Disney Resort VS other accoms

[brettystar]

I am starting to research my trip for next May/June, 2011.
Was wondering if those of you who have been before could lend me your opinions and expertise regarding if it really is better to stay at DR or in another hotel?
Aside from getting free shuttles to the park and from the airport, can anyone advise me if it really is best to stay at the DR or elsewhere?
It seems to me that most of the hotels I have found offsite tend to only have the one departure per day for each of the parks which look like they do not arrive til after the park opens (11.40am etc).
Alternatively,can anyone tell me if it is usually hard to find a taxi to get home at the end of the evening?
Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jacs1234]

I've been twice and there were LOADS of taxi's outside the gate of Disneyland. I've stayed offsite both times but within walking distance. I've stayed at the fairfield Inn and the Howard Johnson. It was great to be able to walk back and forth to our hotel although we rarely did it more than once a day.

There is a bus system called the ART that you can buy a ticket for that goes around the neighbourhood collecting disney visitors. It's fairly cheap, i think about $50 for a week or something but my memory isn't that great (I have 4 kids )

if you stay off site and walk to disneyland, you cross the road and enter but then it's still a long walk to the actual gates. A shuttle would drive you right to the gates. If you stay at the disneyland hotel, it's still a hike to the gates but you are right in downtown disney so the walk would be a disney experience in itself. If you stay at The Grand Californian there is a gate directly into DCA, i would love to stay there.

We've been to disneyland hotel for breakfast and it isn't HUGELY flash but it would be nice for the experience as it's decorated all disneyish. I also would have loved to stay at disneyland hotel and then be able to wake up and just go downstairs for the character breakfast instead of having to walk so far from HOJO's.

 

[brettystar]

Oh thanks heaps Jacs1234 - but I am going to WDW not Disneyland.
Sorry I should have been more clear. I have stayed at Disneyland twice (Howard Johnson both times) and know it well - but WDW is another beast altogether and appears a little overwhelming.
Thanks a lot anyway - I appreciate the reply.

 

[jacs1234]

Oh I thought, finally I might be able to help someone.

 

[brettystar]

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Absolutely without question stay on-site at WDW. The property is so massive that staying off site and then driving would be prohibitively expensive ($14 a day per park to park your car) or bussing via non-Disney buses is far too infrequent.....and it would irritate the you know what out of you within the first day or two.
Even if you are on a tight budget, get a price at one of the All-Star resorts and stay there at the very least. Very comfortable and well priced and more than adequate for MOST families.

 

[Oz-kateer]

Have done both on site and off-site and will never go back to off-site.

Staying on-site is easier all round, even if you have a rental car.

The on-site benefits as well as the offers like free dining and free parking/free transport make it far more cost effective. It's also just more convenient.

In case you're worried about getting completely Disney-ed out, some of the resort hotels are quite "normal" in their presentation and facilities, it's not like you get Mickey in your face 24/7.

The only reason I'd stay off-site is if I had a huge family and needed facilities that the on-site hotels could not offer.

 

[battymum]

I havent been so my opinion might not count, but the only accommodation i could get for my family of five was at All Star Music $3800 for 8 nights including base tix - Windsor Hills was $600 add on base tix @ 1200 even factor in car hire and we are still in front, (the free dining was tempting me though) we can park at our door and by the looks of google earth are not much further than the value resorts anyway. I have read stories of those staying on site that are so far away from the lobby of their resort it takes 10 + mins to get to their room from the bus.
The resorts do look beautiful though, but inside the rooms are not that special, especially when you fill them with five people and their stuff.
Just my opinion, may change after our trip next year.

 

[Jade+3]

I think you really need a car if staying off-site.

We stayed at Windsor Hills last year, and I have just booked CBR, with free dining for next year. I am really looking forward to experiencing staying on-site.

Aside from free dining, the other reason we are staying on-site is that I want a break! At Windsor Hills the amount of space was fantastic, and it was cheaper. We really enjoyed our time there, but I still had to keep the kitchen clean, take the rubbish out, pack and unpack the dishwasher, write a grocery list, wash the towels, vaccum up the kids mess etc.

On-site also wins for convenience. I have young kids and a DH that does not share my passion for Disney. So by staying on-site, DH can take the kids back to our resort and I can wander around on my own and not have to worry about how I am going to get home!

 

[PrincessInOz]

There are both pros and cons to staying onsite and offsite. To answer this question, it will come down to a number of factors and which ones are important to you.

1. From your original post, it would seem that you are looking for transportation to/from the parks and do not want to drive. If this is the case, then the Disney transportation cannot be beat. Saving on car hire and parking can off-set the cost difference of onsite vs off. Plus if you are staying on-site, then Magical Express is a fantastic way of getting from airport to resort. The cost of this transfer can also be factored into the equation.

2. If you have children or a partner or any members of family travelling with you that are likely to get tired during the day, then staying on-site gives you the option to split the party up; use the Disney transport to get back to the resort; and not have to worry about "wasting" the day for the family members that want to stay at the parks.

3. If you are early risers or late owls, then EMH (either a.m., p.m., or both!) would be a huge benefit. EMH - especially late late night - provides you with walk-on to most of the major rides.

