Staying offsite during busy weeks?

[randumb0]

My friend stayed offsite the week before easter in 2018. She said the traffic line getting into the MK parking was LOOOOOOOONG. I'd plan to be there super early to beat that.

They can just catch the shuttle to MK

 

[fractalpotato]

For what it's worth it, I just searched around in MDE using a FP party of AP holders and for tomorrow I could get all the Mountains, Buzz, Haunted Mansion, etc in Magic. The other parks might be a bit trickier, but with 30 days, rope drop and refresh I think you're going to be just fine.

Matt

 

[3littlecuties]

I stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, it has large condos, but little glitches. Lots of fun in the lazy river. Great bar. Staying on property is great, but we like to go ALOT sooo, we make our trade offs...and we do also stay one or two nights on property. Uber has made it easier but the disney bubble is compelling.....hold that bus!

What are the glitches?

 

[travelgirl71]

This may be a silly question..... how do you refresh or what is the refresh strategy?

Thanks!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hi, a different approach when staying off property is to make a dining reservation at a resort, Floridian Cafe for example or Kona, for brkfast, take a boat ride over to MK and incorporate that experience into a different kind of disney vacation...no parking fee w tables card , little special, uses time, and fun. Enjoy, wherever you are.!

Free parking at a resort to dine with TIW does not give you free parking to go to the theme parks unless that is where you are dining. And then you just get three hours of parking. Just park at the theme park parking lot and monorail or walk over to the restaurant you want to dine at.

 

[mmsportsmom]

By Easter week I am not sure if you mean the week before or week after....but we were there this year beginning Easter Sunday. At 30 days I was able to get all fast passes except SDD. For SDD we got in line at 8:05 pm with an 8:30 closing time and were off at 8:30. We didn't rope drop once. We rode everything in MK in a day and a half and did a show we had never done before and rode the paddle boat (is that the right term?). It was definitely manageable and I was able to book more fast passes the day of. Go and enjoy!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

I'm pretty sure Bonnet Creek now gets the 60 day benefit that onsite properties receive. I've gone many time the week after Easter and stayed off site, it's no biggie to get decent FP's. It does take some luck and patience but it is doable to get the good FP's. I never rope drop, I'd rather stay later.

 

[3littlecuties]

I'm pretty sure Bonnet Creek now gets the 60 day benefit that onsite properties receive. I've gone many time the week after Easter and stayed off site, it's no biggie to get decent FP's. It does take some luck and patience but it is doable to get the good FP's. I never rope drop, I'd rather stay later.

Really? That would be awesome! Can anyone confirm this?

 

[mamamelody2]

I'm pretty sure Bonnet Creek now gets the 60 day benefit that onsite properties receive. I've gone many time the week after Easter and stayed off site, it's no biggie to get decent FP's. It does take some luck and patience but it is doable to get the good FP's. I never rope drop, I'd rather stay later.

HILTON Bonnet Creek does, but unfortunately not WYNDHAM Bonnet Creek.

 

[3littlecuties]

HILTON Bonnet Creek does, but unfortunately not WYNDHAM Bonnet Creek.

Boo!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

HILTON Bonnet Creek does, but unfortunately not WYNDHAM Bonnet Creek.

Boo - sorry I didn't realize there are 2 different Bonnet Creek resorts. I've stayed at one, not sure which one lol.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

1. We would obviously try to get whatever Fast Passes we can.
2. My kids never make it to closing.

For #1 refreshing is your friend.
For #2, napping is a best bet.

In past years, I wasn't able to do much with refresh. This year I was able to do more with it, even over busy times. We also stopped making ADR's during very busy times, and that has helped to lower our frustration levels.

I don't know how often you visit WDW, but an option you might wish to consider is buying ONE annual pass. It would give you free parking, your photopass photos, and 10% off some of your dining. You just need one AP; it doesn't have to be your whole family with AP's.

Bonnet Creek is located within WDW, and I presume you'll want to spend some time eating at your hotel (given the rooms at Bonnet Creek.) If so, then I strongly encourage the idea of an afternoon nap for everyone to make more of the PM hours more of an option.

