Do you stay off-site AND take afternoon breaks?

[Katie Dawn]

We are a married without kids couple planning an October 2009 trip. I am really leaning towards off-site 1) because of the cost savings & 2) because we truly see our hotel as a place to shower & sleep. I would love a room that also had mini-fridge & microwave, to save a little more $ in food cost, but that is another thread...

I am sold on the idea of getting to the parks at rope drop, leaving mid-day/early afternoon for a nap at the hotel, then returning in the evening for a ride or two then fireworks. The mid-day nap seems like it would soften the blow of those early morning wake-up calls.

I am concerned, though, with the time it would take to leave the park, get to the car, leave WDW property & get to our hotel...and vice versa in the evening...leaving the hotel, getting back on WDW property, parking, and getting back into the park. My concern is that doing that will take too much time and we'll end up scrapping the "afternoon break" plan.

On the flip side, I get the impression that getting back to an on-site room can also take a long time sometimes, depending on the timing of transportation & other factors. Plus the fact that you might have a long walk back to your room from the bus stop depending on how far away it is. And yet, I read on trip reports pretty regularly about on-site people taking afternoon breaks...not so much from those who stayed off-site.

So...do you stay off-site and take afternoon breaks? If we were to stay in the maingate area, how long do you think that afternoon/evening commute would take?

If you stay farther away than those maingate area hotels, do you take an afternoon break? How long does it take you?

Thanks so much for your input?

 

[Katie Dawn]

Oh, and I wanted to add that yes, I know that I have to be looking at a pretty cheap hotel to still save money when you include the price of parking vs. a value resort. Yep, cheap motel it is...

 

[TnTWalter]

we are offsite right now at Windsor Hills. Paid $450 for the WEEK total. It's so close. We've taken afternoon breaks almost daily. The only trouble we had was staying til close one night at MK...took 1 hour total from start to finish...UGH. I remember having a similar issue not as long but annoying to the POLY when at MK til closing so perhaps it's an MK issue? Other than that...20 minutes tops! Crazy easy..having own car is fantastic.

Trish

 

[dougsmom98]

We took breaks when we went in the summer because it was too hot to stay all day. We went to the park at opening and left around noon or 1 pm. We would pick up take out for lunch on the way home and save a ton of money on food. It was quick and easy. We would eat, swim, shower, put on fresh clothes and then head back around 4-5. I wouldn't think twice about taking a mid day break off site especially if the park hours were late.

 

[kokomos]

We stay off site and are at the parks at rope drop which means we are parked very close, row 2 or 3 ,so when we leave the parks around 100 for a break we walk to the car instead of waiting on the tram. It has been quicker to stay off site with a car than it is to stay at some of the Disney hotels waiting for buses. I dont think anyone took a nap but we did swim eat lunch and cool off before return around 6 with a few fast pass we picked up earlier in the day. It will be hard for me to stay onsite again.
Wanda

 

[dyna]

We will be staying offsite in 2 weeks for the 1st time since like 1987 myself I'm hoping to take some afternoon breaks. DH seems to think we can ride monorail over to a deluxe resort hang out an rest in lobby or take bus to another resort when not in a monorail park I don't think he realizes how hot it's going to be neither of us does well in the heat.

Myself I'd like to go back to our condo swim for a bit take a short nap put on fresh clothes an go back in the evening. I will be leaving clean socks an extra pair of shoes on the harley daily so I can at least go change shoes mid day if I need to.

We don't do sit down meals just CS so can't even call lunch our afternoon break We do plan on eating inside tho most of the time.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Thanks for the replies so far...this is very encouraging!

Kokomos...great point about the fact that you will be parked so close and won't have to go far to get to your car when you leave. I hadn't thought about that. Which leads me to another question...

When you come back in the evening do you have to park way in the back (& it therefore takes awhile to get up to the park)? I would think several people would have left by then...do they let you "fill in the gaps" or do they make everyone keep parking farther and farther away?

Thanks again for the replies, looking forward to hearing from more of you!

 

[crusoe2]

Thanks for the replies so far...this is very encouraging!

