Resort vs. Off site hotel

[Dis_couple269]

HI everyone! My fiancee and I are new members here. We are preparing to make our reservations to Disney world. It has been over 10 years since either of us has been to WDW or on any real vacation to speak of and we are excited. Now for the point of this post. We are trying to decide if on-site hotels/resorts are worth the extra money. We know about the special hours if you stay at the resorts but we are looking for feedback from those who have stayed in and out and which they would recommend.

 

[Tina Martin]

How exciting! When I was researching the same thing (I imagine more seasoned WDW'ers can provide more insight), I found pros and cons to both. At the end of the day, for our trip 4 years ago and our upcoming trip, we felt the pros for staying at a Disney resort far outweighed staying off-site. The dining plan, extra magic hours, and the experience were enough to convince me that I wanted to stay on-site.
Hope that helps a little.
Enjoy your trip!!

 

[davper]

I stayed both last month and prefer onsite. It just feels more immersive.

If you are not there primarily for the Disney parks, you are probably better offsite. But if you are there for Disney, then staying on Disney property is the way to go.

I never priced it but I get impression that you don't save enough to compensate for the benefits you get for staying on property.

Disney Transportation/No Driving
No paying for parking
Extra Magic Hours
Theme of resorts

 

[ateam79828592]

On site perks:
* Extra Magic Hours
* Free parking
* Magical Express + internal buses (no rental car needed, if flying).
* Can make FP+ reservations at 60 days rather than 30 days
* Can make ADRs at 180 for length of trip (up to 10 days)
* MagicBands for free
* Ability to add dining package (if you want to)

Off Site:
* More space for the $$
* Generally less $$

You'll have people on these boards say "I tried staying off-site - NEVER AGAIN OFF SITE!!" and you'll have people that say "I tried staying off-site - NEVER AGAIN ON SITE!!!".

We have done both. With our young family and flying and discount available, on site has worked out the best for us. We only do Disney (not Universal, SeaWorld, beach, etc). and feel like the perks for on site are worth it for us (we've always gone with a pretty big discount - either free dining or this year is 30% room & tickets).

 

[Alesia]

Renting a house or condo is often much cheaper than staying in an offsite hotel. Check out vbro.com or homeaway.com

 

[Darcy03231]

We've done both and enjoy both.

You don't say whether you will be driving or flying. If you're flying and don't plan on renting a car, definitely stay on-site. If you're driving and/or renting a car you need to decide what's more important to you - - more space, less money or more money, less space, and some extra perks. Generally, if only two of are traveling we tend to stay on-site without a rental car. If there are more than 2 of us (we're a family of all adults) we stay off-site and rent a car.

 

[bjscheel]

For us the biggie is transportation. You don't mention if you want to rent a car or not. DH drives for a living and part of what he loves about a Disney vacation is not having to drive. We don't often do the EMH, and haven't done the dining plan lately, but we still are faithful to on-site because of the transportation. And we like the Disney resorts- excited to stay at Wilderness Lodge this summer!

We did stay off-site our first trip, and chose a hotel that had free shuttle (once in the morning, once at night!). It also had free breakfast and free supper on certain nights which was a plus. It worked out but after that decided that on-site was the way to go for us. Too stressful making sure you got on the ONE bus of the day. I'm sure most off-siters rent a car, but then you have to navigate and park, so it's your preference.

 

[Legendofthehawk]

This really depends heavily on personal preference, touring style and who you are going with?

Had this discussion this afternoon with my best friend and sister. I am trying to get them to join us on our trip, but we can't exactly add that many people to our existing room... because we'd run out of it, really fast!

As I told them this morning, here is where I see about staying on-site as some of the other dis'ers have mentioned.

On site perks:
Stellar and free transportation from resort to resort or resort to park (which means it is less likely that you'll need to incur the expense of a rental car).
The other perk of this one, is that if you are tired after whatever resort, you hop on a bus, a monorail, a boat..etc to get back to your hotel. There are no long walks back to the parking lot, possibly another long drive, then wash/rinse/repeat. You also aren't at the mercy of having to wait for the solitary one bus or few times a day bus that may drive you to the resort for free or a small fee. Buses from Resorts to Resort to Parks run from morning to night. If you miss one, there is a good chance there is another that you can take.

