Talk me into staying off site

[Klinepartyof5]

OK...DH and I cannot make up are minds! Stay in 2 rooms at the POP with DDP or stay in a resort/condo offsite.

Here is the crew:
Me
DH
DS13
DS9
DD8
DD5

We do know that we are gonna go for 7 days MYW base tickets.
We are not the "hopper" types.

But we cannot decide where we want to stay. Staying off site will be 1/2 the price, but will we lose the disney feel????

Plus if we get the dining plan (staying onsite) we know the upfront cost of food.

UGH!!!!! We cannot decide. Anyone care to offer up any advice or experiences staying offsite vs onsite.
As you can see we have done both on/offsite...just need someone to help sway me to make a decision.

1996 Honeymoon Polyneisan
1999 Offsite
2001 Offsite
2003 ASMovies
2004 Wilderness Lodge
2005 Carribean Beach
2009 Cornado Springs

 

[dioxide45]

You will get a lot of pro off site responses here.

You have stayed off site before according to your signature, while it has been a while, what did you think of it then?

We personally like staying off site. For a group of your size a 3BR townhome or timeshare condo would be ideal. They can be had very cheap for a fraction of what you will pay for two onsite rooms in a value.

While with the dining plan you will know your food costs upfront, you will likely still come out ahead by dining off site and eating breakfast and snacks at the townhome/condo.

 

[4forMe]

We've done offsite 3 times and decided to stay onsite at Bay Lake Towers for our last trip. Though we loved the location and amenities, the 2 BR still felt too small for our family, especially after staying at a 4 BR pool home in Windsor Hills our previous trip. Our next trip in March we are returning to Windsor Hills.

Transportation to the parks is really not that big of a deal from the communities near Disney. If you go on the transportation board, you can find codes for great car deals. I am renting a minivan for 8 days this March for under $300 from a code I found on that board.

The main advantage to us in staying offsite is that we all go to bed at different times. By staying in a pool home, my oldest can easily go to bed an 1 plus later than my youngest. My DH also prefers a King size bed which is standard in many of the offsite units.

Here is a prior thread that also discusses the pros and cons of onsite vs. offsite:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2526932&highlight=onsite+offsite

 

[blondietink]

We stay on-site at different times, either resort or DVC, off-site at other times in a timeshare. We honestly can't say we like one so much over the other. However, I will say that we love DVC or timeshare over a regular hotel room. We are a family of 4, two adults and 2 teenagers. Need I say more? We save a lot of money by eating meals in our resort or timeshare as we use the kitchen for breakfast and one other meal every day.

We always have a car, either our own or a rental. Last time we stayed at Sheraton Vistana Villages, kept track of our mileage and actually drove the same amount of miles for our week at WDW as we did the previous time staying on-site. The only time we use Disney transportation is if we are on-site and going to MK. We also were able to make it back to our resort usually in 10 - 15 minutes, about the same time, or less, as a bus would take to an on-site hotel when you consider the time spent waiting for a bus.

 

[solpo]

Our last stay, we spent 9 nights onsite (AKL club) and 2 nights offsite (Hyatt Grand Cypress). With all of our discounts plus the cost of valet parking, AKL cost us right around $300 a night. Thanks to priceline, the Grand Cypress cost us $135 a night, including valet parking, resort fee and taxes ($85 bid). They even gave us champagne at check-in.

Our room at the Grand Cypress was at least 50% larger. The sheets were comfier. The shower was way better. The TV had more channels. The soap had little massage nubbies, and the shower was just amazing. The TP was better, too.

We were also practically across the street from Giordano's which has some of the best pizza you'll ever eat. (and I'm usually a thin-crust kind of guy)

If you're all about hotel comfort, offsite's a no-brainer. You get way more room and way more amenities for way less money, if you're smart about how you book the room.

If you're about Disney experience, though, you'd do better on property.

I can't convince you either way. I can just lay out the pros and cons.

Where do I fall? Our next stay will be 8 nights on-property.

 

[isla bonita]

I think it is something you need to experince because you want to and can not be convinced.

Off site is not for all that is for sure.

 

[CruellaDuVille]

Make the kids happy and stay on property.

