Condos vs. onsite at WDW or Universal?

[sherilaine]

Hi everyone - I am new to this section of the board.

I am just beginning the planning for a WDW and Universal trip likely next winter/spring. We have been to Disneyland six times, but as the kids are getting older (16 and 15) now we want to try bigger and different. We just visited Universal Hollywood our last trip and the kids were like "so this has been here the entire time?"

We will be travelling from Western Canada, the reason why Disneyland has been our go to for so long, so with such a long trip and with so much to do in Orlando we'd likely book 2 weeks.

We've always just stayed across the street from Disneyland, as it's an easy walk but now with staying 2 weeks and going to many different parks we are considering a condo instead. It's great to be able to
spread out, make some of our own meals and not drive each other crazy. I am wondering how common it is to do this for WDW considering many people have told me staying on site at WDW is much more valuable than at Disneyland.

Is the EMH that valuable considering how many hotels offer it?
Are there other benefits for staying onsite?
Is driving and parking an enormous hassle vs the onsite transportation?
Does anyone park hop or do most people just do one park per day?

Any advise would be so helpful - I have found these forums so valuable for planning trips so far.

Thanks!

 

[prairiesarah]

I can answer a few of your questions and give you my opinion on a couple others. (Hi from SK )

I think one of the biggest benefits of staying onsite is being able to book fastpasses at 60 days instead of 30 for offsite plus the EMH. I've stayed both onsite and off at WDW. We are planning a trip next February (also for 2 weeks, but doing WDW, Universal and the beach) and I just booked a house with a pool near WDW (very reasonable and actually from another Canadian family) for the first week. I'd rather have a bit of space and our own pool and don't mind driving myself but I also hate buses so I would probably drive myself to the parks even with the convenience of busing provided if we stayed onsite. There definitely is a huge convenience factor of taking the buss though.

I am torn on buying park hoppers or not. I will likely get them so we have the option if we want it - I can see us going to the parks in the morning, then going back to the house for a bit then going back for some evening hours and potentially wanting to go to another park. That said it is super doable to not get them too.

I would suggest though staying onsite at Universal - there are some huge benefits to staying at one of their three premium hotels (front of the line access to the rides). I found their hotels much more economical that WDW and you are able to walk to the parks from any of them, although the three premium hotels (Hard Rock, Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay) are the easiest/closest walk. Portofino Bay is the furthest away of those 3 and it took us about 10 minutes to walk to the parks at a moderate pace.

 

[BigredNole]

As a long time onsite and now long time offsite at WDW, I can clearly recommend staying offsite. There is so much you can do and save. For about 50% of the price of a Value resort, you can get Better Than Disney 2 BR luxury resort places. I can't tell you how many 2BR and 3BR deals I have gotten at WBC, OLR, Reunion, and 2 others for $600-$800 for 7-nights (not Disney's 7 days/6 nights).

The Fastpass system as it is now is pretty useless compared to the old system. Hit the rides early and fast, get those out of the way and your waiting will be over. Before the mods complain about this next comment, it is not about throwaway, just utilization. Book a campsite, visit your site, park your car there, enjoy a lunch there, and get all the benefits of 60-day FPs and still save money. Put your tent up on the site so you can take an afternoon nap if you want. Get to use the pool facilities there. So much you can do while dual booking places to stay.

For Universal, staying at one of the main hotels that get you the "front of line" access is worth every penny.

As for buses, I absolutely HATE Disney transportation. I have timed my last trips and the amount of time wasted waiting for buses is sickening. On our last 7-night trip at OKW, we waited 16 hours for buses. That is more than an entire day awake on vacation waiting on buses. It is ridiculous. Compared to driving, AK, Epcot, and DHS are all about 10-15 minutes door to turnstiles. MK is 45 minutes because you have to take the ferry or monorail. Still not a big issue if you plan for it. Using Uber is a huge benefit too. You can use Uber without driving and still save a ton of money.

 

[Klayfish]

Hi everyone - I am new to this section of the board.

