All Star Sport vs. nondisney hotel

[cheers4pooh]

I am planning my first trip to Disney World and am not sure what package to get. I went to my travel agent and there is a package for the All Star Sport that is about $150 more than offsite hotel package. Will staying at the Disney resort be a better deal or should I stick to my original plan of staying off site. What advantages are there staying at ASSport?

 

[susy]

A package will be much more expensive than booking everything separately. We always do everything ourselves and have had no problems and saved tons of $$$$$!!!!!

When are you going? For how long? How many people? kids? ages of kids? We need more info to help you. There are LOTS of advantages to staying onsite. I grew up in FL and always stayed offsite. After staying onsite, I will never go back off. All StarSports is lots of fun and very convenient. With the mone you save by booking separately, you may be able to upgrade to a moderate. See if tehre is a code you can use fro a discount at mousesavers.com. The codes usually come out two months or so before. You can always book your room and then go back and apply a code. I will be glad to help you with the steps.

 

[HunnyPots]

You can almost always get a better deal by booking everything separately. No need to pay for "extras" that you probably don't need or want anyway. And it isn't hard or complicated. Mousesavers.com helped me tremendously. Not only do they keep us informed about discount codes and such, but there is a lot of great planning advice.

As for off-site or on, I think on-site is worth it even if it did cost $150 more. It is so nice to be able to park your car and not have to drive for the duration of your trip. Or if you do choose to drive to the parks, your parking is free anywhere on Disney property.
On-site guests also get the benefit of Extra Magic Hour, where a different park opens an hour early each day for resort guests only. You'd be amazed at how much you can get done in that hour! And one of my favorite perks is that when you shop in the parks, you can have your packages sent back to your resort to pick up the next day - no carrying those bags around all day or trying to do all your shopping at the end of the day when the shops are packed!

Do some research and find out what is best for your family. Check out everything you can on these boards and ask lots of questions. Don't limit yourself to the advice of a travel agent; I have found the people here to be much more knowledgeable on the subject of WDW, due to their own personal experience.
Have fun planning - it will be worth it!

 

[helenk]

My first two trips to Disney we stayed off site. In '95 we stayed at the ASSP and have never stayed off site since.
To me the convenience of being inside WDW is worth the extra money. To be able to use their bus system and get dropped off right at the parks rather than having to use a shuttle is the greatest!
The rooms at the AllStar resorts are small but adequate, the themeing is really neat.
Book everything yourself, or use Dreams Unlimited, they keep an eye out for the discounts. If you read these boards you will get a heads up for the deals before Disney advertises them. You can save a lot of money reading these boards and mousesavers.com