Feel like a traitor if I stay off property?

[DopeyDame]

Bonnet creek is as close as many of the Disney hotels, is much cheaper and has bigger rooms.

I see people say this all the time, and I just can't figure out how that works. I was totally all set to stay at Hilton Bonnet Creek for our trip in Feb 2017. And I get a pretty decent Hilton discount through my company. But once you add the resort fee, the rental car, the parking fee at the hotel, and the parking fee at the parks, it ends up being far more expensive than the moderates. It's certainly cheaper than the Grand Floridian, but we're perfectly happy staying at Caribbean Beach, for example.

What am I doing wrong? How are people getting Bonnet Creek to be "much cheaper"?

 

[DopeyDame]

I couldn't agree more. If you compare a Disney room with a cheap priced budget hotel then Disney has its advantages. But if you compare it to a suite or larger sized room that is frankly a BETTER ROOM AT LESSER PRICE, it becomes easy.

Can you give some examples? We don't need a kitchen or anything, just a nice room close to Disney that would be cheaper than a moderate, once you factor in resort fees, parking, rental car. (Obviously if Disney starts charging for parking or adds a resort fee, then things will change)

 

[DnA2010]

For us I think our trips will always involve more than Disney as we are coming from west coast Canada- so things like a cruise, universal, Discovery Cove, hockey games would be incorporated in, hence a condo and rental car just make more sense, and the savings cover those "other" things we want to do.
I would love to do a Disney only trip and try the whole onsite/ME/dining plan thing, but I don't see it happening to be honest, with the costs now.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We have stayed both onsite and offsite. This May we will be staying at Bonnet Creek for the first time. As far as how this is less expensive then a Disney resort, we are renting from an owner through Redweek.com and got a rate of $99.00 per night for a 2 bedroom. It will be me and my DH, my stepson and his girlfriend (both in their late 20's). We would have had to get 2 rooms at a Disney resort for this stay so basically it is $50.00 per night per couple. We do not have to pay to park at Bonnet Creek and there are no resort fees. We do take our own car (we live in NJ and take the autotrain out of VA to FL) so we will be driving to the parks, we usually do this anyway even when staying on Disney property. We are purchasing AP's as we will be going down again in October so we do not have to pay to park at Disney. We do not cook full meals while down in Disney but love having a kitchen so we can have coffee, wine and beer in the fridge. I'm sure we will bring some snacks and maybe bagels or muffins with us. This resort looks beautiful and can't wait to stay there.

 

[lpizzuro123]

As far as ADR's go, we only decided to take this trip about 3 weeks ago and I have been able to make a ton of ADR's - even got 'Ohana for breakfast and an early dinner. Was also able to get BOG for dinner and Boma for breakfast and dinner, Tusker house for lunch, Cape May Café for breakfast, Crystal Palace for breakfast, Rose and Crown for dinner 1.5 hours prior to IllumiNations starting so hopefully we will be able to watch from restaurant, Kona, Grand Floridian Café and Trails End for dinner. I have not make FP yet as we have not purchased out tickets yet but we will have to see what we can get once we purchase them.

 

[powellrj]

I see people say this all the time, and I just can't figure out how that works. I was totally all set to stay at Hilton Bonnet Creek for our trip in Feb 2017. And I get a pretty decent Hilton discount through my company. But once you add the resort fee, the rental car, the parking fee at the hotel, and the parking fee at the parks, it ends up being far more expensive than the moderates. It's certainly cheaper than the Grand Floridian, but we're perfectly happy staying at Caribbean Beach, for example.

What am I doing wrong? How are people getting Bonnet Creek to be "much cheaper"?

It's not Hilton, it's wyndom bonnet creek. I always forget about hilton. People rent from the owner on places like eBay, home away, flip key, just to name a few. There is a long running thread on the Orlando board that will have other people to rent from.

 

[AJ1983]

My husband and I are addicted to staying on property! Lol

 

[abinormal]

My reply is colored by the fact that I've never stayed on site, but we stayed at Bonnet Creek last April. We went early in the morning, so traffic was fine, and our longest commute was to Animal Kingdom, which was less than fifteen minutes. I swear DHS and Epcot took about six minutes. Easy peasy.

And when you consider we had a kitchen, a giant bathroom, and a separate bedroom, that we paid about $65 per night in the end, it makes it hard for me to justify staying in a Disney hotel.

 

[pa. dad]

Can you give some examples? We don't need a kitchen or anything, just a nice room close to Disney that would be cheaper than a moderate, once you factor in resort fees, parking, rental car. (Obviously if Disney starts charging for parking or adds a resort fee, then things will change)

The visitanas.

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

I see people say this all the time, and I just can't figure out how that works. I was totally all set to stay at Hilton Bonnet Creek for our trip in Feb 2017. And I get a pretty decent Hilton discount through my company. But once you add the resort fee, the rental car, the parking fee at the hotel, and the parking fee at the parks, it ends up being far more expensive than the moderates. It's certainly cheaper than the Grand Floridian, but we're perfectly happy staying at Caribbean Beach, for example.

