Off site even with FD...Am I nuts?

[momfeez]

Our kids are older, but it has been eons since we all shared a hotel room. Seriously, I'd rather eat peanut butter and saltines for a week, and have my own bedroom, than share with kids.

Get the townhouse---does it come with 2 bathrooms too? Again, that alone would make up my mind. With room to spread out, the kids can watch kids' TV in the mornings while they're getting ready, and you can watch what you like to. Think about evenings/bedtime---again having your own room =priceless.

 

[skw444]

We were faced with the same dilemna for our trip coming up. Free dining at a moderate or offsite in a 3 BR condo. In the past, we have always stayed onsite. Disney transportation is not a factor for us since we always drive our own car anyway. We got a great deal on a condo at Windsor Hills so we're only paying $422 for the week compared to $1200 onsite. So, the big question was the food. I priced out where we would plan on eating. We will be eating lunch and dinner on Disney property and breakfast in the condo. We have several buffets and a signature restaurant in the mix and one of our children is considered an adult in Disney's eyes. For us, it came out just slightly more to stay offsite, but we won't be crammed into a tiny hotel room. For us, it is worth the extra cost to have more room to move around. But I think you need to figure out what works best for your family. What works for one family doesn't always work for another family.

 

[LovesTimone]

I just talk to my friend that just returned from the WDW, yesterday.
This is the 1st time that they stayed off-site, and according to her DH, that was the last time they would ever do that and that she was right about staying on site..

They have 2 kiddos just a bit older than yours, 5 & 7. so pretty close. They rented a condo for 5 nights Wednesday - Monday. Out the back gate of Disney, sorry I don't remember the name

Here are her thoughts

No magical express - they rented a car + gas + mileage - she thought it took forever to get the luggage and pick up the car, and head out, find the car and get on the road.

Parking - Paying for parking at the resort,( they thought it was included, they got a surprise of 110.00 charge to their card, for parking at 22.00 a night. Then paying for parking at the parks.

WIFI - was another charge.

Daily housekeeping was not included, so she had to laundry every night so that they would have clean towels for the next morning. Only 1 time did housekeeping come, and change the sheet, and leave new towels.

Pool - was okay, not anything special, her kids kept talking about the pirate pool.

Driving - was stressful they got caught in 5:00 traffic on Friday and sat in traffic, for over a hour, not fun. They took a break from the parks and heat to swim in the pool and got stuck on the way back. They were late for ADR's.

Dinning, without DDXDP - - they love character meals, Chef Mickeys for dinner one night was 260.00 + tip, her DH went into shock.

The return trip to the airport was awful, trying to drop off the car, and then get the bags check with 2 very very tired kiddos was not fun.

While they did have fun over all, she said it was just not the same not as magical, and her oldest asked if the could pleasssse stay where they always stayed for their Christmas trip, they want to ride the buses and swim in the cool pirate pool. CBR is their home resort. Her DH said Yep buddy, mommy was right, we will listen to mommy from now on!!!

 

[beck02]

Last time I went, we stayed on-site & paid for the dining plan. I don't know if it really saved money; my kid was 3 & we always had too much food. To eat character dining was 2 credits, so if you do more than a couple of those, and that adds up too. I found the dining plan to be a bit inflexible, and not that it was a big deal, but as soon as the server knew we were on the dining plan, we'd get a smaller menu of items to choose from. Never saw the 'regular' menu, so not sure if it was a good or bad thing. With a 3 year old, and the time difference factored in (FL time 1 hour ahead of our time), we never once used EMH's, and everyone was extremely tired & grumpy by the 3rd or 4th day.

This year, we're going off-site. I think we'll enjoy it MUCH more. The disney value rooms are small, and I missed having a microwave & fridge. I like eating some of my meals out, but I also like eating in some too, and it's just impossible to try to do that staying on-site. Plus, we like going to the outlets & other shopping areas, so for a 7 day stay, we only go to disney for 5 or 6 of those days.

I think we'll still save money or at least break even, staying off site & have a much more relaxed/comfortable stay.

