Staying on Property vs off Property

[Gumbo4x4]

For us, it's just a matter of dollars and cents. Disney is already the most expensive place we've ever been domestically, so we had to cut costs somewhere. When I looked into our June, 2012 stay, the values were triple - TRIPLE - the cost of our offsite cabin, and no free dining. With the money saved on this and YES tickets, we were able to extend our stay from a planned 4 days to 7. Having a private bedroom away from the kids also made our vacation much, much more enjoyable than it could have been. Drive to Epcot was 8 minutes.

Would I like to try onsite? Sure, why not? But, I'm perfectly happy offsite as well

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I stay on property and rent a car, so best of both worlds. I don't ride busses and get a parking pass for every park.

I don't even find staying on property all that expensive at the values. Granted i go in the offseason, but my last trip was $109 a night at ASMo. Where can you get a decent (safe) hotel room for that anymore?

I might consider staying on property in a value, if we were not a family of five. We did for a couple nights when we were a family of three. Now, there are no $109/night rooms that will accommodate us. We must have a suite, get two rooms, or stay in Port Orleans with a trundle bed, all of which are much more than $109/night. We rented a three-bedroom, three bath condo with a full kitchen and laundry room ten minutes from MK for $700/week, and we didn't have to share our bedroom with three children.

If my daughters and I ever manage a girls' trip to WDW, we would definitely stay on site for the experience and the ease of never needing to drive.

 

[Planogirl]

I usually stay onsite mostly to stay at a few favorite resorts. I like EMH but it isn't vital and those buses are the pits.

I like the space and often peace of offsite resorts. We also spend time doing other things so a WDW location isn't as important.

 

[Nixie]

For our family, staying off site is now pretty much our only choice. Family suites were blacked out from free dining. I tried to get myself excited about staying in a Fort Wilderness cabin, but trying to cram my hubby and me on a full sized bed for a week didn't sound fun; same goes for 2 rooms in a value. We just scored a week long stay 2 bedroom villa with a full kitchen, screened in patio, washer and dryer, king sized bed and ensuite bathroom with Jacuzzi tub for as much as it would have cost us for one night at the Fort Wilderness cabins.

 

[Bellamouse]

I agree with OP. Sooooo many things about Disney rooms that I don't like. Small rooms, most with two beds instead of a King (Happy Anniversary, honey! Laying over there in the other bed! ). The rooms we were in only had two doubles at the time, although I hear they have Queens now. But still. And very expensive for just an "ok" room.

Off property we get lots of space for FAR less money. Full kitchens and fridges. King size beds. Jacuzzi tubs. Washer and dryer IN the room. BIG safes for our stuff instead of little tiny boxes in the walls (I like to put my whole purse in the safe since some of my purses are expensive - Disney safes can hold some cards/money. Not even my DH's fat wallet would fit unless we opened it up flat.). I could go on and on. And we always spend $100 even or less. Two years ago we spent just $35/night. Last year we spent $100/night even. No taxes and no resort fees. No wifi fees either.

We tried onsite once and just didn't enjoy it, particularly for the price we paid (POFQ - a lot more than 100 a night!). There was only one hot tub at POFQ and it was PACKED with people. YUCK. Where we stayed last year had 8 hot tubs. We were able to find an empty or almost empty one every night. Give me off site any day of the week.

 

[Minniesgal]

We are absolutely an onsite family but I hate hotel rooms so we bought DVC so we could stay in 2 bedrooms and we always hire a car. We would hate to stay offsite. We even stay Disney when we are doing universal parks as we have our points

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I have stayed on site and off site and prefer off site.

Now that we are Wyndham timeshare owners it will be totally off site for us. Bonnet Creek.

Better rooms and amenities than anything Disney has.

I see most ppl who refuse to stay off site talk about the "bubble" and the "magic".. That seems kind of dumb to me. There is nothing magical about a hotel room and if you stay at bonnet Creek you are still in the bubble.

I will take a 3 bedroom condo with a full kitchen and washer and dryer over anything Disney has to offer for thousands less than you would pay staying onsite in a 3 bedroom grand villa.

But to each his own. Everybody needs different things to enjoy their vacation.

I would never spend my vacation hopping on and off buses and waiting in line 20 minutes to catch that bus then another 20 getting back to the room.

We drive ourselves everywhere. And we can be back to our room in less than 20 minutes from any park in our own car. Nobody having to sit next to a sweaty person or stand the whole ride.

The 2 times we stayed on site it was only because we had the kids with us and I thought it would be more fun for them to stay in a value because of all the activities around the pool in the afternoons and evenings.

But now that we will be staying at Bonnet Creek they have 5 pools, 2 slides, 2 lazy rivers. game rooms, arcade, activity center, craft room and free ice cream sundaes every day at 3. My kids will love it for sure. And free putt putt golf.

And we paid $1000 for 434,000 Wyndham points which is enough to stay several weeks a year in Wyndham resorts for maintenance fees of less than what we would pay to stay 7 nights in a family suite for one week.

