Having second thoughts about staying on-site

[MECH8T7]

Lots of good advice given by others so far.

We are first-timers but here's what struck me when I read the original post.

Most of the expense comes from paying the WDW "premium" over the course of a 12 night stay.

There's so much stuff to do in the Orlando area. If I was going to be in Orlando for that period of time, I would plan my trip to spend the first 5 to 6 days onsite and spend lots of time in the parks and then I would go offsite for another 4 to 5 days to relax and explore the other attractions in the Orlando area (SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Centre, shopping, an NBA, MLB, NFL, or NHL game, etc.) and then I would stay offsite for the remaining couple of days but return to the WDW parks for the balance of my stay knowing that I would would be going through this time around at a more leisurely pace.

Anyways, those are my two cents.

 

[thelittlemermaid]

For our first trip to WDW we took the advice and stayed on site. Boy was DH and I happy that we did this. The way the price of gas is going {up, up, up} it would have cost a fortune for us to stay off site {we drove to WDW from Ohio} and driving to the parks all the time. Plus the idea of staying on site and using Disney's buses to get around was great. Especially if DD and I wanted to go back to the resort we could just hop on a bus and go without everyone having to leave at the sametime.

I don't see us ever staying off site while going to Disney. For our next trip we plan on going to Sea World and Universal before going to Disney and plan on staying at a hotel we stayed at on I-Drive on our first trip.

Like some have said, if no codes come out there is no way I am paying alot of money for a value when we could get a rental home for half the cost. But we aren't going back until 2008, so hopefully by then {fingers crossed} gas prices have went down and codes will come out for the time we want to go.

 

[Brian Noble]

We are a family of four, two kids aged 6 and 4.

I am in the minority here at the DIS, but I refuse to get a single hotel room for all four of us for more than a couple of nights, no matter where we go or what we are doing. The kids and the adults have schedules that are just too different to make it work--they are asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 each night, and the younger one naps each afternoon at WDW (or similar places.)

We rented a pool home last month for a week for what it would have cost us to get a *single* Value-category room (POP or ASes) *with* an AP discount! In exchange for an extra 15 minutes or so one-way commute time, the kids each had their own room, we had our own private pool, a fully equipped kitchen, and our own laundry machines. We are also big believers in the afternoon break away from the parks, and still I think trading the extra commute time for much more comfortable digs was the right choice for us. We took the money we saved and spent it on character meals and other treats.

Granted, we have different priorities than many. I really *like* having a kitchen to be able to make a few things over the course of the week. I don't particularly need maid service each day, provided I can get new towels, etc. when needed. I certainly don't need room service (but don't mind getting chinese or pizza delivered from a local restaurant.) I prefer to drive most places rather than take Disney transport, even when I'm staying on property (which I also do when it is just DW and I or we are there for only a short time.)

I am currently spending one week a month on the road, consulting for a company in Seattle. Even there, I end up staying in a Residence Inn about 15 minutes from the office (via excellent public transit) rather than a hotel room within walking distance, because I like having a LR/BR combination, and I like to make dinner in my suite rather than eat in restaurants the whole time. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts to stay so far away, but I'm much happier.

If we wanted to spend, say, a week on property, we would either book a Ft. Wilderness cabin (all the amenities, acceptable value with a code), two connecting Value rooms (no kitchen, two bathrooms, better value), or rent points for a 1BR DVC room (very nice, but about 2x cost of Ft. Wilderness) in that order.

 

[cjsmith]

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.

There is a huge price difference between ASMO and the deluxes, it's really a tad silly to suggest this when the poster has already said that there are things outside of their budget. If they can't get two rooms at the AS, forget paying for one at the deluxes.

 

[DebIreland]

I really appreciate all the new replies. This board is the best!

This is our latest plan..... 2 rooms at ASMo for 4 nights (and really hoping discounts come out) and then moving to POFQ for 8 nights in one room. The reason we're opted for two rooms at the value is due to the 'squashed' factor! But I reckon that won't be such an issue at the moderate..... with 320sq feet or thereabouts we'll manage. Because we're staying for 12 nights, I'm seriously considering buying one AP to avail of possible room discounts. Fingers crossed! I know too that we're paying more per night for the value now than we are for the moderate because of the 2 rooms but the boys have their hearts set on the theming of the value. As its out first time at WDW we very much associate WDW with the characters like Buzz and Woody etc. so the huge icons will be great for them! (We've requested Toy Story building, hopefully we'll get it, but if not, we'll still be in the general vicinity!). Then we're doing POFQ because we just love the sound of that place.

Everyone's advice has been very useful. Thanks so much

MECH8T7, I agree that Orlando has so much more to offer and ideally I guess I'd like 9 onsite days and 3 offsite but as we are just bursting to try the All Stars for the kids (icons etc.) and the POFQ for all of us (I love the look of it and the boats to DD sound terrific) staying offsite for 3 nights would mean either yet another hotel move (nooooooooo!!! lol) or choosing between ASMo and POFQ for the Disney part and I don't want to choose between those resorts and you can't make me So yes we will be doing non-Disney things like Universal but I can't cope with another move!!! The other thing is, as we're going in June, we can use Magical Express (woohoo!!) which will save us a nice bit of money but if we stay offsite at the start or at the end, we'd miss out on this service one way.