100 reasons to stay onsite vs us 192..

[jennymouse]

40. Living in the magic instead of just visiting it!

41. So much more convienant with thier little ones....for those afternoon swim/nap breaks.

42. They'd get more for thier buck on the passes because it's no hassle to go back to the parks after a break at the hotel. When I used to stay offsite, we always said we'd go back to the park at night, but didn't want to fight the traffic. On site just hop on a bus!

43. The buses at the All Star resorts are fantastic.

44. Character caravans!

45. The All Star food courts are wonderful and pretty good value.

 

[luvmy2sams]

46. All Stars food court is not that expensive. We paid less for meals here than groceries would have cost.

47. You can't say it enough...24 hours of Disney Magic.

 

[new_yawka]

48. 30 foot tall basketball hoop

49. Mousekeeping arranging your stuffed animals in cute and innovative ways.

50. Breakfast buses

51. No need to drive back to the hotel after a "night out" at Pleasure Island

52. Hidden Mickeys

 

[bridgettesmom]

I honestly didn't think I was going to get so many..47 so far..I'm sending her an email with the 47 ..
I'm sure she is going to be so surprised !!!
If anyone can think of any other reason..let me know, maybe
I can give her 50 reasons.......3 more to go...let's see!!!

 

[jgates]

I don't know - this I guess just bears repeating even if they have already been said!

Convenience, convenience, convenience.

Now don't get me wrong-we stayed on the FAR end of 192 in 1989 at the Travelodge Kissimmee Flags. At $20 a nite back then it was ALL we could afford and it was decent and clean. Couldn't complain. No AllStars at Disney at that time.

2000 - we stayed at Courtyard Downtown Disney. Nothing wrong with it overall - bus service could have been better. (I believe it may have improved from stuff I have heard).

2002- Swan. Need I say more? No but I will.

Think of things like these, number as you see fit:

One kid gets sick (heat will do that). If you are off-site, everyone has to go. If you are at the AS, one parent & the sick child, or the kid that spilled the chocolate milk down the front, or the child that ripped his shorts, go back to the room. If you are at Days Inn, EVERYBODY goes at which time the child who is fine is MAD and crying because they don't want to leave!!! Pretty soon Mom & Dad now have a headache!

It is easier to split up - if one half wants to do swimming at the pool and the others want to stay at park.

Did anyone mention parking fees? If they are using a car and driving in from Days Inn, the parking will be cutting that difference between those room rates to nothing.

If they are taking a shuttle to either location from airport, then they are subject to the time restrictions that the transport from Days Inn provides and I don't imagine it is the greatest. The one we had at Travelodge went 2x in a.m. and 2x in p.m. if I remember right - plus you paid for it. (I only needed one day when my mom and dad went off driving & left me and DS).

Even if rooms are smaller, I still think in the long-run for that great of a rate, they would be just plain NUTS to stay off-site.

 

[eeyore0062]

OK, have stayed at the Days Inn on 192

my reasons for not staying there again (and thankfully, we were only there for the 1st night)

1) uncomfortable beds
2) poor air condition units
3) beds pushed up against air condition unit, can't move them, either
4) musty smell
5) traffic to and from parks
6) unimaginative pool
7) not too friendly staff
8) you can do much better onsite, or at least at the DTD hotels, if you find good codes
9) shuttle service slow
10) have to pay $6 per day to park at WDW, if you drive

Hope this helps!

 

[atruesag]

Did anyone mention - Sunday / Tuesday / Thursday - the Character Caravan. Characters at the resorts in the morning before you go on the bus.

 

[Bob NC]

Here is the thing she wants to stick to a budget since they are buying a house in a couple of months.

Ya know.....We could probably come up with more than 100 reasons.

I realize everyone on these boards is a die-hard Disney fan, BUT, not everyone may feel that taking a 1 week WDW vacation is more important than saving for a house.

 

[schwaa]

I'm thinking it will be cheaper and here's why:

I'm assuming they are flying and renting a car. Here are the costs staying at the Days Inn for 6 nights:

Hotel w/tax: $295.68
Car Rental: $150 (maybe more?)
Gas: $25 or $50 depending on how much gas you waste in traffic
Parking: $36 for six days
Total: $506.68

All Stars:

Hotel w/tax: $369.60
Town car with Tiffany from Airport: $100 with tip
Car Rental: $0
Gas: $0
Parking: $0
Total: $469.60

This of course is assuming that they only want to do disney. Even if they rent a car at All Stars:

Hotel: $369.60
Car REntal: $150
Gas: $25
Parking: $0
Total: $544.60

It's only going to cost $38 dollars more to stay onsite with a car rental. I think $38 is worth your 100 reasons to stay onsite.

 

[bridgettesmom]

Thanks Bob NC..but,they already have the money for the house and the trip.They just don't want to over do it. This is the main reason why they want to take their disney trip this year, with a new house next year there will be no money left for disney. Anyway,who knows maybe they will enjoy it so much that they will do the house and another trip next year.

And schwaa I have to say I love the way you add up the numbers.They are renting a car ,but, they are getting a certificate from amex rewards to pay for it. So even more savings..I know she is going to love the numbers.

