Disney or non Disney hotel?

[Bethany]

Ok, we are on a budget here and are trying to decide which hotel to stay in (in Septemeber) for our first trip. It will be myself, dh, dd (will be 4.5), ds (will be 2.5). Up until now we were thinking All Star Movies (the kids would LOVE it), but now I am considering maybe staying off site. What are the advantages of staying on site (I already know about the early entry days) vs off site? Thanks for any input!

 

[mrsboz]

I definitely would stay onsite if you can afford it. I feel like you get the whole experience staying onsite. Everyone is so pleasant everything is themed Disney. I would feel like I was "just visiting" instead of "at home". My kids love the mickey phone calls in the morning too. Also, if you want to split up at all you can do that and meet later. This works out well if someone has to take a nap or someone wants to go swimming and the others want to still tour the parks. I love staying onsite.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I agree. I'm sure things have changed in 4 years since I last went to WDW and stayed offsite, but I had the worse trip and being offsite didn't help.

 

[Colinsmom]

I'd either stay onsite or try a condo rental offsite. There are some condos that are only a few minutes from Disney, and tend to be very reasonably priced - and with two young kids, the separate bedrooms and full kitchen (save $$ on meals) would be nice!!

 

[ktink]

I would stay on site. We stayed at Pop last year and it was really nice. It was our first trip and we loved the fact that we were carefree the whole time. I like the idea of not having to worry about driving here and there. Especially if you want to take a mid day nap. We wouldn't do it any other way now.

 

[floridagirrl2]

Big advantages of staying onsite: free and pleasant transportation to and from all the WDW parks and Downtown Disney. Offsite hotels all say they have a free shuttle--they don't tell you the shuttle is only available a few times a day. Disney buses run about every 20 minutes and are very convenient.

Food court with extended hours--you can always get a snack or a meal between about 6 AM and midnight without having to drive anywhere.

Safety--some of the offsite hotels are set in pretty isolated areas (we stayed at a great Comfort Inn Suites on 192 but the parking lot felt very creepy at night--way too isolated, and too easy for scary people to be lurking). Disney resorts are gated and feel much safer.

 

[KristiKelly]

Going with 2 small children I would definitely stay on-stie. The WDW transportation is so convenient. Some off-site places only offer transportation a few times throughout the day/evening. WDW transportation runs all day long & is hardly ever more than a 15-20 minute wait. This will be so important when you're carrying around a tired, ready for nap 2 year old. Have you checked www.mousesavers.com? You can sometimes find codes for discounts on accomodations.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Also, if you stay on site you don't have to pay the $8.00 per day for parking. If you stay off-site you really are at the mercy of the hotel if you don't have a car; some shuttles will only run to TTC and then you have to change to Disney Transportation, and they only run a couple of times in the morning, around noon, and again in the late afternoon or evening.

 

[nucpharm29]

If you can, stay on site. DH, DD, and I just got back from our first "on property" trip. We stayed at POP and had a great time. We only paid around $85 including tax per night. Which was better than I could find at most off-site hotels. And as was stated earlier, parking is free. You also have access to great disney transportation. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus, and that was at MK after wishes. I have stayed off property many times, and I really enjoyed being on disney prop. I don't know why, but it just made the vacation that much more special! we also had a bad experience off site, where our hotel said they had a free shuttle. But to take advantage of it, you had to sit through a timeshare presentation, and then it only ran at specified times perday. Yuck! We ended up just driving ourselves, and then had to pay for parking.

 

[chrisann]

As great as it is staying onsite, it depends on your kids. Our youngest is a restless and light sleeper. For this reason at the last minute, we switched to the HIFS, and boy were we glad we made the switch!!! Just as a reminder to us, the night before our flight, we stayed at an airport hotel in one room, and none of us got any sleep that night. It depends on the hotel too, we had such a great experience at our hotel and there were so many pluses to staying there. Sure there disadvantages too, but I think that advantages outweighed them. We had tons more room, we could relax at the end of the night without disrupting the kids, kids ate free when we were there, the pool area was pretty cool. I don't think I'd ever stay in a one room hotel room again with little ones knowing that there are better options out there, as for the disney experience, I'm sure it was much better with us having a good night's sleep every night.!! Just decide what's bettter for your family. I think just seeing all the signs for the parks and going to disney was exciting enough for all of us!!

 

[eeyore kelly]

By time you add in parking fees, gas, and the inconvenience of staying off site, is it really better than a value resort?