Free parking at disney resorts if you have a car. Otherwise 20# per day for parking.

Food options, basically right at your door. Most resorts have some kind of QS or food court right there. More over, they usually have pretty good options. And again, you don't have to get into the car to get it either.. (I swear I don't have a thing against vehicles.. lol) looking for something, anything to eat quickly on the way back if you are getting HANGRY. Also... ahem. Pizza delivery!

Magic bands and Extra magic hours! No more taking pictures of tickets, trying to keep them straightened out, or praying that you didn't actually stick them in the your brand new resort washer.. Also being able to get into the parks a little ahead of time or late time, especially when parties are going on through out the day is kinda awesome

Disney bubble! not just a vacation.. but a vacation experience.

Merchandise pick up. Again. Might not seem like a huge deal. But if it's hot outside, and all you wanna do is run through Kali Rapids or Splash mountain without worrying about lockers or if your stuff got water logged, this is a nice little perk.

Lots of downtime stuff to do with kids and adult kids: The resorts offer a lot of things to do with kids, even when they aren't at the parks. From babysitting in room so the adults can go have adult fun, to pool parties..etc. They've usually got something going on.
Also, if you want to tie one on in your resort, you can walk to the bus and go to the park no problem. Difficult to do that offsite.
Some off-sites may offer things like babysitting but often from my experience, they have a hard time coming through. Also with some of the parties they throw or perks for the kids off site can be far or free between.


Off site Perks!:

... The money you save. For those who say you can't put a price tag on convenience, oh yes you can! $$$$

The room you are staying has a high likely hood to be much bigger than a disney resort AND come with a small kitchen.
We stayed at the Sheraton Vista Village resorts when we went to Universal a few months back.. and I want to cry thinking about it now. It was 140 a night for a 2 bedroom suite and a bathtub that I could live in. Location wasn't awesome. It wasn't near anything... but that BATHTUB THOUGH!

Not being tied to Disney - For some people who want to do more than disney world, this might be a perk. You may be able to feel less tied down for having to go to the park if you are staying off site. Maybe you see Universal. Maybe you hit the beach. Who knows!

The money you save... did I say that?

Likely hood for free 'breakfast' or breakfast coffee, which is like the same thing. .. Come on. This is a little awesome.

All in all, I think it boils down to personal preference, touring styles and who you've got with you. Everyone has to decide what is really of value to them and often, that figure may not correspond with the monetary figure you'd think it would. Just depends.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

For us it depends on the trip. Sometimes we can find an amazing deal (under $100/night for a condo with a full kitchen and jacuzzi tub) and sometimes our money goes further at Disney.

What is your budget?
Are you driving or flying?
Do you think you'll spend much time at your resort?

 

[StuckInKS]

We prefer onsite because we like evening EMH, not having to drive and park at the parks, and being in the Disney bubble. That said, we often stay offsite when it suits our budget. For example, we can get decent 2bd condos for $233 + tax for the entire week, meanwhile 2 onsite value rooms is going to run us $2100 a week. $2k a week is worth more to our vacation budget than the small amount of Disney perks, so when we are not staying on points (as we are this year) we choose offsite and throw in maybe 1 or 2 onsite nights just so we don't feel like we missed out. It really depends on what the price difference is between onsite and offsite for your family and if that price is worth the small amount of Disney onsite perks.

 

[ICF]

rent a condo or townhouse off site....of course, you may not really need the extra space those give you if it's just the 2 of you. The value's are nothing better than a cheap chain hotel -- and the cooler options aren't worth near the $$ (in our opinion).

We don't need extra magic hours -- the parks are open late enough for us as is.

I hate paying for parking when we are staying off site -- but also hate the Disney transportation system....so it's probably worth the $20 to not have to wait in a long line for a bus when I can just drive us back to a Windsor Hills Townhome in 5-15 mins.

 

[leebee]

Everybody's pretty much summed it up, but here's how it works for us:

We don't do the dining plans. I have done dining plans, and I've kept close track of expenditures on trips without dining plans. I've found, for the way we like to eat, that I always save $200-$300 per trip when we DON"T have a dining plan. I also don't purchase my park admission through Disney; I get better deals through Tickets at Work and Undercover Tourist.

