A long, long, long, long reply!
I see a huge difference between my on and off site costs but........
I drive if at all possible, just don't like flying
I have an AP
I avoid having housekeeping in any hotel, don't like strangers in my room
I prefer mixing "Disney" eats with homemade and can be a picky eater
Some Background
Our family has traveled annually to WDW since 1989. For the most part we camped at Ft Wilderness but have also stayed at the All Star Music, club level at the Grand Floridian and everything in between. Old Key West is the only resort at which I've never stayed. We've tried all of the Dining Plans multiple times.
Our kids are now grown and DH is not a Disney fan so I now take trips that are mostly solo although I often meet up with local friends. DH does join me for the occasional long weekend. I try to make week-long trips 5 or 6 times a year but definitely have a budget. My trips seem to be divided 50/50 between on and off site. I'll be offsite in early September but at Ft. Wilderness in for Food and Wine with my husband in October.
Here's a cost breakdown I posted on another forum around a year and a half ago. I'm sure some of the pricing has changed but think the general comparison still applies:
"I priced out everything I could think of for a typical trip except for alcohol and non-food shopping. Alcohol is my big splurge in the parks, especially during Food and Wine, and I expect that I spend far more on drinks than your average Mouseketeer ;-) This is for a solo trip. If DH comes along dining costs skyrocket due to his aversion to brown bagging. When I travel with a girlfriend I spend less since I split the room expenses and she doesn't mind it a bit if I eat my packed lunch while she enjoys her Quick Service burger.
TRANSPORTATION
-Gas $200 I drive-it's roughly 700 miles each way but I am a nervous flyer. I feel very fortunate that I'm able to get to Florida without spending $$$$ on airfare.
http://fuelcostcalculator.aaa.com/
-Bus pass $16 (I like an adult beverage or two in the evening and prefer not to drive. Wyndham Cypress Palms has excellent Lynx service to Disney-the main focus of my trip.)
http://www.golynx.com/fares-passes/
-Parking $0 (Free at condo and at WDW with my AP)
INTERNET/RESORT FEES $0 at Wyndham Cypress Palms
LODGING $234
http://www.skyauction.com/doSearchHotel.do (I bought four.)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ws-Wyndham_Cypress_Palms-Orlando_Florida.html
(This was a two bedroom unit which would sleep up to 8 at no extra charge. A few years ago I booked a similar condo for one of our kids' spring break and for the six of them their lodging costs were around $30 per person for the WEEK. Prices have gone up a bit since.)
TICKETS $113
Annual Pass (renewal) $563/average of 25 park visits per year, so $22.52/day X 5 days=$112.60
MEALS/SNACKS $80 (out of pocket)
-Food in parks $50 (Disney gift card I purchase at our supermarket with spare change) On my most recent trip I spent it on lunch at the Be Our Guest and tastings at the Food and Wine Festival.
-Grocery Shop at Whole Foods (milk, yogurt, fruit, veggies) $30
-All other is food brought from home. I don't usually purchase anything extra for the trip but pull from my pantry and freezer. I freeze dinner leftovers as single-serve meals and stock my pantry with staples when they are at a significant sale, sometimes with a coupon. I also bring things that would otherwise spoil while I'm gone. For instance I paid $.50 for the box of whole grain pasta I packed and $1 for the package of whole wheat pita bread. The potato, cheeses, cereal, bread, peanut butter, garlic and trail mix were all things that were left over from the week prior to the trip.
-After I arrive at the condo I cook the pasta while I'm unpacking and settling in and store it in the fridge for later use. I also wash and store all of the salad fixings. Daily I'd estimate that I spend around 15 minutes preparing breakfast and packing a lunch in the mornings. Dinner timing depends on the cooking times of various items but most things just need to be popped into the microwave. It takes me maybe a minute to rinse my plate and pop it into the dishwasher. At any rate I'm pretty sure that it's less time than it would take to get to a restaurant and wait for a table (or in the line in the case of quick service) if I were eating out.
Here's a list of what I ate on my last trip, it's fairly typical:
Breakfasts
Yogurt/berries
Cereal/banana/milk
Coffee
Brownbag Lunches
Pasta salad/grapes
Peanut butter/whole wheat/apple
Spicy homemade red pepper hummus/pita wedges/carrots/cheese/apple
Veggie sandwich (hummus/broccoli/tomato/cheese) on whole wheat
Dinners
Macaroni and cheese/black-eyed peas/sliced home-grown tomatoes
Bean burrito/salad
Pasta with veggies (broccoli, carrots, spinach, tomato), garlic and Parmesan
Baked potato topped with lentil chili and cheese/salad
Large salad with cheese and assorted veggies/toasted parmesan pita wedges
Black beans/rice/salad
Snacks
Cheese
Trail mix
Grapes
Peanut butter/celery
Carrots/hummus
Apples
Cons (Because anything "budget" usually means a compromise!)
-I do miss the easy transportation to the parks from the Disney resorts.
-We generally avoid the parks with Extra Magic Hours no matter where we're staying but I do occasionally attend the evening EMH at the Magic Kingdom which isn't possible with off-site.
-I'm used to it but can be a bit of a pain to lug your lunch and snacks around.
-The Lynx schedule means I have to miss Wishes and Illuminations if they are scheduled much later than 9:00 PM.
-No housekeeping-I only mention this because it seems to be important to some. Personally, I'm not crazy about having strangers in my room and normally only get housekeeping when we run out of towels. This also saves me the $5 daily tip. I know it's not mandatory, nor is it the main reason I skip housekeeping, but if I get service, I tip.
On the flip side
-The
Disney Dining Plan (and I've tried all three multiple times) doesn't really suit the way I prefer to eat-I always struggle to get value from it even when "free". The last time we had the Basic Plan we had over a dozen QS credits left on our final day. I can't handle all of those desserts and really do prefer plain old iced water with meals.
-My homemade stuff is much higher in quality-mostly organic , whole grain and unprocessed. It also suits my tastes better and I only pay for the things and quantities I'll actually eat. I waste an unbelievable amount of food when dining with Disney.
-No need to plan ADRs in advance or wait in a line for Quick Service.
-The refillable mug isn't great for me either. I don't care for Disney coffee much and rarely drink soda except in the mornings as a coffee substitute. I'm the kind of person who needs coffee BEFORE I can manage to dress myself and hump it over to a food court. At my last two Disney resorts the food court was a crazy long walk from our room, while at the condo I can preset the coffee maker and it's waiting for me in the next room when I wake up.
-When DH comes along we enjoy the extra space of a condo. This was brought home rather sharply during our last trip together when he spent a whole morning/afternoon watching football and then the entire evening pouting about it after his team lost. The rooms at Coronado Springs Resort simply aren't large enough for that much angst. I spent that day driving around a rainy WDW desperately trying to "spend" our many leftover snack and quick service credits. In a condo he can have his very own TV in his very own room and I can shut the door on all of it.
The cheapest 7 day WDW package (solo) I could find was for the All Star Music (where, by the way, BOTH of my main Disney travel companions refuse to stay) at $1076 (with a 5 day Park Hopper and pretending that includes the Quick Service Dining Plan gratis). Add $200 for gas and I'm at $1276. That's over a six hundred dollar (double my cost) difference. Would I prefer to always stay with Disney? I think probably, yes, especially on my solo trips. If I ever win the lottery I'll either buy a million DVC points or stay exclusively in club level at the Deluxe Resorts. Till then, do I prefer on-site enough to take half as many trips as I can if I go with off-site? Probably not.
This, of course, is just me. Your mileage may vary."
