Stay at Disneyworld Resort whole visit or not?

[mellowme]

Hi everyone,


We're considering going to Disneyworld in December. We'd like to see the whole of Disneyworld, Sea World, Legoland (which I believe is opening in October), Busch Gardens (and other attractions not located in Disneyworld Resort, including spending some time at the beach).

Is it a good idea to just stay in a Disneyland Resort hotel our whole stay (about 10-12 days), even though we won't be doing anything Disneyworld related after a certain point? Or would we be better off staying in an off site property whilst doing non Disneyworld stuff and then moving on site when we do go to Disneyworld? (In that case, we'd of course have to decide whether to go to Disneyworld at the beginning or end of our visit.)

If you recommend we stay off site when not doing Disneyworld stuff, where would you recommend we stay (which area/hotel)? Are there any area's you would recommend staying away from?


Thanks in advance.

 

[carebee21]

I think you need to realistically look at everything you want to do and plan out how much time you are going to need and go from there. You should plan at least 5-6 days at Disney World, especially with a toddler. Then 1 day for Sea World, 1 day for Legoland, 1 day for Busch Gardens, 1 day for the beach plus whatever other attraction, etc you want to see. Plus you're going to want at least a day or two to rest. IMO, you're trying to cram too much into the trip and it's not realistic to do it all.

But with that all said, I think it would be helpful for you to say how many days you're going to be at Disney vs. offsite and if you are going to have a rental car/your own car for the whole trip or only part of the trip?

 

[mellowme]

Thanks for your reply.

We will have a car more than likely for the whole trip.

The beach day, in my opinion, is a rest day.

Thanks for specifying how many days we'd probably need for each attraction.

If we need 5-6 days at Disneyworld, then I guess we'll only be attending Disneyworld for 5-6 days and the rest we'll be doing off site attractions.

 

[Upatnoon]

Hi everyone,


We're considering going to Disneyworld in December. We'd like to see the whole of Disneyworld, Sea World, Legoland (which I believe is opening in October), Busch Gardens (and other attractions not located in Disneyworld Resort, including spending some time at the beach).

Is it a good idea to just stay in a Disneyland Resort hotel our whole stay (about 10-12 days), even though we won't be doing anything Disneyworld related after a certain point? Or would we be better off staying in an off site property whilst doing non Disneyworld stuff and then moving on site when we do go to Disneyworld? (In that case, we'd of course have to decide whether to go to Disneyworld at the beginning or end of our visit.)

If you recommend we stay off site when not doing Disneyworld stuff, where would you recommend we stay (which area/hotel)? Are there any area's you would recommend staying away from?


Thanks in advance.

Who is going on the trip? With little kids, 10-12 days is perfect -- for just going to disney and perhaps the beach. Do you need some extra space or is a hotel room enough?

If you have an older crowd you could do more, but I wouldn't do much more.

 

[JennSaint]

Personally if you are definitely doing Busch Gardens and a beach day I'd spend a couple of nights Tampa/clearwater area. Busch Gardens and any beaches are going to be about 1 hr drive each way. We've done 7 nights Disney hotel and 3 nights at beach.

 

[mellowme]

Thanks so much for your suggestions.

 

[John Tag]

We did something close lastyear. We stayed 5 nights in Disney area not on property. Then for final 3 nights booked a room in Daytona. We did Disney,Universal and beach. It was a TON cheaper to book thru Travelosity for us than stay on Disney resorts. WE even ate at Disney resturuants as we would with Disney dinning plan if we stayed on there site. Total cost savings were $1500..!! Travelosity has great room rates and all tickets you need at awesome price.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Hi everyone,


We're considering going to Disneyworld in December. We'd like to see the whole of Disneyworld, Sea World, Legoland (which I believe is opening in October), Busch Gardens (and other attractions not located in Disneyworld Resort, including spending some time at the beach).

Is it a good idea to just stay in a Disneyland Resort hotel our whole stay (about 10-12 days), even though we won't be doing anything Disneyworld related after a certain point? Or would we be better off staying in an off site property whilst doing non Disneyworld stuff and then moving on site when we do go to Disneyworld? (In that case, we'd of course have to decide whether to go to Disneyworld at the beginning or end of our visit.)

If you recommend we stay off site when not doing Disneyworld stuff, where would you recommend we stay (which area/hotel)? Are there any area's you would recommend staying away from?


Thanks in advance.

I would recommend staying on site at Disney World for just the disney portion of your trip and I'd recommend 6 days. I would have one of those days a complete relax day to sleep in, have fun at the resort, and go to DTD.

We stayed near SeaWorld when we did that. At the time SeaWorld had a buy 1 day, get the next day free ticket (check their website, it still may be happening). We spent a day and a half there and saw everything but the pet show. My kids were older though so we could move faster. I can't wait to go back. We had such fun. We stayed across the street but there were tons of cheaper places to stay nearby. If you check tripadvisor.com, you'll find them.

We stayed in Clearwater Beach when we went to Busch Gardens. We drove to Busch Gardens first and spent the day there. Then we drove to Clearwater Beach and checked into our hotel. At the time we stayed at Quality Inn on the Beach but I wouldn't stay there now. Because of several hurricanes, their beach area is mostly gone. And it's 2 miles from the main beach. I'd use tripadvisor.com to find something close to the actual Clearwater Beach. Take time to enjoy the huge playground on the beach and the Pier is neat. Plus there's a small aquarium we really enjoyed. We also did Captain Memo's pirate cruise and had a blast.

I don't know anything about Legoland. My kids are too old for it so I haven't done any research about it. Knowing me though, I'd want to stay near it so I wouldn't have so much of a drive after a day in the park.

If all this switching hotels is too much, you could easily stay in your Disney Resort Hotel for going to SeaWorld. And probably Legoland too.

Have a great trip!

 

[mellowme]

Great tips. Thanks.

 

[arthur06]

I don't know if I would want to change hotels 2-3-4 times during the stay.

There is a lot of talk about Bonnet Creek. Get a 1br or 2br so you have the extra space, its close to Disney, stay about 8 nights, then go over to the Gulf and spend the last few days over there.