
I'm slightly disappointed you didn't do that.
I don't really have a problem. We had actual people asking
questions rather than comedy names.

(02:56):
Yeah, I wouldn't be able to keepit clean though.
That was. That's the problem.
If it is he, it's OK, he can't wait for it.
Yeah, yeah. I'm not quite.
I've got status yet. I don't.
I don't think I'd get away with it.
GB, Mickey, Waffle, just Janet and John.
That's what we need. If anyone's listening and you

(03:17):
don't go what Janet and John is,you'll love it.
I will do later. Yeah, I was going to say we.
Might not be old enough, maybe not.
October a team. I like being on the younger
corner of the Great British making.
Yeah, we have. No.
Idea what you're talking about? Half the time, yeah.

(03:38):
Yeah, really be glad of it. Yeah, it's.
Going to enhance your life better.
Let me turn, OK. Are they on?
YouTube, Yeah, well, kind of. You can, yeah.
You'll find them. But the last thing you
recommended on YouTube was horrific anyway so but.
What that was, I can't even think.
What? It was moving swiftly.

(04:02):
On. Robin, do you know something?
It is so good to have you on theshow.
And actually one of the one of the standing standing jokes is
we tend to record just before you go on a trip.
So it's been rather nice for youto to be here and actually at

(04:24):
the time that this is actually released, I actually know that
you will have an operation coming up as well.
So we'll be thinking of you in in in the podcasting world as
well as in person. And then obviously wait for that
text to say I've managed, I've managed to persuade the doctor I
can actually get me Thanksgivingtrip in as well.

(04:44):
Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
Oh, it's lovely. I'll be in the show anyway.
Thank you. I, I, I noticed you don't want
to talk about the C word, but oh, that's Christmas, by the
way. Thank you, Father C.
Word, do you think? Really.
Cornhole. But I I did wear my my red
festive jumper and my green green, Yeah.

(05:08):
You're right. On John, you know you.
How long have we known each other?
You know me. 1st of November means Christmas is up in my
house. Like Disney Halloween's?
Gone. If it's OK for Disney, it's OK
for me. That's.
Probably a good way of looking at it.
I like that. No.
I'm banning for. Christmas like 9 months.

(05:29):
In advance, it's still banned. It's still banned here.
That's it. Not going.
I'm not going down that that route at all.
Can never be a festive cheer. I love it.
OK, yeah, I'll, I'll go with that.
Yeah, pass the eggnog. I like I said this, this show,

(05:50):
and actually I'm so aware that this is this is the type of
thing that we generally run out of time on.
So I'm going to keep us moving quite quickly.
But it's kind of one of those things that, you know, when you
think of, you think of all the things that everybody says about
staying on site and how amazing it is to be in the bubble.
You stay in the bubble and then you get home, you look at your

(06:11):
credit card and you're thinking,Oh my word, what, how much does
that trip cost altogether? And, and you actually, when you,
it's, it's quite eye watching and I think it's probably a good
place to actually start and actually pricing up just even
just a basic trip. I'm not talking about tickets.
We're not talking about anythingelse.
We're going to just look at accommodation options and if you

(06:34):
want to stay on site, I'm not going to compare it with maybe
different options that you mightbe able to, you might be able to
wrangle or whatever. What you might also find is that
it becomes quite addictive. So once you begin to start, once
you get that first little inkling that you can't basically

(06:54):
can't afford to stay on in Disney for two weeks, then don't
be fearful of it because I thinka lot of people are.
And I think a lot of people think, Oh, well, let's let's go,
let's go elsewhere. There are ways around it.
And actually there's a ways of cutting the cost of a holiday.
And that's why that's again, whywe want to do this show.
I don't. Think it's, I don't think it's

(07:16):
just about not being able to afford to stay on site, John.
I think it's about opening up your horizons and understanding
that it's more than theme parks going to Central Florida.
I had a really interesting conversation with my cousin.
He they own a property in Central Florida and her motto
was live like a Floridian, not atourist.

(07:38):
You know, go and go and experience.
And I know Robin, you do that. You you stay off site all the
time. And I think that there is this
assumption that the only thing to do is theme parks.
And if you stay in the bubble, you stay in Disney or in
Universal, you're kind of bang to that a little bit, especially
if you don't have a vehicle. Whereas actually, do you know
what? Take the blinkers off?

(07:59):
Just see the Central Florida region for what it's worth.
And actually that there are other things to do.
And I, we love Disney. I, I personally love going to
the theme parks and I love goingand enjoying all the things that
are available. I also love seeing that other
stuff and, and recognising that it's not the only thing on my
trip. So yeah, staying away from the

(08:22):
bubble I don't see as a downgrade.
And I know that that was the question in the mid month show
is how do you stay off site and not feel like you're down
grading? I feel like I'm upgrading
because it opens up so many different options for me.
If I I sometimes feel a little bit hemmed in when I'm still
like I when I go on my own and Istay in a Disney resort, I feel
terribly guilty about going off site and that's ridiculous, even

(08:45):
if I'm only going to Target or something.
I actually want to. Have the opportunity to
experience other things. So I see it as a a massive
positive and then it opens up all of the options about
accommodation and how you can not only save a bit of money,
but open up your different priorities, different things to
do CE. Experience, I think Disney have

(09:09):
done it right from obviously from their perspective, because
they the whole package is there.You get to go to the resort,
you've got food available. You don't need to look outside
for a lot of people when you look at a Disney trip, if you're
looking at that and you can see people go back year after year,
us included. And only until more recently
have we got a car explored more areas we want to do more.

(09:31):
But when you can look and actually see the cost of how
much it was. I remember seeing a memory up on
Facebook if from a few years agowhere it showed the price we
paid for tickets in 2016 versus the cost of what it is now.
And it was like how much we did family trip.
It was like, I don't think we could do that now and stay on
site with everything that we didback then.

(09:53):
Things have changed so much. And if we were to do that, we
probably would think about all of us staying in the villa
because that might be a cheaper or more cost effective option
and especially having a car and being able to pop into the
magic, yeah. I think also Disney can be, it's
very overstimulating. There's there's so many

(10:13):
different sounds, people noises,the heat, it can feel.
It can get to a point where it feels very intense.
Whereas if you leave and you're going somewhere else to a hotel
off site, to a villa, to a friend's house, and you can kind
of almost relax, decompress, decompress, right?

