Any of you On site people ever try staying off-site?

[liammom]

I have stayed both on and off site many times. I have to say that if it is the whole family I prefer off-site (sorry) space is huge and DH and I get lots of privacy, after all I'm on vacation and not stressed all the time. I also love having a full kitchen as our eating schedule is always off and sometimes you just want a little something. My DS 5 and I are going in 3 weeks and staying onsite- I'm thrilled and since its just the two of us room is not an issue. Anyway we have stayed at the Vistana, Summer Bay and Orange Lake- all beautiful and lots for the kids to do on down days. In May we stayed off site and friends stayed at OKW every night we were home from the parks before them when leaving at the same time. Can't wait to be there soon !!

 

[wdwfan1]

Heck, I am not happy if I have to move from WL to FQ (and I love both).

Onsite for us!

 

[PrincessKitty]

We will stay offsite if there are no rooms available at a Value Resort, but we really prefer onsite for the bus transportation (the food courts are handy, too). We would rather not drive back and forth to the parks--too much traffic, and the roads aren't well-marked (we always find our way, but sometimes take the "scenic route!").

 

[califred]

I'm having my first onsite stay in 20 days, but we loved staying off site.

Quite frankly I don't want to be immersed in Disney 24/7 and having a 5 bedrooom house with our own pool was worth it. The grand total for 8 nights in early march with pool heat was 825 dollars. If we had stayed onsite we would haVe had to have 4 hotel rooms for the same amount of people and even at an All Stars it would haVe been considerably more expensive.


This time just my immediate family is going and we were able to get 40% military discount on the rooms so we're doing 3 days at POP and 4 at AKL. I'll let you know if I change my mind, but I'd bed I'll be staying at house again next time. The traffic was not that bad.

 

[mikesmom]

We have stayed offsite many times. That stopped the first time we stayed onsite. For us it had nothing to do with "magic". The driving outside of the World was just the pits. We have stayed in Kissimmee, near Orange Blossom Mall and on I Drive in the Embassy Suites. Hotels were fine, but the amount of time (and stress) involved in traveling to and from the parks was just not worth it! Particularly in Kissimee "5 minutes from the front gate" only applies if you are a bird! The traffic was horrendous.

In addition, we very much like being able to leave the parks mid-day, get a bit of a rest, and go back. We found that we would plan to do that when staying offsite, but once we battled our way back to our hotel we never got up the energy to get back in that car and fight our way back.

We think onsite has truly improved the quality of our vacation. Also, when we made the switch to onsite DS was a teenager. When we travel with him (or other relatives), it gives everyone much more freedom to split up for a bit and maybe go back to the room (or not). If you are offsite, everyone has to wait and coordinate with the group that has the car. Offsite "free transportation to the Parks" is often overrated.

As for space, we joined DVC, so space problem solved!

 

[*Fantasia*]

As much as I want to stay off site to save some money and have a suite that I can afford with free deluxe breakfast and afternoon manager's complimentary drinks....

I prefer on-site. The free transportation and convinience to the park alone sold me on staying on-site. The bonus part is the EMH! Also, what's nice during the 50th celebration is that there's DME that we have used 3X already and it's FREE!

 

[can]

We have stayed off-site several times, like WDW property much better. The best place we have stayed off-site was the Sheraton Vistiana in Lake Buena Vista. It was a beautiful resort and we could even see WDW's fireworks from our balcony. It was also the closest one we have stayed off-site, about five minutes tops.

We have also stayed on International Drive; and I agree, way to crowded and way to much traffic. But I also agree, staying off property just doesn't have the "magic" as staying on a WDW resort!