Staying off site question

[lyndeah]

I am not sure the best place to post this....

We are a family of 5 and DH travels and therefore we have a ton of Marriott points! We have always stayed on Disney properties. We want to go back again over the kids Christmas break and looking at pricing and of course it's VERY pricey for a family of 5 as we need Deluxe plus or Villas to accommodate us. But we can stay at the Marriott for FREE which are condos and Ive heard are very nice. Here are my concerns:

At Christmastime is it too busy to stay offsite? Should we suck it up and pay the on site prices?

Does anyone know the cost to park at Disney parks? Also, if you Park hop, do you pay when you leave one and go to another? If you leave and come back do you pay again?

Oh also, can I make dining reservations as long as I buy tickets? Or can I not do that without a dining plan? I have never NOT had dining plan?

Just trying to budget everything to see how much we're really saving.....sometimes convenience is worth paying for?

 

[Raenstoirm]

I don't know much about hotel points but can you exchange marriott for Starwood somehow perhaps on one of those trading websites? Swan and Dolphin are Starwood. Also the marriott village is a WDW good neighbor hotel so you get some perks, but we have never stayed so I don't know exactly what. The issue you face with offsite is park closure. You are at the bottom of the totem pole so to speak so if the park starts to get crowded they won't let you in. If you are onsite you are guaranteed access to A park.
As for ADRs, you can make them now. You don't need to prove anything. You do have to give disney your credit card info though, so if you don't show they charge you.

I personally would not stay off-site ever, but that is personal preference. Many people stay off site and have a lovely time.

 

[trudyt623]

Hi Lyndeah. This year I will be staying off site at the Marriott Grande Vista (must use this week or will lose it). I own DVC and usually stay onsite but for above reason I will be offsite. The parks will be extremely crowded from what I have read so I have already braced my children for it and they know we will not stay for extra magic hours. But I splurged on tickets to mvmcp so we will go to mk on 12/18 from 7pm-12 and it's only open to ticket holders. This will be more of a looking at decorations, getting on a few rides and enjoying our huge villa trip.

-You do not pay to go to another disney park if you have park hoppers.
-Look at mouseSavers.com for discounted tickets (nominal savings)
-marriotts have fantastic activities for kids all day and evening (to make leaving parks easier)
-you have a lot more family friendly & less expensive restaurants and attractions on International drive.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

You only pay one parking fee per day - show your receipt at the additional park (s). I "think" it's $15 per day now (was $14 in 2012 when we were there). Same applies to locker rentals, BTW. One fee per day.

 

[danielangie]

Parking is actually. $17 a day now

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We stayed off site in July an loved it. Parking was $17, and we walked from the parking lot to the TTC. It really only took us about 5 mins to walk it, and was way less hassle than riding the tram. We are looking to go back in December and will be staying off site then as well. We stayed about 15 mins from the TTC. We didn't get to use EMH since we were off site, and we didn't even get there at rope drop, yet we were able to do everything we wanted, even in the middle of July. There were about 8 billion touring groups there (well, it felt like 8 Billion, i don't really know how many), and it still wasn't too bad. I think my longest wait was 45 mins for splash mountain. We even did 7dwarfs mine train. So I don't think you will miss out on much without the EMH.

 

[msb578]

Just in regards to ADRs... anyone can make them. Even a person who's doing nothing else Disney-related. Local residents do this for Disney restaurants all the time. Especially for the restaurants not located inside the theme parks.