First time offsite... Reccomendations?

[JimMIA]

anyway...so with staying offsite you still save money even with food & park tickets?

Park tickets are going to cost you the same no matter where you stay. You'll get a good break on some tickets (mostly annual passes) if you're a Florida resident or DVC owner (+/-$100 on AP's). But other than that, where you stay has no effect.

Offsite dining differs from Disney Dining in only three main ways:

• The food is better offsite
• There is MUCH more variety offsite -- MANY more choices
• And, it's WAY less expensive offsite -- seems like every year Disney dumbs their menus down 20% and raises prices 20% to make up for it!

Since Disney Dining trashed DDP several years ago, we have eaten offsite for most meals even when we stay at DVC resorts. We do usually eat a CS lunch or snacks in a park, and there are a number of CS outlets that are pretty good and not too terribly priced. If we have breakfast, we usually throw something together quickly in our villa, and we eat all dinners offsite -- sometimes casual places, sometimes fine dining.

The only thing you're going to pay more for staying off-site is theme park parking. I think it's currently $14 per day, but if you park hop your receipt is good for any theme park that day. If anyone in your party has an AP, or if your offsite resort provided bus transportation, you don't pay.

 

[Loveallthingsdisney]

In May, there were 7 of us ( 5 21 year olds plus me and DH) We planned out 2 dinners to make in our rental house-a casserole which we doubled, and Taco night. We also bought breakfast food ( bagels, cream cheese, cereal) and lunch food ( turkey, cheese, etc. for sandwiches) Our groceries cost about $170.00. Our first night we went to CiCi's because everyone was starving and tired. We also went to Giordano's our last night, and I used a restaurant.com $25 coupon I got for $2.00. We went to Margaritaville one night as well, but everyone was on there own there. The "kids" went to Bob Evans one day, and to Celebration for Sushi. We tried to be as economical as possible, and think we did pretty well. Some of the 21 year olds (like my daughter) are still paying-off their over-priced Disney bar tabs, but she said it was worth it. Just my 2 cents on eating outside the World.

 

[Brian Noble]

anyway...so with staying offsite you still save money even with food & park tickets?

If you are flying in, usually the cheapest way to get by is to use ME to a single Value room. But, if you want anything other than a single Value room, you are almost always better off offsite. I can usually get a 2BR condo and pay for tickets, food for the week (all lunches/dinners in the parks), rental car, and theme park parking for something between what a Value or Moderate room would cost for a DDP package under the best promotion during the same dates.

I've done both onsite and offsite, about half and half, but *never* stay in anything less than a 1BR villa (and, if the kids are along, at least a 2BR). I'm in a position to get my DVC stays very inexpensively, and that's the only reason I stay onsite. If, for some reason, that were no longer true going forward, I would stay in one of the many lovely offsite resorts and never look back.

 

[nchulka]

You can actually save a lot on tickets when staying off-site. Buy your tickets through the disney youth program. It's open to school-age children and their families. Along with the tickets you get one free behind the scenes educational class in one of the parks. They have several that you can choose from. The tickets range from about 130ish to 208.00 for their most expensive, an 8 day hopper with water parks fun and more (almost half off!!!). The prices are the same for adults and children. Check out disneyyouth.com and look under individual enrollment.

 

[Garrica]

Okay, I feel a bit off the beaten path here, but just finished planning our offsite vacation for Oct 2011 and came up with something different so I thought I would share.

We are a family of 6 with kids ranging from 7 to 16, so we needed something fun & active. I found a 2 bdrm suite at Nick Suites (has a kitchenettes) for $685 including taxes & fees for 6 nights. It's located right outside WDW gates with free parking & a free frequent shuttle to the parks.

I know it's not Disney, but there is still plenty of characters for the little ones & pool activities for the older kids & who doesn't like a water park with a slime bucket?

Anyhow, to each their own, just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth

 

[danalee]

thank you for all the info, I am still crunching numbers and trying to see BIG savings! i'm working on it

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

I just looked at Windsor Hills and they have a horrible cancellation policy! Does anyone know what would happen if you change dates instead of cancel? If you have a last minute emergency you still have to pay for the entire stay!

 

[Dan1]

I'll recommend the only off-site location we have ever stayed...Sheraton Vistana Resort. (There is also the Sheraton Vistana Villages). Both are close to WDW, but, the "Resort" is closer, 5-10 mins from WDW.

They are a timeshare, but, they rent available rooms. They do not haggle to join. They'll ask, but, they leave you alone.

They offer one and two bedroom units with kitchens and in room laundry. They have lots of pools. I booked again this year for Aug/Sept and used the "Dreams" rate code to get a one bedroom for $99/night. (I think the 2 bedrooms are $149 w/ the rate code.)

All units have been fully renovated.



Edit: Sorry, there is no Dreams rate code for January. (I didn't originally see that you are looking for January.)

I highly recommend Sheraton Vistana Resort. We have owned there for around 18 years now and our family have loved every single time we stayed .. a lot of great memories.

We have never had an issue at the resort. We have started to rent our units in differerent phases to our friends (sorry, none available) since our kids are mostly grown up now and they all have come back with glowing reports.

I hope this helps,
Dan