1st timer - on or off site ?

[DisneyRookie2007]

My co-worker is booked for her 1st ever trip to WDW on May 4-12th. There are a guaranteed 8 people going (6 adults, 2 children) with the possibility of 2 additional adults....making 10 in total

Is there an existing thread that discusses the Pros/Cons of staying on or off site?

With 8 they could get 2 adjoing rooms @ a Value resort, but with 10 people what are their otions for staying on site? Price is be a major consideration in that the condos they have looked at are less expensive than staying on-site.

I think they'll be closer to the "magic" by staying on-site - especially with this being their 1st trip.

 

[tone.def]

I would never recommend anyone staying off-site. Worst experiences of my life in terms of "hassle free vacations".

While those condos might be cheaper in terms of cost per night, they have to factor in new costs:
- car rental if not driving down themselves
- parking
- with kids - if they are younger, back and forth for naps, time outs, etc.
- food to cook for yourselves.

And also, with that many adults, I wouldn't recommend a value resort either - there wouldn't be enough space in the room! Coronado Springs would be nice for the fact they now have queen beds, Port Orleans is good for a family with 5.

 

[webworm]

We are a family of 5 and always rent a 4 bedroom vacation home with pool and barbeque and nothing better in my opinion. Sure beats a hotel room and having all the space with your own pool and hot tub in back yard.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

We are a family of 5 and always rent a 4 bedroom vacation home with pool and barbeque and nothing better in my opinion. Sure beats a hotel room and having all the space with your own pool and hot tub in back yard.

do you have any specific recommendations?

 

[Drivercan]

We always rent a condo at either Windsor Palms or Windsor Hills. We love Disney but at the end of the day want to get away from all the crowds and just relax in peace and quiet.

Yes, you have to rent a car but then you are more free to do and go as you please. You are not stuck with just Disney restaurants. The first day of arrival, we'd go to the grocery store and pick up supplies. We loved having a kitchen and packed up nutritious lunches for the parks. No discussing(fighting?) where to eat for lunch and wasting time. We just found a piece of grass/bench to sit on and pull out our food. Sometimes, we even ate in line for a ride! For dinners back at the condo, we ordered a pizza once, cooked some pasta and salad. The kids get sick of hot dogs, chicken fingers etc. It's nice to have a "home cooked" meal.

Also, I am sure that if you are staying onsite you have to wait for Disney transit so for us, we just popped in our car and were at the Disney parking lot in about 10 minutes. Magic Kingdom takes a bit longer because you have to take a ferry or the tram from the parking lot.

Depends what everyone in your party likes. We prefer off site.

 

[mlegerto]

i would suggest staying on site...especially because it is their first time to Walt disney World.

Staying off site may save them a little bit of money on the accommodation, but they will need to spend additional money on renting a car or two (in order to fit 8 - 10 people). Plus the money that is added on to this cost with gas.

I think they first need to find out who is going. If 8 are going then there best option is to get joining rooms at a value resort ( i suggest Pop Century as these rooms tend to be a little bit bigger), but they can also look at the family suites that are available at the All Star resorts. I think these suites are designed to fit a family of 5 people...so two rooms would accommodate 10 people.

Staying on property allows them to experience the magic from the moment they step off of the plane - assuming they are flying. They will also enjoy the connivence of the transportation system, extra magic hours and all the world has to offer.

 

[webworm]

do you have any specific recommendations?

We stayed at the following in Orlando a few years back. Most recently we have been going to Gulf Coast since done with Disney. I would checkout VRBO and book a 6 or 7 bedroom home for group of 10. You can get a better deal booking with owner directly rather than going through property management company since they take a piece of the pie. You can negotiate prices with owner to. Just ask for all inclusive rate including taxes, cleaning and pool heat. The Davenport area is like 15 mins from Disney on Hwy 27.

