First time onsite & offsite?

[v0mich01]

So I think my family is going to go to wdw Fall/early winter of 2017. Currently this includes, myself, my husband, our son (who will be 2 at the time of the trip), a maybe baby (who would be less than a year old) and my inlaws. So 4 adults, 2 kids under three.

I have played out several scenarios in my head(and calculator) and have come up with the following ideas.

Some things that are important to us.
1. At least two bedrooms.
2. Full Kitchen.

So naturally I was looking at a DVC rental, the animal kingdom savannah view for our ideal week(we're flexible) would ring in at $3822 according to dvcrequest. That isn't including tickets right? Which would add an additional ~$1500. and then food.

Today I had this idea, maybe we'll rent through vrbo a condo offsite, and rent a value resort. This would give us a closer(maybe) option for afternoon naps. We get access to extra magic hours, and have the space we need. The offsite would have a full kitchen. so pricing it, without a meal plan(so including condo, value resort, and 4 tickets) would be $3622

In theory, I'd like to be able to get to the parks at open, do everything we want, then send the kids with the grandparents to rest for the afternoon(at the value resort) and my husband and I could continue in the parks. Then we could al meet up in the parks again and continue our day, and either all retire to the off site condo, or grandparents and kids go there, while the husband and I have a nice dinner and we could crash at the value resort if needed.

I could also possible time this trip to coincide with free dining, which we would get by renting the value resort.

I'm not sure that we'll even be going to the parks every day, I know my husband and I would like to go to unviersal one day, and the kids(and grandparents) may need a day off.

Is this crazy? I know we'd need a car then, I'm not sure if we would rent a car and drive, or fly and rent a car there, either way, I'm aware that I would need a car.

Please tell me if I'm being unrealisitic. My husband and I have never been to Disney. We want to go, and the kid(s) would be free, so I can't help but feel like we should take them, plus, grandparents as built in babysitters? yes please!

 

[geraghty]

With on site perks you get free parking at the parks, EMH, and ability to book fastpasses and restaurants earlier.
I like the idea of having a room on property. Of course only registered guests can take advantage of EMH.

We have stayed off site and did not like it. The drive to and from we did not like. We did not have a room on property, which would have helped for mid day breaks. Plus on site pools are way better than off site.

If cost is a factor, there are several other DVC accommodations that would be cheaper than AKV savanna view. Also, if you stay on property you don't need a car which you already mentioned .

 

[geraghty]

With on site perks you get free parking at the parks, EMH, and ability to book fastpasses and restaurants earlier.
I like the idea of having a room on property. Of course only registered guests can take advantage of EMH.

We have stayed off site and did not like it. The drive to and from we did not like. We did not have a room on property, which would have helped for mid day breaks. Plus on site pools are way better than off site.

If cost is a factor, there are several other DVC accommodations that would be cheaper than AKV savanna view. Also, if you stay on property you don't need a car which you alreadd mentioned.

DVC you will need to purchase tickets and dining separately. These will not be included. You will probably need to reserve 7-11 months out to ensure you get what you want.

 

[mar21]

If having at least two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and budget are your most important priorities, I would consider renting a 2 BR condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. There are several listings on VRBO. It's located right next to CBR, so you're about as close to the parks as you would be if you were to stay at a value resort.

As geraghty already mentioned, there are also other DVC resorts that would be cheaper. SSR and OKW would probably be the most budget friendly. To my knowledge, there are public viewing areas for guests to enjoy the animals at AKL, so you could even save money and book Standard or Value instead of Savannah.

I wouldn't book a condo off site and a room at a value resort.

 

[v0mich01]

Thank you for your input. Cost is an issue in some sense, but also not, in others. We have this idea that we'll go to disney now, when our son and possible other child are too young to remember, then maybe one more time when they're teens/preteens. I know we may go once, and love it, and want to go many more times. But for now, we're operating under the assumption that we're going to go and live it up. The thing that has me confused and doubting myself is my inlaws. I know that they aren't going to want to go out and do everything all day, which is nice because then we can have them watch the kids while DH and I go live it up, but then it makes me feel like we need a kitchen so they could eat at home and not have to drag the kids out to feed them.

From my understanding, if we were to book two separate rooms, they wouldn't guarantee that they be close, so that makes me want one room, with separate bedrooms. So really, DVC may be the way to go, but then we wouldn't get free dining (we would like to go the first week of december, but we're super flexible, and if we could get free dining early November(2015 had it november 8-14th) then we would be willing to go then, if it seems cost effective.

The other thing is we'd like the disney dining instead of the value dining, so then if there is a free dining, we'd need to do moderate or upgrade (i'd have to do the cost analysis to see which made sense.) but then we're looking at doing two moderates, but that doesn't give us a separate living area.

