Onsite vs offsite?

[act1980]

I’m trying to decide if I should stay onsite or offsite. I have always stayed offsite previously but would love to stay at the Beach Club next year to have the full Disney experience. The one thing that bugs me is that its literally double the price compared to staying at Bonnet Creek which is also an amazing location! I’m really torn so I’m hoping you guys can help me out a little bit

One thing I know I will have to compromise on is no kitchen and shared laundry which could be a bit of a walk away from the room, those are the things I will miss but then I like the idea of the free dining and being able to have any purchases delivered back to the room.

I would be grateful if anyone could share their experiences of staying at Disney. Do you think it’s worth the extra cost and if so, why?


Thanks!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Rent DVC points from someone and have the best of both worlds. DVC rental is quite a bit cheaper than Disney's published prices, even with discounts. And, if you rent anything other than a studio, you get a full kitchen and washer/dryer.

 

[dansdad]

We stayed off site our first 3 trips but ever since our fist on site stay, we will not be staying off site again. What we like about staying On Site:

Magical Express - Not having to touch our luggage once I bring it to the driveway for the limo pick up until it gets to our resort room. Not having to drive
anywhere or pick up a rental.
Resort Airline Check in - Being able to check our luggage in at the resort, again not having to worry about it until we land at home.
ADRs - Being able to make ADRs for our entire trip at the 180 day mark.
FP+ - Being able to make FP+ reservations at 60 days out instead of 30.
The Disney Bubble - You are in Disney and experiencing the Magic 24 hrs a day.
Hearing "Welcome Home" every time we get back to our resort.

What we like about the Epcot Area resorts ( like Beach Club):

Being able to walk to Epcot.
Being able to walk or boat to DHS.

 

[Shellyb84]

Honestly, I would rather not go at all than stay offsite, so yes, to us it is worth the price. I know many think that is harsh, but the resort experience is a huge part of a Disney trip to us. We are not park open to close people. The Beach Club is my absolute favorite resort! If the price of a deluxe is too much, I would rent DVC points as the PP suggested, or stay at a moderate.

 

[Cynister]

We will ONLY stay onsite. It is just such a huge convenience & you don't realize it until you do it, moreso if you can stay in a Deluxe resort.

Many benefits were listed above but I will also add things like:
-Convenience. Pure & simple.
-Walking to DHS or Epcot from BC is EASY. It is so easy you will likely find yourself going back & forth between parks/hotel throughout the day just because it's a quick run to the room to get something or you've got nothing planned for the night so let's head over to 1 of the fireworks.
-If you've ever got a short period of down time & want something to do that won't take long you can easily walk to the Boardwalk for treats, entertainment, or bike rentals.
-If you're a pin trader, then staying onsite affords you many more locations for pin boards & CM trading.
-Staying onsite opens you to the opportunity for more pixie dust. While it isn't always done, you easily could get an upgraded room upon arrival or be gifted other bonuses. It has happened to us a handful of times.
-Concierge in the hotel is always available to help with minute reservations, cancelations or anything unexpected.
-Park to hotel travel is easy. Find your bus/boat/monorail right outside your park/hotel & bouncing around all day is possible without the worry of backtracking to get back to your car.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Look into Swan/Dolphin (we prefer the Swan). It's in the EP resort area and you can usually find discounts which make it far less expensive than BC/YC/BWI. You don't get DME or 180+10 for ADR's, but you can make FP+ at 60 days prior. Location, restaurants and pool area are great!

 

[AJA]

As another poster said, you need to rent points for DVC! Prices are much better.

BC Villas is hard to get and certain times of the year so you will need to have set dates 11 months out. One Bedrooms are easier to get than studio rooms so that should help. Also if you wanted to stay in a one bdroom in say Animal Kingdom or by Disney Springs at Saratoga Springs Resort you can be more flexible with your dates.

 

[lala5176]

I’m trying to decide if I should stay onsite or offsite. I have always stayed offsite previously but would love to stay at the Beach Club next year to have the full Disney experience. The one thing that bugs me is that its literally double the price compared to staying at Bonnet Creek which is also an amazing location! I’m really torn so I’m hoping you guys can help me out a little bit

One thing I know I will have to compromise on is no kitchen and shared laundry which could be a bit of a walk away from the room, those are the things I will miss but then I like the idea of the free dining and being able to have any purchases delivered back to the room.

I would be grateful if anyone could share their experiences of staying at Disney. Do you think it’s worth the extra cost and if so, why?


Thanks!

We stayed off site once at a lovely hotel in Orlando but would never go back to staying offsite again. When staying on Disney property it feels mere like you are vacationing at a destination rather than staying offsite when iit feels like we are just visiting a theme park every day or so. Just my 2 cents. Happy planning!

 

[MommaBerd]

We are doing an on-site/off-site split stay at BCR and WBC in November. We are going for 9 nights, so the first 4 nights at BCR and the remaining at WBC. In the past when we've done these long trips we've only stayed at WBC (which we love) because we were 6 people and our options were limited, not to mention we did NOT want to share a hotel room for that long. This fall, oldest will be at college and we thought it the perfect opportunity to have a short stay on property, but I knew that for our sanity, we would be ready for some space by the end of the week! In addition, we were able to get a magical deal on the room and tickets so that sealed it.

