Staying off property!!! How to get about?

[MK2010]

Hi! I'm planning a trip for my friend and her family. The total party size is 10. I wanted her to stay on property (because then you don't have these hassles) But she found a vacation home to rent nearby and chose that option instead. (I think she has discovered the error of her ways, but alas a little too late!) I finally found a website that had the latitude and longitude of the parking lots for each theme park so I was able to print maps for that. My problem is they are going to La Nouba one night and then to eat at Wolf Gang Puck's. They will be driving themselves. How do I get them from point A to point B? I've been working on this for hours and now I am tired. Can anyone help?

 

[chartle]

Am I missing something?

Aren't they both in DTD?

 

[MK2010]

They are both in Downtown Disney, but one is on the West side and I think the other is in Downtown Disney marketplace? Am I wrong? PLease tell me they're both in the same spot!

 

[chartle]

Downtown Disney consists of three areas, the West side, the Marketplace and Pleasure Island. That has one big parking lot.

Its one big semi long outdoor shopping mall type complex. Driving between them would be like going to Macy's at the mall and then getting in the car and driving to the other side of the mall to get to Norstrom's.

http://www.orlandowelcomecenter.com/images/disney-world-downtown-disney-map.jpg

So to answer your question most people would park in the middle and walk. GPS not required.

 

[cigar95]

There are multiple Wolfgang Puck's at DtD - only one of them is in the Marketplace, the others are in the West Side, and quite close to La Nouba.

In that case, the best place to park is probably the lot *behind* La Nouba, as almost no one knows about it, and it's rarely crowded. You get into this lot by turning at the Westernmost signal in front of Downtown Disney, where you would go one way into Typhoon Lagoon, and the other way into DtD. Go past the old unused bus stop, and turn right into what will probably look like a nearly empty lot. You'll be right behind the big Cirque building.

Sounds like the first thing to do is be sure *which* Wolfgang Puck's they'll be eating at.

But even if they're eating in the Marketplace one, it's a pleasant walk from one end of DtD to the other.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Is the boat still there to take guests from one side to the other? That's what we did when we went from La Nouba to Rainforest Cafe.

She may not see the 'error of her ways' as you say. We have rented private pool homes many times and loved having so much space. There's nothing magical about all 4 of us cramming into 1 room, all sharing 1 bathroom, 1 TV and no alone time for Mommy & Daddy.
On a cruise we have to. On land, there are a lot of choices.

Don't knock it just because it isn't your preference.


Why do you need the latitude and longitude to get her directions? It's easy to print off mapquest if they don't have a GPS.

 

[MK2010]

Hot diggity dog! So glad to have my confusion cleared up. Whew! Thanks guys!At first, I didn't think too much about them staying off property. People do it all the time and have wonderfully magic vacations. I think however she is slightly (and i do emphasize the word slightly) disappointed that she doesn't have the money to experience as many of the restaurants in Disney as she would like because it is cost prohibitive. So there will be a lot of driving back and forth between the parks and the house for lunch, because some in the party aren't "take your own lunch kind of people". So I have the logistical problem of fitting in everything they want to see while making sure they are at the house for every meal. Not a problem, just another challenge.

 

[chartle]

We where off site last family trip and had no problem getting to places on property. We just knew the general direction and followed the signs. The only issue we had was getting back to our hotel since they obviously don't have signs saying Buena Vista Suites this way.

I wouldn't make a big deal about them being off site. There are augments going both ways, but if they are having issues paying for food, I would think staying on site could be beyond their budget.

I looked into these homes and found ones for around $150 a night that slept 10 and had a private pool, whirlpool tub in the master suite, 3 or 4 big screen TVs, a full game room with pool table air hockey, arcade machines and all the main console games.

So I think they will be OK surviving off site.

ETA: I just reread your post and if they expect to eat all there meals back at the house thats going to chew up a lot of time. Make sure that they know this. I think at mouse savers they have money saving tips for meals.

 

[MK2010]

Thanks for the tip about mousesavers! I know Disney lets you take in snacks in softsided coolers. And I'm hoping to convince them to do at least SOME sack lunches. You can make VERY unsack sack lunches! Really my only concern about staying offsite is the amount of time we would lose having to go back for meals. I just want them to aboslutely LOVE their Disney experience and I don't want them to be disappointed with ANYTHING. that's a lot of pressure to put on myself, but if I pull it off in the end it will be sooo worth it.

 

[DCTooTall]

Hell, You may even want to suggest just eating a large breakfast in the AM before heading to the parks, and just planning on eating dinner back the the rental....even if it's an "early dinner"

If you eat a large breakfast, they may be able to either skip lunch entirely, or survive on a snack or small (inexpensive) CS lunch at the parks.