 

[CarolA]

May I suggest that you NOT tell your friend about "Mousekeeping" extras. I think that sometimes we build these little things up and then when they don't happen people are upset. (There is a whole thread on here with a woman who seems upset because her anniversary was ignored!) I have NEVER had mousekeeping make animal towels and I have lived! I think it is safer to stick to guranteed things like the bus service and even the "Disney feeling". Otherwise if she does not get the "special extras" she may blame you!

 

[robinb]

I think we're up to ...

54. Free children's life vests for the pool for the length of stay.

55. Clean laundry facilities near the pool. Laundry can be done during an afternoon pool break.

56. The transportation is very frequent back to the All Stars. All Star Sports is the first resort to be picked up and let off. Off-site transportation can be spotty.

57. The ice machines always have plenty of ice .

58. Elevators to the 2nd and 3rd floors. The Days Inn on 192 ({shudder}, I had a bad experience there too) may not have elevators.

59. Hair wraps near the pool area.

60. The All Stars also has a microwave and toaster for guest use.

 

[travelitis]

While I have stayed on and off site and currently prefer a larger off site accomodation, in this instance it doesn't offer a real value. My reasons are:

1)Quality at Days Inns is very unreliable. If you want a budget chain you're better off with Comfort Inn, Super 8, or La Quinta.
There's a reason that accomodation is so inexpensive other than it's off site.

2) Electrical Water Pageant

3) You're not going to want to cook on vacation, so you don't need a kitchen. You can save money on food by eating breakfast in your room, making pb sandwiches, and keeping a cooler in your room. (too many ideas on this topic to post)

4) playground at All Stars

5) AS has 2 themed pools plus a kiddie pool

6) Can ride monorail to Polynesian to watch Electrical Water Pageant and fireworks from beach.

7) It's fun to ride the monorail and explore without even going in the parks.

8) If you drive you can easily take a cooler or small frig and microwave. If you're flying, you can take a cooler with frozen juice boxes, meat, cheese, etc.

9) The bus service from AS is particularly efficient and starts pick up way before parks open making early arrival a breeze.

10) Look at the pictures
www.asiatravel.com/usa/florida/orlando/dayssuites/gifs/pool.jpg
For AS, just do a search on Google for All Stars Disney and click Image. A picture is worth 1000 reasons.

11) ALWAYS be suspicious of any hotel that doesn't have a website with a current picture of their rooms.

 

[travelitis]

more math:

$10 per night savings on room - $6.00 per day parking = $4.00 savings per day to stay in a Days Inn (yuck!) instead of clean on site hotel. (They'll spend less in gas staying on site, probably negating the $4 per day) With these numbers it's no longer a money-saver to be off site at Days Inn (The DI on Turkey Lake Rd is run-down, hence low rates. I haven't seen a nice DI in the WDW area.)

 

[eller]

73. All Stars has a pool bar.

Lori

 

[my3boys]

74(?). No urban clutter to look since you never leave WDW. Only the cool Tower of Terror and Test Track billboards!

 

[robinb]

75. Plenty of great photo-ops at your hotel!

76. The DVC salespeople are not as rude and pushy as the other timeshare salespeople set up in the Day's Inn's lobby.

 

[Disneydenise]

Well I have been there and done that. You may need to print this for your friend. I lovingly refer to that trip as the trip from H***. We got a great price for the room at the Days Inn too and friends of ours had stayed there and told it it was fine. Well after driving thru the night 20 hours with a 2 1/2 YODS who just happened to get car sick several times. Driving rain that soaked thru the car top carrier ruining our clothing. We arrived at the Days Inn. The room was located at the back of the resort next to the pool. There was a bag of trash spilled over and strewn about by birds all over the grass surrounding the pool area. The noise level of the folks staying at the place was ridiculous. The blankets had holes in them and the place smelled of bleach. I guess it was clean but it was so old it just looked dingy no matter how disinfected it smelled. One of the niehgbors had a little barking dog staying in the room too. We were really poor at the time we had 2 little babies my husband was in graduate school and I didn't work outside the home. After one night we got out the charge out and cried our hearts out to the CM's at the Disney resorts. We found a room and stayed there the rest of the week. I would never stay off property again. I would diffinently try the All Star before staying off site. I'd eat PB&J for the whole week just to stay on site. We have been back 14 times since and I have stayed at many of the resorts. I have never even thought about staying off site again and I would never stay on192. The difficulty far out weighs the price. The people who were at the Days Inn just were not the type of people you would want to be on vacation with. The had no respect for anyone else. You can find that anywhere but at least if you call the front desk at Disney they will do something about it.

 

[ducklite]

The absolute #1 Reason is that Days Inns are the most disgusting places in the world. They are (generally) filthy, pest/bug infested, and often dangerous. I wouldn't care if it were free, I wouldn't stay in one.

Even if they decide not to stay on property, tell them NOT to stay at a Days Inn.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

The absolute #1 Reason is that Days Inns are the most disgusting places in the world. They are (generally) filthy, pest/bug infested, and often dangerous. I wouldn't care if it were free, I wouldn't stay in one.

Even if they decide not to stay on property, tell them NOT to stay at a Days Inn.

Anne