Offsite convert!

[ArwenMarie]

Just got back from our annual August trip and we stayed offsite for the first time.

Call me a convert!

We stayed at the Marriott Palms in World Center.

So many great things.

• The villa was excellent...spacious, nicely-appointed, beds were unbelievably comfortable. Two big bathrooms, super clean. Nice views, a screened porch.
  
• Loved the pool at World Center and my kids loved the slides.
  
• Had a very convenient Marketplace for little things we forgot late at night like a container of milk, etc.
  
• Value! Truly felt like what we paid was in line with what we got. We always rent a car anyway, so the Disney transportation wasn't a loss at all.
  
• Got to the parks just as fast as we always have, other than when we would stay at the CR for MK or BC for Epcot.
  
• Saved a load of money on food and ate better as well. Did a quick trip to the grocery store and saved even more money there. Still ate lunch in the parks which was fun too.
  
• Didn't feel like we lost any of the "magic"...we were immersed in Disney all day and then our after-park activities (swimming, eating, relaxing) felt exactly the same.

I can see why offsite wouldn't work as well if you need/enjoy the Disney transport, but if you can rent a car it is the way to go IMO! So glad Orlando has so many great offsite options

 

[pigletto]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! We will be in the same boat in December. After 9 trips onsite (value, mod, deluxe and renting DVC points) we opted for savings and MORE SPACE on this next trip. I am both excited and a little nervous. We got the Sheraton Vistana for 7 nights through SkyAuction for a total of $620. You just can't beat that for all that room.
We always rent a car anyway as well, so I don't imagine any issues there.
I'm looking forward to branching out on this trip, and reports like yours make me more excited!

 

[ArwenMarie]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! We will be in the same boat in December. After 9 trips onsite (value, mod, deluxe and renting DVC points) we opted for savings and MORE SPACE on this next trip. I am both excited and a little nervous. We got the Sheraton Vistana for 7 nights through SkyAuction for a total of $620. You just can't beat that for all that room.
We always rent a car anyway as well, so I don't imagine any issues there.
I'm looking forward to branching out on this trip, and reports like yours make me more excited!

I'm sure you will have a great trip! My only regret is we didn't go offsite sooner!

The one thing that I wish I had planned a bit better was the meals. I didn't realize how much we relied on the QSs at the Disney hotels in a pinch. We did fine but I felt like I could have put more thought into that. Next time!

 

[Ametista]

I'm so glad you had a great trip! We actually enjoy being able to get away from the "magic" in the evenings so we can unwind, and its also hard to unwind when you are cramped in a tiny room. Who did you book Marriott Palms through? Its one of the only Marriotts we haven't tried and it sounds nice.

Pigletto, you will not regret your choice. In fact I think you will enjoy feeling like you can go to the Universal and SeaWorld parks and not be wasting all the money you spent to stay onsite at Disney.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I'm so glad you had a great trip! We actually enjoy being able to get away from the "magic" in the evenings so we can unwind, and its also hard to unwind when you are cramped in a tiny room. Who did you book Marriott Palms through? Its one of the only Marriotts we haven't tried and it sounds nice.

Pigletto, you will not regret your choice. In fact I think you will enjoy feeling like you can go to the Universal and SeaWorld parks and not be wasting all the money you spent to stay onsite at Disney.

We just booked it through Marriott. We got a good price, 20% off. We can never do rentals through an owner because we need the flexibility to change or cancel right up until the last week due to my husband's schedule. But it was a great deal compared to onsite regardless, so much space!

 

[kkendle]

How does it work for prebooking fast passes when you stay offsite? I haven't been since the magic bands came out so am not sure what we will do. Planning a short trip next March and thought maybe staying onsite so we could pre book the fast passes 60 days out would be better.

We normally stay offsite but not sure how that works now. Did you get magic band?

Please let me know how this all worked for you. Thanks!

 

[pigletto]

How does it work for prebooking fast passes when you stay offsite? I haven't been since the magic bands came out so am not sure what we will do. Planning a short trip next March and thought maybe staying onsite so we could pre book the fast passes 60 days out would be better.

We normally stay offsite but not sure how that works now. Did you get magic band?

Please let me know how this all worked for you. Thanks!

