Large group--on site or rent house?

[staceychev]

I'm excited that my sister has decided to join us on our trip to Disney this fall. So now, it'll be me, DH, DD9, DD5, along with my mom, my sis and her sons, age 9 and 6. (That's four adults and four kids, for those who don't want to count! )

My mom suggested renting a house, thinking we could save money on housing and food (we could cook, which we actually do enjoy doing). But, once we figure car rentals for that number of people (we'd need 2 cars, I assume), I'm wondering if we'd save that much money. Plus, are there "can't miss" perks that staying in-park offers, other than EMH?

Thanks for any advice--last time I was at Disney was chaperoning a school trip, and the time before, we stayed with my sister in law at her timeshare, so we didn't have to consider meal plans and hotel.

 

[shane1234]

If anyone in your group is a veteran, Look into armed forces vacation club. You can get condos that sleep up to 8 comfortably. We've used them twice and have no complaints.

As far as cooking when staying off property, keep in mind that "running back to the room for a quick bite" can easily take 2 or more hours. Our plan was to cook in the condo as well, but in reality, we only ended up doing that once or twice.

 

[powellrj]

It really depends on what kind of a vacation you want to have. We love the space and freedom you get off-site. We love to rent pool homes so we have our own pool, lots of TVs and bathrooms, a washer and dryer and a full kitchen. Things like on-site transportation (we always rent a car even when we stay on-site), the dining plan (we used it once and didn't like it), EMH and package delivery are other things we never use.

 

[Lupeix]

Look into WBC. It is off-site but on-property. You are closer to the parks that in some of the values (it is right next to the Caribbean beach resort), you can even get rooms with Epcot fireworks views!
You will save major $$$$ and still be very close to the parks.

You can get a 2 bedroom/2 bath standard condo that sleeps 8 for 120 a night including tax on low season, so even adding the cost of a car and parking you will still save money and be more comfortable. The amenities are also great, I think there are 6 pools or so and a lazy river.
I am a big fan of renting a car anyway, regardless of where you stay, waiting for the buses takes too long. From WBC you can be inside Epcot in 15 minutes by car.

There are threads about WBC at the DIS if you want to take a look. WBC is very popular for all the above reasons, so you really have to book ahead of time, specially if you want a "presidential" unit, which is a little more expensive but amazing. We used Vacation Upgrades to book our next stay at WBC in April and are very happy with them.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I love to stay on property but when we go with grandparents and siblings we rent a house off property. We're all together, have plenty of bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry, etc., and love to hang out by the pool with no crowd. Many of the rental houses also have game rooms that the kids enjoy.

Anyway, I'm no help since I enjoy both options.

You are correct that by the time you add in rental cars, gas, parking fees, etc., the savings isn't necessarily very high compared to a few value rooms but if you want to all stay together any DVC grand villa large enough would be very pricey.

 

[nugov2]

I guess the savings is huge if you compare apples to apples. The minimum requirement for us would run us $700 a night for a 2bdr(minimum requirement for our family of 5), so we'd be looking at $7000 for our 10 day trip vs our 6bdrm all disney themed home with game room, pool and hot tub for 1400(140 a night low season or peak season when we went we paid $245). Our rental car is $600(for a van..it fits 7) and parking is at max $150 if we pay for parking every day. Our total is $2150. You can get 2 midsized cars for $870 so with the house and parking you'd be at $2000 for a week or about $286 vs 2 values(130 each) $260. Now is a value something you would sleep in for 7 days to save $26 a day? I wouldn't, but I wouldn't stay at a value or a mod as I feel they are too cramped and the amenities are lacking. I would stay at a deluxe 2 bedroom suite, but like I said...$700 a night. I would have to get some serious perks to pay that a night and unfortunately WDW doesn't offer anything that justifies that high of a price tag(IMO).

Obviously different people want/need different things so you need to decide what that is. We stayed at a resort style rental community(Windsor Hills) with private pool and resort pool with waterslide/club house(not something you'll get at a value). You have no restaurant at a value only food court(I'd rather eat at the house with the groceries I can by a short trip down the road than a food court) and the house is just as close to the parks as the values(but closer time wise when you factor in you can skip waiting for a bus).

Now if you want EMH you can't get that offsite, but for all other onsite perks you can book a campsite/throwaway room for a night and get MB's for each of the people in your party..a 60 rolling FP+booking window for length of ticket and Adr's at 180+10 for your length of stay for an additional $70 for the week(10 a day). All other resort perks are also available to off site guests except EMH and pools.

I would just weigh the pros and cons and see where you land. Some would rather not go than stay off site and some would rather not go if they had to stay at a value or mod. Some like everything. I have stayed onsite and it can be lovely, but with a large group I don't want to do it. Good luck deciding there are tons of options

 

[Candleshoe]

I'm excited that my sister has decided to join us on our trip to Disney this fall. So now, it'll be me, DH, DD9, DD5, along with my mom, my sis and her sons, age 9 and 6. (That's four adults and four kids, for those who don't want to count! )

My mom suggested renting a house, thinking we could save money on housing and food (we could cook, which we actually do enjoy doing). But, once we figure car rentals for that number of people (we'd need 2 cars, I assume), I'm wondering if we'd save that much money. Plus, are there "can't miss" perks that staying in-park offers, other than EMH?

Thanks for any advice--last time I was at Disney was chaperoning a school trip, and the time before, we stayed with my sister in law at her timeshare, so we didn't have to consider meal plans and hotel.