You can also checkout Windsor Hills Resort rentals by owner on VRBO like previous poster indicated above. It is a great resort community with excellent facilities.

http://www.vrbo.com/
http://www.dolphinsbc.com/
http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/usa/f761.htm
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/naples,-fl/59520

 

[Tower]

You mentioned a first timer to WDW. Driving around in a strange town, though well labelled, may add stress to vacation that you don't want. One is on VACATION. I like the convenience of the resort hotels with the shuttles to take you everywhere. My brother drove his family to POR a couple of times, parked his van at the resort and did not touch it again until it was time to leave. He loved it that way!
We do plan on staying off site in 2011 so we can hit Busch Gardens, Cypress Gardens, Universal etc., but then stay at a Disney Resort for the days we do Disney.

 

[cabmom]

For a first timer, I would tell them to stay onsite. I think that adds to the Magic of Disney!
We rent a home in Indian Creek which is really close to Disney.

If you go to www.vrbo.com and put in Indian Creek you will see lots of 4 and 5 bedrooms homes for rent with pool. Formosa Gardens is right there as well, but more expensive. Lindfields is a little further down 192 West.

 

[highland3]

Onsite is a must!!!!

 

[who's ur daddy?]

For our first time, we did the vacation rental home thing. Kinda wish we would have done the on-site thing first. As Tower mentioned, it does add stress driving here and there, getting maps of all the Disney Parks, cooking food, etc.

Staying on-site and using the Disney transportation is awesome. Then if you pick up a meal plan, then there's less hassle about cooking during your vacation.

Now that we've been there so many times, we don't mind staying off-site and cooking for ourselves, etc., but for the first time, it might be best to not overwhelm everyone.

If there is a budget to worry about, vacation homes can be an awesome deal. There are 5 or 6 bedroom vacation homes that can fit a lot of people. If you do decide to go the vacation home route, check out:

www.lastminutevillas.net

Punch in your criteria and villa owners respond to you! Many times they will offer reduced rates from their posted rates - all without asking. Cool by me. I just sent an inquiry re: a certain date and got 50 responses within a 12 hour period.

 

[twokids0204]

If you plan on doing WDW dining, you can not get on the Dining plan if you are offsite.

Also take into account the additional $14 per day to park when staying off site.

 

[YukiPhnx]

You know what I've noticed? Nobody has mentioned staying off-site in another hotel!

There are many off-site hotels that offer free shuttles to the parks. They usually operate more than one trip a day and often have a different bus for each park

My first trip was in the Holiday Inn at Lake Buena Vista and I LOVED it. I loved the free shuttles and they had a great convenience store with everything I needed.

But for a large group like your's, then staying on-site does sound better, since there's more people to keep track of. If anything happens, you can all easily meet back at your resort. If those extra 2 people happened, I'm sure you can just book a 3rd room close to the adjoining rooms.

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

Stay onsite!!!! Our first trip we stayed with a relative who lives in the area and it really takes away from the magic of the parks when you actually have to leave and enter the real world even for a short time. Staying onsite you are completely immersed in all things disney but at the same time depending on the resort you pick can feel like your on a totally different vacation! Have a great time no matter where you chose to stay!

 

[Reese]

We've done them both and they both have there pros and cons. I think it really depends on what everyone is looking for in a vacation. If you are looking for all Disney all the time than onsite is a must. You can book together as a grand gathering and they will put in the same area most likely with adjacent rooms. They have connecting rooms for families larger than four. It is nice to not have to drive or worry about finding your way around especially for a first vacation (I didn't realize that Disney was it's own city with highways).
On the other hand renting a villa offsite was lovely. After a day of Disney it was nice to put the kids to bed and head out to the pool and relax. Also to prepare meals that the kids are used to was a plus. (Disney food is good but a lot heavier than we are used to eating).

