Feel like I need to get off Disboards.

[delmar411]

We leave in August, so I've pretty much planned everything out by now. Every time I turn around, I'm feeling more and more screwed over for not staying on site. It's just too expensive for a family with 4 kids. Options are too limited. We're staying at a Villa for about $77/night for 2 weeks. Staying on site, we'd have to cut our trip down to 4 days. Now, if you're staying on site you can make a lunch reservation at BOG. Come on! I feel like I no longer have a shot at getting Fastpasses, or eating at BOG at all...

You aren't even going to notice a difference in the parks unless you are looking for it IMO. I've been using the MagicBands for a couple weeks now and I haven't ever seen another person with them and often the CMs at the rides say I'm the first person they've ever seen with them. They are currently doing a BLT test but yet still I haven't seen anyone with them. So either ppl aren't using them or it really isn't that noticeable.

And I highly doubt they are releasing more than a handful of BOG slots for FP+. No need to panic. I'd suggest showing up at the end of the lunch seating and enjoying a leisurely quiet meal since the restaurant will get very empty as they switch over to the dinner seatings.

 

[rt2dz]

We do not stay onsite every trip--we also have a family of 6. I love staying offsite. Four bedrooms, three baths, private heated pool, 10-15 minutes from the park gates, game room, everyone with their own bed, etc. for 10 nights, all for the cost of 1-2 nights in a value. I love it. As a matter of fact, my kids prefer it. We still stay onsite once in awhile, but not every visit. Over the last 10 years I've seen the resort rooms go up in price 300+% and what you get go down. We've started eating offsite too. Better food for less--a lot less--money. You aren't missing much.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[glassslippergirl]

The advantages were so much more space and MUCH EASIER getting into/out of the park. No matter where you are at Disney its always a hike to get to certain locations. On the other hand, with a car you drive right to the park you want in 15 minutes, much quicker than Disney transportation.

I totally agree. We almost exclusively stay off-site to save money. Less money spent on lodgings means more time at WDW-- it's a fair trade off. Recently, we decided to mix things up and stay at Pop for two nights. The room was smaller, the hotel was noisier, and the whole thing cost $30+ more per night than our preferred off-site hotel. We love some restaurants just off the property and always choose ones that we don't have at home. That way we are just as excited for an off-site meal as we would be for a more expensive meal on-site. And what DisneyFanSince71 said above is so true about using your own vehicle--
it's so much more convenient. Enjoy your trip.

 

[mamabear0222]

I hear what you're saying. This is our first family trip and we are staying offsite due to cost.

You can feel a little left out as onsite guests get first crack at virtually everything it seems.

However they are paying top dollar as well....to me it evens itself out.

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[bigmac5]

And I highly doubt they are releasing more than a handful of BOG slots for FP+. No need to panic. I'd suggest showing up at the end of the lunch seating and enjoying a leisurely quiet meal since the restaurant will get very empty as they switch over to the dinner seatings.

I was wondering what time it slows down for lunch at BOG?

 

[Planogirl]

We have stayed both onsite and offsite many times and offsite is great! I personally prefer the extra space and money and have a car if I can help it anyway. You can do just about everything onsite people do and you can also enjoy the great stuff offsite more easily.

Don't let anyone get you down!

 

[delmar411]

I was wondering what time it slows down for lunch at BOG?

We went at 2:25 when it closed at 2:30 and were in and eating in about 20mins and it was so nice and quiet and the restaurant was mostly empty. Super relaxing and enjoyable lunch.

 

[bdink921]

We leave in August, so I've pretty much planned everything out by now. Every time I turn around, I'm feeling more and more screwed over for not staying on site. It's just too expensive for a family with 4 kids. Options are too limited. We're staying at a Villa for about $77/night for 2 weeks. Staying on site, we'd have to cut our trip down to 4 days. Now, if you're staying on site you can make a lunch reservation at BOG. Come on! I feel like I no longer have a shot at getting Fastpasses, or eating at BOG at all...

We are staying on site and cannot make a lunch reservation at BOG nor are we participating in FP+. No big deal, we'll just carry on with our vacation and have a blast!!! Your villa will be awesome and you will all have space to spread out. Enjoy your vacation!!!!

