Staying Offsite vs Onsite Guide

[TeresaWen]

Yes! On site or off... eat in or eat out... drive or bus... pick the vacation that works for you!

Yup! That's why they call it vacation!!

 

[TeresaWen]

Having little ones does change things though. I'm thinking mostly transportation. While I swear by uber I do not think it is an easy option with a few children.

 

[Klayfish]

I've never used Uber or any such service in my life...heck, I haven't been in a taxi cab in 15 years, but I couldn't imagine relying on something like that with small kids. For us, if we don't have our own vehicle a WDW, I wouldn't want to go.

 

[TamaraQT]

I read about what you like about OFFSITE, and realize that it is the same thing I love about ONSITE.

I don't have a washer/dryer calling my name to throw in a load. I am on vacation. I don't want to wash clothes every day.
No full kitchen, to make me feel guilty about eating out. If I want something simple I can make it in my studio villa.
No having to find my car, after riding the tram, to wait in traffic to get to the main road to drive to my condo. Instead, I can leave, walk to the monorail and catch a ride to my resort. (Of course that only works at Epcot and MK) The others require a bus. But I would bet I am back to my resort before most of the drivers leaving the parking lot. (Unless you leave early.)
I never use extra magic hours to buy things. I don't know that anyone would waste that sweet time in a store. Nope, I ride rides. Sometimes multiple times with no lines. Extra Magic hours in the morning are great. Especially if you don't head to the headliners.
I do agree about the poolside activities, Disney has them too. Some of them are "don't miss." So are the campfires and movies under the stars.

And for the record, we have stayed off site. Twice. And both times, we hated it. Yep, we are crazy, we like the Disney bubble. And we drive down, so we have a car. Which means we can leave whenever we want. We just don't want to.

When we have come down to Florida for a non-Disney vacation, we have explored other options. And we keep coming back to Disney, it is what we enjoy and what we love.

Yes...to each his own....but I have to comment...You like a DISNEY vacation, while we LOVE ORLANDO vacations !!!!!

I don't have a washer/dryer calling my name. If you want to get NIT-PICKY.....I'd rather have a washer/dryer and clean clothes than to have dirty clothes in my luggage while on vacation. I come in at night and throw the clothes in a washer.....while they are washing I can take a bath in a JACUZZI in my PRIVATE MASTER BATHROOM or have a drink on the balcony. Who is TIED to a washer?? Oh...did I mention I could also WATCH A BIG SCREEN TV in the LivingRoom or Bedroom while my kids are in their OWN ROOM watching what they want. My idea of vacation is NOT a hotel room with 2 beds and 1 bathroom. Sometimes we arrive one night early and stay in a regular hotel/motel room. One night is more than I can handle!!! I so look forward to checking into a 2 bedroom/2bath condo the next day. My husband and I enjoy our space and privacy that a timeshare resort provides!!! It's our vacation too !!!!

I don't cook major meals on vacation but I can without hestitation or concern. Yep....it's still vacation!!! I can throw something in the oven and go for a swim for an hour or so. I don't have that option to go for a swim at home while dinner is cooking so it's still feels like vacation. I don't have a JACUZZI at home, so sitting in it with a glass of wine or a frozen daiquiri IS VACATION to me !!!

Finding a car in the parking lot?? What are you talking about?? Is it rocket science to find YOUR VEHICLE in a parking lot? I stayed onsite and those TRAMS and busses are SLOW. And yes we have timed how long it takes to get back to our room from a BUS STOP as compared to back to our RESORT from the parking lot. Also last time I checked, the bus doesnt drop you off at your front door so you still have to WALK from their too. And be realistic....do you ALWAYS get seats on the first bus that arrives?? I know my car in the parking lot is NEVER FULL that I have to WAIT until the NEXT ONE !!!!


