Help me decide -stay onsite or off???!!!

[traces7]

I pretty much had this decided but now I'm second guessing because of the expense. It will just be my 6 yr old daughter and I. We're going Oct 26-30. We were going to stay ot Port Orleans French Quarter or possibly All Star Movies (POFQ is our 1st choice). But now I'm thinking is it worth the extra $. Some friends of ours have gone done a couple times and stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree which is close and has an ok shuttle they say and is a lot cheaper. What do we do? I'm still leaning toward splurging at staying at POFQ, but hope I don't regret spending the $.
Thanks for your help

 

[dennisnlisab96]

SPLURGE !!!!!

 

[rnd4life]

If it were me, I'd definitely splurge and stay onsite. We stayed offsite a few times when I was younger so I can tell you from experience that there is a HUGE difference. Driving back and forth is a hassle, not to mention paying for parking everyday. If it's something you can do, you should stay on property.

Have fun!

 

[Laurajean1014]

What's the cost difference? If it's more than $30 or $40 a night, then do it.

However, if you are not saving more than $200-300 during your stay, then stay on property. You and your daughter will have more time to spend in the pool, rides, parks, shops than waiting for the shuttle and it's drop offs.

Disney is topnotch in transportation and knows how to treat its visitors. PO or FQ is very very nice. I doubt a HI is better. I was there for a short stay business trip and we paid less than $100 a night for ajoining rooms.

The food options are also more superior than anything at HI or outside the parks. You can counter, sit or character breakfast.

Go for it.

 

[dawgsgirl]

With just the 2 of you I would stay on-site. Will you have a car? If you stay off-site, a car is a necessity.

 

[Furnacefighter]

We've done both, off site and on and by far we perfer to stay in the World. Not having to face that traffic jam in the morning going into the parking lots is a real plus. I get nailed by traffic gridlock everyday so getting a traffic repreave when on vacation is most welcomed. Also we noticed the midpriced hotels and motels in the Orlando area had declined in quality over the years. We've always found the Disney's room quality very good. On the average I think that we're slightly on the fussy side so a clean room is must. Disney pluses are nice too. Being able to have purchases delivered to your room (not having to carry them all over the park) and having the privlege of early or late entry are nice perks. The biggest advantage to staying on site are the CM's. In life you get what you pay for. Most of the Disney people that we encountered went the extra mile to make us feel like VIP's. Their service is worth the extra expense. We'll never stay out of the World again!! We spent a week at POFQ three years ago and had a wonderful time.

Where ever you stay, have a great time!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We ( DH, myself, DS(6) and DD(1) stayed offsite last January. Even without the baby, it would have been a nightmare and it was. The stress of the driving everyday to the park was horrid. We got lost everytime trying to get back to our hotel, because once Disney has you, they won't let you leave. My DH said never again! What we saved was not that significant. We are going again in September and we're staying at the CR. Have fun, I can't wait to do a mother-daughter trip when my little one gets a little older.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

ONSITE!!!

 

[dawgfan]

It is more than mere convenience. That is enough for most to stay on site. There is also something special that most people are unable to describe other than to say it is Disney Magic. I have stayed off site once for an over night at a very close Hotel with a great rep. It was only overnight as we were checking in to ASMu the next day, but I can safely say that I evaluated the one night stay for it's potential as a place to stay in the future as an off iste alternative. The place we stayed was excellent and I had no complaints. It was a Renaisance, Marriotts higher end Hotel. The hotel was fantastic. We stayed on site at a budget hotel. This would seem to be quite a difference in styles of hotel. It would seem that I would enjoy the high end hotel more. That is not the case. I would not stay off site if I were you just for the experience. You emerse yourself in Disney when staying on site. This is especially true for anyone with a kid going along.

 

[tone.def]

stay onsite - you'll love the Port Orleans!!!

There are other benefits to onsite guests like Extra Magic Hour too.

