help us decide - offsite or keep pop room?

[hollybearsmom]

We have to cut expenses for our trip as much as possible. We are thinking about dropping the dining plan.....and then we are trying to decide if we should only stay on property a few days, then staying off property three nights.
Will we really save money? Should we try to get a condo? Or priceline for a hotel and hope for the best? I tried windsorhills site earlier today and mostly I got the "weekly rentals" and high season quotes. What should we do???

 

[Freyja]

I feel your pain. We had to cut expenses as well. We were planning on starting with a week in the keys, snorkeling, etc. but decided to stay a week offsite in Orlando instead. We were also going to drop the dining plan while at Disney but yesterday I decided to keep it. I figured I wouldn´t want to eat CS for all Thanksgiving week and if I would be doing TS anyway then I might as well be on the dining plan. But we´re doing base tickets, no hoppers or water park options. We´re also staying offsite for our last week and eating as much as possible at the villa during that time.

If you decide to stay in a condo, it will obvisouly make it easier for you to save on food. Breakfast at the condo, snacks, etc. However, if you decide to stay in Windsor Hills I´m not sure it will save you any money since the condos there seem to be quite expensive.

We´re staying in a condo in Regal Palms (Davenport) and got an excellent deal, quite a bit cheaper than what we could get at WH, but we´re not doing the parks that week.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[srwarden1928]

Our family would definately spend MORE money on the dining plan, so I recommend dropping that. I personally dont like staying in condos. Some offsite hotels are cheaper than value hotels--some are MUCH cheaper. Do remember that offsite you are paying $12 a day for parking at the parks. That cuts the savings some. Also, while some offsite hotels are even closer to parks than some of the Disney ones, some are farther away. The commuting time, especially if you are trying to make rope drop like we do, may be burdensome. Last time, we stayed at the Regal Sun. It was nice, but almost as high as POP. It was well located. I always use the aaa.com website to choose a hotel for any of my trips. You have to balance cost and location and make the best choice for your family.

 

[momtoleasawav]

dining plan would be the first to go for me. you can easily have breakfast in the room and pack lunches- there are lockers at the parks to store stuff if you don't want to carry it. I, personally would stay on site- use disney transportation and enjoy.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I would get offsite for the stay and not look back. The $12 a day parking would be offset by cheaper eats offsite. Disney transport is overrated, I would drive even if on site. Try some of the condo discount sites, skyauction if offseason, or even places like Orbitz that are offering additional discounts for a 3+ night stay.

We are making the trip in 2 weeks and have the following budget:
1200 total
We paid 166 for a 2 bedroom condo at Silver Lake thru Skyauction.
350 fuel and parking
We already have tickets, the Halloween Party tickets were 150 thru Travelzoo (10% discount)
We have just over 500 for food for the week, that is 1-2 meals in and 1-2 meals out per day for the week.

 

[thumbalyna]

we are staying off site and i tried to figure out the cheapest way to do this
we already bought our park tickets and MNSSHP tickets
airfare paid for months ago
rental car will go on cc and i will deal with that when we get home

that leaves us 1100 for 10 days for food and what not. ( and 12.00 a day for parking)

but i would rather do disney on a budget then not do it at all

 

[Brian Noble]

Are you flying in, or driving?

If flying, it's very hard to beat a Value resort, using Disney transportation, and sticking to CS meals for your trip. If driving, you don't need a rental car, and that makes offsite a better value proposition.

 

[hollybearsmom]

We are driving in. We planned on bringing breakfast and the kids snacks anyway. The holiday rates are high all over, but how far out should we stay? Are there any good kitchenette equipped hotels that would suit us better than a condo???

 

[Luv2Roam]

If you are going during the holidays I would definitely stay on site. If nothing else you don't have to worry about park closures. On site guests will get into a park, even if it is not their first choice. Off site guests could possibly be shut out, depending where on the closure list they are. (And driving into and parking at the MK during the holiday season is not a pretty sight. Take the Disney transportation!)
Plus on site will have EMH, a big plus in itself during the holiday season.

