House versus resort for a family?

[Papa Deuce]

We're already booked for this vacation. We leave in 4 weeks for 11 days.

Our family rented a house. I figure that with 3 year old twins, for 11 days, a mother for 5 days, and a father in law for 5 other days, it was the only way to go. We have 4BR, with a screened in pool, home theater.... all the ammenities for $1200 for 11 days.

I figure that, even excluding the parents, we would go stir crazy if we stayed in a hotel room for that long. Plus it would be more expensive, anyway.

What do you think? We have friends booking a place with 2 young kids for 10 days and they don't know which way to go.

I know that you get special perks for staying on-site, but really, for that long of a vacation, is it worth it?

And, while I am posting, if anybody has the name of a good vacation home management agency, can you PM me? We think we'll be looking to buy an investment / 2nd home.


Thanks,

Chcuk

 

[BevS97]

we have stayed both onsite and in a vacation home. I think I prefer to stay onsite - we are trying a full 2 weeks onsite this nex trip, so I will know for sure, but there are some definite advantages to having a home.

The price is the first one- for less than $120 night you are getting some pretty plush accomodatoin - for the number of people you are talking about, you would have to take 2 rooms at a Value to stay onsite - I know I'd rather be in the villa.

Also over 11 days, you will be able to slow down and relax and the extra space will be a big bonus.


We stayed at Windsor Palms for 2 weeks last year, in a 2 bed apartment. Windsor Palms is beautiful - the facilities are superb, and the location is excellent, it is only about 5 to 10 minutes drive to Disney via the Sherbeth Road. My only critisicm is that the atmosphere was a little flat - it was like going home every night, rather than feeling like a vacation all the time. I don't know if that makes sense? But each evening I was preparing snacks, doing laundry, tidying etc - not massive amounts of work, but more like being at home than being on vacation.

so we have decided to try 2 weeks at Port Orleans this year. I am looking forward to the hotel atmosphere, the maid service, swimming pools etc. BUT, I am not sure about no kitchen, no washer/dryer, only one room for all 4 of us to sleep in.
There are pros and cons to each choice.
It will be interesting to see how we feel after this trip - whether we will choose to go back to an apartment or stay onsite in the future.

Obviously in an ideal world we would book a 2 bed apartment at a DVC property, but those sort of prices are out of our reach.

Bev

 

[Amirah95]

We prefer to stay offsite because you get more space at a cheaper price and we like to do offsite things as well. We like the resort/condo (like Liki Tiki or Vistana) because they have activities for the kids and the amenties are wonderful and the rooms are spacious and come with two baths, two bedrooms, a kitchen, dining and living room. My sister likes to stay in vacation homes like the one you booked because it's out of the way, large, private and it's quiet...more like being home for her. Only thing is that we have to travel a few minutes to get the Magic...no pixie dust anywhere when you're offsite.

 

[mbb]

DVC!!

OK, it's actually three words - Disney Vacation Club. Check it our while you are there, no hassles

Head over to the DVC Rent/Trade Board, points are VERY reasonable way for your friends to stay onsite, with the amenities of a home

Have a great trip!!

 

[Suzanne74]

I agree that it truly depends.

I have a 3 yr old (not twins though!) and was REALLY torn. I didn't want a hotel room for this main reason.. when she naps, what am I and DH to do? I wanted to at least be able to watch TV, talk - something everyday beside read or nap with her everyday. I would go stir crazy. My dd sleeps for 2 hrs still everyday from 2-4pm. Plus she is one to not truly go to sleep until I have said good-bye and close her bedroom door and hotel rooms have never worked for us because of that.

But.. on the flipside, we wanted to be in the park because of her naps too. We wanted easy access to get back and forth frequently throughout the day without wasting traveling time, esp like you - the night hrs aren't as long in Oct and all the minutes count. We ended up renting points from a DVC member for 1 bdrm villa at OKW for 8 days.

If your twins don't nap anymore or you were going to stay at the parks for one time of the day - not hoping back and forth, and utilize outside parks too then your plans sound perfect. You can still entertain, swim and have fun while your kids are sleeping. That in turn will make your vacation nicer. Plus you do save money getting things at a store. Not that you really even have to cook but a frozen pizza, frozen waffles, cereal and milk, lunchmeat, PB&J etc.. really save a TON of money.