Goodness, so many decisions. And I clearly tend to overthink/analyze everything

 

[v0mich01]

And in terms of pools, Is it really going to be warm enough for my almost 3 year old to play in the pool? Knowing that he isn't going to be submerged to the head like an adult can be, he'll likely be splashing in the kiddie pool.

If we get free dining, it negates the need for a full kitchen, but it would be helpful to have a microwave and a mini fridge. Also, no matter where we stay we need a mini fridge at least bc DH has meds that NEED to be refrigerated, is that available in all the rooms? Do we need to specially request?

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We once stayed at SSR and had a two bedroom with a kitchen and paid OOP - did not rent points. It was during a discounted time and we got a great deal. If you pay OOP then you can be eligible for a package with tickets and dining plan. Also remember if you are all in the same room you all have to get the dining plan. We don't feel it is worth it but if it is offered free then it could be worth it.

In my opinion - if this is your first time and you might not be back for a while - I would stay on property. I don't like the driving to the parks as another poster said. We love the Disney transportation.

There are so many decisions - and I agree I overthink everything too. Enjoy the planning - it is so much fun.

 

[v0mich01]

This may be silly, but how do you pay OOP? just on the disney website?

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

This may be silly, but how do you pay OOP? just on the disney website?

I meant that we didn't rent points for the Saratoga Springs - we went through the Disney website and paid with a credit card. You don't have to be a DVC member or rent points to stay in the Villas. I am sure that the more popular ones will be sold out but we went in January and were able to get a 2 bedroom at Saratoga.

 

[v0mich01]

Got it, I'll definitely look into that as an option! More things to analyze!


oooo! Just came up with another idea! Do the suites at AoA or All Star Music ever connect to a regular room? That would be PERFECT! My inlaws could get a reg room, and we could get a family suite. I have no idea if they do this though.

 

[tzolkin]

Is there a particular reason you want a full kitchen? (Especially if you get the dining plan, it seems like it would be unnecessary.) Maybe you're just wanting to save money on food by cooking for yourself? But even without free dining, you could save the extra money you're spending on two separate accommodations and just use that money to eat.

I think if you're planning to split up, staying onsite would be the most convenient option. Even if you have the onsite value room, you would still need to get the rental car, find your parents, and pick them up and drive to the offsite place at least once per day. That just seems terribly inconvenient to me. And if you're wanting the offsite place so that you can have more room and a full kitchen, you're not going to have much time for anyone to take advantage of it (unless you rent two vehicles).

While you're correct that they won't guarantee connecting rooms, I would still rather have two non-connecting rooms near each other at an onsite resort. You can always request an extra key or assign your parents one to each room so they will have access to both rooms while they are at the resort relaxing with the kids.

 

[mar21]

Your in laws could have their "own" room in the AoA Family Suites if you give them the Master bedroom. The downside is that you and your husband would be sleeping on the pull down bed or sleeper sofa, which are both double size.

 

[v0mich01]

We need three rooms essentially. Or two with a living space. Our kiddos go to sleep early, and I don't want that to mean that we HAVE to go to bed early. I know we may end up from exhaustion. I think AoA family suite + a mermaid room or All-star music family suite + regular room (perhaps connecting) adjoining is probably going to be our best bet. I spoke to someone on disney website through the chat, and she said AoA doesn't have connecting with the family suites and mermaid, but All-Star music may.

If we go during free dining, then we don't need a full kitchen. If not, we probably need a full kitchen. I'm now looking at maybe going during november(historically there is a week of free dining) instead of the first weekend in december. Now, do we upgrade to the disney plan or not? So many decisions Thank you ALL for your responses. I'm sure I'll have many more questions.

 

[kenthanson]

Oh you will be tired enough to go to sleep at the same time as your kiddos, that's a for sure We just returned from our first trip staying off site and it wasn't nearly as good of an experience as the times we have stayed on site.
We come to Disney to do Disney and part of that is the transport back to your resort on the Disney transportation, I love talking to people, especially kids about how there day was and where there from and how much fun they had. Instead getting into our rental car and driving down I4 dodging in and out of traffic and not knowing where your going in the dark in my opinion was not fun.
Also we went with 2 children aged 4 and 5 and the pool at our condo was to deep for either of them to go in, where as disney has pools for the little ones and the ones that weren't all had lifejackets you could borrow. So we had a un-heated pool that was never used the entire 8 days we were there.

 

[jennasmommyinMS]

As a pp poster mentioned, a stay in a 2-bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek sounds like what you might be looking for. You'll have 2 bedrooms--1 with a king-size bed, and another with 2 double beds--2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room with a sleeper sofa (double bed size), washer/dryer, and balcony. While it's technically not onsite, you have to access it by being on Disney property. The resort itself has several pools, hot tubs, a couple of lazy rivers, play areas for kids, outdoor grills--well, the amenities just go on and on. I've paid about the same price here as a single room at a Disney value resort would've cost me. For savings like that, I'll pay for parking at the parks and take all of that extra room.