Florida residents: Aside from the

[kiki02]

on site properties (a bit too high priced) where do Florida residents stay when visiting disney? )))

YOU'RE SO lucky.

thanks much

 

[Upatnoon]

on site properties (a bit too high priced) where do Florida residents stay when visiting disney? )))

YOU'RE SO lucky.

thanks much

Florida residents get special lower rates for disney properties and other hotels in Orlando. However, lots of Florida residents stay at Disney!

For most people I know, stays tend to be shorter and no dining plan. We drive so we don't care about magical express and use a combination of disney bus service and driving to get around. We go more often, especially if we buy yearly passes.

Other than that, timeshare properties like Bonnet Creek and Vistana are popular. Also, using hotwire and priceline.

 

[JeRmS]

We drive over every summer and stay in Orlando for a week ... when we stay that long we always like to get a Villa type place to cut down on Dining costs.

The past two years we have stayed at Sheraton Vistana and this year we are staying in Orange Lake Resort.

If we drive over for a "night" we stay at a regular hotel such as a Wyndham or Hilton, it helps that I work in Travel and get superb discounts ... I just booked the hotel for my DW's birthday weekend at the Wyndham DTD for $50/night!!!! Sweeeeeeeet!!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I have stopped staying onsite as my children are older now... much older I use Priceline and Hotwire for short stays and rent out timeshares for my full week stays. I have rented out the timeshares from Redweeks, from E-Bay and from private people...I have stayed in: The Fountains (2x), Bonnet Creek (3x), West Gate Villas (2x), Silver Creek (2x), Cypress Grand Villas (3x), Blue Tree (2x) Embassy Grand Beach (2x) and will be staying in the Fountains again July 1st.. I will be at Calypso Cay for another week in July & then over at Mystic Dunes for another week in July.. have never been to either of those 2 before....

I live only 3 hours away and like to go approx every 6 weeks or so. That is the only way I can afford to do it... When doing Priceline and Hotwire.. I will do 3 star hotels unless I use Priceline Lake Buena Vista Area.. then I will do 2 star.. they are limited on what they have for 2* and usually end up with the Extended Stay Deluxe on Palm Parkway... it is clean, no resort fee, free wifi and free breakfast.. and the rooms have kitchens!!!!

 

[DOOM1001]

$35-$40 hotels booked on Hotwire or Travelocity secret hotels,usually in the International Drive/convention center/Sea World or Lake Buena Vista area.Two or three times a year we might get a Disney or Universal hotel,but I'm not paying those prices for the other 7-8 visits we do a year so Hotwire it is.When the economy went down a few years ago I was getting on Hotwire hotels that would normally go for $200-$250 for like $50-$60,today it's not quite as easy as it was but you can still find them for $70-$90.The $40 ones are more of a luck of the draw some are better than others,but overall most are not too bad as long as you stick to 2.5-3 stars.

 

[Art 1]

I stay at my house.

 

[Jedana]

We stay on property, for the most part. We have stayed off property 4 times.

The first hotel was horrible. We booked 2 queens, ended up with 1 king, and they wouldn't switch us. 4 of us (2 adult, 1 teen, 1 4 year old) in one bed? They fought us on bringing up a fold up for the teen; finally got it, and we made a bed for DS by pushing the 2 armchairs together and covering it with extra blankets. So glad that was only one night!

The 2nd was awesome. We had a split room (kids bunkbeds/single bed with a wall separating that from the master bed.)

3rd/4th times we stayed at Worldquest. Hit a fabulous deal both times, stayed for the weekend. (even with resort fees, we paid less than $75 a night) As big as our old apartment, and was well worth the driving back and forth (DH was just starting home hemodialysis, and we needed space to figure things out).

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I stay at my house.

lucky you!!!!! ... my sister does too.. but she has an hour drive.. I can stay there but don't like to drive an hour.. not after a day in the parks... If I had to I could.. so that is an option for me when I cannot find a great deal....

 

[DOOM1001]

lucky you!!!!! ... my sister does too.. but she has an hour drive.. I can stay there but don't like to drive an hour.. not after a day in the parks... If I had to I could.. so that is an option for me when I cannot find a great deal....