 

[Chrisinroch]

IMO, Once you rent a house offsite, its hard to go back to the hotel. Private pool, saving on food, the space, the space, oh and the space.

 

[hollybearsmom]

thanks for all the replies. We are trying to do it to save money. I was sure I could do better than 120 a night. Even with the parking. And yes, space plus a kitchen is a huge pull to stay off site. But, I didn't have any more luck last night than yesterday finding someone with great prices and availability at the same time....augh! Wish me luck for today!!!!!

 

[Freyja]

Mousesavers has a great deal on the Buena Vista suites, for $89 a night, breakfast included.

 

[hollybearsmom]

Oh - I'll have to go look at my newsletter, thanks!


I couldn't find anything for our dates under the rate we have for POP, but thanks anyway.

 

[bdink921]

JMO but if I were going to WDW at Christmastime, I would stay on site just for the EMH to get a jump on the crowds. That one hour of lower crowds can be a big thing during the most crowded time of year. We stayed off site for our April vacation and while the condo was gorgeous and we ate some meals in (like breakfast and a couple of dinners) which saved some money (overall we spent about the same for off site as we would have for on), it just didn't work out for us. My DH can only take so much of the crowds before he needs to leave and with off site we just didn't have the option of splitting up since we had the one rental car. That right there put a huge damper on our vacation and is the reason why the next time we're going to WDW according to DH is when we have grandkids (DS in only 9!!). You have to do what's best for your family and that may not mean staying offsite to save a few bucks. BTW we stayed at POP and it was really cute--we were out in the parks most of the day anyway.

 

[hollybearsmom]

Meltdown is one of our concerns....our kids are 2 and 9. Hours during the holidays are so extended that there is no way we can stay open to close, and I know if we leave one we may have to go somewhere else and wait to get back in. I still think it may be nice to have a chance to get away from too much and still be able to resort hop one day, and do DTD one day. We don't necessarily need to be on property to still enjoy seeing decorations. Any other thoughts? Any one else who knows an owner that could pm me so I could ask if they an open unit???

 

[kilee]

I'll be honest. Every time I have stayed offsite I have always saved more money than being onsite. They each have their perks though. Personally, everytime I've priced out the dining plan, it's always come to more than I'd normally spend on food.

We've gotten some really great deals on priceline, but you do have to do the homework to get it done.

As far as the condo's, well the space cannot be beat. Though, they are not always that much cheaper than value resorts onsite. I think I'd figure out both methods and then see how much you will truly save first. Then go from there.

 

[melafive]

Check out travelzoo.com they seem to have some good deals. We have a family of five so staying of site is the way to go for us. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[dgaston]

I started out last night planning an impromptu trip with DS20 to WDW in December. I looked at Mousesavers deals at both Buena Vista Suites and Caribe Royal. Then this am I called CRO to ask about the Disney Visa free dining. I can't believe it, but we are going to stay at All Stars Sports for 5 nights and pay only $116.50 over the AP discounted rate for food for the two of us for 5 days. We did have to purchase two 1 -day tickets at $75 each, but I will apply that to the cost the next time we need to purchase APs. I had one reward flight on SWA, so we will only need to pay $89 each for our flight from PVD to MCO. We'll take ME and then I can report how ASSp was for us.

This is very impulsive for me, but I get to see the Christmas decorations! And maybe I'll go to MVMCP too!

 

[hollybearsmom]

That's a great deal! I really hate to give up this early but we don't want to wait to nov to make a decision....so much to think about...

 

[maxiesmom]

It is a tough decision. We have stayed off site 3 times, and on site 8 times. I prefer on site, but you can get some great deals off site. Check out Staybridge Suites, LBV. It is right at the enterance to Down Town Disney. They have one and two bedroom units that come with a kitchen. And they also have a free continental breakfast. There is a pool and a hot tub, but no pool slide, if that is important. But it is a very nice hotel, and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, if we decide to go off site again.