How to do Disney off-site?

[RangerPooh]

About half of our trips these days are spent offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We usually drive there so we have our van. The rare times that we fly we rent a van. Driving to the parks from WBC is easy, and traffic isn't bad. I can't verify how it is from other resorts though. We just budget extra time into our anticipated travel to account for lines to enter the parking plazas.

 

[robinsok1]

We are quite tempted to try for WBC. We find it reasonable to drive into WDW from our Vistana Resort because we can go either 535 or 536, but Bonnet Creek is right on Buena Vista Drive! Are you Wyndham owners, or is there a best way to rent at Bonnet Creek? Thank you.

 

[Lmans77]

We mostly stay onsite but have also done off for a few nights here and there. Both are equally fine and we prefer to rent a car anyway, even when onsite. We like being in control and driving and knowing how long it will take us to get there vs relying on Disney buses. I'm the GPS navigator and DH is the driver. It's really easy to get around.

 

[Sha259]

Honestly, as a frequent amusement park goer in the NE, I was amazed at the speed and efficiency of Disney's parking system and trams each time I have visited! The lots and parking procedure is very well organized in that they have attendants directing to individual parking spots all day and especially during peak times. Trams from the gate to the parking area run pretty much non stop from before park open to about an hour after park close from my memory.

When going from our condo to Epcot, HS, or AK we would routinely get from our front door to the park gate in 20-25 mins. This included walking to the car, driving from the condo to Disney property, parking the car, taking the tram, and then going through security.

I will say though that we don't tend to visit the parks during peak times, have been in December twice, and are planning our next trip this Feb/Mar. Ultimately we try to do most anything in our power to make the offsite travel to the park pain and stress free. So far we have really lucked out!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

We did it using uber all the time and it was great! not expensive and very fast!

 

[spiceycat]

what is your timeshare? or at least the address?

have done a bunch of timeshares and a few hotels/motels offsite - as well as DVC on site - I joined DVC in 93 so it was cheaper in those days. Some of the offsite timeshares are really wonderful.

 

[Stefien Quix]

what is your timeshare? or at least the address?

have done a bunch of timeshares and a few hotels/motels offsite - as well as DVC on site - I joined DVC in 93 so it was cheaper in those days. Some of the offsite timeshares are really wonderful.

We're staying at Marriott's Harbour Lake!

 

[spiceycat]

that is one of the new ones - it has some nice reviews.

 

[mckennarose]

We LOVE Marriott timeshares! We frequently stay at Marriott Sabal Palms. I have also seen some great reviews on Harbour Lake.

We stay off site very often, in fact were staying at the Sheraton Vistana again next month. Ill echo what others have said about driving around the WDW area and that's it's really not difficult or more time consuming. I've posted on here before how we usually travel with family who own DVC and we always get to the parks way ahead of them when they take Disney transportation. The only exception has been when they stay at BLT and can walk to MK.

As far as traffic, all the signs are clearly labeled and visible. When our youngest was 16 a few years ago and just got her license, she was fine driving from our off-site condo to and from the parks. I've always felt that traffic closer to Universal is more hairy than closer to WDW. Even then, you just have to pay attention and not speed.

The money we save by staying off-site allows us to do more on our WDW vacations and driving allows us to explore more local areas, which also saves money. Eating off site is cheaper and there are a lot of options.

 

[NH-to-FL]

But using our timeshare would save us a LOT of money, so I feel like I should try to find a way to make it work while not making our vacation stressful, since that's absolutely something a vacation shouldn't be.

Thoughts?

I think the most important thoughts I can pass along is, one, rent a car. I would not want to be hostage to the schedule of off site shuttles. Second, spend some time with Google Maps to get a sense of the roads you will be using. Also take the time to check Google Maps with traffic enabled during the time of day you will be traveling to get a sense for the traffic you can expect.

After many years on on site visits DW and I are now Disney snowbirds. Besides some rush hour traffic on I-4, we are southwest of Disney, I do not find getting around Disney to be particularly stressful. But then I have been driving around Disney for many years. I always rented a car when we stayed on site.

Partly because of the "inclusiveness" that being on-site provides (debatable I understand) but also partly because getting to/from Disney intimidated me. I worry that instead of a half hour bus ride to Disney, I'll be looking at, at least, 15 minutes of traffic, then, at least, 15 minutes of getting to and being parked. Then another, at least, 15 minutes to a half hour of waiting for a shuttle to take us to the entrance of the park. All of which feels like it would/could be stressful way to kick off a "magical vacation".