So there are really good reasons to do both but you just have to decide which reasons are more important to you or which ones would make it a nicer more relaxing vacation for you and your kids.

HTH


Like someo

 

[homeschooler]

As you can see on our signature, we are staying off site. We have a house that we rented last year and we have made the arrangements to stay at the same house this year. It is MUCh larger than we need but I really like the guy and it allows for more freedom with family.

I tried Wilderness Cabins once and REALLY liked them but the transporation was a bit tedious.

We stayed off site the first time because MIL came with us and the kids were getting bigger and needing more space. MIL could never handle the buses and changing or the steps at the cabin sooo rental house. I loved it. We had some minor trouble with the agency (Like I paid in full prior to leaving and they wanted me to pay in full again because they couldn't find my payment) but it went well.

The next year, we used the same agency. I was disappointed. Not terrible, just... The pool wouldn't heat. (They said it was heated but we expected too much. We bought a thermometer and called because it was under 60 so they sent a pool repaire man out and the filter was dirty and the pool warmed the last two days.) The carpeting tack strip between rooms was worn and if you steped wrong, you got tacks in your feet, just little pricks but very uncomfortable. Nice neighborhood, wonderful neighbors. I know that probably sounds terrible but it really wasn't bad.

The next year, I needed a minimum of 5 bedrooms because MIL and SIL were going and they didn't have many available and they were expensive so I started shopping around. I got this house we used last year and were pleased. The price is great ($115.00 per night including a heated pool-6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms) The pool is marvelous. We can control the heat. We noticed a 'bug' mound by the pool and called the local number. They were closed that day but would 'check' the messages. OK, lets see if this works. The exterminators were there and gone before we got home that night. Lots of little extras were there for our comfort. They had some coffee and tea so if we got in late at night, we could at least make coffee before going shopping.

We made reservations with them again this year. It is not the most beautiful house we have stayed in but it is beautiful and I don't prick my feet walking out of my bedroom. The bathrooms are bathrooms. No fancy double size tub but everything works and I don't have to call repeatedly to get something fixed. It is not the newest subdivision and there was no new construction going on while we were there. The house is still nicer that my our home and we had a CM from Epcot across the street, a couple from Universal down the street and AK next door.

I would like to go to AKL once and maybe PORS again but with 3 kids or more, hopes that maybe a grandchild might be with us for a day or two or my parents and 94 year old grandmother might join us, I would take the house any day,.

 

[all4fun]

Mostly I think there is just a lot to be said for the sheer convenience of being on site, especially with kids. It gives you the option of using your car or not even needing a car. We have stayed both off site and on and like the pp said, you also get the feeling of actually being on vacation when you're on site whereas staying off site feels a little less, well magical , for lack of a better word!

It all depends on what your friends are expecting out of this vacation. If they want convenience and to be immersed in "the magic" of disney, they should stay on site. I also recommend looking into renting DVC points. Of course make sure your read the FAQ and "Word to the Wise" threads before proceeding since renting off the board is based a lot on trust. We are DVC members and have rented out our points a couple of times now with no problems. The vast majority are honest, IMO, and if you're "smart" about it, it's really very low risk involved. Just something to think about. If your friends don't mind having to get in a car every time they go somewhere, then offsite will be fine, especially since you can get "more bang for your buck" with a rental home.

HTH!
Cheryl

 

[dwfanatic]

We've stayed 3 times in a wonderful vacation home. You can't beat the 4 bedrooms, private pool, jacuzzi, 2 TV's, etc. However, no that we have DS#2, it would definitely be easier to be in a monorail hotel- but unfortunately, we don't have the budget for that. We never feel 'away from the magic'- I love driving down 192- our home is just behind Splendid China- just a short distance from the gate. We would rent a car even if we stayed on property anyway.

 

[KathyPem]

I dont' forsee us ever staying on-site. We are renting a 4 bedroom 3000 sq ft house for 923 including all taxes, pool heat and spa heat. It is just simply too expensive for us to stay on-site with being a fmaily of 6. I think in the long run even if we were only a family of four that after paying for meals,etc. A house is better. You don't have to carry your stuff all the way up to your rooms, down to go swimmiing and or to teh parks, then the disney transportation system. You can cook dinner at the house most nights, swim whenever you want to and have tons of space!! I haven't ever stayed on-site adn I know our family won't ever unless we hit the lottery (DS has multiple food allergies and we need a full kitchen for him) but I am one fo those who thing the house is the way to go.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I can't see us ever staying onsite, either, now that I really think about it. We would like to maintain our privacy from our twins.