What am I doing wrong? How are people getting Bonnet Creek to be "much cheaper"?

There are several companies like Vacation Upgrades and Vacation Strategy that buy owners unused points and resale for a fraction of going straight thru Wyndam. There are similar sellers on ebay & VRBO. For example I purchased thru ebay seller "Qvac" 9 night in a 2 bedroom deluxe from May 18th thru May 27th for $900. That is a no brainer for me. I have a rental mini van thru Alamo for $190 total. I dont have to wait in line for bus at park closing. Bonnet Creek is ON Disney Property - right across from Caribbean Beach resort.There are no resort fees or parking fees at Bonnet Creek. Yes I have to pay to park at the parks but thats nothing compared to what we are saving. you also cant compare a hotel room with a full size condo. Bonnet Creek has a full size kitchen & full size washer & dryer. Separate bedrooms, dinning room, living room & balcony. We make a Walmart & wine run - this saves us tons as well. We eat breakfast in the room, pack snacks & frozen water bottles for the parks and even bring back leftovers to eat at different meal times. The resort itself has 2 lazy rivers and 9 swimming pools (some are zero entry), 2 water slides, mini golf, kids activities & movies on the lawn at night. They also have really nice BBQ areas if you wanted to cook out one night. We always have stayed onsite until 4 years ago when we tried Bonnet Creek - it may not be for every family but its amazing for us !! Just being able to spread out and go to different rooms at the end of a long day makes it worthwhile. I also pack less because we toss in a load of clothes every night before going to sleep. it doesnt feel like an apartment - its truly feels like an upscale resort. Even at capacity you hardly hear or see tons of people. Ive never heard anyone in the condos next to us. We are spoiled on Bonnet Creek its does book fast because people have caught on. rates have gone up with Vacation Strategy & vacation Upgrades (you can see rates listed on Vacation Upgrades website) right now Ebay is a great source - Im using seller "Qvac" for our upcoming trip next month - ive spoken with her on the phone and she has 100% feedback rating, i already have my confirmation with owners names listed & me listed as guest. Ive already called Bonnet Creek to verify my reservations - so I know all is well. never try booking straight thru Wyndham - its easily twice as much if not more.

 

[MamaJinji]

Don't feel like a traitor. Do what you've got to do, to make sure you can still have the magical trip you want.

 

[MammaMurphey]

Don't feel like a traitor! There's so much to see and good experiences to be had off property as well. Plus it's cheaper. I remember my grandparents had a trailer in Jelly Stone Park (apparently the camp site doesn't exist anymore....that news mad me really sad), but it was directly across from Disney. We would walk out to the end of the dock on the large pond that separated us from the park and watch the fireworks from there. It was fantastic. Plus you feel like you can leave some of the hustle and bustle behind. I enjoyed it anyway.

 

[mm1971]

Maybe I feel an unreasonable amount of loyalty to Disney but the thought of going to WDW and NOT staying on property makes my heart hurt a little. I'm not sure when our next trip will be (2017 at the earliest) but recently DH has really started pushing the idea of not staying at a Disney resort for our next trip. I think he's a little bent out of shape at the recent litany of price increases and that's coloring his perception a bit, but there is also the reality that the next time we go we will have a 10yo that we will be paying adult prices for and 3yo that we have not had to pay for to this point (and just so I don't leave him out, our DS that we will still be able to pay kids rates for) so we're looking at double the price of our last trip just bc of changes in our fam. I've looked and OF COURSE we can go and stay off-site and pay less but I just hate the idea of not staying on the resort property. Anyone else been in this predicament and have insight?

We have done both over the last 8 years. My suggestion would be to sit down with the family and list the Pro's and Con's to both options and then decide. The $$ factor is always a top factor. We prefer to stay on site because we enjoy being in the Disney "bubble" and not having to live in the real world for a few days. We also do EMH hours that are not available when staying offsite, the kids love the late nights in the parks. We are OK with paying more for food and having less options (usually Free Dining works out to a bigger savings for us when offered) and enjoy the whole atmosphere. Some of the great things about off site is that you can eat at different restaurants off property, fix meals at your condo or rental home, quiet times are just that and the savings be be significant. The Con's are no EMH, probably have to rent a car and pay for parking and having to travel a little further to get into the Disney bubble. Sometimes, especially with younger kids, resting at your condo/home can mean the 3 yo gets to nap/rest while your 10 yo gets to swim in the pool or have some time to just be a kid. Not as easy on property as there is always something going on.

As stated, we prefer to be on site. We certainly enjoyed our trips off site and saved a lot by doing so. Our schedule only allows for one longer vacation and I would prefer to let Disney take care of us and not have to cook, clean and travel off the property. Good luck deciding.

