How do you justify the $$$$??

[glass slipper girl]

For us convenience is huge so with little kids (ours are 4 and 6 and another on the way in October). We stayed off site on our first trip (a last minute trip Christmas week staying in my parent's RV and Ft. Wilderness was full so we stayed offsite at a campground about 10 minutes away). DH had been all about saying we will stay off site and save some cash for the trip we had planned for later that year. After 2 days of driving that 10 minute drive, parking, unloading the stroller then either waiting on a tram and keeping the kids from running off or going ahead and undoing the stroller and walking he was singing a different tune. It went from "why not stay at a Holiday Inn nearby and save a whole bunch" to "we are absolutely staying onsite, no questions asked." and "how much are these resorts on the monorail?"

The next trip we stayed onsite at the WL and he came home saying it was worth every penny and then some! Not driving is a huge deal for him too. At the time he was commuting over an hour each way to work every day so not getting behind the wheel for a week was a big part of vacation.

We like knowing we can get back quickly for breaks. When we were off site, the kids fell asleep during that 10 minute drive and would wake up when we'd get them out of the car. They had just enough of a power nap than when we were ready to rest, they were ready to play!

We like having our own space too but we have found that staying at a deluxe resort, we tuck the kids in and sit out on the balcony togehter and chat. We're all usually so tired that there is no desire to stay up late watching tv or anything. Everything we want to see is being Tivoed at home anyway.

It's not so much about our kids remembering the hotel, but about making the vacation relaxing and enjoyable for DH and I too. Of course now our kids are Disney resort adicts too. They are now 4 and 6 and will have a big discussion with you on which is better...the Grand Floridian or the Boardwalk Inn...is it more important to have the monorail or the really cool pool slide.

I'm a SAHM and we cut corners all year making that work and having money left over for savings and for fun stuff like vacation. We make sure we do not plan a vacation that we can't afford to pay for with cash. It's our week to indulge ourselves a bit and that is worth it for us. We are pretty sure we will cancel our September trip as we have baby #3 coming in late October (SURPRISE! didn't know that when we started planning that trip!). We'll likely go in late January and bring baby with us so we'll need more space. We just discussed today that we could do an offsite home or we could do a 2 bedroom DVC villa. I gave DH prices and he said "you know how I feel about onsite convenience. It's worth the extra for the villa."

 

[brat5063]

We have stayed off site once, pre-kids and on site a bunch of times before and after that. Neither time with kids. I will only stay on site now. The only reason why I would want to stay off site is for the reason you mentioned, to have multiple rooms.

We are staying at All Star Movies and have the free Dining Package for the upcoming trip. It would be nice if we could afford to stay in a hotel with a bacony so we could chill out on the bacony after he goes to sleep but we will make do.

Reasons to stay on:
- Don't need to rent a car.
- Don't need to worry about driving anywhere.
- We will be more likely to come back to the hotel in the afternoon and chill for a little bit.
- Traveing during free dining plan.
- Extra park hours.
- Do feel like you are in a magical place.
- Don't have to cook/clean

 

[robinb]

I see you're going in September. You would have gotten a much better deal staying on-site than off-site. September is part of the FREE DINING plan. Pop Century is only $1049 with 2 7-day passes and INCLUDES 2 meals (one table service and one counter service) a day plus 1 snack per day per person. Given that the cost of the tickets remains the same, the cost of the hotel room and ALL YOUR FOOD is only $614. Value resorts too small? Port Orleans French Quarter is $1521 inclusive, or $1086 for your room and your meals. That's a difference of $48 per day over your townhouse and believe me ... you WILL spend more than $48 per day in food.

Now lets add on a rental car ... I get $139 per week using Expedia for late September and then there is an extra $49 in parking. So ... you're spending another $25 per day on having a car and driving it.

On-site
(includes hotel, transfers from airport, transportation to parks, park tickets and food)
$1049 -- Pop Century
$1521 -- Port Orleans French Quarter

Off-site
Town House - $750
Car rental and parking - $190
Park Tickets - $435
Food - $490 ($70 per day)
Total: $1865

Whoops! I guess I can rationalize staying on-site!

 

[meloneyb21]

We've only just recently gone to Disney for the first time and already we're like "We're never staying off-site." It's pretty much ones own choice about what you feel up to. Ok, things may-be cheaper in an offsite hotel, but then our thing is "If we can't afford to stay on-site, then we won't go at all." Not everybody feels the same way but we want to enjoy all Disney and nothing but. We have a toddler , so we definitely need the convenience of quickly getting back to our resort whenever we want, for free.

Renting a car would be extra $ or catching a cab is extra $. It totally defeats the purpose anyway. We don't mind the one room hotel thing because, like I said, she's a toddler. She doesn't need to be in ANY room by herself .