If you LOVE DISNEY you are PRONE to believe the HYPE so no matter what, you are going to look at it from your own perspective. And I get it. You love ONSITE for your reasons and I love OFFSITE for my own reasons. I'm glad there are options. But keep in mind, I have visited Orlando on MANY occasions for 10 - 15 days at a time and didn't step ONE FOOT into Disney. I don't need DISNEY for a vacation. But I truly appreciate having it there as an option. Also having it there makes other restaurants, hotels, resorts and all step up their game to compete. The truth is when it comes down to food quality, hotel price, and other options and amenities OFFSITE restaurants and hotels dont need to TRY so hard because the truth is, they have DISNEY beat when it comes to VALUE and QUALITY. They just don't have the DISNEY frills and characters. I will be going to Orlando this August for another 15 day vacation. My DD10 has ALREADY asked to limit our time to Disney and she is ok if we don't go in Disney at all. Just get her to a nice timeshare resort and she will have a BLAST!!! Maybe a request to eat at OHANA's one night because she loves the food. That may be the extent of my Disney experience for 2017. But my ORLANDO VACATION will STILL BE MEMORABLE !!!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I'm glad people have the option of being on site or off site. Although I have to say that when I vacation, and it isn't Disney, I don't go to Orlando. At least most of the time. Our next vacation is to multiple states. Then later in the year, we will be at Disney. I really do get that some people like onsite and off site.

(What I DON'T get is THE capital LETTERS interspersed THROUGHOUT the posts.)

 

[Klayfish]

Yes...to each his own....but I have to comment...You like a DISNEY vacation, while we LOVE ORLANDO vacations !!!!!

I don't have a washer/dryer calling my name. If you want to get NIT-PICKY.....I'd rather have a washer/dryer and clean clothes than to have dirty clothes in my luggage while on vacation. I come in at night and throw the clothes in a washer.....while they are washing I can take a bath in a JACUZZI in my PRIVATE MASTER BATHROOM or have a drink on the balcony. Who is TIED to a washer?? Oh...did I mention I could also WATCH A BIG SCREEN TV in the LivingRoom or Bedroom while my kids are in their OWN ROOM watching what they want. My idea of vacation is NOT a hotel room with 2 beds and 1 bathroom. Sometimes we arrive one night early and stay in a regular hotel/motel room. One night is more than I can handle!!! I so look forward to checking into a 2 bedroom/2bath condo the next day. My husband and I enjoy our space and privacy that a timeshare resort provides!!! It's our vacation too !!!!

I don't cook major meals on vacation but I can without hestitation or concern. Yep....it's still vacation!!! I can throw something in the oven and go for a swim for an hour or so. I don't have that option to go for a swim at home while dinner is cooking so it's still feels like vacation. I don't have a JACUZZI at home, so sitting in it with a glass of wine or a frozen daiquiri IS VACATION to me !!!

Finding a car in the parking lot?? What are you talking about?? Is it rocket science to find YOUR VEHICLE in a parking lot? I stayed onsite and those TRAMS and busses are SLOW. And yes we have timed how long it takes to get back to our room from a BUS STOP as compared to back to our RESORT from the parking lot. Also last time I checked, the bus doesnt drop you off at your front door so you still have to WALK from their too. And be realistic....do you ALWAYS get seats on the first bus that arrives?? I know my car in the parking lot is NEVER FULL that I have to WAIT until the NEXT ONE !!!!


If you LOVE DISNEY you are PRONE to believe the HYPE so no matter what, you are going to look at it from your own perspective. And I get it. You love ONSITE for your reasons and I love OFFSITE for my own reasons. I'm glad there are options. But keep in mind, I have visited Orlando on MANY occasions for 10 - 15 days at a time and didn't step ONE FOOT into Disney. I don't need DISNEY for a vacation. But I truly appreciate having it there as an option. Also having it there makes other restaurants, hotels, resorts and all step up their game to compete. The truth is when it comes down to food quality, hotel price, and other options and amenities OFFSITE restaurants and hotels dont need to TRY so hard because the truth is, they have DISNEY beat when it comes to VALUE and QUALITY. They just don't have the DISNEY frills and characters. I will be going to Orlando this August for another 15 day vacation. My DD10 has ALREADY asked to limit our time to Disney and she is ok if we don't go in Disney at all. Just get her to a nice timeshare resort and she will have a BLAST!!! Maybe a request to eat at OHANA's one night because she loves the food. That may be the extent of my Disney experience for 2017. But my ORLANDO VACATION will STILL BE MEMORABLE !!!