 

[suejai]

We have only visited WDW twice and both times we have stayed off-site at Windsor Hills. I have compared pricing for both on-site and off-site numerous times and it is always far cheaper to stay off-site. I'm trying to understand what the benefits are to staying on-site. The people who stay on-site always cite the parking and car rentals as making up the cost differences but I've never found it to be so. The room rates for Disney resorts are outrageous, and then to top it all off you must get on a bus crammed with people to get back to your resort as opposed to jumping in your car and driving 5 - 10 minutes to the condo. I bet that I'm at my condo far faster than they are to their resort. Plus, we have always done more than just go to Disney and we would likely still rent a car if we did stay on-site.

And then, the biggest issue for us - the rooms on the resorts are just hotel rooms. I can't imagine staying in a hotel room with my family for more than one or two nights. Where does everyone sleep? My two teenaged sons certainly don't want to share a bed, and trust me, they need their space. This fact alone makes the condo a necessity. But even if the kids are small and don't mind sharing, where do the parents go once they have put the kids to bed?

There are more issues, like food costs, being able to have breakfast and morning coffee in peace etc.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a big rant, I certainly don't mean it to be. I'm just trying to understand. Every time I plan a trip to WDW I plan for both on and off site but when I go into the logistics of the whole thing, on-site, for my family, just doesn't make sense. DH and I will try it when we finally take a trip by ourselves, and then maybe I will get it.

 

[AndyMcV]

My co-worker is booked for her 1st ever trip to WDW on May 4-12th. There are a guaranteed 8 people going (6 adults, 2 children) with the possibility of 2 additional adults....making 10 in total

Is there an existing thread that discusses the Pros/Cons of staying on or off site?

With 8 they could get 2 adjoing rooms @ a Value resort, but with 10 people what are their otions for staying on site? Price is be a major consideration in that the condos they have looked at are less expensive than staying on-site.

I think they'll be closer to the "magic" by staying on-site - especially with this being their 1st trip.

Hi DisneyRookie2007

I'll chime in with my $0.02. First off we're fans of staying on-site. We've stayed on site 4 times now and really really enjoy the experience. When I go on vacation I like to worry as little as possible about the logistics. I don't want to have to worrry about driving, directions, cooking, finding restaurants, exhausted kids, etc... It's a vacation and you should be having a ton of fun or a ton of relaxation time. Doing on-ste Disney takes a lot of those things that you would have to worry about being off-site away.

I think Disney does a good job of trying to do a lot of that stuff for you. It starts when you first get on the plane where you and your luggage are just transported to your resort, no worries of car rentals, maps, directions, limos. Things are taken care for you from the start.

There is a lot to be said in being able to get up early and go to the parks before the off-site guests are allowed in, having a ton of fun, and then when the kids start to get tired head back to the resort for an afternoon swim, nap, whatever. Then to be able to head over to the Boardwalk or back to the parks for dinner and night time fun is really awesome. This you do not do off-site. You come in with and when the cattle do, stay later because you know you won't be returning, leave when you kids are exhausted and fight your way back through the parking lot traffic to your offsite hotel/condo. If you have to take an off-site hotel shuttle, well, be careful, some are ok and some are really bad. There's nothing like waiting 30 minutes or an hour or even longer if you are not on thier schedule. We experienced this with our last trip being a spit stay with the Gaylord Palms resort. A great resort but bad shuttles.

We really enjoy the theming of the Disney restauraunts and resorts. You really do feel like you are transported to some other place. Just for an example AKL, now THAT is an experience. You are truly transported to Africa, with the sweet smell of brush fires in the distance as you walk up from the parking lot, the grasses, the animals, increadible theming of African artifacts, dark woods, hidden Mickey's, etc, etc, etc... This you do NOT get from a condo.

On our last trip we stayed at the WDW Dolphin. On a couple of our nights we had dinner in and toured some of the other resorts. Wow, that was a lot of fun and a really neat experience and definitely something that we could and would not do staying off site.

