Off property VS On Property....

[ifjf414]

Your dad may not be as foolish as you think he is.

I used to swear that I would never stay offsite for all of the reasons you've cited.

We stayed offsite for the first time last month. I have to say, it's going to be very difficult to stay onsite ever again. We paid $50 a night for a 3 bedroom/3 bathroom condo - there is nothing onsite that even comes close. And driving was easy. We left the condo at 8:00 and were standing at the MK gates by 8:30 which is about how long it would take if you were riding a bus from an onsite resort.

Where you able to find a condo for $50 a night?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Purely crunching numbers I've never found significant savings from staying offsite. It's a bit cheaper on paper but throw in on site perks and intangibles (theming etc) and it's hard to justify. That being said I know people who swear by their favorite off site spot and claim to save big bucks. Somehow I can never make the numbers work for me.

Really? I guess it depends what you are comparing? Even including the rental car and parking, offsite always comes out better in terms of cost in my calculations.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Dad is one of those who is set in what he wants and Mom will just follow. He is looking at condos and says he has found one 15mins from WDW.

I have shown him maps and he is avidly looking online himself however some of what he is finding is the back door approach... He is planning on parking at our hotel and then bussing or if it's a day he isn't coming he will drop mom off with us and then go about his day. I'm not going to dispute with him the ethics of transpiration being for resort guess as he found that tid bit online somewhere.

I think for him it's the paying $X for more space and nicer accommodations vs. on property hotel basics. I have us stay at the Value resort cause it's cheapest and meets our basic needs as families with children. We have stayed at them several times and found it to be quite adequate.

The above quote is my stress point with FP+, Elsa & Anna,

So just double checking my bases to make sure I have it all right so I know what will be issues in my planning... Biggest hurtle I see right now is the FP+ But mom just going to have to deal I didn't marry the man she did....

But how will he park at the hotel? Parking is for resort guests only, or those who have reservations for dining at the resort which isn't an option at a value, obviously. Unless you tell them that it is your car, he can't park there. They can (and do) check and tow car who are not supposed to be parked there. Seems that will up the cost a bit...

 

[Alesia]

Where you able to find a condo for $50 a night?

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-re...yid_text_o_loth&utm_campaign=VRBOOwnerInquiry

The price is reduced because the pool is currently being overhauled. That was totally fine with us because we were going to the Disney water parks anyway.

 

[Alesia]

Biggest hurtle I see right now is the FP+ But mom just going to have to deal I didn't marry the man she did....

If you're that worried about it, why not just book one night at a value resort for them - they wouldn't need to actually use it. It would cost you around $100 and they would be able to book 60 days in advance.

 

[Alesia]

He sounds so much like my dad who will drive 20 miles out of the way to save $0.03per gallon in gas.

To answer your question, we have not stayed off property but I was looking at it over the weekend just to crunch the numbers. Yes it would be a little cheaper but IMO not enough to justify the hassle. Plus I would be so sad to leave the World each night!!!

Were you looking at private homes or hotels? Offsite hotels are generally not a great bargain, but there are some fantastic private homes that are very reasonable - particularly if you'll already have a car.

 

[shepd]

Here's another example:

Offsite cost for 2 weeks in September, visiting WDW parks for 7 days:

- First week (condo 1, 2 bedroom): $365, taxes in.
- Second week (condo 2, 1 bedroom): $250, taxes in (plus sitting through a timeshare presentation last year... ugh).
- Food (family of 3): We'll be bringing packed lunches. I did this for another weeklong trip last year, total cost was $150 then. So, $300. I intend to eat at no WDW restaurants (too expensive). The condos include a full kitchen so I can cook something nice for dinner.
- Parking: Was $14 when I calculated it before, but now it's $17. The condos both include free parking at their own locations. $119.

As for location and drive time:

Condo 1 is 7.7 miles or 13 mins from MK parking, 7 miles / 11 mins from Epcot, 5.6 miles / 9 min from DHS, and 3.2 miles / 8 min from AK.
Condo 2 is 8.3 miles or 16 mins from MK, 5.7 miles / 5 mins from Epcot, 5.8 miles / 10 min from DHS, and 8.5 miles / 13 min from AK.

