Planning to stay offsite

[kymom99]

I may be mistaken but I think you can use the pool at Caribe Royale if staying at BVS. Check into it and see.

 

[VTGirlinNC]

We LOVE the Hilton Bonnet Creek. We have stayed there the past 4 years, and have also stayed at the Waldorf Astoria connected to the Hilton. We will continue to go back and have not even considered staying onsite. We get free breakfast (Hilton honors members), the pool is amazing, the hotel is beautiful, you are still on disney property (although no EMH or DME benefits) and the staff is wonderful. Last summer, they ran a $99 special. You have to include the $25 resort fee, 12.5% tax and parking ($15-$18 maybe??). All that said, you will pay less than a Disney resort. Even if a value is the same or slightly less, I wouldn't choose that over this property in a million years.

 

[LovesTimone]

We are AP holders, and with that you can get a better room only rates when available. I have found by calling to make your ressie that normally you get a better price. But first look on line at the price before you call, I have had a CM say that is the AP holders rate, but it was the same as the rack rate listed on line, so when I questioned it she said it wasn't available, so I did not book, when I called back the next day. I was able to get the AP holders rate which saved me around 50.00 ( a night) at a moderate. I don't know if one day mattered but...just saying... as a suggestion.

Depending on what AP you get some offer free parking in the park lots.

When comparing off site <to> on site = there are a lot of factors to consider and most of all what's important to you for your trip.

How do you normally tour? Rope drop, early morning breakfast with the characters, late night parade and fireworks.

Time - in the parks -vs- time in the car to and from the parks, parking, driving sitting in traffic at the end of a long day or early morning when trying to make rope drop..

For us staying on site is the way to go, while most of the time its a bit more expensive, for us well worth it. No driving, DH drives a lot with work, so for us this an important factor. We both love that feeling you get when you pull into your resort , knowing your on vacation whether for a long weekend, one night or a whole week. The theming is another plus for us, nothing says Disney like the Resorts, the rooms, landscaping, the pools. Waking up knowing your at Disney is another biggie for us. The excitement when the bus pulls up and we see Magic Kingdom We love knowing that if we want to head back to the room for a nap or pool time it is just a bus ride away. Also if we want to have some adult beverages over in Epcot we can without worrying about driving back to the resort.

 

[MichelleVW]

When comparing off site <to> on site = there are a lot of factors to consider and most of all what's important to you for your trip.

That is the most important right there! We stay 50/50 onsite or off and every trip is just as magical for us. We drive everywhere if we stay on site or off. We can drive faster to our offsite condo than a bus will get to a resort most of the time. 30 minutes or less from the time I leave the park to the time I walk in the door. Only time you get that with Disney transportation is if you are staying at one of the monorail resorts..or time the buses perfectly..and that never happens for us. Even if you just wait 15 minutes for a bus....I'm halfway to my resort by then.

I'm glad the buses are an option...because every now and then we want to drink so we use them...but they always take us twice as long as driving.

 

[Chase47]

We are AP holders, and with that you can get a better room only rates when available. I have found by calling to make your ressie that normally you get a better price. But first look on line at the price before you call, I have had a CM say that is the AP holders rate, but it was the same as the rack rate listed on line, so when I questioned it she said it wasn't available, so I did not book, when I called back the next day. I was able to get the AP holders rate which saved me around 50.00 ( a night) at a moderate. I don't know if one day mattered but...just saying... as a suggestion.

Depending on what AP you get some offer free parking in the park lots.

When comparing off site <to> on site = there are a lot of factors to consider and most of all what's important to you for your trip.

How do you normally tour? Rope drop, early morning breakfast with the characters, late night parade and fireworks.

Time - in the parks -vs- time in the car to and from the parks, parking, driving sitting in traffic at the end of a long day or early morning when trying to make rope drop..

