Staying on-site vs. staying elsewhere...how much am I really saving?

[robinb]

We own at DVC and we also stay offsite. We always rent a car (so that expense is already accounted for) and we have APs so we don't pay for parking. We recently had the same question: stay at All Star Movies at the AP rate or stay offsite in a 2-bedroom condo for about $50 less over the 5 days. We picked the condo for the extra room, the laundry and the kitchen. Plus, my DH and I had a king-sized bed instead of a much smaller double bed.

If we didn't already have a car and the AP, it would have been more expensive at the condo and we would have chosen the All Stars and sucked it up on the beds. A car plus parking adds about $50-60 per day onto the offsite side of the expense sheet. For a couple it's hard to overcome that from a strictly monetary standpoint.

 

[eangel12]

We have been having the same debate in our house. I have only stayed on site and LOVE it. That was when I was single and then married with 1 child.

Fast forward to this trip and we are now 2 kids and my mother-in-law is traveling with us. We priced out renting DVC points but would need a 2 bedroom so it was close to $5,500. We priced out 2 moderate rooms and it was almost $3,000. We priced out AOA and it was almost $2500. We then priced out a condo rental and it was $1400 which included all taxes, etc!

We have annual passes, we always rent a car and drive to the park (this year we are considering the auto train) and I always book a sit down breakfast and sit down dinner. We will get the TIW card and will valet park at Polynesian, Contemporary, Beach Club for early breakfast reservations and then head to the condo for naps and swimming and back to the same hotel to valet park again (can use same voucher).

It just doesn't make sense to pay $1000 extra to stay on site. We can use that $$ towards food, snacks and valet parking.

I think if you only need 1 room and use on site transportation it makes sense to stay on site! If not, off site is better!!

 

[winterwhite]

There are intangibles with staying offsite that are highly individual too:

1. If you like more space than a standard motel room, or you like jacuzzi tubs, balconies, etc then these are things that may not be or are not offered at a disney resort;

2. If you're an adult and you want to be un-disneyed for awhile;

3. If you like doing offsite things (we often take a daytrip to St. Augustine, for example.)

we have the rental car anyway because we like to go where we want, when we want.

For me, I am Marriott Platinum-- so I get perks like free parking, free breakfasts, free pretty much anything I could want, but most importantly, free room upgrades, so I find myself in premium rooms for non-premium costs.

If you consider how much a disney resort room costs, versus the space, amenities (no king beds? no pillowtops? no turndown service??) etc you realize just how much they're getting. Those value rooms with the 2 standard double beds and absolutely no amenities besides the existence of a pool? They'd be less than $60/night if they were anywhere else. For me, I value a nice, spacious room with features, so we stay at the Swan/Dolphin a lot-- where I can get an epcot fireworks view room with balcony for $160/nt when the contemporary wants something insane like $650/nt for a similar theme park view room.

 

[DPickering]

Heatherc and torinsmom nailed it. Good posts. Even during busy times I expect to pay no more than $300 to $500 total for a week in a very nice off site resort. And I timed my travel from door to turnstile at SSR (because I'm nuts and that is just stuff I do) and compared it to same from Silver Lake driving. Silver Lake was way quicker.

The issue should come down to two things:
Do you mind driving?
Are you getting free dining for enough people to make a significant impact on costs?
If answer to both is yes then stay on site.

 

[TnTWalter]

or if your kids are older and don't want to share a bed...offsite wins.

Bonnet Creek is closer than several Disney Properties [you can watch Epcot fireworks from some balconies].

It is a resort with activities hot tubs lazy rivers, etc. that POP century and other values while very cute don't have.

We drive down though so don't have a car rental but do have to factor in the $14 daily parking at parks.

Last offsite trip, I detailed my spending somewhere....we ate out most meals.

2011 We rented a 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek on Ebay. Lovely property IN the Walt Disney World Compound but considered ‘offsite’. We liked it better than Windsor Hills even though it was only 2 bedrooms vs. 3 and we paid slightly more for 1 less night. It felt more like a resort.

