Kissimmee vacation rentals: where the resorts are and how to choose

Most people who search “Kissimmee vacation rentals” or “Kissimmee Airbnb” want the same thing: a whole house with a private pool, in a gated resort, close to Disney. This guide shows where those resorts are, how they differ and what tax lands on the bill. If you are still choosing between Kissimmee, Davenport and the Universal side, start with where to stay in Orlando. For attractions in town, see things to do in Kissimmee.

Where are the vacation home resorts in Kissimmee?

They sit west and southwest of downtown, between the city and Walt Disney World, not in the historic center. Vacation homes cluster along four corridors:

• US-192 (Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway). The main road from Kissimmee to Disney’s south entrance. The west side has resorts such as Formosa Gardens and Emerald Island. The east side has Lucaya Village, Terra Esmeralda and Bella Vida.
• Osceola Parkway. Runs north of US-192 and reaches Disney on the Animal Kingdom side. Storey Lake sits near it, by Vineland Road (SR 535), a few minutes from Lake Buena Vista.
• Westside Boulevard and Sinclair Road. Connect US-192 to I-4 on the west. Solara is on Westside, Reunion is on Sinclair.
• I-4 at the ChampionsGate exit. Close to the Polk County line, home to ChampionsGate.

Celebration, the planned community by US-192 and I-4, is a handy landmark. By OpenStreetMap routing, Storey Lake is about 5 miles (8 km) from Celebration, roughly 12 minutes by car.

The clustering is by design. Osceola County has a zoning district built for short-term rental housing, the STRPD (Short Term Rental Planned Development), plus an overlay map of areas where short-term rentals are allowed. That is why a legal vacation home usually sits inside a resort community built for it, not on an ordinary residential street.

Is a Kissimmee address actually in the city of Kissimmee?

Usually not. “Kissimmee” is a postal name that covers far more ground than the city, and many resorts sit in unincorporated Osceola County, outside any city limits.

We checked the resorts where we have homes in the U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder. Storey Lake, Lucaya Village and Terra Esmeralda are outside the city. Solara and ChampionsGate are in the Four Corners area, also unincorporated. Bella Vida is the exception: it sits inside Kissimmee city limits. At ChampionsGate, some of our homes have a Kissimmee mailing address and others say Davenport, and all of them are in Osceola County. Even Celebration is not a city. The Census lists it as a census designated place, with no city government.

Two things follow. Most resorts are patrolled by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, not city police, which is covered in is Kissimmee safe. And the tax follows the county, not the name on the envelope.

Which Kissimmee resorts have Orlando Best Place homes?

We currently have homes in seven resorts in the Kissimmee area. The table shows where each one is and the drive time to Disney we measured for a separate article, without traffic, from the resort gate to the parking toll plaza.

Resort	Location	City or county	Magic Kingdom	Animal Kingdom
Lucaya Village	east side of US-192	Osceola, unincorporated	14 min	12 min
The Cove at Storey Lake	Osceola Parkway and Vineland Road	Osceola, unincorporated	15 min	14 min
Storey Lake, east section	east section of Storey Lake	Osceola, unincorporated	not timed separately	not timed separately
Champions Gate	I-4, ChampionsGate exit	Osceola, Four Corners	18 min	18 min
Terra Esmeralda	Poinciana Boulevard	Osceola, unincorporated	20 min	18 min
Bella Vida	east side of US-192	City of Kissimmee	20 min	21 min
Solara	Westside Boulevard	Osceola, Four Corners	23 min	18 min

Sources: Orlando Best Place listings as of October 2026, U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder, and driving routes calculated with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data on October 6, 2026. The full ranking of 17 resorts is in which vacation home resorts are closest to Disney World.

Lucaya Village does not have its own page on our site yet. Homes there show up in search.

How close is Kissimmee to Disney World?

Close. From the Kissimmee resorts we timed, Magic Kingdom’s parking toll plaza is 12 to 23 minutes away without traffic. For Animal Kingdom, the west side wins, because that park is in the southwest corner of Disney property.

Real door to gate time is longer once you add lights, the opening rush and the parking tram. If your trip leans toward Universal and Epic Universe, the math changes, and the area by area comparison is in the where to stay guide linked above.

What is near Kissimmee vacation homes?

Groceries, pharmacies and outlets are a short drive from nearly every resort. US-192 is lined with supermarkets, big box stores and restaurants, but it is not a road for walking. From Storey Lake, for example, Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores is about 4 minutes by car.

Store addresses and hours are in grocery stores near Orlando vacation rentals, and the drive to each outlet mall is in Orlando outlets. If you are driving down from Georgia or the Carolinas, plan a grocery stop on the way in, before you unload at the house.

What is the tax on a Kissimmee vacation rental?

Anywhere in Osceola County, a rental of six months or less pays 13.5% on the total charged. It is three taxes stacked together.

Tax	Rate	Set by
Florida state sales tax	6%	State of Florida
Osceola discretionary sales surtax	1.5%	Osceola County
Tourist Development Tax	6%	Osceola County, at this rate since July 1, 2004
Total	13.5%

Sources: Florida Department of Revenue forms DR-15TDT (October 2026 revision) and DR-15DSS, and the Osceola County Tax Collector, checked in October 2026.

On a $1,000 booking, that is $135 in tax. If a quote shows a different percentage, ask which county the home is in. A Davenport mailing address, for example, can be in Osceola or in Polk County.

Airbnb, by owner or book direct in Kissimmee: what changes?

The house can be the same. Many Kissimmee homes are listed on platforms such as Airbnb and also on the manager’s own website. What changes is who charges you, which fees apply and who you call if something goes wrong. Whatever the channel, check that the Osceola tax shows on the quote, that the address matches the resort and that the home holds a Florida vacation rental license from the DBPR.

When you book direct with Orlando Best Place, the final price with cleaning and taxes is shown before payment, there is no platform fee and payments are processed by Stripe.

How do you choose the right vacation home in Kissimmee?

Pick the corridor first, then the resort, then the house.

1. Your most visited park. Lots of Animal Kingdom days favor the west side and Westside Boulevard. Lots of Magic Kingdom and EPCOT days put Lucaya Village and Storey Lake in a good spot.
2. Type of home. Some resorts mix single family homes, townhomes and condos. Storey Lake has all three. Check whether the listing is a whole house with a private pool.
3. Pool heat. Ask whether pool heat is included or charged separately, especially for winter and spring break trips.
4. Daily rhythm. If you head back for a midday swim and return to the park at night, every minute of drive counts twice.

In practice: before you book, get the full street address, map the drive to the park you will visit most at the time you plan to leave, and check that the quote shows the 13.5% Osceola tax as its own line. A quote with no tax at all is a red flag.

To see available homes in this area, browse vacation homes near Disney or the full list of resorts.