First Offsite Stay -- Please Help!

[grandall]

We haven't been to WDW in a long time, and we have never stayed offsite. We are going to stay at the Marriott Grande Vista July 30 through August 3. We are going to buy water park tickets for one day and Magic Kingdom for one day. I have a few questions:

Is the hotel nice? We are a family of 5, youngest is 8, oldest is 14. We mainly want relaxation and a nice pool, maybe with a water slide.
We should rent a car, right? What is parking like? How early do we need to be in the parking lot?
Magic Kingdom August 1 -- our favorites are Mine Train and Big Thunder. At RP, we should go right to Mine Train, correct? There are no EMH this day, correct? After Mine Train, we were thinking stand-by for Pooh, and then make our first fastpass Big Thunder, correct? After that, I think I can figure it out. Where can I go to see current refurbishments?
As offsite guests, will we even get fastpasses for Big Thunder? How do I do all this? The website? The app? Can offside guests use these?
Lunch and dinner -- can I make sit down reservations as an offsite guest? I can't remember!
Typhoon Lagoon -- August 2 -- anything I need to know? Is anything closed?
Thanks for your help Disney experts!!

 

[gap2368]

parking at Disney is $20 and you can ay more for preferred parking( closer)

you can book FP 30 days before your date. as long as you have tickets linked to your MDE account.

you should have no problems getting FP for BTMRR and maybe 7DMT



( you can get 3 FP)

you can getting reservation for dinning 6 months in advance so if it is this year go ahead and book depending on what you want you may have a hard time or you may not.

I think I got some of your question answered

 

[Planogirl]

We've stayed off-site quite a bit and had no trouble getting fastpasses for most rides. Pandora and the 7 dwarfs and the Frozen ride seem to be the most difficult now.

I would rent a car. I think that it's much easier than dealing with shuttles.

I'm not familiar with your hotel. You can certainly make adr's for restaurants. I like to do all of this online at the Disney website.

 

[CAS239]

You need to get your tickets and connect them to you mde accounts asap. You can make FP's as soon as you have tickets linked.

Get on asap and see what's left as far as dining reservations. You can book those 6 months in advance so by now your choices might be slim.

 

[Tomh]

I don't know that hotel, so can't respond about that.

Staying offsite, I would get a car and drive to the park. MK opening at 9:00, I would shoot to be at the parking lot by 7:30 - 8:00.

I would purchase your tickets NOW, link them in MDE, and see what FP+ are still available. IF you can get 7D Mine Train FP+, then I would by all means do so. You might also want to get FP+ for Pooh ahead of time if it is available, since that often builds up a 40 minute line plus or minus a little. You can ride Big Thunder at rope drop with almost no wait. FP+ can be made EITHER with the website, OR in the app. Staying offsite doesn't stop you from making them, it just limits you to 30 days out, but you are within your window now already. Dining you can make NOW, see what is available.

You might consider lunch, or dinner at a restaurant in one of the resorts on the monorail loop (Contemporary, Grand Floridian, or Polynesian) if you can't find anything available in the park. If you can't find sit down restaurants available, don't rule out quick service. Cosmic Rays, Columbia Harbor House, and Pecos Bill are all pretty good choices.

 

[100AcreWood]

Our family of 5 always stays offsite. We enjoy having more space and saving money. Most of your questions have been answered.

We're not rope drop people. We just wait in line for anything we don't have FP+ for. You can make reservations for dining (I use the MDE app). You may find it difficult to find reservations but keep trying as you get closer to your travel dates. People cancel all the time. Have fun!

 

[bankr63]

And you should be more than happy with MGV. It's a Marriott, so unless you are expecting a full-time butler in your villa, it should meet your expectations. Nice grounds, well maintained villas, there should be a few reviews here on DIS if you do a quick search.

Yes, rent a car. Access to the parks is very good via I-Drive and World Center Drive. Traffic is generally light along that route except for the intersection at 535 in afternoon rush. Bring your own GPS or Mapquest on a smartphone. Roadways in the area can get confusing. There are also lots of great restaurants in the area of MGV - you won't have to go far on your non-park days. You are not too far from "Restaurant Row" along Sand Lake/Dr Phillips area with some really good dining for much less than on Disney property.

 

[Monykalyn]

Are you staying in a villa or guest room? the villas are spacious and very nice! The Resort has a great main pool, activities, movies at night and separate area for the smaller kids. No slide though ( I don't know if Grand Vista guests can use World Center pools??-probably a fee involved if so?). My kids loved the pool area so much they almost preferred that over the water park.

Yes offsite guests have all the same use and privileges as onsite-only difference is a few "perks" for onsite (EMH, 60 day fast pass, and dining for LOS at 180 instead of day by day booking)-so get the app