I am just beginning the planning for a WDW and Universal trip likely next winter/spring. We have been to Disneyland six times, but as the kids are getting older (16 and 15) now we want to try bigger and different. We just visited Universal Hollywood our last trip and the kids were like "so this has been here the entire time?"

We will be travelling from Western Canada, the reason why Disneyland has been our go to for so long, so with such a long trip and with so much to do in Orlando we'd likely book 2 weeks.

We've always just stayed across the street from Disneyland, as it's an easy walk but now with staying 2 weeks and going to many different parks we are considering a condo instead. It's great to be able to
spread out, make some of our own meals and not drive each other crazy. I am wondering how common it is to do this for WDW considering many people have told me staying on site at WDW is much more valuable than at Disneyland.

Is the EMH that valuable considering how many hotels offer it?
Are there other benefits for staying onsite?
Is driving and parking an enormous hassle vs the onsite transportation?
Does anyone park hop or do most people just do one park per day?

Any advise would be so helpful - I have found these forums so valuable for planning trips so far.

Thanks!

This is a personal decision, but I can give you perspective from hard core dedicated off site people. We wouldn't stay on site if it were free...more on that to come. Everything I say is "IMO", so let me get that caveat out now. I respect that there are people who would feel just as strongly about onsite and that's great for them. Here's my take:

First and foremost, we love the extra space. We're a family of 5, so we wouldn't fit in one hotel room. Even if we did, being crammed into one small room for a week or longer isn't our idea of fun. Having 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, 1000+ sq ft of space is great. Full kitchen, in house laundry, etc... Most condo/townhouse communities also have clubhouses and nice pools.

It saves us a fortune. We spend roughly $80-$100/night all in. Two hotel rooms or a suite on property would cost a lot. We also like to pack our own food and bring it in. We do it to an extreme that most wouldn't, but it saves us 70-80%+ over most people. Between food and lodging, we literally save thousands of dollars per week.

Laundry. If you're staying for 2 weeks, you'll need to do it. We've done many 2.5 week trips. Having washer/dryer in the house is fabulous.

To answer your specific questions/comments:

EMH: Remember when I said we wouldn't stay on site if it were free? We tried twice. We booked at the Dolphin/Swan on credit card points, so it was free. We wanted to try EMH. First of all, we didn't wind up sleeping in the hotel, everyone decided they'd prefer the rental house. We did EMH at Epcot. It was OK, but nothing special.

Some people say the WDW "bubble" is a huge benefit. To me, the whole "bubble" concept is silly. WDW property isn't actually in an enclosed bubble, it's not gated, not private, etc... The "bubble" is what you make of it. Our "bubble" is not only WDW property, but so many things just outside of it. There are gift shops, restaurants, activities. There are plenty of times when we come home from the parks, eat a relaxing dinner at home, then go out to get frozen yogurt for dessert and wander a gift shop. So for us, the WDW property "bubble" is nonsense.

Driving and parking will depend on your feeling about driving. For us, this is another deal breaker, just like staying on site. If we had to rely on WDW transportation, we would probably refuse to go. We love having the independence to go where we want, when we want. With buses, you have to wait, maybe transfer, etc... No thanks. Plus, cramming into a crowded bus full of tired/sweaty/cranky people and strollers isn't appealing. Parking really is a breeze, WDW makes it easy. MK does take more time because you need to use the ferry or monorail to get there, but for us it's part of the journey. We love the ferry and monorail. We don't find it a hassle whatsoever, in fact it's a major benefit for us.

Park hoppers. We have them, and use them hit or miss. We're not rope drop people, aren't commando touring people, aren't late night owls. We like to do things at our own pace and on a whim. Sometimes we hop, sometimes we don't, just depends on what we want. Having the car makes hopping that much easier.

FP+ at 60 days are nice, but not at all necessary. Still good availability at 30 days. Plus, if you learn MDE and "refresh", you can get pretty much anything same day.

 

[Miffy]

I'd just like to add something to the advantages of staying onsite at WDW: which is that your teenage kids would be able to use the buses to get around the property and to and from your resort by themselves. When one stays offsite, everyone is dependent on the person with the car, unless, of course, you're okay with letting your teenagers use Uber/Lyft.