 

[funkyspunky871]

I agree with you OP. I think the resort prices are ridiculously expensive, and that includes the value resorts. The value resorts are 'motel' style, and the rooms are ugly and tacky. I've stayed at the Polynesian once.. and while it was very nice, the theming was still a little much for me. I would prefer to stay at the Contemporary, but who wants to pay 400 dollars for a place to sleep at night??!

Anyways, my family and I have always been fans of staying at the Orlando Vista Hotel (a minute away from Downtown Disney, shaped like a pineapple). The outside doesn't look great, but the rooms are big, clean, ordinary, and half the price of a value room at Disney. Unfortunately the Orlando Vista is remodeling for a couple of months this year... I have a feeling they won't be so cheap afterwards.

And for me, the Disney bubble surrounds all of Orlando. I start feeling the magic right there in the airport!

 

[momof2n2]

Since having kids I don't do hotels unless there is no other option. We rent houses and spread out.

 

[Planogirl]

I agree with you OP. I think the resort prices are ridiculously expensive, and that includes the value resorts. The value resorts are 'motel' style, and the rooms are ugly and tacky. I've stayed at the Polynesian once.. and while it was very nice, the theming was still a little much for me. I would prefer to stay at the Contemporary, but who wants to pay 400 dollars for a place to sleep at night??!

Anyways, my family and I have always been fans of staying at the Orlando Vista Hotel (a minute away from Downtown Disney, shaped like a pineapple). The outside doesn't look great, but the rooms are big, clean, ordinary, and half the price of a value room at Disney. Unfortunately the Orlando Vista is remodeling for a couple of months this year... I have a feeling they won't be so cheap afterwards.

And for me, the Disney bubble surrounds all of Orlando. I start feeling the magic right there in the airport!

We stayed at the Polynesian every year when DS was a baby (he's twenty now) and I can't believe how much it has gone up. I priced it for fun for early December and it was $660 a night!

 

[cfw213]

Nope, don't agree.... Headed for trip 50 in October.... all on property and only used Disney's transportation...

If I say so myself, Disney's transportation has gotten better

Actually, if I had to stay off property, we'd not go...

From the buses, monorail, boats or walking... It's all Disney fun... If I wanted to stay in a house on vacation.... Again I'd stay home ... Part of the fun of a vacation is staying in a motel/hotel...we ain't cooking and no laundry...

To each his own, but from our standpoint and trips... disney has gotten better...

Agree. We would not go if we didn't stay onsite, it just doesn't appeal to us at all. Which is why we have DVC - I'm too cheap to pay deluxe prices!

 

[kmb584]

Once upon a time I would have referred to your post as blasphemous, but those days are long gone. Seeing as how I forgot to plant a money tree in my backyard when I purchased my home and considering that I take my daughter to WDW twice each year, I now book at least one of those vacations at an off-site resort. Heck, sometimes I even book both off-site.

I do love my monorail resorts as well as WL and AKL but there is a lot to be said for the bang for my buck that I receive when we stay off-site (SVR or WBC). It's only the 2 of us (on most occasions, sometimes extended family does join in our fun) but it's incredibly nice to have a top-of-the-line 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit for 10 nights at the cost of what I'd spend for 3 nights in a standard room at a deluxe resort. As mentioned above, I do tend to splurge on that deluxe for one of our vacations but as of late I've begun to prefer being off-site. It literally saves me thousands of dollars. Thousands.

When we are staying off-site, of course I miss some of the on-site perks, mainly DME and their luggage delivery service. If, at the end of the night we're at MK or EP, I miss being only a monorail ride away from our resort. I miss the AM EMH but make do by doing at least 1 RD per park per trip. PM EMH is something I don't utilize much since I became a Mom as I do like to keep my daughter on a somewhat routine bedtime schedule while on vacation. In all honesty, unless I purchase DVC (which, at some point in time, I will do), I swoon at the cost saving, 1,000+ extra square footage, off-site option.

<--- is what my bank account does when it sees the savings!

 

[Postal68]

For our family, staying off site is now pretty much our only choice. Family suites were blacked out from free dining. I tried to get myself excited about staying in a Fort Wilderness cabin, but trying to cram my hubby and me on a full sized bed for a week didn't sound fun; same goes for 2 rooms in a value. We just scored a week long stay 2 bedroom villa with a full kitchen, screened in patio, washer and dryer, king sized bed and ensuite bathroom with Jacuzzi tub for as much as it would have cost us for one night at the Fort Wilderness cabins.

and you don't have to eat in a restaurant for every meal. lotso money saved there!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DLFT]

EMH are down to 2 hours now.

The biggest perks for us, EMH at night, bus and monorail transport are all diminishing.

I find (at least at FW and POFQ) that bus service has gotten better, not worse. Monorail has gotten less and less reliable and been cut back hours-wise (not operating during EMH), I will admit that. But at peak opening and closing times, the traffic in and out of parks is awful for offsite visitors. When I leave the park, I want to hop on a bus, boat, or monorail and head back to a resort. Not ride a tram and search for your car for a while and put up traffic on the way out.

While the EMH evening reductions have been disappointing (why I only find MK's to be useful), its still an incentive and one I find useful. There's still something special about the MK being open till 3am with EMH (as it was my past trip in March)...while 4am would be better, 3am is still awesome!

