Four full days in May are better than nothing?!?

[Mom&RN]

My DS (15) and I have managed to make it to Disney for a week almost every year to year and a half for the past 8 yrs or so and have stayed on property for the last three trips. The first time we stayed on property we swore we'd never stay off again. However, money is TIGHT this year as I am in the middle of getting my Masters Degree to become a Nurse Practitioner . So, my question to all you DISers is: I think we can swing a four day stay in May. For unexplainable reasons my son has a four day weekend from school May 20-23 which I am going to try to take advantage of. So, back to the question. Should I try to figure out how to pay the extra $$ to stay on property or stay off (cheaper) and if we stay off there are some good deals on Downtown Disney hotels and do we need a rental car if we stay there. I'd also take any advice you have to offer on making the most of a short stay. We are not park guerillas, we're much more laid back and my son HATES early mornings.... Thank you, thank you!! Here's hoping I can swing a little visit, I'm having withdrawal just thiking about having to wait another year and a half to visit!!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I think the key for you will be the rental car cost.

You could stay in Kissimmee for cheap and if the rental car is cheap enough, you will come out ok and also not have to use a shuttle service or taxi.

If car rental is expensive, you may need to pay a higher per night hotel rate for one that has a good shuttle to the parks.

 

[Mom&RN]

Thanks for the reply and quick question for you. My husband is retired AF so we could do shades of green (I see you have lots of stays there). Though we've probably waited too long to get a ressie there. I haven't done it in the past because there are just the two of us and have usually found that it doesn't work for us financially - better for bigger families I think. What do you think?

 

[osprey6]

Thanks for the reply and quick question for you. My husband is retired AF so we could do shades of green (I see you have lots of stays there). Though we've probably waited too long to get a ressie there. I haven't done it in the past because there are just the two of us and have usually found that it doesn't work for us financially - better for bigger families I think. What do you think?

That might not be such a bad thing. I tried to book reservations there back in '01 when I was still in the reserves, and they were sold out, but they snagged a discount room elsewhere on the property for us. It might be enough of a discount to reconsider staying off site, depending on how downscale you were willing to go. Give them a call, just NOT on a Monday.

 

[leebee]

I haven't done this, but friends chose to stay in a Downtown Disney hotel. Look carefully at these locations! I don't remember where they chose to stay, but they thought they'd be able to take the bus from DTD to the theme parks and discovered that the hike from their DTD hotel to DTD was actually quite formidable and didn't work at all for them!

Having said that, I wouldn't stay offsite and rely on the hotel's bus or shuttle to Disney (nonDTD properties, that is). All I've heard is how horrible the schedules are. If you like to sleep in and stay late in the parks, I am not sure the offsite shuttles would work for you at all!

I by NO means want to discourage you from staying offsite... we are offsite folks at heart, but when there's only 2 of us traveling, with the skyrocketing costs of rental cars and gasoline, lately it's been cheaper to snag a discounted room at POP and use DME and the bus system for our vacation. (Last summer it was cheaper to do rack rate with free dining than it was to rent a car and budget in 3 or 4 "must-do" restaurants)

 

[loganpaulsmom]

A couple of things to think about.. Why not the Swan or the Dolphin? You can usually get a really good deal at both of these.. Depending on where you stay off-site, near DTD there are some great hotels and I think lots of them have shuttles to and from the parks.. Probably not as good as the bus Disney bus system.. but, think about this.. if you stay really close to DTD you can just walk there and take the bus system to all the parks, thus avoiding getting a rental..
Although, I read a couple of things yesterday about renting cars. Do it on Priceline.. name your price.. my Sil parents I guess did and put in $20 a day and the Avis accepted it.. $80 for a rental car.. Not too shabby..

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Although SOG is a good value, it is not cheap. Can you settle for a 2 star or 3 star hotel in Kissimmee? Check travelaxe.com or hotels.com to get prices and some reviews, then go to tripadvisor.com to look at additional reviews. If the goal is to get maximum park time and simply shower and sleep at the hotel, why spend extra dough for luxury?..............use the cash to pay for the rental car.

 

[Mom&RN]

Thank you all for the good info. I found a new website recently bookit.com and they have some pretty darn good deals for the end of May. Approx 400 a person for flight, hotel and car! This is for a 2 1/2 to 3 star hotel. I worry about staying somewhere with star ratings less than that because I worry about what kind of neighborhood it will be in. I can't touch that rate with an onsite hotel but I just wonder how much we'll miss the xtra magic hours. We don't ever use the morning emh but usually go to evening emh every night. So hard to decide, but, I think, money is going to be the deciding factor for this trip.