I'm not sure what my personal cut-off would be to do a split stay; I would give strong consideration to anything 6 nights or more. When you're going from Disney resort to resort, the move isn't as big a deal because Disney takes care of transporting your luggage. But to move from on-site to off-site you have to do all the leg work. I'm also having to set aside a morning to go and purchase groceries, etc., although if you did off-site then on-site it probably wouldn't feel like you were losing vacation time.

I wish that I could offer EXPERIENCED advice...maybe after my trip I can come back and give a report. Way long response with not much substance, but I thought it coincidental how you have stayed at WBC and are considering BCR just like we were. And I wanted to share our compromise.

 

[Minniesgal]

If it were the choice between an offsite condo with several bedrooms a laundry and a kitchen and a hotel room onsite I'd do offsite in a heartbeat.

If it were the choice between an offsite condo and an onsite condo type i'd do onsite.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We stayed off site our first 3 trips but ever since our fist on site stay, we will not be staying off site again. What we like about staying On Site:

Magical Express - Not having to touch our luggage once I bring it to the driveway for the limo pick up until it gets to our resort room. Not having to drive
anywhere or pick up a rental.
Resort Airline Check in - Being able to check our luggage in at the resort, again not having to worry about it until we land at home.
ADRs - Being able to make ADRs for our entire trip at the 180 day mark.
FP+ - Being able to make FP+ reservations at 60 days out instead of 30.
The Disney Bubble - You are in Disney and experiencing the Magic 24 hrs a day.
Hearing "Welcome Home" every time we get back to our resort.

This is exactly why we stay on site. We have stayed off site for our first 2 trips and yes we had a 2 bedroom condo both times which was awesome! When we decided to stay on site in 2014 giving up the space of a 2 bedroom condo was very very hard to do, lol...but I decided it was better to have convenience than space. After staying onsite 1 time in 2014, we will more than likely never stay offsite again...unless of course we decide to do an on site/off site split stay, which is highly unlikely because we LOVE Disney, lol...the other theme parks don't really interest us...although that might change as the kids get older, lol

 

[act1980]

Well so far you guys have convinced me to stay onsite for sure!

 

[TsLoveMickey]

Our first visit we stayed off-site. The extra bedrooms, separate kitchen and laundry were nice, but the magic was definitely lacking. We returned for mid-day naps so we were driving on and off site a lot. Our second visit we rented DVC points at VWL which was wonderful because we had a kitchenette and it allowed us to see the "value" of Disney onsite/deluxe for a lesser cost. I have to say, I would likely never go back staying off-site. If my budget were an issue, I'd go elsewhere for vacation and save to stay on-site when we returned to Disney. I don't mean that ugly - for us, a big part of the experience is staying on-site and if we're paying that much for tickets, dining, etc I wouldn't want to compromise on accommodations.

 

[Mousetopia]

I’m trying to decide if I should stay onsite or offsite. I have always stayed offsite previously but would love to stay at the Beach Club next year to have the full Disney experience. The one thing that bugs me is that its literally double the price compared to staying at Bonnet Creek which is also an amazing location! I’m really torn so I’m hoping you guys can help me out a little bit

One thing I know I will have to compromise on is no kitchen and shared laundry which could be a bit of a walk away from the room, those are the things I will miss but then I like the idea of the free dining and being able to have any purchases delivered back to the room.

I would be grateful if anyone could share their experiences of staying at Disney. Do you think it’s worth the extra cost and if so, why?


Thanks!

I second the suggestion to rent DVC points. I used David's and got a studio with Savannah view at AK for price of a moderate!! We will be staying at the poly next...also at a significantly less expensive rate!
I WOULD NEVER stay off site. I love staying on property and being immersed in the magic. It takes long enough to get around using disney busses. I cant imagine driving offsite to my room. I bet once you do stay on property you wont stay off again.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Stay on site. It's where the cool people stay. Like me. Oh yes I said it...

 

[married2mm]

When we're onsite we ars special guests
When we are offsite we are gen pop

I know which I prefer

 

[act1980]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The reason I don't want to rent DVC points is because I get the free dining and a few other things included in the package which works out to be a good deal

 

[Mousemommy1]

We won't go to Disney if we aren't on site. Being on site is part of our whole experience. We love Magical Express. We love the theming of the resorts. We tend to stay deluxe for the location and club level.

We just prefer to be in our Disney "bubble" while on our Disney vacation.

 

[msb578]

OP, you asked this question on the Disney Resorts board.

If you try the Orlando Hotels board you'll get the opposite response

Me? Pretty big onsite guy, but I'm trying Wyndham Bonnet Creek next time because it's 2 bedrooms and a kitchen for $100 a night during Easter.

 

[Caseheidi]

We have done both, and will continue to do both. WBC is great as location is basically onsite, but you do miss out on the extras of staying on site with Disney. My favorite has been when we stayed at a DVC, so we still had the room, laundry and a kitchen with all the perks of ME, no car rental and sending items to our resort. We tend to visit for two weeks, and I really like eating some of our meals in the room. I really get tired of eating out.

I say you have to try staying onsite if you never have, but I cannot go as often if I refuse to stay offsite.