Is it worth staying at Diz Property?

[rsoxrule]

Hi,
We are planning our 3rd trip to WDW. Our last visit included at stay at the Tree Top Villas. This time we are thinking Port Orleans but are not buying a "package." Is it to our advantage to stay at PO IF we are not buying a package OR would we be better off staying at an off-site property for less $$?
We want to do Sea World, 1 or 2 days of Diz and maybe 1 day at Universal - thats why we did not go for a package to include tickets.
Any advice will be most appreciated. Thanks

 

[madoug]

I love PO. I find it very relaxing with the amount of gardens. Also, the boat can take you to Downtown Disney.

 

[pbharris4]

HI! I love staying on the WDW property! I stayed on Hotel Plaza Blvd once and that was nice, but the hotel was awful and the next year we bought into Disney Vacation Club sight unseen! No matter where you stay on property it's so much easier getting around. As far as packages go, I can't help you out there. I am not a "package" girl. I prefer to do everything on my own. We don't go to all the parks all the time. Since we are DVC members I don't even think we can get a package deal anyway. HTH some!

 

[melissa5583]

I definately love staying onsite. We stayed offsite in 2002 and it was horrible. Last year, we stayed at All Stars and it was great having transportation for all the parks and Downtown Disney. Also, we didn't have to pay for parking and the bus to MK takes u directly to the park...no monorail or boat!!!!! Plus early entry and the new evening hours. And staying at a Disney resort just adds to the fun!!!

 

[Disney Dee]

Staying at PO while in Disney is a great plan! Maybe staying off site while seeing seeing the other Orlando parks would save you some money, but I stay on site and take a Mears bus to visit other parks, its just easier then switching midway through your vacation, especially if you get a good price on a DW resort.

 

[KayleeUK]

Welcome to the DIS

We have always stayed on site and would never do anything else Good luck with whatever you choose

 

[areno79]

Have you thought about staying at one of the Downtown Disney hotels? I stayed at the Holiday Inn when I went in 03 (it was known as the Courtyard Marriott back then), and I loved it. The buses to the Parks got a little crowded late at night or early in the morning, but overall I was pleased with my stay there. We weren't surrounded by the "magic" 24/7, but it was a good bargain for a little more luxury than you'd get staying at one of the Values. Plus it was close enough to go offsite without getting lost

 

[Lizardbeth61]

. . . of staying on site . . . and as far as I'm concerned, the Downtown Disney hotels count. Anything that has the regular transportation to the parks works for us. I know you're off to other parks, but for us, once we arrive, we like to be surrounded by the magic and one way to do that is to stay on site or a hotel with the Disney transportation.

Taking practicality into consideration, on-site hotels & DD hotels also afford you the opportunity to take a mid-afternoon break for a swim or shopping or just to get away from the crowds. We go back around 4 pm, then when lots of others are heading out. We try never to wait in a line that's got a wait over 20 minutes . . . we go on low crowd times of the year so that may not work for you . . . and with our strategy, we make good use of the mid-afternoon time, doing something else instead of waiting in horrendous lines at that time of day.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Abba98]

We stayed offsite our first few times,then on,and once you've stayed on,there's no looking back.......We don't need to rent a car,and it's such a great transportation system they have,wow!
Have you considered going to the rent/trade board here,and renting DVC points from a member?You get a great price,and a great place to stay,complete with kitchenette,kitchen,or whatever you choose.
Have a look at these boards,our next trip is from renting a member's points!
Good luck.Any questions,feel free to PM me!
Kirsten

 

[MiaSRN62]

We love PO---we stayed on the Riverside part of the resort. But since your stay includes Universal (1-2 days) and Sea World, staying offsite to save some $ is not a bad idea. Only you know what your budget is and how much you feel comfortable spending, but you can get some very nice suite and even 2 bedroom villas offsite for just about the same price or much less than PO. I've actually heard of some people on the DIS getting 2 bedroom/2 bath/full kitchen villas at Vistana for less than the price of PO. It all depends on what is important to you. If resort package delivery/resort busses/and Extra Magic Hour are important to you in the 2 days you plan to do WDW, then stick with PO. But if you have a rental, it's very convenient getting around WDW and to the other theme parks such as Uni and SW. Some people say it's not, but I strongly disagree. We stay both on and offsite (DVC and Vistana owner). We often can go back to our villa at Vistana and take a nap midday. Most times I can get to the Vistana from the parks quicker than using the resort bus system. In fact, the year we stayed at POR my youngest got sick and it took us an hour to get from MGM to POR. Could have done that in less than half the time with our car to Vistana. The MK is really the one park that is difficult (time-wise) to get out of if you have a rental. The rest of the parks are a breeze. When staying onsite, generally allow yourself 25-30 min to get to the park you want to go to. This includes 10-15 min waiting for the bus, then an approx 10 min drive. When we stay at Vistana, as an example, it takes us no more than 15 min from car to Epcot parking lot. We usually get there first thing in the morning and get a spot up front so we walk right in.
And by no means is Vistana the only nice offsite place to stay. Cypress Point I hear is nice.....Marriots' time share......Homewood Suites (less $) to name a few. Just ask around on "Orlando hotels & Attractions" boards. http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15
I see people mentioning how they don't have to rent a car and strictly use Disney transportation when staying onsite, but if you're spending several days offsite as you mentioned, having a rental car is a big plus whether you stay on Disney property or off. Good luck with your decision and welcome to the DIS boards