We hate the Disney buses. I abhor having to wait 30-40-60 minutes for a bus at park closing, when EVERYONE else and his brother is also in line for a bus. Then they jam you in like sardines and you get to stand on the bus, too. Totally ruins my Disney experience, so even when we stay onsite, we rent a car- so that makes the cost of a rental car inconsequential for us. I can usually get a pretty good deal on a rental car by stacking membership codes and coupons, and checking prices regularly. Regardless of where we stay (on- or off-site), I like being able to make a grocery store run, having my own vehicle parked outside my hotel room, and not having to stand in line for a Disney bus. I DON"T like having to pay $20 a day to park, though!

We enjoy late night EMH, and that's one of the true losses for us when we stay offsite. We deal, though. I also haven't found it a big hassle to have to wait to 30 days prior to the trip to reserve FP+, but we've been to disney 25+ trips and know that we'll always be back, so there are no "do-or-die, only trip ever" must-do attractions for us.

We love, Love, LOVE the extra space, extra bathrooms, (sometimes) private pool, and money-savings of renting off-site, especially a condo or home (and it's even cheaper if we travel with friends).

Having said all this, our last 3 trips were onsite, twice with a rental car and once without. It all comes down to the budget, the number of nights we are staying, the number of travelers, and what kind of deals on a Disney room I can find (like at Orbitz... they have the Disney discounted rooms if there's availability, PLUS they will let you use their current discount codes- and if I go into Orbitz through ebates, I get whatever cash back deal Ebates is running at that time.

SO... that's how it shakes out for us!

 

[damskipi13]

It all depends on what is important to you. What would you do with the money you save by staying off property? How much do you care about having a luxurious room? What perks do you care about most - proximity to the parks, extra time in the parks, theming, comfort, room, etc? An off-site hotel can mean a significantly cheaper stay, or a longer stay for the same price, or a much more luxurious room for the same price. On-site can mean being in the parks when there are low crowds, being in the Disney bubble, and easy transport to/from the parks. If you are going during a low crowd time, maybe you don't need the EMH?

Some of my favorite things about being off-site are the bigger/nicer rooms, free hot breakfasts at many places, and being able to stop at a grocery store on the way to the hotel to get food for the trip (says lots of $$$$ and calories). Being on-site is easier, more magical, and more fun.

I never priced it but I get impression that you don't save enough to compensate for the benefits you get for staying on property.

Disney Transportation/No Driving
No paying for parking
Extra Magic Hours
Theme of resorts

Really? There's no real way to put a price tag on some of those things, but staying offsite can easily save $1000 over a 7 day trip. More if you can get a 3-bed luxury house for $100/night vs paying for 2-3 moderate or deluxe rooms on-site. Plus if you want you can save tons on food. That's certainly enough to make up for the missed perks in my book.

 

[powellrj]

We are off-site people. Before we retired, DH and I both drove for a living, so turning the driving over to someone was something we didn't like doing, and we HATED the busses so we always either drove or rented a car. We like spreading out and having our own space, a kitchen, a washer and dryer and 2 bathrooms and TVs. These are all standard with off-site houses or suites. We also love having our own pool right outside our door!

 

[BarbMike821]

For us by the time we weigh in the rental car cost and parking each day, it just makes sense to stay on property and enjoy the perks. We don't mind the busses, boats and monorail. So for our family, it's more efficient all around, especially with two kiddos. If it were just the hubs and I we would likely consider staying off property.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We've done it both ways numerous times. I think the "value" for what the cost is to stay on site is disappearing. Our last trip in January saw very few nights with EMH, mostly just mornings (which we don't do). And I completely agree with the PP about the transportation at closing to go back to your resort. When your legs and feet are screaming and you're exhausted, there is nothing pleasant about waiting in a huge line to stand on a bus (or monorail when we've stayed at the Poly or BLT - although most people dump out at the T&TC even on the resort monorail).