(10:35):
There's there's definitely something to to be said,
something to be said for for that part of it.
And while I do understand that the drawer of Disney, I totally
get what you mean. Claire, I'm in Disney.
I can't waste a single second. She says when she gets to the
park at 11 AM, You know what I mean?
I can't, I can't leave. I can't beat off site because I

(10:57):
could go to the the Magic Kingdom and have breakfast.
Why would I go to Kiki's? I'm right here.
Why take all that time to leave?Whereas I think this this beauty
in both and I don't think eitheris a downgrade or an upgrade.
I think that's really interesting what you comment
about overstimulation and I think for people and families

(11:19):
who have anyone with new any neurodiversity, sometimes just
being in that continual onslaught of stuff sound like
noise, people, busyness, buses beeping in the back, all of
that. That ECV noise I've just got, I
can just hear it. Oh my God, and I, you know, I, I

(11:44):
include myself in that actually,do you know what?
I want to embrace the introvert sometimes and just sit quietly
somewhere. And I find that quite difficult
when I'm staying on site and, and retreat to my cave of my
room sometimes just for a coupleof hours where you just want
some peace and quiet. And I think that it's worth

(12:04):
thinking about how over stimulating that environment can
be and whether that's the right continual onslaught for you and
your your, the people that you're travelling with and.
You've also got a if you're a family of 3 or 4 staying in one
room. Yeah.
No, that's not happening too great.
Yeah, yeah. No.

(12:26):
Why not be the best idea anyway?People might survive, you might.
You're not survivor by the end of it.
To have that little bit of space, yeah, that little bit of
quiet time. You've got your own room in a
villa. Yeah, privacy.
Privacy. Yeah, basic privacy.
Yeah, basically, yeah, I. Think you mentioned it, but the
guilty of the guilt of staying on site.
You've spent this amount of money on a hotel to be close to

(12:49):
Disney. It's like, OK, well I've paid to
stay here, that this is going togive me everything.
You turn and cram absolute everything in and not focus that
actually you're on holiday. You're supposed to be enjoying
this rest Relax. Yeah, I think.
That works both ways, I think. When you're staying on site, you
feel guilty if you're not maximizing all your time.
If you're staying off site, you feel like you're cheating on

(13:09):
Disney a little bit by doing other stuff.
I don't think there's any easy Iactually.
I totally agree. Totally agree.
Yeah, I just think, think about how you like to spend your time.
For me, I actually really enjoy having that opportunity to be
away from parks, even if it's for like a morning or just a few

(13:30):
hours, and not being constantly,you know, absorbed in everything
that's happening. I think we've actually got a
real broad look at this. I really like your thought
there, Claire, about that wider Central Florida sort of theory

(13:50):
of actually being a resident rather than being doing the
tourist stuff. Because actually they are the
bits that you you come home and they create some of the most
long term memories. Totally.
Because actually each day becomes different because you're
going to explore that in a slightly different way.
The things of for a lot of people to remember that now

(14:13):
everyone isn't sort of you're not compelled to actually stay
on site. And I think as a family, we, we,
we never stayed on site for certainly the first or must be
at the 1st 7 or 8 visits. And then when we stayed on site,
it was only, we did it for threenights and we just say, OK, that
was OK. And eventually we managed, we

(14:36):
managed A10 day on site stay. Now at that point I was ready to
go to a villa. I, I, you know, I don't think I
was ever stimulated. I just needed time and I needed
space and I needed I needed be in A room when I'm going to
sleep where I'm not listening tome two kids at half six in the

(14:57):
morning saying is it time to go to the parks and.
You're like. No, it's not.
Go back to. Sleep.
That's still what you said, or it's not what you thought it's.
Probably what you said. But it's probably not what?
You thought it was what I said because at the time they were
younger. If if it was at the age that
they are now, it certainly wouldbe, it would be a.
It'd be hating them up, wouldn'tit?

(15:20):
You're. Probably right, Robin.
Actually, I think, yeah, the roles have been reversed.
So again, and I think, I think we're all looking at this on a
very, very broad basis because because we've all got so many
different on site and off site experiences.
And that's that's why I really feel that this is such a good
conversation to have just to begin with.

(15:42):
Now I know Ben, you, you've donea little bit of work on this.
I I've also done this. I'm really actually regretting
pricing some of this stuff because because as I priced it
up, I'm instantly thinking, wellthat's not happening next.
Year. And as as I did, I'm thinking,
oh, the cookies on my computer are going to keep.

(16:03):
I'm going to get loads of loads of adverts now you're.
Going to go on Facebook later and it's going to go, oh,
here's, here's more Disney stuffand she's going to get like the
advertising follows you around. Facebook's been listening to me
again. Yes, I think it's I.
Think it's an interesting thing because last summer, this summer
just gone, it's the first time as a family we've stayed on site

(16:25):
I think ever. And that was for six days and it
was the three of Oh no, that's not true.
We stayed at Okey WI. Don't count that.
As you know that is a, but it's a matter.
It's a very different result from what you say you.
Still have to count it though. OK so we did say Okey West but
that was for like 3 nights before a cruise.
We stayed at Oaky W for two weeks before Millie was born so

(16:47):
and this year we stayed at the beach club with three of us down
me and Mills for six nights and I was ready to leave that resort
at the end of six nights and moved to a villain.
Most definitely. I like the location but I was
just fed up being in the same. Room you cooped up on.
Totally. So the other thing to that to to

(17:08):
bear in mind that with this, though, Claire, is the fact that
and again, your reasons, your reasons for having just, you
know, for staying last year is basically because you actually
you could fit the three of you within that same that same.
Yeah, because Morgan didn't comeso we could do what we want to.
And so, and that I actually, butI actually think this is, this

(17:28):
is another thing that really does become very pertinent to,
to some of the, the thinking andsome of the planning here.
Because if you go in as a party,it's 2, that's fine.
You can actually work around that and you will actually get
your hotel room at a given priceand stuff like that.
If you go in maybe as a, for example, a family of five,

(17:49):
you're basically looking at 2H rooms.
I mean, actually that racks up that that was a price absolutely
astronomically. And you your price per night
stay becomes, well, in my eyes it becomes a bit of a problem.
It's where you find it's cheap to leave some family at home.
Exactly, Yeah. Yeah.

(18:10):
Yeah. Because I don't think even those
rooms at sleep 5 where you've got 2 double beds and then the
pull down. I wouldn't know five people.
In my. Room different.
Two weeks. Oh, that's the thing, Robin.
That was what I was going to say.
It's the length of time because a lot of people might only go
for on site for a few days, but when people are planning and.

(18:30):
Looking for a couple of days arelooking.
For like 2 weeks and it's like you're not going to get space
and it's just. Yeah.
It's just all I can think. Of.
Is the stuff everywhere just andI would find that like every
five people's worth of stuff in one room, 5 people trying to use
the shower, trying to get ready,trying to use the tort.
No, she think to me that's just a no, but that's me.

