help...outside/inside ? rental car ? parking ?

[bestjsg]

Hi All,

I am a newbie in the forum , have been reading a lot of thread, great info, really apprecited everyone's input.

I am planning a trip to Disneyworld and struggling to decide if I should stay in a Disney property or outside of Disney, main thing I want to stay inside is that I can purchase meal plans which seems like a good deal, any comments on this ?

Also, if I stay inside disney, would you recommend I still rent a car anyways to avoid the long wait for shuttle ? I was chatting online with a disney.com cast member he claims that driving and riding the disney shuttle takes about the same time...while parking lot is very big and that one has to take a tram to a parks entrance.. I just think that I have younger kids, it would be great for them to just jump into the car after a long day instead of waitng for like 30 mins for shuttle.. anyone has experience with this ?

I understand parking at theme parks are free as long as we stay inside disney but does anyone know that the actual resort charge for parking as well ? (just thinking of going to visit all the resorts to take pictures and so on..)

Finally just like many others, the question about flying from Toronto or Buffalo, looks like Buffalo is the way to go and that all Jet Blue, Airtran and SW are all the same just the matter of who is cheapest..

thank you for reading this rather long message, please do provide any feedbacks or suggestions, thanks !

 

[c&m]

At WDW, here's what worked for our family on previous trips. See if it applies to your family...

We always stay onsite. We always go for a moderate or deluxe resort (depends on the deal we get). Since we come from so far away, we don't want to waste time travelling in/out of the WDW property by staying offsite. We also want to stay at a nice resort since we've come so far to have the *experience*.

Meal plans are a GREAT idea if you have kids/tweens/teens with good appetites. Our last trip was great with free dining with the basic plan (1 CS, 1 TS and 1 snack). Our tween and teen DDs who both have hollow legs were well fed and happy. The free dining allowed us to go to more TS restaurants than we would normally have gone to due to cost.

We always rent a car. Gets us where we want to go more efficiently. You're also right, after a long day at the parks, it's nice to just hop into the car and drive yourselves back to the hotel. If our older kids were tired -- I can imagine younger kids just exhausted. Plus, we like to sometimes wander off to a Super Target to buy water (and just because I LOVE Target) or to the premium outlets.

We didn't find parking at the parks to be an issue. I guess it depends on whether you go at a busy time of year (we went the last week in August when a lot of U.S. kids were back in school so it was not crowded). Sometimes, we parked so close we didn't need the tram to take us to the park's front gate. Parking is free at the WDW resorts and parks as long as you stay onsite. We display our resort parking pass at the hotel parking entrance and the guard waves you in.

 

[bestjsg]

At WDW, here's what worked for our family on previous trips. See if it applies to your family...

We always stay onsite. We always go for a moderate or deluxe resort (depends on the deal we get). Since we come from so far away, we don't want to waste time travelling in/out of the WDW property by staying offsite. We also want to stay at a nice resort since we've come so far to have the *experience*.

Meal plans are a GREAT idea if you have kids/tweens/teens with good appetites. Our last trip was great with free dining with the basic plan (1 CS, 1 TS and 1 snack). Our tween and teen DDs who both have hollow legs were well fed and happy. The free dining allowed us to go to more TS restaurants than we would normally have gone to due to cost.

We always rent a car. Gets us where we want to go more efficiently. You're also right, after a long day at the parks, it's nice to just hop into the car and drive yourselves back to the hotel. If our older kids were tired -- I can imagine younger kids just exhausted. Plus, we like to sometimes wander off to a Super Target to buy water (and just because I LOVE Target) or to the premium outlets.

We didn't find parking at the parks to be an issue. I guess it depends on whether you go at a busy time of year (we went the last week in August when a lot of U.S. kids were back in school so it was not crowded). Sometimes, we parked so close we didn't need the tram to take us to the park's front gate. Parking is free at the WDW resorts and parks as long as you stay onsite. We display our resort parking pass at the hotel parking entrance and the guard waves you in.

thanks for your reply, sounds like our plan too in terms of having the car to go to outlet mall , target and walmart for water , snack etc....btw , did you make your own breakfast from stuff you bought outside or you went for proper breakfast with the meal plan ? (since meal plan gives only 1 table service , 1 quick and a snack..seems like missing breakfast..)

just want to clarify about resort parking , did you mean you get free parking at the resort you stayed at or you meant any other WDW also ?

 

[cdnmickeylover]

If you are staying onsite parking is free at the parks and at any resorts. This is only for Disney resorts though - if you go to the Swan or Dolphin there is a parking charge.

We are two adults and always stay onsite to get more of the 'magic'. We don't rent a car though as we don't mind taking the bus including Magical Express to/from the airport. We don't go offsite to go shopping though but we aren't really interested in outlet shopping and if we do want to go we just take a taxi.

We usually get the meal plan but don't use it for breakfast. We bring stuff with us for breakfast or we go to one of the DVC resorts and buy stuff for breakfast. The meal plan is a good value if you use it properly. You have to make ADR's to be certain of using your table service credits though so it takes some planning.