I'm 3.5-4 hours away and up until 5 years ago I was a crazy person and used to drive to the parks and come back in the same day,can't and won't do that anymore,totally insane.I do know I need to move closer,even if I was 1.5-2 hours away I could handle the drive to and from in the same day.

 

[BlovesC]

There are some BEAUTIFUL hotels on I-Drive that can be booked for relatively cheap using travelocity and hotwire. If I were coming from a further distance, I'd have no problem staying at one of those to be close enough to the magic for a low price! But since we live so close and take lots of day trips, staying at Disney resorts actually feels like a vacation to us. My coworkers constantly ask me "are you sick of Disney yet?!" and the answer is always NO! Not while there are SO many resorts to explore and fall in love with! Although the day they stop offering AP discounts on the rooms, we'll probably have to cut back our stays, a LOT.

 

[Metro West]

I stay at my house...no need for hotel rooms.

 

[momfeez]

on site properties (a bit too high priced) where do Florida residents stay when visiting disney? )))

YOU'RE SO lucky.

thanks much

This trip we are renting a house in Indian Creek with the whole extended family (12 of us ). Previous trips we have stayed at the Travelodge Eastgate Orange (not the best, but not the worst), Celebration Suites at Old Town (lots of room for us to spread out) and Clarion Suites Kissimmee (same setup at Travelodge but nicer). Since there are 5 of us, we need a suite type room. We don't stay on property. We are only in the room to sleep and shower. I'd rather not spend a lot of money on a room we aren't in for very long. I'd rather spend it on some Disney merchmerch

 

[MattM]

When we do "staycations" we like to stay at either the JW Marriott or Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes.

Closer to the parks we like to stay at the Hilton IN Walt Disney World (not bonnet creek) and the Hyatt Grand Cypress. We also stay on property as well. Tons of choices.

 

[phorsenuf]

If I'm not doing a day trip then I stay on my DVC points.

 

[rmoore7]

Most of the time we stay on the Disney property. Yes, it's a little more expensive but we are now at a point in our Disney visits where sometimes we will go for a weekend and just enjoy the resort. However, occasionally we will go for a weekend or overnighter and stay off property, and I like to use Hotwire. Because you don't know the name of the hotel prior to committing to your purchase (and I don't like unpleasant surprises!) I always select a 4 star property with a DTD location. I've gotten some great values this way, and usually for close to around $100 per night. Try this as far in advance as possible and check the site on a few different days, because availability changes. You can always look at betterbidding.com if you really want to try to ferret out your location ahead of time. Finally, if our budget will tolerate an upgrade I really like the JW Marriott Grande Lakes.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

My father's wife and family stay at Caribe Royal They get great rates off FaceBook with thier weekly sales and really like it. They claim they won't ever go back to Disney hotels after having so much more room for so much less. (And they have turned down some CM discounts for this.... they despise the values for example!)
I have stayed there and would again (And sorry, but Disney's great rates for Fl Residents are still overpriced for the hotel quality IMHO!)

For "relaxing" luxury trips you can't beat the JW or Ritz mentioned above. Or the new Waldorf. (Sorry Disney but for the price of your "deluxe" I can get real deluxe hmm.....my money walked )

 

[lovethattink]

Usually we just drive from home or stay on property. Twice we've stayed at the Palms Hotel and Villa. It's very clean, the staff is very friendly, and there is a free continental breakfast. Both times we had a 1 BR villa, and each time the room was set up different. The first time the kitchen was straight, and to get to the bathroom we all had to walk through the master bedroom, and very little hanging clothes space, half size pantry. The second time, the kitchen was L-shaped and there were two entrances into the bathroom, one from the living room and one from the master bedroom, large closet for hanging clothes and a full size pantry. I'd gladly stay there again. The first room was a handicap room and they said they upgraded us for the 2nd stay!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I'm 3.5-4 hours away and up until 5 years ago I was a crazy person and used to drive to the parks and come back in the same day,can't and won't do that anymore,totally insane.I do know I need to move closer,even if I was 1.5-2 hours away I could handle the drive to and from in the same day.

sometimes though with the price of gas and the cost of a room on Priceline.. it is cheaper to do Priceline as opposed to staying where my sister is.. I have a house there that my mom left me when she passed away, so I really do have a house to stay in.. but with the gas, it just doesn't pay if I want to go to the parks for more than one day. It's cheaper to do Priceline than the gas!!!!!