Offsite- Never Again!!!!

[Molliday]

One of the most disgusting rooms I've stayed at was at the Polynesian - within one year of its last rehab. Rehabs mean nothing, if the room isn't kept clean. And they don't constantly refresh damaged items either.

The walls were already scraped up, the furniture was already dinged, but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to the added bonus of the previous guest's urine, that was left on the toilet rim for us - right in the middle of where the toilet seat splits. Housekeeping was so bad, that we told them not to even bother stopping at our room after the third day. It was pathetic. And I paid over $300 per night for that.

I guess I should never want to stay in another Disney resort again.

 

[keypooh90]

Wow. I didn't expect this to blow up so much and turn into such a heated debate. I am sorry if my opinion offended some of you. I was simply coming here to give my opinion, so that in the future if someone who is accustomed to staying onsite is considering offsite, they will have some insight into possible situations they may encounter.

As for the accusations that I am a troll, I have been posting on the DIS since 2001 and am not a troll. If my words were taken that way, I apologize.

I have never encountered dirty rooms onsite and have stayed in probably close to 40 different onsite rooms over the past ten years. Again, I never meant to offend anyone when posting my opinions.

I also posted a review of my amazing, wonderful, absolutely incredible onsite experiences on the Disney Resort board. I thought that would the appropriate place for the review of our onsite accomodations, while this board would have been appropriate for our offsite review.

I completely understand that each person has their own preferences. We are admittedly onsite snobs while it seems some of you strictly prefer offsite accomodations. To each his own.

 

[razorbackfan22]

Wow. I didn't expect this to blow up so much and turn into such a heated debate. I am sorry if my opinion offended some of you. I was simply coming here to give my opinion, so that in the future if someone who is accustomed to staying onsite is considering offsite, they will have some insight into possible situations they may encounter.

As for the accusations that I am a troll, I have been posting on the DIS since 2001 and am not a troll. If my words were taken that way, I apologize.

I have never encountered dirty rooms onsite and have stayed in probably close to 40 different onsite rooms over the past ten years. Again, I never meant to offend anyone when posting my opinions.

I also posted a review of my amazing, wonderful, absolutely incredible onsite experiences on the Disney Resort board. I thought that would the appropriate place for the review of our onsite accomodations, while this board would have been appropriate for our offsite review.

I completely understand that each person has their own preferences. We are admittedly onsite snobs while it seems some of you strictly prefer offsite accomodations. To each his own.

Opinions are always welcome; however, for a long-time poster you made blanket statements of an inflammatory nature that revealed a complete disrespect for other opinions. Why are you surprised at the reaction? After your generalizations were questioned, you dug your heels in and compared apples to oranges. Again, why wouldn't you expect the reaction you received?

This is a wonderful, welcoming sub-forum that would have commiserated with your awful Sheraton Safari experience if you had approached your experience for what it was--a one night, ill-researched, last-minute, Priceline stay instead of the standard by which all offsite experiences are judged.

Best of luck at all your future on-site stays, may there never be a problem for you.

 

[angelmav]

Oh Puhleeze OP, this isnt the only place on this board you have suddenly felt the need to chime in about this. Your trolling this part of this board, not offering constructive advice, and considering your limited experience on the topic (1 night at 1 discount hotel) it could hardly be considered all that helpful anyway.

As is the Dis nature, some are taken in by this and will defend the possibility that your not actually getting a thrill out of this type of posting.

Seems pretty transparent to me though.

 

[Lou Holtz]

One time I was on Splash Mountain and the ride broke down for a half hour and I just had to sit there. I am done with Florida. I don't know how you sad, pitiful people can do it.

 

[nessz79]

One time I was on Splash Mountain and the ride broke down for a half hour and I just had to sit there. I am done with Florida. I don't know how you sad, pitiful people can do it.

 

[kjs1976]

This is the Dis now. Posters are ready to attack and jump down your throats is you give them a chance. Was not this way when I joined in 2001. Don't apologize. This should be a place where you can express your opinions...with the disclaimer that posters love to get in their opinion too and love to rip you apart.