When we stayed on site we were at the Boardwalk so we are quite familiar with and really enjoyed the 'inclusiveness' that location offered. That said, I don't find the drive to the parking lots to be that stressful. When we stayed at the BWI we usually drove to the AK just to avoid having to wait for a bus. Acknowledging that we now avoid the busiest times we have seldom experienced delays getting from our home to the parks. They usually have plenty of parking booths open. There are usually plenty of CM's to smoothly direct you to a parking spot. Sometimes we have experienced a few minutes of a line waiting to be parked. The trams run almost continuously and we have never waited more than a few minutes, mostly just waiting for the tram to fill. I recently made a quick solo trip and went to three parks early to rope drop. All three times I was parked close enough to walk to the park or TTC. Once you get off the tram you will go through the same type of security as on site guests, though perhaps through a different area. I have found that one of longest delays I usually experience getting into the park is the one that all guests have, at the tapstiles.

I encourage you give your timeshare a try!

 

[starvenger]

So we just finished a trip and we stayed at Vineland and Polynesian (where the Walmart is). It was basically 3 lefts and we were heading onto the WDW campus. About 20 minutes each to Epcot and MK (didn’t do the others). Don’t think it could’ve been easier for us.

 

[kathy884]

For a hassle free convenient offsite stay renting a car or taking uber/lyft are excellent choices.

The car is usually the less expensive of the two options and nice for extra grocery runs etc. and a must if you want to do a beach day or Kennedy Space Center economically. For week long stays I almost always do a car.

Uber and Lyft are wonderful in Orlando though and real game changers for those who don't want to drive, opening up so many lovely economical offsite options. On my next mini trip, just four nights/three days I'm not going to be going that many different places and don't feel like driving, so will do uber and lyft for everything. When I did the math it was more expensive to do this vs. rent a car, but still well within my fairly modest budget. Staying offsite saves a ton and there are so many lovely places.

I'm a big fan of the lovely offsite timeshares for week long stays. I usually rent these from owner on the Redweek.com or TUG2.net sites. I've most often rented Sheraton Vistana Resort and Cypress Point as I really like those and they tend to have lots of rentals available. On this mini trip, just me and my son (DH is staying home), I'm getting a double queen studio at the Marriott Residence Inn SeaWorld.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Rent a car, park it at disney springs, take the buses to the parks. Parking fee avoided

 

[kokomos]

Rent a car, park it at disney springs, take the buses to the parks. Parking fee avoided

Don’t think they have buses directly to the park. You would have to take a bus to a resort then wait for a bus to the park you are wanting to go to.

 

[HopperFan]

Rent a car, park it at disney springs, take the buses to the parks. Parking fee avoided

- ZERO buses to parks
- Buses from parks to DS after 4 pm only
- Must take a bus to a resort and transfer to another transportation or walk to park
- These likely won't be available until DS opens so you lose golden hours
- Def not worth the hassle

What about leaving? Is it a madhouse with cars backed up for miles as everyone tries to leave at the same time? I'm envisioning every concert I've ever driven to, but worse, lol.

Last month DS2 was at POP, I was offsite at a hotel behind the outlet mall so not a direct shot. We all left MK, he arrived to the bus depot same time I got to my car (we left about 10 minutes before them) ..... I was in bed about 20 minutes later (and that with an incident in parking lot blocking traffic) and he was in his bed 1.5 hours later via bus. I have had enough offsite and onsite trips to know that unless you are "walking distance" to your hotel, you can probably drive to a hotel faster, even offsite within reason.

 

[BostonEd]

Last month DS2 was at POP, I was offsite at a hotel behind the outlet mall

You left your 2 year old son at Pop, while you stayed offsite?

 

[HopperFan]

You left your 2 year old son at Pop, while you stayed offsite?

He’s very mature for his age. Besides Disney security checks the rooms.

 

[hertamaniac]

Rent a car, park it at disney springs, take the buses to the parks. Parking fee avoided

I was under the impression that there are no buses directly from Disney Springs to the theme parks. But, you may be able to take a boat/walk to one of the surrounding resorts and take a bus to the parks from there?

 

[kokomos]

I’m definitely not the ethical police but the resort buses are already overcrowded with people paying to stay at those resorts unless it’s a slow time like mid day and buses don’t run as frequently

 

[HopperFan]

I was under the impression that there are no buses directly from Disney Springs to the theme parks. But, you may be able to take a boat/walk to one of the surrounding resorts and take a bus to the parks from there?

There isn’t.