In-park resort or luxury home outside for cheaper

[G-gang]

Currently we have a room booked at the Dolphin (standard) Not a Disney owned hotel so will it really matter?

Unfortunately my DH has decided that it would be better for everyone if we stayed at a villa off site. We will be arriving Aug. 31 and staying through Sept. 8. My parents are thinking of joining us for a few days but not to the parks--just evening dinners--that type of stuff.

Can anyone give the pros/cons to staying off site. This might help me feel better about making this decision. I have been reading these boards since Jan. and feel on-site is the only way to go but,
I would love hearing some other opinions.
TIA

 

[jordanyosh]

A few questions for you before I answer. What are his reasons for booking off site? Whereabouts are you thinking of booking off site? How many of you are going?

 

[G-gang]

The two most important reasons is cost and comfort. We are paying approx. $1200.00 for 8 nights at the Dolphin. (Gov't Rate)My husband looked at the Orlando Villas website and was floored as to how much cheaper the homes were and what you got for the price. He feels that we may not be as relaxed as we could be in a hotel room with 3 kids after a day at the parks, even with breaks in between.

Interestingly enough, when we decided to plan our WDW vacation back in Feb. of this year I offered this option b/c I thought it would be a great inexpensive way to do Disney, but now I'm not so sure I want to give up being on the property even if it's not a true Disney resort.

This is our 1st family trip to WDW and I want to make a great first impression on the kids. BTW DS's 11&8, DD6.

 

[TammiMcMan]

We stayed for 2 weeks in Orlando back in July 2000. Our first week was spent in a rental home, followed by a week in Disney. The home was a great value, the family we rented from was amazing and the house was beautiful. We took a day trip over to IOA, but other than that, we enjoyed the house and having a pool all to ourselves. That being said, if you're going to do activities other than just Disney, then that's a great option, but if you're plans only include WDW, well, there's nothing better than being on site.

Some of the house rentals only require a 3 night minimum, maybe you could start your vacation with 5 nights at the Dolphin and finish it off by relaxing at the house for 3 nights? Perhaps that would work better into your plans for having your parents join you.

Tammi

 

[jordanyosh]

I agree with Tammi. If you are doing things off site like Sea World or US/IOA then maybe staying in a home would be better. Yes, there would be more room........That said, even staying at the Dolphin, you are as close to Disney as you can get. You are within walking distance of EPCOT and a short boat ride away from MGM. Yes, 5 in a room w/ one bathroom is tight, but not necessarily horrible. The Boardwalk and the Y and B Club are all right there.

Staying offsite, while affording you some benefits,does have drawbacks. The parks will start closing earlier when you are there which means if you stay offsite, you have to factor time to and from your rental home. This added time might not make travelling to and from your rental convenient. You may end up staying in the parks longer...which is okay IF you can bear the heat and walking with 3 kids.....Once you are onsite for a few days, you can get lost in the all inclusiveness and magic. You really feel transported. If you are staying offsite, you may end up eating at TGIFs--not so special. You also have to drive on freeways, deal with traffic--not really relaxing. Maybe stopping at Winn-Dixie for food--you can do that at home. Can you see I am completely bias. We stayed offsite the first two years and will never go back to that......Good luck with whatever you decide. Spending time together as a family at WDW will be the most special time of all, where you stay won't really matter.

 

[G-gang]

I agree!!!! Wish me luck trying to convince my husband.

 

[drcmk]

On our last trip we stayed off-site in a suite hotel. It was the first trip with our kids (2) and it was just fine. In November we are staying at a Deluxe on-site because I just want to treat myself just once. That said, I think for our next trip (oops, hope DH didn't hear me say "next trip" before we even took this one!), I will consider an off-site suite hotel or rental home. As the kids get older, we will want more privacy and space (and bathrooms) and the Disney prices for that are just way out of our budget. Perhaps I will change my mind once we do our first WDW resort vacation, but it is awfully hard to justify the cost. For any other vacation my family usually does get a suite so the kids have their own room and I am worried that one Deluxe room at WDW will feel tight to us.

 

[jordanyosh]

Unfortunately, alot of the benefits of staying onsite are intangible.

