For those who prefer to stay offsite.

[WillCAD]

I don't care how close your hotel/condo is to Disney it takes roughly 45 minutes - 1 hour from your hotel/condos front door to the parks entrance. If you don't believe me time yourself. We've stayed in condos on 192, roughly 3 miles from Disney. After traffic on 192, trying to find the theme park of the day, parking, waiting on the tram, getting yourself organized then getting to the front gate. It is nearly an hour.

I have timed it, many times, from a variety of places, and it's never taken me an hour to get from my hotel's front door to a WDW park entrance unless I stop somewhere on the way in!

I average about 30 minutes from door to bag check, depending on what hotel and which park are involved. I rarely use the parking tram, except at MK; I walk from my car to the gates, which is usually quicker than waiting and riding.

At MK, there is an additional 15-25 minutes to get on a monorail or ferryboat and get accross the Seven Seas Lagoon - but I don't count that, because the monorail and ferryboats are not transportation to me, they are attractions, and part of my park experience.

On the other hand, starting the morning from most of the WDW resorts and heading to a park can take just as long or longer:

0-20 mins waiting for the bus to arrive
10-15 mins loading time
10-15 mins drive time
------------------------------
Minimum time: 20-45 minutes

And that's if you happen to be at a resort that doesn't share a bus. If your resort shares its bus with another resort, figure on an extra 5 mins to drive to the other resort, and another 10 mins load time when you get there, before getting back on the road to the park.

I think the worst part of your experiences was probably US 192, which has notoriously high traffic and can have backups and delays during the morning and evening rush hours, and especially when parks close. But if you were to stay in the Lake Buena Vista area rather than the Maingate area, you'd see less traffic and easier access to WDW property.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I don't care how close your hotel/condo is to Disney it takes roughly 45 minutes - 1 hour from your hotel/condos front door to the parks entrance. If you don't believe me time yourself.

I timed myself. It took 17 minutes from front door to Epcot parking space. Another 9 to get to the front gate.

That's 26 minutes total. About 10 more than it would have been from a Disney hotel.

After that, I allowed 10 extra minutes over what I'd allow staying in a Disney hotel and everything went smoothly.

 

[TLC371]

we stay off 192 and we never have any traffic problems, and we can get to the main gate into Disney in 5 minutes. We can get to MK, including waiting for the monorail and going through bag check in less than a half an hour.

 

[dobtia]

I have to agree with last couple of posters. We always time ourselves and we have never been more than 30 minutes from house to gate. Now we are rope drop people, and we are so close to the property.

I know that Disney transportation is nice, but we like getting in our car. We keep cold drinks there. No crowds and we go.

I am sure we would enjoy an on-site stay, but we never feel cheated.

 

[Momelie]

I have always stayed on-site at Disney, from the time I was little and Mom and Dad let me do the Contemporary for my birthday, and Poly the rest of the time because my Dad liked it.

Now I'm grown with kids of my own, and for the first time this year, we've been staying off site, at one of the Hotel Blvd. places, and I think I'm hooked!

For us, its the price, and the value for that price. We have APs, so parking isn't an issue. We do, however, love to have our own car, it makes it SO much quicker to get in and out of the parks, and makes park hopping a dream. I also have the DDE, so dining plan isn't an issue for us, either.

I guess, bottom line, it would take quite a bit of incentive to get me to go back on-site.

 

[centurythree]

After traffic on 192, trying to find the theme park of the day, parking, waiting on the tram, getting yourself organized then getting to the front gate. It is nearly an hour.
Even if your family isn’t ready when staying onsite you can walk around the resort (and be a part of the Disney experience) or go to the food court, or shop in the gift shop, or take pictures of the scenery. Any way onsite your always engulfed in the Disney experience. Offsite, your just visiting Florida.

It's never taken us that long to get to a Disney park from our resort. We've also never had traffic issues. Of course, my family abandoned the US 192 area years ago and now stays very close to Sea World/I-Drive, but that's even farther away mileage-wise than US 192. It still doesn't take anywhere near an hour to get to a park. The signs are very clear on I-4 and within WDW--I just can't imagine how someone could get lost going to a park. It's always a good idea to get organized before leaving your resort rather than doing it in a park parking lot where everyone's even more excited and scatterbrained. If we take a tram it's for nostagia's sake--we arrive early and park close enough to walk in, even at MK. The monorail at MK (or between Epcot and MK) is part of the experience. I'd be very disappointed if I had to miss it.

You're also forgetting that there are off-site resorts that are also just as (and if you're comparing to the values or moderates, more) pleasant to walk around, shop, or just experience.

