Staying off-site

[LuckyBelle81]

UPDATE on the decision debacle:
I wasn't even thinking about booking a trip but my DH left really early for a conference so I checked my email at like 4:30am and saw that free dinning had been released so OF COURSE I had to check it out. Well, I ended up booking a trip for Dec 12-17 staying at CBR bc I found a crazy good deal that included the DDP since the CBR is a moderate. I priced some of the resorts we had been looking at (we were only looking at resorts right around DS) and between having to pay for the room and tix seperately and then buy food, we couldn't have beaten the price we got, and the price was really the only reason we were looking at staying off-site anyway. I'm over the moon! I had no idea I would get to go back this soon!!

 

[nelson84]

I stay in my condo it's the cheapest $200 a week. And all the shrimp cocktail you can eat.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I stayed off site for one night and didn't like it. I much prefer being on site and then I can get up early and head to the parks while everyone else is still sleeping.
The only drawback I've found is not enough actual beds for everyone (pull out furniture is not as comfy as a regular bed according to my kids) and no king bed for my husband and I when we stay in a family suite. We don't want to pay for 2 rooms at a moderate which is another option for us.

My sister stayed offsite. She enjoyed the suite of rooms she stayed at. I can't remember which place it was but she never stays in regular hotel rooms - she wants either suites with a couple of bedrooms with actual beds for everyone and a place for her husband to watch tv or a condo with all of the above.

 

[mco65]

You never know until you try it. Unless this is your LAST trip ever (which you said it wasn't) then it seems like you should give it a try and see if you like it... I can do either, prefer onsite but if the price is right.. won't hesitate to stay offsite.

 

[elaine amj]

Sounds like an awesome decision. I was looking at off site for our next trip ( group of 8)but just crunched free dining numbers. If we are willing to be cramped into 2 value or mod rooms, free dining still beats out staying off site in a cheap (under $120) 4 bedroom house, cooking cheap meals in the house the bulk of the time. From a strictly numbers perspective.

 

[QueenIsabella]

It's great that you can take advantage of free dining. I'm glad it worked out for you. Please give consideration to off-site in the future, when your kids are older, bigger, and more expensive--it's still a good option, especially for families of 5 or more.

 

[LuckyBelle81]

It's great that you can take advantage of free dining. I'm glad it worked out for you. Please give consideration to off-site in the future, when your kids are older, bigger, and more expensive--it's still a good option, especially for families of 5 or more.

Thank you! And I definitely will.

 

[dizzy daisy]

UPDATE on the decision debacle:
I wasn't even thinking about booking a trip but my DH left really early for a conference so I checked my email at like 4:30am and saw that free dinning had been released so OF COURSE I had to check it out. Well, I ended up booking a trip for Dec 12-17 staying at CBR bc I found a crazy good deal that included the DDP since the CBR is a moderate. I priced some of the resorts we had been looking at (we were only looking at resorts right around DS) and between having to pay for the room and tix seperately and then buy food, we couldn't have beaten the price we got, and the price was really the only reason we were looking at staying off-site anyway. I'm over the moon! I had no idea I would get to go back this soon!!

Awesome, you get the onsite trip you want and your DH gets to save money - win-win!

 

[tnmom25]

I stay in my condo it's the cheapest $200 a week. And all the shrimp cocktail you can eat.

Which resort?

 

[tnmom25]

I've only stayed onsite a couple of times, but have stayed offsite many. It boils down to this, if we want to go at all, we have to stay offsite due to our budget. We have an offsite routine now and we are able to spend 8-10 nights almost every year. If we were to stay onsite, it would probably be 5-7 nights every two years. We are a big family, and it's just what works for us. Every family is different, so you just have to do what works best for yours

 

[quagmire0]

Offsite is almost always the cheaper option, unless you can find a dining deal like OP did. Also, offsite is more advantageous for families and larger groups, IMO. Two people or two people and a kid can comfortably stay in a value or low-end moderate. But if you've got multiple kids(especially babies/nappers), relatives, and/or friends, you can't beat offsite. Lots of space, everyone gets their own rooms, and it's quiet. You can also save money on meals, either by cooking or ordering out. My wife and I like having our own space, having the kids have their own space, and having a separate area for our youngest to take a nap so we can do other things instead of sitting in the dark or walking on eggshells. .