For us staying on site is the way to go, while most of the time its a bit more expensive, for us well worth it. No driving, DH drives a lot with work, so for us this an important factor. We both love that feeling you get when you pull into your resort , knowing your on vacation whether for a long weekend, one night or a whole week. The theming is another plus for us, nothing says Disney like the Resorts, the rooms, landscaping, the pools. Waking up knowing your at Disney is another biggie for us. The excitement when the bus pulls up and we see Magic Kingdom We love knowing that if we want to head back to the room for a nap or pool time it is just a bus ride away. Also if we want to have some adult beverages over in Epcot we can without worrying about driving back to the resort.

Thanks for the advice.. We usually drive to the parks anyways because we hate to wait on the buses.. Haha.. we even once waited for a while on the bus, decided to drive to MK and still made it across on the ferry before our bus pulled into MK... We will probably still stay onsite for our big trip next spring but we were just looking for a reliable place we could book for last minute or for short weekend trips ...If we don't like staying offsite when we go in October we know to book onsite from here forward..

 

[Chase47]

That is the most important right there! We stay 50/50 onsite or off and every trip is just as magical for us. We drive everywhere if we stay on site or off. We can drive faster to our offsite condo than a bus will get to a resort most of the time. 30 minutes or less from the time I leave the park to the time I walk in the door. Only time you get that with Disney transportation is if you are staying at one of the monorail resorts..or time the buses perfectly..and that never happens for us. Even if you just wait 15 minutes for a bus....I'm halfway to my resort by then.

I'm glad the buses are an option...because every now and then we want to drink so we use them...but they always take us twice as long as driving.

Thanks so much... Yes we drive everywhere because we just can't stand to wait for busses... We are thinking somewhere close by.. Just want to try it for a weekend.. worst case we end up booking onsite from then on...

 

[fostrmom2mny]

Question please? Is there a map or something that would show how close the two are? I am attending a conference at the Caribe Royale in early June, and am trying to come early to play. BVS sounds like a better option for that since it offers the free breakfast, but how close are the two resorts, really? Going to have to move luggae from one to the other for conference. Thanks.

 

[Alesia]

Question please? Is there a map or something that would show how close the two are? I am attending a conference at the Caribe Royale in early June, and am trying to come early to play. BVS sounds like a better option for that since it offers the free breakfast, but how close are the two resorts, really? Going to have to move luggae from one to the other for conference. Thanks.

google maps

 

[Cadiewampus]

we have stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn at SeaWorld. We did enjoy it but have not stayed there in several years so not sure how it is now. When it was just me an my sons down for a recent trip we stayed in one of the Rosen Properties. It was fine for what we needed. Of course we are guys so we don't need much

 

[verleniahall]

we stayed at the clarion lake buena vista - it is a disney good neighboor hotel - the rooms were large and spacious - we booked through priceline or expedia and got the room for $50.00 a night + no resort fee + no parking fee

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We do a week and a half to two week trip every other year where we stay onsite. We do 1-2 long weekend trips a year where we stay off-site. Our two favorite places are Wyndham Bonnet Creek (last stayed in Sept. 2013) and Hilton Grand Vacation Villas at SeaWorld (last stayed in Dec. 2013). The DoubleTree by SeaWorld was just ok (can't really complain because we got it during a holiday weekend for $75 a night), but we would never stay at the Rosen Centre on International Drive again. Also, make sure you check out if the hotel charges for parking. Wyndham Bonnet Creek and the Hilton I mentioned above doesn't charge, but DoubleTree charges $17 per day and Rosen Centre charged $15 per day.

Usually on our long weekend trips we do other parks in the area (SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Universal). We loved staying at the Hilton mentioned above because you get front of the line passes to the rides at SeaWorld, which saved us a ton of time when the penguin encounter area opened up. We also walked over to SeaWorld and rode the free shuttle bus to Busch Gardens for the day. Great experience!

 

[lauradis]

Depends on what you want in a hotel/condo. Bonn creek is the most popular on this board. I would try them but my husband hates the idea of driving on vacation.