The great on site vs. off property debate

[LoriO]

I have stayed at the Poly and would never stay off site now. Try to get the Poly!

 

[POLY1985]

I have never stayed off site and never will. To me, part of the whole Disney experience is staying there. I know I could save tons of money by staying outside but it wouldn't be the same.

 

[BeckWhy]

I like to stay onsite. I like the idea of having to arrive and not worry about anything except what souvies to buy. All the transportation is provided, you can get almost any type of cuisine to eat, and there are endless activities to do.

 

[maddhatir]

i have done both. It is just DH and I.

the great thing about staying on-site is also that fact that you can get the dining plan, i believe that saves money for DH and I. food is expensive in Disney (we like to dine at the nicer restaurants) and we make out quite well.

so.....we either stay off-site and eat burgers b/c we are on a food budget OR stay on-site at a value b/c we are on a hotel budget and eat at the nice restaurants.....i will choose the latter.

 

[Cruelladeville]

We have stayed at all Disney's hotels, and prefer staying on-site most of the time. However, 1 trip per year we stay at a Marriott timeshare resort, which has been wonderful, too. Everything is clean, up to date, and they have several very large pools, and it's a nice relaxing vacation when you want to get away from the Disney circus.

 

[MiaSRN62]

We do both.......offsite at our Vistana timeshare. It's a beautiful resort with plenty to do and dining onsite. Only a 10 min car drive to the parks. I can actually get to the parks faster than using disney transportation. We enjoy a spacious 2 bedroom/2 bath villa, full kitchen, jacuzzi, balcony etc. Vistana is very close to WDW----actually have gotten views of DD from our balconies.

But, we also love our DVC. We usually mix and match our vacations to include a stay at both. It is more "magical" staying on property, but the offsite is great too because we venture off to visit a couple sets of relatives that live nearby, visit Uni and Sea World......so we sort of feel we have the best of both worlds when we vacation.

 

[Mom to a Princess]

The very first time I went to WDW I stayed offsite. Once I had statyed on site there was no going back for me. Now that it is just dd (5) and I, I will continue to stay on site realizing that for the length of our vacation her meals will not be the best - but it is vacation after all. I like taking a vacation from all the cooking and cleaning! Plus the magic is more real for us on site.

 

[DisneyDadof3]

I would vote for off-site for the following:

a) drastically more room for your $$$.
b) can get suites (for price of all-star resorts where everyone crowds in together) 2-3 bedrooms, full kitchen, and living room to separate adults from children
c) not limited to disney food - get to eat at local establishments
d) pool time is more relaxed

My opinions only, but I enjoy being able to put the kids to bed and have some time with the wife without looking 3 feet over at our kids and worrying if our conversation is keeping them awake.

We have never cooked offsite and we don't clean anymore than we would onsite.

 

[JPN4265]

I agree with your husband. If we had to stay off site, we wouldn't go to WDW.

 

[eliza61]

For me it is always on-site. We tried off-site 1 time and it just did not have the same "magic" and since we go in the heat of the summer I really love being able to hop back to my resort hotel and "chill- out". My DH & I will scrimp and save throug out the year if money is an issue (and when is it not?) but we never accomadations are never triffled with. It's on-site or save up more!

 

[MiaSRN62]

We have never cooked offsite and we don't clean anymore than we would onsite.

I'm with ya on this DisneyDadof3. It's sort of assumed that if you stay offsite in a timeshare villa that you're going to actually use the kitchen
We usually only use it for a quick breakfast and maybe a late night snack. We eat just as much out staying at a timeshare as we would staying onsite. As for cleaning---I also feel the same. Now we do enjoy having the washer/dryer in the villa because I despise bringing home a ton of dirty clothes that need washing. Usually I like a day or two to just unwind from the vacation before I need to go back to work. Even if I stay at a wdw hotel, I end taking my laundry to the public washers/dryers at the resort (which means carting down the stairs/elevator to the pool area). Having one right in the villa is just luxury to me (whether I use it or not !)