(18:53):
So a lot of them don't have the storage space for five.
No, they don't have the storage.They don't have the storage.
For. Two weeks.
Do you think that people who aretravelling, and I'm talking
about perhaps those who haven't,who've maybe only been once or
twice or perhaps this is, you know, this is their first trip,
Do you think they understand? Tell us in the chat, actually

(19:16):
tell us, tell us in the woofers up.
Do you understand that there arealternatives that are easily
accessible? Or is it that Disney marketing
is so brilliant that people think the only thing to do is
stay on site? Because I, I think that there's
probably a bit of an undergroundcommunity of villa owners and

(19:37):
you know, all of those type types of off site resorts that
people see as a like they're, they're a secondary thing.
Because when you go onto a website that you can go to a
travel agent website and you type in what you want to do, you
know, Disney holidays or you go to Virgin or BA or 2E or all of
those different things from the UK and the eBay.
Where do you want to stay? Well, Disney World, the first

(19:58):
things that come up at the Disney resorts and it's like,
this is the prime, this is the premier.
Well, it is apart from five of us are trying to share one
bedroom. So actually, what are the
alternatives? And I wonder whether actually.
It's it's badged in that way to try it because, you know,
expensive, but there's a bigger kick.
I don't know from a travel agency perspective, yeah, if I

(20:19):
was looking for a trip, I would be immediately going where can I
make sure that I am not going tokill my.
Family for the next two, it's it's you type in Disney.
The thing you're going to get isDisney.
So it's people aren't so Orlando, yeah, people are going
like if I want to go, I'm going to Florida, I'm going to
Orlando. I've got to stay in Disney.

(20:39):
World. I want to go to Disney World
because that's the main thing I want to do on holiday.
So Disney would be the what comes up as top result.
But even then, if you go on to Virgin or BA's website or TUI or
whoever and you type in Orlando,you get hotels and you get
Disney hotels. You get Disney hotels, but you

(21:01):
get I drive hotels and you get a192 and 19 hotels.
You very rarely get villas. You do sometimes get villas, but
you have to kind of look for them a little bit and they tend
to be. To think people don't look.
For hey people don't look but also I think it's because there
are a lot of scaremongering on about villas booked through

(21:25):
travel agencies. Valid.
Valid. Scary.
I think that's a good call that Yeah, valid.
It's. A good call, but people then go,
well, I want to book this package holiday all in one
place. Yeah, I want to get this
package. I don't.
Trust the villas. From these places so therefore.
I'm going to. I don't want to be responsible

(21:45):
for booking something separately, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can understand.
That and I think. That's the biggest cost saver
we've found is booking stuff separately can save you a lot of
money. But but on the other hand the
protection you get from atoll and after from package holiday
and combining things actually bebeneficial that the package
we've got. We've actually booked a package
for January because it worked out cheaper.

(22:08):
I think it's 1400 lbs for a weekand that's flights and hotel.
Yeah, that's that's. Amazing we worked out a non
virgin's price prices that was only costing us £200 for the
room. Yeah.
Wow, so. And that's that for me is, is,
is the the crux to this. You have to be prepared to
either you go with what a travelagent provides and and if you

(22:32):
trust your travel agent and you actually you'd go with either
travel consultant or you go withsomeone that you, you inherently
trust, that's fine. I personally would stay clear
the High Street. I think there's better travel
consultancies to be had online. I also feel that if you if you

(22:52):
if you actually put a little bitof work into it and you want to
go down the villa from there, there are places online I use it
where I use the company Verbo purely out of not from an
advertising point of view, but purely from the fact that you
can actually cancel the villa that you've booked right up
until about it's about a month before.

(23:13):
Yeah, you actually go now that is that in a way it's quite
reassured and it's free cancellation.
So if you get a better offer of maybe staying on site or there's
a reduction moving forward, you still have that wriggle room to
actually change your plans. Now, I like that and I that's
certainly one of my sort of things.

(23:35):
I would also use a lot of different review sites.
I wouldn't necessarily just go for Verbo reviews.
I would do a little bit of digging, see if there's any non
TripAdvisor and I would and justgenerally get to the bottom of
either the area or the specific villa that you want to stay in.
Yeah, the truth will be out there somewhere.

(23:56):
And I think that's a bit to always remember.
It's the fact that, you know, inthis day and age, it's not a
case that, you know, if some, and I think Robin, you probably
alluded to this a moment ago, you know, and I think that's
where a lot of a lot of big holiday companies, I won't name
names, but the stop the stock ofvilla rentals are, yeah, very

(24:20):
well used, but also they're not always, yeah, not in the best
shape when you turn up as well. And and you get that on a lot
of, you know, go on Facebook groups, etcetera.
The. Evidence is there for you to
actually go away with. Villa owners that I know

(24:44):
personally tend to have the opinion of villa owners who care
about their villa and the upkeepof it.
Don't use those companies because they take such a big
cut. They're like I you can't
possibly keep your villa maintained for for what's left
for you. So they don't tend to to use

(25:05):
them. They tend to rent them out
themselves because they can do it.
They keep, I mean, I'm sure VR Vivo take whatever, but the rest
they keep. And they, I mean, from what I
understand, most of these peoplethen put the money back into
their villas because they want them to be.
They want to have, they want to be able to charge enough for

(25:26):
them, in which case they need tokeep them up to a high standard.
And again it goes back to you get what you pay for.
I booked a villa for my family back in 2010 and it was cheap
and it was it was actually AI will I will name and shame it
came from the DIB. It was a villa owner on the DIB.

(25:46):
But it was cheap and it was cheap and the, the electric went
off one day all of our food spoiled because they hadn't paid
the electric and it was very tired.
So you get what you pay for. I definitely there are, there
are so many different villas outthere for different budgets for
in different areas for differentdifferent amounts of people.

(26:11):
And I think it's quite interesting when you look at
what you get for your money. And I know that this is a
conversation we've had before. And you know, I, I had a
conversation with my cousin their how their property, they
have a townhouse in Champions Gate.
So what Nikki said to me was that I don't, she doesn't think
that Brit, most of their rentalscome from US residents who

(26:33):
understand the home owners association process, which is
what all of these properties, ifthey're in a, an like a
community, they're all part of an HOA.
So there are specific requirements of them that they
have to maintain, whether that be gardens and garbage and all
of that stuff. And so most of their rentals
come from US guests. And she thinks that UK visitors

(26:56):
don't recognise that The additional benefits that you
sometimes can get with a off site property, things like, you
know, actually, there's a clubhouse, there's a big pool,
you get free green fees, you know, if you're playing golf and
all the different options. And, and I think that you're
absolutely right, Robin, responsible owners will reinvest
into their property to make surethat it is because there's such

(27:19):
competition. Yeah, well, if you if you have
something that looks tired, theypeople just won't rebook and
they'll tell their friends not to book it.
So actually I think they'll. Give you a bad review.
Someone's got a bad experience, more people are going to write a
bad review. Then people actually leave a
good review. You're not going to moan about
it. And also they will tell all the
friends, family and just go likeif you're going next time, don't

(27:42):
go. This one, we're saying it and it
wasn't great. So let's start with that as a as
a starting point for looking at a villa.
I wasn't going to start elsewhere, but let's let's look
at that. So if that happens, look at the
date at which the review was left and see if there's a trend
over possibly the last 12 months.

