Off Site visit to Disney, why bother?

[Postal68]

Really, why bother wasting your money in going to Disney if you are not staying at their hotels. You will start off at a handicap in the Parks and on busy days you won't be able to get a FP for any of the major attractions so your days will either be waiting in 2 hour stand by lines for 4 or 5 good attractions or spending your day on the People Mover, Carousel Of Progress and Aladdin's Flying Carpets.

 

[Sparkly]

Way to scaremonger! We always stay offsite and manage perfectly well, thanks.

 

[kmarie99]

Wow... really?

Who peed in your cheerios

 

[kristie64063]

For the same reason countless thousands of people visited prior to Fast Pass even existing ....

 

[siskaren]

Wow... really?

Who peed in your cheerios

Just about every post I read from this person is negative.

 

[maxiesmom]

Hmm. I'd rather stay on site than off, but I'd rather stay off site than not go at all.

Depending on the time of year you go, off site is not that big of a disadvantage. Maybe it doesn't seem so bad to me, as my family has never seen Fast Pass as a make or break our vacation kind of thing. If we get them, great. If we don't we still enjoy our day in the parks.

 

[kapoof]

Some love staying off site and I can't figure out why??? we stayed off site at the Dtd hilton. We ended up moving over to the poly.
One thing people will say is they get a bigger room at a lower price and only a few minutes outside disney. But I know I won't stay off site ever again, what a hassle!

 

[Tltorrez]

I'm going next week - a last minute trip for my son's birthday. We'll be staying with my parents. I expect to have a fabulous time. No less than any of our onsite trips.

I might even go so far as to suggest that if you can't have a great time while staying offsite - perhaps you're doing it wrong. ;-)

 

[Postal68]

Way to scaremonger! We always stay offsite and manage perfectly well, thanks.

I'm the original poster and we ALWAYS stay offsite, every year, for the last 30 years(only 3 times on site). It's not comfortable or cost effective to stay in a Disney room. For 4 or 5 nights at the All Star resort I can get an entire house with it's own pool and a full kitchen.


We just came back 2 weeks ago, it's a mess now. Very soon if you are unable to make your FP+ reservation online weeks before you go, you will be unable to get one. Technically, yes, offsite guest can use their park tickets at the kiosks to get a FP, realistically almost 95% of them will be gone before you even walk through the gate. And stand by lines will move at a crawl because the attractions will be busy being loaded with FP holders

 

[Tltorrez]

Also, I'm not entirely sure why riding the Carousel of Progress and the Peoplemover is a bad thing? Those are must-dos in my book.

 

[awilliams4]

Really, why bother wasting your money in going to Disney if you are not staying at their hotels. You will start off at a handicap in the Parks and on busy days you won't be able to get a FP for any of the major attractions so your days will either be waiting in 2 hour stand by lines for 4 or 5 good attractions or spending your day on the People Mover, Carousel Of Progress and Aladdin's Flying Carpets.

Completely agree that it makes sense to either do a Disney vacation or an Orlando type vacation.

It goes both ways, for those that tell me that are going to Disney World but staying off site, I tell them to either stay on site or figure something else to do. But that was way before FP+ was discussed too.

 

[maxiesmom]

Also, I'm not entirely sure why riding the Carousel of Progress and the Peoplemover is a bad thing? Those are must-dos in my book.

I love to ride the Peoplemover! Especially at night. And I don't find Aladdin's Flying Carpets to be bad either!

I guess if the only reason you are going to WDW is to ride the main rides 5 or 6 times in a day you may be disappointed. But for those of us who go and love to not only ride rides, but love to soak up the atmosphere, the new FP+ is just a blip on the radar.

 

[awilliams4]

I'm going next week - a last minute trip for my son's birthday. We'll be staying with my parents. I expect to have a fabulous time. No less than any of our onsite trips.

I might even go so far as to suggest that if you can't have a great time while staying offsite - perhaps you're doing it wrong. ;-)

I might be able to have a good time staying anywhere. That doesn't mean that staying off site is the way to do Disney though. Doing a 'Disney World' vacation and staying off site is doing it far more wrong then someone staying off site and being unable to have a good time.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We were considering an offsite Disney trip in February, but then we canceled it with all of this FP+ stuff.

Kind of a bummer, as I was looking forward to starting to stay offsite so we could get more room for the money. I'm not sure offsite is going to be the same anymore.

Time will tell I guess...

 

[skriegerjr]

Just about every post I read from this person is negative.

Agreed, he seems to dislike Disney so much, talks about being a 30 year veteran, and then complains about changes he doesn't agree with (as if Disney hasn't changed at ALL in the past 30 years!)

 

[crazyventures]

It's posts like this that make me glad that DL is mostly local and there's no need to worry about whether you drive from home, stay at a Good Neighbor hotel, or fork over the $600/night for the Grand Californian

People will stay off-site and manage just fine. If they don't, then they'll decide to stay on-property for their next trip. Telling people they'll always be wasting their money is ludicrous.

 

[jake&samsmom]

I actually have Peoplemover and Aladdin's Carpets on my "must-do" list. And I make my family ride them at least 2 to 3 times per trip, lol!

I do feel though that staying offsite might put you in a disadvantage FP wise. We shall see. As a previous poster said, time will tell.

 

[skriegerjr]

Really, why bother wasting your money in going to Disney if you are not staying at their hotels. You will start off at a handicap in the Parks and on busy days you won't be able to get a FP for any of the major attractions so your days will either be waiting in 2 hour stand by lines for 4 or 5 good attractions or spending your day on the People Mover, Carousel Of Progress and Aladdin's Flying Carpets.

So stay onsite in the Disney hotels, what's the problem? You get free transportation, just like all Disney Guests do, EMH, free parking if you drive, DME and no need to rent a car if you fly, and the opportunity to purchase Dining Plans, and FP+ Sounds like a WIN/WIN to me?!

 

[3Gsandme]

Everything I've read is that FP+ will be rolled out for all guests. So, why shouldn't you book an offsite trip?? Resort guests DO get perks and I'm sure that will continue (free parking, EMH, guaranteed access to the parks during busy times). I think to attempt to frighten people because you have a bad attitude about changes is unfair.

 

[skriegerjr]

I'm the original poster and we ALWAYS stay offsite, every year, for the last 30 years(only 3 times on site). It's not comfortable or cost effective to stay in a Disney room. For 4 or 5 nights at the All Star resort I can get an entire house with it's own pool and a full kitchen.


We just came back 2 weeks ago, it's a mess now. Very soon if you are unable to make your FP+ reservation online weeks before you go, you will be unable to get one. Technically, yes, offsite guest can use their park tickets at the kiosks to get a FP, realistically almost 95% of them will be gone before you even walk through the gate. And stand by lines will move at a crawl because the attractions will be busy being loaded with FP holders

Let me ask you this...is it comfortable or cost effective to stand in lines for hours on end. Everything has an opportunity cost. If it works for you to stay off site, for the benefits you perceive, great. Others it works to stay on site for the benefits they perceive.