have you done both on and off site?

[my3princes]

I was just reading a thread on the Disney Resort Forum asking people that had stayed both on and off site what they preferred. The response was overwhelmingly on-site no matter what. I expect that response coming from the Disney Resort Board. I am wondering if there are differing opinions on this board. Have you done both. What would you choose now and why.

Thanks
Deb

 

[Jim from Jersey]

Hi......We stayed off-site last year at the Sheraton Vistana. It was very nice, however, we are back on the property for 2005 staying at the Dolphin. Staying off-site did not feel like a Disney trip to us as it has in the past with staying on site. You are not encompassed by the magic of Disney. Even though we are staying at the Dolphin, which is not a Disney owned resort, being in the middle of everything just makes the vacation 100% more magical. The convenience of staying on site is also an absolute bonus. There are so many little things like: going back to the hotel for a quick nap or swim, character meals at your hotel, etc......the list can keep on going. Anyway, staying off site was nice, the resort was gorgeous, the magic of Disney, however, was not there! That's my 2 cents.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Yes, on the Resort Board they are going to be pretty loyal to Disney.......and why not?? Disney resorts are fantastic.....at least for a hotel room. The DVC resorts are beautiful and give you more room than the usual WDW resort room, but you're going to pay the price too.

I used to be one of those diehards. There was even a time when I discussed this with someone from my church and we both said, "why would you go to WDW and NOT stay on-site?" ........heehee......now I have to laugh at myself about that one!

This is how it happened. My DH and I took a trip to WL for Christmas one year, and I decided that we HAVE to take the kids next time(my kids have been to WDW twice, except for my DS, only once, but not at Christmas time).

Problem.................we are a family of five. And $200 or more a night we just couldn't do it at BC or Poly. What to do, what to do??..........

Then someone on this board was talking about Skyauction. Mainly 2 bedroom condos/timeshares off-site. What!! People stay off site??

Well, to make a very long story short........we "tried out" this SA deal this past Sept. and got a week at Vistana Resort very cheap. So cheap, I know I will probably not get that deal again, but there are other resorts that are nice in Orlando that we are trying out this next Nov/Dec. I won two auctions, each for 7 days, so total of 14 nights, for $491. I know. Incredible. BUT......they are nice places with kitchen, washer/dryer/, pool, jacuzzi.................but also.....off-site.

I didn't know if I would like it or not. Well, my family loved it. We were 1 mile to DTD, so we were 10/15 minutes to the parks. We had space and three tv's........a patio to sit out in the morning and have coffee........we can't wait for our next trip.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give you another side. There are some that will only stay on-site because of the "magic" and that's fine. I understand it. Our family has come to the conclusion that spending MORE time at WDW is "magic" for us, and staying off-site enables us to do that.

Would I stay at the local Ramada Inn?? NO WAY. Then your just exchanging an on-site hotel room at Disney with an off-site hotel room that, well, really doesn't have any magic.

Having stayed in the timeshare resorts, I think that even if we didn't get something on SA, we would rent from someone and could get a nice place for $900 a week. STILL much less than most WDW hotel rooms and definately cheaper than the DVC resorts.

Bottom line........you have to do what you know is best for your family. If they will only be happy on-site, then stay on-site. Why make them unhappy? But my family was open to the idea and we were very happy.

Again, sorry for such a long post...............happy planning......

 

[TNMom]

We have stayed both on and offsite and preferred our offsite vacation rental home all things considered. The home was beautiful, provided places for privacy and togetherness, had a great pool, and was only 15 minutes from WDW. Not bad! We had breakfast in the home and lunch and dinner in the parks. Plenty of "magic" time and for a great price!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Oh, and I also wanted to mention that I have stayed in all three "levels" at Disney and while we had a good time at the Allstars, I don't think we would stay there again.

The bus situation wasn't that good, the food court and pool were absolutely crazy (which I expected and tried not to let it bother me) and the room was so small. Ofcourse I didn't notice it was that small until we went off-site. If you are just going to sleep there, and comando park it, then fine. But we like more out of our vacations.

The moderates are nice but I just can't sleep in a double bed anymore. We LOVED Riverside, but we would need two rooms now and I refuse to pay that much a night for a moderate resort.

So that means deluxes and we wouldn't get two bathrooms and two rooms would be out of the question as far as expense goes.

