stay on disney or not?

[bubblesaunty]

Hello,
My husband has left our disney trip planning up to me. I have searched and registered for so much Disney that my mind is a bit boggled. We are a family of 4 but planning on taking my niece and brother with us. 6 people August 28 through the 30th. I have already decided that driving to Wisconsin to Florida is our best option for travel. I have Ms Streets and Trip and was able to map out directions and night hotel stay. I have received a quote from DU and they were the same price that Disney online quoted me. Not sure why I would go trough DU when it is the same as Disney site.

We belong to Costco and they have Vistanna 2 bedroom Villas with tickets, park hopper, water park extra option for 2900. Seems pretty good for six people. Full kitchen and whirlpool tub! That it includes taxes and all fees. The other option at Disneys site would be the Cars family Suite, tickets for 3600, If we go this route I would like to see if I can save enough from now until July to pay for the quick service dining so most of the meals would be covered. The economical side of me says go to go as cheap as I can and the other side of me says it would just be easier to stay on Disney and work to make that happen. I am looking for some advice. My children will be 5 and 7 in August. My brother and niece are both over 21. Staying on site would be a little bit of a struggle price wise. I am just not sure if it would be worth it. Please any helpful suggestions or ideas. I would love to hear. Thank you

 

[lauradis]

HI and welcome.

I love onsite for the pure reason of Disney customer service and hopping on the bus to get back to a resort when ever I want.

do you have to extra 700 to blow on the difference. or could you stay little longer and be off site?

 

[TravelMommy]

We have stayed off-site and it was not exactly my favorite, because having stayed on-site, we were spoiled and we did not make good off-site choices. I think there is a definite value being immersed in the "Disney bubble". From what I understand the off site resort you are looking at has some great reviews. Having said that, we are very frugal minded and would probably go with what makes the most financial sense. You could always look into two value resort rooms and there may possibly be free dining when you go so that could help save something there. Whatever you decide, have a great trip!

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Hello,
My husband has left our disney trip planning up to me. I have searched and registered for so much Disney that my mind is a bit boggled. We are a family of 4 but planning on taking my niece and brother with us. 6 people August 28 through the 30th. I have already decided that driving to Wisconsin to Florida is our best option for travel. I have Ms Streets and Trip and was able to map out directions and night hotel stay. I have received a quote from DU and they were the same price that Disney online quoted me. Not sure why I would go trough DU when it is the same as Disney site.

We belong to Costco and they have Vistanna 2 bedroom Villas with tickets, park hopper, water park extra option for 2900. Seems pretty good for six people. Full kitchen and whirlpool tub! That it includes taxes and all fees. The other option at Disneys site would be the Cars family Suite, tickets for 3600, If we go this route I would like to see if I can save enough from now until July to pay for the quick service dining so most of the meals would be covered. The economical side of me says go to go as cheap as I can and the other side of me says it would just be easier to stay on Disney and work to make that happen. I am looking for some advice. My children will be 5 and 7 in August. My brother and niece are both over 21. Staying on site would be a little bit of a struggle price wise. I am just not sure if it would be worth it. Please any helpful suggestions or ideas. I would love to hear. Thank you

Also check out renting dvc on-site through an owner. It could be as low as $10/point, but more likely $12-$13/point. You would have to get a 2-bdrm, perhaps at a cheaper resort such as OKW. That way, it gives you a break from driving while you are there. It may be cheaper or equal to a family suite, but gives you extra room, a kitchen, FP+ advance booking.

If you want to eat quick service dining, the DDP is more likely more expensive than paying out of pocket. If you want to pay in advance, buy Disney giftcards.

Do you really want to go to the waterparks on such a short stay? Do you really want to park hop on such a short stay? Magic Kingdom by itself can be a 2 day park if you want to do everything. You can go through mousesavers.com to get a discount on tickets.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

As much as I enjoy the water parks & hopping, I would skip these options for a 3-day stay.

 

[powellrj]

You have to decide what is important for you and your family to decide weather to stay on or off site.

On-site: If you are flying you get free transportation with magic express to and from the airport.
You get free parking at the parks.
You can buy the dining package.
You can charge things to your room.

Cons:
Smaller rooms, only 1 bathroom/tv in the resort rooms, small beds in values.

Off site
Larger rooms for less money. If you stay in pool home or condo, you will have a full kitchen, washer and dryer, more bedrooms and bathrooms, more TVs and bigger beds.

Cons
You pay to park at the parks.

We have done both and prefer off-site because we do like the extra room we get for less money off-site.