If you ask me, I think Disney spoils their guest pretty well. With things like Disney's Magical Express, Extra Magic Hours, and Disney buses like every 5 minutes, you can't beat that with a bat . We also appreciate the small things like the towel animals and Disney toiletries. We believe it's worth every penny.

 

[jblb1020]

That's why we joined Disney Vacation Club! It is getting so expensive to stay inside Disney and I could never imagine staying outside. I have 2 children ages 3 & 5 and it is so convienent to go back to the resort for a swim or nap and then just go right back into the park later in the day.

 

[thunderbird1]

Ditto everyone else on the convenience (esp w/ toddlers), not driving, free dining, 24/7 magic, etc. etc. plus I also have to add, package delivery. If you're staying on site, pretty much anything you buy at the parks or DTD you can have delivered to your hotel for free so you don't have to lug it around with you all day.

Oh, and we're a family that likes to split up (kids and I do the early mornings while dh sleeps in), and it's much easier for everyone to get around quickly and easily if you're staying on site. Even with a car, one of us would have to ride the crummy, off property busses. And it's so easy to meet up with dh later, even if we change our minds about where we're going to meet.

 

[ekball]

WOW - thanks for all of your responses! So fess up, are you all paid by Disney?? Really. Or just severely brainwashed? Just teasing.

Honestly, thank you for all of your feedback. It has given me a whole new perspective on off site vs. on site discussion . Like I said in my original post, I grew up very close to WDW so we never stayed in a DW resort - just drive home to your own bed at the end of the day. So my only experience in staying on site were in college where I stayed at the Contemporary and Dixie Landings. Needless to say, my perspective has changed slightly since then and my needs are quite different now that I have 2 little ones. But I digress....

Let's say that I wanted to price out staying on site for our Sept. vacation (fully realizing that ADR's will be a challenge at this late stage)...just for kicks...where would you start? Contact Disney directly? Dreams Unlimited? Elsewhere?

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[kkevcamsmom]

For us it's easy. We take a big vacation every year, everything is budgeted. My DH gives me a break down of what he would like to stay under per big items, flight, hotel, tickets.... My goal is to beat that, come in WAY under

I never realized WDW could be so cheap! We are going in January and so far for our budget on hotel alone we have save $500.00 from what we have budgeted! Thanks to the ASMU family suite.

There are tons of ways to save on a vacation. I have found it's actually cheaper to just buy a packaged stay on site than buy the tickets, a room, flight and car rental.

Look for coupons on cars, flights and other things, it helps.

We make our budget and stick to it! I love to come in under, that way if something like fights are more, we have extra to move around.

Lori

 

[FayeW]

I see you're going in September. You would have gotten a much better deal staying on-site than off-site. September is part of the FREE DINING plan. Pop Century is only $1049 with 2 7-day passes and INCLUDES 2 meals (one table service and one counter service) a day plus 1 snack per day per person. Given that the cost of the tickets remains the same, the cost of the hotel room and ALL YOUR FOOD is only $614. Value resorts too small? Port Orleans French Quarter is $1521 inclusive, or $1086 for your room and your meals. That's a difference of $48 per day over your townhouse and believe me ... you WILL spend more than $48 per day in food.

Now lets add on a rental car ... I get $139 per week using Expedia for late September and then there is an extra $49 in parking. So ... you're spending another $25 per day on having a car and driving it.

On-site
(includes hotel, transfers from airport, transportation to parks, park tickets and food)
$1049 -- Pop Century
$1521 -- Port Orleans French Quarter

Off-site
Town House - $750
Car rental and parking - $190
Park Tickets - $435
Food - $490 ($70 per day)
Total: $1865

Whoops! I guess I can rationalize staying on-site!

I know that your numbers make sense, but it's not really comparing apples to apples! We are talking about a 3 bdrm home vs. one hotel room for a family of 4! Even with the dining plan, neither of the kids are covered since they are both under 3, so feeding them is still OOP. Being able to have breakfasts at home, and have drinks and snacks available, cuts down on the meal costs. I have occasionally given some thought to staying onsite, but I can't justify the expense and inconvenience of staying onsite ( cramped, one room/ rely on busses, etc) when the offsite condo's offer so much more for the money.

 

[Momerath]

I have only stayed off site once at a Downtown Disney hotel with no car of my own and taking the "scheduled shuttle" buses to and from the parks was such a hassle. Disney transportation is much better! Plus, like others have said, we enjoy the magic of a Disney hotel...looking at the old pictures and toys at Pop Century is a fun and nostalgic trip down memory lane for DH & me, using my refillable mugs at home and thinking about great vacation memories, and the pools are so cleverly themed, too. One way we try to spread-out the costs is last year we bought 10 day MYW tickets with cash, so next year when we go we still have 7 days left on our tickets that are already paid for, so we can use that part of our vacation budget toward a nicer resort.