I totally understand why people like staying offsite, especially families of 5 or more. I'm an onsite person myself. It's not just about the bubble. It's about the convenience. And also, I love many of the WDW resorts.

Good luck with your decision! You really can't go wrong.

 

[BigredNole]

I'd just like to add something to the advantages of staying onsite at WDW: which is that your teenage kids would be able to use the buses to get around the property and to and from your resort by themselves.

Uber and Lyft are available. Yes, they would have to be 18 though.

 

[richmo]

If it was a few nights, I'd say go ahead and squeeze into a hotel room, onsite or not. But if you're going for close to two weeks, that hotel room will seem smaller and smaller as time goes on. When our kids were about the same ages yours are, we rented condos or townhouses in Windsor Hills. I think we all appreciated having the extra space to spread out and we were able to rent a week for the price of about 2 nights at Disney. Add to that having breakfast in. Sure you lose some of the magic and the extended FP period and have that transportation issue where it isn't as easy for the kids to run out to a park on their own, but, at least for us, having that extra space was well worth it.

 

[Iralyn]

Re: Park hoppers...unless things have changed, you can add these on when at WDW for the same price you would paying in advance unless they are part of a special package deal. Some people love park hopping. Others find that they like the idea but not the reality of doing two parks in a day.

If you are going to get express pass at Universal, you can likely save money by staying onsite. Express pass x 4 is often more money than a night at one of the premium hotels (you would have to check your particular dates to confirm as both the hotel rates and the express pass rates fluctuate). And you actually get the express pass for your check in and checkout dates so it is more than one day so that adds to the value. Plus the hotels look fabulous (never been but likely will this summer).

 

[TamaraQT]

:

First and foremost, we love the extra space. We're a family of 5, so we wouldn't fit in one hotel room. Even if we did, being crammed into one small room for a week or longer isn't our idea of fun. Having 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, 1000+ sq ft of space is great. Full kitchen, in house laundry, etc... Most condo/townhouse communities also have clubhouses and nice pools.

I agree with this 100%!!! My idea of a vacation does not include a cramped room with a couple of beds and one bathroom for more than 2-3 days. I need my kids in their room with their own TV and space. I love having a master bedroom with its own bathroom and which often includes a jacuzzi. Hello people!!! Try coming back to a jacuzzi hot tub after a LONG park day....now thats vacation. Add a glass of wine or umbrella drink and It becomes a vacation for grown-ups. Putting kids to bed and relaxing on the balcony. Kids vacation by day and grown-up vacation at night.

Also the poolside entertainment and kids clubs at the off-site resorts is part of our vacation. When we stayed onsite we did Disney commando style. For all of that money I refused to sit and relax by a pool on Disney property. IMO there is very little relaxation when staying onsite. We've done both and found our offsite vacations to be the most enjoyed.

 

[Brett Wyman]

1. Can you stay on site in probably nicer hotel and definitely for less money? - Definitely

2. Will you be missing a lot of the WDW Magic? - Also Definitely

That's the entire equation for me and my family, but of course everyone is different.

The only way I would rent off site is if I was trying to get a large party together. One that was too big to fit into a DVC 2 bedroom.

 

[ScubaCat]

On our last 7-night trip at OKW, we waited 16 hours for buses.

I don't mean to drift off topic, but I've been taking WDW buses on dozens and dozens of trips, many times staying at OKW, and I've never heard of anything like that. 16 hours in 7 days?? Even waiting 30 minutes per bus, which is above average, you'd have to take 4.25 buses a day.

I have had the occasional issue with the buses that happens from time to time, but generally they're fine.

16 hours!!

Anyway, moving on...

 

[jerseygal]

I'd just like to add something to the advantages of staying onsite at WDW: which is that your teenage kids would be able to use the buses to get around the property and to and from your resort by themselves. When one stays offsite, everyone is dependent on the person with the car, unless, of course, you're okay with letting your teenagers use Uber/Lyft.

I totally understand why people like staying offsite, especially families of 5 or more. I'm an onsite person myself. It's not just about the bubble. It's about the convenience. And also, I love many of the WDW resorts.

