Help Convince Me that Offsite is OK

[singjenn]

Hi. We have an upcoming unexpected trip to WDW and Universal, total being around 10 or so nights. Previously we stayed onsite at WDW and at the hard rock. We loved doing both, but it is really expensive. Can't do value resorts as need queen beds. We are flying from Australia, into New York and driving to Florida as we love to drive and see as much of the US as possible.

Now I am considering staying offsite, we are a family of 4, kids, 13 and 11, and i understand the convenience of having larger rooms etc. But i just feel that even with the hire car, all the parking and driving to and from disney will just be a nightmare. Couple the parking cost with the hire car rental, probably around $100 in per day in total, and i just cannot see the ultimate value.

I have been looking at as many threads as I can to convince myself, but still leaning towards paying extra just for the transport convenience.

Any advice appreciated. We go in Oct.

Howdy! I didn't read the other posts yet so I don't know if I am just repeating someone else...

We just got back last week from our trip. It was a short notice trip so we didn't have time to save a ton and stay on site.
So....I did some looking and decided to give priceline a try. WOW was I glad!!! I got a 114 room for 60!!!! The hotel was FANTASTIC and it had everything we needed plus some. The rooms were huge with two beds and a balcony, large bathroom, dressing area.... They even have free transportation to the parks. AND if you wanted you could take a short 10 minute walk to DTD. We stayed in Best Western Lake Buena Vista. I would totally use priceline again in a heartbeat. It saved us a ton of money and we didn't really lose anything from not staying on site. It was too cold to swim so we didn't really need a pool. I reccomend looking into using priceline. You can save a ton and still have a great trip! Maybe from what you save you can buy extra gifts or eat somewhere really nice. Have a great time!

 

[marvel]

thought about priceline but just too risky for us, i am having a hard enough time deciding even when I know what the places are