Staying offsite?

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Hi everyone,

We are heading back to DW at the end of April. My husband, MIL and I took my then-2.5 year old to DW a year ago. We didn't know it at the time but my son is on the autism spectrum. Going into the trip we knew he was easily overwhelmed and struggled with the things most 2 year olds struggle with (standing in line, not bouncing off the walls, food aversions, etc.)

We went into the trip knowing that we would follow his cues, to have very low expectations about how many rides we would get on, etc. Well, it was an amazing trip! As expected, he would tire of the parks pretty quickly. We stayed at Fort Wilderness so we would typically head back to the cabin and let him decompress/nap, swim in the pool, etc.

As we're planning the next trip I am very torn. I would LOVE to stay at FW again, but it is $1,000 more than most of the vacation rentals I've looked at. We are considering booking Windsor Palms. The off-site rentals look amazing but I am very reluctant to stay off-site knowing that my son can only handle a few hours or so in the parks. The convenience of hopping on a boat from MK to get back to FW was amazing.

Have any of you stayed offsite when a member of your travel party had ASD? How did it go? Any advice? I might choose FW based on convenience sake for when he gets overwhelmed but that $1,000 price tag difference is hard to look past.

 

[redberyl]

Not asd but we stayed at the Gktw village (off-site) for my daughter's wish trip. I found it hugely inconvenient; in good traffic only 25 min, but if we hit the lights just the wrong way it took 45 minutes. We had to take a mid day break everyday, so a lot of time wasted driving. Because the time was so variable because of lights, it was difficult to plan. Off site, you will need to factor in car rental, gas, and parking costs, so it might not be such a drastic difference in price.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Definitely don't stay off site without a car. I think if you have an ada parking pass off site is actually easier. Either way, getting a stroller as a wheelchair tag will make the trip much easier on him. And you!

 

[mamabunny]

Hi everyone,

We are heading back to DW at the end of April. My husband, MIL and I took my then-2.5 year old to DW a year ago. We didn't know it at the time but my son is on the autism spectrum. Going into the trip we knew he was easily overwhelmed and struggled with the things most 2 year olds struggle with (standing in line, not bouncing off the walls, food aversions, etc.)

We went into the trip knowing that we would follow his cues, to have very low expectations about how many rides we would get on, etc. Well, it was an amazing trip! As expected, he would tire of the parks pretty quickly. We stayed at Fort Wilderness so we would typically head back to the cabin and let him decompress/nap, swim in the pool, etc.

As we're planning the next trip I am very torn. I would LOVE to stay at FW again, but it is $1,000 more than most of the vacation rentals I've looked at. We are considering booking Windsor Palms. The off-site rentals look amazing but I am very reluctant to stay off-site knowing that my son can only handle a few hours or so in the parks. The convenience of hopping on a boat from MK to get back to FW was amazing.

Have any of you stayed offsite when a member of your travel party had ASD? How did it go? Any advice? I might choose FW based on convenience sake for when he gets overwhelmed but that $1,000 price tag difference is hard to look past.

How many people will be traveling on this next trip?

Have you considered any other WDW Resorts? Would a Family Suite at one of the Values work?

As you found out on the last trip, having the Resort a (relatively) quick bus ride away makes a HUGE difference for your family. I would focus on seeing if you can find an option at one of the Disney Resorts that will work for both your family AND your budget.

For me, I have different needs than most of the people who are staying at WDW. I *have to* have a roll-in shower. I *have to* have my ECV with me because my legs suck at... anything that legs are supposed to do LOL. I *have to* have the ability to come back to the hotel room whenever I need, relatively quickly and easily. I *have to* have a fridge in my room. When I look at what I *need* to be able to travel comfortably, and enjoy my time in the parks, I realize that I am better served staying onsite.

Not everyone is. But we know that your son did really well staying onsite last time because you could use the WDW bus system (or the boats for that matter) to get back and forth when you needed. You had space at Cabins, and the pool. There may be other factors that made it a success. What we need to do now is try to identify what you really need for your son to have another great Disney trip, and then help you find that if at all possible.

 

[TxWriterMama]

We've toyed with the idea of staying off-site but kiddo really likes her routines. The easy access to boats, buses and monorails relieves a lot of stress.

Heck, this last trip when kiddo was on the verge of a meltdown after we left Animal Kingdom, we just stepped onto the first bus we saw because we knew that a) she would enjoy the motion and find it soothing and b) we would eventually make it back to our hotel. We actually ended up at the Contemporary (we were staying at Kidani lol) and decided to hop on the monorail for a couple of rounds and then actually walked into MK and stayed until it closed at midnight.

That was probably our favorite day of that trip--and it was all possible because we were onsite in the Disney bubble. For our family, it's worth the extra $ to stay onsite for the convenience (even if I cringe at the final price tag.)

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Thank you for all of the input! Your replies went along with my gut instinct (to stay onsite) so I am going to book a cabin at Fort Wilderness again. Thanks, everyone!

 

[SueM in MN]

Also - if you would stay offsite and drive, you need to include parking fees.

 

[Beemitchcowski]

We have been 2x with my ASD son who was 6 when we went. We stayed offsite..do to budget reasons and the fact that we wanted the extra room. The first time we rented a town home at Windsor Hills ..the second time was Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Bonnet Creek felt more of a vacation..liked the resort feel. We rented a car so we didn't have to wait on transportation. Both places were about the same of $120 a night...so MUCH less than a place with separate sleeping quarters at Disney onsite ( my DH and I wanted to be able to put the kids to bed and be able to relax...like at home. We are planning another trip soon and planning on doing the same thing.

If money wasn't an issue..I probably would try a cabin at FW...because that does seem like a nice calming atmosphere.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

We have been 2x with my ASD son who was 6 when we went. We stayed offsite..do to budget reasons and the fact that we wanted the extra room. The first time we rented a town home at Windsor Hills ..the second time was Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Bonnet Creek felt more of a vacation..liked the resort feel. We rented a car so we didn't have to wait on transportation. Both places were about the same of $120 a night...so MUCH less than a place with separate sleeping quarters at Disney onsite ( my DH and I wanted to be able to put the kids to bed and be able to relax...like at home. We are planning another trip soon and planning on doing the same thing.

If money wasn't an issue..I probably would try a cabin at FW...because that does seem like a nice calming atmosphere.

It's funny-I was all set to book FW but the day of booking the prices increased (again), they dropped their spring discount rate that was previously showing on Expedia (I usually book through Expedia to get Swagbucks) and then the news about ticket price increases was official. We ended up booking Windsor Hills! 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen/living room/washers and dryers, a private pool, and $1200+ cheaper than FW. I couldn't justify the significant amount of money + feeling completely nickel and dimed. We've done Disney offsite several times before so we will make it work.