Good luck with your decision! You really can't go wrong.

I really like your idea that the teenage kids could use the buses as Mom and Dad relax. SO, with that in mind, my first recommendation if your budget allows is to rent points for a two bedroom DVC for say 10 nights, then do Mon thru Thurs, 3 or 4 nights at a Universal property, if budget allows, either Royal Pacific or Hard Rock for Express Pass OR to say money Sapphire Falls(early entry, no EP).We stayed at Sapphire Falls and loved it, so convenient, did early entry mid week, found we didn't need the EP mid week. Depending on when you are going, makes sense for all of you to get a AP Seasonal Pass at Universal, then you could book a lower rate AP Universal hotel like Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay. If budget doesn't allow for a 2 BR,specifically rent a 2 BR DEDICATED 2 BR, NOT a 2 BR lockoff(2nd Bedroom would have 2 beds), maybe a 1 BR DVC property(get an air mattress for one of the kids, other kid would have pull out sofa, OR rent points at POLY studio(2 Bathrooms and it has a double sleeper sofa AND a single bed for one of the teenage kids. Poly is a gorgeous resort, you and your spouse can relax at the pools and send the kids off on the buses to play!) IF you decide to rent points, I would recommend Animal Kingdom Kidani, 1 BR has 2 Baths, 2 Bedroom has 3 Baths) You could save money on a car, just Uber or Lyft from Universal from Disney and you would use the bus transport on site. So agree with older teenagers, they will love the freedom of running around the parks while you and your spouse can relax and have some time to yourselves. ENJOY, happy planning!

 

[Klayfish]

2. Will you be missing a lot of the WDW Magic? - Also Definitely

Why?

 

[BigredNole]

16 hours!!
Anyway, moving on...

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but yes, we waited a total of 16 hours that week. Documenting wait times was the only reason we were compensated after a formal complaint. The OKW front desk did a lot for us, but outside of them, no one at WDW cared.

This is why they need a new system in place for onsite. You scan your Magicband when you get to the bus stop and select where you are going. After 15 minutes, you are contacted with the time a bus is arriving. After 30 minutes, the Minnie Shuttles are sent to pick you up. If you want to know how bad of a wait for buses can be, just go with me. I can guarantee the longest waits ever and I am not talking late at night when everyone leaves.

For comparison, Epcot, DHS, and AK are all about 10-15 minutes from door-to-entrance. MK has always been about 45 minutes door-to-entrance because you have to walk to the ferry or monorail to be transported. Disney transportation cannot compete with your own transportation. It is as simple as that.

 

[firefly_ris]

Hi everyone - I am new to this section of the board.

I am just beginning the planning for a WDW and Universal trip likely next winter/spring. We have been to Disneyland six times, but as the kids are getting older (16 and 15) now we want to try bigger and different. We just visited Universal Hollywood our last trip and the kids were like "so this has been here the entire time?"

We will be travelling from Western Canada, the reason why Disneyland has been our go to for so long, so with such a long trip and with so much to do in Orlando we'd likely book 2 weeks.

We've always just stayed across the street from Disneyland, as it's an easy walk but now with staying 2 weeks and going to many different parks we are considering a condo instead. It's great to be able to
spread out, make some of our own meals and not drive each other crazy. I am wondering how common it is to do this for WDW considering many people have told me staying on site at WDW is much more valuable than at Disneyland.

Is the EMH that valuable considering how many hotels offer it?
Are there other benefits for staying onsite?
Is driving and parking an enormous hassle vs the onsite transportation?
Does anyone park hop or do most people just do one park per day?

Any advise would be so helpful - I have found these forums so valuable for planning trips so far.

Thanks!

Hi there. I've done several off site and on site stays. They were both great for different reasons. For me, each trip has had different needs based on budget and who I'm traveling with. For example, I just recently returned from a great on-site stay, and am now trying to do a little research for an off-site stay in 2022.