We went spring break so peak season $599 for Sat-Fri; 7 nights, 6 days. It’s going to be really hard to get me back onsite!

We spent a whopping $468 on eating out in and around the parks!! Crazy! For 5 people for the week. We had snacks and CS meals at Parks and ate at Giordani’s , Fuddruckers and Earl of Sandwich and the Pollo place for smoothies.

I also spent about $160 on groceries. We did breakfasts, snacks and 2 dinners at bonnet creek. Enjoyed adult beverages as well. 2 cases of water.

Spent most ever on souveniers $236. And pressed pennies…$33. LOL.

Parking $14 per day for 7 days. Loved the Diamond AAA pass. If you can get one, highly recommend [free with purchase of WDW tix at AAA]. $98 total for parking.

$474 on traveling there and back….food, gas, 2 hotels.

$1272 for 5 7 day base ticketes.


$98 parking + $168 groceries + $468 dining + $599 resort + $1272 = $2605

Grand total including our travel & souvenirs $3300ish.

7 days 6 nights: Saturday – Friday family of 5 with 4 of us over 10.

Windsor Hills 8 days 7 nights
7 day pass [3>10; 2<10] $1100 I think; $750 condo for the week; $600 for meals; $98 for 7 days parking. = $2548

2009 We were there 1 more day. We ate in the condo more [Windsor Hills] and ate out some. Spent $196 on groceries and total spent was $600. 3 >10 and 2 <10 in the family. We did 1 character meal [$120 ouch]. Otherwise, counter service @ parks, and a couple nice offsite meals plus eating at the condo. The condo was $750 for the week for a 3 bedroom. Windsor Hills is also close but more of a condo than resort [especially to AK].

 

[englishteacha]

We're stuck traveling during school vacations, when everything is more expensive. So when we factor in the high cost of onsite accommodations during those times, offsite always wins for us. We've only been to WDW as a duo and even then, renting a condo offsite and a car is cheaper than onsite, even factoring in parking.

 

[FINFAN]

Our next trip will be a combo of things. We love having EMH, so it is hard for us to give it up. However, by staying off-site(Bonnet Creek I'm looking at you) we can add another night , gaining 2 park days which is more time than EMH can give us at parks we choose. We do love on site tho so we are going to do a split -stay , with the on-site portion first since we know the accommodations will be smaller, and we will be uber-anxious and tired from travel so want to be right there, right away. Those 2 nights will most likely be a Thurs and Friday so only one is a highway robbery rate. We will also go the value route since it is only 2 nights and won't be in the room much, OR if we can get the Dolphin for a comparable rate for sure we love staying there and the location is amazing! LOVE that place! After 2 nights we will switch to BC for 7 nights, enjoy having more room and slowly wind down from our usual commando touring. We plan to drive, but if not we will use ME upon arrival one way, then get a rental car from The Dolphin or Shades of Green (if they still have that there) and head on over to BC and drop the rental car at MCO or cab it if we drop the car sooner. We will be allotting 11-13 days depending on if flying or driving. We basically set a budget and whatever gives us the most days/nights of vacationing is the way we will go. I am not really a fan of driving to the parks, I like not having to dodge tired park-goers at night, but I do see the value of saving time in not waiting on a bus.
Now...by the time we can take this wonderful trip I have planned in my head..it will be 3 years from now so who knows what prices will be. My "kids" will both be over 21 and have completely different agendas..or may even book/pay for their own accomodations!

 

[stayhomemom77]

We stayed off site our first year and booked our room via priceline. I chose a resort level hotel (knowing we'd pay an extra resort fee) in the celebration area.

My bid was for $25 a night so with taxes and fees I paid $40 a night with priceline.

I then had a resort fee to pay as well parking fees for our park days. All told, six nights cost me just less than $350 for lodgings and parking.

A SIGNIFICANT savings over the $645 I would have paid for six nights at POP.

Having said that...I'm not sure I would do it again!