Remind me of benefits of staying off site .... Please :-/

[TnTWalter]

Our last onsite was the Poly [free upgrade to Hawaii buildiing]...and it was MAGICAL..... Loved the resort and the views and the water parade and the balcony. No hot tub was bummer.

so we were worried when the next trip was to Windsor Hills....I found a great deal at Windsor Hills....It wasn't even disney themed. LOL.

But it was $450 for the WEEK in a 3 bedroom condo. You walked out the back of the building to the main pool area. 2 kids shared 1 room and 1 had a room to himself. Hubby and I had our own room too. We were able to cook meals if we wanted. For me, having fresh coffee in the morning was priceless!
And a glass of wine/beer in evening. making yummy breakfasts every morning. And so close to the parks.

We all loved it. But we all loved the Poly. And heck we even enjoyed POP Century [we had 2 connecting rooms which made that more enjoyable for the space].

What I missed at WH was it wasn't resort-y at all. It was lovely but didn't have the atmosphere. This last time at Bonnet Creek was the best of both worlds I think.

The pools were AWESOME [Windsor Hills not bad but not Awesome]. The kids played shuffleboard while we grilled dinner one night. there were more people around. They had activities. We cram way too much park time so don't enjoy the place we stay as much as we'd like. But they did participate in a couple of the fun activities.

Hot tub and lazy river awesome. Don't get those at the Poly.

Sooo close to the parks also. And this time we got a Diamond parking pass with AAA so we were loving the parking spots!

More expensive than WH and 1 less room....all 3 kids had to stay in one. Bigger balcony.

So I would love to go back onsite but I also love offsite. Depends on how many days I'm there and my budget. I would only want to stay deluxe or DVC [balconies, proximity].

I would love to do DVC...but for my family of 5 1 bedroom is minimal and it would be a step back space wise.... I was considering a grand villa for 3 families but they are only 3 bedroom. Really? I'd rather do a Presidential Unit at BC for less. Oy.

My brother is opposite. He just came back from Beach Club and it's his first onsite. He's always stayed offsite at hotel or the MarriottSheraton timeshare [dont know name]. And he says he will never go back offsite. They loved walking to Epcot and Studios and walking/monorailing to MK. They loved the dining plan etc.

Trish

 

[alice99]

We enjoy staying on-site or off-site, for all the reasons listed on this thread. For MANY years (1992 until 2008) we stayed on-site twice. Wilderness Lodge (1997) and Coronado Springs Resort (2002).
I found the Coronado Springs to be a Holiday Inn quality at a 5 star price! I did a split stay , and had just come from the Hard Rock Hotel by Universal, where I paid the same rate.

My "personal" problem was the cost of staying on property. Whenever it was time to make the reservation I would compare prices of hotels and Disney was always so expensive , by comparison, that I couldn't justify staying on property.

We have used Priceline and other discount sites to get great deals on hotels. One time through priceline we stayed at the Grosvenor, on disney property, for 39$ per night. Though not a disney hotel, many of the same advantages as being on property.

Whatever you decide, you will have a great time!!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Well, we're coming from a totally different "place" than the OP--we're a family of 6.

We did onsite deluxe when we had only 2 kids--it was nice.

We bought DVC when our family grew. Had a few stays--liked them just fine. BTW, DH didn't care for VAKL (too dark and hallways too long for his taste). I did--I found it cool and restful. I also really liked OKW, because it is so relaxing. It's also a good place to run (my oldest does XC).

We first tried offsite when we wanted to extend a trip and didn't have enough DVC points. We rented a 4BR house in Windsor Hills. That was it, there was no turning back--the kids voted unanimously to sell DVC. Their absolute, #1, no question, favorite thing? The private pool, literally 2 steps out the back door. We would be in the parks, and DD8 would be asking to go back for another swim.

Other advantages: Plenty of space--twice as big as a DVC 2BR unit. I loved the full kitchen and laundry facilities. My kids enjoyed the free movie rentals, free videogame system with rentals, the older two each had a private bathroom, free wi-fi, hot tub, grill--you name it.

I will grant that WDW transportation does better for visiting the Magic Kingdom. But, only at MK--offsite is equal or better for transportation to the other parks. And you save money even figuring in the cost of a rental and parking.

Mostly, though, we lked the freedom. Even the freedom to walk away from Disney for a day or two. I know that sounds like heresy, here on the DIS, but I mean it in a good way. We were there for 2 weeks (just got back!), and in addition to all 4 Disney parks and a few character meals, etc., we did Universal, IoA (loved Harry Potter!), Seaworld, and the Orlando Science Center. We also had a few down days. Past vacations, we've visited Holy Land Experience, Gatorland, Medieval Times, those sorts of things. These particular choices might not be right for everyone--but it sure was nice to have such a vast array of choices.

Now, someday I'd like to try one of the more resort-type offsite places--Bonnet Creek looks lovely, for example. But, I'm going to have a tough time convincing my kids to try something without a private pool.

 

[dtum]

Well, we're coming from a totally different "place" than the OP--we're a family of 6.

We did onsite deluxe when we had only 2 kids--it was nice.

We bought DVC when our family grew. Had a few stays--liked them just fine. BTW, DH didn't care for VAKL (too dark and hallways too long for his taste). I did--I found it cool and restful. I also really liked OKW, because it is so relaxing. It's also a good place to run (my oldest does XC).