Total: $1,034.

Onsite cheapest indoor accommodations for our dates (Aug 31 - Sep 14):

- $106.43 x 14 = $1,490.02 with free dining and parking.
- Or $1,191.95 with just free parking. Add $300 and eat sandwiches for an entire week (no kitchen, yuck). $1491.96. Add another $200 if you'd like to eat a hot meal out here and there, $1691.96.

The savings are a minimum of $450 in my case, probably more like $650 after taxes are added to the Disney prices. I'll get an upgrade in my accommodations for that savings, but I'll have to take a hit of 7 packed lunches to get it, along with no EMH and poor fastpass+ selection. That's okay, I never really eat much at a theme park anyways! I believe the drive times I'll have are lower than the time it will take Disney's transportation to get me from their cheaper hotels to the parks, so I get that as a benefit. As another benefit, I ended up with a friend interested in going. Due to the condo design, it's possible for him to have his own bed. Had we been staying in a Disney hotel, he would not have been able to travel with us. He's sharing some costs and that's lowering the prices even further than what I've listed.

Fortunately, we're staying when fastpasses shouldn't be required to enjoy the headliners, and as most sites suggest, EMH is a bad deal in that EMH parks are the busiest--avoiding EMH parks is rewarded with low crowds. At any other time of year, I'd probably just pass on WDW, because I'm becoming spoiled from the advantages of vacation rentals over hotel rooms. And I'm not paying the price to get a 2 bedroom condo on a Disney property!

I'm a little miffed about the magic band thing, since it is going to make the waterparks a little complicated, but for $450, I think I'll manage.

Having a look recently, I've noticed that booking 9 months ahead of time (such as I did) was a key advantage to getting a lower price. If I were setting the holiday up today, I likely would be staying on Disney property. Or, frankly, I would just have moved the holiday to mid January, because I don't like spending what I don't have to.

 

[jaykorf001]

I totally get why people only want to stay onsite -- we all have different wants and priorities. I guess I do get confused when people suggest offsite isn't cheaper. The new Four Seasons is cheaper than most, if not all, of the Disney deluxes. If that doesn't highlight the premium Disney places on its hotels, I don't know what would -- again I understand why for some people staying onsite is worth it.

OP, if your dad wants space, nice accommodations, and for your convenience be within the Disney gates; I highly recommend he get quotes for Wyndham Bonnet Creek from both Vacation Strategies and Vacation Upgrades when it comes time to book.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jaykorf001]

Shoot. I should mention that the price from Vacation Strategies and/or Vacation Upgrades will be significantly cheaper than renting from Wyndham directly. And even cheaper deals can be had if one is brave enough to rent on eBay or the like. For me it was worth it to pay a little more and go through trusted DIS recommended brokers.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Mikie]

I have done several WDW trips but have only ever stayed on Property...

2015 I'm the planner for our multi family trip so I have My family and My sisters family on property

But my Parent refuse to stay on site ....

So what thing do I need to know Like I know
* Mom can't book FP+ when we are booking ours.
* then can't do EMH We don't usually do these anyway so not an issue
* Dinning I can book at the 180 day mark and just add 2 more people to the reservation number to include Mom and Dad right??

Is there anything I'm missing on as far as the perks for on site vs off that Im not accounting for??

I'm a lover of the on-property "Disney bubble" although a Hampton inn anywhere else has vastly superior basic room & bed than the Values where we stay. It's easy to see how someone who hasn't experienced it will not get it. I do have an admitted "high maintenance" friend whose husband wouldn't go for an onsite hotel - she ended up loving their rented Condo. Certainly some offsite places aren't much farther from park gates than the All Star values - hopefully it will work out for him too.

I've heard of people booking a dummy "room only" reservation and buying tickets that are linked to their stay so they can book FP further out (rooms reservation cancelled without charge thereafter). No personal experience with whether this works.