 

[MagicKingdom05]

If it was me, I would stay onsite. You are near all of the parks, and have Disney transportation that travels 1 hour prior to parks opening until 1 hour after they close.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I will never stay off site again. I stayed offsite Feb 2001

Unfortunately it sounds like you had "one" unfortunate experience ? That's a shame, but it's no reason to assume all offsite accomodations are substandard or that the service is either. We have topnotch accomodations at Vistana which is a Gold Crown resort---and there are many in the WDW area---so maybe you just stayed at one of the many substandard motels in the area ? They do exist and it's why it's important to do research/homework/planning. These boards are an invaluable resource for a variety of advice and information.
I just can't think of a valid reason to put down offsite accomodations based on 1 isloated bad experience ? I've read of MANY bad experiences at Disney-owned resorts (DVC & non-DVC included). A bad experience can happen anywhere (imho). Just my 2 cents.

 

[FLORIDAFUNFAMILY]

I prefer to stay on-site when we visit, but it does cost a little more than som,e of the close off-site hotels. For us it is worth the extra money. If you are going to stay off-site make sure it is close and cater's to Disney visitors with transportation etc. Money is the only real reason to stay off-site, and you really have to decide what works for you. Many people split there stay with off-site for a few days and on-site for the time they plan on staying a disney. Reading post on the disboards is a great way to learn what works for different situations. Wahtever you decide, just remember to have fun!!!

 

[rsoxrule]

If you actually read my original post you would have to revise many of your replies. I did not mention anything about a "negative" experience although Diz does not go out of their way regardless of how much $$ is being spent or how many shares of their stock you own!
One thing that has always made me wonder is the 'cultishness' of all you Diz devotees. The world has much more to offer than Epcot, Magic Kingdom, MGM, etc. We enjoy Diz in moderation, simple as that. My post has NOTHING to do with money - I was simply looking for input on on property vs. off property!

 

[HappyLawyer]

it is just a matter of choice, i loved staying on property, that is until last year, i stayed off property for the first time, now i iwll never stay on property again, disney is still great and awesome, but i enjoyed staying offsite so much more, there was so much of florida i had never experienced and even though you can still see things when you are on property, i just feel more free off
either way you will ave a great time,

 

[Lucky4me]

I've stayed on site and loved being immersed 24/7. I've stayed off site and loved leaving the Disney hype behind at the end of the day. It all depends on what you want and how much cash you're willing to spend.
When we have the opportunity to stay on site in a DVC villa (Thanks sis) we grab it. Otherwise we stay in comparable timeshare resorts a few miles from Disney at a fraction of the cost.
This must be the most asked question on this site. You will get many different opinions, none more valid than the next.

If money were no object, I'd stay at the Grand Floridian in the Oprah suite. It's not really called the Oprah suite, but she stayed there and it was gorgeous!! Someday...
Until that day I will continue to look for bargains off site or for the generousity of my wonderful sister.

 

[MariettaC]

There is nothing like staying onsite. It's the only way I go.

 

[MiaSRN62]

If you actually read my original post you would have to revise many of your replies. My post has NOTHING to do with money - I was simply looking for input on on property vs. off property!

Rsoxrule.....
Not sure if you were referring to me or not in this second post of yours because I did touch on budget/$. I did because of the statement in your OP :

Is it to our advantage to stay at PO IF we are not buying a package OR would we be better off staying at an off-site property for less $$?

