Having second thoughts about staying on-site

[artblessed]

Another vote for on site
Last year we split our trip on and off. 2 adults and 2 teens (15) We started offsite we had a huge brandnew condo with all the conviences of home. The second half we stayed onsite in a moderate in a very small room with much smaller beds but we were sooooooooooooo happy there. We wished we had stayed there from the start. To us there is nothing like staying on site at Disney. It might be different if we spent a lot of time in the room. But for us it is mostly used just for sleeping and refreshing to go back out there

 

[ktink]

I'm so glad you decided to stay onsite. For us that makes all the difference in the world.

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

Our plan was 4 nights ASMo and then 8 nights POFQ. 5 of us: DH, me, 11yo DS, 8 yo DS, 15mth old DD. I wanted to have the disney magic 'round the clock' and really escape reality! But after all that planning, and thinking we were finished with our decision-making, DH and I are getting panicky about the lack of space and amenities with all of us in one room (can't afford two rooms) especially when you can get a suite or even a villa outside for not much more money, sometimes less. I'm sad about not having the Disney magic feel all the time. Am I doing the right thing? Which is better do you think - more space or more magic? Is staying on-site *so* good that it's worth giving up on space? I'm thinking of the Wyndham Palace Resort as it's so near Downtown Disney and doesn't seem too far from the parks. Oh *sigh*, so confused and this is supposed to be fun.

Perhaps 6 days off-site and 6 days on-site? But doing that, I wouldn't know which one to do first. In our 12 days, we plan to do 7-8 Disney, 2-3 universal, 2 chilling out, just relaxing. But initially we will want to immerse ourselves in the Disney theme parks as it's our 1st time there and it's a long-awaited trip so it seems sensible to be onsite for those first days but then will it be disappointing 'leaving' Disney after 6 days to stay outside?

Not sure if I'm overly concerned about the Extra Magic Hours at night. The parks will be open quite late (9pm ish?) in June anyway right? So we might never even use the extra hours! *Sigh* and HELP!!!

Well I wouldn’t recommend that all 5 of you stay in one room at the ASMo first of all. You should definitely do a deluxe. That way you have 2 queen beds and a day bed.

 

[momm2four]

I suggest that you go over to the Orlando Hotels board and read some of the posts there. Posting your question on both boards will give you a more well rounded answer. Most people are on the resort board b/c they love to stay on-site, and most people on the Orlando hotels baords are there b/c they like to stay off-site.

Good luck!

Lori P.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Definitely stay on-site! But if I were you I'd stick with the moderate resort and just shave off a couple of days if you have to. The All Star rooms are going to be really crowded. CBR has nice big rooms, and POR has trundle bed rooms that sleep 5. I know one of yours is in a crib, but you should still think about comfort.

 

[Maherae]

OK, I'm going to add my 2 cents. Do the boys get along? Will sharing a queen size bed be OK? The rooms come with 2 queen size beds..so the only extra piece of furniture will be the crib, right? Then if the answer is "yes" for the boys, stay for your Disney time ON SITE! Spend your other park/chilling time off site. Loading and unloading, driving back and forth, missing out on PS for meals..is what you will have to look forward to staying offsite!! June will be brutal as it is!! Jumping on a bus or boat for a nap or swim midday and returning in the cool of the evening, character wake up calls, PS for meals, siigghhhhh...just can't be beat. HOWEVER!!! If the kids are going to constantly be bickering...then go for the off site. There..I said it..and I stand by it. Have a Magical Stay!!! (wherever!!)

 

[dkrause716]

When are you going? If you can get an AP discount or other code you should be able to get WL at a decent rate. It may be just a little bit more than a moderate and you could request a room with bunk beds. The rooms are bigger and you would most likely have a balcony-- that would allow you spread out a little more too.

 

[keith-atl]

Our plan was 4 nights ASMo and then 8 nights POFQ. 5 of us: DH, me, 11yo DS, 8 yo DS, 15mth old DD. I wanted to have the disney magic 'round the clock' and really escape reality! But after all that planning, and thinking we were finished with our decision-making, DH and I are getting panicky about the lack of space and amenities with all of us in one room (can't afford two rooms) especially when you can get a suite or even a villa outside for not much more money, sometimes less. I'm sad about not having the Disney magic feel all the time. Am I doing the right thing? Which is better do you think - more space or more magic? Is staying on-site *so* good that it's worth giving up on space? I'm thinking of the Wyndham Palace Resort as it's so near Downtown Disney and doesn't seem too far from the parks. Oh *sigh*, so confused and this is supposed to be fun.