I don't think your dad can park at a resort either - regardless of the ethics of it, they do check for your resort tag and it's an expensive chance I wouldn't take! Maybe downtown disney, but the buses are often longer waits and with current construction I wouldn't do it to save $17 in parking.

You can make 180+10 ADRs and just include them in your numbers - I did that when my parents (who eventually booked for on site) weren't yet committed to their location at my booking date.

I'm pretty sure dining plan, and of course free dining, is not an option for offsite guests.

 

[tpettie]

If you're that worried about it, why not just book one night at a value resort for them - they wouldn't need to actually use it. It would cost you around $100 and they would be able to book 60 days in advance.

Can you tell me more about how this works??

 

[awalker1015]

Were you looking at private homes or hotels? Offsite hotels are generally not a great bargain, but there are some fantastic private homes that are very reasonable - particularly if you'll already have a car.

Hotels. We are a two day drive away and fly so we won't have a car unless we rent one at additional expense. A house didn't really appeal to us since we like the amenities of a hotel. Like I said it was cheaper just not worth it in regards to what we would give up. But that is us and I recognize that won't apply to everyone.

 

[Planogirl]

We love staying offsite as much as onsite but we get free rooms due to earned points. You can't beat free.

We also visit other places and have a car but driving around the area can be a pain to some people. Not me, I enjoy it but it's all a matter of perspective.

 

[Alesia]

Can you tell me more about how this works??

There's really not much to it. They book a room for one night and link it on MDE. They link their tickets to their MDE account. They check in online. Easy Peasy.

If they want the parking pass (which will only be valid for check-in day through check-out day) they can physically check in and get it, but it isn't necessary.

 

[eangel12]

There's really not much to it. They book a room for one night and link it on MDE. They link their tickets to their MDE account. They check in online. Easy Peasy. If they want the parking pass (which will only be valid for check-in day through check-out day) they can physically check in and get it, but it isn't necessary.

They have closed that loop! We are doing a split stay of on-site and off. Our ability to make advance FP+ ends the day we check out of onsite hotel! I am now waiting for my 30 day mark to book the rest of my FP+!

 

[ToyStory3]

Some of our most amazing trips have been off site. We stayed at Orange Lake with extended family twice and it was wonderful! Very relaxing with lots of pool time and lots of restaurants to go to.

We went to WDW a couple times, went to Harry Potter at Universal, and whatever else we felt like. We had a huge villa with tons of space. You will have a great time!

 

[Alesia]

They have closed that loop! We are doing a split stay of on-site and off. Our ability to make advance FP+ ends the day we check out of onsite hotel! I am now waiting for my 30 day mark to book the rest of my FP+!

Really? Nevermind, then.

 

[grafxgirl]

The free dining offer is already out. It runs from November 9 to November 20, then from December 12 to December 23. They won't be adding dates. They have Thanksgiving week and Pop Warner week blocked out, and the week in between them. Used to, I think the week after Thanksgiving may have been included if you arrived on the right day, but not anymore.

Honestly as far as cost, I think it depends on where they stay on property. They now have to rent a car, so there is a few hundred dollars they otherwise would not have spent. They also now have to pay $17 a day for parking. If they don't mind a value, I don't think they would lose money. If they want something more deluxe, yeah it probably is going to be cheaper off property, but there is a lot of hassle that comes with off property. I grew up staying off property. I never once got to stay on property until I was an adult. Once I became an adult and stayed on property, I don't ever want to do anything else. If I had a family size or group size that made it difficult to stay on property, or if I planned to spend a good part of the vacation in places in the area other than Disney, I would, but for a standard Disney trip, no way.

One thing, I don't know if you are going to be there on DHS EMH night, but we have found that the Osborne lights are fantastic on EMH night. We wait a little while for the regular day park crowd to wander out and then hit it (usually about an hour after EMH starts), and usually it is not crowded and you can really wander and see things and enjoy it. Your parents won't be able to do that.