(28:02):
But also dig a bit deeper. Has the property changed hands
within a time frame? Because what you tend to find is
if someone's getting bad reviews, they will generally
sell up and then someone else takes it on.
And then they can actually try and restart that whole rental
process and it becomes a, you know, it's a trying to kick

(28:23):
against it and that the newly refurbished and new owners and
such like. And it probably if you have
experienced somewhere it, it has, it has a like a history
trail to it as well. So again, reviews can be your
can actually be a real good indicator as to but yeah,

(28:44):
whether it's a an awful trend invilla where you you actually
know that oh, this place has been refreshed or someone where
people are saying the pans, the pans weren't great.
There wasn't enough of this. It appears as if such and such
isn't working. And I think that's it becomes
quite clear if you read whether a general and a wider sense now.

(29:08):
And if you go and you just basically, oh, it's got four
stars out of five. All we couldn't possibly
actually look at, dig deeper, goand be, do a bit of detective
because it's worth doing. Yeah, I think and I what I did
was I got some photos from Nikkijust as an example of what you
can get at Champions Gate. Now they have updated their
house. Let me just for for those who

(29:31):
are watching on YouTube say. Kitchen and this is very nice.
So it's really sleek and modern.And this is, this is their, you
know, they've got really nice, really.
Nikki a message next time I'm looking for a villa.
And they've updated their bedrooms, all of them.

(29:51):
So they actually, the villa actually has four bedrooms and
it sleeps 10 and they redid all of it.
I'm just having a look for the, I feel like the room that I
think Robin's going to like, guys.
Maybe. Oh yeah, that's beautiful.

(30:12):
They are massive Hawaii fans, sothey talk, try to put some of
their love of Hawaii and stuff into the villa.
Yeah, their lounge is yeah. It's very clean.
You can. You can tell that that's the.
Sort of villain that I would. Be looking for yeah.
Every time we've played from. This before we've gone all
everything's got yeah, dated, furnished things that right

(30:34):
literally from the 70s. Fake house plants.
Exactly. There's none of that.
Everything is digital in the building because it's a
relatively new build. It's in the middle of Champions
gate in terms of and for most dates apart from like
Thanksgiving and Christmas. That villa that sleeps 10 is
less than £200 a night. Yeah, yeah.

(30:56):
So actually I'm talking about ifthat's £20 a person per night.
And that's the thing, that's forwhen we've been looking at
villas recently because that's what we're looking at like
different sort of ways to make aholiday to Orlando cheaper.
And we found a four bedroom one that ticks all of our boxes,

(31:19):
which is cheaper than a moderateresort.
Exactly. And you you have that amount of
space, you know, if you have an argument, you could have a
different room. You've got a snorer.
You've. Been asked me.
Where's what's confused us? Because there's only two of us,
Why would we need a villa? But actually we don't have much

(31:40):
space our holidays in a different room each night.
Our holidays are different now because we're not going to the
park from rope drop to fireworksand we just need to play sleep
actually somewhere just to chillout, relax and decompress from
the is actually more needed thanwhat I think.
We didn't have one, NBC points and.
That's true. And I think that that's that's

(32:00):
really quite an important thing to recognise.
And I think it doesn't matter whether you're, you're a group
of two, 3-4 or ten, you actually, you then have choices
and you know, and, and that's, that's the beauty of all this.
You can actually go if, if, yeah, obviously there are villas

(32:20):
out there that do cost of coursea whole.
Deal more Which? Yeah, but but they have
additional things. So and again, build a bucket
list of things that you want from your own, your own holiday
if you want to stay in a villa, right.
You want cool if you if you if you're one of these people who

(32:41):
doesn't like going into cooler water, look at look at the look
at how much it costs to get justa little bit of pool heat, even
in the summer. It makes a.
You don't need it in the summer,you don't.
Need it in the summer. You do.
No you don't. Depends what you.
Are you? Don't let us know in the
comments. Watch on YouTube, just let us
know in the comments. Would you have pool heat during

(33:03):
August? My friend has has pool heat on
his pool and I I was so hot and I was like thinking oh have a
dip in his pool and I was like. I cannot bear a cold pool.
Yeah, it's. Never cold in the summer though.
It is. It was.
Maybe, maybe it was a giant Thursday.

(33:24):
It was a game changer this this summer my wife would not ever
usually go into a villa pool if it if it was cold it I hope.
That's If it's cold, it's what, but it's.
The worst, But it's one of the nice things about being in at
Disney because you know that thepools there are generally quite
nicely heated and things like that.
They're consistent. It depends where you are.

(33:45):
So if it's solar heating, then it basically it's relying on the
sun to heat it up. That sounds maybe a nice little
thing to just be aware of. If you get a little bit of pool
heat that just raises that temperature to fill, makes a big
difference From there. Do you want a hot tub?
Because there are some villas that you can actually get a
separate hot tub. You can get a separate even a

(34:06):
plunge pool and a hot tub. The options are there.
If you've got kids, a lot of villas have garages that are
turned into a games room or as Claire found out, and there's
your place in the summer, an amazing cinema, an amazing
cinema room. And so villa owners are
absolutely trying to draw you inwith different amenities and

(34:32):
different things. And actually, once you are aware
of that and you're not in the car at 8:00 AM every morning
trying to get for rope drop, staying out all day and then
coming back and then just sleeping, you've actually then
planned your, your, your actual theme park experience so much
better because you can actually then decide, well, we'll go in

(34:53):
later. We'll have a pool morning, we'll
go in for the afternoon. And then maybe when we come
back, we'll get something to eatand then we'll come back and
we'll have a you go in the pool before before you go to bed.
And that's what that's the wholething.
It just allows for just a different a different pace.
I think it's probably the way I would describe.
It and I think there's there's no right or wrong way to do a

(35:14):
holiday. It's your choice, kind of what
works for you, because the prices that I got, and I chose
August because it's quite a popular time for for Brits to go
over to Florida. And especially if you choose the
last two weeks, it's quieter. And it was weird, first time we

(35:34):
went August this year and all I could hear was British accents
everywhere. It was, it was surprising.
So, yeah, so the price. Because you went to the
Rosencrown for the first time, Yeah.
That's all we only have to wait.Was it another like 10 years?
12 years ago again? So so yeah, Disney value was
also chose. Pop Century for 14 nights is

(35:57):
2400 lbs and this is just for hotel only.
So I, I worked something similarout on that Ben.
So in respect the dates might bedifferent, but I worked out as I
worked out as price per night. So it might, your price and my
price might not correlate, but it won't be far away.
For a value for 14 nights, I wasat £141.00 per night, which I I

(36:19):
thought, yeah, OK, that's fine. And go with that.
Go on, tell me the next one. The moderate one was Disney's
Caribbean Beach because it was the cheapest 1 of the time. 3600
lbs for two weeks. OK, you sell it.
You sell it to me. Yeah, and Disney Deluxe if it
wants to go for Disney's Beach Club Resort for two weeks. 6655

(36:42):
lbs and the offsite villa that we found.
That's nearly that's what, 407? Yeah, £500.
And the offsite villa. So it's a four bed villa,
private pool. The standard that we we looked
at what I will do, I'll post some pictures soon of it.
And the cheapest during that same time was 2800 lbs for four

(37:04):
bedroom villa. So that is what exactly what I'm
paying. So that was £800.
That was £800 less than the moderate resort Caribou and
Beach. So the 2800 is what we're paying
for our five bedroom villa in Formosa Gardens that we've
stayed at twice before in August.
Which is £200. Which is £200 a night.