As for "just visiting Florida," well . . . it's been a very long time since my family has taken a vacation in the area of less than a week. We always have four to five exclusively Disney days. (That seems to be as long as many people's entire vacations.) My upcoming vacation will be just short of two weeks, with 8-9 days just for Disney.

Also, I think that my guests should see some non-Disney parks as well--Universal/IOA and possibly Sea World. Both (I count Universal/IOA as one park) are strong parks on their own. There really is more to the area than Disney. Even if we stayed on-site, which is still a possibility if Disney can offer us enough of a deal, we'd still leave to visit at least Universal/IOA. However, there are plenty of off-siters who only visit Disney during their stay.

 

[spincandy]

We always stay offsite- mainly because it's nice having different areas of the condo we can just go and chill in and have our own space. Three weeks living in each other's pockets would be hard for me. It's cheaper and you get more room and we always have our own pool.

I guess I would consider staying onsite for a shorter stay if the price was right. We're staying at AKL for one night as a present to ourselves this trip and I was sooo shocked at the price! Maybe it's just me being a super saver!

I would like an adults-only resort as I feel something like that is a bit lacking in WDW- DBF and I would definitely use it. Much as I love kids and cannot WAIT to take my own to WDW, sometimes it's nice to have something a bit special just for the two of you.

xx

 

[CanadianGuy]

This thread is a best fit on the board where off-site folks talk about their accommodations - the Orlando Area Hotels & Attractions Board.

I'll be moving this to there from here on ThemeParks.

Thanks,

Knox

 

[*disgal*]

I don't care how close your hotel/condo is to Disney it takes roughly 45 minutes - 1 hour from your hotel/condos front door to the parks entrance. If you don't believe me time yourself. We've stayed in condos on 192, roughly 3 miles from Disney. After traffic on 192, trying to find the theme park of the day, parking, waiting on the tram, getting yourself organized then getting to the front gate. It is nearly an hour.
Even if your family isn’t ready when staying onsite you can walk around the resort (and be a part of the Disney experience) or go to the food court, or shop in the gift shop, or take pictures of the scenery. Any way onsite your always engulfed in the Disney experience. Offsite, your just visiting Florida.

Oh, my goodness, NO! We did time ourselves and it took 10-15 minutes from our door to the parking lot. Holy Cow! I would want to stay onsite also if it took me that long.

Now, it is longer when you consider the monorail, tram in MK. That's the ONLY transportation advantage onsite has,imo.

At EPCOT and MGM we got to park so close, no trams even come to get you. No need.

but if you like onsite better, that's fine. Heck, I love onsite! My family just likes that they can go for about two weeks or more instead of a week or less. Now THAT'S magical!

 

[FayeW]

I voted for cost, but by that I mean I would need to get a 2bdrm DVC villa for a comparable cost to what I would pay for a similar sized unit offsite. We are staying in a 3 bdrm condo at Windsor Hills in Dec, for $762 TOTAL for 9 nights. That's less than $85 per night including taxes, and it includes free internet. Even with that we are "splurging", as in the past we have always had 2 bdrm units through skyauction and paid less than $270 for a week. The last 2 trips we also had 2 extra nights somewhere which usually added up to about $100. per night all said and done. This year we decided that it was worth the extra couple of hundred dollars to stay in one place the entire time, and have the 3rd bdrm. I am self employed so I need to have internet access to keep in touch with clients, even on vacation. Having free internet in the unit will save me more cash, and the convenience of not having to go to a business center or lounge to use a common computer is worth some money to me as well.

All in all, we are spending about what we would spend to be in a value room onsite but will be much more comfortable. When we factor in what we will save in food costs by being able to have breakfasts, snacks, drinks and a few light meals in the unit, the savings more than pay for the rental car and daily parking fees. We spend as much time at US/IOA as at WDW, (maybe more) so we really don't care where we stay. We prefer Lake Buena Vista, but Windsor Hills gets such great reviews we thought we would give it a try.

 

[djm99]

It's never taken us that long to get to a Disney park from our resort. We've also never had traffic issues. Of course, my family abandoned the US 192 area years ago and now stays very close to Sea World/I-Drive, but that's even farther away mileage-wise than US 192. It still doesn't take anywhere near an hour to get to a park. The signs are very clear on I-4 and within WDW--I just can't imagine how someone could get lost going to a park. It's always a good idea to get organized before leaving your resort rather than doing it in a park parking lot where everyone's even more excited and scatterbrained. If we take a tram it's for nostagia's sake--we arrive early and park close enough to walk in, even at MK. The monorail at MK (or between Epcot and MK) is part of the experience. I'd be very disappointed if I had to miss it.