Perhaps 6 days off-site and 6 days on-site? But doing that, I wouldn't know which one to do first. In our 12 days, we plan to do 7-8 Disney, 2-3 universal, 2 chilling out, just relaxing. But initially we will want to immerse ourselves in the Disney theme parks as it's our 1st time there and it's a long-awaited trip so it seems sensible to be onsite for those first days but then will it be disappointing 'leaving' Disney after 6 days to stay outside?

Not sure if I'm overly concerned about the Extra Magic Hours at night. The parks will be open quite late (9pm ish?) in June anyway right? So we might never even use the extra hours! *Sigh* and HELP!!!

Well the POFQ are much bigger than a lot of rooms we noticed. Atleast bigger than AKL and Wilderness Lodge. Now since your 5th is a 15th month I dont think space will be that much of an issue. Plus they have a pack in go crib.

So space might not be that big of an issue. You might want to consider 1 getting codes to cheaping the room down, change your POFQ to say ASMo for the whole trip and get 2 connecting rooms this way the kids can do there thing while the baby sleeps. Just some ideas, staying on property is so much better than off, we did 2 nights off property 1 year before we went on property and we were miserable.

Now the wyndham I have heard is nice, but having disney transportation is so much nicer. Just a few thoughts. Since you are going 13 days and you do not have a AP pass you might want to get one, you could save a ton of money on just 1 single pass.

 

[funshipm174]

Personally, I rather cut my days down to the amount where I can spend all my days on-site. Buy thats me!

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

Well the POFQ are much bigger than a lot of rooms we noticed. Atleast bigger than AKL and Wilderness Lodge. Now since your 5th is a 15th month I dont think space will be that much of an issue. Plus they have a pack in go crib.

So space might not be that big of an issue. You might want to consider 1 getting codes to cheaping the room down, change your POFQ to say ASMo for the whole trip and get 2 connecting rooms this way the kids can do there thing while the baby sleeps. Just some ideas, staying on property is so much better than off, we did 2 nights off property 1 year before we went on property and we were miserable.

Now the wyndham I have heard is nice, but having disney transportation is so much nicer. Just a few thoughts. Since you are going 13 days and you do not have a AP pass you might want to get one, you could save a ton of money on just 1 single pass.

Just to let you know, the POFQ rooms are not bigger than the AKL or WL...they mesure 340 square feet while the POFQ rooms are 314 square feet.

 

[keith-atl]

Just to let you know, the POFQ rooms are not bigger than the AKL or WL...they mesure 340 square feet while the POFQ rooms are 314 square feet.

Well I dont know what to tell you, I didnt measure the rooms I just remember when we went in our room for POFQ we were amazed how big it was. now that 26 extra square feet, maybe WL and AKL are counting the Balconies?

 

[DebIreland]

All these replies are great

TigrLvsPooh >>But if I were you I'd stick with the moderate resort and just shave off a couple of days if you have to. The All Star rooms are going to be really crowded. <<
Yes, will give some serious thought again to the All Stars. I reckon we might even do it for 2 nights which would be fine and then take 9-10 at a moderate, if money allows. Need to do that budget again!

Maherae >> Do the boys get along? Will sharing a queen size bed be OK? ..... if the answer is "yes" for the boys, stay for your Disney time ON SITE! Spend your other park/chilling time off site. <<
Yeah, they get along well *most* of the time. I don't foresee any major squabbling, nothing that a loud "let's go to Magic Kingdom" couldn't see to

dkrause716 >>When are you going? If you can get an AP discount or other code you should be able to get WL at a decent rate. <<

we'll be there June 24th to July 6th. I was thinking about the AP too. What are the chances of an AP discount coming out? The AP costs approx 200 more than the 7 day hopper so if AP discounts come out I could indeed make good savings. Do the AP discounts come out every year?

lovwdwalot >>How about renting points from a DVC member, you will end up paying alot less for your room if you went this route.<<
Oh my goodness, another minefield. Aaarrgh!! Tempting but dare I go down another pat of indecision?

keith-atl : Perhaps the rooms just 'felt' bigger cause you were in a super-happy, fuzzy disney mood?

 

[MariettaC]

We wouldn't stay offsite at all - rather not go

 

[BevS97]

We have stayed on and offsite, and had wonderful holidays in both locations. I do prefer staying onsite, but you have to admit that you get much more space for your money offsite, and you can still be very very close to the action.

I wouldn't go the DTD route - to my mind, they are still quite expensive, you lose the disney magic, but don't gain much in terms of space - i can't see the advantage of them at all.