 

[Goobergal99]

I was too young to remember when we stayed offsite but my mom says she would never stay offsite again. I just think it would take away the magic to stay off site so it's on or none for us. DH has only been to Disney with me and even though he doesn't know any better, he has said he wouldn't want to go if we couldn't stay on property even if it means going back to a value again

 

[BeckWhy]

I will also add that there are great benefits of staying off site also. For example hotel rooms can be cheaper. For example we had a family of 7 so we would either have to get two rooms or a suite. We got a suite at one hotel (I can't remember which one, my dad does though) for like $40 a night. Not to mention it has a full continental breakfast. And I'm not talking just donuts. You could even get eggs and bacon.

 

[tlcintheberry]

There is no comparison, on site is the only way for us.

 

[mickeymousemom]

We own a timeshare thru BlueGreen and when we first visited Orlando as a family(I had been several times before) this is what we used...or we went thru RCI and stayed elsewhere. The condos we stay in are always very nice two bedroom two bath condos and it was always cheaper because we used the points we had paid for. I finally got DH to stay onsite in Dec. 2004 and now, as a family, we refuse to stay offsite. It's just not the same. Dh and I took a quick trip down with our 2yo in Feb. and we stayed at The Fountains...it was gorgeous, but it just didn't feel right. I do like the fact that we have the timeshare, because we know if something came up and we couldn't afford to stay onsite, we could use our points and stay in a condo. But...nothing can compare to getting the FULL dose of magic and staying at a WDW resort!

 

[byoung]

On site is the way to go.

 

[bozley0621]

Hubbs and I just gor back on May 15th. I'm still so depressed at being home. This was the first time at WDW for both of us. We stayed at POFQ. I absolutely loved it. We did visit the SOG. We figured we'd check it out for the next time we went. This trip was long and we did lots of fun stuff. I don't plan to spend as much on the next trip. Anyhoo, the SOG was a nice hotel overall, but it wasn't Disney. The decor seemed bare. None of the restaraunts were open at 3:00 on a Friday afternoon. All of the times at the hotel were in military time. The ambiance and magic just weren't there. Even the busses given to the SOG were less than mediocre. We rode 2 SOG busses, neither of which had A/C...I can't imagine what families do on the busses in the summer.

My long drawn out point is that the SOG is supposed to be a less expensive alternative for military families, yet still have the Disney magic and benefits (transportation and EMH) that the other Disney hotels offer. This was not the feeling that I got when I visited for an hour! If I felt like this at the SOG after an hour, I think I would cry myself to sleep every night if I had to stay completely off site.

On another note, why do all civilians establishments and services that cator to the military think that we want to see red, white, and blue and other military related things everywhere we go. I could also due without the patriotic Mickey in the SOG lobby. I understand the gesture....but in my experience, when the military families go on vacation, they don't want to be reminded of their military life back home....we go on vacation to get away from it. So yes, this means that I want the hotel to say 3 p.m., not 1500.

 

[sticker231]

we have a timeshare so we stay off-site. We have two weeks, one hree bedroom and one two bedroom. We have a huge whirlpool tub, kingsize bed, and can watch the fireworks from our balcony. We thought about DVC but were able to but our two weeks on resale for half the cost of what we were thinking about buy in DVC. It works for us, in the end you have to do what works in your situation.

 

[katytrott]

I have done both off and on. My family prefer off, but me being the disney freak, like both. A few years ago, we stayed at POR. I loved the theming etc and the feeling of being "inside disney", however I just could not stand listening to snoring all night, being crampt in one room and hearing noises all round our room. I hardly slept a wink. The magic was lost instantly with me.

Our next trip will be with our DS2 and I can not imagine anything worse than putting him to bed in the same room as we will spend the rest of the evening.

Our last trip was offsite in a beautiful 4 bedroom villa in Kissimee that cost less than staying in all star resort. We felt right on the doorstep of WDW and It was definetely quicker geeting to the parks then when we were onsite. We had our own pool, bedroom, living, dining space and that was worth sacrificing the odd perk onsite.
I guess weighing it up I prefer off

 

[katytrott]

Incidently, we live 3 hours drive (channel tunel included) from Disneyland Paris and only stay on there. Holidays there from the UK tend to be a long weekend, so it never seems so bad putting up with the lack of sleep. Even from the furthest hotel it is only a 10 min walk to the parks and it is a really nice stroll along the side of a river. I have to admit it does feel wonderful to leave the disney parks and stroll back to the disney hotel then, even if the hotels are some what plasticky compared to WDW.