off site to help with budget??

[WishMom09]

So to those of you who have been many times....I need your advice!
Would you suggest staying off site to help lower the price?
Or stay @ a WDW resort and makes other cuts?
We are a family of 5 (kids 12,8 & 4)
Thanks for the advice!

 

[eliza61]

Hey wishMom,

Off site accomodations are always cheaper than disney on site (well 99.6% of the time) LOL.
I would factor in some other variables also though:
-If you're driving you will have to pay for parking.
-If not driving, factor in time to shuttle from park to hotel.
-will you bring your own snacks and such to the park. If not, your sort of at the mercy of Disney eateries. They can quickly eat up any savings.

 

[cjnix29]

Because you are a family of 5, you really might want to consider staying offsite. You will have much more room! You do have to pay for parking, unless you have an AP. But the difference in price may overshadow that. Plus, being able to cook meals, etc., if you stay in a condo will be a huge bonus.

 

[Golf4food]

Add in $12 per day for parking if you do stay off-site (unless they offer a free shuttle, in which case you need to decide how reliable their shuttle is and what times it might limit you to in the parks).

 

[beccasmom]

http://allears.net/acc/onoff.htm
http://www.mousesavers.com/nondisney.html
http://allears.net/acc/faq_hot.htm

Check out these links - might give you some assistance in getting your thoughts together. Also, check out the Unofficial Guide for a good section on this topic.

Think about suite hotels that would give you more room, possibly a kitchenette area where you could prepare basic snacks/meals and may be eligible for free breakfast. Be flexible with regards to dates and look for discount codes. MouseSavers is a great help with this. Sign up for the newsletter to get the latest information.

Consider whether a park shuttle is available, its cost and its schedule.

Tickets - only purchase what you know you will use; Hoppers are great but not on a budget; use an authorized ticket broker for a discount.

Food - lots of deals outside Disney. But you will need a car to get to them if you are not centrally located. At WDW, choose counter service meals over table service for significant savings.

 

[Darcy03231]

Here are my figures from August of 2007 when there were 9 of us for 2 weeks:

On-site in 3 Value Rooms = $5,880.00
Meals eaten out (approx) = $4,410.00 (I based this on $35/pp per day)
Transportation = free

Total = $10,290.00

Off-site in 5 bedroom, 3 bath pool home = $1,400.00
Meals eaten out = $1,000.00
Groceries purchased = $400.00
2 rental cars = $800.00
Gas = $200.00
Parking = $336.00

Total = $4,136.00

Savings = $6,154.00

We loved staying off-site. There was plenty of room to spread out, we had our own pool, full kitchen, and washer/dryer. I found it was faster to drive to the parks and park than it was to wait for the bus at the value resorts. I wouldn't hesitate to stay off-site again.

 

[Tinkerbella001]

Actually I have found staying onsite in a Value is a better price than staying offsite. Especially with free dining! Price the tickets out, then add your hotel and compare the two. For example, if I were to just buy 7 day basic tickets for 2 adults and 2 children it is $842.00. I'm going in Sept. and the total cost is around $1500.00 for tickets, room, and FREE dining. That means I am only paying $658 for the room (6 nights) and DINING. Now, on average I would spend $100 per night off-site (sometimes more)...so it is definately a better deal!!

The disadvantage for you is having a family of 5. You are only allowed 4 people in a Disney resort, they make no exceptions!!! Unless you book a family suite, which I have found is cheaper to get two value rooms than a family suite. An offsite hotel is much more lenient, and usually don't care if you have 5 people.

 

[Tinkerbella001]

Darcy- did you buy tickets for the parks? Or was your resort room rate a "room only" with no tickets? How much was your total with park tickets, if any?

 

[cjnix29]

It also depends on whether or not your view of "value" is solely attributed to actual $$. I have stayed both on and off, and I do prefer on because I am a Disney nut. But, it is much more of a relaxing vacation, if you ask me, when we stayed off site. Check out travelzoo.com for some great deals on off site properties. As has been said, with a family of 5....it is more of a difficult time to stretch your budget in one value room!

For example, they have the Royal Plaza in DTD for $79 a night with kids eat free and park shuttle. Walking distance to DTD, plus would save you on parking with the shuttles. PLus you could take DTD buses as well. Always deals to be had, but thinking about DTD resorts may be a good choice for you!

 

[AlternateEgo]

Darcy- did you buy tickets for the parks? Or was your resort room rate a "room only" with no tickets? How much was your total with park tickets, if any?

Unless things have changed, I believe you can have 5 people in POR with a trundle bed.

 

[Darcy03231]

Darcy- did you buy tickets for the parks? Or was your resort room rate a "room only" with no tickets? How much was your total with park tickets, if any?

When I was pricing it out I priced it for a room only. The actual cost was somewhere around $137-$139/night (including all taxes and fees). The house cost me $700 for the week, including all taxes and fees.

 

[maleficent1959]

We have been Florida residents for 11 years, and until just about three years ago we always stayed onsite. It was especially cheap when I was a Disney Store castmember (back in the good old days when Disney owned them and the benefits were good). Although we stayed for plenty of years when I wasn't a castmember.

