Having a tough time choosing

[Runnergal]

If I am traveling alone with the kids, I would stay onsite. I think it would be nice to not have to deal with driving, carseats, hauling luggage, and coming back to a dark house late at night. But then again, I am someone who would almost always choose to stay onsite anyway. The intangible feeling of being part of the Disney magic 24 hours a day is valuable to me. I have friends who would much rather stay at luxury off property hotels when they go to Disney, but that doesn't interest me at all. If I can afford it I will stay on property every time.

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

The luggage and car seats are going to be the biggest issue with staying off site. I'm pretty sure I can manage with one suitcase as we'll have laundry (with either option) but the car seats will be a pain. My ODD is in a booster, so I think I will take the bubble bum inflatable one for her, that will leave me with 2 for my other two kids.

As far as activities at the resort, I am not at all concerned. My kids go to bed early and we will be in the parks most of the day, so after park activities aren't an issue. We have one resort day planned, the off site place has a huge pool with a full size pirate ship with several water slides, a splash pad and other fun things. Actually, the pool at the off site place looks a lot more fun than the one at BLT. They also have an on-site restaurant, store and Pizza Hut. There is no food court at BLT, just a single QS restaurant plus CM, The Wave and Cali Grill (the latter of which we wouldn't use). So other than ME, still no "tangible" benefits over off site. And ME is a very small percentage of our stay.

I travel often with DD alone if my DH can't join us and I can tell you that it's the little things that make a huge difference when you travel alone with your child.
You will find the Contempo cafe (that's the QS) at the Contemporary on the same level as the bridge that connects BLT to the Contemporary. It's very convenient and has plenty of options. Also, make sure that your resort has room service, after spending all day in the park, you will really appreciate if you or any of the kids get hungry, especially if you have 2 sleepy kids and one hungry kid.

Hope this helps!