Help! Debating on site vs. offsite. AGAIN!

[Mama Steph]

There will be 8 of us, dh and I, our 5 kids (15, 11, 10, 8 and 6) and my sister, staying for 10 nights. We are currently booked at ASMu in a family suite and preferred room. I have now found out that for a little bit less money we could stay at Sheraton Vistana in a 2 bedroom. Bonuses would be more space, nicer decor, full kitchen and having to rent cars so we would be able to eat offsite as well. Downsides are: still never having stayed onsite, not being at Dis 24/7, no dining plan.

What would you do? I have to decide before our final payment is due July 8th.

 

[Metsoskil]

Can you split stay? Maybe stay off-site first. If you rent a car for the first 1/2 of the trip you can drop it off at the Swan/Dolphin (Alamo/National) or Shades of Green (Hertz) and take Magical Express back to the airport. Still save a few bucks and get the magic of staying on-site at the end of the trip to look forward to. Plus, you would be able to do laundry 1/2 way through your trip at Vistana & be able to pack less.

 

[twooley2]

This really depends as having done both I personally prefer onsite even with less space but there ar those that are good with offsite. If I had never stayed onsite I would have to try it once for myself. If money is an issue I still vote onsite. I loath cooking on vacation and hate loading and unloading kids, even older ones into a car. I love eating and being at Disney 24/7. Offsite eating seems like every other eating out day at home so Disney Dining wins even with the longer waits and such.

 

[Julylady]

I would recommend taking a chance and try off site. We are DVC owners and still stay off site occasionally, particularly when we have a large group. Last spring our group of 8 stayed in a 4-bedroom villa. It was a great trip and the teens loved the extra space. Curiously, we also really like making simple meals at the villa. We save a bunch of money and eat less junk.

What did we miss? Early morning entry and extended hours were the biggest regret. We also did not stay for late night fireworks/fantasmic to avoid the rush leaving the park at closing. That didn't bother our group a bit since they wanted to get back to the villa for swimming. Overall, we spent less time in the parks.

A lot of people talk about being immersed full time in the magic when on-site, but I am not sure I understand what that means. Our off-site stays are different, but just as magical.

 

[robinb]

I am struggling with the exact same problem, but my choice is between POR with free dining and a 1BR at Vistana Villages with a full kitchen for just $68 per night.

I have not made my mind up yet, but I am leaning toward POR. It KILLS me that the deal at Vistana is soooo good ($199 for 3 nights!) and I don't think I can take advantage of it and eat for the same amount of money we would spend at POR. I did up a spreadsheet with all the meals and snacks that I would eat on the free DDP and I came up with $1000 (!) for 4 people for 6 nights. Now that is maximizing the DDP and I would not usually spend that much so I need to weed out the meals I would not book if I were paying OOP and then recalculate. Right now it's nearly $500 MORE to stay at Vistana.

We have a rental car and APs (which include parking) so those costs are not factored into my calculations. I need to decide if I want more room or if I want to eat my head off. We will be moving to a DVC 1BR on points for 4 more nights after POR so we won't be squashed in a single room for our entire time.

Damn, Vistana really looks nice!

 

[Metsoskil]

I am struggling with the exact same problem, but my choice is between POR with free dining and a 1BR at Vistana Villages with a full kitchen for just $68 per night.

I have not made my mind up yet, but I am leaning toward POR. It KILLS me that the deal at Vistana is soooo good ($199 for 3 nights!) and I don't think I can take advantage of it and eat for the same amount of money we would spend at POR. I did up a spreadsheet with all the meals and snacks that I would eat on the free DDP and I came up with $1000 (!) for 4 people for 6 nights. Now that is maximizing the DDP and I would not usually spend that much so I need to weed out the meals I would not book if I were paying OOP and then recalculate. Right now it's nearly $500 MORE to stay at Vistana.

We have a rental car and APs (which include parking) so those costs are not factored into my calculations. I need to decide if I want more room or if I want to eat my head off. We will be moving to a DVC 1BR on points for 4 more nights after POR so we won't be squashed in a single room for our entire time.

Damn, Vistana really looks nice!

Get a TIW card, eat what you want, and enjoy the space IMHO. That deal is really, really good - especially if you've got APs and a rental car already.

 

[robinb]

Get a TIW card, eat what you want, and enjoy the space IMHO. That deal is really, really good - especially if you've got APs and a rental car already.

I have a TIW card. That $1K was WITH the 20% discount!

 

[Upatnoon]

For a group of 8, I would rent a house or rent a 3 or 4 bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek.

 

[Upatnoon]

I am struggling with the exact same problem, but my choice is between POR with free dining and a 1BR at Vistana Villages with a full kitchen for just $68 per night.

I have not made my mind up yet, but I am leaning toward POR. It KILLS me that the deal at Vistana is soooo good ($199 for 3 nights!) and I don't think I can take advantage of it and eat for the same amount of money we would spend at POR. I did up a spreadsheet with all the meals and snacks that I would eat on the free DDP and I came up with $1000 (!) for 4 people for 6 nights. Now that is maximizing the DDP and I would not usually spend that much so I need to weed out the meals I would not book if I were paying OOP and then recalculate. Right now it's nearly $500 MORE to stay at Vistana.

