I guess I have a slightly different perspective, because although I adore all things Disney, to me the "magic" lies in the vacation with loved-ones, of which Disney enhances the experience - but it is not THE experience. We have resources to be able to travel well occasionally, but they are not unlimited. My preference is to find a great condo-type resort or timeshare where we can spread out and be "on vacation" at a smaller fraction of the cost of staying on-site, and using the savings to do other things, whether it be not worrying about getting that extra dacquiri at the pool bar, or taking an evening and going out to one of the many dinner shows, or buying that pricey outlet item or souvenir, etc. I don't like using shuttles or transportation, driving doesn't bother me, and I'm not really generally crazy about the food quality and value within the WDW complex - so personally (and this is just our preference) we find the atmosphere and accommodations at some of the offsites to be preferable to anything offered at WDW, regardless of cost. I do love the Mouse and all his friends, but no offense to him, he's part of the vacation experience, not the reason we go on vacation.
This!
We need the space we can find offsite. We also need flexibility, watch out for cancellation policies at places like WH, we have a daughter who is medically complex, for us to end up in the hospital one day when she was fine the day before is routine for us, a liberal (24 hr) cancellation policy makes us happy, even with
trip insurance.
We found, on our last trip, what I consider a gem, will definitely stay there again. It was not new, counters were not granite, the only thing that bothered me was that the carpets really needed replacing in one of our rooms (we added days so had to change rooms). BUT the rooms were spotlessly clean, even the carpet that was very worn was still clean. That, to me, is way more important than granite or newer fixtures.
We were minutes from the parks, via a back road, so NO traffic. BUT we had 2 (2nd half, 3) bedrooms, kitchen, balcony, living room, laundry etc. We were able to get to our car in just a few minutes, and it was under $800 for a week--Christmas week.
http://www.palisadesresortorlando.com/ When we wanted to add days onto our trip (we had to delay the start, due to my daughter's illness), the clerk at the desk worked with me to find a room, at a decent price, that was 4 doors down from the room we were in, so it would minimize the hassle of having to move.
If we were to stay on site we would have to have two rooms or a suite, we would likely drive anyhow, as it's easier with my daughter's wheelchair. It would cost a fortune (for us), and we would not have been able to do the ADRs that we did, so no Cape May dinner buffet or Crystal Palace, among others. We found the magic in the space. If I had oodles of extra cash I'd love to stay at BLT in a 2 br suite, that would be Perfect. Barring that, I'll stay offsite!
Well said!
