onsite/offsite which way round

[TandCmum]

we are hopefully going for 3 weeks next year and have booked 2 weeks already in a villa and we want to spend the other week at an onsite hotel. We love being onsite but with 2 young children (5 and 3) i like the thought of the space and facilities of the villa, however i can't decide wether to do the week onsite before or after the 2 weeks in the villa. here is my reckoning so far

before :- we will be full of energy and up for the whole disney experience, however we are no good at getting to the parks for early EMH (opening was fine but not 8am), but we might not be able to take full advantage of the evening EMH as we will still be aclimatising.

after:- it might be hard going from a 5 bedroom villa to a single hotel room, we might be fed up of disney by the 3rd week and won't want to be surrounded by it, however we should have the stamina for evening EMH. It is also better for timing wise as we cannot move the villa any later as it's already booked so doing afterwards means one less week off school for DS as we can go a week later than if we do the onsite part first.

i need to decide this dilemma before we think about booking flights as it will effect or travel dates

I look forward to your replies

 

[isla bonita]

I think what you have siad is what I would do if I was to do both. We own a villa and would never stay on site

If you make any purchases you will have more room for them in a vill vs. a single room. You can relax more at the vill and be rested to fly home. JMHO

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I would go onsite first also.
In fact that's what we are doing next month for our 3 week stay, Disney's Boardwalk followed by a private villa.

For us villa's cannot beat for the extra room and privacy, plus the freedom to be able to relax more.
If we are staying at more than one location, I would prefer the longer stay to be last.

 

[jns]

where would you be staying on site
if it is in one of the value hotels then I would stay there for the first week but if it is one of the Mod / Dulaxe resorts I might stay the last week and just chill out and make the most of the resort

 

[TandCmum]

where would you be staying on site
if it is in one of the value hotels then I would stay there for the first week but if it is one of the Mod / Dulaxe resorts I might stay the last week and just chill out and make the most of the resort

It will either be a value or a moderate.

I think i've decided being onsite would be better first, then we can get round all the parks using EMH, and for our last 2 weeks we can chill and wing it a little more

 

[nibby]

We're doing 3 weeks this year - 1 week onsite and 2 weeks in a villa. I would say definitely do the 1st week onsite. Our thinking is that with the time difference we'll be awake early and ready to hit the parks (and take advantage of any EMHs) before the time difference takes effect a few days into the holiday. Also, since we'll start flagging by mid afternoon (i.e. early evening in the UK) we can make it back to the hotel quicker and flop down and get an early night. For the first week you'll all be so busy and worn out you'll be happy sharing a room but by the end of the first week you'll probably all need a bit of space and will be glad of a villa - plus you'll be able to fling all your dirty clothes from the first week in the washing machine so won't have to pack as much By the second week you will seriously be in need of a rest and will probably appreciate some time away from the parks A week onsite during your first week will give you a chance to really suss out what you like and can then visit again at leisure during the next couple of weeks.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

I think i've decided being onsite would be better first, then we can get round all the parks using EMH, and for our last 2 weeks we can chill and wing it a little more

That is what I would do - really blitz the whole "Disney thing" whilst being ons-ite the first week, then take things down a few gears for the final two weeks (more time around your private pool and sample some of the other things that Orlando/Florida has to offer - if you decide that you really want to go back to Disney for a day or two more, you can do that easily from your villa...).

I would also find having a washer/dryer in a villa for the final two weeks really helpful AND you might find the catering flexibility (i.e. doing your own breakfast etc.) better the final two weeks... (only so many hotel breakfast that most people can eat before craving something simple like plain cereal/toast...)

Boo

 

[AndRu]

I personally wouldn't ever want to stay onsite (we like the freedom of a villa too much) but if I had to make a choice it would be to stay onsite first. Going from a villa, seperate bedrooms, private pool and cooking facilities to a hotel room would be hard to take.