AMEN!!! Couldn't agree more. I think so many people imagine doing laundry as something out of the 1930s where you're standing over a hot iron in sweltering summer heat, or going outside and hanging clothes on the drying line. Not even vaguely close, especially when on vacation. It's exactly like you said. We come back from a day in the parks and toss everything in the machine and hit that magic little "start" button on the washer. Then we walk away and go for a swim in the pool, or sit on the giant couch in the family room and watch our big screen TV, while the kids are in their own room playing on their phone. When the little buzzer for the washing machine goes off, go throw everything into the dryer and hit the magic "start" button and then sit down at our huge kitchen table and eat a nice family dinner together. The amount of "work" involved to do something like laundry is so incredibly minimal, it's almost non-existent. I wonder what on site people who stay for 7+ days do? I wouldn't want to pack 7 or 8 days worth of fresh clothes...that's a lot of work.

If I can't find my car in the parking lot, then I've got some serious issues. Yeah, the parking lots at MK and Epcot are massive, and sure we've been off by a row when looking for the car. But never have we stood around and said "OMG, we have no clue where our car is". Pretty easy...especially now with modern smart phones. My phone will tell me precisely where I parked the car.

Cooking? Yeah, you can go nuts in a rental house and make a 5 course meal and make a lot of work...if you wanted to. But why would you? Like you said, throw something super simple in the oven, and walk away. Go for a swim, a shower, relax, whatever while it cooks. Pull it out of the oven and eat it. Throw the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and hit that magic "start" button.

Like you, we're going to Orlando this summer, for 17 days. Pretty much all of them will be at WDW (we may make a day trip or two to Daytona Beach). There's no other way we'd do it except in an off site condo.

 

[BigredNole]

If I can't find my car in the parking lot, then I've got some serious issues.

I read the previous 2 posts about lost cars. I completely agree with them. If you are this ignorant that you don't know where you parked or too self absorbed to take that phone from texting, Snap chatting, tweeting, or whatever to just snap a picture of the lot and spot you are in, you have issues. Then, almost all cars have the Panic button. When you are in the general vicinity, start pressing it. Your car will scream out to you "Hey!!! I am over here!!!" You can also do like someone else I saw. They stuck a giant pool noodle contraption to the top of the cargo rails. Added another ~4 feet to the top of the car. You could see it from anywhere.

As for the people that "I don't do laundry on vacation", so be it. I am going in the Summer where we will go through 3 sets of clothes in a day. We are going for 2 weeks. I do not plan on renting a semi to haul my luggage. We simply put a load of clothes when we get in at night, then turn the dryer on when we wake up. Bam!!! 1 day of clothes cleaned without any effort. Washer and dryer are ready for the next day. Oh, simple. We need to do towels. Toss them in the morning and then the dryer when we return to go to the pool. Done again with no effort.

As for cooking, I am all for people spending $50+ for a tiny piece of low grade food. Me? I have no issue tossing that 16oz prime angus ribeye on the grill, cook it medium rare, drink a beverage while others are swimming. I now have a Disney $150 meal for $20. When we finish eating, it is about time to head back to the parks. My 15 minute drive (at most) sure beats that 45 minutes of waiting, cramming for a Disney bus.

