On-site/off-site...how did you decide?

[disneydremr]

We are planning a trip in Jan 2016 with our 3 yr old (4 at the time), first time as a family. We've always stayed off property but cost and clean beds were the only factor. We can't decide whether we want to stay on-site or not, what are the REAL perks that might not be listed on any website? We'll be driving from NC, so transportation isn't a huge priority, but if we are on property I would rather it be easier. With the little one, I am guessing Magic Kingdom will be our main park. Off property, any reco's? Last time we used Regal Palms and loved it, but the reviews of it now are a bit scary.

I have never been interested in any character meals or visits before , and admit to knowing nothing about them. Do you have to stay on site to go to them? Does it make it easier to try and get reservations? The last time we were at Disney, the old FastPass was just introduced...it has been that long and wow has it changed

 

[TOBS2010]

We have stayed on and off property. We chose to stay on property this time since we were traveling with our 2.5 year old toddler. We are also flying--so will be relying on Disney transportation. When we stayed off property we did stay where they had bus transportation to and from the parks, but I noticed a difference in the frequency of the bus to and from the hotel and parks---and also there were a number of stops to other hotels every time compared to those on Disney property. I believe you can also book Fastpasses earlier by being a Disney guest. As a Disney guest you can also get Extra Magic Hours too in the parks.

To us there is just something special about staying on property---along with the convenience. But there are other nice places in the area that you can often find good deals on, especially if you have your own transportation.

 

[Pesky]

Here's one blog kind of summing it up. http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-hotels-off-site-on-site/

We're doing both -- sort of. We're using some of DH's Hilton honors points and staying at the Hilton LBV and then will move on-site (after our US foray). Depending on your hotel, it can be close or easy to get to for any naps or downtime. You get EMH (fyi, Hilton LBV does have EMH perks). You can indeed book your FPs earlier and get ADRs earlier when staying onsite. You can ditch your car if you like and rely totally on Disney transportation. I think with your resort stay, you will get free parking at the resort. The Disney resorts have great theming and you don't escape that Disney bubble/magic.

 

[disneydremr]

Hmmm, I didn't even think about using our hotel points, DH has quite a lot. I *have* to hit HP at Universal Studios, even if I can't do any of the rides, so maybe a split stay is an option.

thanks for the link!

 

[katyjeka]

We have been traveling to WDW for over 20 years. In the beginning we would only stay onsite and had some wonderful vacations. Seven years ago we "converted". Our first time we had a group of 9 and honestly could only stay onsite for 3 nights or 10 nights at Bonnet Creek. We decided to take the chance and are so glad we did. We have never looked back. Yes, you give up extra hours and shuttles so if the perks are important to you I would stay on. I plan our trips and have always avoided the parks with extra hours, my dh has an annual pass so we never pay to park, so we did'nt utilize the perks anyways. We also HATE buses, lugging strollers on and off without hitting anyone is so much harder than jumping in our car. Our 4 dd's love Bonnet Creek and always beg to go back. This past December we spent 10 nights in a 2 bedroom with a fantastic few of the fireworks. It cost us less than $400.00. We've had good luck with the staff and seem to always have a "magical" trip. One bonus, my dh and I get our own space with a lot of privacy which makes our trip that much better. Have a great time with your little one.

 

[MandiC]

I've seen many of these threads and I think it really just boils down to personal preference. You will get more space off site, not necessarily saving any money...but you will get 'more' as far as space goes for your money.
For us, I would rather save longer and go less frequently to stay on site. Our 'vacation style' is as all inclusive as we can get. We like to feel 'taken care of' from the time our vacation starts to the time it ends and staying on-site does that for us. Since we don't spend a lot of time in our room the size of the room really doesn't matter to us. We prefer the other benefits we get from staying on site to a larger room.
You can eat anywhere on Disney property even if you aren't staying there, I do believe on site get a slight advantage by being able to book a little earlier which only really matters if you want a really hard to get meal.

Will we never stay off-site? I would bet eventually we'll try it, especially as our kids get older since we do have a family of 6 which very much limits our affordable on-site options...and especially if/when our kids become more interested in doing other things than just Disney while we are in Florida.

 

[moesy4]

I keep seeing people quote these crazy low prices to stay off.site, where are you finding them?

 

[Lupeix]

Off property, any reco's? Last time we used Regal Palms and loved it, but the reviews of it now are a bit scary.

