Early Entry? Never stayed onsite w/family, TOO cheap, should I go for it this time?

[IowaGirl]

Hello all,
Here's my story. I have stayed on-site twice when my company paid for it. I was there for business, and they gave us a day at WDW each trip.
I disliked all stars, it was too cramped for even just two people. But I would probably be ok with it for about $49 per night, which I have heard of happening.
I have also stayed at CS, which was just ok.

So, with that said, we are going again August 2004, and are only doing one day at WDW this trip with 2 adults, 2 kids. We would not be in our room except to sleep.

I did think about trying on-site this time for early entry. I would have stayed on-site our family trip May 2002, but they got rid of EE. Since I have lurking around, planning our next trip, I understand it is back for now. It looks like our one day will be Aug. 5, a Thursday. What's the liklihood Magic Kingdom will have EE on that day of the week?
I will have a car regardless, and we also love the free breakfast at our off-site hotel, CI &S(and the rate @$40)
Just pondering....

 

[Bojangles]

EE mornings especially at MK are very crowded. I would not stay onsite for the sole purpose of attending EE. My suggestion would be to get to the parks when they open

 

[swilphil]

Currently the EE in MK is scheduled for Thursday. It has been that way for at least 6 months, if not a year. As far as I know that will not be changing. Since your day at MK is going to be the EE day, I would definitely stay on site. You will want to get there extra early to do Fantasyland and the other popular rides. Since you will be spending the entire day at the park, you might want to consider a nice character meal in the late afternoon or early evening. The crowds will be getting heavy at that time, and you will be ready for a break.

I know you are only going to the parks on one day, but how long are you planning on staying at a resort? If just for one night, I'd either splurge on an MK deluxe, or, since you're only sleeping in the room, I'd stay at Pop Century. It sounds nicer than the other values. If you are planning on a few more days at the resort, look into one of the moderates.

I was an Iowa girl for about 7 years myself!

 

[chamonix]

I would only suggest staying onsite *solely for early entry* if you will *really* use it--meaning, will you be at the gate before they actually open? It is worth it if you are actually there at EE opening, and you can make that hour count. That being said, I would never stay offsite, I love onsite for many many reasons, and I am spoiled. I do agree with the last poster who said that if it is only for one night, I would not stay at All Stars, I would start booking now and keep looking for codes, etc. find any discount I could and stay somewhere (onsite) closer to MK. (since you don't like all-stars anyway and will only be going to MK) I think it is helpful if you don't *compare* the prices to staying offsite (or to an allstars code rate) but rather, just decide what you can afford to pay. Obviously, we can all do the math. Staying offsite is always cheaper, can mean a larger room, better amenities, kitchens, etc. but *you cannot compare* that to staying onsite. It's just apples and oranges, you know? Does not compute, LOL. You choose what is important--for some, that means not much money, more space, etc. For others, that means convenience. Neither one is a wrong or bad choice.
Oh, and in answer to bojangles, though you are certainly right that EE days often end up more crowded than other days, it sounds like iowagirl is going to MK on an EE day anyway, whether she stays onsite or off. The only question is, will she get in that extra hour or not? Iowagirl, I think only you can answer the question if that is *worth it*. Money and *worth* are pretty subjective terms, noone else but you will know what is *worth it* to you in the end. How much is an hour of shorter lines worth to you? Also, August is hot. Earlier in the day it might be a smidgen cooler, so that hour might be slightly more enjoyable. Just something else to think about. Oh, and you'll save on parking if you stay onsite too.

BTW, I was never an Iowagirl, but I was a QuadCity (OK, Rock Island) girl for 20 years while growing up, LOL. I aspire to be an Iowa City girl someday. (we're looking to move back to the area--but wait, that's farther from WDW--oh no!)

 

[DJBounce]

Just wanted to say Hi from Davenport!!

 

[chamonix]

Hey, all we need is a DIs-er from Moline and we'll have all of the Quad Cities represented, LOL.

 

[swilphil]

For two of my 7 years in Iowa, I lived in the Davenport. I worked for the Quad-City Times, which at the time was such a dreadful newspaper that I left the field of journalism. Hopefully, it's a better newspaper now. There were some fine folks who worked there.

 

[IowaGirl]

Thanks All!
I am ready to break into the Quad Cities theme song.....
I better not, I would not be allowed to post again

We would definitly take advantage of our one day there--we are total theme park comandos. So being there super early is no problem, even for the 7 year old.

Would you suggest playing around with our itinerary and NOT being there on an EE day if we have a lot to see? Never been in August, so I assume it will be real busy. We loved May because we never waited for anything.

The Quad Cities is a great place to live and grow up, unless of course you could move into WDW

 

[Poorman]

Iowagirl,
If you want a deluxe for about $110.00 for the night ,consider renting points from a DVC member for OKW. It is 11 points for that night in a studio. It will have 2 Queen beds and a kitchenette. So you could have a quick breakfast before you get to the park and save time that way. DVC'ers usually rent for $10.00 per point and there is no tax.


Good luck. Rich

 

[swilphil]

When we went in July, we followed the Day After approach. We went to the parks the day after they had EE. It worked really well on Sun - Weds. I'm not sure if MK will be more crowded on a Friday though since it's the start of a weekend. Others may have more info. One thing that helped us is we made a PS at Crystal Palace for 8:15 on a non-EE day so we were able to get into the parks before anyone else except those with a PS. That really helped a lot.