 

[jenjen212]

first, have you ever stayed on property before??? if not, do it! just for that reason alone, it is a must do. it is a completely different environment when you are on property.

you just feel engulfed in the "magic". from the workers, ie. cast members, to the themes of the hotels, to the convience, transportation, comfort, food courts in every resort, resort benefits of being able to have your park purchases sent to your room so you don't have to carry them around, and down to every last detailed decoration in the rooms. everything is different and 100% better.

ever since the first time what we stayed on property, we always prefer to stay there. since we live in miami, and are passholders, being so close to disney we have lots of last minute trips up there. we will try to stay there, but if the resorts are booked, so we end up either staying with family there, or at a nearby hotel. it is NEVER the same!

plus staying at pofq, you also have access to the pool over at riverside, and the ferry boat that will drive you to downtown disney. the ferry runs between both resorts - so you can take it to riverside as well.

some of our pics of pofq from when we were there last year:

MARI GRAS THEMED FOOD COURT:

RESORT BUILDING:

MARI GRAS THEMED POOL & SLIDE:

LOBBY:

there are many more pictures that you can look at on this site, and look at pictures of all star movies... http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/photo2.html

good luck!

jen

 

[missypie]

ONSITE!

I have a good income, but really watch where the money goes. Having stayed at some nice hotels around the country, I was shocked at how much the Disney resorts cost. We did a YC/CR split, with an AP rate, but the rooms were still more than I'd ever paid for a hotel before. I was pretty sure I'd come home and say "That was so not worth it." But I had the opposite feeling. It is so nice to never see a strip center or anything else resembling the "outside world." So relaxing. Before we left we had to find a Walmart to buy an extra duffle bag and leaving the property was like a slap in the face.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

Please don't second guess yourself. Stay onsite! You'll be glad you did!

 

[LAS]

I would stay on-site. On our last trip we stayed the first night off site and then moved on site for the first time to AS Sports and WL. My DH said even if we all ways have to stay at a value that the whole Disney Magic is worth being on site. I hope you enjoy.

 

[Nuchi15697]

:thewave: ONSITE!!! :thewave:

 

[TJA]

You won't regret staying onsite, but you might regret staying offsite.

For us, the key to a great vacation is convenience. I can't even imagine watching Wishes at night and then trying to get to my offsite hotel.

I'm sure you've looked into possible discounts, such as AAA?

 

[airplane]

ONSITE
I have stayed on and off site and now I won't even go if I have to stay offsite. It's just not the same.
I can't describe to you how different it feels staying onsite. It adds so much to the whole WDW experience.

 

[J and R's mom]

This is my normal signature. I didn't modify it for this post. It's how I truely feel.

For our one-year anniversary I decided to save us money and stayed off-site. Lured by the savings and the "promise" of shuttles, I made the choice to stay off-site. DH wanted to stay at BWI again but I talked him out of it. He still gives me a hard. (He LOVES it when he's right and I'm wrong).

Anyway, although the hotel was fine (can't remember which one it was now), the shuttles ran several times in the morning and several times in the evening. That was it. I had called to check on it before-hand and they made it sound like they had regular shuttles going every other hour or so. WRONG! They never came back durning the afternoon hours so we were always tired and looking for a place to rest (we even camped out on the back porch off the BWI lobby one afternoon in the chairs and napped some...envious of every person getting to stay in that hotel as they passed by). Plus we had to be ready when their shuttles were or we were out of luck. I can't remember the number of cab trips we took, but I think that the cost of them made up for the difference in any savings I got by booking off-site.

I called CRO several times daily to try and get a hotel ANYWHERE on-site, but it was around Easter and EVERYTHING (including the suites...I asked) was booked. Oh, well. At least I learned my lesson.

With a 6 yr old, you'll definitely want easy access to your resort so that you can go back and rest/swim often and the best place to do that is somewhere on property using the WDW transportation system.

Either way you choose, have a great trip. Your daughter will love it!

 

[bytheblood]

Honey, it's not Disney if you aren't on property. That is my opinion, at least.

I love POFQ. If you wanted to go Deluxe, I suggest Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Polynesian.

 

[allshookup]

We are also die hard fans of on-site too. We tried one of the Downtown Disney hotels once and even at a special rate of $20 per night, it was not worth it. We were so disappointed waiting for almost an hour in the middle of the MK parking-lot for the DTD hotel bus and watching one Disney bus after another pull in and we said "never again!" Plus there was no where to walk around the hotel, except in a parking lot or by a very busy street. All the Disney hotels have such beautiful atmosphere like tree-lined paths, or beautifully manicured lawns, flowers, etc. For the convenience and atmosphere alone, it is well worth the price to us, but like others have said...there's so much more!