Is the EMH that valuable considering how many hotels offer it? This, I don't know. I do know that EMH used to be longer (3 hours) and now it seems like it's often less time now. I think they can be valuable depending on how your family does parks. I have not used EMH hours for the past 2 on-site trips and don't feel like my vacation was stifled (and I was on site both times so I had the opportunity to use them). Also, the Disney Springs also get the EMH benefit as well... I really have no idea just how much of an effect that has or not.

Are there other benefits for staying onsite? You get the Magical Express bus service from and back to the airport, as well as their luggage service. If staying on-site, you can get special luggage tags on your checked bags, so you just get on the bus without going down to the carousel to get them, and they will deliver them to your room for you after you arrive. I recently traveled with a 5, 7, and 8 year old by myself to MCO (husband was already at hotel) and this was a great service for me to take advantage of for this particular trip. With teenagers? Maybe not as important. But it is a 'benefit'.

Is driving and parking an enormous hassle vs the onsite transportation? No, unless you really really hate driving. The only thing I don't like is the hot, hot parking lot pavement... but I don't do high humidity really well. People who live in the south are more accustomed to that. When I get hot and sweaty I get a little irritable, lol. The only park it takes a little longer to get to by car is Magic Kingdom because you have to park at the TTC (Ticketing & Transportation Center) and take the monorail or ferry over to the park. The other 3 parks are much easier. The bus can get overcrowded/standing room only, and you do have to wait for one to come. On the most recent trip I only had to wait a long time twice, mid-afternoon returning from Epcot and DHS -- the rest of the times were fairly close to the app. If I had my total choice? I'd pick to drive -- but depends on your trip budget. For this most recent trip I saved $500 by not renting a vehicle or paying for hotel parking, plus I didn't have to lug 3 booster seats with me to the airport. In your case that point is moot since you have teens. However, one perk to being on site with teens is that they can use the bus system to split off from you and do as they please -- like if you wanted a parents only dinner out, and they could stay at the park and come back to the room later.

Does anyone park hop or do most people just do one park per day? - This is another "depends" thing... some people always park hop and some never do. I've done both -- when it was just DH and I for a short 3 day trip, we hopped -- planned it out and hit the big headliners in each park so that we were able to visit all 4 parks in 3 days. The trip we just returned from, we had our 3 small kids, and did not hop because things just move a little slower with 3 kids, plus they needed mid-day rest/naps, etc. With teens, you could probably have some extra flexibility with hoppers. Again, if you wanted to call it a night early and they wanted to head to a different park for some night rides, you could do that with a hopper.

As far as "room to spread out", you can definitely get 1 and 2 bedroom villas with kitchens and laundry on site, but they are going to cost you. I was browsing recently and these units are often like $500 - $700 per NIGHT. That is so far out of the realm of possibility for me I can't even fathom the thought. Some people have that and are willing to spend it. I'm totally not. So for ME personally, if we want anything more than a single room, it's off site. Your mileage may vary.

I hope that helps a little.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Why?

I know from your previous posts you're a diehard off-siter so I won't try to convince you : )

Different strokes!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Is the EMH that valuable considering how many hotels offer it?
Are there other benefits for staying onsite?
Is driving and parking an enormous hassle vs the onsite transportation?
Does anyone park hop or do most people just do one park per day?

-EMH is not that big of a deal, IMO. Avoid the EMH parks and you'll find more favorable wait times.
-You get to book your fastpasses 60 days in advance, which is the biggest downside to staying offsite. You also get free magic bands, which some people care about, some people don't. If you want them (which we do), the money you save staying offsite makes buying them a nominal expense.
-I find driving to the parks from a relatively close by community much easier than waiting for buses, boats etc. We stay at Windsor Hills and can go from the door of our condo to the TTC in 15 minutes. You'll wait that long for the bus (or longer). Driving to the other parks is even faster because they're closer and you don't have to take the boat or monorail to get to the entrance. You will pay to park but staying offsite is so much cheaper that I don't mind.
-We don't park hop, but you could. We pick one park, start there in the morning. Sometimes we take a midday break to swim or nap (again, easy to do when you're driving) and then head back to the same park for the evening. Works out just fine and saves a little money.

