Little Confused from what i have read...re:dining

[aLLpInK]

So If you are staying on property, can you not leave property for dining/shopping etc.? Or are you required to stay, eat, shop on Dis?
Maybe a dumb question...maybe im misunderstanding. We are going on our 1st trip this year

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

You can leave and go elsewhere. We fly and choose not to rent a car, so we eat, sleep, breathe Disney

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

If you are staying at a Disney owned hotel then you qualify for Magical Express. Disney picks you up from the airport in lovely large busses and transports you to their World, free of charge.

The "catch" is that while you save the cost of renting a car or paying for a limo service you are now on Disney property without means of transportation other than:

Disney Transportation via tram, ferry, monorail, train, bus, bike, or carriage.

Renting a car, but if you do that then your cost savings is lower, but not necessarily gone entirely.

Getting a taxi, which can be very expensive if you are traveling off of Disney Property and back again.

So, for a lot of the people staying on site, if they fly and use Magical Express, then they are somewhat limited to getting off site without a bit of added expense and effort.

Keep in mind that Disney World is larger than the island of Manhattan. It is a rather large area to traverse unless you have motorized transportation.

 

[FLDisneyFan]

WDW is huge! Staying on Disney property entitles guests to use Disney transporation, which is a system of buses, monorails, ferries and small boats to transport guests to the various theme parks, resorts and other guest areas such as Downtown Disney. Depending on how crowded Disney is, it could take awhile to get from your resort to a pariticular restaurant but with Disney transportation it is possible.

While the Disney transportation system is great, especially if one is not renting a car, it doesn't take you to grocery stores, malls or shopping areas other than Downtown Disney. There are tons of inexpensive places to eat just outside the WDW resort area, but a long walk if no car is available. So perhaps that is why many people who are staying in a Disney Resort keep mostly to the Disney property while there.

 

[gillenkl]

When you arrive at Guest Services they attach a GPS to your ankle......
it's not a cult or IS IT?

 

[crisi]

So If you are staying on property, can you not leave property for dining/shopping etc.? Or are you required to stay, eat, shop on Dis?
Maybe a dumb question...maybe im misunderstanding. We are going on our 1st trip this year

You can leave property as much as you want. However, Disney does a good job of keeping you on property.

Magical Express makes it 'unnecessary' to rent a car. Without a car, you'll find leaving property to be expensive. If you want to leave property, make sure you have a car.

Disney Dining Plan feeds you at Disney restaurants. Which means if you buy the dining plan, you've already paid not to eat elsewhere. Obviously off property restaurants aren't going to take the Dining Plan. If you plan on eating offsite, the dining plan may not be a good value.

There is a TON of things to do on property - its simply easy to fill a week (or two) and not have time to go off property for things. And once you've bought a five day ticket, Disney practically gifts you with day six or day seven.

But a lot of people leave...they go to the outlet mall, they eat offsite, the even (shhhh!) visit Universal or Sea World. Its just a little different planning experience.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

When you arrive at Guest Services they attach a GPS to your ankle......
it's not a cult or IS IT?

No! No! No! It is not a GPS and it is not done at Guest Services.

When you check in to your resort they lock a collar around your neck. They use the same technology that is used for dog electric fences. So if you attempt to go off-property until the time you check out of your resort, and the collar is unlocked and removed, you will get severe electrical shocks.

 

[Green Tea]

I'm pretty sure if they didn't let you leave, that would be felony kidnapping.

 

[klynn]

Last time we were there, Disney implanted chips in our heads. Now they track us all day, every day, with Mickey-shaped satellites. Beware of the knock-out mints...

 

[PinballFamily]

And every time you get that "It's A Small World" song stuck in your head...it is a signal that another visitor has tried to leave Disney property.

 

[buckler]

I can't help but think of the song "Hotel California" now...

You can check out anytime you like...but you can never leave.


My family would actually think that was a great thing! My DH would love to live there.

 

[disneyjunkie]

When you arrive at Guest Services they attach a GPS to your ankle......
it's not a cult or IS IT?

No! No! No! It is not a GPS and it is not done at Guest Services.

