Help convince me staying off site is great!

[uandmfan]

We have used a timeshare to trade into DVC at the bay lake towers before. We had a 2 bedroom and could walk to the MK.

I'm not sure we will be able to do that this time. We will have a 5 and 2.5 year old so we need separate rooms and a kitchen.

Last time, we were there for RD every day, had 8 am breakfast reservations and went back to the room for dinner and then to the part for MSEP and wishes.

Staying off site won't let us walk to the park. Is all of the above doable? I know there are some advantages (having a car, space, etc). Does anyone have experience with this who can share? I'm worried a vacation off-site (or really, in other resorts) won't live up to the memories of the last one. And I also think I'm being ridiculous! I'm also concerned about making the pre-opening ADRs.

Thanks!!

 

[Ensusieasm]

We have used a timeshare to trade into DVC at the bay lake towers before. We had a 2 bedroom and could walk to the MK.

I'm not sure we will be able to do that this time. We will have a 5 and 2.5 year old so we need separate rooms and a kitchen.

Last time, we were there for RD every day, had 8 am breakfast reservations and went back to the room for dinner and then to the part for MSEP and wishes.

Staying off site won't let us walk to the park. Is all of the above doable? I know there are some advantages (having a car, space, etc). Does anyone have experience with this who can share? I'm worried a vacation off-site (or really, in other resorts) won't live up to the memories of the last one. And I also think I'm being ridiculous! I'm also concerned about making the pre-opening ADRs.

Thanks!!

Try renting points for a one bedroom or two bedroom at the Grand Floridian

 

[uandmfan]

Renting points a bay lake will cost about $5k (and then we have to convert to Canadian) and the grand Floridian is even more. I'm not sure about spending that kind of money on accommodation...... So I'm hoping to consider off-site.

We need at least 2 bedrooms as my sister is coming and she needs some room too.

 

[Judique]

It won't be the same but if you go with the right expectations, it won't be bad.

It will be what you make of it.

It's really pretty hard to beat the BLT Mk access you had for your two little ones.

Off site will require you to do car seats, strollers and lots of other transportation options such as parking in the main lot and paying for it, using the tram and the boat or monorail.

Doing a couple of trips a day to the park will be possible but not quite as easy as riding the elevator to the ground floor and pushing the stroller for ten minutes to get you into MK.

A lot of people stay in one room at a value resort to have the convenience of onsite and still ride the Disney transportation.

It will depend on your own stamina as well as that of your children if you decide to try to pack in the back and forth to the room experience.

On Disney I often go to two parks in a day. Off site Disney, it's not so much for us.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We have not been to WDW since 2011 and with the price increases and age increases of my family we will have to stay offsite. It doesn't thrill me but we will just have to plan even more than we ever have (I don't like this either). Personally, I would not go back to WDW ever again with all the changes, but the kids ask every year and I have been putting it off so this will be one last trip. We also can't afford DVC rental and will probably try for Windsor Hills to make the commute a bit more tolerable. We aren't going until Summer 2017 and I don't plan to think about the lack of magic for this vacation until I really have to.

 

[powellrj]

We have been both off and on-site and will never stay on-site again unless we get a wonderful deal.

I just love the extra room and the full kitchen and the laundry and the comfortable beds and the extra TVs and our own private pool... I could go on and on about why I like off-site better. Even staying on-site we still take our own car because I hate to depend on others to get me places.

If you look around at private houses you will find some that are more disney decorated than disney is!

 

[bankr63]

We have used a timeshare to trade into DVC at the bay lake towers before. We had a 2 bedroom and could walk to the MK.

I'm not sure we will be able to do that this time. We will have a 5 and 2.5 year old so we need separate rooms and a kitchen.

Last time, we were there for RD every day, had 8 am breakfast reservations and went back to the room for dinner and then to the part for MSEP and wishes.

Staying off site won't let us walk to the park. Is all of the above doable? I know there are some advantages (having a car, space, etc). Does anyone have experience with this who can share? I'm worried a vacation off-site (or really, in other resorts) won't live up to the memories of the last one. And I also think I'm being ridiculous! I'm also concerned about making the pre-opening ADRs.

Thanks!!

Compared to $5k for DVC points, how much does $3k saved make you happy?

We are off-siters to the core, and have done all of the things you list, and so much more. Do you lose a little bit of magic? Possibly. But the saving allows us to go every year, so dollar for dollar I figure we probably get more magic than doing EOY at DVC. And frankly, I'm not one for TOTAL immersion; being able to burst the bubble for a little while is important to us.

Remember that you only pay for parking once per day on Disney property. I can drive park-to-park faster than most people can bus (except MK to Epcot on the monorail); or I suppose I could park once and use DT to park to park (not sure why I would tho). Our regular haunt Vistana Resort is about 10 minutes (2 traffic lights) to the Disney gate; making RD has never been a problem. Oh, and we don't have yellow jackets buzzing around our 7 swimming pools bugging all the guests. And now that our kids are older, Disney starts to fade as Universal takes over. Our waistlines don't take a hit either. We try to only do one paid meal per day (dinner or lunch) and eat healthy in our villa for the others, or bring a healthy packed lunch to parks.

I guess the main point is that offsite IS different. With the right attitude, you can have many (more!) wonderful experiences.

 

[katmatry]

They're are pros and cons for every resort, on or off property. Your trip will be magical as long as you focus on the pros.