 

[chrisann]

for us to have our own space in the room and a good night's sleep, yes, it was worth it. You just have to get a good deal on the car rental, but our resort also had free shuttles.

 

[CheapMom]

I prefer onsite but when my kids are older and we need more space we will probably do some off-site trips. People talk about the shuttles being 'only a few times per day' off site but when I stayed offsite (Holiday Inn Nikki Bird) they came every hour on the hour and they were pretty dependable. What I hated was having to trek forever to get to the offsite bus stops after a long park day.

All Star Movies is so much fun for the little kids. It is my favorite Disney Resort because of the memories I have of my kids reaction to the awesome statues and theming. The transportation is way more convenient than off site and it is guarnteed to be clean and friendly for a decent price.

 

[PrincessDadx2]

By time you add in parking fees, gas, and the inconvenience of staying off site, is it really better than a value resort?

Yes. Parking is free with an AP, we drive so the extra gas is maybe 5 gallons for the week, we stay in an 1100 sf condo vs. a 250 sf hole. For the same price I get 2 bdrm, full kitchen, WD, 47" TV with more than ABC channels, etc. Disney transportation is available to all ticketholders regardless of if you are on site or not. We usually go when the parks close by 7:00pm and it is nice to have somewhere to go back to.

Eating in the full kitchen also saves big $$$. I usually grill steaks, burgers, etc. for dinner.

The only real advantage to onsite are the EMH. If you are not an early riser then this is no advantage. I think the new late hours are a great benefit if you can take advantage.

The other reason for staying onsite is for the "one of a kind" resorts. I thought that AKL and CR tower room were worth doing for the experience.

If you other choice is a cheap hotel (Econolodge, Motel 6, etc) then I would choose a Value resort. Otherwise, houses and timeshares offer better value IMO.

 

[swilshire]

My kids have been staying in timeshares for the last nine years and, believe me, they are not interested in going back to hotel rooms. They very much like having their own space. We always have two or three bedrooms, with an equivalent number of baths, plus TVs in every bedroom and the living room.

I love having the washer and dryer right there so we can throw in a load while we're preparing dinner or dressing in the morning. No pile of dirty clothes when we go home. We can pack lighter and I don't dread going home so much.

My 6yo does NOT like to sit in a restaurant and wait for a meal (nor do I for that matter) so it's much more pleasant to let him watch TV or play with his toys in the floor while the meal is prepared.

I would love the Disney atmosphere, and if I could afford to stay in the DVC resorts I would be there in a heartbeat, but in the meantime, off-site is the only way to go for my family.

Sheila

 

[Bethany]

We plan on driving and we will probably end up staying at All Star Movies (Toy Story Building) because I'm sure the kids will love it (ages 2.5 and 4.5). It just seems so "Disney", even more so than the moderate or deluxe.

We'll be driving our own car (and won't be depending on buses) so that won't be a factor for us. Someone mentioned free parking at the parks for Disney resort guests. Is this true?

 

[alisonbestford]

We've just returned from Orlando (to the UK) and had a great time.
We stayed the first few night offsite in a suite at the Sheraton Safari, just across the road from WDW entrance (not sure of the correct road name), and then 6 nights at the Coronado Springs.
I'd been desperate to stay onsite but, to be totally honest, preferred offsite!
It was just me, DH and DD (6) and we hired a car so I'm not sure about the shuttle service but there's only me who's an early riser and I loved to be able to go out for a wander in the morning whilst everyone was waking up
Guess it's probably because everything in the US is so different to here, and I wanted to explore, but I won't rush to stay onsite again

 

[floridagirrl2]

We'll be driving our own car (and won't be depending on buses) so that won't be a factor for us. Someone mentioned free parking at the parks for Disney resort guests. Is this true?

Yes, parking (which is usually $8.00) is free at the WDW parks if you are staying at a Disney Resort.

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

Definitely on-site. We've travelled with little ones about the same ages as yours. The Disney transportation is so great. Even if the hotel you stay at off-site has "scheduled" transportation you usually end up waiting a lot longer than you do with the Disney buses. If you're on-site, it's so much easier to get back to your hotel for nap time and then get back to one of the parks for the evening. Have fun!

 

[ceecee]

At that age your kids would love the ASMo. We loved it and stayed there 4 different times. We never had a problem with noise, other than the early risers/late arrivers who have to scream while walking past your door, as in most hotels. You never have to leave the magic and that's what we really enjoy about staying onsite.