We first tried offsite when we wanted to extend a trip and didn't have enough DVC points. We rented a 4BR house in Windsor Hills. That was it, there was no turning back--the kids voted unanimously to sell DVC. Their absolute, #1, no question, favorite thing? The private pool, literally 2 steps out the back door. We would be in the parks, and DD8 would be asking to go back for another swim.

Other advantages: Plenty of space--twice as big as a DVC 2BR unit. I loved the full kitchen and laundry facilities. My kids enjoyed the free movie rentals, free videogame system with rentals, the older two each had a private bathroom, free wi-fi, hot tub, grill--you name it.

I will grant that WDW transportation does better for visiting the Magic Kingdom. But, only at MK--offsite is equal or better for transportation to the other parks. And you save money even figuring in the cost of a rental and parking.

Mostly, though, we lked the freedom. Even the freedom to walk away from Disney for a day or two. I know that sounds like heresy, here on the DIS, but I mean it in a good way. We were there for 2 weeks (just got back!), and in addition to all 4 Disney parks and a few character meals, etc., we did Universal, IoA (loved Harry Potter!), Seaworld, and the Orlando Science Center. We also had a few down days. Past vacations, we've visited Holy Land Experience, Gatorland, Medieval Times, those sorts of things. These particular choices might not be right for everyone--but it sure was nice to have such a vast array of choices.

Now, someday I'd like to try one of the more resort-type offsite places--Bonnet Creek looks lovely, for example. But, I'm going to have a tough time convincing my kids to try something without a private pool.

Agree 100%. We always stayed onsite and thought that was the only way to go. We were actually afraid to stay off-site. Disney does a great job of marketing and convincing everyone that the only way to see the world is to stay there, but at some point people figure out that it's not exactly true and there are other option. Stayed in a 4-bedroom/4-bath house this trip and my family loved having the private bathrooms and all the space, but the pool? That was all it took for them to decide we would never go back to onsite.

We also looked at WBC, but unless it was just DH and I (we don't swim) I think a house is the only way to go.

That being said, we have already started planning our next trip. Emerald Isle this time. Here is where we are going to book:

http://puffsvacationhome.com/index.html

Kids fell in love with that game room (actually DH and I did also...all the old arcade games!)

Good luck in your quest to choose the right off-site place.

 

[Grog]

The answer: None.

Offsite- You aren't immensed in the magic 24/7.
Disney hotels are kept to a higher standard. Many of them are older than the offsite places, yet they are much cleaner, more beautiful, more magical.
Conveience can't be beat, no EMHs, spotty transport at best. Definitely not worth the money saved...not at all!

A small part of me actually felt sorry for you in the other thread. Now you are obviously trolling, and your trolling has been reported. If you have vowed to never stay offsite again, there really isn't a reason for you participate in threads like this. There are plenty of open minded people here who have stayed both on and offsite who can share experiences in a way that is not quite so biased.

To the OP...whatever you do, just go into an offsite experience with an open mind. If something happens that you don't like, just ask yourself "could this also happen on a Disney property and I'm letting it get to me a bit more because it's not Disney". If you decide ahead of time that you will have a bad experience then you will. I have friends who always stay onsite and I would never try to talk them into trying the alternative because I know they would hate it before their plane even landed at MCO.

 

[mindyb7]

We stayed on site our first two trips. Honestly I thought I would hate staying off site. But what I found was that it was more relaxing. The kids are a little older now so no stroller this last trip in May. I personally loved not having to sit on hold forever to make dining reservations. Not feeling the pressure to wake up early for the EMH. I thought I would hate that, not getting into the park before everyone else but you know what I didn't miss it. This past trip I actually got to do something I didn't do my previous two trips, relaxxxxx by the pool, sit and have a glass of wine. We were able to see lots of Orlando, try out some of the restaurants out in town and it was fun. We even took a trip to Gatorland which I thought with two girls would not be a good idea but they loved it. I think back to how much we spent to stay at the Poly two years ago being annoyed by pool hoppers and small dark rooms and for that price literally we could have taken around four trips staying offsite. I don't know if we will stay onsite any time soon again.

 

[mlnbabies]

We have been to Disney 3 times and have stayed off site almost all the time. We have also driven each time so no need for a rental car. We stayed off site because my dh is a pilot so we can stay at the crew hotel for a discount. We have stayed at the Florida Mall hotel--(can't remember what the name is) and the International Plaza which is now a Double Tree. We loved the Plaza and where there in 2008 for 2 nights.

We did spend one night in Coronado Springs in 2006. It was just a room with 2 queens. The room was ok for 2 adults, a 15, 6 and 2 year olds. Since we there only one night we didn't use it for anything but checking in, going to the park, sleep and check out. We used the buses but I don't remember an extra long wait. We did buy 2 day tickets and the QS dining so it was a package deal. A one day ticket was $63 then.

We are going from Dec. 3-10 this year and we can't wait. There will be 2 adults and a 11 and 8 year olds. I have been looking for deals for 3 months for both staying on site and off. We want a room with at least 2 queen beds so that put us into the moderates at Disney. The cheapest room is $169 a night. We couldn't afford that so I began to look off site and found Windsor Hills (after looking at lots of places). We will stay at WH 2 bedroom/2 bath condo for $75 a night. A big difference. So I booked. We will fly after much debate and rent a car. Before food is added my trip will be $2800. So much better than doing on site. For us space was the deciding factor and all the other reasons posted already.

To the OP, you will have a great time and enjoy your trip.