Anyone else prefer staying off-site?

[FLAgirl73]

If we had the money, it would be wonderful to stay at a Disney resort. I would love to stay at the Polynesian and be able to catch the monorail for both MK and EPCOT. However, that just seems like tons of wasted money to me. Our kids are younger so we won't be spending much time in the room, and we live in Florida so will have our own car and won't need the Disney buses to get around.

Last May we stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree and were minutes from the MK and spent $85/night on a room that had a separate, partitioned off area with bunkbeds just for the boys. We had a mini-fridge and there was a restaurant, snack shop, and pizza place on the property.

Wondering who else prefers staying off-site and what your preferred hotel is!

 

[ToddyLu]

We have only stayed on site--but your place sounds lovely.

 

[2theMouseHouse]

I have stayed at Windsor Hills resort and you can go under http://www.vrbo.com/ to book with them offer them a price to see if they will take it and if not move on to another but it is really nice or either http://www.tonylopes.com/ this is also at Windsor Hills.

Have a great time!

 

[2theMouseHouse]

One more thing... you pretty much could probably get it for around the same price that you would pay for a hotel... but more room

 

[kathy884]

In 21 trips we've only been onsite for five. For cost/value, offsite is great. For a trip of a week or longer, I usually rent a two or three bedroom condo at Cypress Pointe or Sheraton Vistana resort usually paying between $800 to $1000 for the week (seven nights) (high season) -- I rent from owners I find on TUG2.net or Redweek.com. The resort ammenities, extra room, kitchen, laundry facilities are wonderful to have and price is sooo much less than an onsite Disney condo/villa. I will say, though, my very favorite stays ever were ones at a Disney Deluxe resort. Typically, though, that's just not in my vacation budget, and any trip to Orlando is great no matter where you stay. I'd rather economize on accomodations and go more often. And the resorts we stay at are very nice. It doesn't feel at all like a sacrifice.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this over to our Orlando board.

 

[dobtia]

We will stay on-site for sure one day.

We have a time share that we love. It has five pools, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and room to spread out. We like it a lot. We can eat several meals there and save money. We can do a couple of loads so we pack less. We drive from Texas and we love having a car. Disney has done a great job laying out the roads. Yes we do have to pay to park so that does add to cost, but our timeshare is cheap.

Our timeshare is less than 2 miles from DTD. We are in and out of the parks in no time.

 

[suejai]

We also like Windsor Hills and book through vactioncentralflorida.com We paid around $77 a night for a 3 bedroom condo in May last year.

I agree with you about staying off-site, for us right now it makes the most sense. I just couldn't see spending 2 weeks with 2 teenaged sons in a hotel room. DH and I plan on staying on site, hopefully on the Boardwalk somewhere, once the kids are out of the house and we take our first adult only trip.

 

[FLAgirl73]

When we went last May we had no probs getting to the park with our car. In fact it might have been faster than relying on another type of transportation. It's nice not to have to wait around or make other stops.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I started out many many years ago as offsite. Then we went to onsite for many years. Now we are back to offsite. The kids are bigger, we require more room. They bring friends with them.. my youngest is now 17... While we loved it onsite, to fit us comfy (where we can afford it too), we need offsite. If the rates weren't that high, I would do 2 rooms at a Value, but for that price, I can get something better (and a bit cheaper) offsite.

 

[crazelion]

I beginning love offsite too. Because I can get my hotel room for free with gift cards from my rewards programs. I also I can get a free breakfast and have more restaurants choices to.

 

[amw]

We actually did the Poly after being in condos (with a 40% pin off-season) ... I was disapointed in the "deluxe" hotel after staying in much nicer hotels elsewhere. I know it's older, but it felt its age. The pool was shut during our stay due to cold, and there wasn't a hot tub anyways. The monorail took a surprising amount of time to go around in the morning.

I did like the ease of transportation onsite as my DH usually went golfing while we went to the parks. Like a previous poster said though, Disney transportation doesn't mean getting there faster.

Because of our transportation issues, we stayed at POFQ last time. My DDs and myself all agreed that it was MUCH better than the Poly. Our expectations weren't as high, and it was way quieter and felt like it had more amenities available. Hot tub does make a difference!

That being said, the DH said he would prefer to go back to queen beds and more space to relax and get away from Disney. I have no qualms going back to offsite. There's definitely more bang for the buck there. Maybe a house this time ....