 

[Aurora1972]

We leave in August, so I've pretty much planned everything out by now. Every time I turn around, I'm feeling more and more screwed over for not staying on site. It's just too expensive for a family with 4 kids. Options are too limited. We're staying at a Villa for about $77/night for 2 weeks. Staying on site, we'd have to cut our trip down to 4 days. Now, if you're staying on site you can make a lunch reservation at BOG. Come on! I feel like I no longer have a shot at getting Fastpasses, or eating at BOG at all...

I agree! We have trip planned for next June. We are a family of five therefore not allowed to book the values excepting the family suites which are really not "value" priced. I would love to stay in a Disney hotel but I just can't afford it! I do feel like Disney is punishing me for not staying onsite! It's disheartening because I am beginning to feel that Disney will only reward guests that book packages.

 

[nugov2]

Stayed off site for our trip in June and didn't feel like I missed out of a thing. Deluxe accommodations for much less and was all decked out in WDW decorations. Had my own private pool and resort pool with waterslide(won't get that at a value) Was at the park faster than anyone staying at a value and most mods using who were stuck using WDW transportation. Every reservation I wanted I got and for good times including CRT, Tomorrowland Terrace and 2 BOG dinner slots(though they were a little later b/c I didn't want super early so we opted for later and just did dessert). We were on property enjoying all kinds of activities, because you don't have to be a resort guest to participate in any of the activities...pirate cruise, chip and dale campfire, tons of other kids activities they offer. So while there are pros and cons to doing both and some real benefits to off site you won't get on and vice versa.

For my family size(5) on site isn't worth it because I don't find any value in the value or moderate resorts and the last time I paid $700 a night for a hotel room I was in Kauai staying at the Princeville resort(what the only type of room I would consider in WDW would cost us)...and I guarantee no hotel in Disney is going to be that nice. I would consider looking into renting points in the future when the kids are older, but we need our own rooms when staying somewhere longer than a couple of days right now....but that's what works for us and probably wouldn't for a lot of people.

Just think of the magic you are going to have in WDW and I guarantee it happens to people as much on site as it does off site!!

 

[Simba77]

I agree! We have trip planned for next June. We are a family of five therefore not allowed to book the values excepting the family suites which are really not "value" priced. I would love to stay in a Disney hotel but I just can't afford it! I do feel like Disney is punishing me for not staying onsite! It's disheartening because I am beginning to feel that Disney will only reward guests that book packages.

I'm honestly not trying to sound rude here, but what rewards? Aside from Extra Magic Hours and bus transportation, there's almost nothing that a Disney resort guest gets over an off-site visitor. In what way could or should Disney reward people who don't stay in their hotels?

And when FP+ goes live for everyone, it doesn't seem as though on-site guests will have any advantage whatsoever over off-site. It's not as if one entire park is an exclusive "on-site guests only" theme park.

There have to be at least some perks to staying on property. Universal, for example, has a "fastpass" type system that they charge $30 a day for. If you stay on-site at Universal, it's free. It's also extremely expensive to stay on property there.

Disney is just like anything else in life - you pay more, you get more. I wouldn't go into a restaurant and complain that the guy next to me got a filet mignon but I only got a lousy chicken breast. I paid 1/3 the price he did. I had the opportunity to choose a more expensive offering but chose not to, for whatever reason. It's not fair to blame the restaurant for charging more for the better food.

 

[Patrickprincess]

I have looked at staying off sight and I did not like anything. Yes the Disney hotels are more. I for one do not have a drivers license and even if I did I would not want to drive. If I got to stay more than a week I sure would not do universal. The last time I visited universal I was darn near stung by several yellow jackets. The park was fithy I mean the trash cans were over flowing with trash. I have also stayed in non Disney hotels that had overflowing tolities .so I will pay more to stay in a Disney hotel

 

[wordwitt]

On our first trip, my daughter and I stayed off-site at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek (just the two of us) and it was fantastic. It also included bus transportation to the parks. Although we had a rental car, we shuttled to the park. Loved it. On our next trip (last May), we stayed on-site at the Yacht Club and did not rent a car. Loved that too. We are now DVC owners (bought resale), and our next trip in September will be at BWV. We do not appear to be part of the Magicband test, either, so we'll be in the same boat as you, OP. Not stressing over it. Enjoy your space. Enjoy your savings. Enjoy your family!