We have a rental car and APs (which include parking) so those costs are not factored into my calculations. I need to decide if I want more room or if I want to eat my head off. We will be moving to a DVC 1BR on points for 4 more nights after POR so we won't be squashed in a single room for our entire time.

Damn, Vistana really looks nice!

Since you have annual passes, can you get free dining with just a room-only reservation?

 

[robinb]

Since you have annual passes, can you get free dining with just a room-only reservation?

Nope. I need to purchase a package to be eligible for Free Dining. That's OK since I will save the passes until our December trip and upgrade them then. So I don't hijack this thread I started my own here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2498578

 

[Detailor]

So I'm assuming that the three-night $199 deal is at Sheraton's Vistana Resort and not the Sheraton Vistana Villages.

If that's right you may want to consider that there are several villa set-ups that may affect your group. Usually I'd advocate for the space that a two-bedroom timeshare villa offers but in your case, because of the size and make-up of your group, I'd advise caution.

Most of the two-bedroom villas are set up for a maximum of eight guests (generally one king, two doubles, one queen sofabed in the dedicated two-bedroom units and two kings and two queen sofabeds in the two-bedroom lock-off units) but they also have two-bedroom set-ups that only accommodate six (I think that those are one king, two singles, one queen sofabed in the Falls section and one king or queen, two singles, a loft single and a sofabed in the Court section). While there are many more "sleeps eight" villas than "sleeps six," I'd suggest that if you go the Vistana route that you get assurance right up front that you will be in one of the larger units. Then all you'll have to address is which of your children will sleep with their aunt.

Dick Taylor

 

[Kat&Dom]

There will be 8 of us, dh and I, our 5 kids (15, 11, 10, 8 and 6) and my sister, staying for 10 nights. We are currently booked at ASMu in a family suite and preferred room. I have now found out that for a little bit less money we could stay at Sheraton Vistana in a 2 bedroom. Bonuses would be more space, nicer decor, full kitchen and having to rent cars so we would be able to eat offsite as well. Downsides are: still never having stayed onsite, not being at Dis 24/7, no dining plan.

What would you do? I have to decide before our final payment is due July 8th.

That is a tough one. I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana in a 2 bed, 2 bath. The master had king bed with ensuite. The other bed had 2 double beds in it. Then the living room had a pull out - queen size bed. Everyone would be able to fit in this configuration but you also have meals for 8 people to consider. I assume that you have the free QSDP which is a value of almost $200 per day. I think too with the ages of your children that being on-site would be more convenient. Also, another thing to consider is the parking costs and if you have to rent a car for 8 people. Although I love off-site myself, I think that on-site looks like the best option/value for you.

Have an awesome trip!

 

[Mama Steph]

Then all you'll have to address is which of your children will sleep with their aunt.

Dick Taylor

This made me burst out laughing! Actually I had thought about it and figured our youngest could sleep with us in the king (since we are used to a queen and she often sleeps with us anyway) and we would bring an air mattress since the 15yo is not comfortable sharing either.

That being said, we have decided to stick with the original plan. There is a lot of research I would need to do before being comfortable staying at Vistana (space, location, etc...). We would need 2 rental cars, I would need to bring carseats, etc.... I have put a lot of thought and planning into this trip and am just going to stick with what I've done.

Thanks for all of the thoughts. Either we will come back from this trip and never be able to stay offsite again or (more likely) we will be planning our next trip offsite since I think dh likes that pricetag better.

 

[momof2n2]

I have been to FL probably 10-11 since married 13 years ago. I have never stayed on site. I always consider it, but quickly rule it out. I like the idea of staying on site, but it is more important to me to save the money and have lots of room to spread out.

We rent a spacious house and love it. Granted, we don't do WDW every day. We like some days to go to other places or just hang around at our pool [or resort like Windsor Hills]. We save $$$ by making our breakfasts and then getting to the park at rope drop on the days we go. We eat lunch and dinner at the parks.

I hate being crammed into a hotel room. I love having a kitchen. I also make some desserts [brownies, break and bake cookies] so we have yummy snacks in the parks, too.]

The Unofficial Guide also does a great job of telling how long it takes to drive from offsite to different parts of WDW and frankly, from a place like Windsor Hills, you can get into many of the park destinations FASTER than using WDW transportation.

 

[sarah4770]

I thought vistana has free transportation to the parks?

 

[Detailor]

This made me burst out laughing! Actually I had thought about it and figured our youngest could sleep with us in the king (since we are used to a queen and she often sleeps with us anyway) and we would bring an air mattress since the 15yo is not comfortable sharing either.

That being said, we have decided to stick with the original plan. There is a lot of research I would need to do before being comfortable staying at Vistana (space, location, etc...). We would need 2 rental cars, I would need to bring carseats, etc.... I have put a lot of thought and planning into this trip and am just going to stick with what I've done.

Thanks for all of the thoughts. Either we will come back from this trip and never be able to stay offsite again or (more likely) we will be planning our next trip offsite since I think dh likes that pricetag better.