With the ages of your kids, the extra space you can get from a condo or house rental offsite is amazing. We're staying in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom town home this June for $900 for a week. We won't have to cram into one bathroom and my 10 year old son and 12 year old daughter will have their own beds.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

The "bubble" is what you make of it. Our "bubble" is not only WDW property, but so many things just outside of it. There are gift shops, restaurants, activities. There are plenty of times when we come home from the parks, eat a relaxing dinner at home, then go out to get frozen yogurt for dessert and wander a gift shop.

I agree with this. We have stayed onsite 4 times and are about to do our 3rd offsite trip this June. Prior to our first offsite trip, I was sooo worried about losing the Disney magic that everyone warns you about here on the boards. Afterwards, I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about, it didn't feel any less magical when we stayed in the condo. If anything, having the space to spread out and relax make the trip less stressful. Not being packed onto a bus at the end of a long park day was great. And honestly, driving through the gates every morning is a lot of fun! I get that this is a very relative thing, but it has been a non-issue for us. Especially if you stay close by, you won't even notice they you're "leaving the magic" each day.

Our last on-site trip was at the Wilderness Lodge. It was Christmas time and it was a good experience overall. But there was one day that we got caught in the rain and all our shoes were soaked. I had to stand in a crowded laundry room waiting to get a dryer with dozens of other people in the same position. I definitely missed the convenience of the washer and dryer in my condo that day! Or in the summer when clothes get smelly and sweaty, being able to toss a load in on our way out the door or before bed it super convenient.

 

[sherilaine]

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I agree that any additional costs such as parking and magic bands are honestly peanuts compared to staying onsite and since we are planning to go for 2 weeks, those savings adds up fast. I am so surprised to hear so many say that transportation that is included for onsite guests is worse than driving and parking but it's certainly not selling me for onsite.

We are not Disney bubble people to begin with as we have never stayed onsite at Disneyland and honestly have never noticed any concern - I am assuming a LOT of the people who are staying at many of the offsite condo time share resorts are there to visit theme parks so I am sure the bubble has quite a radius.

We will be renting a car no matter what since we want to do other stuff on non park days so driving it will be.

As to our kids wanting to use the buses and go on their own - I am not sure how much they'd do that in WDW vs. Disneyland. In Disneyland they could just walk back to the offsite hotel inside of 10 minutes and park hopping was literally a walk across the esplanade to the next park - so even being onsite it would not be as convenient at WDW as it is offsite at Disneyland.

Now I just have to figure out which is the best offsite - I have read a lot about Windsor Hills - that seems very popular as well as several other ones nearby.

 

[kathy884]

I'm a fan of offsite too for the lovely spacious condo accommodations at a good price. I often rent one of the great timeshare condos in the area. We usually get a rental car, but one time just used uber.

I have stayed onsite at WDW and onsite at Universal before too, but only when DH happened to have a convention in Orlando located onsite. When it's my money I don't like to pay those prices (don't think the perks are worth the cost), and think the premium for being onsite is really high at both WDW and Universal. We looked at Disney value once too (the one onsite that usually fits within our budget) and I had picked out two places same cost (the POP (onsite) and the Marriott Residence Inn SeaWorld, and I let DS pick between the two. He picked the Marriott Residence Inn forgoing earlier fast passes, extra magic hours, and Disney Magical express, for what he thought was a nicer looking place with nicer looking and more luxurious rooms, furnishings, bedding, and amenities (kitchen and nice large hot tub the value resort didn't have). This gave us fastpasses for SeaWorld rides too (not really needed, but a nice perk) and breakfast included. I was happy with his choice for sure, but did want to let him choose onsite if he'd prefer that for this particular trip, since we were doing three Disney parks days.

I will say that if you want your kids to be able to go to the parks and spend more time there without you, onsite is really good for that. When I was 15, we used to camp at Fort Wilderness, and my brother and I could go around on our own a bit. If you will all be doing the parks together and stay at the parks for the same amount of time, this isn't really a factor. And the kids will have some independence at your condo resort.

There is not right or wrong choice. Both are fun. I'm an offsite girl though -- my family's preference for our vacation budget.