Tell Me about Staying Offsite

[Andrea73]

Honestly, from the start, I have been focused on staying on site. We are currently booked at the POP. This is our 1st family trip.

The #1 reason I am re-considering is comfort. The thought of spending 7 nights sleeping in a shared full bed when I am used to a king at home is not reassuring. I am pooh sized (hopefully less pooh by Nov!) and full sized beds are pretty small IMO.

The thought of 4 of us in 260 SF for 7 nights....well, it's not a happy one.

Looking at the pics of rooms at places like Buena Vista are REALLY making me re-think things.

What should I know? How bad is parking? Will I really miss not having EMH's? What extra costs will I incur off site that I would not have had onsite?

4 of my days are predicted to be "10"'s. Does it make staying off site and dealing with traffic seem totally crazy?

Please school me as this is not something I have even considered until now.

 

[mrzrich]

Seeing as it is your first trip, and you are coming the week of Thanksgiving, I actually think you may want to stick with onsite.

I wound just watch the codes forum on these boards for discounts and look for larger accomadations like a family suite at ASmu, a FW Cabin, or a Deluxe room with a great rate.

 

[Cruz91]

We are much like you in that we want our space to spread out. We have never stayed onsite, so I don't have a comparison. All I CAN say is that in all of our offsite trips, we have always had an amazing time.

The truth is I can leave any of the parks, get to my car, and get to my condo within about the same amount of time (10 - 20 minutes, depending on how far out I park and traffic). I would say that's on-par with how long it takes most folks to get back to their resort rooms. In busy times, when onsite people have to wait longer for busses, you could probably get to the condo faster. We typically stay at Windsor Hills, but leave tomorrow for a trip staying in Windsor Palms.

The one last thought I have - I am a firm believer that for every minute you put into your vacation planning you will save 5 minutes when you're in the park.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Disney resorts offer you the chance to live WDW 24/7. It is a fun experience.

Off-site offer you more comfort and perks such as free internet/breakfast in most cases. I've had a excellent vacations off-site too, just it was not total Disney.

You will have to decide if you want the full Disney imersion or the comfort. Seeing that you are staying at a Value resort and you are worried about comfort you may want to choose off-site.

 

[Purseval]

Staying offsite during Thanksgiving isn't a problem, in fact it's better because the WDW resorts are packed. As long as you get to the parks before the rope drop you will be fine. Even if they close the parks to new visitors (I've seen it happen many times during busy seasons) once you are in you can come and go as you please. Don't fall for that "immerse yourself in the magic" BS, it's about as much fun as the NY subway system during rush hour.

 

[mousetravel]

We have always stayed offsite, and we love it. Never had problems with parking. The only extra fee you will incur is the cost of parking at the parks, which is $14. I like the convenience of my own car anyway, because it's there in case we need to go back & forth for needed for things such as jackets, snacks, etc. and not have to lug things around the park all day. We always stay in one park from open to close, so we're only in the room for sleeping and showering. I just don't see paying the extra cost for a room we're hardly in.

We go during spring break, with crowd levels of 9, and never had a traffic problem.

A lot of offsite hotels have micro & fridge, so you can have meals in your room, which also saves money.

We always go "budget minded" and that's our main reason for offsite, so if you're looking to save a little money, and will be in the parks most of your day, I'd go with offsite.

 

[Brian Noble]

Having done both---including offsite stays during President's Week and Peak summer---my experience is that the difference between onsite and off in terms of overall experience is relatively modest. In fact, we found our first onsite stay in an Old Key West villa (after three offsite visits) to be a little "anticipointing". It was perfectly fine, but didn't really live up to the hype for us. I also do not consider four people in a hotel room to be a vacation. Other people have different impressions of the difference, and are more able to tolerate such "togetherness". You won't really know how you react to it until you try it.

Some caveats: we've never yet attended an EMH even when staying onsite. We always drive ourselves almost everywhere. So, the two big "perks"---extra time in the parks and transportation---aren't a big deal to us.