If you're intersted in price options you can try the "Resort" section of this web site, www.disneyworld.com itself for a price quote or mousesavers.com to see if you can get a special rate code.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

WOW - thanks for all of your responses! So fess up, are you all paid by Disney?? Really. Or just severely brainwashed? Just teasing.

Honestly, thank you for all of your feedback. It has given me a whole new perspective on off site vs. on site discussion . Like I said in my original post, I grew up very close to WDW so we never stayed in a DW resort - just drive home to your own bed at the end of the day. So my only experience in staying on site were in college where I stayed at the Contemporary and Dixie Landings. Needless to say, my perspective has changed slightly since then and my needs are quite different now that I have 2 little ones. But I digress....

Let's say that I wanted to price out staying on site for our Sept. vacation (fully realizing that ADR's will be a challenge at this late stage)...just for kicks...where would you start? Contact Disney directly? Dreams Unlimited? Elsewhere?

Thanks for all of your help.

The first time I went to WDW I stayed off property. Didn't really mind it until DH and I stayed on-property the first time we went together. Now I wouldn't dream of staying elsewhere. We always stay at a value, to me, I can't justify spending the money at a deluxe (JMHO), when the values are SO well themed and they are convenient and the magic is great.

However, if you want extra space, you might want to consider a deluxe. From what I've heard there isn't much difference in room size between a value and moderate. To us, we don't spend enough time in our room to even think about room size. We are in the parks from morning until evening-- pretty much every day of our trips.

We booked through AAA for the free dining in September...we couldn't pass that deal up!! I did speak with Dreams Unlimited and they seemed great, too.

With young kids AND the FREE dining I would definitely consider staying on property...good luck with your decisions!!

 

[jodifla]

There are certainly a lot of great home rental deals around Orlando. And I can see how it makes sense for your family.


I grew up outside of Tampa, and we normally did WDW a day at a time. Then I became an adult, and started staying at Days Inn and the like. Then I got married, and while we still did the Days Inn thing, we started to like better and better hotel rooms, and going back to the ilk of Days Inn was depressing.

So 10 years ago, we bought DVC. Now we have two bedroom accommodations on property -- the best of both worlds.

 

[QueenofMyCastle]

Well as far as justifying the price, we stayed at Shades of Green - 6 nights for $654 total. Can't beat that! I would say the convienence of being on the property far outweighs the extra cost. Personally when I am on a Disney vacation I don't want to return to the "real world" until my trip is over. Everything at Disney is so magical...the CM are so nice, the landscaping is beautiful, everyone is in such a good mood. When you stay off the property you have to leave that magic every night, go back to the real world, and face traffic, rude people, trash in parking lots, etc. Not to mention having to get up early every morning to face the "commute" to the Disney parking lots. This is just my preference but would just rather wake up and take a monorail or bus and know that if I want to go back for a swim at my hotel at 2pm I can do that. I have small children also and I couldn't imagine being in a park from open until close with them. They needed that flexability of being able to go back for a nap, a swim, or just to unplug from all the excitement. I LOVE going back to the parks after dinner when everyone is relaxed and re-energized. That's when we have had our most magical moments! Have fun on your trip!

 

[daisyduck123]

It's hard for me to justify staying "on property", because we've never stayed "off property". We love the Disney resorts & will never try to stay anywhere else. I can't see us staying at a regular hotel when I know there's a Disney resort nearby. There's something at the resort that adds to the magic of the vacation. At a Disney resort, you feel like your at Disney the entire week, not just when you're at the parks (which is how I'd feel if we stayed off property).

Does that make any sense?

 

[JoyG]

Well, I agree with the free dining, it is a good deal to stay onsite....I took advantage of that last year. We had 3 kids (one was under 3) in an AsMo room. We LOVED our stay and I'm so glad we did it however there were some disadvantages that haven't been mentioned...

1. Our baby was TOO wound up the whole time. Since we never "left" disney even when we went to our hotel...he stayed in overdrive. The food court was too much stimulation and he never ate the whole trip. He had a few cheerios and milk but we couldn't get him to settle down enough to focus on food.

2. We were really crowed in that room. In the evenings, the boys were bouncing off the walls....again too much stimulation. I was having a great time despite this, but it could be a negative.

3. I spent alot of money being surrounded by Disney shops everywhere. Some people might have more will power than me though.


Next week we'll be going back but staying in a Townhouse at Emerald Island. We got this 3 BR Townhouse for $500/week including taxes! We'll be doing other parks besides Disney this time...actually we only have one day at MK planned plus a few character meals at resorts. We'll be at Universal and Seaworld for the rest of the time. I think we'll be very happy with our off site trip.