I happen to agree with you. We have stayed offsite at a time share 2 miles from DTD and hated it. Took too long to get to the parks with all the traffic, plus a couple other issues. We did stay off site at the Double Tree Suites and it was awesome...however, it was a non-parks trip. To each his own on this board....just have a thick skin when you post.

 

[Planogirl]

People tend to be nice on this particular forum. I think that they often get enough static about preferring offsite to understand that being attacked can be tough. However, telling people that all offsite resorts are bad because of one bad experience for one night in one resort is way over the top and doesn't help anyone with anything.

Besides there are people out there that will criticize anything non-Disney even if they've never experienced some of the things that they are criticizing. They've been fun to spot. I don't think that the OP was doing that but it does illustrate the lengths that some Disney fans will go to.

 

[Brian Noble]

Lou (and I don't say this lightly, because I hate ND): +1

 

[JimMIA]

I don't think posters have been overly critical of OP, and I haven't seen any malice in any of the responses.

I haven't responded previously, frankly, because I thought the complaints mentioned in the first post were trivial. Only a couple of them had anything to do with the hotel, and some of them I couldn't figure out what they were trying to say (especially the nonsensical comment about the ferry lines at TTC).

I think many responders main issue was that the volume of drama far exceeded the actual issues stated.

Also, to OP -- if you think all Disney resorts are squeaky clean, you need to go over to the DVC boards and read some of the comments there. We personally have never had an unclean villa at DVC, but many have, including disgusting things like big blobs of hair in the shower drains, blood and other body fluids and waste, and just plain dirt.

Any hotel will occasionally fall short of our expectations. The question is not if, but when...and, in this case, how we react to it.

 

[ugadog99]

Fortunately, we have NEVER had a dirty room at any WDW resort. I've been staying at various resorts all over the property since 1972. Not once, ever, has a room been less than spotlessly clean. We will never stay offiste. I gave it a try after reading so many great reports from people over here. We hated it and will never do it again. None of it appealed to us at all. I had often said that if I couldn't afford onsite that I would stay offsite. Thank goodness I tried it briefly before deciding to spend an entire trip offsite. It's not for us, and I'm very glad I now know that. For us, if we can't come up with the funds for at least a value (which we love) then it's no trip.

 

[Brian Noble]

For us, if we can't come up with the funds for at least a value (which we love) then it's no trip.

To be fair, it is often very hard to beat the cost of a single Value room---especially if you are flying in---without staying in a hotel that most of us would not want to visit, let alone sleep in. However, once you decide you want more than a single Value room, then the prices diverge very quickly. I've put it this way before, but there are three things you might want in your WDW lodging:

1: To be onsite.
2: To have a reasonable amount of space and amenities.
3: To pay a reasonable price.

In general, you can't have all three of these at the same time. So, the real question is: which one are you willing to live without?

For my family #2 is an absolute iron-clad requirement. We simply do not consider a single hotel room for the four of us "vacation". So, for us, it usually comes down to #1 vs. #3.

Every once in a while, I can cheat the devil and get a DVC Villa using my (inexpensive) non-Disney timeshare, and I can have my cake and eat it too. But if I have to choose between them, I will choose #3, because for us, the difference between being "onsite" and "offsite" is not that big of a deal. I've stayed in Villas at BWV, VWL, and OKW. I almost never attend EMH. I almost always drive myself to the parks (unless I'm within walking/boating/monorail distance, or on a budget trip without a car). The dining plans don't match our dining preferences. And so on. It's nice to have the transportation options. VWL/WL is very nicely themed. It's very nice to be able to walk to Epcot or Studios. Resort package delivery is a nice little perk. But, to me, these things are not thousands-of-dollars-extra nice for a one week's stay.

To others, though, they are. Likewise, some people don't find space or in-room/resort amenities to be that big of a deal. For them, a single Value room is just fine. Other people don't mind spending the extra money. So, they get a couple of rooms, or a suite, or upgrade to a nicer hotel.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We stayed at the Sheraton Safari several years ago on a Priceline bid (probably about $30??) and found it to be perfectly acceptable -- not the Ritz, but we weren't paying Ritz prices. Of course, it was several years ago and cost much less than the OP paid. I would never pay $80 a night to stay there.