You can book at 30 days out if you have tickets on your MDE account. You have the option to purchase bands when you get there for $12.95 plus tax per band and can attach your tickets and MDE info to them.

 

[kkendle]

You can book at 30 days out if you have tickets on your MDE account. You have the option to purchase bands when you get there for $12.95 plus tax per band and can attach your tickets and MDE info to them.

I was going to stay onsite for the benefit of booking FP early but maybe not necessary. We like staying offsite better and even if we stayed onsite I would have a car and drive as we don't care for the busses.

 

[chapie1968]

Just got back from our annual August trip and we stayed offsite for the first time.

Call me a convert!

We stayed at the Marriott Palms in World Center.

So many great things.

• The villa was excellent...spacious, nicely-appointed, beds were unbelievably comfortable. Two big bathrooms, super clean. Nice views, a screened porch.
  
• Loved the pool at World Center and my kids loved the slides.
  
• Had a very convenient Marketplace for little things we forgot late at night like a container of milk, etc.
  
• Value! Truly felt like what we paid was in line with what we got. We always rent a car anyway, so the Disney transportation wasn't a loss at all.
  
• Got to the parks just as fast as we always have, other than when we would stay at the CR for MK or BC for Epcot.
  
• Saved a load of money on food and ate better as well. Did a quick trip to the grocery store and saved even more money there. Still ate lunch in the parks which was fun too.
  
• Didn't feel like we lost any of the "magic"...we were immersed in Disney all day and then our after-park activities (swimming, eating, relaxing) felt exactly the same.

I can see why offsite wouldn't work as well if you need/enjoy the Disney transport, but if you can rent a car it is the way to go IMO! So glad Orlando has so many great offsite options

We agree. We enjoy having space to spread out. Saving some money not eating Park/Resort Meals(at Park/Resort prices) every meal. So much so that we are looking to buy our own home/townhome close by.

 

[chapie1968]

How does it work for prebooking fast passes when you stay offsite? I haven't been since the magic bands came out so am not sure what we will do. Planning a short trip next March and thought maybe staying onsite so we could pre book the fast passes 60 days out would be better.

We normally stay offsite but not sure how that works now. Did you get magic band?

Please let me know how this all worked for you. Thanks!

We were able to book everything but Anna and Elsa and even the 60 day out people have trouble getting that. The Mine Train took some work(checking regularly) but we got it twice for all four of us. Everything else(including the mountains, Soarin/Test Track/ToT/RnR) were all easily available at the times of our choosing at 30 days out and even up to the day before

 

[kkendle]

We were able to book everything but Anna and Elsa and even the 60 day out people have trouble getting that. The Mine Train took some work(checking regularly) but we got it twice for all four of us. Everything else(including the mountains, Soarin/Test Track/ToT/RnR) were all easily available at the times of our choosing at 30 days out and even up to the day before

Thanks...it will be spring break when we go so hopefully that won't make things not so available. We will likely be there March 14-18 with only 1 day in each park...we are so used to doing stuff the old way....would go at rope drop and get fp for Toy Story, and then immediately ride it. We were able to ride the big rides multiple times a day whenever we visit by utilizing rope drop and fast pass as soon as we were able to book them...sounds like those days are over.

I have not been since the new system has been implemented and don't think it will be that great...but I haven't been so probably should at least give it a try.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We were able to book everything but Anna and Elsa and even the 60 day out people have trouble getting that. The Mine Train took some work(checking regularly) but we got it twice for all four of us. Everything else(including the mountains, Soarin/Test Track/ToT/RnR) were all easily available at the times of our choosing at 30 days out and even up to the day before

Same here. We didn't get A&E, but we saw them in the parade so that was that. Rode Mine Train at rope drop which was fine. Everything else was easy to get at 30 days.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

So glad to hear you enjoyed your stay offsite. We just returned from WBC and had a blast. I think we've found our new favorite resort.

We have APs and had an onsite campsite booked so we were able to book our A&E FP+ at 60 days but then one of DD's friends joined us at the last minute. We were able to add her to our A&E FP+ with an overlapping time at 24 hours out. Same with 7DMT. We had our group of 5 at 60 days and were able to add DD's friend at 24 hours out.