How much trouble is it to leave parks and return if staying off property?

[Paging Tom Morrow]

Not a problem at all, though MK can be time consuming because of the need to take a monorail or boat. We still do it when we stay off-site. Really like the idea of paying to valet at Contemporary if going to MK as that can save some time.

 

[Planogirl]

It depends on where you stay too. If you are at AK for example, it's a piece of cake to drive out of the WDW complex. We found that we could be at our offsite resort in a matter of minutes from a few parks. MK is a pest though.

I tell what I really liked though. When DS needed to nap I could put him in bed and close the door and do my own thing when we had a suite or condo. That was VERY nice.

 

[Silock]

It depends on where you're staying. We always stay at Bonnet Creek, which is technically on Disney property. It's basically across the street from Downtown Disney. Getting to and from is very, very quick. Now, if we were staying on International Drive, it would be MUCH more of a pain.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We stayed near the intersection of I4 & 192. SUPER easy getting back & forth everywhere but MK (we just stayed all day). Door to door in 8-15 minutes (depending on park).

 

[tiffne]

We've done it with a 14-month and almost-3-year old, as well as when they were 2.5 and almost-4, and we've never had a problem. We would leave right after our early lunch and come back for evening entertainment.

We also didn't do it every day, sometimes they napped in strollers in the parks (and my kids were the "only nap in crib or carseat" variety).

We were at Bonnet Creek for each visit so we didn't have that far to go.

 

[Laketravis]

Has anyone personally experienced being turned away from valet parking at CR because it was full? And I'm guessing that you don't have to actually be staying at CR to pay and use valet parking there?

 

[tndisneyfan]

We drive to the parks whether we stay onsite or offsite, so to us it's not a hassle. MK can be a pain because you do have to take transportation to the TTC. Other than that I usually find driving quicker than waiting for a bus. I think the amount of hassle depends on how far offsite you stay and the traffic getting there and back. When we stay offsite we stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, it's technically not on WDW property but it's right there in the middle of WDW property. So it's about the same distance as a lot of the Disney hotels. But if you have to get back on I95 and drive 10 miles in the really bad Orlando traffic, then that's a different story.

 

[tlmadden73]

We have always stayed on Disney property, but I'm thinking of staying OP this time. We will have a 2 year old and would like to travel back to the hotel by car in the middle of the day. How much will I miss the luxury of Disney transportation back to the resort during the day? Is it a lot of trouble to get back to your car, leave, and then go back to the parks for the evening?

I would say it would be a huge hassle, just from a time perspective. It takes longer than you think (in any park) to walk to the gate .. walk/tram to the car .. drive out of the parking lot and then get on the main road. Especially at MK with the monorail/ferry ride included.

I took my 2 year old to Disney last October. We stayed off property and chose to nap him in the parks (AK and MK) for an hour or two in the afternoon in the stroller. I estimated it would take 30-45 minutes to get from inside a park back to the house we were staying (which was only a few miles away from the entrance to Disney property).
It worked well. Knowing the parks, I was able to find quiet spots for him to sleep. Despite all the people and noise around him .. he slept hard for at least 60-90 minutes and he had enough energy for the rest of the day.

 

[Trinity88]

We've only ever stayed off site and are now in the planning stages of an on site visit. We did go back to our house mid day when the kids were little. It was necessary for them, but a big pain for us. Walk to the gate, wait for a tram, find the car, wait for the car to cool down a little, drive back to the house. Add the monorail/ferry to that and it's even longer. I think the fastest we ever did it in was 45 min from MK and that was when the stars all aligned. I've never taken disney transportation so I can't compare it though.

 

[Candleshoe]

We stayed off property and chose to nap him in the parks (AK and MK) for an hour or two in the afternoon in the stroller.

I like to take rests in the park, too. Even a meal can be a break from CROWDS AND HEAT.

I have in-park favorites for down time. Something I've never tried, since CoP has never been busy when i've been there, I wonder if anyone has asked the CMs if they could ride around a couple of times. ;-)

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

It's a real pain to get in and out of MK because of the monorail/tram requirement. The other parks are much easier.

If I wanted to be there for Rope Drop, I'd be parked by 7:20 latest for an 8 am open. Seriously, give yourself loads of time.

For the other parks, from the gate to your car is pretty reasonable. We didn't even take the tram at HS and we were in the car in 10 minutes.

Part of the issue is that MK is far from most other resorts. We were at the Wyndham and HS is literally *rightthere*. It's a bit more of a drive to MK.