staying onsite vs staying offsite

[alicia1506]

so we are planning a trip to DLR in dec... we will be there for nov 4 - nov 11. and so we come to the inevitable dilemma of staying on site vs offsite.

last year we stayed at Desert Inn & Suites, which is literally across the road from the DLR entrance, and we were never more than 5 mins from the DLR entrance. we vowed that for our next trip, we'd stay at the DLH in one of the nice new rooms, and since we can then walk to DTD and catch the monorail into the parks, it's really not much further away. or we could just walk it...

so we got price quotes. $680.00 for staying across the street. $2800 for staying at the DLH.

and thats when it hit me... i truly can't decide between the 2. on the one hand, if we stay at DI&S, we save like... $2200 which we can use to spend up big in the parks, and on the cruise and so on... if we stay at the DLH, we get to stay in nicer accomodations, get to put a check against 'staying onsite at least once' on our to-do list.. and we get to be nice & close to the action in both locations.

decisions, decisions... so i'm asking for thoughts/opinions for/against staying on-site vs off-site...

 

[Kangarucci]

If you would like to stay on site, have you thought about buying one Annual Pass for the hotel discount and other benefits? We did this once and it worked out well.

 

[Anne_Aus]

I would stay offsite, since I would hardly be in my room and it is so close anyway. The savings are just too large to overlook.

Edited to add that the $2000 saving is also nearly another return flight each

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alicia - At Anaheim, I've never even bothered to stay on site. I would if I had a really cheap deal at the DL hotels; but really, with the other options so close by, it is hard to justify the extra $$$ spend when the money could be allocated on other things like shopping . I appreciate that this is a very PERSONAL viewpoint as there are quite a few of the other DisAussies here that choose to stay at the DLR hotels.

If it were Orlando, my personal preference is the complete opposite. I would choose to stay on-site.

 

[aussietravellers]

Well I am one that always loves to stay onsite. I just love being emmersed in the whole Disney experience, I like being able to charge back to the room, have parcels delivered, being able to use EMH.

That being said. DLH is probably not that much closer than DI&S. The monorail, you still have to queue, then take the ride and you often don't beat the power walkers who stride it out from the front gate or those who have been in having breakfast at Plaza Inn. If you have stayed at DI&S before and you like it there and to save $2000 I would go with that. If it was only a couple of hundred difference I'd say pay the extra, but a $2000 difference is a big difference.

As mentioned, there are discounts available for annual passes, which also give you discounts on food and merchandise which comes in handy. Our AP's paid for themselves with the hotel, food and merchandise discounts we got. But if you are not there for long, they may not be worth it.
Also Disney does bring out specials. We had a stay 7 nights for the price of 4 once, that was an amazing saving. So it's possible you may get a special too which could bring down the $2000 difference too.

 

[Aust]

Our first trip I was looking at offsite hotels, byt my husband said we're paying so much in airfare and going so far away, why don't we just stay at the DLH for the experience - so we did. And last January when I went with my sister and niece we booked offsite, then a good deal came up for GCH, so we cancelled the offsite booking. For this year now I am spoilt and even though I kinow I could save money I don't want to stay offsite, so we are going with the PAradise Pier.

here's an idea - book an offsite hotel, making sure it's a fully refundable booking - then keep an eye on the DL website about 3 months before your trip, when the specials for that time period come out. If the new price is more within budget, book it then cancel the original.

Or - when I rang to book PPH - I have bought an AP (only for me, for the discounts) - I got 10% off but the CM said to ring back if/when the specials come out for the date and she'll change the rate of my booking. The risk with that is if they don't end up having specials for that time. I'm willing to pay the price I booked at but a discount would be a nice bonus.

Agree that the walk from the DLH is surprisingly long. The walk from GCH is great, and I believe PPH is slightly shorter than DLH if you cut through the GCH lobby.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Could not agree more with PIO. Spot on. Like her, we have never stayed on-site at Anaheim due to the closeness of the majority of the "off-site" hotels (our regular choice being Best Western Stovalls), but we always stay on-site at WDW.
Even as a DVC member, it is a struggle to justify the points usage at Grand Californian when we can stay at Stovalls for under $100 a night with breakfast included.
And $2000+ is a bloody decent amount of money in anyone's language. From our point of view, it would be unjustified to spend it on Disney accommodation when there are a plethora of other options available.
Last thought. If you want to cross off staying at a Disney hotel from your bucket list, then why don't you do it for a couple of nights, and then transfer to an off-site cheaper hotel for the rest of your stay? For the inconvenience of throwing your stuff in a taxi for a 5 minute cab ride, it may be well and truly worth it.
Enjoy your trip!!