4. As others have pointed out, depending on the time of year you want to go, Disney may offer free dining. This may work out better than staying off-site. If you are travelling in May/June, chances are that Disney may not offer free dining but rather offer a % discount on rooms. But I believe that Disney may be trying to cut back on the discounts that they started offering because of the downturn in economy. If the chatter on the boards is anything to go by, bounceback offers do not seem to be as prevalent as they were.

If $$ were an issue, you could look at renting DVC points off a member from that section on the boards. I recently spoke to a number of (at least 2) Dis-ers at WDW that had rented from DVC members and it seemed that the DisBoard trading has a very good reputation for members looking after their sub-letters.

 

[DVCAustralia]

We used to do off-site but with DVC membership it is no longer a consideration. Renting points is a great introduction to DVC and quite competative even with value if you do not get 'free' dining.

 

[brettystar]

Thanks a bunch everyone - very helpful!
Now... next question - to those who enjoy staying at the resort which hotels are yout favourites?
I think I like the look of either POP (for value) or Coranado for Moderate?
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Oz-kateer]

When we were at WDW a few weeks ago we rented a car (with GPS! lifesaving device has saved many marriages I am sure) and I managed to get around to look at all 20-odd resorts.

I have stayed at the Pop twice and when we visit next year we have settled on an upgrade to the mod POFQ, which looked very nice and was compact, which I have come to see as something of a plus with Disney resport hotels, which can be sprawling complexes requiring their own mini-transportation systems.

I'd have loved the GF or similar but because we need two rooms it's out of budget!

Pop was absolutely fine for what it is, and is a lot of fun, but next time I'm looking for something different, just for a change. (Hey if I'm bankrolling the trip, I get the last say.....)

 

[Jade+3]

We are staying at CBR. We picked it for the pool for the kids. My personal pick would have been POFQ.

 

[cola]

If you are not going to hire a car, stay on-site, no questions about it. The shuttles from off-site are all at the wrong times.
If you can get (and want) free dining stay on-site.

For our recent trip, we stayed in the Marriott World Center timeshares, 2 bedroom unit that sleeps 8 (2 in main bed, 4 in 2nd bedroom, 2 on sofa bed in living area) for less than $600AU for the week, so close to Downtown Disney you could see the balloon near Pleasure Island. This trip was a lot of Universal Harry Potter, so on-site never came into the discussion. We always get a car, on-site or off-site, so that was no difference, and even if we had done parking 7x$15=$105US it was still much much much cheaper than on-site.

Yes, there are a LOT of inclusions staying on property, but you pay for those inclusions. Disney does not want you going anywhere else other than Disney, they want to make it look like a deal, hence lots of inclusions.

EMH in the morning is good for Animal Kingdom, all the animals are being fed, but for the other parks, morning EMH is a good reason to avoid a park. EMH in the evening makes it a very very very long day and really depends on the ages of everyone, how many could be hanging around a park at 10pm and go to a park bright and early the next morning?

 

[brettystar]

Thanks so much - so much great advice.
My next dumb question is - is it possible to get to Universal Studios by a shuttle from a Disney Resort or are other non disney companies not allowed to drive into the Disney Resorts? Does anyone know if it would be easy to get a cab there in that case?
Thanking you all in advance

 

[Oz-kateer]

Yes, it's no trouble - although Disney don't provide the transport, Mears run shuttles to and from Disney to Universal, and you can always take a cab. If there are a lot of people in your party a cab may be more economical as you pay per head in the shuttle.

Or if you're game you can use LYNX public transport although this is a bit tricky if you don't know exactly where you're going because the route isn't direct and involves some connections. But it's cheap.

If you want to use a cab, just hail one outside the hotel. Its about $35 each way (depending on the driver and the traffic)

If you want to use a Mears shuttle, just call them the day before and make a booking, they'll pick you up from your hotel, it's about $17 round trip per person. Check out www.mearstransportation.com

 

[cola]

There is some loading put on the taxis if they pick you up from the resorts/parks, it's cheaper if you get a taxi from Downtown Disney.

 

[brettystar]

Thanks kindly (again).
Finally - I saw some deals on expedia for some of the DR for eg 'POP Resort Plus Extra Magic Hours' but was under the impression that EMH came with every booking at a DR (including also transport to and from the resort/airport and not waiting for luggage etc). I could not see anything to really explain in the terms and conditions - but am I right to assume that any booking at any of the DR include the EMH, airport collection etc regardless where one books it?
Or am I delusional?

 

[Kalice]

I'm not sure about the EMH question, but guess that you would be entitled to the same deal as other guests. What I did was book a room only, at my hotel of choice. I checked with DIS each day, and about two months before our departure bingo! I called and asked them to apply the code. However, the room type I wanted, was not available on the discounted rate (CBR preferred). We then changed to Beach Club standard (applying the discount), worked out about the same as non-discounted CBR.

Anyhow the moral of my story is book a room only then you don't have to confirm anything until closer to your trip. Or use dreams unlimited and they will do the discount checking for you.