on site or off?

[rachael95]

DH and I are trying to plan a trip for first week of April 2014. I know it's only a few months off, so we may be staying offsite no matter what because of that. But I wanted opinions.

We are both tall and kind of pooh sized and prefer having a king size bed but can do a queen in a pinch (and it is literally a pinch). DS will be 25 months old. I'd like a suite since it takes forever to get him to sleep when we share a room and he still doesn't always sleep through the night, so I'd like to be able to let DH sleep while I take care of him. We've done pull out couches at hotels for him several times and it works fine once he's asleep. Staying in a 1 BR hotel is fine for an overnight stay but for a vacation, we want to be able to sleep!

Any suggestions for good places either on or offsite to stay? We'd probably drive to the parks even if we stayed onsite, so Disney transportation doesn't really matter. Thanks!

 

[DisneyBliss7]

We have stayed on site and off but prefer onsite We have stayed at OKW and AKV Kidani. AKV is our favorite! But honestly I feel like anywhere on Disney is wonderful. Other than AKV I would love to stay at Beach Club and Poly someday! If you go on the Disney World website you can put in your dates and see what resorts are available. It will also show what size beds are in each room. You can add your tickets and DDP(if you want). IMO I would stay on site and use the Disney transportation to the parks so you don't have to pay for parking. If you book now you shouldn't have a problem staying on site Have a great trip

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We stayed at Tropical Palms Resort off 192 in a cabin. VERY convenient to all the parks. Ours did not have a king bed, but did have a private bedroom. They have several different models. We paid $586 for 8 nights, June of 2012 through a private owner.

Www.tropicalpalmsresortfl.com

 

[amym2]

We've stayed in a rental house in Windsor Hills, about 2 mi from AK, twice and loved it. They have condos and townhomes there as well. Look at vrbo or similar sites and there are tons of options.

That said, we have since joined DVC and love the Disney resorts as well. OKW has huge 1bdrms but they are queens not kings.

We stayed at Marriott Royal Palms a few years ago, and I'm pretty sure the master had a king. It was a nice timeshare resort, not too far from the parks.

 

[NjMamaMouse]

We have stayed offsite and onsite, but every year continue to stay at Marriott Grande Vista off property (5 minutes drive to Magic Kingdom lot). Con to that is paying the daily $15 parking fee, so figure that into your calculation.
Pros: Larger villa for a week rental is way more affordable than a week on property (assuming dining plan not included). With a full kitchen in the villa we cook 2 of our meals in and only eat one meal on property. A HUGE savings!

 

[aubreysmom09]

We normally stay offsite, and rent a townhouse or condo. We normally rent through this guy http://www.*****************.com/ He has places 1 mile to 8 miles. The last townhouse we paid $75 a night. It was spotless. Trust me if it wasn't my husband would flip. The Marines taught him OCD He also does stuff on Home Away, and the reviews are great on their also. As for onsite I have always been to cheap to stay onsite. The last trip when DD was 18 months I wished we would have stayed onsite just because of the nap schedule. It would have been quicker just to get back to a resort. It didn't take really long, but long enough with a cranky toddler. The trip we have the end of February will be the first time onsite.

 

[CrazyaboutCinderella]

We have always done the onsite. Each room comes with two beds so sleeping separately can be an option. At Port Orleans Riverside they have a murphy bed that your child could sleep on which has a picture of Louis, the crocodile from Princess and the frog and you all three could have your own beds.

 

[magicwishes]

You will have more options to have separate rooms and a king bed at a cheaper rate by going offsite. From my perspective, it really depends on your budget if you can stay more comfortably onsite or offsite. Since you don't need Disney transportation, I would lean towards offsite in your shoes.

 

[powellrj]

There is nothing magical about the small beds at the values and CBR! We always stay off-site if for no other reason than the bigger beds!

 

[rachael95]

Thanks all, I'm leaning more offsite because we really want to have enough space to spread out. We've stayed onsite several times as a couple and considering how tight some of the rooms were compared to what you can get at a Marriott or something, I'm not sure I want to bring our toddler who still has to have stuffed animals and other accouterments. At least he's down to as much luggage for him as we have for the two of us - which is better than him having twice as much luggage as we did when he was a baby.

 

[brymolmom]

We enjoy both on and offsite for varying reasons. Since you're driving yourselves and want a 1 bedroom - staying offsite gives you WAY more value.

My favorite offsite place is Staybridge SUites Lake Buena Vista. REALLY CLOSE (about 1 mile to Disney property) location, Full, HOT breakfast every morning included (waffles, eggs, sausage, muffins, cereals, juices), very clean (laundry room and pool and hot tub too).

I have found the 1 bedroom available for as low as $75.

Good luck.

 

[Woodmnky]

We just got back from a trip with a toddler and staying offsite was the single biggest thing that we did which made our trip enjoyable. Having space to spread out when we were not in the parks was awesome.

We rented through www.vacationcentralflorida.com and I can't say enough about how great they were to work with both before & during the trip.

Having a car and fridge let us easily pack lunch/snacks for DS every day. I did not want to buy a $6 kids meal for him just to eat 3 bites and then lose interest. This let me pull out his lunch a little at a time and we didn't waste a bunch. Also we were able to eat breakfast in our room (we just used Jimmy Dean microwavable items so no real cooking was involved) and this saved us a lot of time & money.

We stayed one night at Art of Animation before we checked into Windsor Hills and while it was beautiful, I can't imagine having stayed in that small room for a week. We could hear everything outside our room and DS would not take a nap.

 

[rachael95]

Thanks for all the suggestions of places to try offsite. I like the idea of more space to spread out. And I definitely want a quiet place where the walls aren't paper thin. We don't want to hear other people's kids and we don't want others to be bothered if ours decides to be loud.