 

[JoShan1719]

Some day I'd love to stay onsite, but right now DH and I prefer off site. I work for a hotel chain so I get great discounts at some of the hotels in the area, like $29 per night including breakfast in a 4 star room. Someday....

 

[3floridarays]

We live in Florida and have AP's, so our trips usually consist of long weekends. I do like the deluxe resorts, but one weekend at a deluxe would pay for 2-3 weekends at a nearby hotel with a higher quality room. We stayed at WL earlier this month, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking that I could be at the DTD Hilton for half the cost!

 

[Chelley00]

As a family, we've always stayed offsite (Sunset Lakes house) but DD and I took a trip alone and we stayed at AKL. For the 2 of us it was perfect, but I know it took longer to get to AKL waiting for the bus (and we didn't have much wait) then it did for us to drive to Sunset Lakes. I definately see pros and cons for both, but if it's a trip with all of us, we'll ALWAYS stay offsite. You can't beat the space, private pool, extra bathrooms and privacy etc etc for the price.

 

[irisesareblue]

but I don't think I'll ever stay onsite....I guess I'm just too cheap! comparitively it is much cheaper to stay offsite and we can do more "Disney". and that is how I justify it. I do priceline as well which saves me tons as well.....

I have been to Disney (from Canada) 3 times in the last 2 years and am planning 2 more trips this year (June and August). The first time we stayed for a week at the Kissimmee Howard Johnson Heritage Park - it was okay (very cheap!) but too far away. The next time we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Village for one night when we did MVMCP after a cruise, which is a short hop away from the parks. Then in January I stayed at the Regal Sun Resort for a week via priceline once again. Despite all the so-so reviews, we had a blast and really enjoyed the hotel.

In June, we have a villa booked in Davenport and hope that it turns out okay. We have booked a hotel for the trip in August (Royale Parc Suites) with hubby's daughter and her family) b/c we are staying less than a week and their 2 bedroom suites look to be great.

I love the fact that once you are inside the park gates, Disney is for everyone, whether you are staying at the Super 8 or the Grand Floridian. Everyone gets treated the same and you get the same measure of pixie dust.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Generally, we prefer onsite,but I do prefer offsite if we are going anywhere else in Orlando - like Universal.

I too, always think, "Wow! That's alot of moeny to stay onsite!" But once we are there, I often think, "This was SOO worth the money!" I just think the theming of the Diseny resorts is so unique that most offsite places can't match it. I also like not having to drive.

When we stay offsite and do Disney, it isn't just travel time...it's getting everyone up and out that seems to take longer. That drives me nuts.

But if we are going to PLAN to relax in Orlando, then it's okay. Onsite, I feel the call of the attractions too much!

 

[dyna]

I did not think I'd like off site when dh suggested we give up staying on site for AP's an go more often but we LOVE offsite LOVE everything about it.....no more sweaty strangers dripping body fluids on us, no more crowded buses, no more tstanding in line waiting for bus. Love getting up an cooking our own hot breakfast every morn the way we like our eggs, we both love having our space I put my stuff in the 2nd or 3rd bedroom use the 2nd bath DH an I can both shower an get ready at same time if we want. NO more waiting till the other is done in shower before we can shower or dress. Love having washer and dryer in our unit we can peal off hot sweaty clothes throw them in washer an usually have dry clean clothes when we head back to the park. We able to pack less.

The ride back to our unit is quiet no screaming over tired children, we get to park right in front of our unit no fighting crowds at food court, the pool is questionable depends on location of unit an how hot it is tho I had one pool to myself most all week the hottest week of the summer last yr. And will have my own private pool next week.

The thought of spending the week in a disney hotel scares me now. NO nobody is making my bed or bringing me clean towels but we not filling the cooler with ice once or twice a day or falling all over each other gettin ready anymore either.

 

[KLAIT]

We hae done both and much prefer offsite. We go all day in the parks and it is nice to have a quiet place to come back to. It seems like the Disney resorts are always so hectic. I did enjoy on-site, but my family prefers off and all the spacious room we can get in a suite or a condo rental. We have found that it often takes less time to get to the parks from off site with our own cars than with the Disney Transport.

 

[isla bonita]

I have done both and a single night is all I could do on site.

We love spending all day in the parks and we do not go every day so we will be up all night in the pool and sleep late the next day.

We are relaxed when we come home.