 

[Dan Murphy]

These first world problems have to cease.


Enjoy your trip, saylor, you'll have a great time over the two weeks.

 

[aubriee]

There have to be at least some perks to staying on property. Universal, for example, has a "fastpass" type system that they charge $30 a day for. If you stay on-site at Universal, it's free. It's also extremely expensive to stay on property there.

While I agree with everything else you said, I don't agree that a room at Universal is more expensive than WDW. The resorts at Universal are all three deluxe resorts, although the new one they are building (Cabana Bay) will be a moderate. I just checked and with my AP discount can get a room at RPR for $149.00 per night. A comparable deluxe resort at WDW would cost alot more than that, even with an AP discount. Plus for the $149.00 per night I would get unlimited Express pass, which WDW doesn't even offer. If I wanted, I could spend all day riding Mummy over and over, and over and over with no wait. You can also buy the Express Pass option, but the purchased Express Pass just allows one ride per day for each attraction, whereas the express pass for onsite guests is unlimited. Because their express pass is more restricted and fewer guests have it, express lines are truly express, with little to no waits. We love just hopping on and off the rides over there. We also love that ADRs are never needed, however if a restaurant is a little booked up and alot of people are waiting, all you have to do is show your room key and you are bumped to the front of the line for priority seating. WDW has nothing to compare to Universal's Unlimited Express pass or their priority restaurant seating their onsite guests receive for free. We also like being able to either walk or boat from any of their resorts to the parks or City Walk. No buses or driving is ever needed.

This past May we had a one bedroom villa booked at Bonnet Creek for ten nights, but after alot of debate decided we didn't want to do Universal without unlimited exoress pass, so even though we couldn't modifiy our Bonnet Creek ressie without paying a penalty, we still booked two nights over at Universal and just left the villa empty for two nights. We'll be doing the same thing for our upcoming Dec trip and I am considering doing it for one night during my upcoming Sept trip too. We love staying onsite at Universal and feel their perks are worth it. However, we prefer staying offsite at Bonnet Creek for our WDW stays. Their few perks for onsite guests are just not worth it.

We used to swear we'd only stay onsite at WDW, until we finally gave offsite a try. We get much nicer/bigger accommodations at a deluxe resort for alot less money, don't use WDW transportation anyway, have annual passes that give us free parking at the parks, and couldn't care less about EMH, so can't think of a single reason to pay more for less room just to stay onsite. From Bonnet Creek we can drive to just about any park and get there faster than when we stayed onsite and used Disney transportation.

 

[disneydan11]

Forget about the magic bands as they are not rolled out for everyone anyway. I grew up and live an hour from Disney and have been there too many times to count - yet I have never stayed on site! In two weeks we are going to stay at POR and view it as a huge treat to stay on site. Besides the upcoming trip we already have another weekend trip booked for September and that on is booked at an off site location.

A good option for you though could be the Swan and Dolphin - onsite but not Disney so they are typically about the same price as a Value but they are located in the midst of the Disney Epcot Delux hotels, walking distance to Epcot and DHS, you can take the boat plus you can easily access the Disney Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Club -- one time we went over and stayed at the Dolphin for a long weekend without ever going to the parks yet felt fully immersed in Disney the whole time.

 

[momof2n2]

We rented a house in Kissimmee from VRBO. It's a 3 BR with twin beds in both bedrooms (perfect for our 2 boys & 2 girls), 2 bath with a pool and game room. $930 for 12 nights! We only go every 4-5 years, and this is our first time renting a house. Ever! We stayed at All Star Sports five years ago, but we just outgrew that room, and everything else is too expensive!

You will never go back to cramming into rooms.
We have been renting houses since 2003.
I'd love to stay on property some time to try it but for the amount it saves to stay off I can double our time in FL.