I use to drink the Disney Kool-aid. It wasn't until I stayed offsite did I learn how much I was losing. The extremely few benefits of staying onsite were far outweighed by saving $1,000s staying offsite. On our 1-week trips, we save $200 a day between accommodations and dining. If I were to compare accommodations apple-to-apples, it would be closer to $600 per day savings.

 

[Klayfish]

You can also do like someone else I saw. They stuck a giant pool noodle contraption to the top of the cargo rails. Added another ~4 feet to the top of the car. You could see it from anywhere.

Ooooohhhh, I love that idea. Think I may snag it for my own use. It would be incredibly easy to snap on one of those 6' poles with an orange flag on top that sand buggies use in the desert, stick it right on my roof rack. Would literally take less than 5 seconds.

And I completely agree about laundry and cooking. Our upcoming trip is over two weeks long. We're bringing about 4 or 5 days worth of fresh clothes, that's it.

 

[bankr63]

Ooooohhhh, I love that idea. Think I may snag it for my own use. It would be incredibly easy to snap on one of those 6' poles with an orange flag on top that sand buggies use in the desert, stick it right on my roof rack. Would literally take less than 5 seconds.

And I completely agree about laundry and cooking. Our upcoming trip is over two weeks long. We're bringing about 4 or 5 days worth of fresh clothes, that's it.

Sure, but just hope the idea doesn't catch on TOO much. I can just picture coming back to the lot to find a sea of pool noodles waving in the breeze...

 

[ELSA711]

So if I am staying onsite and check out on 6/15 do I get to utilize EMH that day in the evening as well as the morning or neither?
We are doing a split stay both onsite (first) and offsite (second)

 

[robinb]

So if I am staying onsite and check out on 6/15 do I get to utilize EMH that day in the evening as well as the morning or neither?
We are doing a split stay both onsite (first) and offsite (second)

You can use both AM & PM on your check out day .

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Not having to find my car, after riding the tram, to wait in traffic to get to the main road to drive to my condo. Instead, I can leave, walk to the monorail and catch a ride to my resort. (Of course that only works at Epcot and MK) The others require a bus. But I would bet I am back to my resort before most of the drivers leaving the parking lot. (Unless you leave early.)

Finding a car in the parking lot?? What are you talking about?? Is it rocket science to find YOUR VEHICLE in a parking lot? I stayed onsite and those TRAMS and busses are SLOW. And yes we have timed how long it takes to get back to our room from a BUS STOP as compared to back to our RESORT from the parking lot. Also last time I checked, the bus doesnt drop you off at your front door so you still have to WALK from their too. And be realistic....do you ALWAYS get seats on the first bus that arrives?? I know my car in the parking lot is NEVER FULL that I have to WAIT until the NEXT ONE !!!!

If I can't find my car in the parking lot, then I've got some serious issues. Yeah, the parking lots at MK and Epcot are massive, and sure we've been off by a row when looking for the car. But never have we stood around and said "OMG, we have no clue where our car is". Pretty easy...especially now with modern smart phones. My phone will tell me precisely where I parked the car.

I read the previous 2 posts about lost cars. I completely agree with them. If you are this ignorant that you don't know where you parked or too self absorbed to take that phone from texting, Snap chatting, tweeting, or whatever to just snap a picture of the lot and spot you are in, you have issues. Then, almost all cars have the Panic button. When you are in the general vicinity, start pressing it. Your car will scream out to you "Hey!!! I am over here!!!" You can also do like someone else I saw. They stuck a giant pool noodle contraption to the top of the cargo rails. Added another ~4 feet to the top of the car. You could see it from anywhere.

Oh, my gosh people. Find your car, meant get to it. The trams don't stop at your car. They stop at the tram stop. You then unload you and your stuff and walk to your car.

I don't tweet or snap chat, I very rarely text. And I can't do that while moving, I am driving a scooter.

 

[Klayfish]

Sure, but just hope the idea doesn't catch on TOO much. I can just picture coming back to the lot to find a sea of pool noodles waving in the breeze...

