Six to Eight People in Kissimmee at Christmas

If there are six, seven or eight of you coming to Kissimmee in December, five homes in our Kissimmee portfolio are built for exactly that number: three two-bedroom apartments at Storey Lake Resort that sleep six or seven, a fourth that sleeps six with a pool view, and a three-bedroom townhouse at Regal Oaks that sleeps eight. They're the ones to ask about first, and the rest of this page is about which of the five fits your particular group.

On the budget: December rates in Kissimmee move around more than any other month of the year, and the week between Christmas and New Year sits at the top of the curve. We can't tell you from a page what a given home will price at for your dates, and anyone who quotes you a December nightly rate without knowing which nights you mean is guessing. Send us the dates, book direct, and you skip the platform fee that sits on top of every listing-site booking.

The four Storey Lake apartments, and how they differ

All four are two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments of the same footprint inside the same gated resort, which makes the differences between them unusually easy to read. Think of it as choosing a seat rather than choosing a house.

• 3191-307 sleeps seven, the highest count of the four. The second bedroom is done in Disney decor with a double bunk, a twin on top and a roll-out twin, which is how two bedrooms absorb seven people without anyone on a sofa. From the balcony you look across the lake at the clubhouse and water park. If your group is seven, this is where the conversation starts.
• 3121-103 sleeps six and is the one I'd point a family with a baby toward: no carpets anywhere, blackout roller blinds in every room, and a free high chair and pack-and-play that live in the apartment rather than being requested. There's a small relax room off the main space with a day bed and trundle, which is where the adult who wants out of the Christmas film ends up. The kitchen runs to an air fryer, a slow cooker and an electric grill.
• 3150-106 sleeps six and faces the pool rather than the lake. Ground-floor patio, an ice maker in the kitchen, and a cocktail set and bar cart left out for you. More reviews than any of the others in this group.
• 3121-207 sleeps six in a simpler arrangement: a king in the master with its own bathroom, a full bed and a roll-out in the second room. Dining seats six, with two more at the breakfast island.

What they share is what makes Storey Lake work for a December trip with kids. The clubhouse amenities are included in the rate: heated pool, hot tub, kids' splash zone, water slides, lazy river, gym, tiki bar and ice cream shop. Kayaks and mini golf carry a small per-person fee from the resort. Parking is free, the gate is staffed around the clock, and check-in is self check-in, which matters more than people expect when a flight lands late. Disney is four miles away, Universal just under twelve, SeaWorld under nine. Publix, Target and Walmart all sit within a couple of miles, so the first-night grocery run is genuinely quick.

The townhouse at Regal Oaks, if there are eight of you

Eight people in two bedrooms is a stretch even when the beds technically add up. 2688 Waterfront Townhouse is the answer in this price band: three bedrooms, a king master with ensuite, a queen room, a twin room, and a sleeper sofa for the eighth. It's roughly half again the size of the Storey Lake apartments, and that extra square footage is the difference between a group that gets along by day six and one that doesn't.

The private hot tub sits on a screened lanai looking over the water, which in late December is the most used thing in the house. Evenings get cool enough here that a soak after a park day is a genuine pleasure rather than a listing photograph, and there's a fireplace inside for the same reason. Three bedrooms are themed, Beauty and the Beast in the master, Aladdin and Mickey in the others, done with more restraint than that description suggests.

Its location is the real argument. Regal Oaks sits next door to Old Town, the open-air district on US-192 with more than seventy shops, restaurants and rides, where admission and parking cost nothing and the Saturday night classic car cruise rolls at half past eight. There's a muscle car show on Fridays and a bike show on Wednesdays. On the day nobody can face a park queue, you walk over, ride a couple of things, eat, and come back. New Year's Eve at Old Town runs live music, street performers and midnight fireworks, which is a better plan with young kids than anything that involves parking at a theme park on 31 December. Fun Spot is next door too. Disney is a short run up the road, Disney Springs barely further.

Resort amenities at Regal Oaks come with the stay: heated pool, water slides, two game rooms with billiards and ping pong, tennis, gym, restaurant and a poolside bar, all a two-minute walk from the door. Twenty-four hour security on the gate.

Which one, for which group

Seven travellers: start with 3191-307, because the bed configuration genuinely takes seven rather than stretching to it.

Six adults and older kids: 3150-106 or 3121-207. Both sleep six without anyone drawing the short straw, and the pool-view patio at 3150-106 is the better evening spot of the two.

A family with a toddler or a baby: 3121-103, for the hard floors, the blackout blinds and the baby kit already in the apartment.

Eight, or six who want room to spread out and a hot tub of their own: the Regal Oaks townhouse, especially if Old Town and a walkable evening matter to you.

What December actually asks of you

Two things shape a holiday-season trip here more than the house does.

The first is that the parks run their Christmas programming right through the month and most of it is worth building a day around. EPCOT's holiday festival runs from the end of November to the end of December with the Candlelight Processional and the cookie stroll through World Showcase. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom is a separately ticketed evening on select nights through 22 December, with snow on Main Street and cocoa included. Disney Springs puts up its themed tree trail and Santa greets guests there until Christmas Eve. LEGOLAND does a kids' New Year's Eve with a brick drop and fireworks at eight, which is the sanest midnight in Central Florida. Downtown Kissimmee holds its own illuminated parade along Broadway in December, and it is free.

The second is that Florida in December is not reliably warm. Days are mostly fine, evenings are not, and a private hot tub earns its keep in a way it doesn't in July. Every one of these five homes has heating and air conditioning, a washer and dryer in the unit, and a kitchen with enough in it to cook a proper meal, which is how a group of eight eats on a budget in the most expensive week of the year.

Before you book

Ask us for the dates first. Availability over the holidays goes early, minimum stays apply across the season, and the difference in price between the week before Christmas and the week after it is considerable. Tell us how many of you there are, how many are children, and whether you want to be near Old Town or near the Storey Lake water park, and we'll come back with what's actually free and what it costs all in, taxes and cleaning included, so you're comparing a real total against your $150 to $250 a night rather than a headline rate.

Booking direct with us means no middleman and no platform fee on top. We have sixty-seven homes in Kissimmee, so if none of these five lines up with your dates, there will be something that does.