 

[crusoe2]

One thing you might want to consider is the possibility, however remote, that your 2 rooms at Pop are not together. I know that most of the time people DO get their 2 rooms together when it's a family that exceeds occupancy for one room. But I have heard of parents having to split up - one parent in one room with a couple of the kids and the other in another room with the rest of family - because Disney could not accommodate them with side-by-side rooms with a connecting door. It wouldn't be the end of the world or anything but it might be awfully inconvenient. If you really want to do onsite, you might consider the family suites at All Star Music. That way you know for sure that you'll all be in the same room plus you get a microwave and fridge. I think it costs a bit more than 2 standard rooms but I don't think it's a huge amount.

As for whether to do off site or on - I am always so indecisive on this. On the one hand, I like staying onsite because we can split up and there is a food court where everyone can go ahead and get whatever they want to eat instead of waiting till we've all agreed on one restaurant (this is always a hassle with DD). I also like all the activities around the resort. Our offsite experiences have been at Windsor Hills and, besides the pool and playground, we haven't found much to do there but hang out at the condo. And since we're offsite, if anyone reaches the point that they've just got to go back and rest, we all have to go back. So onsite definitely has some good points.

On the other hand, we've stayed in condos a couple times and we've booked a 3 bedroom townhouse for our next trip. We like having a fully stocked kitchen at our fingertips, being able to so easily do laundry if we need it, and the extra televisions and bathrooms are a godsend. We also usually need or want to go online at some point during the week and it's nice not having to pay extra for I'net like we do at Disney. We're also really looking forward to being able to park right outside our front door and having our own pool right outside the back door. Much nicer than having to hike from the bus stop to the room and possibly having another hike from the room to the pool.

 

[brucerob62]

If you have money to waste...stay ONSITE!!..if not stay off.. I look on ebay or homeaway.com...stayed in 3 bd home..10 minutes away..for $600 during xmas week..9 nites...couldnt beat it..all the room..and the disney decor..was in the house from the owner...highly recommend..this site..use it all the time..never dissapointed..Theres always those who stay onsite..and wouldnt do it any other way..no matter what you decide..take your car ....DW transportation..takes time..too much for me...I have other ways to waste my time..Buy food.and brought some with us...saved tons of money..the whole trip with tix for 4 days..gas ..food.. lodging..souvenirs..family of 4..$3000 for 9 nites..cant beat it..have fun no matter what you do

 

[Klinepartyof5]

Thanks everyone for the advice. You guys came up somethings I haven't thought of!

 

[swilshire]

Make the kids happy and stay on property.

I was going to say make the kids happy and stay off site. Kids that age hate sleeping together. A 2 or 3 br condo would give you more beds, maybe more bathrooms and definitely more tvs. The fridge for midnight snacks or breakfast will save you tons on food.

Having a washer and dryer is a biggie for me. I hate coming home from vacation and spending days doing laundry. In a condo, I throw in a load when I get up in the morning and sometimes another while we have dinner at night. We pack a third of the clothes we would otherwise and it's no burden at all to do it through the week. If you're paying baggage charges, that would be a big savings.

The dining plan is too much food and too expensive for small kids. It might be OK if you split the reservation and only got it for the two adults in one room. Two or three on the dining plan would easily feed the whole family unless they eat a LOT.

Sheila

 

[crusoe2]

I was thinking the same thing about the kids liking offsite better. Both my kids do - especially the 8yo. She LOVES Windsor Hills. As a matter of fact, we were discussing whether to stick with our townhouse ressie or take advantage of the current room only discount at the Disney resorts and she would rather do the townhouse. It has a Disney-themed room for her and her own bathroom (she has to share with her brother at home) and a pool right out the back door. What's not to love, huh? DS kind of likes the idea of onsite cause he gets more freedom that way but he's cool with offsite too since he gets his own room and his own television and can take his laptop and use the free wireless to stay in touch with his friends.

 

[Brian Noble]

Staying off site will be 1/2 the price, but will we lose the disney feel????

A little bit. You'll have to drive yourself back and forth to the parks. That drive probably has you passing under the "See You Real Soon" signs each night. You probably won't have Stacy on TV. But, only you can decide how much those things are worth to you. My experience: the kids mostly don't care about all that much about "magic", but the parents tend to care more.