 

[alicia1506]

i am kinda thinking of a split stay at this point. even with the quotes for annual pass discounts, there is still a significant price difference ($1500) between DI&S and DLH. I am therfore thinking that we could split that and stay offsite for the first few days across the street at DI&S and then spend our last 2 nights on-site. as mentioned by previous posters, it's a small cab ride away, and that way we get the luxury and cachet of 'on-site' hotel stay, without the full hit to the wallet that a longer stay would entail.

so it's looking like 4 or 5 nights at DI&S and 2 or 3 nights at DLH. I think carlo has his heart set on DLH due to the renovated rooms & the headboard that lights up & plays songs (i swear, he loves anything that lights up & plays songs). not much of a stretch to the budget for 2 or 3 nights only (versus the original 10 night stay) and we get to relax in a little luxury for our last few nights in the states.

geez, the DIS has helped me plan most of my trip already, and it's still 10 months away... what to do with my time til then?

 

[aussietravellers]

i am kinda thinking of a split stay at this point. even with the quotes for annual pass discounts, there is still a significant price difference ($1500) between DI&S and DLH. I am therfore thinking that we could split that and stay offsite for the first few days across the street at DI&S and then spend our last 2 nights on-site. as mentioned by previous posters, it's a small cab ride away, and that way we get the luxury and cachet of 'on-site' hotel stay, without the full hit to the wallet that a longer stay would entail.

so it's looking like 4 or 5 nights at DI&S and 2 or 3 nights at DLH. I think carlo has his heart set on DLH due to the renovated rooms & the headboard that lights up & plays songs (i swear, he loves anything that lights up & plays songs). not much of a stretch to the budget for 2 or 3 nights only (versus the original 10 night stay) and we get to relax in a little luxury for our last few nights in the states.

geez, the DIS has helped me plan most of my trip already, and it's still 10 months away... what to do with my time til then?

That sounds like a fabulous plan! With it being 10 months out too, Disney may still bring out some good discounts on your DLH room in the couple of months leading up to your trip (I'll keep my fingers crossed for you) and you will get a good deal on your few nights at DLH. Staying offsite is fine and with the hotels being so close around Disney and can be just as close or closer than some of the DL hotels, but staying onsite is special and it is great staying onsite. Doing a split stay you will have the best of both worlds

 

[Mum from oz]

I'm all for off site but that is mostly for the savings I make and the S P A C E! I like to stretch out and hate staying in a hotel room. But that being said I would love to stay onsite one time for the whole immersive experience. I think for you guys a split stay sound perfect!

 

[frangipanisam]

That's the problem we had when looking into our trip. We want to see DL done up for Halloween and do Mickey's trick or treat party so we're staying at PP for two nights (29 & 30/10) for the whole Disney experience, then moving onto Hollywood for a few nights.

Then coming back to Anaheim at the end (4-13/11) to finish off Disney and hopefully see Christmas Disney on our last day but we will be staying at Howard Johnson's because it's been highly recommended for offsite accommodation.

Btw so happy to accidentally find this website too bad it wasn't 18 months ago when I first started planning!

 

[alicia1506]

That's the problem we had when looking into our trip. We want to see DL done up for Halloween and do Mickey's trick or treat party so we're staying at PP for two nights (29 & 30/10) for the whole Disney experience, then moving onto Hollywood for a few nights.

Then coming back to Anaheim at the end (4-13/11) to finish off Disney and hopefully see Christmas Disney on our last day but we will be staying at Howard Johnson's because it's been highly recommended for offsite accommodation.

Btw so happy to accidentally find this website too bad it wasn't 18 months ago when I first started planning!

we went to disneyland last year from nov 6-8 and we saw some halloween decs up on the 6th, but by the morning of 7th, all halloween decs were down and xmas decs were up, including new flowers in the mickey lawn in front of the train station, and the giant tree was up with lights in the middle of main street. it was amazing. they were also taping part of the xmas tv special while we were there on the 7th and 8th and that was just lovely to see.

i hope you get to see the best of both worlds at disney... we wanted to do that as well... see the halloween party and then go off to do the rest of the trip and come back for xmas decorations & celebrations, but we just couldn't swing it.. so we're now going to be there for dec 4-11 and get to see a lot of the really great xmas celebration stuff.