Even if they get to the parks a little later in the morning because of the time they took for breakfast, they'd probably still end up getting more overall park time then if they got there at Rope Drop, then left at lunch to drive back to the rental, eat, and then come back.

 

[chartle]

Thanks for the tip about mousesavers! I know Disney lets you take in snacks in softsided coolers. And I'm hoping to convince them to do at least SOME sack lunches. You can make VERY unsack sack lunches! Really my only concern about staying offsite is the amount of time we would lose having to go back for meals. I just want them to aboslutely LOVE their Disney experience and I don't want them to be disappointed with ANYTHING. that's a lot of pressure to put on myself, but if I pull it off in the end it will be sooo worth it.

You can only inform them of the time that it will take eating two meals back at the house. I'm estimating maybe 2.5 hours a day per meal.

• first they have to all decide to eat and leave the park and get to the car. The larger the group the more inertia it has so maybe less than 20 minutes for AK to 45 minutes for the MK.
  
• drive back to house 20 minutes
  
• prepare and eat at least 1 hour
  
• get everyone moving again 10 minutes
  
• drive back to park 20 minutes
  
• get back into park again less than 20 minutes for AK to 45 minutes for the MK

So what does that up to for each meal? You then have to let them know how much of their admission cost they are wasting eating back at the house.

Maybe try showing them the menus for the CS places so they can see that its not going to a ton to eat in the park. Particularly if they small kids that can split a meal.

 

[dudspizza]

sorry folks.... tried to put a link to a ton of Disney maps, but this site is blocked for some reason by the DIS..... so just ignore me... nothing to see here..... move it along..... nothing to see here.....

 

[MK2010]

You can only inform them of the time that it will take eating two meals back at the house. I'm estimating maybe 2.5 hours a day per meal.

• first they have to all decide to eat and leave the park and get to the car. The larger the group the more inertia it has so maybe less than 20 minutes for AK to 45 minutes for the MK.
  
• drive back to house 20 minutes
  
• prepare and eat at least 1 hour
  
• get everyone moving again 10 minutes
  
• drive back to park 20 minutes
  
• get back into park again less than 20 minutes for AK to 45 minutes for the MK

So what does that up to for each meal? You then have to let them know how much of their admission cost they are wasting eating back at the house.

Maybe try showing them the menus for the CS places so they can see that its not going to a ton to eat in the park. Particularly if they small kids that can split a meal.

LOVE you guys! I pointed out them the math you so graciously figured out for me and now we are looking at CS meals. (Which really can be done for between $75-$100 for a group of ten.

Also, thank you soooo much for the map of driving around Disney. We didn't have to do that for my last triip and I was just having a heck of a time finding it. Thanks guys!

 

[tjmw2727]

You don't say when they are going but here is a link to 30% off counter service if you eat at off times.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...oucher-dine-during-off-hours-save-30-percent/

I have also seen similar coupons as well as shopping discounts printed on the receipts at counter serve restaurants.

 

[MK2010]

THANK YOU GUYS! See who needs a travel agent when you have the Disboards?

 

[MK2010]

Thanks for the link for the coupon. We're jsut going to miss it. We;re gonig Jan.3-7. Maybe they'll put out another one!

 

[chartle]

Thanks for the link for the coupon. We're jsut going to miss it. We;re gonig Jan.3-7. Maybe they'll put out another one!

I wouldn't count on it. The coupon is to get you to eat at the CS locations during off hours when the crowds are super crazy like beginning next week.

So you pay more for food but won't have to wait an hour to order and then an other hour looking for a table.

 

[MK2010]

Rats! Too bad about the coupon. Did I tell y'all that she decided just to give everyone a daily food allowance? Yay! No dirving back and forth! On that note, how is the traffic down there? I managed to put together all of our maps and driving directions. Most say about 15 minutes from driveway to parking lot. Should I trust that? Or how much time would you plan spending en route?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Rats! Too bad about the coupon. Did I tell y'all that she decided just to give everyone a daily food allowance? Yay! No dirving back and forth! On that note, how is the traffic down there? I managed to put together all of our maps and driving directions. Most say about 15 minutes from driveway to parking lot. Should I trust that? Or how much time would you plan spending en route?

Depends on where they're staying. We've stayed in pool homes in Kissimmee that were 5 mins to WDW property (Windsor Palms/Windsor Hills area)
Of course gathering belongings, taking tram, then ferry or monorail take some time too but we're still happy to be in WDW.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Example of previous post:

http://classic.mapquest.com/mq/1-6MYGOuj*Kuua4aEqtQCk