You're also forgetting that there are off-site resorts that are also just as (and if you're comparing to the values or moderates, more) pleasant to walk around, shop, or just experience.

As for "just visiting Florida," well . . . it's been a very long time since my family has taken a vacation in the area of less than a week. We always have four to five exclusively Disney days. (That seems to be as long as many people's entire vacations.) My upcoming vacation will be just short of two weeks, with 8-9 days just for Disney.

Also, I think that my guests should see some non-Disney parks as well--Universal/IOA and possibly Sea World. Both (I count Universal/IOA as one park) are strong parks on their own. There really is more to the area than Disney. Even if we stayed on-site, which is still a possibility if Disney can offer us enough of a deal, we'd still leave to visit at least Universal/IOA. However, there are plenty of off-siters who only visit Disney during their stay.

No one has ever gotten lost. I'm talking practically. It takes every bit of 45 minutes. Time it. On 192 or near I-drive it’s going to take that long (if not longer). Think about it like this. We used to rent a house or condo off 192. Our favorites have been Wyndham Palms and Emerald Island (Emerald is closer). It takes 2-5 minutes from Condo door to 192 (mile marker 5 - Formosa Gardens). Depending on the time of day (let's say is 8am and we are trying to make it to the park for a 9 am opening). It's usually smooth. Hopefully no one needs to stop at Walgreens for something or wants Starbucks coffee. We are on 192 for 5 - 10 minutes (roughly 3 miles). We jump on I-4 to Disney only 3 – (next exit). Get off on our exit and head toward the park that we want to end our day in. Which is not necessarily the park we start our day in.

Once on Disney's property it takes every bit of 5 - 7 (maybe 10) to get to the park of choice, pay for parking (which is usually fast moving) park, get everything you need out of the car. If you have little ones this is a challenge because the little cart ride is usually waiting as each section parks so we are moving double time. They drop us off at the front and if that's the park you want now you head to front. Parks like MK or Epcot still require another ride either on the boat to MK (my choice) or tram which is another 10 minutes to the front gate. All in all it takes 45 minutes to an hour. We made a family tradition of trying to beat our time every year. 45 minutes was the quickest.

Even staying onsite, walking from the door of your resort to waiting on the bus, and getting to the front of the park could take every bit of 30 minutes (and that’s good – some wait times could be 15-20 minutes). My point was at least your onsite is still the Disney experience. Next time you go, take notice as you leave your hotel/condo on I-drive. I’d be willing to bet you $10 Disney dollars it takes that long.


FYI, my family did a Universal/Sea World Vacation only 1 day at Disney. I enjoyed it alot. That vacation was much less on my wallet and its something we might do again in the future. IMHO, it wasn't as 'magical' as the one we enjoyed last year on disney property (which was our first time fully onsite). It was the most convenient vacation we've had since Mexico. (Except Mexico was relaxing - Disney - not so relaxing). Disney is a no worries vacation. Everything was thought of.

 

[*disgal*]

On 192 or near I-drive it’s going to take that long (if not longer). Think about it like this. We used to rent a house or condo off 192. Our favorites have been Wyndham Palms and Emerald Island (Emerald is closer). It takes 2-5 minutes from Condo door to 192 (mile marker 5 - Formosa Gardens). Depending on the time of day (let's say is 8am and we are trying to make it to the park for a 9 am opening). It's usually smooth. Hopefully no one needs to stop at Walgreens for something or wants Starbucks coffee. We are on 192 for 5 - 10 minutes (roughly 3 miles). We jump on I-4 to Disney only 3 – (next exit). Get off on our exit and head toward the park that we want to end our day in. Which is not necessarily the park we start our day in.

This might be some of the problem. We never take I-4. Actually, we are hardly on 192. We took the Sherbeth rd shortcut to all of the parks, I think. It took us about 6 minutes to get to AK's parking lot. MK was the longest, about 15. And like I said before, then there's the tram, monorail. But even when we were onsite we sometimes drove to MK if we didn't want to get stuck waiting for a bus for 30 minutes after the fireworks.

Obviously what you experienced happened. I'm not denying that. I think what some of us are saying is that just hasn't been our experience for one reason or another.

I hate traffic as much as the next guy, and my DH even worse. If we would have experienced what you have, my DH would not have been so excited about offsite. But as it is, he was so thrilled with the shortcut, it was like candy to a baby!! (you have to understand my DH, he thinks finding a quicker way to somewhere is like finding a gold mine )

But I wish more people wanted on-site. Then my condo would be even cheaper!