 

[frangipanisam]

Great to hear people have seen the decorations up that early I'm hoping that the Christmas parade starts by the 12th!

That's our last day and we'll be flying out at 10.20pm that night so we're probably going to have to leave the park about 4-4.30 to allow time to check out, get across to LAX in traffic and check in with plenty of time to spare =)

no biggy if I miss the parade, great excuse to badger someone into organising another trip with me another year in Dec

 

[aussietravellers]

Looks like there will be a few Aussies at DL in December, maybe an Aussie Dismeet may be in order

That's our last day and we'll be flying out at 10.20pm that night so we're probably going to have to leave the park about 4-4.30 to allow time to check out, get across to LAX in traffic and check in with plenty of time to spare =)

We left the hotel (GCH) at about 6pm on the Disneyland Express for our 10 something pm flight. Made it in plenty of time

 

[frangipanisam]

ohh thats great to hear! My cousins have done DL a fair bit with organising high school band trips in the last 10ish years and he kind of freaked me out with LA traffic and getting to LAX in time...

I told him we were aiming to leave by 6.30 at the lastest and he was like hmmm how about 4.30-5? just in case...but if others have done it, allows more time in case the parade is on around 5 I feel sooo sorry for my gf's dealing with me on the Disney leg of our trip

Also, we were planning on paying for accommodation (at Hojo's) for the 12th even though we're leaving just so at the end of a full day at DL we can go back to the room, have a quick shower & clean up for the 15odd hour flight home, silly or a good idea if we don't mind paying for the room when we're not staying?

 

[aussietravellers]

Also, we were planning on paying for accommodation (at Hojo's) for the 12th even though we're leaving just so at the end of a full day at DL we can go back to the room, have a quick shower & clean up for the 15odd hour flight home, silly or a good idea if we don't mind paying for the room when we're not staying?

That's exactly what we do! Always with a late flight. So nice being able to have a last minute shower and feel all clean and refreshed. Actually we do it at the other end too. If we have an early morning arrival flight, like 6 am. We actually book and pay for the night before so our room is ready when we arrive at the hotel about 7.30am and we can shower, refresh and if we need, have a nap.

I believe HoJo actually does a day rate, until about 6pm. It's not as much as the full night rate. When you book see if they can do that at the time of booking to guarantee the room. Some places won't do the day rate on booking and will only do it on the day of check out if they are not full. If that's the case then we book the whole night so we get the room, but if we can book the day rate for our last day then we do that instead.

 

[frangipanisam]

That's exactly what we do! Always with a late flight. So nice being able to have a last minute shower and feel all clean and refreshed.

Nice to know people who do the same thing, most people I say that to look at me funny and say why waste your money? umm to feel refreshed?!

This board will get me through my last 6 months of uni organising the trip has gotten through the last year (in which I squeezed an extra 6 months on units to finish July this year instead of Dec, just to see Halloween DL ) now that it's almost booked, I'll need something to get me away from uni!

So many great tips for first time DL'ers

 

[aussietravellers]

Nice to know people who do the same thing, most people I say that to look at me funny and say why waste your money? umm to feel refreshed?!

Oh gosh! It is not funny at all. I have grown up doing that. All my family gets the room the night before arrival if they arrive early and if it's a late departure, then they get the room for that night too so they can go straight from the room to the airport. It's quite normal for me

 

[alicia1506]

I wish Desert Inn & Suites would let us do this... we're flying in from chicago as part of our 2012 usa trip and it would be nice to at least unpack a little before heading off to the parks...

unfortunately their policy is that if you book a day/night, then you have to check in before midnight or they will cancel your whole reservation...

so if we booked and paid for the night of 3rd dec, then checked in at 8am on 4th dec, we could very well find ourselves with a cancelled reservation and no place to sleep

 

[marvel]

we have stayed both at the GCH and offsite, and although we loved the GCH, there is no way that we could justify paying 3x the amount at the GCH compared to offsite anymore, which it usually is. The rooms are small, and the difference in walking etc is neglible.

And you can always justify spending the $2000 on something else, cause you just saved $2000 on the rooms, that's my Disney accounting at play !