Is the Magic lost...???

[HatboxHaint]

Kids are getting older... and we have more than Disney allows in a single hotel room and DVC 2bedrooms are expensive even when renting points. Also about time to expand to Universal parks a bit.

Is the magic lost when you move offsite to a rental home or condo after all your previous visits have been onsite only?

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Off site sucks for us. But we are spoiled.

 

[Sweettears]

Just got back from a 5 day trip. I stayed off-site for the first two nights in the DS area. I probably won't do it again. Transportation is a hassle (I don't rent a car at WDW). The time spent is considerably more than on-site. Next time I would stay at a moderate or even a value over DS.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Just got back from a 5 day trip. I stayed off-site for the first two nights in the DS area. I probably won't do it again. Transportation is a hassle (I don't rent a car at WDW). The time spent is considerably more than on-site. Next time I would stay at a moderate or even a value over DS.

DS? Disney Springs?

 

[steg]

We've always been onsite, we like the bubble too much.

What about 1BR villa (renting points)? No idea how old your kids are but the living room area in some resorts have a pull out couch and a sleeper chair, I know these aren't the same as beds just throwing it out there.

You can stay at certain resorts and get amenities like get a full kitchen and 2 bathrooms, one including whirlpool tub and standing shower and private space from the kids if desired. The biggest other advantage is in room laundry 1 load free (detergent provided), so you can pack lighter.

Could save $ by ordering groceries and large cases of water/drinks for parks to offset the cost of the more expensive room. Less Trash, Towel, and Turn Down are the only less than desirable parts about villas

 

[bluemoon9]

I wouldn't say that all of the magic is lost, but some of it definitely is. My in-laws have a lot of points with a timeshare company and so the first 10+ times we went to Disney we stayed off-site. Thanks to their generosity in sharing their points, our accommodations were VERY inexpensive. We would not have had the opportunity to travel so often to Disney otherwise. Not knowing any different, it seemed just fine. I did always envy the guests hopping off the monorail at The Contemporary after a long day at MK while we were en route to the TTC, then the tram to the car, then the drive back to the resort. I decided to splurge on The Polynesian last year thinking that it would be one of our last trips for a long time. Experiencing a stay at an on-site resort made me love Disney even more, which I didn't think was possible. Since that trip we have stayed off-site once, and during that week I had a nagging longing to be at a Disney resort.

If you have always stayed on-site, the transition to an off-site resort may leave you feeling a bit disappointed and as if your vacation is incomplete. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful time!

 

[Hopefully]

It would ruin it for us. That is why we purchased DVC years ago, and we have never regretted it for a minute.

We've always been onsite, we like the bubble too much.

What about 1BR villa (renting points)? No idea how old your kids are but the living room area should have a pull out couch and a sleeper chair, I know these aren't the same as beds just throwing it out there.

You get a full kitchen and 2 bathrooms, one including whirlpool tub and standing shower and private space from the kids if desired. The biggest other advantage is in room laundry 1 load free (detergent provided), so you can pack lighter.

Could save $ by ordering groceries and large cases of water/drinks for parks to offset the cost of the more expensive room. Less Trash, Towel, and Turn Down are the only less than desirable parts about villas

So as not confuse those reading:
Not all 1 BR Villas have a sleeper chair
Not all 1 BR Villas have 2 Bathrooms

Only some have these amenities. Do your research before you try to rent any points. There are differences between Villas, there are differences in locations of Villas and there are restriction on what you get and you generally can not cancel or get a refund on the entire cost of the trip.

 

[pd1138]

We are Disney bubble people , but our family is growing also and one day we will be too much for a single room. We were wondering the same thing, how much magic is lost offsite. I have seen one can get larger accommodations for so much less off site which is so tempting! Right now we are leaning towards getting two rooms onsite even if they aren't connected. Being in the bubble IS part of the vacation for our family!

 

[steg]

It would ruin it for us. That is why we purchased DVC years ago, and we have never regretted it for a minute.



So as not confuse those reading:
Not all 1 BR Villas have a sleeper chair
Not all 1 BR Villas have 2 Bathrooms

Only some have these amenities. Do your research before you try to rent any points. There are differences between Villas, there are differences in locations of Villas and there are restriction on what you get and you generally can not cancel or get a refund on the entire cost of the trip.

