Need to be encouraged that off-site is OK!

[ansadler]

This will be our second trip and last trip we stayed at FW Cabins. We liked it pretty well (except for the internal bus system) but had decided to shoot for Beach Club this trip. We are a family of 5 so I was getting worried that we may feel cramped, plus dh and I love to get up early and have alone time before the kiddos get up. So....after MUCH HARD deliberation we have decided to stay at Sheraton Vistana Resort. We save over $1500 dollars (we got a great deal with II) plus we have a huge 2 BR Villa. We also have a rental car, so I'm trying to convince myself that it will be GREAT and no big deal that we aren't ON-SITE. I have got to get over this and just get excited about our vacation. For those staying off-site, let's share in the excitement....

 

[dioxide45]

You will have a great time. We have stayed in timeshare in Orlando for the last several years. The extra room is great.

 

[vitfamily]

We are staying off site for the first time in April..Hopefully all goes well.

 

[ansadler]

We are staying off site for the first time in April..Hopefully all goes well.

Where are you guys staying? Surely it will be FINE. We have three boys that aren't super into the disney theming anyway, so we're hoping more space will be a good trade off.

 

[StephMK]

We stayed off site our first trip, onsite our 2nd & are really looking forward to being back offsite again this time! We are also a family of 5 & I just hate being crammed into one small room. It is not relaxing to me and I'm a night owl so it was hard being in the dark & quiet trying to settle down the kids.

The extra bathroom, separate sleeping/living areas are so worth being offsite. We also like jumping the car as opposed to the buses that keep stopping. DH did like the buses but I'd rather drive (well, rather DH drives).

SIL is generously allowing us to use their timeshare again & I can't wait! We get enough Disney at the parks that we're personally ok w/just relaxing in a "regular" space during our down time. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[KJMAX1]

This is going to be our first year offsite as well, but the past two times we rented a car, and drove everywhere. It kinda got us out of the Disney thing...But you know what.....We saved so much money. This time we are renting a house because we have adopted again, and cannot possibly be cramped into another 2br again, ever... It will be nice to cook etc when wanted, and just hang out with my husband and I in a rush to get out the door to keep the kids happy in the morning!

 

[ansadler]

Thanks for the encouragement. You guys are right. Our only other trip on-site was FW Cabins which we ended up loving because the Disney hype wasn't so apparent there. My boys need some down time, and hopefully the off-site resort will give them that.

 

[bookwormde]

While off site is not like being on site it is fun also, I do split stays, which are typically DVC villas on the weekdays and offsite (unless I get an exceptional deal for onsite) on the weekends and like the change of pace and the $ saving allow for longer stays and extra $ to do other special things.

bookwormde

 

[ansadler]

While off site is not like being on site it is fun also, I do split stays, which are typically DVC villas on the weekdays and offsite (unless I get an exceptional deal for onsite) on the weekends and like the change of pace and the $ saving allow for longer stays and extra $ to do other special things.

bookwormde

We actually have the opportunity to stay for three weeknights at a BC Villas renting points. It looks like a great deal, but a little unsure because I haven't done it before. Is it pretty simple?

 

[Darcy03231]

We stayed off-site and my kids loved it! Everyone had their own rooms, we had a private pool, there was plenty of room to spread out and we loved having the full kitchen and the washer/dryer.

Last fall I took my niece to WDW and we stayed on-site (she was part of the off site trip) and while she liked it she kept saying she missed having the house.

 

[katyjeka]

We have stayed onsite many times, and have enjoyed each visit, however on our last trip we had my inlaws and brother in law with us, and decided to stay at Bonnet Creek. The price for a DVC villa large enough for the 8 of us was, in our opinion, overpriced. We love disney resorts, but find they don't have a lot of options with our party of 5. We like 2 bathrooms, and could never be crammed in one room.(My dh and I want some alone time) Well, as the above poster stated, we saved a ton of money. Bonnet Creek was beautiful, every bit as nice as Disney resorts!! We did not do the park hopper option, and were able to collect fast passes to use when we returned in the evening after our break. I did buy an annual pass for my dh, which allows free parking at the parks. I also sent him back to pick up a couple gifts at the end of our trip, so his pass came in handy. We also used it to get a discount at Cirque Soleil(not sure of the spelling), so the pass paid for itself. We visited Dec 9th for nine nights, made rope drop without any problem, and enjoyed our afternoons away from the Disney bustle. We're in the planning stage for our trip this year, and our kids are begging to go back to Bonnet Creek. My dh and I are thinking offsite again, and possibly a trip to Sea World this time. Sorry for the long post, but to answer your question, one can have a very magical time staying offsite. Enjoy your trip. Janice

 

[vitfamily]

Where are you guys staying? Surely it will be FINE. We have three boys that aren't super into the disney theming anyway, so we're hoping more space will be a good trade off.

We are renting a 4 bedroom pool home in Rolling Hills.

 

[twinsplusone]

We went to WDW for the first time in Feb and never considered staying on-site because of the cost. We're a family of 5 and the choices for us were just too expensive. We stayed in a wonderful 3 br 2 bath house with it's own pool. The extra room was wonderful. The master br was huge and I just kept telling dh, could you imagine us all being in this room for 10 days! For me taking a break from the busy parks doesn't mean taking a break in a busy hotel pool.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your off-site stay.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Out of around 15 visits now only 2 have been onsite. We've rented pool homes before which we loved and now own a 3 BR timeshare not far from WDW. We love having lots of space, a full kitchen, 3 bathrooms, too many tvs, but esp. our own washer/dryer. I know some people hate to do laundry on vac. but when it's so easy I don't mind. I can quickly throw a load in before bed, toss it in the dryer in the am and not feel like I'm missing out on vac. time.
The best part is we each have our own carry on so when you can pack really lightly you don't have any bags to check.