Kokomos...great point about the fact that you will be parked so close and won't have to go far to get to your car when you leave. I hadn't thought about that. Which leads me to another question...

When you come back in the evening do you have to park way in the back (& it therefore takes awhile to get up to the park)? I would think several people would have left by then...do they let you "fill in the gaps" or do they make everyone keep parking farther and farther away?

Thanks again for the replies, looking forward to hearing from more of you!

Our experience has been that you get to fill in the gaps. Last trip we had several instances where we either returned to a park after a break or park hopped later in the day. We were almost always able to park fairly close to the gate. At Epcot, we just walked back to the car cause it was so close. It was really cool being able to walk past the lines for the trams and just hop in the car.

 

[MamaLema]

We always stay offsite and never go back to do afternoon breaks.

It seems like it's too much of a problem to walk back to the parking lot and drive back, then drive back again. Our kids range in ages from 5-12 and somehow we've always made it work!

 

[Brian Noble]

Not a problem, we do it all the time. If you are well-located, the time it takes to get back and forth in your car is actually a smidge faster than it might be on average from the Disney resorts using the bus system, because the wait for a bus can be highly variable. On the other hand, if you are not very close, it can take a good bit longer.

The exception to this is MK. It's usually faster to get to and from MK onsite, though every once in a blue moon you'll have a nasty wait for a bus for an onsite trip as well.

 

[karen624]

We were off site at WH and had no issues. We always seemed to get back home pretty quickly. THe monorail from MK back to the parking lots is not busy midday. When we headed back into the parks (always Epcot in the evening for dinner) we often got really close parking spots and did not have to take the tram up. My DH and I usually stayed until close while my in laws took the kids home and we had no trouble when we drove home dealing with traffic. We all felt recharged after sitting on our couches in our nice air conditioned house for a few hours!

 

[isla bonita]

We do it all the time.

Take a dip in the pool and relax then head back for round 2.

Except during the winter months when the parks close early.

 

[englishteacha]

We've taken breaks some days. We did it on Animal Kingdom and Studio days. On our Studio day we were there early, rode all the stuff we wanted and saw all the shows, then went back to rest, swim, and went back after supper to see Fantasmic. It was so nice! All the people at Fantasmic were soooo tired and we were refreshed and relaxed. We stay in a condo at Grand Palms in Kissimmee. It's about 15 minutes from our condo to the gates.

 

[idofabric]

We do this several times a year. We stay off site, at either Diamond Resorts Grand Beach, or at their Cypress Point resorts... you can look both up. Anyway, we go early, leave around 1 to 3 pm and come back about 7 or 8 pm. We do this mostly for MK, when they have late nights. Both resorts are about 15 min away.
We don't allways get back to the same park, or even to a park. We some times do a different park, one of the mini golf courses, DTD, or just resort hop... we allways find something to do.

 

[sdchickie]

We stayed on the main drag in Kissimmee (the one where all the hotels are) and it was easy to take afternoon breaks. The one thing you have to consider is the amount of gas you burn through after one week there I used an entire tank of gas going back and forth ($60.00 at the time). One other thing, when I entered the parks late enough they didn't even stop me for the parking fee, they just waved me through. So if you're shopping at DTD or something during the day and just go to the park in the evening you might be able to skip that fee if you're lucky. In the evening there were no parking attendants telling you where to park either so it was nice being able to park where ever you want.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Thanks for the input everyone...very helpful!!!

 

[robinb]

I really don't see that much of a difference between going back to a Disney resort for a break and going to your off-site hotel for a break. It might take 10-15 minutes longer each way, but that's about it. The only time this might backfire on you is if you go at a VERY busy time like Spring Break/4th July/Christmas etc when parking lots close down. I don't know if they would allow you to re-park at the MK if the parking lot if closed when you leave.

If you really want to save money on an off-site hotel, you should consider Priceline. Anything 2.5* and above should be just fine. For instance the Country Inn and Suites (2.5*) comes in at about $24 per night and the 3* Regal Sun and Radisson come in at about $30-$35. Check www.betterbidding.com for more information.