 

[raven69david]

When we were single we stayed off-site. Once we had kids, never again. We kicked ourselves for missing out in the experience we got from staying on-site. To us, slumming it is staying at a Value as we normally do AKL as that is the kids favorite resort. If our flight arrives late, we do the first night off-site and then get up bright and early and check-in to our Disney resort. No matter which resort we pick (Value - Deluxe) it feels great to be "home." We just don't get that feeling when staying off-site. If you can't tell the difference between staying on-site and off-site, then you just don't get it. If you have the "it's just a room, we won't be in it most of the day" attitude, then you definitely don't get it. For us, it's clear as day and night. We'll never plan a Disney trip and stay off-site again. We plan our trips a year in advance and make payments leading up to the trip. It's usually paid off within 4 to 6 months, if that. Now, 15 days until AKL.

 

[Simba77]

While I agree with everything else you said, I don't agree that a room at Universal is more expensive than WDW.

Oh, I never said it was more expensive. Simply that it's very expensive.

RPR @ Universal is nice, but its cheapest rooms are not Deluxe. They are equivalent to WDW's moderates - in fact I think FQ+POR's rooms look nicer. (The cheapest non-AP rate I could find at Universal's RPR is $200 a night - again, comparable to Disney's moderates, and close to twice as much as a WDW Value resort).

Let me preface the following by saying that I like Universal and I'm going to be visiting (off site) for 2 days after my 2 weeks at WDW. I'm by no means a Universal "basher":

As great as some of Universal's attractions are, the overall experience isn't the same. I find a much greater diversity of architecture, detail, and variety at WDW. Wizarding World looks fantastic - and I'm excited to see it in person for the first time in October... but it seems rather small and would probably be far more emotional for a Potter fan, which I can't claim to be. Outside of some of the e-tickets, however, there's very little about Universal and IOA for me to gush over. They have some awesome rides - and I'm incredibly excited to ride some of them for the first time, like Transformers and Forbidden Journey, but the rides themselves are mostly the extent of what I'm excited about. At WDW, I could go on for days about non-ride things that I'm looking forward to seeing, smelling, and doing. Food, lighting, architecture, music, animals... that's just scratching the surface of what I would personally pay more for at WDW than at Universal, but will actually pay less per day at WDW than if staying on site at Universal.

I'm not really trying to put down Universal, but WDW feels far more like its own world, while Universal and IOA have always felt like a couple of theme parks - great theme parks, for sure, but they just don't take me to another time and place in the same way WDW does.

And even with the attractions, Universal often doesn't go the extra mile. Just as an example, it's things like Dueling Dragons and Hulk which are Six Flags type attractions that do nothing to set themselves apart. Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Expedition Everest are inferior roller coasters, but both have far better theming and immersion, and the experience of those attractions is more memorable. Splash Mountain has a superior look, feel and theme to Dudley Do-right. I step off Dudley smiling... I step off Splash Mountain feeling giddy. Transformers, Despicable Me, the Mummy, Terminator 3D, Shrek, Twister... they're all housed in a nondescript box, for the most part. American Adventure is moving; Carousel of Progress is charming and classic. Living Seas, Animal Kingdom, World Showcase, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square... there are so many things at WDW that transport me and impact me in a way that Universal struggles to.

I'm sure others see it differently, which is perfectly fine. But the bottom line for me is that I'm passionate about WDW, whereas, as much as I have enjoyed Universal and IOA (and I'm sure I will again), they've never moved me emotionally. That's what sets Disney apart in my heart, and why it makes it a far better value.

I just realized I thread-jacked like crazy. I'm so sorry OP. Let's tie it in: WDW is the best. You're going to have a great time, and staying off site isn't a big disadvantage for your trip!

 

[bluejasmine]

Wow two weeks!! That's awesome!!!

Sept 2013 Poly, 2012 Disney Fantasy, BC CL, GF CL, POR, 2011 Poly CL, CR, Poly CL, AKL, 2010 Poly CL, ASMu 2009, SSR 2008, Pop 2006, POR , Asmo 2005, Asmo 2003, offsite 2000, 1999,1989, Poly 1980, offsite 1979