I believe the magic at DLR is found in being able to park hop in minutes without taking a bus all over the place. Once you are there, you are there. We have never stayed on site at DLR. When you look at how much more you are charged per night, we would rather use the money to stay extra days or spend at the park.
I've never stayed at CCI but plan to next time. I haven't been to WDW but I bet staying at CCI is still a faster walk to the parks than staying onsite at WDW.
I have to agree with PinkBudgie here. We do WDW every 2 years or so *usually take a cruise in between for our "big" vacation", but we go to DL about monthly from out of state.
In WDW, we wouldn't dream of staying offsite, as we truly enjoy the resort of choice for us. We also enjoy having the bus system to get around.
In DL, the cost of staying "on site" is so outrageous, that we cannot fathom spending that much per night to be no closer to the parks. If we want to have Mickey shaped soaps and be "immersed" in the Disney magic, we can bring some of the plethora from WDW trips and a couple of Disney throw blankets we've purchased to toss over the back of the bed.
ONE night at some of the Disney hotels costs us our airfare for two people, with no added bonus of being closer to either park. It actually takes us longer to walk from DH to the gates than from Dessert Inn.
We prefer to spend less per night, be closer, and go more often (9 trips since Dec 2008, always for at least 4-5 nights) beats out 1 week of staying "on site" per year for the same cost at DLR resort *in our opinion*. Everyone's mileage varies of course.
Another bonus of going more often and always using the same hotel is that they are willing to work with you on rates. Not only did the manager recognize my name on the reservation list and lowered our rate by $30 the 1st night, and $20 for the last three nights this trip, but also upgraded us to a jacuzzi suite. There are things to be said about staying at the smaller places and getting to know the staff.
Once again, this is simply OUR reasoning for not staying onsite at DLR. Once again, at WDW, we always stay onsite, as it is much more important to us.
Hope that helps. Sorry for getting wordy. Disney Dreams made me have a glass of wine, haha.