(37:27):
It's kind of when you think it like as you said before, Ben and
Becca, when you go as a couple, there must be a part of you
think, well, why would I go and stay in a villa where I can stay
in Disney for less? But as soon as soon as you've
got more, I mean, there was still argument for it because
there is. If you like a villa, then go and

(37:48):
stay in a villa. If you want your own pool, go
and stay in, stay in a villa with your own pool.
Like, there's definitely something.
You want to go skinny dipping? It's still.
Illegal. Still.
It's still illegal, Yeah. Still illegal, Yeah.
Really. I'm not.
Saying it doesn't happen, but yes, you can't, you can't do
that in case you could be seen. I think I'm sure, I'm sure it's,

(38:09):
I mean, I think it's illegal. Too much information there.
It's quite a. Concern more about the CCTV
cameras that are left on the property.
I thought you did you. You're not going to do it in a
Disney pool, but you might do itin your own villa.
Yeah, Yeah. No, I'm I totally agree with
that. And that actually I think that's

(38:30):
another thing to think of in, inrespect not.
Doing skinny dipping? No, not just not just about
privacy, but I'm talking about John's wish.
List of like what? What's happening on the holiday?
Completely private pools so I can't be seen.
What I'm, what I was going to say was if you're in the Disney
pool, does that many people use that pool on a daily basis that

(38:55):
you know, it is, it is basicallysort of the general swim.
Do do you want a themed pool or do you want just your your
private pool for? Yeah, and that's what it allows
you, the chance to actually decide as well, you know?
I'm going in a private pool, to be fair, I don't like going in
the in the Disney pools. I don't mind laying by them, but
I don't like going in them and. What can I ask why you don't

(39:16):
like going in them? Because I don't like going.
Into a bottle of people with soup, right?
So this is exactly the point. You're going into basically a
warm pond of water with everybody else's bacteria.
Or you can go into your own, I think.
I think you're right, Becca. I think some people have an ick

(39:38):
about that and some people really don't care and they're
quite happy to swim with anyone and that's OK.
Put enough bleach in there, it'sfine.
But think about how you and yourwhoever you're travelling with
feel about it. You know, if you don't
particularly like sharing what was probably quite a warm
bacteria infested Poland. And there's, do you know,

(40:02):
there's also the people who don't like being in a swimming
swimming costume or in swim shorts who feel self-conscious.
I'm sad that they feel that way,but they might.
Be in front of the people they feel uncomfortable whereas in
their own. Pool.
She doesn't matter. Yeah, Yeah.
I think there are those people who exist.

(40:22):
One thing we we didn't mention though, when we came came to the
price comparison is parking. That parking can really add up.
If you're staying in the villa, chances are you're probably
going to have a car because you really do need one in the villa.
You can get by with Ubers, but you probably need a car is you
have to pay for parking. Whereas if you stay on site

(40:45):
Disney you don't. And I think is it, has it gone
up to 35? Dollars a day.
So. Which equates to $490.00 if you
go 14 days and you don't get the.
Amount, when you are actually doing the numbers and working
out, there are some things that you are going to.

(41:06):
And I think when we've looked atit, we're trying to work out
what do we spend. So actually if we're a St. a
busy hotel, we're more likely toeat more expensive breakfast and
food options because it's closerwhere actually if you're in a
villa, we've got a car, we can go to Kiki's, we can go to lots
of other kitchen. We've got a kitchen you can.
Go on, kitchen, right? So it's one of those things that
actually you might be spending more on one and you might go

(41:29):
actually, I'll go Disney becauseit's free parking and that side
of it. But actually you've got to work
out. Actually, do I want that?
I just want standard breakfast Ican have.
And then just absolutely. And I think, I think your point
about having a car or Uber ring is the other thing, you know, if
you're close enough and certainly the location of the
villa that we rent and I know the one that John stayed in this

(41:51):
summer to Uber to a park was less, certainly less than 35
was. But to Uber there and back?
Yeah, sometimes was less. But.
The knock on of that was becausewe weren't driving, you'd spend

(42:11):
while you're in the park of beer.
So you know, you kind of it's like cause and effect.
You know, either you drive and you save money on alcohol
because someone's got to drive or you get an Uber and then you
spend more on on, you know, you might have an extra beer or a
glass of wine that you might nothave done before.
So, you know, I think you're going to spend the money either

(42:32):
way it. Depends how you.
Want to spend the money and if you want to have a car and park
on site then you know yes, it isgoing to cost you.
Unless you've got an annual pass.
Unless you've got DBC, you know.So there are alternatives.
Can I also just think of anotherone?
Sorry. Sorry, John.
Sorry, Robin. Can I just talk another another

(42:54):
one into the mix though, becauseactually you're talking about
where you stayed clear and that actually is around the 192 if
you go and you're prepared to travel that little bit further
out before the show. I was obviously I'm, I'm, I'm,
I'm, I'm quite worried now I'm going to get spammed by so many
different Villa Radberts. Well, that'd.

(43:16):
Be great, because you'll find a brilliant one for the next year.
Well, yeah. I found, I found one that's
actually just a little bit beyond Champions Gate, but it's
next to Mystic Dunes. It's kind of on that way up
towards past Emerald Dial and things like that, right.
So I know the area is pretty, pretty handy for everything,

(43:37):
right? It's still an 8 minute drive to
Animal Kingdom. It's got a pool, it's got a spa
tub. It says it a hot tub, but
whether or not it's seated on that, you might have to pet.
But you're looking at £130 a night, right?
And you just like, Oh my word. How many is that St.
John? Scripts 8 there's there's 4/4

(43:58):
bedrooms and that was just by chance that wasn't even and that
was me just so it's now gone to it it'll now go to another
little bit of a review to actually see exactly exactly
what it's got to offer because actually at that price you're
thinking, Oh my word up to two weeks that is like 1800 lbs.
I'm like that's. Less in your flights.

(44:20):
Yeah. But just as a game changer, you
know, I really feel that. You know, I think I said about
our trip this year when there was only two of us, I'd actually
expected to just be in a hotel. And when we sat down and said
exactly what we wanted from it, the hotel we thought would be

(44:42):
the cheaper option, and it wasn't.
And that surprised, surprised both of us in so much of the
fact that we're actually, we were in the villa that was way
too big for two people. However, it cost wise, it
actually meant that there was a there was a a mass.
Well, there wasn't a massive saving in the end because we
chose to get universal tickets. But that yeah, if you told.