 

[Carolina Beth]

A perk of offsite that I hadn't even considered was being able to eat leftovers. We had a few really wonderful meals in Disney, and it was so nice having the microwave to heat up the leftovers. Also, for me, vacation means eating breakfast in my pj's before heading out for our adventures, whether it's scrambled eggs and bacon or a bowl of cereal. Totally love offsite!

 

[baildrk]

We stayed offsite the only time I have been to WDW and we loved it a huge house with a very nice pool for what seemed like 1/10th of the cost of staying on site. the house also had a nice games room for the kids, planned a few meals for non park days, I don't think we ended up spending over 5000 dollars or even came close for the entire trip i.e airfare, rental car, house rental, tickets, food, or anything else we spent money on. It was someone's idea to stay onsite the next time which is what we are panning now and my head is ready to explode with how much we already have to save and we are only at airfare and the vacation package. Plus there is so much extra space at any rental so your not constantly in the face of the people you are with.

 

[aprincessatlast]

Yay Op glad you found the right deal for your family.

I think everyone's idea of a good vacation is different as far as where to stay. Even when it comes to off site. When I was a teen I went to a lot of places like florida with my older dsis and her dh and they loved timeshares. For them that was the way to travel with a big spacious condo and being able to cook in a room, etc and it still is today. When I traveled in my 20's I stayed in hostels in Europe and hotels in the US and Caribbean and never ate in the room. After I got married I realized I just like hotel rooms. I like cleaning services and just the general hotel feel. So condos even with a family are not on my radar as a good vacation (unless I am skiing or something) as it just feels like a home and I don't want that.lol That is just me though.

So staying off site is great for us when we have chosen to do so but it is usually places like JW Marriott or a Hilton or something. We have no qualms with that as far as off site but a condo not really a fan. There are loads of condos in Orlando too so you never know what you are getting. I know when I was with my dsis we stayed in some pretty rough ones (all RCI or Interval International). Many felt like apartment complexes so perhaps that skewed my view. We are ambiance people so a house or an apartment that feels like something at home would not give us the escape we are looking for no matter how much extra space there is.

So my point I think off site or on site either way would be fine, but just know your vacation style and then plan accordingly.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yay Op glad you found the right deal for your family.

I think everyone's idea of a good vacation is different as far as where to stay. Even when it comes to off site. When I was a teen I went to a lot of places like florida with my older dsis and her dh and they loved timeshares. For them that was the way to travel with a big spacious condo and being able to cook in a room, etc and it still is today. When I traveled in my 20's I stayed in hostels in Europe and hotels in the US and Caribbean and never ate in the room. After I got married I realized I just like hotel rooms. I like cleaning services and just the general hotel feel. So condos even with a family are not on my radar as a good vacation (unless I am skiing or something) as it just feels like a home and I don't want that.lol That is just me though.

So staying off site is great for us when we have chosen to do so but it is usually places like JW Marriott or a Hilton or something. We have no qualms with that as far as off site but a condo not really a fan. There are loads of condos in Orlando too so you never know what you are getting. I know when I was with my dsis we stayed in some pretty rough ones (all RCI or Interval International). Many felt like apartment complexes so perhaps that skewed my view. We are ambiance people so a house or an apartment that feels like something at home would not give us the escape we are looking for no matter how much extra space there is.

So my point I think off site or on site either way would be fine, but just know your vacation style and then plan accordingly.

You're so right about it being a personal choice, and it's good that you found what works for you. While I would personally love to stay at a pampering, 4-star hotel on vacation, my reality is that I have 4 kids. Even worse, their vacation style isn't about luxury in the traditional sense--they like the luxury of space that you find in a rental house, with room to spread out and just relax. They'd rather have even a simple, Mom-prepared meal, than go out. I don't know how I got such weird kids! But, I'm with them on the space aspect, and I don't mind cooking some on vacation (I take more shortcuts than I would at home, like using frozen lasagna or salad mixes).