Disneyland staying off property is no big deal. There are a ton of places where you can just walk to the parks, and not even pay for parking. WDW is a whole different thing. Does he have any clue how far the offsite places are from the parks? Maybe showing him on a map would help? I would take the place he wants to stay and then do google map directions from that place to each of the parks to show him how far it is and how long it is really going to take. If he is thinking DL standards, he has no clue.

Also, if they stayed on property, then if he got tired of the parks, he could just leave your Mom there and catch transportation back to the resort, and she could do the same when she was ready. When we have been with my Mom or In-laws, there have been times when one of them decided to just grab transport and go back to the resort for awhile or in the evening when the rest of us wanted to stay later. Staying off property, he is either going to have to stay until she is good and ready to go, or make her leave before she is ready.

I predict some family squabbles. At 30 days- "No Dad, I'm sorry you can't get any FP+ times to match ours and ride with us, but we aren't changing ours". At WDW: No Dad, I'm sorry Mom can't come see the kids meet Anna and Elsa- you guys couldn't get a FP+, and everyone in our group that has one wants to be in there. No Dad, we don't have a car, so we can't bring Mom to your hotel later, you just have to stick around. No Dad- we have had these FP+ for 60 days, so we can't change our schedule and go to the show with you guys right now". No, Dad, we are entering the show with our FP+ and sitting in that section, we aren't going to wait with you guys and sit somewhere else, and we can't let you in where we are sitting. Dad, I'm sorry Mom has been mad at you the whole trip because you made her leave before she was ready, she had to deal with the hassle, and she didn't have FP+ to do things with us- you shouldn't have stayed off property. Hopefully, it will still go smoothly if they stay off property and that your Mom is more easy going than mine who might have killed my father over that one - but the way FP+ works, I think it is now very difficult when you have some people on and some people off. We usually have friends that meet us who live in the area, and it really messes everything up for us, because normally they get there and then the kids pick what they want to do and we all go get FPs- now we can't even book at the same time to be sure we can go together.

Add this one to the list: "We are going to go swimming at our resort pool. Sorry you guys can't come because only guests staying at the resort can enter the pool area. We'll take some pictures of the kids enjoying the pool and text them to you."

 

[grafxgirl]

Dad is one of those who is set in what he wants and Mom will just follow. He is looking at condos and says he has found one 15mins from WDW.

I have shown him maps and he is avidly looking online himself however some of what he is finding is the back door approach... He is planning on parking at our hotel and then bussing or if it's a day he isn't coming he will drop mom off with us and then go about his day. I'm not going to dispute with him the ethics of transpiration being for resort guess as he found that tid bit online somewhere.

I think for him it's the paying $X for more space and nicer accommodations vs. on property hotel basics. I have us stay at the Value resort cause it's cheapest and meets our basic needs as families with children. We have stayed at them several times and found it to be quite adequate.

The above quote is my stress point with FP+, Elsa & Anna,

So just double checking my bases to make sure I have it all right so I know what will be issues in my planning... Biggest hurtle I see right now is the FP+ But mom just going to have to deal I didn't marry the man she did....

He will not be allowed to park at the onsite resorts unless he is there for a meal reservation. The maximum time allowed for parking at a resort for dining is 3 hours. They will verify this.

 

[asmit4]

How many nights is your reservation? If you are going for 6 nights- you need 3 ressies for your parents. YES, it is a PIA but it solves your issue cheaply....

FP works for day of check in AND checkout....so....you book a room for Monday night, wed night and friday night. 6 days of FP. DONE.

We are booking 2 onsite nights for this reason....and staying in our glorious huge condo too This gives us 4 days of actual 'onsite' perks.

Another- totally wrong idea--- but people are doing it....book a hotel before your 60 day mark for your parents. Cancel the room only reservation at 29 days. Your FPs will remain intact. (I don't condone this ---and we are paying for our perks as we are supposed to but I'm sure it won't be long before people figure this loophole out....disney may or may not close it. I don't know)