Here's some advice about convincing the DH about staying onsite...Set up some scenarios. What if DD was feeling a little tired and wanted to go back to the room? If you were staying offsite, you would either all have to leave;force her to stay;or have one parent take the car and DD back to the house and go back and pick everyone up later. However, if you were staying at the Dolphin, there would be more options. One parent could go back to the hotel and the others could stay on at the park and just meet later. No hassles;no car to worry about;no forcing your child to stay longer. Even without kids, we've gone with large groups and done this. It is so nice not having to worry about cars,etc.......Scenario #2: You are arriving at MGM; you are going up to the entrance and you realize you left all your tickets on the table right next to the entrance of your rental home. An hour later, you return to MGM. If you were staying at the Dolphin, 15-30 minutes later....you're back. Scenario #3: You would like to take a walk with your family. From your rental home, you head out the door..oh, look a two story home. Oh look, that house has a bay window. At the Dolphin, Wow, you can see the Eiffel Tower. Can we rent a surrey bike, mom? Let's go to Beaches and Cream and get an ice cream cone....

Hope these help.

 

[thessaly]

I saw a post on rec.arts.disney.parks once that I thought was kinda true (for me, anyway)...

They were referring to renting the big studio type DVC lodgings at OKW, etc, and said they didn't like renting a 'home away from home' place because then it reminded them too much of... home. Kitchen means dishes to be washed, washer and dryer is convenient but takes away from the feeling of being on vacation... That sort of thing.

This is the reason the luxury homes/villas have never appealed to me, no matter how good a deal... I like to feel like I'm in a resort, not a permanent residence.

Just something to think about.

 

[drcmk]

Oh definitely. thessaly, I agree. I don't want to do any housework just because I am staying in a house! Heck, I hardly cook when I'm at my house. For me, the appeal of a rental house (not that I've done it yet) is the privacy. The kids have their own room and maybe even their own bathroom, maybe we even have our own private pool, and we'd have more space.

 

[G-gang]

Yahoo! It seems that DH is coming around and understands that although it might be cheaper to be off-site that we would truly miss out on so many things you all mentioned. It's not set in stone yet, but I think we'll be staying at the Dolphin in the end. I looked at some of the villas and kept thinking they look nice but, it wouldn't feel like a real vacation. Thank's everyone for your input.

 

[jordanyosh]

Phew!!!Also you may want to remind him this may be the last year that your oldest DS may want to spend in the same room with his parents and sibs. Enjoy their childhood as long as you can. You can do a rental when you come again.

Let us know what happens

 

[G-gang]

Just wanted to say that we are definately staying at the Dolphin and not at some off-site property, yeah! My husband was very pleased that the Dolphin was offering a Labor Day Sale rate of 99.00 a night and we ended up saving an additional 240.00--so that really clinched the deal. He also agreed that it would be a lot nicer to stay on-site b/c of all the reasons you listed and that the kids would have the most memorable vacation ever.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[jordanyosh]

Very cool!!!!! Now you just have to start planning......try not to overplan as you have kids and kids+heat can=tired and cranky. This could throw a wrench into any plans that you have....You do have alot of time. I know I answered one of your other posts, but are you just doing WDW or are you also doing US or Sea World?

Just enjoy the smaller things.....relax and have a blast.

 

[G-gang]

We plan to eat, breath,and sleep Disney!

We took the kids to Great America today as a test to see how they would react to the heat, hunger--thirst, long lines etc... and they actually did well.

My parents will be joining us for part of our stay and my brother lives in Altamonte Spring so we plan on seeing him to.

I plan on using the EMH and plan on going back to our hotel for nice swim breaks in the afternoon. I just hope that we don't get too much rain for our trip.

I can't believe that our time is almost here! It's going to be somewhat of a challenge to get ready for the trip and all the back to school stuff. Yikes

 

[jordanyosh]

We have gone in September 5x and one year we had alot of rain. But did that ruin our fun. No way!!!! It's not a cold rain and if you go to the parks prepared with rain gear then it shouldn't be a problem.....

As far as your parents joining you. Try not to duplicate attractions unless you want to. A friend and I went in 96 and then my cousins came. We had issues because we ended doing alot of things we had already done. It was just a little redundant....Maybe your parents would be interested in babysitting, you two could get a night at the Flying Fish or La Nouba or the Yachtsmen Steakhouse

Well good luck and let us know if you have any more questions

 

[mrsltg]

Congratualtions, G-Gang... but understand, once you atay onsite, it's a done deal!!! WDW must put something in their water because the place is ADDICTIVE!!!

Have a wonderful vacation!!!

Erin