 

[ANTSS2001]

I have been staying on site till I met Potsie When we 1st went to WDW we stayed off site since we also had to do Universal anyways. When we took the inlaws we needed more room and stayed off site. But this April since Potsie had experienced the busy way of vacationing in WDW we are staying on site where we can enjoy the hotel for sleeping and resting and no more running here and there. Thank God! I am back to my old routine....

 

[heidijot]

Good Morning,

We have done both, off site and on. When we travel with the whole family, (2 adults and up to 4 kids)we saty off site at at "condo"type resort. When you can get 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a pull out couch and a kitchen, for $70-$75.00 a night it makes a family trip possible.
When we took our 40th bday trip and our honeymoon and a smaller family trip(just two kids), we have stayed on site. My dh loves the ease of transportation and we both are extreme disney fanatics We have stayed at the values and the deluxe, loving them all, but our budget usually decides.

This April we are staying off site and paln to spend one or two marathon days at the parks!!!

Cannot wait to escape this New England weather

Enjoy your vacation where ever you might choose to stay,

Heidi

 

[maps]

We stayed at Coronado Springs one year. Did not like it. It was expensive and the room felt really crammed.

The next year we stayed off site at a Residence Inn. Didn't really mind being off site--felt we had more dining options. But the 1 bedroom still felt small to us.

The following year we tried a vacation home. It was absolutley the most fantabulous vacation ever!

Picture this, the kids waking up and turning the TV on while you "sleep in" (that's usually 7am for us!)

Then leisurely getting up, making a pot of coffee while getting the kids breakfast.

Getting to the parks in less than 15 minutes and spending several hours there. Going back to the house to swim in your own PRIVATE heated pool. Everyone showering and changing in their own bathroom and bedroom. Having some lunch and then heading back to the parks.

Can't believe we stayed so late in the parks! What to do about dinner? Get back to the home and order pizza or chinese with delivery. Put the kids to bed and then my husband and I---

jump in the hot tub sipping on some nice wine under the stars!

The best part for me--packing less and then coming home with a suitcase filled with clean laundry!

I never thought I would rent a home from someone, but after the first time, I can't imagine vacationing any other way.

By the way, we've being renting for the last 3 yrs in row and just came back last week from another great trip.

 

[powellrj]

we have stayed both on-site and off-site. We prefer off-site! We have stayed at every type of place budget and luxury. While on-site is nice because you are right at Disney, we like the larger rooms and the food choices you get off-site for a much cheaper price! There is no magic for me to have my family stuffed in a small on-site hotel when we can get a suite off-site for a much cheaper price and everyone has more room!

 

[Mainebound]

We are staying right now in the same pool home which MAPS stayed in (I think) and we are having a terrific vacation. It is our first offsite stay, after staying at most of the deluxe hotels on site the last few years.

We are so much more relaxed! Everyone can do their own things when we get back to the villa --- air hockey, PS2, swimming pool, hot tub, pool table, playground, COMPUTER (like me right now -- LOL!!) etc. And getting to the parks -- with the exception of MK, which is easy but takes more time -- takes no longer than with the WDW busses.

We are checking into WL tomorrow for three nights, and I do think I would be bummed if we were not staying a little bit on site, because you get pampered and waited on, which is fun, but we will NEVER stay in a cramped hotel room for a long WDW vacation again.

 

[RC Fan]

Hello!

I prefer off-site. I stayed at the Grand Floridian for seven or eight nights in 2001, and was not terribly impressed. I guess for that amount of cash I expected much more.

I like being off-site for the convenience of being able to go to more restaurants, and to be able to walk to a convenience store, etc. I guess I don't need to be immersed in Disney 24-7; I feel the magic as soon as I step into the parks.

 

[my3princes]

Now this is more what I expected. We have also done on and off site. We stayed at the HI Family Suites in 2000. It was nice, free breakfast, great pool. There were 9 of us and it worked for our budget. We have looked into staying there again, but the prices have doubled since then and I can't justify the $$ for the short amount of time that we were there. We didn't even rent a car and found their bus system to be sufficient for us. We have stayed in the wilderness homes at FW once. They were awesome, but I don't think that I felt any more surrounded in the magic than I did at HIFS. We have also camped at FW 4 times. The campground is awesome, It is our absolute favorite campground that we have ever been to. It is nice to have all your own stuff including your own bed. I still think that there is probably a different magic at the other DW hotels with character meals and lots of Disney advertising on walls and store etc. That being said I don't think that my family will have a difficult time adjusting to being off site this trip. We had planned a quick (1 wk) budget trip and feel that staying at the Buena Vista Suites which gives us a suite with fridge and microwave, free shuttle to Disney and a free full fare breakfast will be a good economical solution. With the mousesaver rate of $89/night I don't think that even a good code at a moderate will compete. There are 5 of us and the breakfast should save us a bunch. Big Breakfast, late afternoon lunch. If the are hungry later we can stop at an off site restaurant for a lot less $$. I know that this is a little long, but I guess that my way of thinking is a budget trip to Disney is better than waiting another year to save up for a moderate hotel. We have been 5 times in 7 years and have done everything that we wanted to over the years so we will chalk this up to another new experience. Maybe we will feel differently when we return, or maybe not.