 

[TandCmum]

I personally wouldn't ever want to stay onsite (we like the freedom of a villa too much) but if I had to make a choice it would be to stay onsite first. Going from a villa, seperate bedrooms, private pool and cooking facilities to a hotel room would be hard to take.

I would be just as happy spending all 3 weeks in a villa, I'm sure it will make for a more relaxing holiday. We stayed onsite last year for 16 nights and by the end of it we were ready for home we were so shattered, because we tended to be out and about all the time because if we stayed in the room too long the kids were bouncing off the walls, but DH for some reason wants to spend a bit of time onsite too so i guess we'll get best of both worlds and hopefully there will be some free dining again next year so we can do all our onsite meals in the first week and then eat offsite for the rest of the holiday.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We always stay in a villa, but as we have a 3 week holiday coming up decided to spend the first few nights at the Boardwalk

There are so many advantages we find - but to combine a few nights on-site too is an ideal combination, especially to sample the entertainment & facilities available.

Josh is often too tired to want to go out in the evening, which is the only downside to being in a villa.

 

[TandCmum]

We always stay in a villa, but as we have a 3 week holiday coming up decided to spend the first few nights at the Boardwalk

There are so many advantages we find - but to combine a few nights on-site too is an ideal combination, especially to sample the entertainment & facilities available.

Josh is often too tired to want to go out in the evening, which is the only downside to being in a villa.

Thats the the only downside i can see, when onsite we didn't want to spend an evening in the room so we always went out, even if it was just on the boat to DTD, also in the morning we were all up when the kids were up, no chance of a lie in when you have kids jumping on your head, but i can see in a villa i will have a problem getting DH out of bed to do anything, so having a week onsite will at least give us a chance to get a lot of disney done then we can just nip in and out for the following 2 weeks to do the bits we missed or want to do again

 

[kkymmy]

if i was doing a split vacation this way i would always do offsite first....just because being in Disney gives me a big rush...so to have it 24/7 then to go for just a few hours a day and not return to a themed hotel would, for me, not be as exciting. It would be so special to finish off the holiday on the high you get from Disney.

 

[TandCmum]

if i was doing a split vacation this way i would always do offsite first....just because being in Disney gives me a big rush...so to have it 24/7 then to go for just a few hours a day and not return to a themed hotel would, for me, not be as exciting. It would be so special to finish off the holiday on the high you get from Disney.

You would have to confuse things i know what your saying but i'm not sure i could go from thespace of a villa to a single hotel room, but even if we stay onsite first i will still be ending the holiday with an evening at epcot, and meal at Le Cellier before illuminations

 

[AndRu]

Sometimes our kids are too tired to go out of an evening but for me it's a major plus of being in a villa. They can play in the pool or (if available) a games room or read a book / watch TV or go and play in their own bedrooms.

I wouldn't even like to imagine what it'd be like to be in a hotel room with three tired kids that didn't have anything to do and didn't want to go out. Our stress levels would be through the roof under that kind of scenario.

As for getting up early, it's only me that does that. The Disney adverts showing the kids (and parents) awake in the dead of night as they're excited about going doesn't happen in our family. After a couple of days in hot, busy theme parks our kids sleep better than Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel. Trying to motivate them to get up and out to another park can be very difficult, nigh on impossible some days. So again, it's nice to have a villa where you don't feel pressure to leave either due to room service or psychologically. If they want to have a lazy morning in the pool then so be it and we'd probably go out later in the day.

 

[Goofyish]

We did a split stay a few years ago - 1 week onsite and then 1 week on I-Drive. We really wish we had done it the other way round though and stayed off-site first.

After a week on-site moving to I-Drive was a big downer

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Sometimes our kids are too tired to go out of an evening but for me it's a major plus of being in a villa. They can play in the pool or (if available) a games room or read a book / watch TV or go and play in their own bedrooms.

I wouldn't even like to imagine what it'd be like to be in a hotel room with three tired kids that didn't have anything to do and didn't want to go out. Our stress levels would be through the roof under that kind of scenario.

