Do you lose the magic staying offsite????

[MickeyCrazedMom]

I am a believer in staying on site. I like that a bus picks us up at the airport and takes us to a place and we never leave that place until it is time to go home. I have no complaints about ME or the bus system. I like that I don't have to drive and park and can completely block out the real world for a week.

That being said - we are trying to plan a trip for the spring and for alot of reasons it might make more sense to stay offsite. We will be going during a busier time (ie more expensive) and we will have 10 of us. I think it may be fun to all stay together in a Windsor Hills home. I am just so worried that it will not be as "magical". Especially for my dsis and dbil since this is their first trip.

What do you think???

 

[lovemygoofy]

I think magical is a state of mind. Honestly in the right frame of mind or alot alcohol in me, walmart can be magical

honestly there is so much you can do to make the trip worth while if you are worried about that. Park at the TTC and take the monorail, or ride the boat or the ferry. Plan a large family dinner at one of the family restaurants. Maybe ya'll get matching mickey ears and take a picture as a souvenir.

You could make up goody bags for each family or individual. I think most people are so entranced with the actual disney that they don't miss out on the not staying on site.

 

[C.Ann]

The "magic" is in the parks - not the hotel room..

Have fun!!!!

 

[SydSim]

If it's your dsis and dbil's first time, they'll never know the difference. I have done both and being on-site was easier, but going with a large family and staying off-site was more fun

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm going to be the voice of dissent.
Especially with a large group, staying onsite is easier.
If osmeone gets tired they can leave without the group havign to go. Transportation is much easier.

The little Mickey soap, and the hidden Mickeys in all the carpets and the food courts and the Disney air.

I don't know...I think I'd do my very best to try and stay on site.

 

[dakcp2001]

You can make magic wherever you stay! I think you have to stay on site at least once in your life for the experience, but is not going to make or break your magic. If you can swing it, onsite would be preferred, if its too much, dont worry about it!

How much time will you be spending in the pool/hotel area ? If you stay onsite, would it be value moderate or delux? I think for value, it doenst make much diff.

Will you have a rental car? Staying onsite gives free parking at the parks which can add up all week. I do ahve to say, stayong onsite we have enjoyed meeting & castmembers at teh resorts that have had lots of great tips for us, that was nice.

 

[JimmyPicker]

I've only stayed offsite one night. But the rental home we stayed in was so nice that it didn't even matter!

 

[marybet]

We took a group of 11 two years ago, and this June there were 8 of us. I rented a house both times. We had a screened in pool both times, all the adult couples had their own baths. We did breakfast at the house. We had one sit down meal everyday, several with the characters, plenty of Magic there.

At the end of the day we could all spend time together, it was great. I would never do a large group any other way.

Driving to the Parks is just not that hard to do, and you only pay to park once each day so you can park hop at no additional expense. You never have to wait for your own car, it is there when you need it.

The best part about renting a house is not having to sit on the bed to watch TV!

 

[goofyernmost]

I think magical is a state of mind. Honestly in the right frame of mind or alot alcohol in me, walmart can be magical

honestly there is so much you can do to make the trip worth while if you are worried about that. Park at the TTC and take the monorail, or ride the boat or the ferry. Plan a large family dinner at one of the family restaurants. Maybe ya'll get matching mickey ears and take a picture as a souvenir.

You could make up goody bags for each family or individual. I think most people are so entranced with the actual disney that they don't miss out on the not staying on site.

Oh, yes. The magic is in the mind. I have never stayed on site and I have felt it for years. If I didn't I wouldn't have returned almost 20 times. It is what you make it. With a large group and a big house it can be a blast. This was our 11 person trip last February. The big house actually added magic to the trip.

Check this out...there was magic alright.

http://animoto.com/play/vKd745jDk41oBt4yimvhGg

I'm going to be the voice of dissent.
Especially with a large group, staying onsite is easier.
If osmeone gets tired they can leave without the group havign to go. Transportation is much easier.

The little Mickey soap, and the hidden Mickeys in all the carpets and the food courts and the Disney air.

I don't know...I think I'd do my very best to try and stay on site.

I understand your thoughts about this and yes transportation can be a problem. In our group one of us had driven there (me) and the house came with a free car rental plus we rented one more. Yup, that's a lot of vehicles but we were able to work out schedules, parks and eating quite easily so that we were not all required to go to the same place at the same time.

As for food, the ability to cook at the house or go out to a variety of places at much lower costs just totally made it magic for me.

 

[What the Heck]

There are pluses to both. For me, the magic is staying on site, if I'm there for Disney. I tried staying off site one time using priceline. Had a room for 3 nights, left after 2 and went to All Star Sports (DIS rules won't let me use abbreviation ). Supposedly, the room I had was supposed to be a much nicer hotel, etc, and it was a nice hotel, but it wasn't Disney.

Staying at a house might make it different, but I don't think so, at least for me.

 

[lttlmc3]

I would much rather stay on property. But I'll stay anywhere if it gets me to Disney!

 

[Michelle67]

I have never stayed ON-site, and Disney has always been magical for me.

 

[Kathi OD]

Check this out...there was magic alright.

http://animoto.com/play/vKd745jDk41oBt4yimvhGg

What a great video! Obvious that you all had a great time! Perfect example of how where you stay shouldn't matter much, unless you make it matter.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

As much as I love staying onsite, I always feel like all the moderate rooms are identical. I have to look out the window to remind myself which resort we are at! Some of the Windsor Hills pool homes have sooooo much more Disney in their decorating scheme, that I never lose the "feeling". Any you can't beat the extra room and privacy!

 

[ICF]

IMO, there's no "magic" trying to fit lots of people in a 1 room hotel.

I've stayed at Windsor and had more then enough magic (and space)!!

I agree with the person above that said the parks are "magical".....not the hotel room.

 

[John Smith1]

I've done both and like the magic of the cheaper money offsite..

 

[CajunDixie]

I think staying off-site is great when you have a large group. You may not all want to be together 100% of the time so having a centralized place can be good. You can plan some whole group fun like a character meal or you can plan individual family plans.

I think magical is a state of mind. Honestly in the right frame of mind or alot alcohol in me, walmart can be magical
*snipped*

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Staying off site would never even occur to me. Not because of the loss of "magic", we are actually going to stay at the Dolphin our next trip. I showed the kids pictures of the hotel and pool areas and asked them if it was ok not to have Mickey all over the hotel room, they emphatically said "yes!" So magic in the hotel room isn't an issue, we will get plenty once we walk out the door. However, the convenience of being right there, not having to be on a hotel bus's schedule, EMH, all that makes me never want to stay off site. But those plans also include NEVER travelling with 11 people...

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

We've stayed onsite and offsite and all the trips were pretty magical. I will admit that staying onsite at the Grand Floridian is an experience I'll never forget, but these days, we prefer to stay offsite in a timeshare or condo. We've been to Disney quite a few times now, so we spend about as much time bumming around Kissimmee and Orlando as we do at the Disney Parks. Also, for us, we just feel like we get more for our money staying offsite. For example, we rented a 3-bedroom, 3 bath townhouse with private pool for our upcoming February trip to Disney. 8 nights for less than $900. That let's me keep a little extra "magic" in my wallet.

 

[jimmiej]

The "magic" is in the parks - not the hotel room..

I'm going to respectfully disagree. Have you ever enjoyed Stormalong Bay? Or the savannah at AKL? Or enjoyed a boat ride from your hotel to the parks? Disney hotels are full of the "magic". You're enveloped when you stay on-site. The real world is "out of sight, out of mind". To me, that's a real vacation.

That being said, if the only way I could go was to stay off-site, I wouldn't hesitate.