Always happy to serve.

FWIW, I think that you're making the right decision for your family. But when you do decide to go offsite at a timeshare or a rental house you may wonder why you didn't do that before. We (my family of five) were figuratively blown away when we stayed at Vistana back in 1997 and we have never stayed in a hotel for more than a couple of nights anywhere since then - and even when we do a night or two in a hotel we take two rooms (Priceline, typically) if it's more than the three of us who are still at home. Vistana's location is very good for Disney (and Universal and SeaWorld), exposes you to a wider variety (both in terms of types of food and price) of restaurants and has a very good array of resort amenities, all in addition to the extra space. If, in the future, you end up doing research on renting at that timeshare or one of the dozens of others in the area I'd suggest that you look into renting from an owner (tug2.net, redweek.com and others) - you should be able to rent a full seven-night week for around $700 in a two-bedroom timeshare villa (excluding the Disney timeshares and some others and depending upon dates of rental).

Have a great Disney trip!

Dick Taylor

 

[kathy884]

I really like the extra space that an offsite condo provides for a larger family / extended family group. I did POR once and Sheraton Vistana Resort four times and much preferred the Sheraton Vistana (I guess the number of visits I've done here should explain that). To me the offsite condo is so much more relaxing, and unless you're doing a Disney Deluxe, the condos in Lake Buena Vista don't seem much farther away than the Disney value and moderates. It's so nice having a washer and dryer right in the unit (so easy to do a load or two) and this allows for lighter packing. I also don't like having to eat all my breakfasts and lunches out either (really tiresome to me if it's a week long stay), and I like having healthy snacks available for my family. We, also, typically do some parks / activities other than Disney making an offsite condo even more practical. We love Disney, but can't go to Orlando without at least one day at Sea World. We're not huge Universal / IOA fans, however. In March for our week long stay at an offsite condo seven nights six days we're doing Monday at Sea World, Tuesday is a resort day, Wednesday is Magic Kingdom, Thursday is back to Sea World again (second day free), Friday is Disney Hollywood Studios, and Saturday will be another resort day.

It really depends on what you are looking for on a vacation, but for price / value / relaxation / quality time visiting with family/extended family, my personal favorite way to go is an offsite condo.

 

[torinsmom]

We just got back last week and we stayed at a condo in Emerald Island. It was so nice to spread out, have a full kitchen and a washer/dryer! If you stay in EI, there is a shortcut to the parks, so you can be in the AK parking lot in 5 minutes, DHS in about 7, Epcot in about 12, MK in about 15. We encountered no traffic using the shortcut. There were numerous fast food and sit down restaurants within 2 miles, a grocery store about a mile away and Target was about 3 miles. We will never stay onsite again! We left the parks around 12:30 when it got really hot, had lunch, and relaxed until 6pm, when we went back to the same park or a different one.

The condo we stayed at was $450 for the week, but was only 3 bedrooms. We used vrbo.com to find our condo. Depending on the season, you could find a 4-5 bedroom for less than $800, I bet. Other subdivisions in the area were Formosa Gradens and Windsor Hills, etc.

Marsha

 

[Mama Steph]

We have stayed offsite in the past and that is part of the reason I've been so torn. Last year we rented a beautiful 5 bedroom house (pool, game room) near Champion's Gate. There were 9 of us so we had 2 cars. I loved being able to have breakfast at the house, pack lunches or snacks and come back for dinner. We are fairly frugal people by nature so I have a very difficult time paying Disney prices for meals. My family of 7 can go out to dinner at a casual location and it is always less than $100. That is one of the reasons we have chosen to stay onsite this time though. We are looking forward to Disney dining. I have made ressies for Chef Mickey for dd's birthday and CRT for just my girls and I our first morning there. We are also flying to FL this time which, due to cost, almost never happens. So staying offsite would have the added expense of about $500 for 2 rental cars. If we were driving, I would have been more likely to stay change plans and stay offsite. I also had the option of staying at a deluxe villas with a 45% PIN and the cost would have been very comparable but not included meals. I decided that this is probably our only time to do the DDP so we are going for it! Also, our plans for this trip are Disney only. Since we don't have a car and are on the DDP, we plan to stay on property the whole time. If we are able to go back in April as I plan, we will be staying offsite as it will be peak season and there is no way I can afford that!

 

[robinb]

Steph: I chose free dining last night over SVV. With 4 "Disney Adults" (my DH and I plus my 10-year old DD and her friend) it was really our opportunity to eat at places where I wouldn't dream of paying the adult pricing for my 10-year old vegetarian. Like character meals, buffets and other fixed price meals. She can (and does) still eat off the kids menu when it is offered like at regular TS places. But I still can't bring myself to pay $30 for her eat fruit, rice, flat breads and dessert at Boma's no matter how much her father and I enjoy it. I didn't mind paying child pricing for her eating habits but NOT adult pricing! Free dining allows us to "splurge" on some of our old favorites. I KNOW I am going to regret my decision when my DH and I try to squeeze into a double bed ... especially after all the free eating we're going to be doing !

I see that you're staying at ASMu. Are you upgrading to the regular DDP or are you doing the QSDP?