 

[abdmom]

We always stay at a timeshare resort offsite. Total outlay for accommodations is less than $1000 for a week. This gives us a 2 or 3 bedroom condo with great waterparks. The drive to a theme park is 15-30 minutes. We eat breakfast and most dinners offsite. There are tons of great restaurants in Orlando and Kissimmee. We like having the flexibility to go or not go to a theme park, depending on our moods.

Finally just like many others, the question about flying from Toronto or Buffalo, looks like Buffalo is the way to go and that all Jet Blue, Airtran and SW are all the same just the matter of who is cheapest..

I haven't flown any of those airlines yet, (I just moved back to TO from the States) but when I do, I'll choose Jet Blue. They have assigned seating (which SW doesn't) and entertainment systems in the seat backs.

 

[formill]

We've always stayed offsite- and the best has been the villas with own pools/hot tubs-but a lot of our vacation is just staying at the house/in the pool/going for walks,playing mini golf, shopping, etc. A hotel room of any sort is not an option for our family of 6- we can usually handle the one night before we fly out in one and that is it! We don't go to the "parks" everyday or even every trip.

We've flown all three of those airlines- Jet Blue was the favourite for the tvs, assigned seating -Air Trans least favourite for smaller seat area/pay for luggage- Southwest good too but no tv! We've used different ones for each way of trip- ie;Jet Blue down, Southwest home last trip-whatever works time/money wise.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

As to flying we always fly out of Buffalo and fly Southwest. No charge for the first two bags which is a plus. Sign up for DING if you think you are going to fly Southwest. Haven't flown the other airlines but any of them out of Buffalo are fine.

 

[c&m]

thanks for your reply, sounds like our plan too in terms of having the car to go to outlet mall , target and walmart for water , snack etc....btw , did you make your own breakfast from stuff you bought outside or you went for proper breakfast with the meal plan ? (since meal plan gives only 1 table service , 1 quick and a snack..seems like missing breakfast..)

just want to clarify about resort parking , did you mean you get free parking at the resort you stayed at or you meant any other WDW also ?

No, we never made breakfast in our room. There was no need to bring in extra food. In fact, it was a case of too much food.

We used the 1 counter service for either a breakfast or lunch. We would eat at about 10 or 11am, which covered both meals. Also, my family loves yogourt parfaits for breakfast and that was usually a snack credit. With the 1 table service, we would have a nice big meal (for example, the buffet at Boma, Crystal Palace, Teppan-Edo, Le Cellier, etc.). If we went for a big buffet brunch, we wouldn't be hungry till about 3 or 4pm, at which time we'd grab a snack. Believe me, we didn't miss any meal and we were very well fed. In fact, we ended up with about 7 snack credits we never used, which we used to buy brownies from the Earl of Sandwich and cookies from Goofy's Candy shop at DTD.

As a side note: Earl of Sandwich and Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD are great places to use your counter service. You get a drink, an entree, and a dessert. (If you want, read my food report -- see link in my signature -- to see how we used our dining plan.)

And yes, we got free parking at all the WDW resorts and WDW parks/waterparks. All we had to do was to display a piece of paper that indicated our resort and resort dates.

HTH!

 

[monkey30]

We have stayed off site in a time share as well and decided to resort it this time, I will let u know in a few weeks how I liked it!!

As for the car we rented one, figured with baby it made more sense then being squished onto a bus. But that is for the younger ones, if we did not have them we would bus it all the way! Plus it does come in handy for shopping which I like doing down there!!LOL

 

[bestjsg]

We have stayed off site in a time share as well and decided to resort it this time, I will let u know in a few weeks how I liked it!!

As for the car we rented one, figured with baby it made more sense then being squished onto a bus. But that is for the younger ones, if we did not have them we would bus it all the way! Plus it does come in handy for shopping which I like doing down there!!LOL

thanks for your reply. So you stayed offsite, did you have to pay for parking when you visited the onsite Disney resorts ? ( I know parking is $ 15 a day for the theme park..)

 

[LSmith]

We have stayed many times both off site and on site.

Like formill, we prefer off site. We do not have to be Disneyfied 24/7. We enjoy the beautiful beaches, other parks, shopping etc. plus we love Disney.

We have rented different villas but we are going back to our favourite this year (last year it wasn't available for our time). It is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, private pool, very well equipped kitchen, laundry room and games room. It is always super clean and the owners are a pleasure to deal with. We are paying $100 per night, tax in and pool heat included. It is in Davenport, about a 20 or so minute drive to Disney.

We love coming back in the afternoon to veg in our private space and not have to eat restaurant food all of the time.

After dinner we may or may not go back to the parks.

Of course we have to rent a car but there are plenty of good deals to be found online.

I can't imagine wanting to stay in a tiny hotel room when we have that.

 

[PanamaMike]

So you stayed offsite, did you have to pay for parking when you visited the onsite Disney resorts ? ( I know parking is $ 15 a day for the theme park..)