 

[asmit4]

This is quite the show!

 

[*disgal*]

I voted for cost, but by that I mean I would need to get a 2bdrm DVC villa for a comparable cost to what I would pay for a similar sized unit offsite. We are staying in a 3 bdrm condo at Windsor Hills in Dec, for $762 TOTAL for 9 nights. That's less than $85 per night including taxes, and it includes free internet. Even with that we are "splurging", as in the past we have always had 2 bdrm units through skyauction and paid less than $270 for a week. The last 2 trips we also had 2 extra nights somewhere which usually added up to about $100. per night all said and done. This year we decided that it was worth the extra couple of hundred dollars to stay in one place the entire time, and have the 3rd bdrm. I am self employed so I need to have internet access to keep in touch with clients, even on vacation. Having free internet in the unit will save me more cash, and the convenience of not having to go to a business center or lounge to use a common computer is worth some money to me as well.

All in all, we are spending about what we would spend to be in a value room onsite but will be much more comfortable. When we factor in what we will save in food costs by being able to have breakfasts, snacks, drinks and a few light meals in the unit, the savings more than pay for the rental car and daily parking fees. We spend as much time at US/IOA as at WDW, (maybe more) so we really don't care where we stay. We prefer Lake Buena Vista, but Windsor Hills gets such great reviews we thought we would give it a try.

Ok. This is almost freaky. I already have a twin, so are you my triplet? Maybe my Canadian cousin? Because all of the statements I put in bold, are also US! It's uncany, or however you spell that.

Too funny!

eta: except I wish that was OUR rate for WH. We are going at Easter, so it's $125 a night. I just love those offseason rates. I will miss them this time. And I miss those Skyauction deals. $220 one time for Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. Man, I miss those deals.

 

[Tinkerbell424]

Cheaper hotel prices.
We don't want to pay 90$ a night for 4 nights when we don't do all disney trips.
We like to go to Universal Orlando and walk around those tacky sovie shops.
If it was an ALL disney trip, with one day at Universal say, then we probably would still stay offsite, unless we found a discount price on a moderate / deluxe resort.

 

[WillCAD]

No one has ever gotten lost. I'm talking practically. It takes every bit of 45 minutes. Time it. On 192 or near I-drive it’s going to take that long (if not longer). Think about it like this. We used to rent a house or condo off 192. Our favorites have been Wyndham Palms and Emerald Island (Emerald is closer). It takes 2-5 minutes from Condo door to 192 (mile marker 5 - Formosa Gardens). Depending on the time of day (let's say is 8am and we are trying to make it to the park for a 9 am opening). It's usually smooth. Hopefully no one needs to stop at Walgreens for something or wants Starbucks coffee. We are on 192 for 5 - 10 minutes (roughly 3 miles). We jump on I-4 to Disney only 3 – (next exit). Get off on our exit and head toward the park that we want to end our day in. Which is not necessarily the park we start our day in.

Once on Disney's property it takes every bit of 5 - 7 (maybe 10) to get to the park of choice, pay for parking (which is usually fast moving) park, get everything you need out of the car. If you have little ones this is a challenge because the little cart ride is usually waiting as each section parks so we are moving double time. They drop us off at the front and if that's the park you want now you head to front. Parks like MK or Epcot still require another ride either on the boat to MK (my choice) or tram which is another 10 minutes to the front gate. All in all it takes 45 minutes to an hour. We made a family tradition of trying to beat our time every year. 45 minutes was the quickest.

Even staying onsite, walking from the door of your resort to waiting on the bus, and getting to the front of the park could take every bit of 30 minutes (and that’s good – some wait times could be 15-20 minutes). My point was at least your onsite is still the Disney experience. Next time you go, take notice as you leave your hotel/condo on I-drive. I’d be willing to bet you $10 Disney dollars it takes that long.


FYI, my family did a Universal/Sea World Vacation only 1 day at Disney. I enjoyed it alot. That vacation was much less on my wallet and its something we might do again in the future. IMHO, it wasn't as 'magical' as the one we enjoyed last year on disney property (which was our first time fully onsite). It was the most convenient vacation we've had since Mexico. (Except Mexico was relaxing - Disney - not so relaxing). Disney is a no worries vacation. Everything was thought of.

Eureka! I can now see why it takes you so long to get into WDW!

Have a look at this map on Maps.Live.com:
Map of US 192 Maingate Area

Formosa Gardens Blvd. is on the left side of the map, on the section of US 192 that runs diagonal.

