How much would you have to save to stay OFFSITE?

[summerrluvv]

Perplexed. We can book free dining, stay at POP (which is fine, we like it there), and use ME for around $1400 with base tickets (don't need to hop). Or we can stay in the Marriott Village (free on points), get free breakfast, have to rent a car though, and buy our park tickets for about $1,150 total (included parking fees, estimated gas/tolls). Would it be worth it to you to stay off site to save around $250? ETA, this is for 5 nights (arriving late on 1st day, leaving early on last day, so only need 4 day tickets)

 

[spiceycat]

you should be saving alot more than that.

give detailed of your expenses?

how much for the rent car? how much for restuarants/snack bars?

kept in mind that free dinning is NOT free. you are paying rack rate for the tickets and room.

your ticket prices seem high too.

 

[scaudelle]

90% savings might get me off site. I love on site resorts - they are part of the experience.

 

[summerrluvv]

Rental car is around $270 with tax plus the gas and tolls unless I find a cheaper code...however it's Thanksgiving week, so we'll see.

Tickets are $700 for base tickets for the three of us for 4 days (undercover tourist mousesavers link)

Parking $48 total

Then of course there are the other 2 meals of the day to purchase aside from our free breakfast off site.

And yes, free dining is rack rate, I know that. But it's still $1400 total for the entire package. Actually $1426 to be exact

 

[summerrluvv]

90% savings might get me off site. I love on site resorts - they are part of the experience.

Initially we were just booking our room on points and were going to go to US, SW, MK each for a day. But the prices for one day tickets to all of these places are just astronomical, so we decided to just do all Disney

 

[2disneyboys]

we have stayed on and offsite and there are obvious perks to both. we prefer onsite, but if the savings is enough we have stayed offsite. I don't know that there is a "magic" number for me though. usually the savings has been drastic enough (like at least 30% cheaper offsite) that I hardly think twice when the choice comes up

Dec 2010 we went, stayed onsite (POR) and upgraded to AP's. We knew we were going to be coming back at least one time in 2011. By staying offsite at least twice (April 2011 and upcoming Sept 2011) we are hoping to have saved enough to justify a 3rd trip the first week of Dec 2011 and we want to stay onsite for that trip if possible). On our April trip we saved around $800 staying offsite and if my calculations are correct (we'll know afterwards) we will be saving around $600 on our upcoming Sept trip. While I know that $1400 won't completely pay for a trip, but since we will still have AP's and $1400 already saved from our April & Sept trips (literally took the money saved in April & put in our disney fund and will do the same w/ the money saved in Sept) that will make a huge dent in our ability to go in Dec 2011. We do drive down which usually costs us a few hundred dollars but that is taken into consideration.

You have to take what you estimate for your savings to be and think, if I had this much $ what would I do with it? Upgrade something? Do a special event? save it for another trip? its got to make sense to you though for your circumstances. Good Luck and either way, enjoy your trip!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

I wouldn't have to save. I'd be happy with it being similar in price. I'm not booking offsite to save money. I'm booking offsite for the extra space etc it provides me. Four people jammed in a small hotel room, sitting in the bathroom trying not to make noise while the kids sleep is no fun for me. I much prefer puting the kids to be in their own room and sitting by the pool with DH and relaxing. Especially when it costing me the same as staying onsite.

 

[Keurigirl]

I really have no desire to stay in one dinky room on property when I know that for my family of four we can get our own HOUSE, with it's own POOL, in less than 5 minutes to the Disney gate (meaning a lot closer than some of the Disney resorts) for around $110 a night. There is no question, ever, even with "free" dining that I would choose on property. I love being able to take mid-day breaks and have everyone be able to chill and relax in different rooms if need be, put the baby down for a nap, play in our very own pool, cook (or takeout) a meal in our own kitchen. There is just no contest. (We love the Windsor Hills Resort, and you can find tons of vacation rentals there).