Plus we get to save a ton of money on meals, especially breakfast. My kids eat 3 bites and then they are done. Just that saves us probably $200 over the cost of eating breakfast out for 11 days. What would 11 days at a resort cost just to stay there? We're paying about $100 a day.

We'll be heading back to our rooms in the afternoon every day. Get the kids to take a nap. Hopefully they will be tired out and not give us a fight. And, as somebody mentioned, we're not stuck with nothing to do while the kids nap.

Our rental is 8 - 10 minutes away from the MK. Seems ideal to me.

Thanks for the input, everybody.

 

[homeschooler]

I also like being able to let the kids stay in the pool for as long as they want and me being able to sit in airconditioning, reading or cross stitching or whatever and still see them and hear them. I can go in the pool for my 15 minutes and do other things I want to do. I loke the house.

But I also like on site. Too much money for us right now with 2 teenager and a 9 year old.

 

[TerriBelle]

I agree with MBB - DVC!!!!!

We love staying onsite AND having lots of space. Our twins are now 6 and DD 11. We have been staying in the DVC villas for many years and we love it!!! Most trips my parents & sister travel with us. With DVC we can get a large 3 BR GrandVilla for everyone or divide up into Studio & 2BR.

 

[Acklander]

We've stayed on site, off site at hotels, and off site at rental houses. Ever since we've stayed in a rental house I don't think we could go back to staying in a hotel. There may be a lot of magic with staying on site, but with our family, we couldn't afford to stay at one of the home away from home resorts, and a single hotel room just didn't work out. The magic wore off real quick as we were sitting in a dark hotel room trying to be quiet at 9:00 PM while the kids tried to fall asleep. In the rental house we had 4 bedrooms so everyone had their own "space", in the morning we would make breakfast at the house and eat it outside by the pool before heading out to the parks for the day. It only took us about 15 minutes to drive to the Magic Kingdom. We'd usually eat lunch at one of the parks, and head back to the house in early evenings. At nights we preferred to just do BBQ for dinner, while everyone had swim time and just kicking back and relaxing. This saved us a LOT of money on the meals. Another bonus is that there was a full size washer/dryer right in the house so I would run a load while hanging by the pool and when we got back home at the end of the vacation I wasn't stuck with several suitcases full of dirty laundry. Since we rented directly from the owner at www.floridarentalhouse.com the price ended up being the same that we had paid for the one hotel room on site. Maybe after the kids are grown and gone I'll go back to staying at the hotel on site, but until then this has worked out perfect for us.

 

[Mainebound]

This is a really helpful thread!

We are renting a vacation home for the first time in February after two years in a row onsite with our small kids and my mother (plus many trips just DH and me prior to that onsite). I think it is clear that there are trade-offs. you cannot have it all ways as they say. Cost is not a factor at all for us, but we are renting a pool home for several other reasons, most of which people have mentioned. (2 bed DVC villas would be too much like hotel rooms for the 5 of us). But also, as for the "magic" -- I agree that it is there when you are on-site much more than off-site. BUT for us, it will be good to get away from it every day. My sons (ages 2 and 4) will not nap when they hear shrieking kids running down the hall or down at the pool. They try to "escape" from the hotel rooms (we always have 2 connecting rooms for space). They do not settle down/rest on the bus rides -- too exciting -- like they would in a car ride. At bedtime, they know daddy and I are in the bed next to them and try to get in with us at all hours, not to mention going to the connecting room to wake up my mother! They are restless in the morning and want to GO immediately when they wake up. Etc Etc. I am hoping that they will be more relaxed in a large house in a quiet subdivision.

As for travel time, well, my experience is that it takes 30-60 minutes even to get from resort to park using WDW buses, never mind getting from park to park or resort to resort. And I would rather have them strapped in and sitting quietly in a car than trying to hang on to them on a bouncy bus.

But we'll see. I may change my tune after actually experiencing the pool home!

