Did you convert from Disney resort to offsite ...?

[smkiya]

Has staying at a Disney resort and then staying offsite convinced you to bypass the resorts altogether for future trips? Why?

I'm so excited about my Windsor Hills townhouse rental, that I don't ever think I'd want to stay in a resort.

 

[POF]

I think it would depend on the trip and our budget. If DH an Iwere doing a 3 day weekend by ourselves - I'd stay at WDW. However 10 days with DH and our 2 sons - I like a pool home.

For me - I like to be onsite - it's fun - but it's noisy / crowded and not as relaxing for me personally.

I've done both - we tend to alternate. We've decided that the Dining Plan doesn't work for us as a family - so that was the only really compelling reason to stay onsite.

 

[littlestar]

If it's a short trip with just me and the hubby, then I can stand a hotel room for about 3 days max. For longer trips and more people going, I want at least a 1 bedroom condo.

 

[happymommy]

Funny you are asking that! I have only really stayed offsite once, the year before DH and I got married. We had very little money for that trip, and got by really well. I used miles (from my parents) for my airline ticket, husband's was about $200, rental car was $79 plus tax for the week, Disney tickets were leftovers from a trip that I helped my folks host for some business friends and their kids from Japan, and we stayed at a Residence Inn in Kissimmee for $59 a night (it's no longer a Residence Inn). We didn't eat any meals inside the park, but still had so so much fun! Left for lunch every day, and had found a great Chinese restaurant with a buffet lunch for about $6 - it was actually really good! Splurged on a few meals, but still they were offsite.

Then, got spoiled and haven't stayed offsite since.

I was debating a trip before (or even over) Christmas, and the prices are a good discount (except the night of the 25th of December). I even booked it, for 10 days, at the GF.

Then, I looked into our timeshare trade, and we could get a week in a really nice 2 bedroom Marriott villa, checking out Dec 24th. This was for a studio trade (Hawaii) that I have deposited already.

I was stressing about spending a whole week, or longer, with my family all in just one room (and this was the GF in a concierge room). My daughter likes to sleep more, and we kind of need the space to stretch out. Now, we have stayed at the Boardwalk Villas before, and they were nice! Can be pricey, and I don't have DVC. But really, as the kids are getting older, staying offsite now is much more appealing to me. And I am one of those that always said to others, if you are going to WDW, you HAVE to stay onsite!

I agree with the PP, if it were just me and my husband, which I don't think would ever happen, or in my case, me and my kids without him along, I'd stay onsite, or in a Downtown Disney hotel, or definitely the Swan or Dolphin. For all 4 of us, next time we do go, we will probably stay offsite, maybe with a night or two at the end onsite as a treat.

And, yes the economy does have something to do with it also. We are remodeling our basement, so I have absolutely no extra money lying around this year.

 

[katallo]

We've been onsite guests (even renting points at DVC) for over 20 years, but we really have enjoyed offsite recently. Several of the resorts/timeshares offsite have so much to offer at a fraction of the cost. We still spend time at Disney, but use the cost savings for tickets and dinners. We really don't need the Dining Plan and always rent a car, so those two factors aren't a problem for us.

 

[two*little*birds]

Our first year (2007) we stayed at the CR, MK view. Great location, perfect for the kids first trip - but was very crowded, and not relaxing.

Second trip (2008) we rented a townhouse in Windsor Hills, fell in love with the property and all the perks of stay offsite. Very relaxing, and overall had a much better time.

This year, we originally booked the Poly for a 7 night stay. But it didn't take long for us to reconsider, and now we're staying offsite again at Windsor Hills - this time in a 6 bedroom home, and we've invited the in-laws (I'm one of few people who actually like my in-laws).

So for us, offsite works best. We don't have the option of having someone watch our kids, so hubby and I can't travel alone. But like others said, if it was just the two of us then by all means I would stay onsite.

 

[dgaston]

Our very first trip (in 88) was at the FW cabins. Years later we camped 3X more, stayed at POR (then Riverside). We stayed at the cabins again in 2001, and then I discovered the Disboards and learned about off-site. We rented pool homes for several Christmas trips, bought DVC in 2004, and still do a mix of off and on-site. With larger groups we tend to stay off site (especially when the holiday points at DVC are too costly for me), and use DVC for shorter trips or just me and DH trips. We are on property for a huge trip in September -- DH's retirement and 62nd birthday, and DBiL 60th birthday, and then at CSR for a quick F & W weekend in Oct, then offsite for a conference in November, and at Windsor Hills in a townhouse for 12/26 to 1/2. This will be the first year we've hit WDW 4 months in a row.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I use to like onsite, but when the kids get bigger and require more room, and longer time in the bathroom, I started liking off site better. I just came home from a 1 week stay in a 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek. I felt like I was in a Disney Resort with my view.. all I was missing was the Mickey decorations in the unit.. my choice with my family and in the way this economy is.. it is off site for me... not to mention, we do Universal as well, so I would be traveling to another park anyway...

 

[watersbland]

Let me first say that we have never stayed on-site so I don't have that experience to pull from. I do intend to stay on-site at least once with just DW possibly over a long weekend. Because who knows, we may end up loving it. But it's hard to imagine that it would be more relaxing than off-site for us. We stayed in a 4BR pool home in the Hamlet at Westhaven for our honeymoon and fell in love with the idea of it. The neighborhood was beautiful with cobblestone drives and the houses were just stupendous. We came home for a break and to eat lunch or early dinner every day and take a dip in our own private pool. We had that whole big house to ourselves for less than what we would have paid for a small hotel room in a value resort. So when we were pricing everything out it just made sense for us. We ate a few meals in the parks but mostly ate off-site or fixed quick easy things in the rental home. We were also able to pack far less clothes because we could run a load of laundry in the evening when we got back from the parks while we were relaxing in the pool. I guess it all depends on what your family enjoys most at the parks. If you love to dine at the parks then on-site with the free dining plan seems best for you. But IMHO for those with kids or large parties I think the rental condos and villas are the best bang for your buck.

