hotels - inside or outside?

[Experiment 777]

Hi Everyone,

My first post. We are currently planning a trip to Orlando for May. We have been over a number of times but always stayed in a Disney hotel. This year we were debating staying outside for 2 reasons. One, cost and two, because we are booking it separately ourselves rather than using a package (so, we have unlimited choices). The problem is, having stayed in Disneys hotels only, will we be disappointed by staying outside? Are there advantages of not being on Disney property? Can anybody recommend a good, sensibly priced non-Disney hotel? Should I just book Pop Century or Port Orleans and blow the bank balance

Thanks for any help,

Mark

 

[disneyholic family]

this May (as in 2 months from now)?
or May 2011?
not that it matters....just curious..

we've done both (though for the past 10 years, we've only been onsite)....
offsite is typically cheaper, though a bit less convenient...
and when you stay offsite, you miss out on extra magic hours (if that's important to you)...

but if cost is the determining factor, usually offsite will come out the winner...

 

[DISWolves]

Welcome to the DIS

We have stayed both on and off site quite a few times.
You will notice soon that quite a few Brits have taken advantage of the Old Key West offer including dining plan for August 2010
This has worked out at around £100/day inclusive
If you intend on visiting the parks quite often, staying on site saves you the ever increasing car park fees (unless you have AP's), also you can take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, although a lot of people avoid the individual parks on these days
Staying off site, a lot of hotels now offer free WiFi, which can be expensive over a long stay on Disney property, also if you do not have the dining plan, Disney dining can be quite expensive, so you could take advantage of the many good local eateries around the area.

 

[Experiment 777]

this May (as in 2 months from now)?
or May 2011?
not that it matters....just curious..

we've done both (though for the past 10 years, we've only been onsite)....
offsite is typically cheaper, though a bit less convenient...
and when you stay offsite, you miss out on extra magic hours (if that's important to you)...

but if cost is the determining factor, usually offsite will come out the winner...

Yep, this May.

We've used the extra magic hours before. I have a picture of us with Mickey and Minnie in front of the castle taken after midnight It's quite cool being at the parks after the majority have gone.

The past 10 years onsite shows which you obviously prefer then.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Experiment 777]

Welcome to the DIS

We have stayed both on and off site quite a few times.
You will notice soon that quite a few Brits have taken advantage of the Old Key West offer including dining plan for August 2010
This has worked out at around £100/day inclusive
If you intend on visiting the parks quite often, staying on site saves you the ever increasing car park fees (unless you have AP's), also you can take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, although a lot of people avoid the individual parks on these days
Staying off site, a lot of hotels now offer free WiFi, which can be expensive over a long stay on Disney property, also if you do not have the dining plan, Disney dining can be quite expensive, so you could take advantage of the many good local eateries around the area.

We're locked into May as its our anniversary then, so the dining plan deal hasn't started by then.

Parking fees are one of the areas that makes me wonder if staying offsite is quite as cheap as it appears. Also, convenience and the onsite transportation is so useful for going to 1 park for part of the day and then back to the pool and then a 2nd park for the evening.

I agree Disney for food can be expensive (especially breakfast )

Thanks,

Mark

 

[disneyholic family]

We're locked into May as its our anniversary then, so the dining plan deal hasn't started by then.

Parking fees are one of the areas that makes me wonder if staying offsite is quite as cheap as it appears. Also, convenience and the onsite transportation is so useful for going to 1 park for part of the day and then back to the pool and then a 2nd park for the evening.

I agree Disney for food can be expensive (especially breakfast )

Thanks,

Mark

we have breakfast in the room....
the onsite moderate and deluxe resorts all have fridges...
and a fridge can be requested at a value resort ($10/day unless you need it for medical reasons, in which case it's free - and they don't ask what you need it for - you just specify you need it for medical reasons and then it's free)..

