help- husband wants to stay offsite

[queenofhartz]

Hi! I have never personally stayed here, but the Pop resort seems to receive consistently good reviews from people at the Dis. So, I would select Pop (I think it may be the newest value resort out of the bunch).

In regards to your question about staying on or offsite...it's really a matter a personal preference (as you can tell from the varying opinions in this thread ). Honestly, I thought I would loathe staying offsite after staying onsite at AKL Concierge. But, this summer, DH and I went to Disneyworld. We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn for 2 nights, and we loved it. Well, we had so much fun that we wanted to stay an extra 2 nights, but there was nothing available onsite (unless we wanted to pay concierge rates, which we didn't). So, we moved to DH's timeshare which is offsite. We did have our own vehicle. Honestly, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was very nice. We even had a whirlpool tub in our room which was oh sooo nice after a long day of walking in the parks. We also had a full kitchen and a living room area. Admittedly, we didn't use the kitchen, but I could see this as being a big money saver. Basically, we had more space, a full kitchen, and a whirlpool tub for a lot less money. It was further from the parks, but it was probably a 15-20 min drive (including getting to our car from the front gate at the parks). It wasn't that bad. And, I did my normal OCD inspection of the room (sheets, towels, corners, you name it...i'm a freak), and I had to admit (rather sheepishly) that DH's timeshare was spotless. I found a 1/2 eaten something between the wall and our bed at the Boardwalk Inn (a cookie I think), but since it wasn't alive, I just rolled over and pretended like it wasn't there (that 1/2 eaten thing wasn't going to ruin my Disney magic). I slipped by the front desk in the morning and told them about it.

Personally, I still like staying onsite better just because I love the theming at the deluxe resorts...I feel surrounded by Disney magic my entire trip. For me, it doesn't have all that much to do with convenience...it's more about the total experience.

So, I say, go with whatever suits your family best. If the room offsite is bigger, and you need more space, go for it. If the Extra Magic Hours are really important to you, stay onsite. You'll have a great trip either way.

 

[Lilolvr]

First trip has to be on site. You can use the disney buses and not have to worry about parking costs and driving. POP or AS are a good option.

 

[TinaLala22]

We stayed off site for years and usually rented a car, hoewver the first time we stayed on site and had that feeling of 'vacation-ness' we were hooked. Tell your DH all of the benefits of staying on site and that usually when you calculate the difference between off site and having a rental car and the agrevation of getting around on Disney roads and the parking fees, it equates out that on site is cheapter. Get the TOTAL Disney feeling and let Mickey drive the bus and you can sit back and relax.

Honestly after walking for ten hours does he really want to drive the 30-60mins back to the hotel through traffic? Or does he want to sit down on a bus and arrive at his hotel in under 20 mins where he'll be welcomed through the door with a smile.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

I wouldn't sweat it that much if he really insists. We love onsite but stay offsite also sometimes. You can always try visiting or eating over at the resorts, (and you might talk him into staying onsight next time this way!) Go to the Boardwalk area, gorgeous! you can eat at the the YC/BC, visit the Boardwalk, Dolphin/Swan; go to Poly one night for dinner at Ohana and see the water parade and "Wishes". Then you can jump on the monorail and take a ride around past GF, it does a loop and its a nice thing to do when not at the parks. Go to WL for lunch or AK if you want to visit or any other resort that suits your fancy. We love visiting other resorts. That way you can get him set up for next time and you'll know. Actually we did the Vistana Resort, it wasn't the Villages now that I'm thinking about it, but they were beautiful, had whirlpool in room, beautiful, gorgeous! We're Starwood members but you can't use your points there but we had gotten postcard for a deal awhile back. We actually preferred that place to the value resorts, but thats just us.

 

[robinb]

Personally, I prefer onsite. But that doesn't mean it's the best for everyone. There is a lot to be said for staying offsite in a big condo and/or pool home. BUT ... there are a LOT of cheap and skanky places off-site that I would not touch with a 10-foot pole. For instance I stayed one night at a Days Inn and one night at a Travellodge (both on 192) and they were terrible!

I would run your hotel choice by the folks over on the DIS Orlando Board: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15. You are pretty safe with hotels recommended here on the DIS's home page (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resort.htm) or over on Mousesavers (http://www.mousesavers.com/preferred.html).