 

[Andrea73]

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to keep staying offsite as an option. Especially if for some reason there are no onsite discounts in the fall. Last night my 4 year old had an accident in the bed and I put her in our bed. Having her bony knees in my back was another reminder why sharing full sized beds does not seem like "family fun"!

 

[toverly]

I am an avid off site person. I grew up staying onsite, that was my mom's preference. She liked parking the car and never getting in it till we leave. But, I love getting away from Disney at the end of the day. So that's what we do. But if I was going Thanksgiving weekend, I would stay on property. The park is swarmed so you may have an advantage of longer or early hours.

 

[Brian Noble]

I should add that I do still stay onsite---we have a week in July in a 2BR in VWL---but only when I can get an exchange with one of our timeshares. But, when that is not an option, I'd rather stay offsite in a condo than onsite in a hotel room of comparable price, and don't think the DVC units are worth enough to my family to justify what they rent for.

 

[bdink921]

I agree with the poster who said 'it's all about your preferences'. We've done both and prefer onsite for a few reasons. DH can only take so much of the parks and likes to go back to the resort to chill out, meeting up with us later on. The Disney transportation is great for this. We found when we stayed at Windsor Hills (which was beautiful and spacious) that we all had to come and go at the same time. Sure, we could've used cabs but that would add up over the course of a week. So, DS and I would have loved to stay later or go earlier to the parks but it didn't work out like that. It was a bummer . We stayed onsite last summer before our cruise for a couple of days and DS and I wanted to ride TSM--DH wanted to sleep in, so we headed off to DHS for opening, did a few things and then went back to the resort to meet up with DH. It was great. Another thing is that we love EMH--the mornings. It just seems as though we see so much more and I've never found them to be crowded (we've never done pm EMH). I also love the 24/7 Disney and the hustle and bustle of the Disney resorts.

Things I liked about offsite: well, there was so much space, separate bedrooms, a coffee pot, 3 bathrooms, and a washer/dryer--nice. The resort was quiet. It was nice to have a car to go to different restaurants--more easily accessible options. Driving to the parks was easy and if getting there early in the day the parking was ok--no problem. Hopping to a different park is mixed--sometimes we waited in line and sometimes not. It's that way with the buses too though--sometimes they're right there and sometimes you have to wait.

For us, we prefer onsite--it suits our vacation style and makes everyone happy (we don't mind the smaller beds ). We have stayed at POP--very cute and clean. Good luck with your decision and have a great vacation!!

 

[dd50]

Last year was the first time that we stayed on site and that was in a value. This time we are staying in a value again because I have teens and if I want to go back I can without having to go pick them up. I am also meeting my grown daughter with my grandchildren so at times they want to go back. It is saving her money also because she doesn't have to rent a car.

Next year if I go back I will probably stay offsite as you get so much more room. Did I mention that those values are really small.

 

[dyna]

We have done both onsite an offsite at 1 time you could not have talked me into going offsite but now that we have done it a few times we really prefer offsite whichis really kinda strange sense it is just dh an I now.

We can not tolerate hotel room for more than 1 night stays we all over each other trying to get ready in the am only 1 shower an toliet etc no place to be while the other is getting ready.

We too usually stay at Windsor Hills an leaving at park closing taking tram out to our transportation sometimes harley sometimes car depending on trip is much less stressful that standing in line waiting for resort cattle car an we back at our condo usually within 20 mins of park closing 30 mins for MK or little longer an that might include stopping for gas.

We enjoy me cooking a quick breakfast to get us started each day rather than cold bowl of cereal in resort room at disney. We have at least 2 bedrroms 2 baths I put my stuff in 2nd bedroom dress in there an use 2nd bath to shower an get ready dh uses master we both got our space n we much much happier ppl.

We enjoy our privare balcony that we never had at disney because we was always in budget resort.

Best of all my condo at windsor hills costs a little less than value resort room over at disney. WE LOVE the washer an dryer never need more than 3 changes of clothes now so much much less packing.

Windsor hills is quieter more relaxing over all....

There are other close resorts other than windsor hills as well ....