 

[Sinclare]

When it's just me and my son, we stay on-site (or DTD) where we have good transportation. This is mainly due to the fact that we fly down and it makes the vacation much easier when you don't have to do ANY driving

However, when it's the whole family (usually my mom, dad, sister, bil, their two kids, and us) we rent a house. For a family vacation you just can't beat it for the price and if you know what you're doing then you can really score big.

For example, this year we got a week in a 5bdroom/4bath/w pool heat (stunning home) just about 5 min from Disney for $690. The trick is to wait until it's almost time to go (3-4 weeks). Then you check the ones that still have you're vacation time frame available. They will amost always drop the price (sometimes by as much as 1/2 original). Now with that said it can be a bit tricky and it helps to have a somewhat flexible schedule. However, if you're paitent and dilligent you can get one heck of a deal. Every time we have done it, we split it 3 ways and ended up paying ~$30 a night. I'm talking very nice houses too. My dad is the ultimate critic...if anything is not right, paint chipped, someone smoked a cig in the room 3 years ago, or the sheets aren't perfectly clean in a motel he will make sure you know it. With the houses, he has been nothing but pleased.

 

[Amirah95]

I read a lot about the free transportation when you stay onsite and that is one good reason to stay onsite but we hate using public transportation. We don't use it at home and we don't use it on vacation either. I hate the fact that we have to wait to be taken back to our hotel, to go eat, to get to a park and the fact that we have to wait for someone to come pick us up makes me feel sort of "stranded".

I plan on getting a rental car and staying at the Poly next year (our 1st time onsite--we wanna feel the Magic 24hrs a day)...just wondering how far the parking lot is from the hotel. My sister says that is another reason why she won't stay onsite...WDW resorts are huge and full of people.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

[Gillian]

None of the deluxe resorts have really close parking. It's not bad, maybe an extra 5 minute walk?

We love onsite & offsite. Both have disadvantages. Our next trip will be onsite unless we are joined by family that wants offsite. And I will try to convinvce them that with 3 teens, 2 babies, and at least one grandma, we will be happier onsite. The diversity of the group means lots of different needs. This way we can split up any time we want and meet up again for dinner or at the resort.

At the time of our next trip our kids will be 4 1/2 and almost 2. I think we're going to stay at the WL because of the price, location & balconies.

Then the time after that we'll get a huge house!

 

[topfueltn]

I have not been able to turn back since renting a house for the first time a couple of years ago. I only have my wife and young daughter but you can't beat the Kitchen, 2 bath, W/D, Pool, ect... for less than a standard room at a moderate resort.

 

[Suzanne74]

None of the deluxe resorts have really close parking.

Actually Old Key West parking is right in front of your door. We just stayed there and it was wonderful. We rented from a DVC member for a very reasonable price and I felt that we had the best of both worlds. We occasionally used the disney buses but most of the time, we drove out rented car right from the airport for $156/week and were off and running everywhere. Parking is free everywhere in Disney if you are onsite too and that saved us a bunch too.

Our first floor 1 bdrm villa was perfect. About 5 walking steps from the car into a really nice homey place. A HUGE bathroom w/ jacuzzi, sep showers, 2 sinks, a gazeboo like back porch (great cause the little ones don't escape!) a full kitchen stocked with all cookingware, full size w/d, living room with pull out sofa, 2 tv's. The best part - it was SO quiet and my little one slept like an angel the entire time - including afternoon naps.

I think if you have a huge family, staying offsite may be the only way but if you only need 1 or 2 bedrooms, then renting from a DVC member is the only way in my opinion. Esp with little ones who need afternoon naps. It is so much easier. We rented and paid less a night than the moderate resorts and had all the perks of a DVC member - we are already planning our next trip!!

Check it out!

 

[anita36]

my vote is off site.

you /they will have more room to relax especially with kids who need time to unwind and run around.
olus in a house/condo you have a washer and dryer in your room and a full kitchen!!

we stayed on site once and off site the other times I didn't like that cramped feeling in a hotel room. I had no magical experiences but was rather a bit wound up with the kids constantly goinging like the energize bunnies.

and there is always alot of noise going up- Disney never sleeps- never!!LOL

stay off site- enjoy the house- enjoy the quiet and relaxation after the parks...