How do you justify the $$$$??

[shaylahc1]

I think staying on site is highly overrated I have done both. I don't think the "Disney experience" of staying onsite is worth the cost. We have stayed at values/moderates, and since we have 4 kids now we HAVE to get 2 adjoining rooms which runs about $200 a night at the values. The buses are usually super crowded and we end up driving most places anyway. One year we stayed at the Holiday Inn (now the Nick Hotel) and it was GREAT, CHEAP, and we got a free hot breakfast every morning which saved us time and money (the room itself was $99 a night for a 2 bedroom suite).

We have stayed onsite the last 2 times due to promos/free dining, and are staying onsite in September to take advantage of the free dining promo. But without that incentive, I would definitely be staying offsite. We have never been one to pay extra to stay at the deluxe hotels, I'd rather take a longer vacation/do more activities than stay in a pricier room, and from what I have heard it doesn't sound like the extra $200-300 a night is worth a great view and more convenient transportation. That's JMHO!

 

[crisi]

Hate Florida. Like Disney World. The less time we spend in Florida, the better. When I am in Florida I am not on vacation, vacation time only counts on Disney property. (This is true of the cruise as well - staying at the Raddisson before hand is NOT part of the vacation).

Since hotel (in our case DVC) is a relatively small amount of the overall budget - airfare for four from an expensive city, sit down meals daily, park tickets - and we only go every other year, the additional "vacation" time is worth it.

 

[Harvest02]

We have been to WDW twice with our children now. The first time we stayed off-site at the Holiday Inn Family Suites. This last time(we just got back last week), we stayed at the ASMo. IMHO, I would never stay off-site again! Staying onsite is really not much more expensive if you stay at a value resort. I originally had booked a hotel off-site months ago before our trip. It would have cost us $67.00 a night. Then I started looking into rates at the ASMo. With our AAA discount, it was only $84.00 a night. Not much difference. For the few extra dollars of staying on-site, it was worth it. Here is why:

1. The convenience of the bus transportation. No need to rent a car!

2. EMH

3. Ablility for the family to split up and go to different parks if we wanted

4. Disney magic 24 hours a day

We only go every couple of years to Disney, so I figure we might as well stay onsite.