(45:04):
Me you gave, you gave you the use.
How to spend your money? Exactly.
Everyone's got a budget and it'show you choose to spend it.
And you mentioned Universal there, John, Actually I've
looked up like Universal hotels to work out the actual cost
because we will talk about Disney a lot.
And I think a lot of that is because it's people see free
dining, you see the free nights offer.
There's so many adverts in the UK for like book a Disney trip.

(45:28):
Obviously there's more around Epic this year, but the variety
and actual cost if you discount the premium deluxe ones where
you get like the express passes,the actual sort of stand ones
from Endless Summer, they're cheaper than Disney and but the
actual quality of the rooms are better.
And. They're newer, but actually
that's something that you need to look at and look at a cost to

(45:50):
work out. But the only thing you need to
think about if you do book a Universal Hotel is you do have
to pay parking. So it's like $25 a day parking
on top. And then obviously one thing I
did see and the universe sort ofstarted, which I'm hoping Disney
might do, especially if you are parking at the at the parks that

(46:13):
you can pre book and save 10%. So it's like $33, but.
Lloyd's had that conversation and saved a ton of money, didn't
he? Yeah, but now they've started
doing it on the app now. So if you know the days you're
going to Universal, you can pre book the parking so you don't
have to go through and tap your card.
You just go and show your phone that and they kiss your QR code

(46:35):
that's. Good, that's quite handy.
Might speed up going in as well because sometimes it can be a
bit of a queue at the I don't know if I do.
A caveat, I don't know if we were talking past any other sort
of accommodation. I didn't know.
I didn't want to butt in with other accommodation ideas if you
were just thinking for the versus it.

(46:55):
Was with it. The other option is also if you
want a bit of space, but you maybe can't afford a villa,
don't want the villa, would rather a hotel experience.
Some people don't want to feel quote UN quote isolated.
I don't think you necessarily dobut they might feel a bit
isolated in a in a villa is you could go for like a hotel that

(47:17):
has apartments so like A123 bed places like the Flora days, the
Lake Buena Vista hotel they haveand even some of the universal
hotels I think do 1 and 2 bed apartments.
So you've got a bit more space if you don't want to feel all on
top of each other or if you wanta kitchen so you can cook some

(47:38):
meals in. There are some great options if
you want a bit more space but you don't want a villa.
Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's, do you know you've
just, you've hit a chord with methere?
Because actually, yeah. What you can also do is you can
actually look on sort of I thinkit was it likeshahotels.com and
booking.com etcetera, but placesthat are timeshare and obviously

(48:01):
you are not a timeshare owner, but they do release some of the
apartments where you can actually rent.
You know, you basically get a even even if it's a 123 night
stay, even up to A7 or 14 day stay, but you can actually stay
within that kind of environment where it is very much so

(48:24):
department based, but you're part of a bigger community and
it and you have. Different timeshare.
Abilities. I think it's no law around
timeshare that they have to do. Is it 10% and they can only sell
90% of them through like their scheme and then the 10% has to
be done through cash purchases? Yeah, yeah.
And actually, there are some fantastic places where, you

(48:45):
know, we've stayed at Orange Lake a few times and you know,
the actual, the actual kitchens and the bathrooms within those
places, really an absolute joy of being, you know, you're not a
disadvantage. And actually the cost again, the
cost saving is, is something andagain, just do, do find out if
they charge a resort fee becausesome places do this way.

(49:09):
Yeah, while you were talking, I just I just had a quick look at
like the suites that you get that Homeward Suites and Spring
Suites up at by Flamingo Crossing because that is 5
minute news site. Yeah, new upcoming area, all
brand new hotels, $134 a night in August, next summer and that

(49:29):
is for a bedroom, lounge and kitchen.
Yeah, and that's a 5 minute drive off sign, so you know
there is and that seats 4, so intwo different rooms.
So that there are definitely alternatives that actually,
whilst then they're not Disney property, it releases your cash,

(49:53):
it releases the money that you have saved to be able to go on
this trip to use it in a way that's different.
And I, I, my personal views, I would rather spend my money on
the things I enjoy doing than somewhere that I'm sleeping.
And that's not to say that I'm compromising on the quality
because actually the villa that I choose or the wherever is
still super nice. Like the villa we see, the villa

(50:15):
that we booked is by far the nicest villa that we have ever
stayed in. And it's still saving me money
because I'm prepared to go away from staying in that Disney
bubble because I can go and experience all of that fun.
There is one benefit you do get.You get to drive under that sign
every time you go into practice.Yeah, Yeah.

(50:37):
That's one benefit, yeah. Yeah.
And there is something very smugabout driving home going, I'm
not giving you all my money every single night.
And I it's like having an annualpass and not paying for parking.
Every time I do that I go identify dollars and.
It's all about the calculations,the spreadsheet.
We say it's so many times, but you've got you have a budget,

(50:59):
you've got to work to it and you've got to try and you want
to try and stretch it as much asyou can.
And sometimes actually giving upa bit of Disney and you could do
what Clay did this time doing a split stay.
So if you want to stay on site for a few nights to get some of.
Those. Benefits and how many times that
we've done a lot of split stays in Disney itself where we've

(51:20):
decided to stay in one location to another and we're now looking
like, do we do a week on site and then do a week in a villa?
Yeah. I was just about to say that
actually literally on the tip ofmy tongue was like it.
The question was, how do you getover sort of that downgrade?
How do you get your head around that downgrade to stay off site?

(51:41):
If it's something that's really important to you and you're like
you, you don't want to really think about other options, but
finances mean you you either have to think about other
options or you can't go. Could you stay for a couple of
nights in Disney and get a little bit of the Disney magic?
I have a friend that's recently went and they, they stayed off
site and she was just her and her kids and she booked a couple

(52:05):
of nights here, there and everywhere through her trip.
She kept her hotel off site. She had an apartment hotel.
She kept that the whole time. And then she'd take her kids and
they'd do one night. They did like one night in
Animal Kingdom. They enjoyed all the things that
were on offer. They used the pool, they
explored all the animals, ate dinner, and then they did a
couple of other nights throughout the trip.

(52:26):
So they got some of the Disney magic.
I have a friend that just did itso they could do the Mickey's
Not so scary, and they booked a Magic Kingdom Resorts.
They didn't have to go far just that night.
That's exactly what we've done. We've done Wilderness Lodge and
we've done Bay Lake Tower and the night that we did Mickey's
not so scary. Yeah, because then you do get,

(52:49):
you do get some of that that Disney magic if it's that's
what's really important to you and it's not going to be the
same holiday without it. Find something that means that
you can your budget will stretchfor a couple of nights here or
there and and do it that way. And there's lots of different
ways of booking a Disney hotel as well.
You don't always have to book directly with Disney.

(53:10):
Well, I actually think that thatcould be that.
That could be the next sort of part of how we plan all this out
because I know we're going to try.
I can't. We won't go into depth on this
because actually I think rentingDVC points to pay for a Disney
hotel stay could actually help that little gap.
But we will do a different show on that because it's AI actually

(53:33):
think it's a minefield. I have no idea about it.
I've got friends who friends who've done it and found that
the saving is absolutely amazing.
And you actually you get a wholelot of that magic as well.
And like you said, Robin, one ofthe nicest things that you can
do is if you actually got somewhere you can keep the same
room. Don't cancel your booking.