And, my DS10 and DD12 would rather poke their eyes out with a sharp stick than share a bed. YMMV.

Plus if we get the dining plan (staying onsite) we know the upfront cost of food.

This is true. On the other hand, I have never---not once---spent as much out of pocket just eating what, where, and when I wanted as the appropriate dining plan would have cost. Usually, that's because we don't quite average exactly one Disney TS meals per day. We're usually a little under that, and sometimes a little over that. When we are a little under, DDP is a little more expensive. When we are a little over, DxDDP is *much* more expensive. Once, we had exactly the "right" number of meals, and DDP would have been about break-even.

However, you should also consider the daily cost of theme park parking ($14), plus if you are flying, the cost of a rental car. That can eat up some of the difference between onsite and off.

I've had about half my trips onsite, and about half off. I do find the onsite stays a little more pleasant and would pay a little more for them---but we *always* stay in DVC villas if we are onsite, so the "room" is usually comparable to what most people have offsite: full kitchen, washer/dryer, separate bedrooms for kids and adults, and separate beds for the kids. If I were choosing between two hotel rooms and a condo offsite, I might take the condo even if the cost were identical.

Ultimately, though, different people react to being "outside the bubble" differently. You might not know how important it is to you until you try it. If you know you're going back someday, why not make this the time you give a condo/townhome/pool home a try and see if you like it. If you *aren't* going back for a long time, well, you probably won't be unhappy onsite.

 

[Pembo]

Last year we stayed off site for the first time. I was worried we'd lose the Disney feel, I'd hate having to drive to all the parks, I just wouldn't like it.

Our whole family LOVED it. My kids were 13, 11 and 7. We stayed in a condo at WH with 3 bedrooms and 4 tv's. The kids loved having the extra space and being able to have some alone time. The beds were much more comfy and being able to sit outside on my quiet little balcony to eat breakfast was awesome.

The drive to the parks was so much easier than the buses. There is a shortcut to the parks from WH and we never encountered much traffic. We are park opening people so we arrived early and got a close parking spot, even at the MK. We took our afternoon break and got an even better parking spot for the evening. I didn't mind the MK parking as much as I thought. In fact I liked taking the boat over in the morning. I have some awesome pictures.

One evening we decided to head to Epcot for Illuminations. We got there about 7:30, we were in row 2 for parking. Illum ended and we were back to the condo and watching tv by 10:00. We laughed when we realized we'd probably still be waiting for a bus.

As for food, we are cereal eaters for breakfast. We typically ate lunch in the parks, had our afternoon break, then ate dinner before heading back which was usually sandwiches. We picked up a frozen pizza at the grocery store. There is a small Winn Dixie very close to WH, right on the way back from Disney property. It was great to have lots of snacks and food in the condo. We made a big grocery run on the day we checked in and stopped maybe once or twice after that. To avoid having to carry cash in the parks, I got loaded up a gift card and used that to pay for meals and snacks in the park. Very convenient.

Our last trip onsite we stayed at POR, 5 in a room and moved to Ft Wilderness cabins for the last 2 nights. The cabin is bigger than the room but we were still tight.

Staying in the condo and going to Disney was a much more relaxing vacation than staying onsite. There was more space, more privacy, and less merchandising. Oh and if you pick WH, the pool slide is very nice and my kids like the store with the ice cream.

Either way, I think you'll be happy...

 

[DCbride]

We have done both- offsite at Windsor Hills 2x the rest all onsite.

The biggest thing for me is...while on this trip do I need a living room, a central place for everyone to hang out and will we use the kitchen at all? If the answer is no- then we stay on, if yes, then off.

There are many rentals in WH that have the kids rooms decorated in Disney, some very elaborate. The rental we stayed had 5 bedrooms and everything was Disney right down to the dishes. So some places you can keep the Disney feel. You seriously can not beat the cost as 3-5 bedrooms are all about the same price as a moderate.

Maybe focus on the homes in Windsor Hills and see if any of them appeal to you. It is very close and easy access to Disney.