We stay offsite, and will continue to do so until we can afford the amenities we enjoy onsite. You have to ask yourself what are the things you need/want to enjoy your vacation. I have stayed several places offsite (house, hotel, sheraton vistana), but since I stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek I am not staying anywhere else. The location is amazing (inside Disney property, next to CBR). The pools are awesome (there are at least 5). You have access to the facilities of the hotel that is attached, which includes an awesome fitness center, a spa, a top class restaurant and a couple of family friendly restaurants. There's a playground, splash pad and two lazy rivers. Last time we could see the Epcot and Fantasmic fireworks from our balcony. You have to have a car, but you are in the parks in no time (It took us 15 minutes to be inside Epcot), which is important having a little one. Specially if you are considering taking a break and coming back.

The main issue for us on vacation once we had children, is that to enjoy ourselves we think having at least two separate spaces is a must. So you can put the kid to bed and have a place to relax with your significant other.
With kids that age you cannot spend all day at the parks anyway, so it is important you have a room that is comfortable, because you are going to spend more time in it. For us that means at least a 1 bedroom, or 2 ,a full kitchen and ideally a nice balcony.
In terms of the Disney perks, we know we won't take advantage of most of them. With small children you are less likely to use the extra magic hours. The extra time for ADRs does not make that much of a difference, I could book all the meals I wanted on our recent trip. DH in general does not do quick service, but a "Deluxe" dinning plan will be much more food than we will ever eat, so it does not make sense to get the dinnning plan (IMO the dining plan is not worth it with kids 3-6). Waiting for buses can be a pain with toddlers (and we sort of hate it too), so unless we can stay on the monorail the perks of Disney transport are nonexistent to us. The perk I really wish I had was the 60 days for FP+.

We went a month ago, a 2 bedroom/2 bath presidential suite with an open concept living/dining at WBC (this are the upgraded ones and are awesome) was the same price as a little mermaid room (with only two full beds!) at AoA. There was really no contest for us.

One last tip: You are right that at that age MK will be your main destination. If you stay offsite and have a car, park at the valet at the contemporary, it is only $4 more. We made it from WBC to the door of MK in 20-25 min. Beats a bus anytime and you don't even have to park your own car (and then forget where...LOL)

 

[Lupeix]

I keep seeing people quote these crazy low prices to stay off.site, where are you finding them?

Not sure if this qualifies as "crazy low", but in low season a 2 bed/2bath condo that sleeps 6-8 at WBC is 125 a night including taxes. Given that is about the price of a regular room at the cheapest Disney Value resort, I think that is pretty low.
Here is where you can find it:
http://vacationupgrades.com/pricing.html

BTW, those will not be the cheapest prices online you can find, for a stay at WBC, but it will be a reputable company (as opposed to a possible scam on VRBO or Ebay)

 

[Saimaeve]

Laziness.

 

[katyjeka]

We have been traveling to WDW for over 20 years. In the beginning we would only stay onsite and had some wonderful vacations. Seven years ago we "converted". Our first time we had a group of 9 and honestly could only stay onsite for 3 nights or 10 nights at Bonnet Creek. We decided to take the chance and are so glad we did. We have never looked back. Yes, you give up extra hours and shuttles so if the perks are important to you I would stay on. I plan our trips and have always avoided the parks with extra hours, my dh has an annual pass so we never pay to park, so we did'nt utilize the perks anyways. We also HATE buses, lugging strollers on and off without hitting anyone is so much harder than jumping in our car. Our 4 dd's love Bonnet Creek and always beg to go back. This past December we spent 10 nights in a 2 bedroom with a fantastic few of the fireworks. It cost us less than $400.00. We've had good luck with the staff and seem to always have a "magical" trip. One bonus, my dh and I get our own space with a lot of privacy which makes our trip that much better. Have a great time with your little one.

 

[katyjeka]

Ebay can be very scary with a ton of scams. We however have used the same couple five times and have had no issues. They deal only thru PayPal which makes the transaction safer. This is how we get such a low price. We book through the resort first. The price with them is still half the price of a 2 bedroom disney property. Closer to the date we get in touch with the couple we usually rent from and make our reservation. We still have plenty of time to cancel our first reservation. The secret to super low prices at bonnet creek is to book close to your arrival. Once we pay I give them 24 hours and then call bonnet creek. This assures us we have a reservation. As the above posted you can reserve for a 125.00 a night well in advance with a very legit. company, avoiding ebay. That alone is a super low price. What does everyone pay right next door at CBR? The moderate resorts have become more expensive and our family would need two rooms. I understand the on site appeal as we've stayed in several. However a very magical trip can be had offsite.