We have Busch Gardens/SeaWorld passes so we like to stay in that area (SeaWorld) when we stay off site. Our favorite is the Hilton Grand Vacation Suites, but the DoubleTree, Renaissance, Best Western, and Residence Inn at SeaWorld have all been very nice (and are all in walking distance to SeaWorld). The Best Western and Residence Inn offer free hot breakfast and free parking (as does the Hilton). The DoubleTree charges something like $18 a day for parking.

We very rarely rent a car. We take the public bus from the airport (Lynx). I believe the route is 111. It's $2 per person. The bus is mostly full of tourists and business travelers so it's not sketchy (like it would be in my area...). In 50 minutes, we arrive at our hotel (it stops right in front of the DoubleTree and Best Western).

We do a day at SeaWorld (walk over), a day at Busch (free Mears bus transportation from SeaWorld), Discovery Cove (walk over or ride the free shuttle from SeaWorld), and either ride the free shuttles from the hotels to WDW or Uber. Most of the hotels that offer shuttles only drop off and pick up at one or two times. The last time we rode at DoubleTree, the shuttle dropped us off at the T&TC at 8:30 a.m. and came back at 11 p.m. for pick up. We decided just to Uber back when we were done (about $15-20).

Hope this helps! We like going both ways (onsite/offsite) and have thoroughly enjoyed our trips regardless of where we were staying. We stayed at OKW for a week and AKV Savannah view for a week in January and had a fabulous time, but we'll be staying at the Residence Inn in November and we're really looking forward to it. We tend to do Disney and other parks 50/50 when we stay off-site and almost exclusively Disney when we stay on-site.

 

[ellie05]

For us is on site all the way. We have stayed off site once because we had 16 members of my family with us and it was a last minute trip there was nothing in Disney to accommodate us.

For us the Dinsey bubble is a very important part of feeling that we are on vacation. We don't have to worry about traffic, don't need a DD if we go out for drinks, convenient food choices, basically not having to deal with the real world. Also when taking afternoon breaks we don't loose much time leaving the park and going back to the hotel.

 

[Hikergirl]

I like the Disney bubble so we stay onsite. I just love waking up and either walking to a park or hopping on a bus to one. Dh commutes for work so on vacation its a nice break from driving for him.
I don't always take advantage of EMH but it is a nice perk if you know you will want too.

 

[KarenAylwood]

For us is on site all the way. We have stayed off site once because we had 16 member of my family with us and it was a last minute trip there was nothing in Disney to accommodate us.

For us the Dinsey bubble is a very important part of feeling that we are on vacation. We don't have to worry about traffic, don't need a DD of we go out for drinks, continent food choices, basically not having to deal with the real world. Also when taking afternoon breKs we don't loose much time leaving the park and going back to the hotel.

Absolutely agree with this- the Disney "bubble" to me is priceless- it's part of the experience. We stay on site (and have stayed off before). You really feel immersed in everything and I enjoy not having to rent a car, but again flying is essential to us. Maybe if I ran the numbers and we were closer so we drove I might consider staying off site again since our family is growing now. But just two people? I don't see why you'd need all that much space. We only found this last trip that we needed more than just one room (got a suite) because we were going with my parents and our DS (2 years old).

Just you and your fiancee? I'd go on site all the way!! (and congrats on your first post )

 

[mco65]

We have done both and there is no doubt you can save a little $ staying offsite but IMO its not enough of a savings to offset the magical effect of staying onsite. I suppose some will say that Is hogwash and I have no doubt that for them it probably is.. but me, for a lot of folks.. its part of the Disney magic.

That bubble that you hear others talk about is REAL! It's hard to explain but staying onsite creates a continuous Disney experience that you just can't get when you leave the parks each day, spend the night a Holiday Inn and eat dinner and or breakfast at Denny's. You loose the effect. It feels like stopping and starting your vacation on a daily basis..

If your staying onsite and you head back to your hotel, its as if you never left the parks.. your vacation, your Disney magical experience is still alive because you stayed in the bubble. If you just want to go to an amusement park, then you can go to Six Flags.. Disney is SOOO much more than just an amusement park! Unless of course you staying offsite then in becomes (IMO) just an amusement park... Fun no doubt but certainly pales in comparison to staying onsite.