 

[MichelleVW]

I stay on property and rent a car, so best of both worlds. I don't ride busses and get a parking pass for every park.

I don't even find staying on property all that expensive at the values. Granted i go in the offseason, but my last trip was $109 a night at ASMo. Where can you get a decent (safe) hotel room for that anymore?

You can get a 3 bedroom townhouse in a gated community for less than that!

We bought DVC this past year, but before that we stayed offsite the majority of the time. We can't do hotel rooms for anything more than a weekend, and if we are going for a week we like to spread out and have our own space. Yes, you have to pay the parking, but with what you can save in lodging costs it more than makes up for it...especially if you rent a car anyway.

We always rented places close to Animal Kingdom and never took more than 15 minutes to get to the parks, and when you got back to your room at night you were parked at your doorstep.

I know some people complain about cooking on vacation, but I get tired of "park food" and like to be able to pop in an english muffin for breakfast and have some coffee of my own without dealing with a crazy food court and Disney food prices.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

You can get a 3 bedroom townhouse in a gated community for less than that!

We bought DVC this past year, but before that we stayed offsite the majority of the time. We can't do hotel rooms for anything more than a weekend, and if we are going for a week we like to spread out and have our own space. Yes, you have to pay the parking, but with what you can save in lodging costs it more than makes up for it...especially if you rent a car anyway.

We always rented places close to Animal Kingdom and never took more than 15 minutes to get to the parks, and when you got back to your room at night you were parked at your doorstep.

I know some people complain about cooking on vacation, but I get tired of "park food" and like to be able to pop in an english muffin for breakfast and have some coffee of my own without dealing with a crazy food court and Disney food prices.

But a 3 bedroom townhouse is like going down the street from home to stay instead of a WDW trip. There will always be cheaper places to stay but $ isn't everything for getting away from it all.
I only get to go once a year normally and I want the Magic of the Mouse 24/7 Nothing worse than going home from a park to something that reminds me of home.That's the LAST thing I want

 

[Postal68]

As the original poster, I'm finding these opinions informative and interesting.

I don't think Disney has any real cost value options for a family of 4 with teens unless you are a DVC member. Personally I have a 12 year old daughter and a 16 year old son. There is no way these two are sharing a bed, and don't even mention 1 bathroom for our family

I have the money to stay on site, but all of us agree that it is just as convenient staying close off site, and we all enjoy having the room to chill out and have our own vacation time. We usually go in the off season when the parks close earlier, so we go back and hit the pool or just chill at the house for the night if we arent going out and we aren't breathing down each others necks.


While we're at it, where do people like to rent? We have rented in Emerald Isle a few times and have always like the rentals there and their proximity to the Parks. Last year we did a last minute trip, booked everything literally about 4 days before we left and we rented a house all the way out in Kissimmee behind the Walmart. The house was fine, but it was a little too far out and the area was not as nice.


We have actually been looking at a home to purchase. We have been looking at the area out by rt 27. We want something that is close enough that we can rent for a few years, but also something that is far enough away from tourist hassle that won't bother us when we move there part time, then permanently.

 

[Postal68]

But a 3 bedroom townhouse is like going down the street from home to stay instead of a WDW trip. There will always be cheaper places to stay but $ isn't everything for getting away from it all.

To me, it's not all about $$$, its more about comfort and convenience. I have found that besides being cheaper, 90% of the rentals I have stayed at were nicer than almost every rental room on Disney Property.

 

[angierae]

Since its just me and DD, and I hate driving, I will probably always stay on site. But I can see why a bigger family would choose offsite.

 

[nugov2]

Since having kids I don't do hotels unless there is no other option. We rent houses and spread out.

This is us too...it has nothing to do with price but comfort. Our family doesn't do hotels for more than a day or 2. Having space to spread out, relax and sleep comfortably...as well as be awake comfortably are very important. It isn't a vacation or relaxing if you are sardines. 2 bdrms aren't enough for our family of 5 either. We need at least 3 and I won't do chairs turning into beds or trundles either. I like being able to laugh and be silly when someone else is sleeping or drink coffee and watch tv. Just the same I like my kids who sleep a little later to do so even when my early bird is up by 6. Just makes everything more enjoyable. Luckily you can rent houses in Paris, Hawaii, WDW...just about everywhere these days as our family can happily travel anywhere. My kids actually think it is very uncomfortable being in a hotel room...even a larger suite.

I see people say what's the point of going if you are off site and I get people have their preferences and vacation styles, but I think that is a little odd. What's the point of a vacation in WDW if you choose to be spread out in deluxe accommodations with tons of room just as close to the parks just because it doesn't have Disney corporation stamped on it...seems odd to me. You can find beautiful Disney themed homes and still have full access to just about all WDW perks(minus EMH and pools...transportation is fifty/fifty b/c many off site resorts do offer transportation). I say do what makes you happy, but I think the "Disney Bubble" is mostly a concept boasted by people who have only stayed on site and do not know there is really not much of a difference....but that is JMO