Thinking of staying outside the park, or not getting the dining plan....

[JenDisFan02]

We are flying, so I don't know what a car rental involves. I'll have to look into that too

Thanks everyone!!!!

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

Our last trip we stayed offsite in a condo at Windsor Hills. We all agreed that unless we could afford a stay at a monorail resort where the convenience of hopping on and being at the park (we spend most of our time at MK and Epcot) would outweigh all being crammed into one room, we all preferred offsite. We drive, so we have our own transportation, and at the time I was an AP holder, so no parking fees. I did miss the EMH, but with decent planning that really wasn't too big of a problem as far as seeing what we wanted to see. The DDP used to be a decent value when 2 of our 3 kids were still considered kids and tips and appetizers were included, but once everyone was adult and tips were not included (didn't mind losing apps so much, too much food) it became not worth it, so that was no longer a consideration.

Yes, there is a bit of a loss of the 'magic' having to drive offsite and see the real world, but we stayed in a Disney-themed condo that was awesome, and the money we saved on food being able to eat a real breakfast before we left, sometimes coming back for an early dinner then going back to the park again, not to mention just the cost of the room made that loss of disney immersion totally worth it, at least to us. As far as transportation times, with the exception of MK because of having to take the ferry or monorail, from pulling out of the parking place at the condo to walking through the entrance turnstiles of whatever park was just as fast if not faster than walking to a bus stop, waiting for the bus, and then transportation time to the park, then walking from bus area to turnstiles coming from one of the moderate or value resorts.

This was 4yrs ago, prior to FP+, which I don't know a lot about, so that could be a game changer, I don't know, will have to research and really think about it once we are planning our next trip, but off the top of my head I can't think it can be that big of a deal that it's worth paying several times the cost of a week in the condo for far less space, especially now that all our kids are teenagers/20s.

 

[crisi]

If you have one annual pass, parking is free. I went to a conference and the conference hotel was offsite. I had a car, and was surprised at how easy having a car and staying offsite was. With the AP parking costs weren't a problem. The AP also got us a TIW card, which meant that I had a discount on all sit down meals, although on a budget trip, that isn't worth the cost of the card, you won't be doing a lot of sit down meals.

But I think you do need a car. So take car rental costs, parking costs, and figure out if the savings are worth it. Offsite makes it really easy to save on food as well, since you can grab dinner at a ton of much cheaper offsite restaurants, use coupons or restaurant.com certificates, and swing by a grocery store.

 

[eliza61]

Op,
mousesavers just announced a great deal on the Orlando Caribe Royal. I think it was some thing like $138 bucks a night for a 2 bedroom villa. villas have a complete kitchen, 2 bathrooms, in room washer/dryer and screened in balcony.

Heck, I'm thinking about grabbing this one for a quick trip since I have an annual pass.

 

[splah]

Off-site rocks....why cram 4 people into an overpriced hotel room, if you can spend a week in a 3BR townhouse or condo at Windsor hills for only about $500, get your own private pool (plus a nice community pool), a full kitchen...and plenty of space so you arent stepping on each other.

Yes, you will need a car....but its quicker for you to drive in most cases then it is to rely on disney buses....

Agreed. We did this last time and we were hesitant. Now I can't see doing it any other way.

As far as budgeting meals, I gave my bunch menus to all the places we were planning on eating. I asked them to tell me what they thought they might order. No commitments, no obligation. lol From there I figured how much plus tax and tip and rounded up. We bought gift cards for that. Downloaded the disney gift card app and labeled each card (Dining 1, Dining 2, etc). The waiters had no issue taking multiple cards to satisfy the ticket. The money was already spent so it was painless. We actually found this to be a very freeing experience. Where we would have stuck to TS/CS under the dining plan we found we would get a healthy "snack" (i.e. waffle sandwich from Sleepy Hollow) and a nice TS meal. DS commented that we were eating "so good" this trip and we actually spent less than the dining plan.

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

This will be our first time not doing the dining plan. I just felt like there was so much food that you felt obligated to order because you had already " paid" for it. We are still doing a character dining every day but one, but eating breakfast in the room almost every day but one, because honestly, we are not big breakfast eaters. So I will keep all the receipts and see how it all pans out!

 

[pjlla]

Just some quick thoughts.... I haven't read the other replies, so forgive me if I am repeating.

We stayed off-site twice when the kids were smaller. Both times at a Homewood Suites (no longer a HWS property ). We weren't worried about missing out on EMH because the kids were too little to stay up for all hours. I checked and rechecked and called and recalled and negotiated repeatedly to get a price that I was happy with (remember that this was several years ago AND off-season).

Because we had a suite it had a small kitchenette, plus the hotel offered free breakfasts and free "manager's reception" in the afternoon. We ate breakfast at the hotel EVERY DAY except when we had breakfast reservations in the park (once each trip). We also took advantage of the afternoon reception on our "off park" day and considered it dinner. And we had dinner in our hotel room several evenings of each trip (it was January and the parks closed fairly early, plus we didn't want to keep the kiddos up all hours). We made one quick grocery stop on our arrival day PLUS I had shipped down a box of non-perishables (mostly for DS, since he has food allergies). Believe me when I tell you that it was NOTHING fancy or special... some dinners were PB&J and an apple.... a few evenings the kids were too tired to eat and were bathed and ready to sleep by 8 or 9 pm! I believe once or twice we splurged on a delivery pizza or DH drove to a nearby Subway while I got the kids ready for bed.

We did bring some snacks to the parks every day (juice boxes, granola bars), but ate lunch and sometimes heavy snacks at counter service stations throughout the parks.

It saved us a TON of time and TONS of money! We weren't wasting valuable park time in restaurants or eating. When we arrived in the morning for rope drop, we were ready to go! In fact, I've often felt that one of the BIGGEST time wasters of our first trip was our lunch at Rainforest Cafe. We had ONE DAY scheduled for AK (we had never been there before) and we ended up spending over an hour of that day at a mediocre lunch. Never again.

Like I said, that was many years ago and the kids are older now, but I STILL pack/bring along breakfast and snacks for our trips. DD and I went down for 4 days in 2013 and 2011 and I packed breakfast for every day in my luggage. Instant coffee/cocoa/tea, instant oatmeal or cream of wheat, individual fruit cups, and homemade muffins (frozen and packed at the last minute). I also brought along an electric kettle (since we stayed value and there was no coffee pot) and a few plastic spoons and paper bowls and napkins. We have a healthy, fast, cheap breakfast every morning before heading out for a LOOOONG day in the parks. We DO stay on-site now to make the most of EMH, since the kids are older and can go, go, go!

Anyhow.... I would DEFINITELY take off-site/no dining plan Disney over NO Disney! (I'm not a dining plan fan and wouldn't ever consider paying the money for it.) Do what it takes to make it a memorable AFFORDABLE trip! Good luck........................P