Staying Off-Site...

[the4walls]

We are planning our first trip to Orlando this December. We are planning on staying off-site because we can stay at a villa for free. Since we have not been to WDW before I was wondering if anyone has any advice for us. I don't even where to begin in asking questions.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

 

[MichelleChell]

We went on our first trip last month and stayed at Vistana Villages. I LOVED it!! Everybody will tell you to stay off-site and take breaks but staying offsite if you go back to your room you will probably stay and not go back to the parks. So we would find a quiet place to rest and my DD3 would take a stroller nap. It worked great for us. I would stay-offsite again.

Also get the Unofficial Guide to Disney now! You can get the 2007 guide and it will have all the new info for Dec.

 

[100AcreWood]

I actually prefer staying off-site and consider myself a Disney nut! Check out allearsnet.com for lots of information as well. Let us know if you have specific questions!

 

[medic2707]

We have stayed both on-site and off-site and prefer staaying off-site. We do not plan every day of our vacation to be spent inside a park. We like to be able to eat in for a few meals. Also like the less crowded feel of off site. Don't get me wrong we enjoy being in the middle of the magic also, but with small children off site works well for us.

As for advice, get to the parks EARLY. Pack a backpack with lots of water. Enjoy your vacation and take lots of pictures.

If I can answer any questions ask away.

 

[all4fun]

Hi, and welcome to the Dis! We have stayed on property and off, and while I definitely prefer On-property (this is why we are DVC members) I can certainly understand those that decide to stay off property. Especially if it's free. Free is a very good price! Our first trip to WDW was actually because someone gifted us a free stay at the Marriott Royal Palms.

I guess my biggest piece of advice is get there early. At park opening time if possible. And when we stayed off-property we usually avoided the park that was participating in Extra Magic Hours in the morning. You will find that most people like to sleep in so if you don't like lines, this is the best time to go. You can always take a break from the park later in the day if you want.

Also, check out the dining/restaurant section here and at Allearsnet.com and I would recommend making some ADR's (dining ressies) in advance. Not sure how December looks but the restaurants have been filling up over the past few weeks (dh was just there last Friday and couldn't get in to any of the sit-down restaurants at MK - yes, without me. It was actually a business trip and I couldn't go...sob). The number is 407-WDW-DINE. You can always change your dining plans at the last minute so it's not a bad idea to just have something reserved anyway.

hth.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I would suggest not to buy a ton of food and don't plan on eating at the villa too much. When we arrived at our villa, the first thing we did was go to Sam's club and buy a ton of food and we plan to eat there everyday and we ended up having to lug most of it back home. Eventhough we didn't plan to eat in the parks too much, it was just so much easier.

We did leave the parks for a nap most days. It was only a 10min. drive and the kids just weren't well rested if we didn't give them the proper naps that they needed. We would leave just before noon and be back by 3p.

If your villa has a freezer, we found that freezing water bottles was a great way of keeping the water cold all day.