 

[bankr63]

Our cost to stay offsite in our 2BR villa vs. a 2BR Disney Deluxe Villa (slightly smaller, but with Disney perks) for 7 days is about $2000 cheaper for our family of 4. With those savings, we can afford to go every year...

 

[two*little*birds]

For some of us it's not about money or savings, it's just a preference.

We actually prefer to stay off-site, even if it cost more we would probably stay off-site.

We've done both, and will probably do on-site again in the future (well maybe... but it's a hard sell for us).

 

[bookworm75]

For some of us it's not about money or savings, it's just a preference.

We actually prefer to stay off-site, even if it cost more we would probably stay off-site.

We've done both, and will probably do on-site again in the future (well maybe... but it's a hard sell for us).

I completely agree with this, it is a preference. But we have the opposite preference! We have stayed offsite once, and vowed we wouldn't do it again. As a PP said, part of Disney for us is being at Disney for the entire trip. So we plan trips for every other year and save up the money to pay for the whole Disney experience.

 

[shalom]

Well, rats, ran my kid into ballet and then came back to post a response here to a different thread!

Do you have another use for the Marriott points? If you know you like Pop, and like the dining plan, and have another use for the points, I'd stay onsite. If you just keep adding on points because you really have no other use for them, give Marriott a shot. And if you really love onsite, $250 doesn't seem too much to me; I'd stay onsite.

 

[budafam]

On our first trip we stayed at Pop. It was great, very nice, super fun BUT the room was tiny. Bedtime was so hard since the kids couldn't fall asleep with a tv on and we weren't ready for bed yet. This time, we're staying at a house instead and the cost is actually over $1,000 cheaper since we would've had to rent 2 rooms since my MIL is coming along. We're going to have 4 bedrooms, a pool, a game room & a full kitchen and only a 2 minute drive to Disney. Even during free dining, we're still going to save money and we'll still be able to eat just as much in the parks. Disney magic is not free, unfortunately.

 

[Branabb]

You have to take what you estimate for your savings to be and think, if I had this much $ what would I do with it? Upgrade something? Do a special event? save it for another trip? its got to make sense to you though for your circumstances. Good Luck and either way, enjoy your trip!

This is a factor in where I decide to stay. Most of the time, I still plan on spending the money somewhere else in my trip. If I am on the fence between choice A or B, I usually go with what gives me the best overall experience for THIS trip. If the money saved will add something special to the mix, then I go with that option. If not, then we go with what sounds the most fun.

We have always stayed on-site at Disney, and it was fine. I don't really see all the "magic" in the resorts that is a prominent topic here, but I have enjoyed visiting a different resort each year. This December is our first off-site trip and it was more about getting extra space. We have a newborn and now there are 4 of us.

When free dining dropped, I compared the prices just for fun and Moderate + FD would only be about $200 more than our current package. However, I feel like I am saving a bundle because to get the closest match to our 2BR condo at Disney would be over $3500 more.

I would say that you should look at not only savings but what you are actually comparing. Value vs Marriott resort is not really the same ballpark. Your getting much better accommodations and actually spending less overall. Sounds pretty awesome to me.

On a side note, your car rental cost sounds a bit high to me. Might want to wait and grab Last Minute Deal on Priceline the week before your trip or start bidding at 40% lower than your quoted daily rate. Always works for me, even on the T'giving and Xmas holidays. Doesn't hurt to try.

 

[ccgirl]

Perplexed. We can book free dining, stay at POP (which is fine, we like it there), and use ME for around $1400 with base tickets (don't need to hop). Or we can stay in the Marriott Village (free on points), get free breakfast, have to rent a car though, and buy our park tickets for about $1,150 total (included parking fees, estimated gas/tolls). Would it be worth it to you to stay off site to save around $250? ETA, this is for 5 nights (arriving late on 1st day, leaving early on last day, so only need 4 day tickets)

Compare apples to apples though. Is the Marriott a hotel room or timeshare? I like to stay off site and get more room for less money. I also rent a car regardless of if we stay onsite or not because I don't like the buses and I like going by my own time schedule. Look at Undercover Tourist for discounted tickets. Pack lunches and bring in water bottles/juices to save even more money.

