Blown away by offsite stay

[snappy]

WDW prices have definitely spiked in the last 2 years or so, and DVC points are higher per point as well. It’s what the market will bear apparently.

We were able to rent a 2 bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek last year $120 a night. Decent deal for 4 or more adults for sure for a well located resort with great pools and 2 lazy rivers.

 

[buzznina]

When we've stayed deluxe we've done an exclusive labor day rate through a TA or rented points. Both were under $210 a night. I think the agency price has gone up but last quote I got was still about $250 a night for BC but we didn't book since we picked another time of year. The time I rented at BWV I paid $189 a night.

Yes the TA exclusive are not what they use to be I had a conversation with our TA about this, and just a couple of years ago, ALL their "exclusive" deals were by far better then anything WDW offered, but now a lot of the times they are just a little bit better. She was not able to give prices but she did give me a list of their cheaper times during the year and it's now only a week here and a week there. We got a quote for BC in November and it was still $350+tax. We ended up going with POP for less than $100. Renting points is an option if you are fine with a studio, the issue we have is no one wants to sleep on the pullout, not even my DDs, and OKW just does not interest us. Plus, a few years ago you could find points for $11-$12 and now they are $16+ at the 11 month mark.
I also do not like to drive during my vacation and that is a BIG perk for me with being onsite> But I need to start looking at, is it worth paying so much more $$$$ just to not drive, especially if we are comparing a deluxe resort.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Yes the TA exclusive are not what they use to be I had a conversation with our TA about this, and just a couple of years ago, ALL their "exclusive" deals were by far better then anything WDW offered, but now a lot of the times they are just a little bit better. She was not able to give prices but she did give me a list of their cheaper times during the year and it's now only a week here and a week there. We got a quote for BC in November and it was still $350+tax. We ended up going with POP for less than $100. Renting points is an option if you are fine with a studio, the issue we have is no one wants to sleep on the pullout, not even my DDs, and OKW just does not interest us. Plus, a few years ago you could find points for $11-$12 and now they are $16+ at the 11 month mark.
I also do not like to drive during my vacation and that is a BIG perk for me with being onsite> But I need to start looking at, is it worth paying so much more $$$$ just to not drive, especially if we are comparing a deluxe resort.

I only rented points since it was just DD and myself. It was a studio and she really wasn’t happy with the sofa bed. There’s no way we could do a studio for all 4 of us.

I don’t know if it was this thread or another but someone stated with the money they saved by staying offsite they are doing some after hours events to make up for the loss of 60 Day FP. Especially at DHS and AK. I think that's a great idea.

We aren’t going back for about 3 years so lots of time to make some decisions. We may decide not to do disney at all and pick somewhere else just like we do in between trips. Who knows.

There are so many ways to do disney which is a great thing.

 

[snappy]

I only rented points since it was just DD and myself. It was a studio and she really wasn’t happy with the sofa bed. There’s no way we could do a studio for all 4 of us.

I don’t know if it was this thread or another but someone stated with the money they saved by staying offsite they are doing some after hours events to make up for the loss of 60 Day FP. Especially at DHS and AK. I think that's a great idea.

We aren’t going back for about 3 years so lots of time to make some decisions. We may decide not to do disney at all and pick somewhere else just like we do in between trips. Who knows.

There are so many ways to do disney which is a great thing.

I remember a post about staying offsite, used the saved money for after hours events AND not buying park tickets. The part about not forking out money for park tickets was genius.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I remember a post about staying offsite, used the saved money for after hours events AND not buying park tickets. The park about not forking our money for park tickets was genius.

Seriously brilliant.

 

[buzznina]

I only rented points since it was just DD and myself. It was a studio and she really wasn’t happy with the sofa bed. There’s no way we could do a studio for all 4 of us.

I don’t know if it was this thread or another but someone stated with the money they saved by staying offsite they are doing some after hours events to make up for the loss of 60 Day FP. Especially at DHS and AK. I think that's a great idea.

We aren’t going back for about 3 years so lots of time to make some decisions. We may decide not to do disney at all and pick somewhere else just like we do in between trips. Who knows.

There are so many ways to do disney which is a great thing.

WDW added Bonnet Creek and another hotel making 10 offsite hotels that can get FP+ at 60 days and EMH. I also heard that number will go up some more. Too funny about the pullout, I was able to deal with it for a couple nights but that was it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

WDW added Bonnet Creek and another hotel making 10 offsite hotels that can get FP+ at 60 days and EMH. I also heard that number will go up some more. Too funny about the pullout, I was able to deal with it for a couple nights but that was it.

If bonnet creek is added i wouldn’t mind staying there but I’m assuming prices will go up.

 

[snappy]

I think it may be the Waldorf Bonnet Creek and Hilton Bonnet Creek, not Wyndham Bonnet creek that may get the 60 day FP’s.

 

[msb578]

WDW added Bonnet Creek and another hotel making 10 offsite hotels that can get FP+ at 60 days and EMH. I also heard that number will go up some more. Too funny about the pullout, I was able to deal with it for a couple nights but that was it.

If we’re counting all the hotels that aren’t owned by Disney, it’s now 13.

7 at DS
Swan, Dolphin
Four Seasons
Shades of Green
Hilton Bonnet Creek
Waldorf Astoria

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We like to drive on vacation. It actually ends up causing us more stress not to be in control. But places like D.C. and NYC are not that way at all to us. In Vegas the monorail suited us fine though my husband used the rental car for business and we used it to visit Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon.

For Disney when we stayed on-site we still drove every single day to the parks and actually most days 2 parks (aside from planning MK to Epcot or vice versa days where we utilized the monorail and just parked at the TTC).

We did just get back from DLR and it was highly recommended to not drive there especially when trying to make a MM event because of how the time the parking lot opens up. Our hotel was too far for walking. For 3 days Uber was fine and we averaged about $20ish or so including tips per day (so slightly less than a parking fee). I doubt we would Uber for 8 days of park days between WDW and Universal and it would cause us to not have any flexibility if we wanted to leave because we'd have to pay for yet another Uber and if going between parks it would make us rely on busing which isn't terrible but we like control on our vacations. Just how we roll.

So I'd say off-site or on-site driving would be removed from that factor. I really enjoyed All-Stars and the FP @ 60 days with EMH was a huge huge draw for sure though. But I've been saying it I'm super excited to see if our next WDW consists of a split stay with a Hilton-branded hotel (because of points) and Universal's hotels. Universal hotels look amazing. We'll see because it's still years away and plans change as lives change.

Next time I'm at DLR if we still get to make one more trip this year we'll be commuting anyways from Naples/Long Beach area so no uber is going to be practical from there lol.

BTW I do get the traffic situation for us it boils down to control.

 

[buzznina]

If we’re counting all the hotels that aren’t owned by Disney, it’s now 13.

7 at DS
Swan, Dolphin
Four Seasons
Shades of Green
Hilton Bonnet Creek
Waldorf Astoria

Thanks for the update