(53:56):
Just leave your stuff there. Take what you need and then just
have one night away. And you've actually saved that
amount of so much money that youactually you've left one place
empty whilst you've gone and stayed somewhere else.
And you don't feel guilty for itbecause I.
Still save money. You're up on the deal.
Yeah. You know, I think it's it, it
really is. It is one of those things,

(54:16):
Claire, I know you use DVC point.
I think we'll I think we'll comeback to this and we'll do this
as a separate show because actually I think you're going to
open a can of worms that really.Yeah, totally.
Because actually for a lot of people from what we've, what
we've talked about already, the whole notion of either staying

(54:38):
completely off site might be something that has never been on
someone's radar. But then mixing it up and having
a split stay of partially on site or partially at universal
or partially in a different hotel chain that you can find.
And you can actually, you can maybe you can use different
points to actually fund that as well.

(55:00):
There's, there's Ways and Means about this and actually what's
intriguing and, and, and again, go back to that price per night
stay because for me that that's such a massive part of, of
seeing where your value comes for actually, you know, is, it
is, is it actually worth that £600 a night to stay for one

(55:24):
night at the beach club when actually you could stay in a
villa for Yeah, that's four daysstay in the villa.
Yeah, that's amazing to think about.
I can't wrap my head around that.
And it was took when you mentioned by DVC points.
We've had incredible experience last year when we had the cruise
because we booked Pop Century for two nights before.

(55:45):
Just want to get there early anddo it.
But we actually saved money by renting DVC points and staying
Old Key West. I think, I think there is
something about renting DVC points that's a bit confusing.
And certainly until I've done itand you know, this is nice, this
is no secret. I've mentioned it.
I've rented DVC points next May when I go on my own for exactly

(56:08):
that reason. Ben for Oh for five nights at
Pop, it was 1200 lbs. For five nights at Old Key West
in a studio for me on my own was$850, which works out.
Wow, about £600. Yeah.
So half the price for a deluxe resort.
And yes, I am not on the skyline.

(56:29):
And yes, it's a 10 minute further bus journey.
I'll suck that up. Thanks very much for that sort
of saving. Yeah.
So I think we're actually renting DVC points for a couple
of nights from a year ago in August next year because of the
saving that's offered. But it is confusing and to get
your head around it and to go, well, what do I need to do?
What am I getting for it and howdoes it work and what's the

(56:49):
risk? And what happens if I don't, if
this doesn't work out? And I, the first time I did it,
I was really anxious. I was going to turn up and then
go, no, that's not your name, all of that stuff.
So I think let's do a whole showabout renting DBC points and how
it works, what your options are,how to do it and, and actually
where the benefits from the savings are.
John, it's going to cost you money, but money, it's Disney

(57:15):
maps. It's going to save you.
Money it will, but I actually think this is this is so doable.
It's the same Disney maths when you buy an annual pass to save
on parking. There we go.
There is no question that say ifyou're going more than twice in
a year, an annual pass saves youmoney.
I've evidenced that last year, you know, save more and a half
grand. Even if you go in one, it's once

(57:38):
a year, you can go end of August, 1 year, beginning of
August next year. Annual pass.
Yeah, it definitely saves you money, but that's it's. 22 trips
is is the 2 trips the 12 months the maths on it, yeah.
But let's talk about DV, renting, DVC points, because
there are so many different waysof doing it and routes into it.

(57:59):
But I think the key is understanding what you're trying
to do and the fact that you can save money if you get it right.
So yeah. And also, I think Ben, you
mentioned this earlier as well, Is the fact that, you know, it's
not our holiday, it's your holiday.
So if you listen and you think, oh, well, those guys, those guys
are actually way off target fromwhat I want, then that's fine.

(58:21):
We understand that. Because actually if you want to
go and you want to, you know, you want to spend wherever you
want, then that's your holiday because actually that's, you've
got that choice to make. And now I would never, I would
never like to say, oh, you have to go and stay here.
Yeah. And that's why I think we've
been very careful not to sort ofsay, oh, if you're going to rent

(58:44):
the villa, go and stay in certain places.
I've, I actually made a list of the different places that we
stayed in the villa for the show.
And actually it's very rare thatwe've actually, there's only
recently we've kind of migrated close to the 192.
We stayed at some places way, way out, right up at the top of
the 27 and beyond Lake Wilson. Lake Wilson Preserve is like the

(59:11):
far end of champions game, but it's the most beautiful place.
And we I think we've been there three times, but each and every
time it was perfect for what we wanted as a family.
And we went was it West Haven and which is only 27.
Absolutely incredible. Yeah, absolutely incredible.

(59:33):
And actually, it has its own beer.
Pump, I think it's worth, It's worth mentioning that if you're
looking at renting a villa, you will not be able to short term
rent a villa north of the the 192.
So anything north of Walt DisneyWorld basically or north of the
192, you cannot rent a short term rent.

(59:56):
If you're on the one on the 27, it's slightly different, but
anything within that like Buena Vista, Northern Air N up to
anything near Winter Haven, Universal Windermere, any of
Doctor Phillips, any of that area that.
That is not short term rental. So that's why you don't see any
properties up there like on vivoand stuff in that area.
They are long term rental only. So they are 6 month plus.

(01:00:19):
So that's why all the short termrentals are sort of South of the
192. But do you know what that works?
If that's your, if you're there for a week, 10 days, two weeks.
It's not. It's not a problem.
But that in case anyone's wondering, or.
Or three or four weeks, you know, if you actually, you know,
we're planning the most massive trip and actually.

(01:00:41):
Another most massive trip. Yeah, exactly.
If you're paying for the flights, you might as well stay
for as long as you can like well.
I agree, I love it. Yeah, I actually, I actually
think that point there is, yeah,that's that's a danger.
I mean that's, I'm close to thatat the moment, but that's the
thing to also remember is when you're looking for a villa, just

(01:01:03):
look for what you want and you know, if it's not.
Important to you? Yeah, but if it's not there,
I've actually put the Verbo map up and if you try and just put
Orlando in and put your dates in, it actually gives you every
single place and it shows you onthe map.
So look carefully, look at the cost it gives you in pounds,

(01:01:25):
which is quite helpful because it actually makes it more
realistic for the length of stay.
But then when you start playing with the map, you then start
seeing the further away you get,the cheaper the price has
become. But for actually much bigger,
strangely off a much bigger property, but you're paying less
price. And and again, is that whole bit

(01:01:46):
about location being the most golden part of all of this?
But it's yeah, I'm not going to tell you where you're going to
stay, but just go and do some work because like I said at the
start of the show, it becomes addictive because you actually,
you start thinking, I love looking quite light.
It's. Dangerous.
It's great. It's even worse if you start