My concern is not where you stay, but that your husband doesn't like lines and he likes to sleep in. Unless you go at a very, very quiet time you cannot avoid lines if your sleep in. If you are at the park of your choice when the park opens at 8:00 - 9:00 AM you will be able to ride just about anything with little or no wait. We do our "must-do" rides in the first hour or two and grab fast passes for other rides along the way. If you wait until 11:00 AM to arrive at the park with everyone else you will have more competition for the available rides and you will stand in line a lot more. For instance, I have walked onto Dumbo at 8:05 AM with no wait. Three hours later there is usually a line at least 45 minutes long!

I guess your husband will have to choose between getting up early or standing in line.

 

[goodferry]

We did off-site once and on-site always after that, we definitely prefer on-site. For my husband, driving through Orlando traffic is not a vacation, if he can grab a monorail, boat or bus to get where he needs to go, he is happy. Not to mention that we do like to be there at opening, and for some reason that is so much harder psychologically to do when you are off site.
My dh is not a traffic or line or crowd person either, but he will get up early, so we have that going for us. I have him convinced that I have his best interests (and the rest of the family's of course ) and he lets me book what I think is best.

 

[SereneOne]

I'm an offsite person. I have actually never stayed on-site. I just can not justify spending extra money on rooms I never plan to see.

But - I do agree that going back to the room to sleep is not worth it. I'd rather see a family do the parks from earliest opening to latest closing every other day, than waste time going to/from rooms to sleep. Have a "full day" at a park and then a "quiet day" where you sleep in a bit then go to the water park and DTD. Then another "full day" at a park.

My other reason for not doing onsite, is I just can't afford the multi-bedroom suites, and I don't want to HAVE to go to bed just because the kids have to. And I like to get up, shower, dress, prepare before they wake, not have them wake as early as DH and I do. And I also like preparing our own quick breakfasts so we can hit the park and PLAY, not eat.

The cost of two value rooms is what at best?... $150-$160??? That's a lot per night for what is available in Orlando/Kissimmee. Hear him out. He might have a great idea!

Having your car will help a lot!

But it is NOT cheaper to stay offsite, atleast during value season...our package is 2892 for three adults and one child for eight nights, nine days. That is for accomodations at Port Orleans Riverside, parkhoppers and the dining plan for eight nights. Take the $2900 and subtract about $1100 for nine day park hoppers, that leaves $1800. The meal plan is about $40 a day per adult and like 10 for a child, 130 x 8= 1040. Subtract the 1040 from the $1800 and that leaves $760 for the hotel...8 nights divided into 760 is $95 a night including taxes, that is equivalent to what, a Comfort Inn? Which I think a moderate may be nicer than, I do not know I never stayed in one before. Then throw in the free parking...saving $99 and getting the extra magic morning and evening hours, free transportation...we are driving from SC so we will be using our car, having packages delivered to your hotel, etc. I do not see the reason to stay offsite. Oh, I calculated how much it would cost to eat separate from the meal plan with the ADRs we have and it would be over $500 extra dollars. So staying onsite saves us over $600 plus the convenience of the extra hours, free delivery of packages to our room. And arent Disney hotels well gaurded? More so than the a Comfort Inn or Holiday Inn? I know you are not staying at a Holiday Inn or Comfort Inn, just comparing based on the price of $95 a night.

Whatever you and your husband decide, I hope you have a GREAT time!

 

[theostwalts]

As the DH in our family I prefer to stay on site for several reasons. As far as waiting, that is one reason I like being onsite...it is less waiting. When we arrive I pull up and someone gets our bags out of the car, parks the car, takes the bags to the room and we are on vacation. Nothing else to worry about except what park we want to go to and what time our ADR is. That is the great thing about Disney Transportation, it is always available and you can leave the driving to someone else. I vote for onsite.

 

[wdhinn89]

A few points.

1. We stay off site alot and have never experienced traffic. We stay at the Parway International and you can not compare the accomodations there to a value resort and say there is not much of a cost difference. Beleive me, there is, for the price you pay you are getting much more in the way of accomodations. Value rooms are very small.

2. As far as standing in lines go, nobody likes to stand in lines but we do it because we have no choice so lets not pick on the posters hubby.

3. What time you wake up to go to the park is a preference. We prefer a little later after we had a nice sleep. We may encounter more of a crowd in the late morning, early afternoon but by the evening time all you early birds are gone because your'e exhausted.