Keep posting your thoughts, I am interested in everyone's opinions.

Deb

 

[SammieG]

we have done on site (without kids) and off site since we had kids..
There is no WAY I am spending three weeks at WdW in one room!

Off site- we usually have minimum 2 bed/2 bath apartments - with full kitchens and washing machines etc...
Now we COULD do this at Disney in one of their two bed home from home apartments.. but 3 weeks in a two bed.... eeek....I just checked... and at Saratoga springs it is $14,000 JUST for the accomodation!!!
We stay in a 4 bed villa for $700 a week (and can share the cost with another family if we want to!)

or we stay in our time shares.. same size.. a 5 min drive to Disney for free!!!! (apart from the cost initially! - but that was the same as one vacation at Disney.. and we have it for ever.. can even pass it onto our kids..

um.... which would I rather do!????!

 

[leebee]

I never went to Florida until I was 42, and have been to WDW probably 15 times in the 6 years since then (yeah, I know you can all add!). We always stayed off-site; we'd rather do cheap trips and go more frequently than spend $$$ on a WDW hotel. However, I've always wanted to stay on-site, and last summer my wish came true; 5 nights w/DH and DD at POFQ, a great deal at $75/nt AP rate! What a disappointment! While not truly Pooh-sized, neither are DH and I skinny Minnies...sharing a double bed (we have a king) with either DH or DD (age 9, side-ways sleeper) was no picnic, let me tell you. Then there was the bathroom...there was so little free floor space (~6.25 sq.ft.) that I had to hover over the toilet to close/open the door. No fridge, unless we paid an additional $10/night or lied about health issues. Then there was Disney transportation! An hour and forty minutes to take a bus from POFQ to MK, then grab the monorail to the Poly! Even when we stayed at Mariiott's Grand Vista, it was only a 15-20 min drive to get to the Poly! And then there was the cost of food at the food court- breakfast averaged $15/day! I kept lying in bed at night, pushing DD out of my kidneys, wishing for a suite or condo or pool home- or at least 2 queen sized beds! Compare this to Dec. 2004 Christmas trip, me, DH, DD, and my MIL (whom I adore!). Three bedroom condo at Windsor Palms. King sized bed in mbr with private bath, other brs had 1 Q and 2 twins and shared a large, full bathroom; all three brs had their own TV's. Full kitchen, all appliances, living room with 2 sofas, TV, VCR, dining room with table seating six. We were in AK parking lot within 10 minutes! Space, privacy, comfort, convenience, all for $70/nt...give me off site any day! Even when we've stayed in "lesser" accomodations (hotel rooms with 2 beds), I STILL get 2Q sized beds, minifridge, microwave, coffeemaker in room, for less per night than that deeply discounted (~50%discount over rack rates) at POFQ. Off-site feels more like a vacation to me, a chance to get AWAY from the madness and relax a bit...and save some $$$!!!

 

[Grog]

I've done both. Both obviously have their pros and cons, but I feel any trip to Disney is what you make of it. If you keep that attitude, you'll have a great time.

For our trip next month, we needed two rooms. After reading over here on this board for a while we decided to try renting a home. We found a nice 3bdr 2 bth, with pool and jacuzzi, in Indian Point for $600 for seven nights ($678 with tax). The owner has been fantastic about answering questions, and he has a lot of good reviews on the VRBO website. On the other hand, two tiny rooms at one of the Value resorts would cost $933 with tax, and that's if we managed to get a $59 a night code. No code would add $280 to that.

I can appreciate the people on the resort boards being loyal, but sadly I've seen them convince newbies to WDW that there is no other way to go. It's a shame that newbies can't find their way to this board first.

