Please consider a Lifestyle visit. It is the best introduction to The Villages. You will stay in a Villa near one of the Town Centers which will include a golf cart and bicycles. You will also receive a book of coupons for many amenities such as movie tickets, restaurants and country clubs, free round of golf, etc. In addition, a sales person will show you around including display homes. There is absolutely no pressure. You will receive maps and a guest guide to the various town squares. A lifestyle visit is the way to go. You will get much more bang for your buck with a Lifestyle visit.

I would definitely recommend a lifestyle visit of one week if this is your first visit to The Villages. You can't understand how big this place is until you are actually here. There is plenty to keep you busy for a week!

Well, alot has happened and I changed my plans a bit.

I booked a Lifestyle Preview and rental car for five days in early June. I am flying into MCO and picking up a car at the airport and driving to TV and returning the car at the airport. The woman at TV that did my arrangements said I would be staying in a cabana that is near Brownwood Town Square. A golf cart and a bicycle are provided.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions.

Glad to see you made a decision that is right for you.

TV is approximately 40 square miles. To see all of it and save some time, a car would be my preference, especially if you want to go to hwy 441.

Do yourself a favor and buy a map at the sales center. If you belong to AAA, you can get a map from them but it's not as good quality.

I grew up in Revere but spent much on my adult life on the South Shore, Brockton, Stoughton and Easton.

My preference would be to have both a car and a golf cart.

That is pretty much what I did on my first visit and I see it as the best way to go. The accommodations were near Sumter Landing back then (2009). The golf cart provided was a little slow...

On that and subsequent visits I rented from Enterprise because they have an office and cars in Sumter Landing. On one trip my rental car's engine would not turn off no matter what I did so I took it to the SL Enterprise facility where their employees all had a big laugh at my expense until they found they could not turn the engine off either. They provided me with a replacement vehicle but I stuck around and the last I saw was the car was being loaded onto a flatbed tow truck, engine still running...lol

If you decide to stick with the golf cart, make sure it has air-conditioning.

Haha they don't supply those with LSP's. As a matter of fact the golf carts they give you are so slow, they are a hazard on the MMP's. I did 3 LSP's when they were near LSL and only used the carts to go to the square because they were so slow.

I've been here 8 summers and never have felt a need for AC in my golf cart. Always enough breeze, natural or from the movement of the cart.

This reminds me of an incident in California. I rented a car, went to a motel, and the next morning, got back into the car, put it in reverse, and it would not reverse. So I had to call and have the car replaced. Consequently I was very late to a meeting where I was the featured speaker.