With only going 3 days, I would skip the park hoppers and water parks and just go to a different park everyday. If you do stay off-site, you can save money by eating a quick breakfast in your room before you leave and pack up water and snacks to take with you. If you are really on a tight budget, take a lunch into the parks with you and then just have dinner either in the parks or someplace off-site.

 

[Marionnette]

Hello,
My husband has left our disney trip planning up to me. I have searched and registered for so much Disney that my mind is a bit boggled. We are a family of 4 but planning on taking my niece and brother with us. 6 people August 28 through the 30th. I have already decided that driving to Wisconsin to Florida is our best option for travel. I have Ms Streets and Trip and was able to map out directions and night hotel stay. I have received a quote from DU and they were the same price that Disney online quoted me. Not sure why I would go trough DU when it is the same as Disney site.

We belong to Costco and they have Vistanna 2 bedroom Villas with tickets, park hopper, water park extra option for 2900. Seems pretty good for six people. Full kitchen and whirlpool tub! That it includes taxes and all fees. The other option at Disneys site would be the Cars family Suite, tickets for 3600, If we go this route I would like to see if I can save enough from now until July to pay for the quick service dining so most of the meals would be covered. The economical side of me says go to go as cheap as I can and the other side of me says it would just be easier to stay on Disney and work to make that happen. I am looking for some advice. My children will be 5 and 7 in August. My brother and niece are both over 21. Staying on site would be a little bit of a struggle price wise. I am just not sure if it would be worth it. Please any helpful suggestions or ideas. I would love to hear. Thank you

There are no public discounts for your dates as of yet. The advantage of booking with DU instead of Disney would be that DU will keep an eye open for discounts when they become available and they will call to have your reservation amended if one can be applied. Disney won't do that for you.

Onsite vs. offsite is a matter of personal preference. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Just remember that if you are staying offsite, you will pay for parking when you go to the parks. That would only amount to $15/day but it is still something to consider.

I agree with those who say to skip the waterparks & more option if you're only going to be there for 3 days. You'll be busy enough in the parks and your resort will most likely have a decent pool. In fact, I would skip the hopping option, too, and just visit 3 of the 4 parks.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I also think in 3 days, you're going to be trying to cram as much in as possible. Rope drop to close at the 3 parks of your choosing. Your room will likely function as just that - a room, a place to sleep. The benefits of staying onsite aren't as likely to factor in since you will probably spend very little time outside the parks IMO.

 

[bigmamimia]

I would book the room through Disney. It may be even cheaper to book 2 rooms at one of the All star suites or Pop Century than a cars suite. Book the room only for now. I don't believe you will have to pay anything or even put a deposit down for quite a while. Then wait.
Once Disney has all your info in their system they may send you discounts pin for free or discount dining or a certain % off a room.
If they send you a pin for a room discount then cancel your current reservation and rebook using the pin they sent.
If you buy tickets through orbitz they usually have a decent deal. I believe it currently is buy a 3 day with park hopper and get 2 days free. Some people prefer to say get a 5 day park hopper for the price of 3 days. Either way it is the same thing to me. Also, go through the ebates website when they are offering 10.5% cash back on orbitz activities and you will receive money back. It may be within a few days or it may be after your trip is complete. I received mine about a month after returning from our Disney trip.
If they send you a pin for a discounted dining plan then price out all the things I have mentioned above and get a final price. Then call Disney and price out the deal using the dining discount and see which is cheaper.
Cons of going with a dining plan are that you will be booked into a package and all money is due 45 days before you arrive. You can't cancel after that 45 day window without losing $200 minimum. You can book the rooms and wait to add the dining plan until the day before you arrive but be prepared to pay for it all that day.
One of the cons of an off site hotel is you will have to pay an additional $15 a day to park at Disney.
I am sure there is a lot more I could add if I wasn't so tired and trying to get back to "Breakin Bad".
Purchase Disney "entertainment" cards from target using your target credit card and use them to pay for your hotel and dining and enjoy another 5% off.

 

[ceecee]

I would stay onsite. Try two rooms at the Pop or AS it may be cheaper. Also for 3 days I would take off the water park and hopper. You will save time staying onsite and for 3 days every minute of park time is important, at least imho.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I would stay onsite. Try two rooms at the Pop or AS it may be cheaper. Also for 3 days I would take off the water park and hopper. You will save time staying onsite and for 3 days every minute of park time is important, at least imho.

Staying onsite only saves time if (a) you're going back & forth between the park and room and (b) if you're comparing to an offsite spot not chosen well. There are plenty of offsite locations that will get you to the park in 15 minute or less. Again though, if you stay in the park open to close every day (as I would if I only had 3 days), its a moot point.