 

[mrsklamc]

When I did the math for our family, it came down to whether we wanted to cook or not. We ate breakfast in the townhouse, took lunch to the park with us, and ate at home or off site for dinner.

Looking back I wish I had hired one of the grocery delivery services rather than going grocery shopping ourselves but other than that we like how it worked out for us. Disney food really doesn't do anything for us anymore. (10-15 years ago, sure, but not anymore.)

We LIKE having laundry facilities- we don't wash towels every night like a pp's friend- but we can pack less clothes that way. We went as a large family group so each night we had some adults/teens making or picking up dinner while someone else threw in a load of laundry, and others folded it and put it out for 'pickup' on the pool table while others supervised the kids swimming in our private pool. We loved it.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

For our first family trip (me, DH, DS13, DD11 at the time) back in 2010 I had to make the same decision. We own a timeshare and could trade into Orlando through RCI. We were all set to book when I got a Free Regular Dining Plan pin for a Value resort. All our daily park plans and ADRs were already set so it was very easy for me to figure out what we would spend OOP. We went for 7 days and during that time had ADRs at Hoop Dee Doo, Chef Mickey's (breakfast), Akershus (dinner) and 50's Prime Time (dinner). The rest of our meals were going to be counter service in the parks and waterparks, most breakfasts in the room and a couple of lunches either take out or in the room.

When I did the math it looked either choice would cost about the same, even when I accounted for park parking, my gas, groceries, etc. In the end we choose the condo for two big reasons. 1) more space (couldn't put all of us in 2 double beds!) and 2) sunk costs (we pay our maintenace fees every January so our lodging was already paid for).

Our OOP food costs including onsite dining, tips, groceries and a couple of off site CS places was just under $1000 for 7 days for 4 Disney adults. Hope this info helps you plan.

 

[eatatmidnight]

Once our kids were a bit older, we started offsite. I don't know if it is that much cheaper, but 5 people in a room for a week or more at Disney was just too much for me. We usually get a 4 bedroom home with a private pool. We have followed a couple of day plans.

When there are heavier crowds, we get up, take quick breakfast with us, arrive at the park 30 minutes before opening. Ride and play until just after noon. Take a break and get an offsite buffet or sit down meal, return around 4 and stay until close. If we get hungry, we get counter service.

During less busy times, we wake up, eat breakfast at the house, go to the parks, eat a late lunch at a buffet/character meal, stay until close and grab carryout on our way back to the house.

Everyone has there own priorities and sanity was a little higher than $$ for me. LOL

 

[nugov2]

I just talk to my friend that just returned from the WDW, yesterday.
This is the 1st time that they stayed off-site, and according to her DH, that was the last time they would ever do that and that she was right about staying on site..

They have 2 kiddos just a bit older than yours, 5 & 7. so pretty close. They rented a condo for 5 nights Wednesday - Monday. Out the back gate of Disney, sorry I don't remember the name

Here are her thoughts

No magical express - they rented a car + gas + mileage - she thought it took forever to get the luggage and pick up the car, and head out, find the car and get on the road.

Parking - Paying for parking at the resort,( they thought it was included, they got a surprise of 110.00 charge to their card, for parking at 22.00 a night. Then paying for parking at the parks.

WIFI - was another charge.

Daily housekeeping was not included, so she had to laundry every night so that they would have clean towels for the next morning. Only 1 time did housekeeping come, and change the sheet, and leave new towels.

Pool - was okay, not anything special, her kids kept talking about the pirate pool.

Driving - was stressful they got caught in 5:00 traffic on Friday and sat in traffic, for over a hour, not fun. They took a break from the parks and heat to swim in the pool and got stuck on the way back. They were late for ADR's.

Dinning, without DDXDP - - they love character meals, Chef Mickeys for dinner one night was 260.00 + tip, her DH went into shock.

The return trip to the airport was awful, trying to drop off the car, and then get the bags check with 2 very very tired kiddos was not fun.