As you can see, when you get onto US 192 and go to I-4, you pass right by World Drive, which is the main entrance of WDW. You then go over a mile to I-4, and then up I-4 another mile or more to whichever exit you use, and backtrack into WDW property. You're doing a huge end-run that wastes all kinds of time and puts you on some of the heaviest-traveled roads in the WDW area.

On your next trip, you have two options which will save you a LOT of drive time if you stay in the same area:

Option 1: World Drive

1. Take Formosa Gardens to US 192 and turn right. Proceed to World Drive, which is the huge interchange that you pass before you gett to I-4.

2. Take World Drive north. From this point you are on WDW property, and you will see all of the big purple signs with directions to the various parks and resorts. If going to MK, you won't even have to turn - World Drive goes straig north into the MK toll plaza.

This route will save you at 10-15 minutes, right off the top.

Option 2: Sherberth Road

Sherberth Road is a small back road that leads into WDW property in the Animal Kingdom area. It can save you a lot of time on AK days, because it bypasses most of the sections of US 192 that you usually take, and also bypasses all of the heaviest traffic on WDW property.

1. Take Formosa Gardens to US 192 and turn right.

2. Turn left at the next traffic signal, Sherberth Road.

3. Sherberth Road winds through some areas that look like the middle of nowhere. You might even thing you're lost - but stay on Sherberth Road till you get to the traffic signat at Osceola Parkway. Here is a blowup of Sherberth Road:
Sherberth Road area

4. Turn right on Osceola Parkway. At this point, you can see Expedition Everest and the light poles of the AK lot to the left of Osceola Parkway.

5. Make the next left to get into the AK toll plaza - watch for the sign. Here is a blowup of the left:
Blowup of left into Animal Kingdom lot

5A. If you want to go to Animal Kingdom Lodge instead of the AK park, you would turn left on Osceola Parkway instead of right. The resort is just around the bend on the right.

Take these routes from now on and I guantee you will shave 10-15 minutes off every trip - more, when you're going to AK by the Sherberth Road route. Your time to AK or AKL will be cut down to 10 minutes or less!

 

[FayeW]

Ok. This is almost freaky. I already have a twin, so are you my triplet? Maybe my Canadian cousin? Because all of the statements I put in bold, are also US! It's uncany, or however you spell that.

Too funny!

eta: except I wish that was OUR rate for WH. We are going at Easter, so it's $125 a night. I just love those offseason rates. I will miss them this time. And I miss those Skyauction deals. $220 one time for Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. Man, I miss those deals.

I would say that you and I have a lot of "relatives" who want to spend less money for nicer accomodations. The only way I would stay onsite would be if it was just the kids and I. Three people, I can deal with, but 4 people in one room is just too much togetherness.

 

[*disgal*]

I would say that you and I have a lot of "relatives" who want to spend less money for nicer accomodations. The only way I would stay onsite would be if it was just the kids and I. Three people, I can deal with, but 4 people in one room is just too much togetherness.

I hear ya. We had the 5 of us at POR.........and then when my 2 loads of laundry didn't get dry after 3 times in the dryer, we had laundry hanging all over the room to air out. Quite a sight! I felt like I was on an old "I love Lucy" show.

 

[*disgal*]

Great explanation WillCad..........that's exactly what we did except we started out at Entry Point Blvd which you see on the map right below Sherbeth Rd. Very, very easy.

And my DH is home and I confirmed it with him. We never got on I-4 at all for any of the parks.

 

[djm99]

Eureka! I can now see why it takes you so long to get into WDW!

Have a look at this map on Maps.Live.com:
Map of US 192 Maingate Area

On your next trip, you have two options which will save you a LOT of drive time if you stay in the same area:

Option 1: World Drive

1. Take Formosa Gardens to US 192 and turn right. Proceed to World Drive, which is the huge interchange that you pass before you gett to I-4.

2. Take World Drive north. From this point you are on WDW property, and you will see all of the big purple signs with directions to the various parks and resorts. If going to MK, you won't even have to turn - World Drive goes straig north into the MK toll plaza.

This route will save you at 10-15 minutes, right off the top.

I've taken this route (we always take it home). It was blocked a few morning the last time we were there. Still from the front door of condo/rental house to the entrance of the park still takes a good 45 minutes. I'm talking my physical body inside the ticket entrance of a park. It takes that long. Again, time yourself and the 10 disney dollars are still up for grabs. It takes that long. You probably haven't paid it too much attention. Like I stated earlier, we try to beat our time every year.