 

[Gillian]

We've stayed onsite but only in deluxe. That's because we started staying onsite after we had kids and needed a balcony for naps & early bedtimes. And we really need a queen bed!

We love staying onsite, and DS loves the busses, but we have fun offsite too.

2 years ago we stayed with my mom in a 3 BR windsor palms condo. That was nice, but really more like being home. My mom wanted to cook dinners and I don't like to cook much except breakfast (need my eggs!) on vacation. That got a little sticky. Still we got along much better with more space, I think. The washer/dryer is wonderful!!

Last year we wanted to have local Florida family come & stay with us (on our dime) so we chose a 3 BR 3 BA Windsor Palms townhouse with a little pool in the back. We took the 2 upstairs bedrooms and they took the downstairs. The pool was the perfect size for our little kids. And the KING bed in the master was the best!! Staying onsite would just not have worked.

I know all about DVC, but it's just not in the budget at this time. I keep trying but DH keeps saying no, LOL. In 2001 we stayed at AKL & BCV and they are great. We would go back to either in a heartbeat. But choosing to stay offsite at times we get a lot more for what we spend. At this point we'd rather go more often and spend less.

In APril we're trying out POFQ to see how we do in a moderate with double beds! I have a feeling I may end up sleeping with my 4 year old!

There's a good chance we may get a pop up trailer next year. That might solve some of our budget problems, but it's close quarters! Still, camping is a great way to spend time with your kids and Fort Wilderness is such a nice place.

 

[disneyohbear]

We've done both on and offsite although only one trip onsite at a disney hotel (POR) and then one trip at FW camping. We have enjoyed all our trips equally. Last year when we stayed onsite my mom stressed about all of us in one room at POR. There were 5 of us but we couldn't afford to stay onsite and get 2 rooms. She was more worried about the AB section then how crowded we would be. We had a great rate which is the only reason we could stay onsite otherwise we would have been offsite then. Ends up she loved the room and wanted to stay back onsite again. LOL. I never thought I'd hear that from her.

So fast forward to this year with more people going and the cost of rooms was sooooo high that we looked offsite again. We found CP thru HotelKingdom and are really looking forward to that stay. It has also enabled us to bring more people cause the cost per person is so cheap. Now family that couldn't have gone before due to cost can now go to WDW.

Will we stay onsite again? Depends on the rate. Why pay the same for 3 nights onsite that we pay for a week offsite? That's not worth it to us. Not to mention offsite we get more space which makes for happier kids at the end of the day.

Just our 2 cents

 

[alecam]

I have always stayed on-site, but this June I am going to be offsite for the first time. I am really looking forward to it, because my kids are going to have their own room!!
We have a two-bedroom villa at Cypress POinte for $73.00/night. All that would buy me is a tiny room at an All-Stars, and that's exactly why I am going to try off site.
Maybe I won't like it, but for the price, I would be a fool not to try it!

And thanks to this Board, because I would have never found out about this stuff if I didn't take a look at this board!!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

I have always stayed on-site, but this June I am going to be offsite for the first time. I am really looking forward to it, because my kids are going to have their own room!!
We have a two-bedroom villa at Cypress POinte for $73.00/night. All that would buy me is a tiny room at an All-Stars, and that's exactly why I am going to try off site.
Maybe I won't like it, but for the price, I would be a fool not to try it!

And thanks to this Board, because I would have never found out about this stuff if I didn't take a look at this board!!

Yes!Yes! THIS BOARD IS GREAT!!!

Thanks to this board, we will be making three seperate trips to Disney with our AP's that we are going to get! Ofcourse, we will be offsite. Wouldn't be possible without the wonderful people on this board. I wish I could send you all flowers for helping me.........or maybe the psychiatrist's bill for being such a Disney-holic!!

 

[magicgirl]

We have been to Orlado 7 times now. We stayed in hotels on I Drive and Kissimee twice nd 5 times in villas 10 minutes from Disney. Staying on site was always too expensive for us. We have had a mixed range of people including teenage children and last time a pair of newly weds. We found the villa fantastic. It was clean and quiet with tv's in the bedrooms.

We eat out most of the time but kept snacks in the fridge for emergencies. The pool was a lovely bonus as was the washing machine ( arriving home with a bag full of dirty laundry was not my idea of fun) We were close enough to the parks to pop back during the day if we needed to. Being able to eat at cheaper restaurants meant more money for shopping a must do attraction for all british visitors.