 

[mcjaco]

Ask him if he's willing to save money at the expense of taking time away from your vacation. When you're staying on property - among other things - you're paying for the convenience. Closer proximity, more time in the parks, better service, reliable transportation, easier relaxation time for breaks/pool. If he still wants to, then you may need to consider compromising for this trip. You could benefit if it ends up being a nice vacation - or he could be miserable and realize he never wants to stay off property again.

We have a family timeshare via the Marriott Grande Vista. We can be at a park within 15 minutes for opening (which always is possible with little kids that are up by 5AM anyway!). I've never stayed on property, and I'm really not all that enamored with the thought of it. I like having a car, I like getting away from everything Disney for a few hours a day.

My father-in-law has a timeshare, so he can get us an offsite room in a condo using his points for free. We can't pass up a free place to stay no matter how much we would like to stay onsite.

Same. Family timeshare. We can get two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, in house laundry, for a transfer fee of $127 for the whole week. Try to do that on property!

 

[jvz82]

We've done both and I prefer on-site... it's just part of the magic! But certain trips it just made more sense to stay off-site. Last trip we only spent 2 days at Disney and we were super broke so we stayed off-site. It was fine! Since we were there such a short time, we wouldn't have had time to spend at the hotel anyway so it didn't matter. I would rather save the money. Our next trip we'll be there a little longer and I am insisting on staying on-site this time. We're having a couple of no-park days so we'll be able to just hang out at the pool or at the hotel.

We also have 4 kids so this is another reason to stay off-site at times. We can't stay in the value resorts because our family is so big. So dumb, big families are probably more in need of cheaper hotel rooms since we're paying for all those kids to go to Disney! Lol.

 

[LuckyBelle81]

We've done both and I prefer on-site... it's just part of the magic! But certain trips it just made more sense to stay off-site. Last trip we only spent 2 days at Disney and we were super broke so we stayed off-site. It was fine! Since we were there such a short time, we wouldn't have had time to spend at the hotel anyway so it didn't matter. I would rather save the money. Our next trip we'll be there a little longer and I am insisting on staying on-site this time. We're having a couple of no-park days so we'll be able to just hang out at the pool or at the hotel.

We also have 4 kids so this is another reason to stay off-site at times. We can't stay in the value resorts because our family is so big. So dumb, big families are probably more in need of cheaper hotel rooms since we're paying for all those kids to go to Disney! Lol.

Totally agree about the problems you face with larger families. We only have 3 kids but having a family of 5 is part of the problem with the cost bc we can only stay in suites or do a DVC studio or something. DH was actually pricing it out earlier tonight and between saving money on dropping the dining plan (the last time we did the Delux DP and just didn't really get our money's worth - its just SO much food) and staying off-site we could essentially cut the price of the trip in half. Of course, we'll still have to eat so the price will go up but not as much. I'm still not totally sold on staying off-site but DH said after looking at it we could stay off-site and plan a trip within the next year or choose to stay on-site and have to wait longer to go back. Decisions, decisions...

 

[AshleeH]

We have a family timeshare via the Marriott Grande Vista. We can be at a park within 15 minutes for opening (which always is possible with little kids that are up by 5AM anyway!). I've never stayed on property, and I'm really not all that enamored with the thought of it. I like having a car, I like getting away from everything Disney for a few hours a day.

You sound like me before my husband talked me into staying onsite once. I grew up staying offsite and had no desire to ever stay in a Disney hotel. After one trip, I was hooked. We still use our car, but get free parking as a resort guest and I love being able to walk to MK or be at Epcot or HS in less than five minutes. I told him, initially, it was just for our first trip - now I'm going back for one trip without him in the next year and I'll be staying on property, even though he's not going to be with me.

 

[LuckyBelle81]

UPDATE on the decision debacle:
I wasn't even thinking about booking a trip but my DH left really early for a conference so I checked my email at like 4:30am and saw that free dinning had been released so OF COURSE I had to check it out. Well, I ended up booking a trip for Dec 12-17 staying at CBR bc I found a crazy good deal that included the DDP since the CBR is a moderate. I priced some of the resorts we had been looking at (we were only looking at resorts right around DS) and between having to pay for the room and tix seperately and then buy food, we couldn't have beaten the price we got, and the price was really the only reason we were looking at staying off-site anyway. I'm over the moon. I had no idea I would get to go back this soon!!

 

[mcjaco]

You sound like me before my husband talked me into staying onsite once. I grew up staying offsite and had no desire to ever stay in a Disney hotel. After one trip, I was hooked. We still use our car, but get free parking as a resort guest and I love being able to walk to MK or be at Epcot or HS in less than five minutes. I told him, initially, it was just for our first trip - now I'm going back for one trip without him in the next year and I'll be staying on property, even though he's not going to be with me.

We should compare notes after our next trip, which seems to be the same time for the both of us!

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I've stayed both on-site and off-site, and I haven't had a bad trip yet. Frankly, you can get more space and amenities for less money off-site, though you do have to factor in driving, traffic, parking, parking lots, resort fees, parking fees, etc.

When I stay off-site, I look at condos first. Being able to make breakfast and having more space is nice.