Really no benefit to stay "on Property" anymore

[toodycat]

On paper, we probably should stay offsite. We've never been on DME, almost always rent a car, always stay room only, never take advantage of free dining and typically drive to the water parks, AK and DTD. We do use EMH sometimes, but not always. However, we just love the WDW magic present on site. The WDW resort theming is so imaginative and unique. I don't know of any other place like it. I am sure there are excellent resorts all over the Orlando area. (In fact, I've always wanted to stay at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes.) But those excellent resorts are the kinds of places we can stay on other vacations in other cities. Only on a WDW vacation can I wake up in a world with giraffes outside my window at AKL or hop on a beautiful wooden launch with a friendly captain to pilot us across the lagoon to the GF when the day at MK is over. We never stayed on site for the perks, We stayed for the atmosphere.

 

[jade1]

Personally? I would be thrilled. I loved the E-Nights of old. Paid $13 and got to go to MK for an addtl 3 or so hours. It was great. People tended to balk at spending that much money for a family of 4 or 5, so they didn't go.
I can see Disney doing something similar to that down the road.

I'm not against it either-just IMO something along this line will eventually happen.

 

[lomillerin]

Can someone please tell me what has been cut?

 

[Alesia]

Can someone please tell me what has been cut?

They cut an hour off of evening EMH a while ago. That's it.

 

[bakie21]

Other than transportation, no fee to park, themed hotels that give you the feeling of Disney all day and night and beautiful grounds to explore, extra hours in the park, and not having to fight traffic.....I would agree lol!!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Other than transportation, no fee to park, themed hotels that give you the feeling of Disney all day and night and beautiful grounds to explore, extra hours in the park, and not having to fight traffic.....I would agree lol!!

Transportation was included in my offsite stay. It ran every half hour. The very kind bus driver asked that I be given a seat since I was standing with a baby. That never happened on a "on site" bus. No parking at parks because of shuttle. We had a 1 bedroom suite with dining area and paid less than a mod resort (motel) on site. We were within a few minutes walk to DTD. Park hours lasted so long into the pm that we never missed EMH and did not use them when on site either.

Didn't miss being on site at all.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We don't do DDP, EMH have stayed on and off site. Prefer onsite for reasons we just can't define that was absent from the offsite resorts. Don't get me wrong they were very nice, tidy, clean and friendly staff but there was just this je ne sais quoi to Disney.

Was it the resort bus?

The towels shaped like swans when we got back to our room?

The 24/7 Disney feel?

Who knows. All I know is we are now proud DVC owners who come at least once a year. I could come to SSR not step foot in a park and still feel happy. To me that is a vacation. Once I am on the ME I feel 'safe' in Disney care.

 

[msjprincess]

Can someone please tell me what has been cut?

They changed evening EMH from 3 to 2 hours. And they did away with Friday night EMH at the MK.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

This thread keeps popping back up to the top.... I've been ignoring it because I really don't care if some people prefer to stay offsite. It's a free country. Personally, we stayed offsite one time, one of those giant villa type rentals with 4 bedrooms and a jacuzzi, looked great on the website... but man oh man the driving in and out of the parks was not for me. I much prefer to take the buses. I am happy to let someone else do the driving so I can tweet and work on my live trip reports. It doesn't bother me when I have to wait for a bus to come, I'm never in a rush to get anywhere anyway. Also I love to park hop a lot, we commonly start at MK in the morning, go back to the resort to swim in the afternoon, take a shower, have dinner at Epcot, then hop to the Studios or back to MK for EMHs. 3 parks in one day is typical for our family. After the parks close we walk along the boardwalk enjoying the atmosphere, stop and get some ice cream, etc. The kids might hit the arcade, or we might just find a bench and enjoy the atmosphere. When I'm at Disney I don't leave Disney. I'd rather sit and look at a Disney trashcan than be anywhere else in the state of Florida. But that's just me.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Plus I can't even tell you how many times we've had one person walk back to the YC/BC/BWI from Epcot to get phone chargers or sweatshirts, etc. Or if it starts raining we will go back for a bit until it clears off. I like to be close to everything, and I love to walk. I love not even having a car the whole week. It's such a nice break from the real world.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

Different strokes for different folks. I also liked to be immersed in magic. I don't want to pick up my bags. I don't want to drive. I do that at home, I don't want to have to do it on vacation. I travel with 12 people at most we would rent two cars, now everyone feels chained together. Not worth it. Plus my mom needs a scooter so that would mean assembling and dissembling it. No way.