OP, if you can save enough on the room, can you add a 4th day? To me, an extra day or 2 in the parks would be worth WAY more than onsite rooms.

 

[mieuxmew]

We prefer offsite, but I would seriously consider onsite for you. You have two young adults traveling with you. More than likely, they might want to do different things or keep a different schedule than the 5 and 7 year olds. Disney transportation would be a big help. The AOA suites are too $$. Look into getting 2 value rooms - it will give you 4 real beds and 2 bathrooms. Skip park hoppers and water/fun options. 3 days is too short. Can you add another day or two??

 

[ICF]

Off-site rocks....IMO, but may or may not for you.

This thread comes up all the time....and usually doesnt end well.....you can probably do a search here and find lots of old threads on this.

 

[wendybeth75]

I usually vote for onsite all the way!!! In a budget situation, especially when there are more than 4 people it changes the dynamics.
My #1 vote is absolutely stay on site IF you can afford it.
#2 Price out the cost of your meals on the QS dining plan using menus on Allears.net before deciding if it will really save any money.
Also another offsite that accomodates 6 is Caribe Royal. We were able to get it through Hotwire for $80 a night in December. It was one of the "secret" deals, but at that top of the page it said "Hurry, the last 3 people who booked this offer got The Caribe Royale" so it was a giveaway. I think you would never regret staying onsite. It is pretty magical. Good Luck!

 

[LP808]

Our first Disney trip was last year. We stayed on-site, so I am biased. I like the perks of on-site like extra magic hours, bus transportation, having charging privileges to my room so I don't have to worry about losing a credit card, etc.

For your trip, if you are okay with double beds, getting 2 connecting rooms with 2 double beds at one of the All Star resorts with base park tickets will cost you just under $2,100. For a nominal fee (about $20/night), you could stay at Pop Century. You (or your travel agent) would have to call in to book 2 rooms, since they won't let you online. For around the same price as your $2,900, you could get 2 rooms at the Port Orleans Resorts, which will get you queen beds and a sit down restaurant.

You could nickel and dime your trip even more by doing the 5% off Disney gift cards at Target, or getting a room only reservation and purchasing your park tickets through a legit discounted WDW ticket seller. I'm pretty sure if you use tickets not booked with your room, you lose charging privileges to your room (don't quote me on that).

For such a short stay, I agree with everyone else that base park tickets are the way to go. We spent 2 days in Magic Kingdom last year, and didn't even get to do half of what we wanted to do, but we went with little ones (9,3,baby), so we went to our resort for nap time/pool time since the heat and walking/strolling really got to us and our little ones.

As for travel agent vs no travel agent, the benefits of using one are already mentioned - you don't have to constantly comb through looking for discounts, they will rebook for you when it's released. Some will book dining reservations if you are interested... They are a (usually) free service to you that help you do the things you don't want to do (like call in and pay your reservation with 60 gift cards from Target, lol).

It's a personal choice, and I can only offer one side. You just need to figure out what is most important to you for vacation. Both offer pros and cons, just figure out what is best for you guys.

 

[tina.tina]

Staying onsite will make it easier to split up and come and go as you please. Offsite will be much cheaper!!!!

 

[bubblesaunty]

Staying onsite will make it easier to split up and come and go as you please. Offsite will be much cheaper!!!!

. Thank you everyone. I realized that I had a typo with the dates. We are going August 23 to the 30th. Everyone's comments helped me decide to stay on Disney. I am paying what we can now and then I opened a Disney savings account and I am adding money every week so the entire trip will be paid off by the end of June. Thanks again.

 

[ilm2000]

With 3 days I think the extra magic hours would be an important perk.

 

[sherreis]

. Thank you everyone. I realized that I had a typo with the dates. We are going August 23 to the 30th. Everyone's comments helped me decide to stay on Disney. I am paying what we can now and then I opened a Disney savings account and I am adding money every week so the entire trip will be paid off by the end of June. Thanks again.

Big difference now. Keep your eyes open for discounts, especially, free dining, for that time of year. You can always change things up. Have fun planning! Remember, you only have to do what YOU want - not what you see everyone on the DIS doing. One of the things I learned right away was that it is possible to do a trip without parkhoppers and save money. You can always upgrade once you are there if you find that you want to parkhop.

 

[tina.tina]

Big difference now. Keep your eyes open for discounts, especially, free dining, for that time of year. You can always change things up. Have fun planning! Remember, you only have to do what YOU want - not what you see everyone on the DIS doing. One of the things I learned right away was that it is possible to do a trip without parkhoppers and save money. You can always upgrade once you are there if you find that you want to parkhop.

This is excellent advice!