 

[3sweetpeas]

Struggling with the on site off site thing. Love hearing everyone's thinking.

 

[summerrluvv]

Compare apples to apples though. Is the Marriott a hotel room or timeshare? I like to stay off site and get more room for less money. I also rent a car regardless of if we stay onsite or not because I don't like the buses and I like going by my own time schedule. Look at Undercover Tourist for discounted tickets. Pack lunches and bring in water bottles/juices to save even more money.

Hotel....I initially booked Grande Vista (timeshare), but reading Tripadvisor, a lot of the rooms are still outdated and didn't want to take the chance while spending 145,000 points! We are always going somewhere and can always use the points (Hershey, etc.).

We would probaby be staying at the Fairfield Inn, which IMO is pretty much the same as POP as far accomodations and room size goes. However, if we can get a platinum member upgrade to their family suite, it's a little larger with the bunkbeds. Not sure about the upgrade though. Seems to be hit or miss. Going to call. There is also the Courtyard (no free breakfast), and Springhill Suites in that Marriott Village. No free breakfast at Courtyard though, so that's out. Not overly concerned about the room though because we don't tend to spend a lot of time in it.

I seem to have bad luck for holiday weeks with cars. That rate was with a coupon code for a double upgrade from a compact to a Standard, and my Alamo insiders discount. In February over President's Week, the best I got was around $385....even tried Priceline.

Thinking back to our recent trip though....we had the car rental because I didn't want to deal with crowded busses during that week. It was nice to get out and play mini golf offsite, go to the outlets, etc. with the car. So while the cost is really close, I think we might just stick to offsite this time around.

Thanks for all the opinions, much appreciated

 

[ccgirl]

Hotel....I initially booked Grande Vista (timeshare), but reading Tripadvisor, a lot of the rooms are still outdated and didn't want to take the chance while spending 145,000 points! We are always going somewhere and can always use the points (Hershey, etc.).

We would probaby be staying at the Fairfield Inn, which IMO is pretty much the same as POP as far accomodations and room size goes. However, if we can get a platinum member upgrade to their family suite, it's a little larger with the bunkbeds. Not sure about the upgrade though. Seems to be hit or miss. Going to call. There is also the Courtyard (no free breakfast), and Springhill Suites in that Marriott Village. No free breakfast at Courtyard though, so that's out. Not overly concerned about the room though because we don't tend to spend a lot of time in it.

I seem to have bad luck for holiday weeks with cars. That rate was with a coupon code for a double upgrade from a compact to a Standard, and my Alamo insiders discount. In February over President's Week, the best I got was around $385....even tried Priceline.

Thinking back to our recent trip though....we had the car rental because I didn't want to deal with crowded busses during that week. It was nice to get out and play mini golf offsite, go to the outlets, etc. with the car. So while the cost is really close, I think we might just stick to offsite this time around.

Thanks for all the opinions, much appreciated

I don't think you won't be disappointed. I have equally wonderful vacations both on and off site. Try carrentalsavers.com for the car rental. I seem to have great luck there!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I didn't think Free Dining worked over Thanksgiving?

And OP Is comparing apples to apples. Marriott Fairfield is the "value" of the Marriott chain.

Of course unlike Disney values you get...

Free Breakfast
Free Fridge in the room
Free internet
Interior corridors

And as OP points out you get REWARDED for staying with them. (Disney tends to penalize you. PIN codes are rarely sent out to "Returning" guests LOL!)

 

[summerrluvv]

I didn't think Free Dining worked over Thanksgiving?

I didn't think it was valid either, but it comes up that way. Apparently it's based on your check in day, which ours happens to be the last day of the promo before the blackout.