As for getting up early, it's only me that does that. The Disney adverts showing the kids (and parents) awake in the dead of night as they're excited about going doesn't happen in our family. After a couple of days in hot, busy theme parks our kids sleep better than Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel. Trying to motivate them to get up and out to another park can be very difficult, nigh on impossible some days. So again, it's nice to have a villa where you don't feel pressure to leave either due to room service or psychologically. If they want to have a lazy morning in the pool then so be it and we'd probably go out later in the day.

I do agree - as always

However, there is 1 downside to a villa , for example in the afternoon or evening ,Josh often prefers to stay in, like you say play in the pool or watch TV , which is fine and having the extra room is great for that and something I would never change.
However, it can be frustrating if say I want to go out, naturally you have to drive everywhere staying in a villa, so staying at somewhere like the Boardwalk gives me the option of popping down to say ESPN for an hour, or at least some entertainment on-site.
Hence for a 3 week stay I think to combine both, like we are doing, is a good idea.

 

[TandCmum]

i have another plan now..... i will stay at the villa for the first 18 nights then do the last 3 nights onsite at one of the deluxes (probably Poly or WL depending on costs). I certainly don't mind moving to one of these resorts for a few nights and it means we can really enjoy our last nights at MK and Epcot and even have a few drinks if we want with our meals. As we are only staying a few nights we can pack the majority of our stuff and just have a holdall for the last 3 nights and leave everything else in the luggage.

What do you think????

 

[Boo Boo Too]

i have another plan now..... i will stay at the villa for the first 18 nights then do the last 3 nights onsite at one of the deluxes (probably Poly or WL depending on costs). I certainly don't mind moving to one of these resorts for a few nights and it means we can really enjoy our last nights at MK and Epcot and even have a few drinks if we want with our meals. As we are only staying a few nights we can pack the majority of our stuff and just have a holdall for the last 3 nights and leave everything else in the luggage.

What do you think????

Would still do it the other way round, but that is me - it is very much a personal preference thing. I like to do the "hustle and bustle", THEN wind down...

If it was three weeks, would also rather one whole week in a moderate (if couldn't stretch to a deluxe) and two weeks in a villa. Just because I think that the split is better: a whole week on-site will enable you to really "do things justice" to Disney

It is very much a personal taste thing - will all like different things: the world would be a very boring place if we all liked the same thing

Boo

 

[Miffy2003]

Such a difficult quiestion, and one we pondered for weeks before booking our hotels in August.

We have stayed over the years in offsite and onsite hotels (from value to moderate to deluxe and DVC) and also offsite villas. As this thread isn't about the pros and cons of each I won't bring that up but rather answer the question which was which order to do it in.

I like the idea of ending the holiday on a high and for my family that high is to stay onsite. But, we chose to end our holiday next month with 5 nights in a villa. Why? Because we thought it would be nice to chill out, and spread out, do all the offsite shopping and attractions then after doing WDW & Universal in the first 14 nights. We think we will feel more relaxed and refreshed to do it that way round

But, I do like your idea of the small holdall and final 3 nights at WDW. As it's only 3 nights I think I would go with this idea

 

[JohnnySharp2]

i have another plan now..... i will stay at the villa for the first 18 nights then do the last 3 nights onsite at one of the deluxes (probably Poly or WL depending on costs). I certainly don't mind moving to one of these resorts for a few nights and it means we can really enjoy our last nights at MK and Epcot and even have a few drinks if we want with our meals. As we are only staying a few nights we can pack the majority of our stuff and just have a holdall for the last 3 nights and leave everything else in the luggage.

What do you think????

I think that's a good idea and is similar to what we are doing in August, though we are staying on-site first and just plan on opening one of our suitcases for this part of the holiday.

There are pro's and con's for staying onsite first or last, at the end of the day trust your instincts and personally your plan sounds like an excellent choice for a great holiday.