While they did have fun over all, she said it was just not the same not as magical, and her oldest asked if the could pleasssse stay where they always stayed for their Christmas trip, they want to ride the buses and swim in the cool pirate pool. CBR is their home resort. Her DH said Yep buddy, mommy was right, we will listen to mommy from now on!!!

I think that situation is uncommon with the extra charges and daddy's fault for not checking into the extra fees before booking. We had none of that at WH.

We had a beautiful Mickey themed house with pool at WH and were at the parks very fast. We are like you OP and do not do public transportation unless there is no other option so driving isn't going to change even if we did stay on site.

I do think this is a question only you can answer, but since you go often I would try it. For our family space is key...my dd8 doesn't understand why any family would stay in a bedroom on vacation for a week or more when you can have a whole house We ate at the parks/resorts everyday, but brought lunch in for the kids(they are pb&j type of kids so it was just smarter) We also packed a lot of snacks. It was also great for dh and I to have a drink and hang in the hot tub/pool while the kids were sleeping upstairs in their own bedrooms. For us it isn't just comparing the dollar for dollar savings, but what you are getting for that money. A 6bdrm house is more than a value and some mods, but cheaper than a deluxe. So for us we got deluxe accomidations for a lot less...with a lot more of what we would want(transportation, and EMH do not appeal to us and everything we would have wanted to do on site we were still able to do...pirate cruise, resort activities, dinning at the resorts etc.) So we may have stayed off site, we were on site and at the parks a lot and got there just as quick(if not quicker) than if we had stayed on site at a value. Good luck with your decision...either way you will have a blast

 

[Burnedout]

We stay near the animal kingdom. Paid $250 for a week in a two bedroom. I don't see any reason to wash bedding every night. Mouse keeping doesn't ether iirc. Rented an 8 person van for $95 for the week. And a tank of gas. You couldn't pay me to eat at an over priced average food buffet so that isn't factored in. But dlxdining has a cost. We've waited 45 minutes for a bus from akv to ak! No different than traffic. Just an unexpected delay.

Ate in the room sometimes. I can't stand a week of average restaurant food. A grocery run gave us options or things like steak, fish, sushi, prepare better.

Seems your friend didn't do their homework.

 

[nugov2]

.

Dinning, without DDXDP - - they love character meals, Chef Mickeys for dinner one night was 260.00 + tip, her DH went into shock.

I didn't have a chance to look up prices when I posted before, but this seemed crazy high and it is. CM 2 adults about $47 each on the high end and 2 kids $23 each on the high end. That is $140 plus tip. Even if the kids ate as adults it is $188...if your friend exaggerated her bill to being over a $100 more than the actual price I'd be skeptical about her other problems she had while off site...ie returning car, anxiety about ADR's etc. That is JMO though.

 

[dcolleenkelly]

I didn't have a chance to look up prices when I posted before, but this seemed crazy high and it is. CM 2 adults about $47 each on the high end and 2 kids $23 each on the high end. That is $140 plus tip. Even if the kids ate as adults it is $188...if your friend exaggerated her bill to being over a $100 more than the actual price I'd be skeptical about her other problems she had while off site...ie returning car, anxiety about ADR's etc. That is JMO though.

Thank you for this observation. I thought a lot of the advice in that comment seemed suspect, but I kind of got nervous reading it, not knowing if it was true. (We are spending our first week ever at Windsor Hills next week, so parts of this thread have my eyes popping out of my head).
We also have a reservation for Chef Mickeys, but for breakfast. I know the prices are bit different, but we didn't think we'd spend more than $120 for three adults and one child. I hope I'm right!

I think we're going to have a great time AND save money staying in the townhouse. And you can't go wrong with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, our own kitchen, and our own splash pool, as well as the bigger pool with waterslides, etc.

 

[Burnedout]

Thank you for this observation. I thought a lot of the advice in that comment seemed suspect, but I kind of got nervous reading it, not knowing if it was true. (We are spending our first week ever at Windsor Hills next week, so parts of this thread has my eyes popping out of my head).
We also have a reservation for Chef Mickeys, but for breakfast. I know the prices are bit different, but we didn't think we'd spend more than $120 for three adults and one child. I hope I'm right!

