On site or off?

[missypie]

[Note: I also posted this on the Orlando Hotels forum, so please don't move this to there.]

The "conventional wisdom" is that folks stay offiste either because they can't or don't want to pay the high cost of the on site hotels. But I've looked a bit on line and some of the off site hotels look very nice. I'd love to hear from anyone who has found a very very nice hotel offsite (comparable to a Deluxe), and/or from anyone who has chosen to stay off site not strictly because of the cost.

 

[lmhall2000]

I think the bottom line for us is convenience. While our children are young (under age 10 ) we will always stay onsite. When they get into the teen years and have been several times I think staying off would be fun to explore more of the area. But right now we can spend 7 days just at Disney and it still be relaxing. I don't find it relaxing having to drive in everyday and not having the convenience of popping back to the room/hotel for a nap or swim then heading back out. If we stayed offsite- our kids would not be in the mood for packing up and heading out again. We've stayed offsite before children and that was fine, and one day offsite after children and that was it- too much of an inconvenience to really enjoy Disney. And the resorts no matter if it's Value- Deluxe really make the trip a "Disney" trip- you can stay at hotels/condos like those outside Disney anywhere in the world- it's just special to stay at Disney. But if you were going to do Universal/Sea World/Beach- then I don't see the value in staying onsite for the whole trip.
Hope this helps!
Tara

 

[grinningghost]

To be perfectly honest, I didn't mind staying off-site. Don't get me wrong, staying on-site is great, and we'll probably continue to do that, but the off-site experience is fun too. We enjoyed trying to decide which off-site restaurant to eat at (there are literally an endless amount of choices) and which tacky t-shirt shops to browse in. It was pretty cool. But you can't beat the Disney transportation when you have teenagers.

 

[MELSMICE]

We've done both. Staying off-site is fine, but honestly, if you want the true Disney experience you should stay on-site. JMO, but as soon as you go through that "Mickey archway" you could be in Anytown, USA. It feels like I am leaving Disney every night when we stayed off-site.

We always rent a car whether on-site or off but as my kids get older I will be glad to be on-site so they will be able to use the Disney transportation to get to the places they want to visit while DH & I relax at the resort.

I also agree that it is much easier to take a mid-day break when you are off-site. Too much of a hassle when you're off-site.