I think if you have a positive attitude about staying off site, your kids will feel it too. If they hear you often complain about not being onsite, they will pick up on it and start complaining too.

I would recommend talking to MiaSRN (I think that's her screen name.) She owns at Vistana and DVC. There are some sections of Vistana in need of updating which I think is currently being done but she could tell you which sections to request. It seems people who've stayed in the newer sections rave about the place and those in the older sections are sort of "eh."
She usually responds to posts with "Vistana" in the title so if you make a new post, hopefully she can give you more info.

Our last visit was onsite, CBR, just to prove to ds12 that's he's not missing much. He pleaded while we waited at the bus like, 'come on Mom, can't we just drive?' Also 'why don't we have any popsicles or microwave popcorn this trip?' Just little things like that. He did like EMH but other than that, still likes our timeshare best.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've now visited WDW six times as a "grown up." Three have been offsite in private pool homes/townhomes. Three have been onsite in DVC villas (not studios). All but one of those trips included my two kids the other was a "grown up getaway" using a bonus timeshare week at Old Key West. Other than the trip without the kids, where we let Disney do the driving, we've always had a rental car.

We simply cannot have the four of us stay in a single hotel room for a week---we really prefer to have more space than that. Even a 1BR is a bit cramped for the four of us---doable, but not ideal. A 2BR for the four of us, or a 1BR for the two of us, is ideal---it gives everyone private sleeping space, but allows for common space for early risers/late sleepers to hang out in without disturbing anyone else.

We really like having a kitchen available to us for breakfasts. We also might make one or two simple meals of pasta, hot dogs, etc. if we aren't up for the parks that evening. It's nice to have a "home" to hang out in, rather than a "room." Likewise, it is very convenient to have an in-unit washer/dryer. We can pack light, and we don't have to worry too much about every possible contingency.

Comparing the two, we find the differences to be relatively subtle. We usually have a car, but do take the bus system as well---we usually take the bus to the Magic Kingdom, and we often take the bus to Epcot in the evening so that both the grown-ups can have an adult BEvERage or two. It's also nice in the rare instances that we have to split up for one reason or another.

We don't ever seem to go to Extra Magic Hour---even when we plan to, plans seem to change. The various dining plans are not good fits for us. We enjoy the relative isolation from the outside world---unless we need to visit it for some reason (i.e.: a quick trip to the pharmacy, etc.) and then it can be a pain to "get out". We find the service and unit quality at the Disney loactions to be very comparable to those outside the world---both are good, but neither is perfect.

When we are able to obtain onsite DVC villa stays at a cost competitive with offsite locations, we take them. When we can't, we are more than happy to stay offsite. For our family, the cost difference is too high for the value it brings. Others will make different choices, of course, and that's why Baskin Robins has 31 flavors.

 

[bookwormde]

Ansadler,

If you are renting from someone you know it is very simple, if you are renting from a stranger there is a lot of trust involved in it.

bookwormde

 

[emmsmama]

I've never stayed onsite, but dh and I and our two children stayed at a 3bed/3bath townhouse in Windsor Hills this past Dec. and LOVED it. It was very close to WDW and it was soooo nice to have a room for each of the kiddos and dh and I in our own so we didn't have to worry about making noise after they were in bed. On the one rainy day we had, the kids had a whole house to play in (they especially liked making the closets into forts with the pillows). We packed light, but could have packed even lighter because we just threw a load in the washer every night when we got back from the parks and then threw the load in the dryer and went to bed. We saved tonnes of money by eating breakfast and some suppers at the townhouse (I budgeted $100/day for food and we came back with $400 to spare at the end of our 2-week trip).

I could go on, but honestly we hope to go back in 2010 and will definitely be renting from vacationcentralflorida.com again!

 

[Olallamom]

Well I am in the same boat of trying off site for the first time. We will be renting a house in Windsor Hills this December. The family is excited.
We will be there for 10 days and hope to explore Univeral to.
Having our own pool will be fabulous for the kids and adults too.

 

[JoanneNC]

Also trying off site for the 1st time this June. We are trading through our timeshare system to get a few 3 bedroom units as we are traveling with a couple of military families to enjoy some much needed R&R.

Our last onsite visit we still used our car (we drive to Disney) for most of the parks except MK so that will be no different.

If anything I will miss the convenience of the dining plan but the extra friends joining us will more than make up for it

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well I am in the same boat of trying off site for the first time. We will be renting a house in Windsor Hills this December. The family is excited.
We will be there for 10 days and hope to explore Univeral to.
Having our own pool will be fabulous for the kids and adults too.

I would highly recommend staying at one of Universal's onsite hotels. They are awesome. All 3 of them are 4* deluxe and 2/3 are within easy walking distance to the parks or a relaxing boat ride away. The best perk is that you just show your room key and can bypass the reg. lines. It's like having an unlimited fast pass. We were so spoiled the 1st time that we will never visit US without having a room key.
Also purchases are delivered directly to your room, not just to the resort's gift shop. (So your kids can beg AGAIN for more stuff.)
It changed the whole flavor of our visits. Now we can tour at a very relaxed pace knowing we'll get on everything we want, as many times as we want, without rushing around. We loved it so much we bought APs which give a great discount off the hotels, usually around $100 off, but even w/o APs they have a AAA discount too.
Hard Rock Hotel is our fav.
It's the only time, besides on a cruise, that dh & I are willing to cram all 4 of us in a hotel room.
Check out the Universal boards here on the Dis for more info.