People who like luxuries like room service and spa treatments or people who are type-A theme park commandos are less likely to be happy off-site. And people traveling with 4 or less in their party have tons more options open to them.

 

[scrapquitler]

I posted this on another board but wanted to get input from here also. I'm sure most everyone will side with my DH on this one but I wanted to see what you had to say nonetheless:

Maybe I feel an unreasonable amount of loyalty to Disney but the thought of going to WDW and NOT stating on property makes my heart hurt a little. I'm not sure when our next trip will be (2017 at the earliest) but recently DH has really started pushing the idea of not staying at a Disney resort for our next trip. I think he's a little bent out of shape at the recent litany of price increases and that's coloring his perception a bit, but there is also the reality that the next time we go we will have a 10yo that we will be paying adult prices for and 3yo that we have not had to pay for to this point (and just so I don't leave him out, our DS that we will still be able to pay kids rates for) so we're looking at double the price of our last trip just bc of changes in our fam. I've looked and OF COURSE we can go and stay off-site and pay less but I just hate the idea of not staying on thr resort property. Anyone else been in this predicament and have insight?

We debate this every time. We've decided that most of the time it's worthwhile for us to stay on site IF we are doing only Disney and not visiting Universal. Some of the things that sway our decision: we can use ME and disney transport, and we don't need to rent a car or pay for parking, so we save money that way, and we generally stay only in the values and I'm hard pressed to find an acceptable hotel even outside the property for the same price. Plus it is much harder to take a mid-afternoon break when you are staying off-site, and as I get older, I need that afternoon break more than I did 10 or 15 years ago.

For your family, you are going to have to pay adult ticket price for your 10 year old whether you stay on site or off property....and if you are not on the dining plan, you still have the option to purchase child meals for him (heck, I eat children's meals about half the time myself, and I'm close to 50). And you are going to need a ticket for the 3 year old no matter what as well.

If we are visiting Universal, then we are much more likely to stay off site, because we know we'll need a rental car, and that's enough to sway our decision. Last fall when we visited Universal and Disney, we stayed at Universal (Granted, in their 'value' Cabana Bay, where the room price was pretty much the same as staying at Pop), we rented a car, we visited both parks, we ate on IDrive several times, it didn't turn out to be less expensive, just different.

 

[dsimon9318]

This year we are staying off site for the days we are not going to the park and then on site for the 3 days we are spending in the park. It's an option to consider. We are staying at the Wyndham grand on the Disney property. It's a really nice hotel. We love it.

 

[dreiwhit]

My father-in-law buys more points than he needs each year through Bluegreen. So, he's always happy to get us a room at a condo using his points for free!

We compared staying in a value resort on site with tickets and the free dining plan, versus staying off site at The Fountains, buying our discount tickets and paying for one QS mean per day in the park. Staying on site would have been around $700 more than staying off site. For us, that's a no brainer.

 

[leebee]

You know another thing I really like about being offsite? I am not tied to my family's sleep schedule. I tend to stay up later and get up earlier than either DH or DD22. When we have a condo or suite, I like that I can lounge on the couch and watch a little TV before going to bed, or be able to wake up, make coffee, grab my book, and sit out on our balcony while waiting for everyone else to awaken. This is maybe the best part of offsite for me; it beats the HECK out of sitting in a dark hotel room, wide awake while everyone is sleeping, or laying in bed in the morning, waiting for it to be light enough to read without waking everyone else- or cowering in the bathroom because I'm awake and nobody else is!

 

[dreiwhit]

You know another thing I really like about being offsite? I am not tied to my family's sleep schedule. I tend to stay up later and get up earlier than either DH or DD22.

+1. This is one of the big reasons why I like staying in a condo. I get up earlier than my wife and kids, and it gives me time to eat breakfast, take my shower, get ready for the day, etc., without disturbing anyone.