Ever been to Orlando and stayed in one of many vacation rental homes? Chances are, over the past 9 years, that you stayed in a community called Indian Creek in Kissimmee, just 4 miles from Disney World’s Animal Kingdom parking lot.

Back in 2000 and 2001 most developments were plotted as part residential part short term rental. Over time, many of the older communities have indeed transformed into that status and few have been taken over completely by the locals who started to live and build a family in those neighborhoods. Who can blame them? An affordable home, often already decorated and furnished, with a central location and a swimming pool in the back yard!

The arrival of Disney World visitors and an ever expanding market, the need was definitely growing towards housing and accommodations for the traveler to the Orlando region. Many hotels were rising up and building the downtown skyline. But the demands of travelers, many from overseas, were different than the very obvious idea of staying in a hotel room or two with one family for a lengthy 14 night or 21 night stay. Building true lodging accommodations that could comfortably harbor a family of 5 to 10 people was a little more than a niche market. Read the rest of this entry »

Just off Lindfield’s Boulevard, a mere 3 and a half miles from Disney World Animal Kingdom parking lot, lies Mango Key, a town home community in Kissimmee Orlando. Many who have stayed here before will return, however, because it is such a small neighborhood and gated from the outside, not many had the pleasure to experience the quiet life of a family Orlando vacation that close to the parks.

Although the extra amenities of the Mango Key community in Kissimmee are limited, there are definitely visitors who see the advantages of being near the buzz of the town for a crazy cheap price of lodging. Let’s be honest, how many of you have stayed in a tropical resort with everything up and in and around, and yet all you did was lay at the pool or visit the area, right? In the end, what families are coming to Orlando for, in most cases, is to get up and ready in the morning, fast track to one of the attraction parks and stay there till the sun goes down or longer. Finding a place to eat is the next important thing on your return trip from the parks and half way through the meal your thoughts are with your sleeping quarters already. Read the rest of this entry »

Honestly,  the summer of 2010 will go into the books as double-the-inventory-season for Discount Vacation Rentals Online. It has indeed been a busy and hot year here in Florida for DVRO, with Disney visitors wanting to see more of us and owners and management companies competing to get into our portfolio. You can’t please everyone and so we were determined to stick to serving our renters with the best possible service as a priority uno and wherever we had the time we would approve management companies and individual properties on a case by case basis, offering more options for our Orlando visitors.

We were able to add some properties in the How To Find Florida Homes page describing properties such as:

• This fabulous Hampton Lakes 5 bedroom home with game room
• Or how to rent a golf villa in Providence Florida
• and also this vacation villa on golf course in Orlando Florida Read the rest of this entry »

Legacy Park, High Gate. An often misunderstood concept of one huge piece of land that was developed by several different builders all at the same time, with one entrance way (Legacy Park Boulevard) and each neighborhood branching off of this lane. Legacy Park is the common name for the cluster of communities, one of which is High Gate.

High Gate is the only neighborhood in Legacy Park that is shielded from the public by a gate. Staying here means you have a gate code to enter and get to your home every day. Other non-gated sections within Legacy Park are:

• The Estates
• The Towns
• The Retreat Read the rest of this entry »

Discount Vacation Rentals Online likes to keep you updated and one way of doing this is to shout out to those who follow us on Twitter or Facebook, to inform our visitors of the new property add-ons into our system. In July 2010 we focused on mainly 5 bedroom private pool homes it seems.

Those new add-ons are normally already in our booking engine. The property as described on our web site here is a work in progress until all information is complete and the rental property has been updated with pictures, video, amenity lists and so on. Read the rest of this entry »

Orlando Florida welcomes the Dental Association, www.ada.org, to the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) October 9-12, 2010.  This year marks the 151^st Annual session with an expectation of over 10,000 dentists arriving into Orange County Convention Center’s North and South Building to maximize their networking, research medical suppliers and services and expand their knowledge through over 245 continuous education classes.  Enjoy the cooler fall days in the wonderful world of Orlando.