 

[megthewonderful]

I used to love staying onsite. And then we rented a three bedroom townhouse and my love of staying onsite ended. As a family of five, we loved having 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The kitchen was great, although we didn't use for much more than breakfast. And having our own pool, even though it was small, was great for the kids. We are already planning our trip for next April and we are not considering staying onsite at all. We are just deciding between which community we want to stay at.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

Has staying at a Disney resort and then staying offsite convinced you to bypass the resorts altogether for future trips? Why?

I'm so excited about my Windsor Hills townhouse rental, that I don't ever think I'd want to stay in a resort.

I could have written this exact same thing, except we are staying in a 3br condo at Windsor Hills. I have always loved our onsite trips, everything from the Values to concierge at the Poly but now that the kids are all older the idea of having our own space really appeals to me, not to mention the tremendous savings! I don't think we could stay for a week in July at a Value resort for $802, that's if we could even fit in a value resort room, we are a family of 5! Even though our trip is not until next summer, the more I think about it, the more excited I get and the more I doubt we will ever stay onsite again when it's a trip for the whole family!

 

[solar]

I do both: (usually traveling/myself and a teen)

On site- i just love the Disney vibe, the ease of the food court, and the themes...it's just a magical feeling - I get giddy like a kid staying on site, and sometimes i like being smothered in Disney goodness

Off site- love the extra personal space at the end of the day, love having a washer and dryer, saving money on meals, sometimes it's nice to be "away" from all of it

I would have a really hard time only doing it one way, because i love both.

I tend to do it on-site 1x a year, then off-site 1x a year...anything else i can get away with is cake!

I have a vaca. club (not DVC) so this works perfectly...then we take an on-site trip too...so we get the best of both ways

 

[Lisa P.]

I stayed offsite as a child in the '1970's, with my family. Then DH and I stayed offsite on-the-cheap in the '80's and '90's. We were so happy just to be able to go to FL and we were sightseeing commando-style all day long. When we finally did a split stay offsite-to-onsite, with 3 kids, we were hooked to onsite. Became DVC members, the whole 9 yards! But we'd only really compared onsite to cheesy offsite motels.

Some years later, after enjoying timeshare condo vacations elsewhere too, we tried area offsite timeshare resorts. These are true resorts, not fancied-up motels - they have excellent amenities both inside the suites and throughout the resorts. We ended up selling our DVC and keeping our other (less costly) timeshares (go resales!!!). We've mostly enjoyed spending a week offsite with a couple days onsite tagged on to the end of a vacation, mostly to use the themed pools with slides when our kids were younger.

Now, with everyone grown and preferring to use cars everywhere, we still take a rare exchange into a DVC 1BR or 2BR condo (don't care for a studio or hotel room for more than a day or two) but we also love the relaxation we experience outside of WDW at other, very nice timeshare resorts. Area resorts have really stepped up over the last decade too, adding more upscale decor and amenities, better pool areas, more pool parties and resort activities.

DH prefers the offsite getaway from the heavy Disney promotional marketing throughout the property (I don't mind it as much, except for the canned "voice" on shuttle buses). I like the themed buildings and grounds onsite. But we both choose offsite when we're doing more offsite activities than Disney parks to avoid traffic in/out of WDW..... Sea World, Universal/IoA, state parks, beaches, boating, resort activities, smaller attractions. If we're planning to spend a lot of time at the Disney venues or we're bringing along one-timers (probably won't come back, due to finances), we're more likely to stay onsite for the slight convenience - still in DVC condos, not Disney motel/hotel rooms.

So while I wouldn't say we've converted completely, we definitely lean heavily toward offsite for most trips, barring particular circumstances.

 

[toverly]

I grew up staying onsite and thought that was the only way to go as a kid. As a grown up, the availability and room in the suite hotels caused me to rent off site. I love it. I've been enought times that I know my way around Orlando and have just as many places to visit there as in the Parks. In fact the Parks have very little to do with Orlando now. The "Disney Magic" is great to visit but it gets a little claustrophobic (not the right word) and down time off property is a welcome retreat.

 

[Disney Ella]

I still like staying onsite and will book a stay if a code comes out. I also like staying off-site for the space and price. To me it's not necessary to only stay off-site or on-site. I appreciate them both, although I have learned that if we are doing a split stay that I should book on the on-site portion after the off-site portion. Even if they do have more room, the kids consider being off-site a little bit of a letdown.

 

[snowangel72]

I have only stayed off site in vacation homes. Each time it's been fabulous. I think it also depends the time of year you are travelling. We travel in HIGH HIGH seasion like July 4th, so the crowds are pretty much insane so I would never want to be onsite during those times. But if I could travel off season I would def. stay on site.

 

[xboxundone]

While onsite is nice i think the more people you have the better it is off site. But also off site you have a "home" where onsite has more of hotel feel. While they are nice on site. I like the idea of me watching TV in living room while wife is napping in one room and baby sleeping in the other. just ends up being a more relaxing experience for us all. plus it is cheaper even once you consider paying for parking etc.. cant beat 7 nights in 3 bedroom townhouse with pool for only 550 in windsor hills.