By no means did I mean to offend. It seemed like you were looking for validation in staying offsite and spending less $....I'm actually one of those posters who thinks offsite is fine (I own a timeshare at Vistana). So I'm not exactly sure who you addressed your second post to as I was only trying to help. I suggested staying offsite because it sounded like a sound idea since you're only planning on doing 2 days in WDW.
It does seem like a couple of posters seem to think onsite is the "only" way to go and disregarded that you were only spending 2 days in WDW and the other days offsite. I have to wonder if some of the "Disney is the only way to go" folks have ever stayed in a Gold Crown timeshare resort where you can have 2 bedrooms/2 baths/full kitchen for the same price as a hotel room in WDW ? Good luck with your decision Rsoxrule.

 

[DEff]

But if you have a rental, it's very convenient getting around WDW and to the other theme parks such as Uni and SW. Some people say it's not, but I strongly disagree. We stay both on and offsite (DVC and Vistana owner). We often can go back to our villa at Vistana and take a nap midday. Most times I can get to the Vistana from the parks quicker than using the resort bus system. <snip> Could have done that in less than half the time with our car to Vistana. The MK is really the one park that is difficult (time-wise) to get out of if you have a rental. The rest of the parks are a breeze. When staying onsite, generally allow yourself 25-30 min to get to the park you want to go to. This includes 10-15 min waiting for the bus, then an approx 10 min drive. When we stay at Vistana, as an example, it takes us no more than 15 min from car to Epcot parking lot. We usually get there first thing in the morning and get a spot up front so we walk right in.

Thank you for the above (butting into the conversation.) This is just the sort of information I was looking for. We'll be at the Vistana in a couple of weeks and I'm busy planning my strategy for park hopping and was concerned with how long it would take to get to the parks and back.

Any thoughts on the time it takes to the other parks, if you were to drive there first thing? Taking a mid-day at the resort sounds like a great idea for us, since we have a 3 YO. OTOH, we are going when park hours are short, so doing marathon days may be a better option. Thoughts?

We're taking one day off to visit Kennedy as well. It almost kills me because I feel like I'm losing Disney time, yet, I'm a major space nut -- whole family is, actually. Sigh. The world is full of trade offs. Need a time turner... (for you HP fans.)

As for staying on versus off-site, we've only stayed on site twice -- well, once was a million years ago in a camper so that doesn't really count. More recently, we stayed at The Boardwalk and I'll tell you, there is nothing like it. If maximizing your Disney Immsersion is important to you, and having the extra hours is important, I wouldn't recommend going any other way, especially if you have kids. We're only staying off-site because we got a good timeshare swap which is what we did last time as well.

I'm also prejudice because that Boardwalk stay marks my high water mark in terms of everything going as planned and having the best Disney experience we've ever had. Pretty much ruins everything to happen afterward. Poor me, huh?!

Donna

 

[MiaSRN62]

Any thoughts on the time it takes to the other parks, if you were to drive there first thing? Taking a mid-day at the resort sounds like a great idea for us, since we have a 3 YO. OTOH, we are going when park hours are short, so doing marathon days may be a better option. Thoughts?

Hi Donna,
Epcot, Disney Studios and MK are all about a 15-20 min drive from Vistana during the summer and holiday seasons. We've done it in under those times in slow season. I think the quickest was 10 min to Epcot/MK parking lot in off-season. The AK is maybe 20 min away. We either take the appropriate I-4 exits (turn right when exiting Vistana's main entrance & then your first right at the light to get onto I-4) or sometimes we get into the parks via the Downtown Disney entrance (Hotel Plaza Blvd). This way is a little more confusing if you don't know your way around though.
Just keep in mind, the 15-20 min (or less in off season) I quoted for the MK is from your car at Vistana to the MK parking lot. Once you get to the MK parking lot, you have to get a tram and then take either the Ferry or Monorail into the park. Those extra steps can take an extra 20-30 min ! This is the one park where staying onsite is more convenient.
As for Sea World and Universal---it's about 20 min from Vistana to their parking lots. Universal's parking garage is another 10+ min walk to their two parks.
If you are going in slow season when the parks close early, you might do better to let your little one sleep in and then just stay until close. Epcot is the one park (well the World Showcase) that is always open until 9 pm. So if you plan an all-day visit there, I'd think your 3 yo would need a nap. Mine always fell asleep in their strollers when they were that age, but there were occasions when we'd take them back to the room for a nap. You know your child best and what they can handle. With my kids, I could get away with doing marathon days & them napping in the strollers most times when they were little, but I know some children really need to have a solid nap in a bed.
I agree with you about the Boardwalk. It's a beautiful resort and within walking distances to Epcot and Disney Studios. We stayed there on DVC points in 2003.
Hope this info helped a little. Have a nice upcoming trip