 

[TDC Nala]

This thread keeps popping back up to the top.... I've been ignoring it because I really don't care if some people prefer to stay offsite. It's a free country.

The OP didn't say "Hey, I prefer staying offsite and here is why that is of value to me." They said "all the perks" had been taken away and there was no value in staying onsite anymore. He or she wasn't talking about their own preferences but telling readers that it wasn't worth it and they should stay offsite.

Personally I looked, since I wanted to know if they had really taken away ALL the perks. Couldn't find anything new, so apparently the OP was talking about the shorter EMH and one less for MK during the summer. I suppose that would be because they want to lengthen the general public opening hours on Fridays during the summer.

Of course the post is going to get a lot of disagreement, because not everybody thinks taking an hour off evening EMH equals taking away ALL the perks, and not everybody is agreeing that they want to stay offsite because of this.

There are other perks to staying onsite besides EMH, although apparently the OP doesn't consider any of those to be actual perks.

 

[goofynut41]

They cut an hour off of evening EMH a while ago. That's it.

I'm never awake for that hour anyway... i'm tired from running around all day... Love staying in the Magic...

 

[GoofyGraham]

We get the free Dining Plan and receive around £2000 worth of food for the five of us over a ten night stay. We love meals out and Disney is a pretty good value way to do it when free dining is offered- such a treat! We'd never pay for it, but yes, free dining is free. We don't pay a fortune for our room and still get it. It's a huge perk. We wouldn't go to WDW without it probably.

We love EMHs so are sad to see them being cut. You feel like a VIP getting let into a 'closed' park!

The ambiance of Disney resorts is amazing and another reason we stay onsite. I don't think we'd ever go to Disney and stay offsite.

We don't really use Disney transportation- we rent a car as it is apparently quicker although I have never compared it. Is the transport even that great when you have to get to another resort for an ADR? It seems like kind of hassle to me. Never tried it though so shall try it out next trip.

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The free DDP is a big draw for us too. Given that the biggest expense for UK visitors is the air fare, not having to pay for food and drinks is a big saving.

I love the Disney transportation, it's all part of the experience for us and have never had any major problems. Not worrying about the hassle or expense of car rental is great and the Magical Express takes care of the transfers from and to the airport (if ppl book with Virgin Atlantic and other 'leading' travel companies they lay on their own coaches and charge for it!)

Magic hours have their attraction but are not a major factor, we often don't use them.

For me the Disney experience begins we when get on the Magical Express and ends when we get back off it on the way home.

Whether I'd feel the same if I lived in the US is a moot point. I can only comment as I find, and I find that staying "on property" is a major part of my holiday.

 

[RedfromNL]

The OP didn't say "Hey, I prefer staying offsite and here is why that is of value to me." They said "all the perks" had been taken away and there was no value in staying onsite anymore. He or she wasn't talking about their own preferences but telling readers that it wasn't worth it and they should stay offsite.

Personally I looked, since I wanted to know if they had really taken away ALL the perks. Couldn't find anything new, so apparently the OP was talking about the shorter EMH and one less for MK during the summer. I suppose that would be because they want to lengthen the general public opening hours on Fridays during the summer.

Of course the post is going to get a lot of disagreement, because not everybody thinks taking an hour off evening EMH equals taking away ALL the perks, and not everybody is agreeing that they want to stay offsite because of this.

There are other perks to staying onsite besides EMH, although apparently the OP doesn't consider any of those to be actual perks.

I always look, sometimes you learn something new. Sometimes it's just interesting to see why others decide what to do. I still make my own decision but I'm always curious as to other people motivations.

We then have to decide for ourselves if we agree with them or not. wether this is as some have called it a dealbreaker or maker.

But the reason some people give for the decisions they make I find endlessly fascinating (wether I agree or not but thats a different point).