 

[DaisyD]

We used to always stay offsite because it was so much cheaper then onsite. One trip we just decided to bite the bullet and splurge on the CBR! We've never looked back. We have continued to spend more and more. Now we won't even go to WDW unless we can stay in the Poly. Once we knew how it felt to be onsite we feel it is priceless and there is no reason to justify anything. We just love it.

 

[robinb]

I know that your numbers make sense, but it's not really comparing apples to apples! We are talking about a 3 bdrm home vs. one hotel room for a family of 4! Even with the dining plan, neither of the kids are covered since they are both under 3, so feeding them is still OOP. Being able to have breakfasts at home, and have drinks and snacks available, cuts down on the meal costs. I have occasionally given some thought to staying onsite, but I can't justify the expense and inconvenience of staying onsite ( cramped, one room/ rely on busses, etc) when the offsite condo's offer so much more for the money.

I didn't include the kid's meals in the calculation because it was the same no matter where the OP stayed. As for breakfast, drinks and snacks ... we almost always do that in the room or in the food court. We keep a cooler at the Value resorts and the other resorts have a small fridge. You can use the food court's microwave and toaster, plus you can buy a refillable mug and not have to worry about your morning coffee or an ice tea or soda on the way back to your room. The use of a full kitchen is debatable for us, we almost never use it when we book a DVC 1 BR or bigger. Of course, the OP may feel differently and she may actually want to cook on vacation. I know I don't.

Don't get me wrong! There are many advantages to staying off-site in a condo or pool home. Having more than one bedroom and a living room is certainly one of them. So is a private free laundry. However, since the OP is going during the FREE DINING which changes EVERYTHING IMO.

 

[robinb]

Let's say that I wanted to price out staying on site for our Sept. vacation (fully realizing that ADR's will be a challenge at this late stage)...just for kicks...where would you start? Contact Disney directly? Dreams Unlimited? Elsewhere?

I would start here:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/promo/genericPromoLandingNav?id=GoofyFreeDiningNavPage

It's the link to the FREE DINING promotion .

 

[WIcruizer]

We have done both, and in all fairness there are misconceptions about staying off site that are passed off as being "fact."

1) MYTH: You save time by staying on-site.
FACT: If you're using the bus for transportation, there are many off site propoerties that take LESS time than staying on site.

2) MYTH: The on site accomodations are much nicer and worth the difference in cost.
FACT: If you like sleeping in a closet. The mods and values have very small rooms with no ammenities. You can stay off site and get two bedroom suites with a kitchenette and plenty of other extras.

3) MYTH: Food court is convenient.
FACT: Convenient, yes. But I don't want cafeteria style food for a week. We much prefer off-site where we're 5 minutes away from any type of cuisine possible.

4) MYTH: You'll miss the magic staying off-site.
FACT: (Actually opinion this time) I think that's mostly in your head. You convince yourselves staying at a Disney hotel is really "being" there. Yet it's just a hotel. I've never understood that. When we stay off-site, we still feel like we're on vacation at WDW. The weather is nice, we're on vacation, we're going to Magic Kingdom today...same feeling we have whether we stay on or off site. I'm sure it may be different at the more upscale properties, but I don't think the CMs at the mods and value resorts create much magic anymore.

5) MYTH: It's worth staying on site for the Disney transporation.
FACT: (Darn, this is opinion again) I find it very relaxing to drive out of a park at the end of the day. Radio on...windows down...looking at the lines waiting to get on crowded buses. The parks are extremely easy to get in and out of, and we enjoy driving. The alternative is crowded, stinky buses with kids crying, people fighting,etc. No thanks. There's no magic in that.

Bottom line, when I'm on vacation I want a nice place with privacy (extra bedroom.) The only benefit for staying on site is EMH. And that is a big one if you go during peak season.

 

[Snow Shoe]

Our very first time at WDW we stayed off property and enjoyed it. WE were very inexperienced about touring Disney and all of its magic! When we came back home from that trip, we set down and figured out what the cost of staying on property would be for our next trip, along with a much better knowledge of what and where we were going to do the next trip. So we setup a special account at our credit union, and every month we direct deposited XX$ into it. When it was time to make our res's, we already knew what resort we would stay at and the cost. The money was in the bank, and it was easy to pay it in full. Monies for eating and other things were also part of this account. This was our plan for many years, and all worked out fine.

Then one day we looked into DVC. Whow!!! We bought into Boardwalk Villa's in 98', and have never regreated it. The villas are wonderful. Now all the kids are gone, and have families of their own. We still monthly put into our Disney account, monies for food and other fun things at the parks. The room is now already taken care of for us. The best move on our part was buying into DVC.