DVC may be a way to go, too.

We're going with 8. Me, DH, DD14 and my niece age 21. Then my BILs family, BIL, SIL, nephew11, niece 14. They're getting their car, we're renting a car. We'll be renting a pool home.
Have the opportunity to go out the back door and enjoy being around each other at the pool (hot tub for ME!) is something I'm looking forward to.

 

[mjkacmom]

On our last trip, we were 9 - my immediate family, and my parents. We had the best of both worlds by renting points for a 2 bedroom BCV for us (price of 2 moderate rooms), and a studio for my parents.

When you combine families, you might find that you don't want to be together 24/7. We loved the ability to split up, and come and go without having to make everyone come and go. DH and I would take the older kids to another park while the grandparents took the littles back for a nap, I left once with a little who was having a meltdown while the others stayed in a park, and the grandparents (who see my kids 365 days of the year) were thankful to have their own quiet relaxing space.

This way, no one really has to compromise - if one family wants pool time, and another wants to hit some more rides, everyone is happy.

 

[Raenstoirm]

It really depends on what type of trip you are taking. Are you going to be in the parks from wake up till bed? If so staying offsite is just a pain. Onsite you get emh and transportation. If you are going to be more laid back. Leisurely mornings hanging out at the hotel or evenings at the pool, offsite is probably a better fit since you have more room. Also how much time do you really want to spend with the other families? If you can do 24/7, good for you. If your family will want some alone time, onsite is a better option since you will have your own hotel room and own space and you can hop on a bus and head back whenever your group wants and not have to worry about negotiating cars and how those that stay at the park will get back.
Given our touring style, we are 100% onsite people, but we would certainly have our own hotel room and not share.

 

[katyjeka]

We started traveling with extended family several years ago. I agree staying offsite can be a pain if you choose certain areas. However we discovered Bonnet Creek and haven't looked back. The prices for DVC are crazy expensive. We paid 323.00 for the second week of Dec. in a 2 bedroom. That was the total cost. We've rented off the same lady twice without issue. The resort is as nice as the onsite properties, and our kids actually prefer it. You do not get housekeeping, EMH, or the shuttles. We however avoid the EMH parks as we don't buy hoppers and those parks seem more crowded as the day progresses. My dh hates the buses so we would drive regardless. We also don't pay to park as he has an annual pass. You drive under the Mickey sign to get to the resort and you are minutes from the parks. This Dec. it took us five minutes in most cases and we were never over 10. Funny thing, on our first trip with my sweet mother in law, we could not convince her it was not Disney owned. She swore we were onsite and to this day still believes it. Have a great trip as traveling with a large group makes for some great memories.

 

[Dawnlight]

It really depends on what type of trip you are taking. Are you going to be in the parks from wake up till bed? If so staying offsite is just a pain. Onsite you get emh and transportation. If you are going to be more laid back. Leisurely mornings hanging out at the hotel or evenings at the pool, offsite is probably a better fit since you have more room. Also how much time do you really want to spend with the other families? If you can do 24/7, good for you. If your family will want some alone time, onsite is a better option since you will have your own hotel room and own space and you can hop on a bus and head back whenever your group wants and not have to worry about negotiating cars and how those that stay at the park will get back.
Given our touring style, we are 100% onsite people, but we would certainly have our own hotel room and not share.

Yes, this.

We were a party of 9 (our family and grandma) and stayed on property at All Star Movies; 3 rooms for 9 of us. We used the room as a place to sleep, shower, and store our luggage; we were at the parks from opening to nearly close most nights. I didn't really care about other things to do at the resort itself, and the tightness didn't bother me as we live in a smaller house anyway. I loved the convenience of being on-site, no driving, the EMH (to me that was a MUST during Christmas peak time), having the Magical Express

 

[MSSANDRA]

It really depends on what type of trip you are taking. Are you going to be in the parks from wake up till bed? If so staying offsite is just a pain. Onsite you get emh and transportation. If you are going to be more laid back. Leisurely mornings hanging out at the hotel or evenings at the pool, offsite is probably a better fit since you have more room. Also how much time do you really want to spend with the other families? If you can do 24/7, good for you. If your family will want some alone time, onsite is a better option since you will have your own hotel room and own space and you can hop on a bus and head back whenever your group wants and not have to worry about negotiating cars and how those that stay at the park will get back.
Given our touring style, we are 100% onsite people, but we would certainly have our own hotel room and not share.

I agree, and wanted to add that with three generation,having the option to go back and forth from the room to the park may be priceless. Say grandparents want to sleep to 10, and the siblings with the kids want a early start and even maybe the grandparents might be willing to keep the kids one night so you and your sister could go out; each group can just jump on a bus! If money is a concern, I would choose two regular room and request rooms that connect. Value resorts are cheapest, but I much prefer moderates if they are in the budget. If you get the connecting rooms, it gives the adults a place to hang after putting the kids to sleep in the other room. All this assuming everyone gets along fine and there is not a huge need to spend time apart.

 

[MommyBryn]

We always travel with at least 12 people- have been up to 22 of us, though. Every time we've gone back and forth between staying on-site and having it "all-inclusive" or staying off-site and piecing it all together ourselves. In the end, though, we've ALWAYS chosen to stay on-site. The savings were never enough to justify not being in close proximity to the parks, or to not have to drive/cook, etc. Of course it is more difficult to stay all together in Disney, so usually it means a bunch of rooms as opposed to all of us in one house, but we've never regretted it and usually appreciate having some individual spaces.