I don't understand why people are suggesting the OP look at Deluxe, Wilderness Cabins, or DVC propertys - she stated quite clearly she can only afford nights at All-Stars and POR - there is no way you can take that budget and make it pay for Deluxe accomodation and I think it's unrealistic to suggest that. Even renting DVC points wouldn't really be feasible - you could only afford a studio and they are tiny (they have a nice kitchennette and a big bathroom, but the actual bedroom is tiny).
Personally, I would look at the Pros and Cons of a suite offsite, somewhere like Cypress Palms is quite reasonable and yuo can get a big 2 bedroom apartment just offsite, and compare it with the All Star/POR option, and decide which was more important, space and facilities, or disney magic - I would probably go for Disney Magic, but I can see where the space and facilities could be a winner.

the other option is to spend the first half of your trip off site, and then move onsite - if you find a good bargain for the first few nights then maybe you can stretch to a deluxe for a couple of nights?

 

[Sherri]

I would check out the holiday inn kid suites. I do believe you get complimentary transpirtation to the Disney parks.
The first time I went to Disney was at age 14, we stayed on international drive. I didn't know any different, and in my opinion it was great fun.
Fast forward quite a few years. Friends and I stayed on at lake buana vista and LOVED the location and took advantage of the free transpirtaion. Again, it was great. Once I had children DH and I decided to stay at CBR as the kids were 6 and 7 at the time and thought it would be fun to be around the Disney magic 24/7. It was fun and we loved it, but spent everyday at the parks from early am to late pm. Believe me the beds and small quarters were so comfortable because we were so exhausted that space didn't seem an issue. We did the last time (the kids are older now) stay at a two bedroom condo with a loft. Talk about being spoiled with the space. We did spend a night in a one room hotel room and that was tough after having all that space. BUT this time we are going in (less then two weeks) will be staying in a studio at BWV and although it will be cramped, we are looking forward to being on Disney grounds once again. If it doesn't work out well, then well say never again and just take our Disney vacation everyother year and stay in a bigger unit. I think its all trial and error.

 

[becky7953]

Nothing beats staying onsite. The whole Disney magic 24/7. Our last trip we took we stayed offsite. We rented a townhouse, that had its own pool. It was nice to have a house setting. Not to mention saving alot of $ with food. However, no disney magic. With the ages of your kids I would say stay onsite. Alot of times you will be split up. If you think that your DH would get stressed out. Give him an hour here or there to be by himself (and the same for you).

 

[dkrause716]

THere have been AP rates every year. (Not usually at holiday time.) I feel pretty confident that there will be codes for this summer. Watch Mousesavers.com. for up to date info. Codes are released periodically. Many people are not waiting for new codes for stays beginning April 18. I am waiting too but our stay isn't until July so they won't be out for a while.
You don't need the AP to book the AP rate but you will need it at check-in. You buy a voucher either on line or at the Disney store and activate when you arrive.

Last summer we booked the WL for an AP rate of $109 per night standard room. The savings are usually quite substantial.
Our stay begins July 6 so maybe we'll see you there! Good luck!

 

[GRUMPYMOMOF3]

Just got back from Disney and stayed at POR.We are a family of five.My girls are 9,9,6.The trundle bed was so nice.They took turns sleeping on it and it just slides under the bed.POFQ does not have trundles.We were hardley ever in the room except to change to go swimming,and sleep.I think the value would be a very tight fit.We stayed offsite once and had a lot more space but could not compare to staying onsite.We parked at the resort and never got back in the car until we left 6 days later.

 

[littleprincessmom]

Another vote for on-site and APs (at least one AP for a member in your party - that's all you need for the AP rate)!

As a side note (and I'm putting on my flame proof suit because I realize I am NOT on the Universal thread right now ), have you considered staying on site at Universal for one night in between your 2 Universal days? We are WDW people but do enjoy Universal for the big rides/coasters. Since you mentioned going to Universal, I wanted to make sure you knew that on-site guests at Universal get FRONT OF THE LINE benefits! It sounds too good to be true but it is! I would not go to Universal any other way. We've gotten rooms at the Royal Pacific Hotel twice for about $169/night. If you stay one night, you get the benefit on both your arrival and your departure day. It might be worth considering for either the beginning or end of your trip. We usually go to Universal first because we like to finish at WDW!

Whatever you decide, have a blast!!!!!! You will find lots of helpful people and advice on these boards.

 

[henrylovespooh]

I would stay onsite. We've stayed offsite and it just isn't the same. You should really look into renting points and getting a bigger unit if you can. That might be the best option.