Staying Offsite

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

My husband and i are planning a trip for July of this year.. for our 5 year anniversary. We dont have any children and are just wondering what other's think of staying offsite. We found a reasonably cheap hotel with descent reviews.. we are driving. We plan on only being at the hotel to sleep. Just curious what other's think about it. I posted this question on the disney resorts thread.. but I believe most there are probably more biased to staying onsite. But, the thing is.. we can try and stretch to stay onsite.. but we can afford it better to stay off. We will be going to the parks for 5 days... staying for 6 nights.. going to the beach one day. Just curious what other's think of t his.. and if it's a good idea or not. Your help would be greatly appreciated.. as we try to plan this trip. Thanks!

 

[FLParadisevilla]

You may be able to get a good deal on a town house or condo off site and have a bit more room than a hotel. But I believe that you will have a great time where ever you stay! Heck your going to be at Disney!!!
You can look at
www.vrbo.com
www.onlinefloridavillas.com

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Many, many people stay offsite and have a wonderful time. My first visit to Disney was in an offsite hotel and I don't regret it one bit. It was a simple matter to see the parks, and I had many more dining options.

Do what works best for you.

 

[crazelion]

I have stay on site and like off site better because I have more restaurants choices that is in my price range. I have simple taste WDW have little to offer people with simple tastes without buffets costing arm and leg.

Off site I can get a suite that has 2 TVs that keep me and mom both happy.

It easy to get around off site to. Take it from a directions challenge person. I did not get lost once in that's a miracle.

 

[tomshortridge]

If you have a CAR, off site is great.

If you don't, staying on site is nice since you can use Disney transportations etc.

We are staying off site in April because of a time share trade, but that means I am spending a few hundred on a rental car and then also parking fees each day.

 

[spiceycat]

are you going before or after July 8?

the crowds before July 8 might have WDW closing at least the MK and Studios to offsite guests. AK - maybe maybe not. Epcot should remain open.

the problem is the parking lot size - once it gets filled up they will close to offsiters. (on site still can use the WDW bus system)

this is the only reason to stay onsite - okay I also love EMH.

 

[f7prez]

We have stayed on and off, and have enjoyed all. You will get more for your money staying off property, especially at the restaurants and hotels. Plus it is nice to see the surrounding area. Some people stay on site and never leave WDW property . There are a lot of nice resorts and restaurants in central Florida, it is a shame to limit yourself to just those that are located on Disney property. I am sure you will have just as much fun wherever you end up.

 

[becky7953]

If you need to rent a car..... I would check into staying onsite at a value resort.... that would save you the car rental fee. We have stayed onsite and then rented a townhouse. Both were great.

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

are you going before or after July 8?

the crowds before July 8 might have WDW closing at least the MK and Studios to offsite guests. AK - maybe maybe not. Epcot should remain open.

the problem is the parking lot size - once it gets filled up they will close to offsiters. (on site still can use the WDW bus system)

this is the only reason to stay onsite - okay I also love EMH.

yeah it's before.. because it's for our wedding anniversary which is the 6th. We do have a car.. and if we stay offsite.. we will be at the park we want to be at at the moment it opens.. even if we have to leave an hour early from the hotel.. and wait for the gates to open. Cause isn't that the problem? They close a few hours into the day because the parking lots get too full? Well, most likely we will pick a park and stay all day.. we are getting hopper tickets just in case... but most likely the first 4 days will be spent 1 day at each park since it's our first trip. Then the last we will go back to wherever we want to go.. maybe hop just to see certain things again before we leave.

Is there a way of knowing if the park is closed to the public, once you are already in the park? So we know if it's ok for us to leave an come back or not? Wouldn't it be okay as long as we were there when it opened? Maybe we will save the money and not hop..and just do one park each day?

Yes, we will have our own car.. but people are freaking me out with this... them closing the parks thing. I've heard different opinons.. most people i've heard said that's rare for them to close it.... and also july is the hottest time of the year which actually keeps a lot of people away. Everyone I know is going before July or after August for that reason.

Oh, and our tickets still allow us to take disney transportation from one park to another once in the parks.. i figure that's the way it is for all tickets.

Now, I'm just scared that going over our anniversary is a bad idea now. I need to talk to someone who has actually been there over July 4th i guess.

I'd still like your opinions and help.. I really do appreciate it!

Hey, can we still get the anniversary pins if we stay offsite?

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

oh and staying at a hotel is fine.. rather than staying in a condo.. simply because the only thing we're gonna do is sleep. We don't need a lot of room. If we were gonna stay like that, we'd stay at the resort. If things change and we get some extra bonuses or something.. then we have up to 3 days before the trip to cancel the offsite reservations... so we can change them if we want to the resort if by some chance we can afford it. But like I said before. .now i'm just worried if we stay offsite that we wont' be able to get into the parks.

 

[crazelion]

are you going before or after July 8?

the crowds before July 8 might have WDW closing at least the MK and Studios to offsite guests. AK - maybe maybe not. Epcot should remain open.

the problem is the parking lot size - once it gets filled up they will close to offsiters. (on site still can use the WDW bus system)

this is the only reason to stay onsite - okay I also love EMH.

I must caught WDW MK of a good July 4th because I was able get in to MK on the July 4th holiday.

Grant once I got in I stay in and did not leave until the fireworks was over. I was offstie guest and did not arrive until noon.

 

[1gr8mouse]

We have done both, we do like onsite better.....yes the food is more expensive onsite. I would strongly encourage you to stay at a value resort....yes, you can find a cheaper room offsite.