I think we're going to have a great time AND save money staying in the townhouse. And you can't go wrong with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, our own kitchen, and our own splash pool, as well as the bigger pool with waterslides, etc.

Have a wonderful time!! I'm sure it will make great memories. And I have to say it is awesome to get mom and dad time alone too

 

[nugov2]

Thank you for this observation. I thought a lot of the advice in that comment seemed suspect, but I kind of got nervous reading it, not knowing if it was true. (We are spending our first week ever at Windsor Hills next week, so parts of this thread has my eyes popping out of my head).
We also have a reservation for Chef Mickeys, but for breakfast. I know the prices are bit different, but we didn't think we'd spend more than $120 for three adults and one child. I hope I'm right!

I think we're going to have a great time AND save money staying in the townhouse. And you can't go wrong with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, our own kitchen, and our own splash pool, as well as the bigger pool with waterslides, etc.

Yes, I had the same reaction when I read it. I didn't want to say until I researched it though. We went in June and I couldn't remember exact pricing but I knew we didn't pay that for my family. Breakfast is 117.13 without tax/tip according to the website. You can look up all menus and pricing online though, so if you are trying to figure out what each place will cost. I guess that posters friend could have indulged in alcoholic drinks...like at least 12 of them at $8 a piece or a couple of bottles of the $50 wine they offer, but I don't think that is the average person and shouldn't be included when pricing a meal at WDW....all regular drinks are included and alcohol is extra even on the DDP so those would be OOP regardless.

Another tip I got on here for offsite is to valet at CR when going to MK...then you don't have to deal with transportation to the park and you can just walk over. It is only $16 to valet and you can come and go if you need a midday break for that price...we did it both of our MK days.

Enjoy WH....we loved it!!

 

[dcolleenkelly]

Yes, I had the same reaction when I read it. I didn't want to say until I researched it though. We went in June and I couldn't remember exact pricing but I knew we didn't pay that for my family. Breakfast is 117.13 without tax/tip according to the website. You can look up all menus and pricing online though, so if you are trying to figure out what each place will cost. I guess that posters friend could have indulged in alcoholic drinks...like at least 12 of them at $8 a piece or a couple of bottles of the $50 wine they offer, but I don't think that is the average person and shouldn't be included when pricing a meal at WDW....all regular drinks are included and alcohol is extra even on the DDP so those would be OOP regardless.

Another tip I got on here for offsite is to valet at CR when going to MK...then you don't have to deal with transportation to the park and you can just walk over. It is only $16 to valet and you can come and go if you need a midday break for that price...we did it both of our MK days.

Enjoy WH....we loved it!!

We were actually thinking about doing that! (The valet, I mean). Our plan was to take the monorail into MK right after breakfast. It will be our first ever view of the castle and the Kingdom, so we thought the monorail ride would make it that much more magical. Sooooo excited!!!

 

[ICF]

Parking - Paying for parking at the resort,( they thought it was included, they got a surprise of 110.00 charge to their card, for parking at 22.00 a night. Then paying for parking at the parks.

WIFI - was another charge.

I'd be interested in finding out where she stayed. I've stayed at 3 off-site resorts and never had a daily parking fee at any of them.

WIFI is also typically free, at least at Windsor Hills.

 

[Burnedout]

We stayed at silver lake. They do charge $25 for the week for Internet.

We have also stayed at orbit one, the one that Is in the sink hole, orange lake and our friends stayed at west lake. Then a slew of them on the other side, embassy, grand, sheraton, etc. Never heard of a parking fee.

 

[nugov2]

We were actually thinking about doing that! (The valet, I mean). Our plan was to take the monorail into MK right after breakfast. It will be our first ever view of the castle and the Kingdom, so we thought the monorail ride would make it that much more magical. Sooooo excited!!!

Have fun!!!

I'd be interested in finding out where she stayed. I've stayed at 3 off-site resorts and never had a daily parking fee at any of them.

WIFI is also typically free, at least at Windsor Hills.

I'd be curious as well...it seems like a lot to charge for parking at the resort.