Good call, edited. Just recalling my most recent trip to AKL

 

[happymommy]

As much as I love staying on site, I've loved our off site trips as well! My favorite one was me and the kids for 15 nights off site (we did back to back Interval getaways, so started at Marriott's Grande Vista, then moved to Sabal Palms, which was wonderfully amazing!).

Longer trip meant so much down time, enjoying the pool, I used the fitness room every morning, we used the kitchen and gas grill right outside our door (literally). Full size washer and dryer was great! Lots and lots of space! We did a little exploring outside of Disney, and only ate one sit down meal that whole time (at a Macaroni Grill in Kissimmee, which was a great meal too).

It cost so little, as it was the last two weeks of August. No lines anywhere. Rental car was about $230 for the whole darned time.

It is what you make it. For a larger family, off site can be super fun! There were only 3 of us, so it was easier to wrangle the kids up to get moving (not an easy task for my son, LOL). We never got going until noon at the earliest, but I was pretty relaxed about it, and made breakfast many days. We used Marriott points for Marriott gift cards (a platinum perk that isn't available any longer), so our tickets were free. Lodging the whole time was well under $1,000. We grocery shopped so spent no more on food there than we would have at home. Flights from BWI were super cheap, I'm sure it was less than $600 total. Staying on site, even in one room at a value resort, would have cost more, and we wouldn't have had the huge condo with our own kitchen and washer/dryer.

I'd look into it certainly!

 

[Lisann]

an off-site resort may leave you feeling a bit disappointed and as if your vacation is incomplete

So true for me. Incomplete is a great word to describe it. I love being on-site.

 

[Doug S]

The cost of a rental car, parking at Disney, and the blasted resort fees of offsite hotels add up fast. I'd rather stay at a value for the same price and not have long drives to/from the parks or pay for parking, and having Disney transportation for adulting days at Epcot.

 

[AngiTN]

Magic lost? No. Off site is better than no Disney at all. But I wouldn't write off on site just yet. I'd look at 2 rooms at a mod myself. And did when DD came with us. That was less than 1 bedroom at a Villa

 

[spiceycat]

stay at both offsite - Silver Lake - onsite BLT - I own at BLT (DVC member). Love my stays at BLT. but offsite is nice too - especially if you want to do non-Disney things. Now only Disney things stay onsite. If you want to visit, US/IOA, SW, dinner shows, etc. then stay offsite.

 

[prprincess]

I don't think it's lost, just a different kind of magic. On some trips, we want to do more than Disney and explore Orlando, on top of spending time with my family that lives in the area. When we do that, we rent beautiful, spacious homes with pools and it's so relaxing! The driving to and from WDW doesn't bother us. So I think it just depends on what type of vacation you're looking for.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Not lost, but not the same for me, personally. I'm an on-siter for sure.

 

[Farro]

I don't think it's lost, just a different kind of magic. On some trips, we want to do more than Disney and explore Orlando, on top of spending time with my family that lives in the area. When we do that, we rent beautiful, spacious homes with pools and it's so relaxing! The driving to and from WDW doesn't bother us. So I think it just depends on what type of vacation you're looking for.

This exactly.

I will be the first to admit, if I'm going to Florida specifically to go to WDW, we will only stay onsite, or we don't go. Even if we go to Universal for a day or two, but the rest at WDW, only onsite.

Now we haven't done this, but if we were going to Florida to visit Universal, other area attractions and maybe just a day or two at Magic Kingdom, then we would do off-site.

 

[erc]

There are some cool resorts with some really nice pools outside of WDW. You will see the non-Disney side of the Orlando area. But still I have good memories of those trips too. $3 breakfast buffets, a road-side ice cream shop shaped like an ice cream cone, discount souvenir shops. I love it all. So the pure Disney magic might not be there, but a lot of new memories will be formed.

 

[IrishNYC]

For my family, we wouldn't go to Disney if we didn't stay on site. We do not want to rent a car when we go because not only are you paying for the car rental, but then you are paying to park at the parks, plus some of the hotels in the area charge for parking as well. Then resort charges, the time it takes, especially at MK to tram to your car. Off-site might be cheaper for a room, but all the other little things add up to not such a difference, whether it's financial or the value of my time.

 

[Sweettears]

DS? Disney Springs?

Yes