For those who prefer to stay offsite.

[agame2323]

What would make you change up and stay onsite?

 

[mousetravel]

The cost! I know to some folks, the value hotels seem like a value to them, but to some of us looking for a real budget, I'd rather stay offsite. We are in the room for only sleeping and showering anyway. So I'd rather use extra money for souvenirs than on a room that I'm hardly ever in!

 

[asmit4]

The cost! I know to some folks, the value hotels seem like a value to them, but to some of us looking for a real budget, I'd rather stay offsite. We are in the room for only sleeping and showering anyway. So I'd rather use extra money for souvenirs than on a room that I'm hardly ever in!

Do you drive to DW? or do you normally fly? Also, where offsite do you normally stay? I'm presuming it would have to be less $$ than a value right?

 

[TLC371]

I voted other, since we stay at an offsite timeshare place that my MIL has, and if we didn't have that place to stay at, I might be more inclined to say on property. We've gotten emails/postcards for cheap rates for the Value hotels, but since we have a place that we get to stay at with no cost to us, we go that route when we go down to Orlando.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I voted onsite but minus the Disney theme - DH cannot stand the constant bombardment of characters and such even at the hotels in the evenings. He liked Disney but doesn't LOVE Disney. I think we will be staying at the Swolphin next time we go (and my Fed Employee disocunt doesn't hurt).

 

[mousetravel]

Do you drive to DW? or do you normally fly? Also, where offsite do you normally stay? I'm presuming it would have to be less $$ than a value right?

Yes, we drive about 10 1/2 hours.

We stay on International Drive, where there are many hotels to choose from and it costs less than 1/2 price of a value resort.
(so we can afford to stay longer!)

Also, we can drive to Disney in about 5 minutes from our hotel.

 

[Goofy's_Biggest_Fan]

I think a lot depends on your needs as a family. We used to stay offsite in the cheapest rooms we could find. The plan was that we'd only be in the motel at night anyway. But you also need to remember that unless your motel has a free shuttle, you are paying major bucks just to park.

Of course, once we stayed on property, we were hooked.

 

[asmit4]

Isn't parking 10.00 a day? Is it more? Less?

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We are leaning heavily toward offsite for our next trip. Getting a 3 bedroom condo for $99/night is going to be hard to pass up. I really don't want to squeeze into a hotel room anymore if I have the choice. We are also probably going to drive, so we'll have a car. If you stay close to WDW, you can get to a park quicker by driving than you can using Disney transportation (with the exception of maybe the MK).

So my answer would be room size and cost (if that were an option).

 

[mousetravel]

Parking is $11 per day
It wasn't a big deal to us because we went in 1/2 & 1/2 on that.
(me & friend with our kids)

 

[momejay]

We have special dietary needs. I have stayed onsite many times. Even with my annual pass discount rate I can usually find a studio type room with a small kitchen for about the same rate or cheaper than a value.The benefit of a kitchen, for me, by far outweighs benefits of staying onsite. (kitchen defined as 2 stovetop burners, a sink & a fridge)

 

[Darcy03231]

I voted other. We stay offsite as we have a large family and the WDW hotels don't cater to large families (we have 4 children - youngest is now 14). When we travel we usually do so in a group. Last year there were 9 of us. If we stayed at WDW we would have had to rent three rooms during peak season. By staying offsite we were able to rent a 5 bdrm/3bath pool home for the less than the cost of one value hotel room.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I've stayed in Disney hotels - almost all of them, multiple times at several - and the only thing that would get me to go back would be if I could have a 3 bedroom condo with a full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. for $100/night.

Check it out: dreamsvillas.com You can book it through the DIS. It's clean and stocked (with all the household items, pots/pans, silverware, plates, towels, iron, etc.) and there was even a really nice free gift!!! Who else gives free gifts? Not Disney, that's for damn sure.

I don't pay to park, anyway, so it wouldn't be an issue. But even if you tack on a parking fee, big whup.

Once you have the luxury of space, it is hard to go back.

FOTL would probably pull me back in, though. I do stay onsite at Universal.

 

[WillCAD]

I switch back and forth between on-site and off-site, depending on where I can get the best deal.

I'm only willing to pay so much for any hotel room when I go to WDW due to my extemely tight budget, so if I can get a Disney Value resort for less than my limit, I'll stay on-site. If not, I'll happily go off-site and get bigger rooms for the money.

 

[*disgal*]

I voted other but it's really a cross between price and other. The "other" for me is SPACE!

We have stayed on site also, as my siggie tells, and love it. But there are 5 of us, kids ages 8-15. I would love to stay at one of the monorail resorts, but then we only have one bathroom. Two rooms is rediculous price wise.

We did POR when we had the free dining deal. As much as I loved free dining, we were SO uncomfortable in that room. Maybe it would work at a deluxe resort, I don't know.

For our Easter 09 trip, I thought about staying at one of the values(even though we don't like the values as much) and getting two rooms. I like the idea of the family suites, but then we have the one bathroom problem again. They couldn't give me a price,ofcourse, but they could give me what was this year. $129 plus tax a night for each room!! Whew!

So, again, I looked to offsite. We are getting a 3 bedroom condo in Windsor Hills, which has a better pool than most of the resorts, for $125 plus tax. That is a HUGE difference. And we'll have two bathrooms, 3 tv's, washer/dryer so I don't have to pack as much, and the place is decorated more like Disney than the Disney resorts.

With a price like that, I don't think I'll worry about $11 a day to park.

If the 2 bedrooms at WDW were a little more reasonable in price, I might think about it. Even renting points, for our 9 nights, it's at least $3500 (over $5000 for Easter time) compared to my $1271. And I get an extra bedroom.

There's just no contest.

 

[*disgal*]

oh, and I forgot one more thing that I will love about this next trip.

We don't even have to check in. We drive right to the condo, the key is in a lock box which we will be given a code to open it. And we go right in.

We did this also with a place we rented in Destin,fl this past spring. Boy, after a long drive like we have, I can't tell you how much I loved that!!

 

[SnowWtch]

We love staying in Disney hotels but if you catch it on the wrong part of the season then you just can't afford the rates. It was cheaper for us to stay off-site for $89 a night rather than stay at POP for $99. Plus, staying off we got a fridge, microwave and continental breakfast every morning for free. It just made more sense to stay off-site.

 

[RussellDisney]

I voted "other" due to a combo of price and space. We've stayed Value and it really just wasn't a value to us. The space and low cost of off-site has me hooked - I really need to change my tag, huh? Plus, having your own in-suite washer and dryer is HUGE - especially with airlines charging for extra bags and sometimes even the first.

Distance to the parks is not an issue off-site as I thought it would be. Westgate Lakes was a quick 10-15 minute drive and Dreams Villas sounds about the same.

 

[Cool-Beans]

...and the place is decorated more like Disney than the Disney resorts.

A lot of offsite places have Disney touches, even more than Disney. That's a bonus, too. For some reason, Disney keeps down-playing Mickey Mouse. But it is fun to have Mickey stuff around.

We don't even have to check in. We drive right to the condo, the key is in a lock box which we will be given a code to open it. And we go right in.

I like that, too. Checking in sucks. Driving right up to your door and going on in is SO MUCH better.

 

[lovin diz]

I am staying at Best western Lakeside for $29 per night, Thanksgiving week. The value resorts cant even come close to that. We get a longer vacation if we stay offsite.