I buy milk, orange juice, cereal, bagels, cream cheese etc and keep it in the room for breakfast each morning...
you can buy larger sizes in the souvenir store in each resort (rather than the more costly smaller sizes in the food court)..

it not only saves money, it also saves considerable time eating a quick meal in the room...

we're not big breakfast eaters, so this works out better for us..

 

[Winnie McPooh]

We're locked into May as its our anniversary then, so the dining plan deal hasn't started by then.

Parking fees are one of the areas that makes me wonder if staying offsite is quite as cheap as it appears. Also, convenience and the onsite transportation is so useful for going to 1 park for part of the day and then back to the pool and then a 2nd park for the evening.

I agree Disney for food can be expensive (especially breakfast )

Thanks,

Mark

Hi, we have never stayed onsite and never hired a car. The hotel we are staying at this year (The Courtyard at Marriott Village, LBV) offers free transport to Disney, which is saving us a bundle and it doesn't take that long to get there. There are plenty place around it as well for eating thats cheap! We've never had a problem staying offsite, we like to go to the shops and Seaworld, so suits us better that way.
Wouldn't rule if out if I were you!!

 

[Experiment 777]

Hi, we have never stayed onsite and never hired a car. The hotel we are staying at this year (The Courtyard at Marriott Village, LBV) offers free transport to Disney, which is saving us a bundle and it doesn't take that long to get there. There are plenty place around it as well for eating thats cheap! We've never had a problem staying offsite, we like to go to the shops and Seaworld, so suits us better that way.
Wouldn't rule if out if I were you!!

Interesting, the Marriott Village hotels were on my offsite shortlist. They look pretty good based on the reviews and pictures. I'll take another look at them.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Soprano]

Interesting, the Marriott Village hotels were on my offsite shortlist. They look pretty good based on the reviews and pictures. I'll take another look at them.

Thanks,

Mark

We never stay onsite as I don't want too much Disney and like my trips with a little variety. We usually stay on I-Drive, but I'm a little tired of seeing brits in football shirts wearing tattoos, smoking and shouting at their kids so we're staying here, also in May: http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/tr...orlando-lake-buena-vista-in-marriott-village/

Perhaps a little too close to the Premium Outlet$

 

[wayneg]

Stayed at the Marriott village 3 times but at Fairfield Inn not Courtyard. Our only problem with it is traffic congestion, it can take 15-20 mins to get out of the hotel and turn right towards Disney onto SR535. Sometimes I end up going left then a U-turn. We prefer the Courtyard on Palm parkway LBV, stayed there twice, far easier for traffic.
We only go school hols, out of season traffic won't be as bad.

 

[disneyholic family]

Stayed at the Marriott village 3 times but at Fairfield Inn not Courtyard. Our only problem with it is traffic congestion, it can take 15-20 mins to get out of the hotel and turn right towards Disney onto SR535. Sometimes I end up going left then a U-turn. We prefer the Courtyard on Palm parkway LBV, stayed there twice, far easier for traffic.
We only go school hols, out of season traffic won't be as bad.

i also much prefer the lake buena vista area....when we've stayed offsite, that's the area we stay..
we did stay there more recently - stayed at the villas of grand cypress the summer WDW decided to do away with extra magic hours...i was ticked off at them, so we stayed offsite that summer.. the villas were stupendous!! and the service was outstanding..

 

[Neoshoegal]

Our preference is staying onsite. We can't get enough of the whole Disney atmosphere so it's nice not to have to leave it. It's also nice that it doesn't take long to get to the parks at all. We do always hire a car, we do use the Disney busses sometimes, mainly to get to the MK.
Like disneyholic family we tend to have breakfast in our room. A quick trip to Walmart to get some essentials and you're covered.

We have stayed off site a couple of times too, mainly for short times though and have never used a hotel's shuttle service to the parks. We often stay at a Holiday Day Inn Express as it's cheap and has free breakfast, the rooms and service has been good so far. Also stayed at the Staybridge Suites in Lake Buena Vista, again very nice and good location.

 

[Experiment 777]

Thanks to everyone for all the info.

Now to make a decision!!

Mark