When you check in to your resort they lock a collar around your neck. They use the same technology that is used for dog electric fences. So if you attempt to go off-property until the time you check out of your resort, and the collar is unlocked and removed, you will get severe electrical shocks.

Last time we were there, Disney implanted chips in our heads. Now they track us all day, every day, with Mickey-shaped satellites. Beware of the knock-out mints...

And every time you get that "It's A Small World" song stuck in your head...it is a signal that another visitor has tried to leave Disney property.

 

[disykat]

I needed this thread today!

OP, it does kind of seem "impossible" to leave from what people say, but as others have pointed out it's really a matter of preference and transportation issues.

 

[MarilIncredible]

You can leave to go for dinner or shopping, but you have to pay to get back on property, about $10 per person, I think, so it is not always worth it. If you *really* need to go off-site, better make a list of all the places you need to go and stop at them all on one day to save the return fees.

J/K.

 

[aLLpInK]

Yeap what did i say....dumb question!! You all are cracking me up anyway.
Well I never thought that you COULDNT eat and shop off property. But today i read a few posts saying things like...."well if you choose to stay off site you can eat cheaper off DW property"... and others so i was like....? HAHA And BTW I doubt we would be worried about leaving property anyway. Just was curious. Like I said ITS OUR FIRST TIME.....

Seriously i they are borderline cult. We havent even left, its ur first family trip and JUST the planning has got me absolutly HOOKED. Ive become obcessed!!

 

[Planogirl]

It's not just that! We stay offsite a lot and more than once I've tried to drive somewhere, gotten turned around and ended up at WDW. We now joke that all roads lead to Disney!

Seriously, you can't be held on property even though some might like that. We go on and off property every day whether we stay on property or not.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Wait...so the rest of you didn't get those chips implanted at check-in? Hmmm...

 

[Halbleib1]

If you are staying at a Disney owned hotel then you qualify for Magical Express. Disney picks you up from the airport in lovely large busses and transports you to their World, free of charge.

The "catch" is that while you save the cost of renting a car or paying for a limo service you are now on Disney property without means of transportation other than:

Disney Transportation via tram, ferry, monorail, train, bus, bike, or carriage.

Renting a car, but if you do that then your cost savings is lower, but not necessarily gone entirely.

Getting a taxi, which can be very expensive if you are traveling off of Disney Property and back again.

So, for a lot of the people staying on site, if they fly and use Magical Express, then they are somewhat limited to getting off site without a bit of added expense and effort.

Keep in mind that Disney World is larger than the island of Manhattan. It is a rather large area to traverse unless you have motorized transportation.

You can also go to downtown disney and pick up a city bus to take you into Orlando. But this is time consuming as the buses stop a lot along the way. I looked into this on our last trip because we wanted to go to the Orlando Mall. Do a search and print out a bus schedule ahead of time if you are thinking of trying this.

 

[branv]

It's not just that! We stay offsite a lot and more than once I've tried to drive somewhere, gotten turned around and ended up at WDW. We now joke that all roads lead to Disney!

As my nephew says, DUUUUDE..

You are so right there. We got stuck in an infinite loop on World Drive between Epcot and DHS. I was beginning to think we'd hallucinated the rental car and were actually on the monorail. It was like Disney's version of "Groundhog Day". "Look, there's the ToT...and there it is again. And for a change of pace, there's the ToT from the other direction."

Easy signage my asterisk.

 

[eliza61]

Yeap what did i say....dumb question!! You all are cracking me up anyway.
Well I never thought that you COULDNT eat and shop off property. But today i read a few posts saying things like...."well if you choose to stay off site you can eat cheaper off DW property"... and others so i was like....? HAHA And BTW I doubt we would be worried about leaving property anyway. Just was curious. Like I said ITS OUR FIRST TIME.....

Seriously i they are borderline cult. We havent even left, its ur first family trip and JUST the planning has got me absolutly HOOKED. Ive become obcessed!!

LOL no dumb questions. We're disney lovers here so we love to tweek peoples noses some times. don't pay us any mind.

Anyway,
As a first timer you may be a little overwhelmed to venture off site. Disney is huge!!

Now that we are disney "professionals" we rarely eat onsite. LOL. I do love downtown disney though so I still shop.