We are
DVC members, but every time we go to WDW we have stayed on-site for our time at WDW and off-site for our time at "other places"--most usually Universal Studios. The last time we went, we stayed in a Grand Villa for a week (we had friends who stayed with us and paid us the cost of what a room would have cost, and we used it to buy more points), and then stayed at HIFS with a rental car to get us to Universal. We felt so cramped in the HIFS. The room(s) were all total maybe the equivalent of a room and a half in a regular two-queen-bed hotel room. The living room was tiny, the "kitchenette" consisted of a tiny fridge and a tiny microwave, the kids' room was tiny although fun, and the only place I had any room to breathe was in the master bedroom. Also I felt very nervous walking along the outside corridor on one of the high floors (I can't remember which floor our room was on), and there was only 1 elevator to service a multiple-story hotel building.
But, we very much enjoyed the pool (it is one of the best pools I've ever seen), we enjoyed the free breakfast (we've stayed at other places that have offered free breakfast, at one place it was a danish and orange juice, at another it was cold cereal or oatmeal, donuts and orange juice), and the little kids enjoyed riding around the hotel perimeter in the little train. It was nice having the little store and pizza hut and A&W right downstairs too.
We have a large family (5 children) and our options for fitting in one hotel room are limited. Overall, we felt like HIFS was enjoyable enough that we are going to stay there again for the beginning of our trip this time, then go to our 2-bedroom Beach Club Villa for the rest of the time. We figure that way we won't notice the smallness of the room at HIFS as much.
I'm glad you decided to try out both. I think that once you've experience both you can make a better decision as to which one is worth it, and maybe even decide to do something similar to us for when you want to go off-site. Hope this helps.