Now we stay offsite at Windsor Palms (through Villa Direct) and the cost is just one of the benefits to us. We always used our own transportation around the park, so no busses to miss. True, we pay for parking but we still come out ahead. We have a kitchen so we have breakfast and after-park snacks at the condo. The kids have a separate bedroom from us, so it is much easier to get them to sleep in an actual bedroom rather than a shared hotel room. We have a private pool which the kids have said they prefer, although it is obviously not as grand or beautiful as anything on property. We're also able to view pictures and select the property we wish to rent, and many of them have Disney-themed bedrooms for the kids. And we all get our own bathrooms.

Since we can't seem to ever go to Disney without my in-laws, they can take the third bedroom downstairs and our costs are further reduced because we split the bill.

But the best part is no huge groups of cheerleaders or Brazilian teen groups running around outside the room. That I definitely do not miss.

Tina

 

[*pixie*dust*]

Have you considered one of the Cabins at the camp ground? They sleep 6 and have a full kitchen. You can often get a good rate on them too.

 

[crusoe2]

There are so many variables involved and options to choose from that it can make you dizzy trying to sort it all out. We've learned that what works for us varies with each trip. It depends on whether both kids are going, how long we're staying, whether we really need park hoppers in order to maximize our time, and how much we feel comfortable spending at that particular time.

If our DS opts to stay home, we can comfortably fit into a value room. If he goes, we'll need accommodations that give us seperate beds for the kids.
If both kids are going, we need accommodations that provide each with their own bed. Onsite accommodations that give us the three beds we need are usually more than we're comfortable spending so if both kids go, we'll likely opt for a condo offsite even tho a value room onsite might have been a little cheaper. All four of us in a value room just is not very comfortable. One thing we usually will spend extra for is park hopping. We've never been able to stay more than 7 nights cause that's as long as DH can take off work. Having park hoppers helps us maximize our park time to make up for not being able to stay longer.

We have gone for shorter trips (3 or 4 nights) and always stayed onsite for those. We figure we can stand just one room for those few nights and having the onsite perks like EMH and the option to split up can make a lot of difference on such a short trip.

If a discount is offered, it may figure into our decision but free dining never does because we can't go at that time of year.

If you're on a budget, you just have to figure out which elements (like park hopping, bus service, full service restaurants, etc) are essential for you to really enjoy the trip and which elements you can do without and still have a good time.

 

[clanmcculloch]

So to those of you who have been many times....I need your advice!
Would you suggest staying off site to help lower the price?
Or stay @ a WDW resort and makes other cuts?
We are a family of 5 (kids 12,8 & 4)
Thanks for the advice!

Free Dining: Your family could stay in 1 room at POR as long as you get a room with a trundle. The occupancy of those rooms is up to 5 people. Depending on when your school district starts up in the fall, you might be able to go before school starts. My district doesn't start until September but I get the impression from people that I know in Texas that you start much earlier out there. If you can go during free dining, I got a quote of $2334.77 for POR for 7 nights. That includes 8 day MYW park tickets and the DDP for the 5 of you so the only additional costs you'd have would be tips, souvenires and obviously your flights.

Park passes for the 5 of you through Undercover Tourist will cost you $1129.75. You'll have to rent a car if you stay offsite so figure what, $400 - $500 for that since you'll need a car big enough for all of you plus your luggage. You'll have to pay $12/day for parking so add another $84. Already you're up to approximately $1700 and you haven't even looked at food or lodging yet. Can you get lodging and food together for under $700? I certainly couldn't.

If you have a Disney Visa then you can wait with the rest of us to see if we're going to get a free dining offer for later in the year like they offered last year.

 

[Tinkerbella001]

I already got my offer. It is through December 17. I still chose to go in September, because the weather will still be warm and crowds should be really low. When we went in December, it was a little cold for swimming.

Like was said, it really depends on your specific needs. I love the value resort because of the cost and convenience, and we only use the room to sleep. We usually stay out late for EMH. The ASSp was plenty comfortable for us...nicer than some of the offsite hotels we've stayed in. We go on lots of cruises, which space is super cramped and they all do wonderfully. They are flexible enough to share beds or even make a pallet on the floor...so value Reorts work for me. I would rather spend the upgrade to a moderate on extra shopping!! We are there to see the Mouse!!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I already got my offer. It is through December 17. I still chose to go in September, because the weather will still be warm and crowds should be really low. When we went in December, it was a little cold for swimming.

Like was said, it really depends on your specific needs. I love the value resort because of the cost and convenience, and we only use the room to sleep. We usually stay out late for EMH. The ASSp was plenty comfortable for us...nicer than some of the offsite hotels we've stayed in. We go on lots of cruises, which space is super cramped and they all do wonderfully. They are flexible enough to share beds or even make a pallet on the floor...so value Reorts work for me. I would rather spend the upgrade to a moderate on extra shopping!! We are there to see the Mouse!!

You're right, it is about specific needs. For OP, if there were less people I would absolutely suggest a value if budget is a driving factor. Because they have 5 people, the cheapest option is POR. They exceed capacity for a single room at a value resort.