If you find it worth the money and have the money to stay onsite at DL, then do soThere is no shame in doing this, it's all about what you prefer. Everyone has different needs. Some people prefer to spend money on a hotel, others on signature dining, others dinner & show packages, and some prefer to spend as little as possible to go more often. Every way you spend your money is the right way, as long as you make the decisions based on YOUR preferences and needs.
If you do find it worth it, but don't have the money, then it's very easy: you will have to find a compromise. What are you absolute musts and what are your nice to haves? If a pool is more important than distance look for hotels with a great pool. If distance is more important, look right outside the gates.
Also see it as a way to experience something new, you haven't stayed outside of DL, so you do not know how much being 'outside the bubble' is going to bother you. For all you know you might love it!
I always wonder this on these type of threads as well. It’s so confusing to me. I lived in Orange County for several years and would not even bat an eye about walking down that little stretch of Harbor.
Yup. I live in Portland and our transient population is quite noticeable. However, when I go to Anaheim, the immediate area of the parks feels very safe to me in comparison to home. More often than not, I will see transients harassing people or shooting up in the middle of the city, in broad daylight. There are car break ins constantly. The Portland twitter feed is booming with tweets like, "Man threatening woman with machete, says he needs to get the demons out of her head," or "Male/Female spotted having sex in doorway of vacant building across the street from elementary school. Police en route." Like, seriously if you think what you see on Harbor, Katella, or Ball is bad then you haven't seen anything (and Portland is still a pretty safe city anyway).
I get it. It's typical suburban sprawl; it's not that it's terrible, it's just not what I enjoy seeing when I'm on a getaway. I can see that anywhere. Harbor is fast-food restaurants, mini-marts and motels, which is fine but it's definitely not a WOW. And I've been approached many times by street people, which again is something I get at home but prefer not to deal with on vacation. Walking back to Hojo once with my daughter at the end of the night, we made the mistake of walking on the Disney side of the street. It was dark and there were bushes right next to the sidewalk. A homeless man suddenly jumped out and began yelling, which nearly scared us to death. He wasn't trying to hurt us but he was extremely agitated and we didn't know what he might do. There weren't any other people down that far and it was a scary thing and not something I want to deal with anywhere. For the most part, Harbor is safe and there are usually lots of other people around. It's just not my cup of tea, so I avoid it when I can afford to.
We've stayed plenty of times on-site, and plenty of times off-site. If money was no object, we'd stay on-site every time because it's just fun to stay at the DLH or GCH, and my granddaughter also loves the PPH. Unfortunately, vacations are expensive. I think you prioritize different things for every one of them. If we have nothing else going on that year, we splurge for a Disney hotel. Otherwise, we don't. I've never been disappointed with a Disney trip because of my accommodations. If it's going to ruin your trip to not stay on-site, then stay on-site and have a great time! Otherwise, choose a vacation that won't disappoint you. It's your leisure time, so do what makes you happy.