(01:02:06):
subscribing to Zillow, we're theones are for sale and you get
those big, they're even worse. The problem is you scroll
through on TikTok is it's got all these like families that
have moved from the UK to the Florida and I'm not going, oh, I
wish. And then you've got open Zillow.
How much is that? Yeah, I wouldn't, but I do
quite. Like looking at it when it comes

(01:02:28):
to looking for villas. I actually have a personal
recommendation as well. If you are listening and you're
thinking, yeah, villa sounds good.
If you're on Facebook, there is a group called It's Orlando Time
Villas and it's a villa owner group and it's run by villa
owners. It's you don't, I think you

(01:02:49):
don't have the same protections if you book by VRBO.
But the owners check everyone that everyone has to have their
licensing on their villa advert.The villas check the villa
owners check each and everyone that they are, who they say they
are. And it's another way that you
can put your dates in there. And then every owner that's got

(01:03:09):
availability will will write on it so you can have a look and
see what's available. And it can, it can be a bit
cheaper because again, they're not paying fees to an outside
company. And.
And the outside company? Actually, yeah.
Then I've met with the one that we were looking at and it's with
also VRBO but also Airbnb. Yeah.

(01:03:29):
So and both of them charge different fees.
So actually it's cheaper throughone platform that is through
another. That's absolutely exactly the
right. And that's, that's what Nikki
and Simon had with their their place, You know, they're on
Airbnb mostly because the the fees are a little bit cheaper.
Yeah, if anyone wants to look atthat going to let let us know,
message me and I'll, I'll put you in contact.

(01:03:51):
But they are, I think, just as an example of what you can get
for your money, though, if you're prepared to travel that
little bit further to Champions Gate or particularly if you like
golf or actually, you know, it'sa good area to be in.
And that Champions gate used to be a nightmare.
And I used to say I'm not staying at Champions gate

(01:04:13):
because the I4 to get to Disney is 40 minutes.
And since I mean, I, I was staying at Liz's house, she
lives in Champions gate. When they opened the I4, the new
lane and it went from 14 minute journey to 12 minutes, right?
And it's like 15 minutes on average.
It's about 15 minutes now. It's such a neighbor.

(01:04:34):
Crazy the difference. It's it's changed and it's now
changed my view. Champions Gate's such a nice
area. It's really.
Quiet. It's a little bit elite.
I quite like watching the golfers with the, the, you know,
the girls going round on the, the golf carts with the drinks
for the golfers they're playing,you know, it's quite fun.
But actually it's a really nice environment, particularly it's.

(01:04:56):
Some very nice if you like watching it feels very posh.
People watching it, it feels quite nice and it's all gated
and and coded as well, which some you know, when you're
looking at different villa communities, some are open and
some are gated. I don't know there's a benefit
to being gated other than the fact that, you know, you have to
give your coat, you have to giveyour coat to the Uber driver or

(01:05:16):
whatever. So most of them anyway.
I don't know. Liz is 1.
They literally they won't let anyone in.
They'll phone her to say are youexpecting an Uber driver or are
you expecting a delivery? They won't just give, they won't
allow her. She can't give the code out to
anyone else. It's literally sticker in her
car. There's no code.
So yeah, but hers is not her area is not the zoned short term

(01:05:40):
rental. Right.
So it's a residential rent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right. I know.
I keep looking at it keep comingup for sale.
I'm like Simon, he's not on board yet, so.
Again, that is another whole different show because again,
when you when you actually stayed in the villa and you

(01:06:03):
actually fall in love with the whole notion of the space and
time, it actually I followed you.
You then start looking and then you yeah, and then you start
racking up how much you've paid in villa rental over the year
and you're thinking, OK, right, so could I actually do.
And yeah, when you start doing that and then just.
Like dangerous pain, yeah. How much do I pay in annual dues

(01:06:25):
to DVC versus how much it would cost in HOA fees?
I know, yeah. Yeah, not much different.
But when the roof goes and it needs re shingled it's.
And you're not there. And when the air con goes and it
doesn't work and somebody's on aholiday, it's on you and you're

(01:06:45):
you're interesting. I'm too far away to actually
deal with that. And I don't know whether it's.
Then you end up paying management company fees and it
kind of defeats the purpose. I don't, I don't know.
It's like if you bought if you bought a property 10 years ago,
at the prices they were at, theywere probably bargain.
So you know you were pitching upa four bedroom, fully furnished,

(01:07:06):
brand new villa for $400,000. And now it might.
Be 20 years on that, Claire. Even.
At least 10 years ago they were definitely, and now the prices
are yeah, it's not. Worth it?
No. It will come back again, yeah.
Keep watching. Yeah, definitely.
They're having a bit of a crash there at the moment.
So yeah, just wait a little bit longer.

(01:07:28):
Yeah, ride it out. I've got.
Yeah, I know somebody listens tothe show who keeps we keep
sharing that same. Team effort.
Team Filler. Message.
Yeah, we can all club together. Now we're talking.
So that once, once we've we saidif we won the lottery, we'd get
a House of Golden. Gold.
No. I think John and Lloyd were

(01:07:49):
gonna be the pool boys, weren't they?
Yeah. We were cutting the grass on one
M right on the OH. Yeah, cutting the grass,
sailing. Sailing off into the distance,
he'd be like Mulholland Dr. the David Lynch film.
Wouldn't they have, you know, it's just yeah.
Do you know something? I actually feel that that is
probably once once we've gone from the whole reality of going

(01:08:12):
off site, we're now into we're now in the fantasy island still.
Let's let's. Quick while we're.
Ahead yeah it's probably a good time to draw clothes to to the
show. But I tell you what thanks guys
for so many just widening this to such a an extent that yeah,
it's going to cost me and and actually I've I've got me

(01:08:34):
fingers just even over even now because of how many screens open
on the computer. I'm just in that bit where I
just need to just press book nowand just say I'm I'm off.
And that's what I hope the show does.
I hope it gives people a little bit of a little bit of
inspiration to actually know that there are so many different
options and actually not just saving money, but actually

(01:08:57):
seeing the wider area like Claire said at the start of the
show because actually it is a most amazing place.
And the moment that you get out with not just the Disney ball
the universal bubble and you actually begin to see sort of
just Florida life. It changes your whole perception
and then it probably becomes even more addictive and you want

(01:09:17):
to go back again so be warned. But as always, a big thank you
Robin Claire, Ben and Becca. That has been such a blast for
everyone listening. We are in November wrap up warm.
Remember you can always come andjoin us.
Check out all of our socials at GB Mickey Waffle for any

(01:09:37):
updates, news shows and lots more.
To make sure you also join us inour Facebook community, the
Waffle Exams. Pick up the conversation that
we've just shared with you and actually share your thoughts.
Come and tell us your your villaoptions, hotel recommendations
and whether or not you actually think a split stay is something
in there. You know, maybe maybe we could

(01:09:59):
all consider at some point in the future until the mid month
show. Thanks for listening and we'll
see you soon. See you real soon.

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