At night we also walked to Epcot and hung out on the Boardwalk and enjoyed the shops, watched the entertainers walking around doing magic, cool feats with swords, etc, etc for for kids and kids at heart. Heading over to Beaches and Cream (at the BC) is really fun especially if you or you see a family order the "Kitchen Sink" for desert. A really fun 1950's malt shop with the best milkshakes and hamburgers. THese are just a couple of examples and there are hundreds.

What Disney does or staying on-site at Disney does is give you an experience, a truely emersive show. It's so much more than just going to an amusement park for the day. That's really the true magic of staying on-site.

For sure you can save some money being off-site but really you are missing a lot, really a lot. I think that's why a lot of people on this board keep saying that when they go to WDW they truly get away from the rest of the world. You feel apart of a special community inside. It is so true as there is so much to experience that you don't get to see being off-site.

For your first trip, stay on-site. You will love it. If you can fit it into your budget try a moderate or deluxe resort (or the WDW Swan/Dolphin especially if one of you is a nurse or government worker).

A.

 

[Sue M]

I'm a fan of staying on site. Our first WDW vacay we stayed in an off-site hotel, The Marriott Courtyard near DTD. While it was close to WDW we found it just wasn't as convienent. The hotel shuttle bus lets you off in the off-site bus area, far away from park entrance, you can't take a mid day break to go back to your hotel for a swim, then go back to a park, bus sched. isn't always convienent, sometimes very long waits. Esp in evenings.

I love the WDW hotels, they aren't just hotels, the theming is amazing http://allears.net/acc/faq_hot.htm

I love not having to worry about driving, being on the DDP, having the extra magic hours, the service WDW offers it's guests is great. Plus having to leave to get back to cook dinner, cooking breakfast, packing lunches isn't my idea of a fun vacay.

I found the experience of staying on and off site very different. For us, we much prefer staying on site. Just my experience and opinion

I think 3 rooms in a value or moderate resort, or look into renting points from a DVC member in maybe the Treehouse Villas. There is a forum on Dis Boards.

 

[who's ur daddy?]

In terms of cost and spaciousness, there is absolutely no comparison. I figure our DVC accomodations are 2.5 to 3 times as expensive as renting a vacation house...

But having said that, there is definitely some magic to staying on site. As AndyMcV pointed out, staying at a resort like Animal Kingdom is a real treat!

 

[disneymath]

<snip>
There are many off-site hotels that offer free shuttles to the parks. They usually operate more than one trip a day and often have a different bus for each park <snip>

We learned the hard way about the potential downfalls of the "free" shuttles from offsite hotels. We were a party of 7, and it wasn't until we got to our rooms and read the (very fine) print that we realized that free shuttle was only offered for a maximum of 4 ppl in a town car and that it had one drop off time and one pick up time per day. Definitely not convenient for our group.

That, plus a host of much bigger issues had us calling Disney and moving onsite after the first night. My younger cousins, who were away from their parents for the first time for an extended period, were ready for us to send them home on a plane by themselves. That is until we walked into the All Star Movies Resort and they both just kind of went "Ohhhhh .... woooow, now we know why you guys wanted to bring us here". We actually have a 15 minute video of them "touring" the room and pointing out all the Disney touches complete with a running commentary of how the Disney hotel was so much better than the last one. How's that for a first Disney impression - they hadn't even been to a park yet!

Now, I know there are some very nice offsite properties and that some do offer convenient shuttles that will work for larger groups, but my vote is with the others who have said that onsite will maximize the magic for your first trip. For my family, onsite is the only way to go - we love that Disney will take us anywhere onproperty that we want to go. (We've taxis and shuttles to go offsite to Universal/Kennedy Space Center/Florida Mall, but we are generally content to stay onsite.) We like the Disney Dining plan and enjoy being in the magic from the time we arrive to the time we leave. But that's just us.

That said, you have to do what's best for you. What would be considered an inconvenience to some would not bother others; and what others see as an important perk may seem trivial to others..