Attending the 151^st ADA conference are Dental Assistants, Business Assistants, Dealers, Hygienists, Students, Lab Technicians, Health Professional, Domestic and International Dentists.   Don’t miss your opportunity to connect to associates through the use of SocialClix option during the registration process.  SocialClix allows you to search your own database on Facebook, LinkedIn or Outlook/Gmail accounts to see who inside your network has registered for 2010 ADA Conference. Read the rest of this entry »

The pool water and spa water is the same volume. Therefore it is not possible to choose either one separately. The system can temporarily heat the spa by itself but this cannot be sustained for a long period of time as explained above. The cost for pool heating (and spa) is substantial. It is considered an additional utility that needs to be turned on by the management company. Bear in mind that a bath tub in your home will take 10 minutes or so to fill up with hot water. A bath tub inside a home is only a fraction of the size of an 8-10,000 gallon pool. A bath tub fills with readily available hot water, where a pool starts from cold water that needs to be heated. A bath tub is in controlled inside temperature settings; a pool is subject to the coldest outside temperatures at night. Therefore, pool heaters are much more powerful than any hot water boiler inside a home, it will still take 24-48 hours usually to get 8,000 gallons of cold water to a comfortable 80F.

Pool Heating, Spa Heating In Your Vacation Home

Having a powerful system run almost non-stop for the first 24-48 hours is the larger portion of the cost. It will cost the home owner between $80 and $110 per day until it the pool is up to temperature and it will cost between $12 and $20 to maintain (all depending on the outside temperature situations and depending on whether it is a gas heater or electric). For those who feel they would like to have (and pay) for pool heating for the Tuesday and the Friday of their stay… it does not work that way. Hopefully visitors can now understand as to why there is a fairly high charge for pool heating and why there is a minimum number of days to take for pool heating.

Ace Hardware Convention returns to the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) on October 28-31, 2010. Exhibitions open Thursday October 28 this is your opportunity to see the new products available to you, place orders, and ask those specific part questions direct to the vendors.

Meet with other Ace owners around the world to share best practices and how to navigate in today’s economy. Maximize the Ace Service Suppliers for suggestions on reducing overhead expenses, encouraging and motivating team members, or simply understanding P.O.P. available to your organization to improve your stores. The Ace Hardware Convention demonstrates exactly why Ace is known as “Ace-The Helpful Place.” Read the rest of this entry »

Orange County Convention Center is pleased to host the Star Wars Celebration V, August 12-15, 2010.  Come celebrate your love for the saga and enjoy time with friends and your entire Star Wars Family.  The celebration will be held in the OCCC West Building with convenient on site self parking  ($11/car  $22/oversized vehicle).  The Star Wars galaxy will be brought to you right in Orlando, FL.

The Star Wars Celebration V In Orlando Florida

Star Wars Celebration V hosts a variety of screening, stage productions and panel discussions.  Contests and workshops are available for you to demonstrate and grow your knowledge of the Force.  Single and looking for that special Princess, try you hand at Star Wars Speed Dating.  Or demonstrate your love and commitment to your significant other through a ceremony officiated by a Star Wars officiant.   Take your family on a round of Galaxy Laser tag.  Don’t forget to stop by the Autograph Hall for official pictures and autographs of your favorite stars.  Additional meet and greet time with the stars will be available during the VIP lounge, secure your passes now.  http://www.officialpix.com Read the rest of this entry »

It is finally there, the long awaited Wizarding World Of Harry Potter attraction in Universal Studios Orlando is opening on June 18, 2010. If standing in line from 2am that day is your thing, we want to bet you are not getting in that day to see and experience it. There is a backdoor to the castle however: Universal Studios is selling special vacation packages from May 28 onwards that will allow access for these guests for a preview of the Harry Potter attraction before the official opening date of June 18. Chances are that the entire Harry Potter World will be shown from all angles and depths on the internet even before its opening. The attraction was created in collaboration with the writer J.K. Rowling and the producers/designers of the Harry Potter movies.

However, this is what you can expect when visiting this grand attraction park within the Universal theme park: Read the rest of this entry »