I also always advise folks to engage in some pre-trip conditioning/training. As much as possible, get everyone taking daily walks well before you go to WDW.

Still another excellent option to consider is to visit Universal. At Universal, you could buy Express Pass, which is good on almost all the rides. (or not, if you decide you don't need it.)

 

[mickeyluv'r]

This may be a silly question..... how do you refresh or what is the refresh strategy?

Thanks!

After you pick your FP, you are able to modify them.

There's currently no limit on how many times you can modify your FP's, or how many times you look up available options.

At any given moment, mostly same day- people are modifying their FP.

So if you want a 10am FP for BTMRR, but you get offered 11am - take it. then you keep checking to see if any better times pop up. most often, if you refresh enough times, you will get different options.

Most folks pick FP at 60 or 30 days and then don't touch them again...but same day- they maybe make changes. Maybe they miss a bus, or sleep too late....

I'm pretty confident that Disney also releases same day FP to help steer folks to quieter parts of the park.

There are more detailed explanations available., and of course, time is time. I personally will only spend so much time searching for FP. An hour spent refreshing is an hour you could be doing something else. Sure, it is possible to refresh while doing something else that's simple (like eating a cookie?) , but it does take away from your ability to enjoy the moment. So there's a trade-off if you spend too much time refreshing.

Oh, you also really need to have MDE on your cell phone.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

What are the glitches?

I haven't stayed specifically there, but I have stayed offsite....

One glitch of offsite is sometimes that it takes longer to go between your resort and the parks that one might expect.
On a recent offsite stay...and spring break hours...the parks more or less opened earlier than breakfast hours started - at least when you include travel time.
You also don't get magicbands, if you don't have them - then you have to buy them or use plastic tickets. Not a huge deal, but slightly less easy than using a magic band.
You also don't get package delivery of stuff you buy. WDW will deliver stuff you buy back to your onsite hotel if you don't want to carry it around -for free. It just takes about 24 hours. they also deliver luggage between resorts for free if you stay at 2 different hotels.

 

[conniehar90]

We only stay offsite as we prefer that over onsite. We have done Xmas/NY week and Easter week. You shouldn't have an issue with FP's other than the obvious ones. Your bigger issue will be the opening time. MK (at least) will open an hour early every day for onsite guests. So, rope drop will not really be rope drop as there will already be guests inside. Crowds will be lower at that early hour but there will be lines already formed. That said, we still wouldn't consider staying onsite as we enjoy offsite so much more. Have fun!

 

[3littlecuties]

For #1 refreshing is your friend.
For #2, napping is a best bet.

In past years, I wasn't able to do much with refresh. This year I was able to do more with it, even over busy times. We also stopped making ADR's during very busy times, and that has helped to lower our frustration levels.

I don't know how often you visit WDW, but an option you might wish to consider is buying ONE annual pass. It would give you free parking, your photopass photos, and 10% off some of your dining. You just need one AP; it doesn't have to be your whole family with AP's.

Bonnet Creek is located within WDW, and I presume you'll want to spend some time eating at your hotel (given the rooms at Bonnet Creek.) If so, then I strongly encourage the idea of an afternoon nap for everyone to make more of the PM hours more of an option.

I also always advise folks to engage in some pre-trip conditioning/training. As much as possible, get everyone taking daily walks well before you go to WDW.

Still another excellent option to consider is to visit Universal. At Universal, you could buy Express Pass, which is good on almost all the rides. (or not, if you decide you don't need it.)

We’ve been to Disney many times. Just never stayed off site. The walking part isn’t the issue for the most part. My middle child has special needs and will be in a stroller so we can push her. No conditioning required as we are fairly fit.

We’ve done 1 day at Universal in the past. We decided we are much more of a Disney family!

And I wish my kids would get the idea that napping is a good thing but it just ain’t happening!

 

[Antaniasmom]

We have always stayed off property and usually go in June which is typically busy.. you will still be able to get some decent FP's and if you have to wait in line, so be it...sometimes it's the thrill of finding a shorter wait time for something else that makes it more fun..divide and conquer!