FL Residents - Do you ever stay on property?

[BelleNJ]

DH and I are considering a relocation opportunity to the Orlando area. It would be great to be a drive away from Disney but I think I would miss the build up to a long trip and staying on property. Though, the more I think about it being able to visit as often as I wanted is a huge plus. So, if you're local do you ever stay on property just for the experience?
Also, in our consideration I've been house hunting online. There are so many areas I that I don't know. Any suggestions? We have a 3yo daughter also!
Thanks!

 

[safetymom]

We still plan short trips and stay onsite. I live in Davenport which is about 15-20 mins from the parks. It is growing quickly here but lovely place to live.

 

[DisneyAngelx4]

Always but then I live 6 hours away. I just the onsite feel and the magic.

 

[26555]

Onsite if 3 nights or less, offsite if 4 nights or more. There are lots of things to consider in a relo. Not sure how important the Disney factor would be but I would put it in the "pro" column.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Always on-site. About 2 hours away for me.
I just love the perks of staying on-site. It is truly Disney from the time you get there until the time you leave.

 

[MagicOurWay]

Yep, we make on-site visits. Being so close just means we can make lots of daytrips in between those visits

 

[KevinFSU]

Never stay anywhere else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[diathoney]

We always stay! It's part of the "magic". In the beginning we tried a few off-site properties like the Sheraton Safari and the Wyndam Palace. We like to arrive, park the car and not get back in the car until we're going home. I'm glad we don't have to buy airfare. That means more trips!

 

[eeyore0062]

Most definitely! We try to stay on property at least once a year! In 2003, we stayed at PO-R and AS-Mo, in 2004 we stayed at the Polynesian, and we are tentatively thinking of staying 5 days at PO-FQ and topping it off with either 2 days at the Contemporary or the Beach Club, depending on finances.

 

[floridagirrl2]

We are 2 hours away and we never do day trips--I hate driving/riding at night, plus after walking around all day, it's very tiring to drive home.

This weekend we experimented with staying only one night (we usually stay 2-3 nights over a weekend). We had a blast and will definitely do more 1-night stays in the future!

We prefer to stay onsite, but this was a last-minute trip and the only resorts with rooms available were Deluxes starting at around $300 per night. We are totally spoiled by paying $45 per night at the Value resorts--no way we would spend $300! So we stayed at the Days Inn near Downtown Disney.

We love staying onsite and being able to park the car and just use Disney transportation all weekend and eat at Disney restaurants all weekend.

Although I'm not exactly local, I have seen good advice re: house hunting from a local: she said to figure out where you'll be wroking before you choose a houyou will probably not want a long commute across town on I-4 if you can avoid it.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I live 3 hours away, I stay on and offsite, depending on my money & the discounts offered.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Not only do we stay on property, I own at DVC so we use our points for longer stays and then use the codes during the year for week-end trips.

 

[ducklite]

We live about 20 minutes away and generally just go home. We stayed the night before the marathon, and we're spending a long day at WDW in July with friends and plan on using our DVC points to rent a studio so we can cool off, use the pool, shower before dinner, etc.

I think if we lived futher away we'd stay more often, but it's not worth the hassle of packing, checking in, etc. when I can be home in the same amount of time it would take to check in!

Anne

 

[caribear]

We live 2 hours away and usually spend 2 nights over a long weekend. We only stay onsite so we can always be part of the magic We are going for a week in May and that will be our longest trip thus far. We used to live in Winter Park, about 30 minutes or so from Disney and we usually just did day trips. I was kind of glad we moved a little further away so we could justify an overnight stay at a Disney Resort

 

[webray]

That corridor between Orlando and Tampa is a great place to live. Davenport, Lakeland, etc.
Clermont is also a good option. Just depends on where the job is...we relocate a lot..try to get opposite the heavy traffic.

and yes..we are FL residents..and we stay on property a lot. Many, many times per year..many long weekends.

 

[currycook]

Very often. Love to stay on Disney proper.

 

[Immelman]

depends on rates. we're less than an hour away and usually drive to and back. if we can get a good resident rate at universal we'll stay there first and drive to WDW. we're never at the resort, so 79.00 is the most we'll pay for an overnight at WDW. a resort room is basically a place to crash for us. we appreciate the themeing and the amenities, but we're at the parks for the parks. It's a nice place to be.

 

[jwfla422]

WDW is our "escape from reality"..it's the Floridian's few days away at the mountains ..of course, the closest mountain you'll get in WDW is Space Mountain..LOL! We always stay on property, don't think I could do WDW any other way, just isn't the same!

 

[FLORIDAFUNFAMILY]

we live in Cocoa, about 20 minutes west of Cocoa Beach, across the river's, near the bee-line ,so it's about an hour or a little less to the parks. I never stayed on property until recently with the addition of DD1 and DD3. The kids can't go all day so we like to take long weekends at the parks if we can get a decent deal. We normally are able to find either a code discount, resident discount, or AP discount. We have rented points for a dvc week 7/3 to 7/8
and will be staying 7/1 and 7/2 at CR with a code for $144 plus tax. I also like the swan a dolphin when they have specials. If I'm going to stay I prefer a deluxe or I'll just drive home if I can't stay someplace nice. As for living in Central Florida it really depends on where you will work or what you want to do. Traffic is a real problem in Orlando and it's hotter than on the coast so I reallly love being near the coast and still close enough to get to Orlando when I need to without living in the congestion. I really suggest that you come and spend a little time exploring different areas before making up your mind on a particular area. We often use our AP's to stop in at a park for just afew hours with the kids before doing whatever else we need to in Orlando. It is agreat place to be and we really take disney for granted compared to the sacrifice that so many people make to visit the parks. 'BUT IF ANYONE ASKS IT REALLY A TERRIBLE PALCE TO LIVE AND WE DON'T WANT ANYMORE PEOPLE TO MOVE INTO THIS HORRIBLE AREA" If you get my meaning.

 

[wfloyd]

We live an hour and a half away and we try to stay on property at least once a year. It is a nice break and unless you like to drive home late at night, we can actually see some of the late night things.