Parking at the Disney hotels is free for everyone but if you are not a hotel guest they usually limit you to three hours...enough time to look around, shop or dine.

 

[bestjsg]

thank you very much all for your help..!!

this board is just great, I got so much info from it, in fact, too much info...

I now know we want the moderate resorts, from reading pages of threads, so far narrow down to CSR , PORFQ and CBR.

here are what I feel so far..

CSR - nice new rooms, 2 x Queens , but read horrible story about the mousekeeper washes the floor with toilet water..!! and kind of concern the convention crown ..(how do know if there is one going on ? is there a set schedule for those ?)

PORFQ - 2 x doubles, nice pool with PINK slides..

CBR - 2 x doubles, like the beach in the front of the resort...


So this is for me and my wife with 2 daughters 9 and 4, we will be joining the meal plan and will be renting a car anyways , any suggestions ?

or which resort will have a closer distance from parking to the room ?

thanks in advance for any input..

 

[c&m]

You mentioned "PORFQ". They are 2 different hotels -- POR (Port Orleans Riverside) and POFQ (Port Orleans French Quarter).

We've stayed at both. We found the serpent pool/poolslide/pool scene at POFQ to be aimed more for small, young children. The pool and poolslide at POR is better for school aged children. POFQ is not as spread out as the buildings over at POR. Both have their charm.

I've not stayed at CSR but I heard their pool and jaguar slide is amazing fun for kids.

With the parking, you'd have to look at the resort map and pick a building with parking close to it, and then make the room/building request a few days prior to your arrival by faxing or emailing your request to the hotel reservations. You will find more info on that in old threads in the Resorts board.

 

[bestjsg]

As to flying we always fly out of Buffalo and fly Southwest. No charge for the first two bags which is a plus. Sign up for DING if you think you are going to fly Southwest. Haven't flown the other airlines but any of them out of Buffalo are fine.

thanks for the info, I have read that you have to check in exactly 24 hrs before the flight to get good seats, so does this mean 24 hr ago you can get to chose your seat and book/fix the avialable seats ? what if I don't check in online 24 hr in advance (I am thinking the way back might not be able to do it easily), how bad would my seats be ? we have 2 adults and 2 kids, cannot have the kids not sitting together...

 

[caisland]

Southwest has pretty good explanation on their website.

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/checkin.html

The earlier you checkin the earlier you get to board. 3 seats per row so you will be sitting across the row or behind you wife and children

Fast and cheap it's the way to fly for Canadians

We rented a car the last 2 years for convenience and we went offsite to Cape Canaveral 1 year, Seaworld last year. We also hit a grocery store for breakfast foods and of course lots of WATER. We go in August during free dining and stayed 2 weeks last year.
I can almost feel the heat now...........
Enjoy planning and going.
We are not going this year and I miss not having it to plan for.

 

[PanamaMike]

thanks for the info, I have read that you have to check in exactly 24 hrs before the flight to get good seats, so does this mean 24 hr ago you can get to chose your seat and book/fix the avialable seats ? what if I don't check in online 24 hr in advance (I am thinking the way back might not be able to do it easily), how bad would my seats be ? we have 2 adults and 2 kids, cannot have the kids not sitting together...

Southwest doesn't do reserved seating. Like riding a bus, it's first come, first served...sit in whatever seat you'd like

The online check-in that begins 24 hours before your flight is to reserve your position in the boarding line...obviously the fewer people ahead of you when you get on the plane, the greater your choice of seats.

For an additional $10 per ticket each way, Southwest will automatically check you in 36 hours before your flight, putting you near the front of the line.

 

[suejai]

We have stayed many times both off site and on site.

Like formill, we prefer off site. We do not have to be Disneyfied 24/7. We enjoy the beautiful beaches, other parks, shopping etc. plus we love Disney.

We have rented different villas but we are going back to our favourite this year (last year it wasn't available for our time). It is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, private pool, very well equipped kitchen, laundry room and games room. It is always super clean and the owners are a pleasure to deal with. We are paying $100 per night, tax in and pool heat included. It is in Davenport, about a 20 or so minute drive to Disney.

We love coming back in the afternoon to veg in our private space and not have to eat restaurant food all of the time.

After dinner we may or may not go back to the parks.

Of course we have to rent a car but there are plenty of good deals to be found online.

I can't imagine wanting to stay in a tiny hotel room when we have that.

This describes us as well.

We stay at Windsor Hills, which is a 5 to 10 minute drive to any of the Disney Parks. We like to go to other attractions as well, including going to Clearwater to the beach. Also like not having to eat at restaurants all the time, especially for breakfast. I think the last time we went, this past May, a 3 bedroom condo was $1400CAD for 2 weeks.

Subscribe to the Mousesavers newsletter to get cheaper rates and discount codes for the car rental.

For us the space you get when staying at a condo outweigh any of the perks you get from staying onsite. Maybe one day when it is just DH and I we will stay onsite.