 

[sk8jdgca]

I have done both but lately I have been staying at Sheraton Vistana. The drive to Disney is short and as others have said will take less time then Disney busses. It is nice to wake up in the morning and eat in your kitchen. We eat out at lunch then make something small for dinner. It is no problem to do parks until lunch, eat lunch come back to the resort for a nap or pool time, have a small snack then pop back to a park. You save not only in room cost but also in food cost. SVR is great, lots of pools, activities all day long and separate sleeping rooms and living rooms

 

[figmentfan423]

We have been both off and on-site and will never stay on-site again unless we get a wonderful deal.

I just love the extra room and the full kitchen and the laundry and the comfortable beds and the extra TVs and our own private pool... I could go on and on about why I like off-site better. Even staying on-site we still take our own car because I hate to depend on others to get me places.

If you look around at private houses you will find some that are more disney decorated than disney is!

^^^^This and with the savings my one week vacation is now a bot over 3 weeks

 

[TeresaWen]

Walking from a park to your hotel is the best. But having a car is way better than taking the Disney buses. From the time we walk out our door until we are walking into Epcot is less than 20 minutes.

 

[DCTM]

We have stayed on and offsite (family of 4). We much prefer offsite. We rent a condo a Windsor Hills - we have pd. $299 week and $399 for a week. 2 bed, 2 bath, kitchen, washer/dryer, etc.
We love it there. Great pool and it is very close to the parks. We always rent a car and just prefer driving to the parks anyway.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Anywhere offsite won't compare to the location and ease of BLT in terms of MK. Even most onsite hotels won't compare. So the best thing to do is not compare them. And BLT is only super convenient for MK anyway.

 

[SA mom]

We've stayed at Buena Vista Suites for 5 nights after 4 nights a Coronado Springs. Our kids were 6. Maybe there is a little less magic, but that space was nice. It was more relaxed. The kids didn't care that the pool wasn't anywhere as nice...they just wanted water. I don't think we spent any more time driving to the parks each day than we did taking transportation. However, you are coming from Contemporary which is my dream resort and I cannot even imagine what it must be like to stay there.

I will say, that the money we saved on those last 5 nights allowed us some extra table service meals we would not have experienced. We were also able to afford some souvenirs that we would not have been able to buy.

 

[uandmfan]

Thanks everyone.

I think we'll try off-site if we can't get into BLT. As you've said, any other on site resort won't be the same as BLT for our situation anyway. Amd the kids are young so we won't be doing super long days at the parks anyway. If we don't like it, we'll stay on-site next time.... Fingers crossed BLT works out!!

Thanks

 

[quagmire0]

We've gone on two trips - first with two kids of similar ages as yours and second with three kids. Both times we stayed at Windsor Hills. Both times we did rope drops and even did lunch breaks at the condo. It's VERY doable. What's nice about offsite is that you can escape all the craziness for a while. The plusses are being able to escape the crowds, being able to save on easy meals like lunch and breakfast, everyone having their own space (priceless), and price. You can find some pretty good deals.

 

[Cars2006]

1. We also have stayed on and offsite with a family of five. My kids (8, 9 & 12) prefer offsite. We rent a condo a Windsor Hills we have only paid. $299 a week. 3 bed, 2 bath, kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. With taxes, cleaning its about 444.00. They love the pool there. WH is very close to the parks. We always rent a car anyway on or off property. This year we are going to Universal Studios and the Fl beach for the first time. Kids are so excited. Do what is best for your family and your budget. I asked them if they miss staying at Disney and they all said no. Have fun planning and try to to get stressed out. You're going to Disney!

 

[edolee]

Onsite vs Offsite... very personal decision.

I have done both. In my opinion, if you do offsite correctly it beats the heck out of onsite, but as others have said there ARE trade-offs. 2 biggest that I hear from most people is "magic" and transportation.

1) For me there is NO magic in the too small hotel room with one bathroom that I am likely to be able to afford to stay onsite. You clearly have had better accommodations than that at Disney in the past. If that is not available, then offsite can be awesome.

2) I don't mind driving, in fact I prefer it. This is not true of everyone. If you stay at Windsor Hills (as mentioned by several here) the driving will be minimal. Note that there are LOTS of developments other than Windsor Hills. Saving money on the room can make the cost of parking and a rental care insignificant. (renting cars in Orlando, depending on the time of year, can be quite affordable)

The game changer for us was when we first stayed offsite and rented a Villa (not condo) at Windsor Hills. These homes have PRIVATE pools, and 4-6 bedrooms, and 3-4 baths AND many have games rooms with pool tables etc. You can watch your kids swim without worrying about dragging them to and from the pool. In the Windsor Hills case there is a very nice community pool with a big water slide also. After staying there a few times, we branched out to some other developments.

My kids like to fish, so I tried Sunset Lakes and most recently Lake Berkley. These developments/resorts are a bit farther, but fit our family better. Private pools PLUS lakes right behind the house where I could walk out the back and be fishing in 60 seconds, and then back just as quickly. The point here is not to get you to fish, but rather to understand that there are a lot of developments in the area with varying amenities.

Hope that helps!

Ed

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I would much rather stay off site for a longer vacation than on site for a short one.
We've only stayed on site a few times then bought our own condo. We will never stay on site again, but I would much rather be able to go down to Florida whenever I want.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I think at your kids ages you will be fine offsite. We prefer onsite because we have teenagers and the freedom of letting out kids go back to the resort if they want (or if we want) can't be had unless you are onsite and close. But your kids are little so you will always be together anyhow.