We've stayed onsite and offiste over about 20-25 trips since 1993 and our family has grown to a family of six in that time (requiring 2 rooms at most resorts). Our first onsite experience was at POR in an Alligator Bayou room and we HATED it. The room was dark, dirty and dusty and we felt the resort was too spread out and not well kept. We've also stayed at POP in some very nice rooms, and some not so nice rooms. For us, it boils down to a price vs. value comparison. We always have a car available when we travel to WDW (whether it be our own or a rental) so we don't use the WDW transportation system. We occasionally use the evening EMH, but never the morning because we're just not morning people. When we sat down and figured out how much we were overpaying for the "conveniences" afforded to us staying onsite, we decided that we'd rather stay offsite and spend the (not insignificant) cost difference on other things. We choose to stay in a 2-3 bedroom condo at Windsor Hills for 2 week stays or the Embassy Suites (which requires only 1 room as opposed to most other resorts) for shorter stays. Fortunately Orlando has so many lodging choices that everyone can be accomodated easily.

 

[klmall]

I agree about the over-reaction to 1 night off-site. We've stayed mostly onsite but spent two trips in great off-site locations (Radisson Lake Buena Vista) and a nice place on International Drive. Both were inexpensive and in the case of the Radisson, huge room and very convenient.

We may even stay off-site this fall or winter if we don't get a code or discount.

I almost forgot about the spring break we spent at the horrid AKL. It was so bad that the only thing that saved our entire vacation was the wonderful two nights we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel! That room and hotel was like an oasis compared to anything we experienced that trip at AKL; worth every penny and it was less than our discounted room at AKL!

 

[shalom]

I think many responders main issue was that the volume of drama far exceeded the actual issues stated.

Ditto. I read the initial post and thought, "That's it? I've read much worse horror stories in five star reviews of on-site resorts that concluded, "But it was Disney, so it's all good.""

But that was only after I picked myself up off the floor after reading this bit:

Disney never, EVER lets their hotels/resorts fall into disrepair like the Sheraton was.

I wish! Oh, how much I wish! For us, trading into DVC on-site costs what it would to trade into nearly any other RCI Orlando resort (I've run across one exception), so I assure you, it isn't cost that makes me hesitate. A big part of my hesitation is the fact that many resorts offsite provide a more consistent and better experience in terms of cleanliness and care than Disney does.

 

[Lou Holtz]

Lou (and I don't say this lightly, because I hate ND): +1

I'm an OSU grad actually. So the ND hate is about the only thing we agree on.

 

[Brian Noble]

We might find some common ground when it comes to Nebraska, too. Time will tell. Though, truth be told, I'm a Cal grad, Michigan only signs my checks.

 

[Tink2Day]

I can guarantee some of the 'offsite' locations are far preferable to some of the 'value' onsite locations.

A Jonas Bros fan and applying for the CP? My guess is this 'we' OP referred to are Mom and/or Dad and this sounds not like a dissatisified customer but a bit of a spoiled person.

To the poster who said a person used to be able to post their opinions? Well it's a different time and place in the world and my bet is most people 10 years or so ago wouldn't have been so condescending, snobbish and downright rude.

 

[jeff968]

I love off-site. I love the savings and the great room. I'll never go back.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Sorry you had such a nasty experience. I believe that the majority of pro-offsiters are staying in really nice condos or pool homes. I love off-site with all the space I get in a 3 bed/3 bath condo - it is awesome.

I personally would take Disney any day over staying in a hotel room too. A condo or pool home is completely different from hotel stay. Having 3 bathrooms so everyone can easily get ready, having a full kitchen so you can have a snack anytime is great, washer/dryer in the unit is fabulous.

I totally understand why you did not enjoy off-site in a hotel room but if you ever get the chance to stay in a condo or pool home - I am sure you will find it to be a wonderful experience.

I agree with this 100%! We stay onsite too and the only way that I would consider staying off site would be to stay in a condo to have a much bigger space. I am seriously considering it for our next visit, and my choice would be Bonnet Creek because it's right there on Disney property.