 

[ammag]

I've done both and enjoyed both. However for us this time we only wanted to be on property. Four reasons, really.
1. The theming. Our kids are young and staying in a themed resort, disney specifically is an extra layer of fun and fantasy that we enjoy. Especially art of animation which was incredible for our kids, and well worth the little mermaid room price. 2. Early booking of the ADRs and fast passes. This is more important to us than EMH which we avoid sometimes driving our own car is faster however loading and unloading stroller and kid stuff twice can be annoying, but this depends on how much you bring, etc. It's great you will have a car because if you feel like driving you're all set. My ideal trip would be on property and also renting a car just for flexibility. For me being able to get a few of the hard to do things that are important to our family and having that set, avoiding big lines when possible is key to keeping everyone happy and enjoying the trip, there are always lines and waits but cutting them down is very helpful.

3. Being immersed in the disney thing! I like the more complete escape form reality and being in the disney bubble, however we did enjoy getting a break from the stimulation on our first trip. After we were hooked on the world we wanted to stay there! When my kids are closer to teens I will probably of off property again for the space but for now we don't mind sharing a single room, since we are not in it much anyway.
Ok I merged them into three reasons

One other thing is we thought our kids would nap, and we found that leaving the parks mid day did not work for us . Have ee if you want to it adds significant time to do so at many off property locations. We were at the marriot grande vista about 15 min away so it took us an hour or more to come and go. We did it once! I know some resorts are closer so that varies.

I think All the parks are great for all ages, including Epcot for small kids. But if you're short on some days and plan to return someday I'd consider a trip to HS if your child likes the disney jr. Characters, Star Wars, toy story. It can be done in half a day

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We have only done offsite in a condo. We are tenting a townhouse with a private pool this time. We really enjoy the spaciousness of a larger rental. 2-3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room, a kitchen and dining area. It's So relaxing. No worrying about waking the kids if you want to chat or whatnot.

I'm really looking forward to the pool this go around.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I keep seeing people quote these crazy low prices to stay off.site, where are you finding them?

I actually just yesterday booked a 2-bedroom off-site cabin at Tropical Palms Resort, 8 nights, $393.xx including tax, 3rd week of July. My employer uses an HR company (Insperity) to handle our benefits & I booked using one of their services. We stayed the same place June of 2012 $562.xx for 8 nights booked through VRBO. Travelocity price was about $80 per night for our July dates.

 

[pixiemama91]

We stay off site sometimes and others we are onsite. My family owns a timeshare so usually it's a toss up as to whether or not we stay offside or onsite. Last time we we were there we stayed at the Marriott harbour resort and really enjoyed it, we love having the extra space but we kissed staying onsite. I prefer to not have to drive while on vacation or cook and having 2 kids, not having to worry about driving and car seats and cooking AND dealing with the.luggage is a big draw. We arrive in Orlando and start our vacation.

 

[buzznina]

You definitely get more room/space at an off site house or resort and save $$. But we LOVE to stay on site, our family is the complete opposite of a few of the PPs, we do not need to have separate rooms from our girls because we do enough of that at home, everyone doing their own thing. We rather spend all the time together, I know we must not be normal. Over the past 10 years of WDW trips, some of our most memorable moments have happened when we put our DDs to bed and lay down with them until they fall asleep. While laying there (if they are not already zonked out) we will talk about the day we had and what we liked, favorite thing etc. Listening to them tell their reaction/opinion about a ride, show or character is truly priceless Also; once our DDs are asleep, we can turn the TV on and DW and I can carry on a normal conversation, get stuff ready for the next day etc. without waking them. Plus, for me, I really like not having to drive while I am there, I park the van and the only time we will use it is if we have to go to another resort. We really have no issues with the buses, plus both DDs love riding on them, it is part of our Disney trip. I have been taking 1-2 strollers for 10 years now and it really is not a hassle taking them on the buses. There is no right or wrong answer, its just how your family likes to vacation.

 

[katyjeka]

We too would snuggle with our girls. We loved the big beds at Poly., but now that are 20, 13, 12, and 4 we find it just a little too close for comfort. Our entire vacation is spent together and we never split up. We love it and can spend many evenings on our balcony, so having a seperate bedroom definitely does not mean we have less time together.

 

[disneydremr]

Thanks, everyone for the tips! I was talking to my husband about what I've found, and he chimed in with he would prefer to stay off-site. I guess his one experience on-site as a kid ruined it for him, and I never knew about it. Since we are driving down already, we don't have to worry about car seats, and we've always driven around Orlando before kids, so that isn't a big deal for us. Off to research off-sites!

 

[powellrj]

we have done both and this time we decided we wanted to stay on-site. If we were taking the kids along with us, we would have gotten a house or a time-share condo off-site. We have had good luck with home-away and vrbo when renting off-site.