Seriously. Hey...maybe that's a marketing idea. Sell unique WDW "flags" that off site guests can put onto their car to help find it, kinda like Magic Bands.

Oh, my gosh people. Find your car, meant get to it. The trams don't stop at your car. They stop at the tram stop. You then unload you and your stuff and walk to your car.

I don't tweet or snap chat, I very rarely text. And I can't do that while moving, I am driving a scooter.

I don't tweet, snap chat or ever text (never sent one in my life). What I do is put the row number of where our car is in the calculator function of my phone. We always remember what section it's in, so if I put the row number in my phone, makes it pretty easy to find.

 

[robinb]

I don't tweet, snap chat or ever text (never sent one in my life). What I do is put the row number of where our car is in the calculator function of my phone. We always remember what section it's in, so if I put the row number in my phone, makes it pretty easy to find.

I've "lost" my car before. It's usually when I'm too eager to get into the park I completely forget to note where we parked . You can also take a picture of the row number on your phone .

 

[Klayfish]

Yeah, we've done that too. At least we remembered what section we were in, and had a decent idea of the general vicinity. From there, hold your arm up high and keep pressing the "lock" button on the fob. Listen for the horn.

Then I figured out by accident (I'm smart phone stupid) that my phone will remember precisely where we parked. Not sure how it does it, but it does. So if I forget to mark the row number, I have that as a fall back.

 

[BigredNole]

We get there so early, we are always parking in the first row right at the monorail post. So, it is easy for us to find our car.

 

[BostonEd]

I'm in the VERY early stages of planning a week in April 2018. I'm only just thinking about where to stay, and I've been waffling about whether to stay on or off property.

Family of four: kids will be 7 and 5.

We are not a "WDW-every-year" family, so I am leaning towards staying on property. After 2018, we probably won't head back until 2020 or even later.

If we visited more frequently, I would absolutely stay off property. The amount of space and features you get for the money at Windsor Hills or WBC, compared to a Disney resort, is INSANE. For more frequent visits, I would have no requirements to be inside the "bubble".

HOWEVER, there is certainly a different feel staying on property, and some benefits too, so since we won't be back for a while, maybe I should cough up the extra dough to do so. If we stay onsite, it would probably be at WL or AKL. If we wanted the kitchenette, we would rent points for a DVC studio. At any rate, a balcony would be a requirement, for evening glasses of wine with the kids... I mean the wife!

If we stay offsite, it would most likely be at WBC or Windsor Hills. POSSIBLY Vistana, but I'm not as wowed by it for some reason. I'll look at a couple other places, too, but would want to be really close.

Finally, I would have a car either way, so the whole "if you’re on property, you don’t need a car" doesn’t apply. We’ll be going to Legoland one day, so we’ll appreciate the car for that, anyway.

Thoughts? Have I succeeded in differentiating this post a bit?

 

[Klayfish]

Well, it's really just personal preference, and that's something you have to decide. I sort of understand what the different "feel" to staying at a hotel on site is, but frankly we get the same feel staying off site. Either way, it's not our true home, so it feels like a vacation spot....just a much bigger one off site. I also don't see any benefits to on site...I don't consider the WDW buses (which off site guests can use anyway) a benefit. I consider it a liability. EMH? No thanks, I'd rather get a little extra sleep. Dining plan? No thanks, we're not eat out type people. Proximity? Meh...we're a few miles off site, but with a car it's super easy to get around. So...and this is just our own view...perhaps with the exception of having a Disney theme, we don't see any benefits to staying on site. It doesn't make sense to us. The "bubble" for us just extends a few miles beyond WDW official property, and contains a lot more things to do. I don't think you'd be missing anything by staying off property, especially since you have a car. I'd strongly argue that you'd be adding a ton to the trip by staying off site. Adding 800-1000 sq ft of room, adding more places to go and things to do, and adding a fortune to your budget that you no longer have to spend on a tiny hotel room. You can spend it on experiences, food, gifts, whatever.