Remember Disney property is huge (47 sq. miles), anything listed as "near Maingate" is still about 15 minutes from MK. Others will disagree.

Put a price on your time for driving to the parks, plus parking fees everyday!!
Onsite you will have a parking pass!!!

If you are laid back people (6-7 hours at a park) and leave at 5:00pm, offsite will work fine...then you can go find a restaurant. I think its crazy to leave property, eat dinner then go back to a park. You will spend a min. of 2 hours to do that!!

Now, July 4th.....we have been there twice over the 4th!! 2005 it was hectic at all the parks...July 4th MK closed, resort guests could enter. But you couldnt go down main street, they routed you behind the buildings and you came out in Tomorrow land. It was a zoo. We left and stood at the gate to the monorail, watched the fireworks. When they were over we hopped on the rail to Epcot, watched the show there. It was awesome!!!(monorail shuts down during fireworks)

2004 we were there over July 4th, DW turned 40 on the 6th!! It was fine....Dont know why it was so slow then......July 4th was busy, all other days were fine.

Good luck,
are you confused now????

 

[PottersMom]

the unofficial guide to WDW has a chapter on staying offsite. They list them all with price ratings and star ratings, but my favorite part is they list an average commmute time to each park, (just to the parking lot). Its good because sometimes a hotel may have an address that seems close, but actually takes longer to get to the parks because of traffic lights and things. check it out.

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

We have done both, we do like onsite better.....yes the food is more expensive onsite. I would strongly encourage you to stay at a value resort....yes, you can find a cheaper room offsite.

Remember Disney property is huge (47 sq. miles), anything listed as "near Maingate" is still about 15 minutes from MK. Others will disagree.

Put a price on your time for driving to the parks, plus parking fees everyday!!
Onsite you will have a parking pass!!!

If you are laid back people (6-7 hours at a park) and leave at 5:00pm, offsite will work fine...then you can go find a restaurant. I think its crazy to leave property, eat dinner then go back to a park. You will spend a min. of 2 hours to do that!!

Now, July 4th.....we have been there twice over the 4th!! 2005 it was hectic at all the parks...July 4th MK closed, resort guests could enter. But you couldnt go down main street, they routed you behind the buildings and you came out in Tomorrow land. It was a zoo. We left and stood at the gate to the monorail, watched the fireworks. When they were over we hopped on the rail to Epcot, watched the show there. It was awesome!!!(monorail shuts down during fireworks)

2004 we were there over July 4th, DW turned 40 on the 6th!! It was fine....Dont know why it was so slow then......July 4th was busy, all other days were fine.

Good luck,
are you confused now????

lol a bit confused. Right, but if we do have to stay offsite.. even considering parking passes and everything.. on July 4th, we already decided.. we will be there when the gates open and we will not leave all day until the fireworks are over. That will just be our big day for eating there and everything. Everyone i've talked to said.. once you are in they won't kick you out.. and when they close MK on july 4th.. it was awhile after they opened and they just were full.

My husband didn't get the bonus we were hoping for, so unless we can find away to save a lot of money, we will have no choice but to stay offsite... and make the most of it. We will still be able to ride the monorail and everything and switch parks with the hopper passes. I already ordered maps... so we will plan it out very well.. to make the most of our time.

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

the unofficial guide to WDW has a chapter on staying offsite. They list them all with price ratings and star ratings, but my favorite part is they list an average commmute time to each park, (just to the parking lot). Its good because sometimes a hotel may have an address that seems close, but actually takes longer to get to the parks because of traffic lights and things. check it out.

where is this unofficial guide??

 

[sunlver]

We stay offsite each time we go. Its never a problem for us as we always have a car. Disney transportation was never a big thing for me when you get it staying on their property. For me, I love having my car, I dont want to wait for the bus. When I have 3 tired kids, I want to leave when I want to leave, no buses, no stopping at different places.

Now granted when we stay off site, some of the hotels are not really special. They are just a place to sleep and shower and keep our stuff. But honestly, we are not their long.

There are plenty of offsite hotels to pick from.. I am sure there is something for everyone.

 

[Freyja]

We stay off-site. With a family of 6 the cost of staying on-sitewould be sky-high if we wanted anything moree luxurious than the All Star Music.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We much prefer staying off site. DH & I feel trapped staying on site. I like to have a car, not have to wait for busses, have the flexibility to eat wherever we want (on site or off) and easily enjoy Orlando's other parks by picking a hotel/timeshare located in the middle of all the theme parks.

The parks will have extremely high crowds in summer when the schools are out, especially close to a major holiday like the 4th. Plan to avoid any park's EMHs on any given day.

Yes, July will be hot, but end of August/all of September is when it turns into a sauna here.

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

thanks, we are driving and will have our own car.. regardless of whether we stay on or offsite. So even if we stay onsite, we will be able to leave if we want to go wherever. But like I said before.. we plan on staying offsite.. so it' sjust a matter of... will it be ok for us on July 4th or not, as long as we get there first thing in the morning and stay all day? If that's not a problem then staying offsite is great for the money we are saving!

 

[Tinkerbell63]

We've done both and like to stay on-site better because of the Disney magic for our kids. When we stayed off-site, we did get to stay longer because the hotel we stayed at was really cheap. We spent 5 nights there for the price of 1 night at a value resort at WDW. All we did was sleep there, so we didn't mind. The restaurant choices are much better staying off-site. We sometimes even go out to eat when we're staying at a WDW resort. You'll have a great time either way.