But I can understand why others say they'd never stay off property. It's just different strokes for different folks.

 

[TamaraQT]

I'm in the VERY early stages of planning a week in April 2018. I'm only just thinking about where to stay, and I've been waffling about whether to stay on or off property.

Family of four: kids will be 7 and 5.

We are not a "WDW-every-year" family, so I am leaning towards staying on property. After 2018, we probably won't head back until 2020 or even later.

If we visited more frequently, I would absolutely stay off property. The amount of space and features you get for the money at Windsor Hills or WBC, compared to a Disney resort, is INSANE. For more frequent visits, I would have no requirements to be inside the "bubble".

HOWEVER, there is certainly a different feel staying on property, and some benefits too, so since we won't be back for a while, maybe I should cough up the extra dough to do so. If we stay onsite, it would probably be at WL or AKL. If we wanted the kitchenette, we would rent points for a DVC studio. At any rate, a balcony would be a requirement, for evening glasses of wine with the kids... I mean the wife!

If we stay offsite, it would most likely be at WBC or Windsor Hills. POSSIBLY Vistana, but I'm not as wowed by it for some reason. I'll look at a couple other places, too, but would want to be really close.

Finally, I would have a car either way, so the whole "if you’re on property, you don’t need a car" doesn’t apply. We’ll be going to Legoland one day, so we’ll appreciate the car for that, anyway.

Thoughts? Have I succeeded in differentiating this post a bit?

Here are MY thoughts or suggestions: You say if you go in 2018 you may not go again for another 2 years. So here is what I suggest. Price a DISNEY vacation ON-site. Lets say for example it is $4000. Cut that budget in half to $2000. Now price an off-site resort, park tickets for the days you need them, rental car, budget for food and incidentals. If your total is in the ballpark of $2000 - $2500. Then you have already saved $1500 - 2000 which is almost enough to set aside in a vacation fund to come back again next year. And that's how me and my DH views it. It would cost us close to $4000 - $5000 to stay onsite for 7 days. Maybe more !!! That is in a budget/moderate Disney hotel room, dining plan, PaRK TICKETS and incidentals. So if we stay on-site we will only be able to go every few years. Staying offsite allowed us to go EVERY YEAR for the past 10 years. We also discovered things offsite that sometimes we don't have time to go to DISNEY at all during our vacation. Well....that may be exaggerating. We HAVE time, we just choose to do other things than DISNEY and we STILL have a TERRIFIC vacation. Driving to Clearwater Beach for the day is another vacation in itself. There is just so much to do and see BEYOND the Disney Bubble. But that is my suggestion. If you can stay off-site for HALF of your on-site costs, then it will give you the opportunity to come back again NEXT YEAR !!!! Good luck and enjoy planning. No matter what you choose, have a FANTASTIC vacation !!!!

 

[BigredNole]

If we stay onsite, it would probably be at WL or AKL. If we wanted the kitchenette, we would rent points for a DVC studio.

Studios do not have a kitchenette at DVC resorts. You have a microwave and small fridge. No way to prepare meals yourself. You will be stuck eating out all the time. Have to upgrade to those insanely priced 1BR units for a kitchen. Yes, toasted and micromeals are possible. However, I prefer slapping that raw red meat on a 500* grill or bbq chicken.

I get what you are saying. Going once in a while, it makes sense. My next trip we will probably be staying onsite renting DVC points. On that trip, we only have room expenses and meals. The DVC sides do have charcoal grills that would let me grill out. It was so nice at BWV. I threw down 2 giant ribeyes over the hot coals. People at the little pool and community center were extremely envious. People right outside our room by the grill area were also salivating. Meal cost me about $25-$30 to do myself. That same meal on property would have been over $200 and not nearly as good. We benefited from the grill being right outside the patio. I grilled while the girls were showering.