It's not easy being me, you know, having to decide amongst all these resort lodging choices on a WDW vacation. People just don't understand...
IMO, WDW properties are way over-rated for the price they charge. We have stayed (with children) at off-site hotels years ago, on-site at the Poly(6 in two rooms), and off-site in condos, and the condos were far and away the most enjoyable OVERALL experience for everyone. If money is no object, an on-site condo is probably the best of all worlds, but if you price a 2 bdr condo on site (through WDW or even renting DVC points) the price is outrageous especially if there are weekend days involved(5 nights Sun - Thurs is still double typical off-site condo rates).
We are also a family of 5 and have chosen a 4bdr/4bth pool villa at WH for slightly less than price of two rooms (and less than a family suite) at a WDW value resort for our upcoming June vacation. We could have booked a 3 bdr condo off-site and even saved a few hundred more, but I will admit our plan was that a few hundred more total spent on nicer, closer accomodations, preferred flight times, luxury rental car, etc was well worth it considering the overall cost of such a vacation. This isn't a really "budget conscious" vacation where I'm counting every penny, but then I wouldn't be considering on-site if it was anyway. WDW for 7 days for 5 adult sized/priced people simply isn't the right vacation to take if money is the ultimate concern. By the time you add up admissions, airfare, lodging and food, etc you are into serious money even if you fly Valuejet, stay at Travelodge, and eat "cheap."
I priced our vacation thru
AAA, WDW, expedia, travelocity and others both "packaged" and otherwise and it just made better sense to stay in an off-site villa rather than on-site. At worst case rates the villa is still slightly less($200) than TWO on-site value rooms, and a condo would be much less(300 to 600 depending upon location), usually they can be had for about half again as much as the price of a single value room. You can get 2 bdr condos in the area from as low as 80/night or even less, but you pretty much get what you pay for lodging. Some WH condos will be nicer(and prob more expensive) than others. WH is in the upper end of the middle price range, definitely not the cheapest, but not Ginn Reunion prices either. Can you tell that I'm a shopper?
With three teens (DD19, DS16, DD15) having at least 2 bedrooms (and using the sleeper sofa) and two baths is a BARE MINIMUM for us. Usually we have found 3 bdr units are only slightly more than 2 bdrs($10/night). As such, we've usually gone for a 3 bdr / 3 bath condo in previous years when travelling with all 6 of us(DS21 is working this trip and can't get away), but the pricing on this property was right and we are splurging a bit on this trip anyway. We started renting condos during our vacations over 10 years ago instead of motel rooms(we have four "kids" - now ages 21, 19, 16, 15) and would NEVER rent hotel rooms again unless it was just the wife and I on a shorter stay or there were other circumstances (and
free dining during your timeframe may be one of these.) The free dining is perhaps the only reason I would consider two on-site rooms for the 5 of us, but it is not available during our timeframe. And we simply will not share a single room and bath between the five of us for 7 nights, just isn't going to happen. I - WE'd rather not go.
I can not really express to you in words how much nicer it is to have a living room, kitchen, dining room, separate bedrooms, and 2 or more bathrooms when living away from home with a large party. It is so much more relaxing than ANY hotel room(s). You can kick off your shoes and relax and watch a movie sitting on real furniture, have a nice drink on the lanai by your pool, put little ones to bed in their bedroom, we don't wait for or fight over bathrooms(with large parties and/or teenagers this really does speed up the morning routine), etc.
Like anything else in life, there are plusses and minuses to both choices. You don't get as much WDW theming(although many owners theme their condos/townhomes/villas, esp. children's bedrooms) off-site, though I find it nicer to get away a bit from the 24/7 over-the-top WDW immersion. All age groups(and especially the young ones) can sometimes use a break from "the Magic" and captive consumer lines and prices. You generally have to drive and park(+$10/day) rather than take WDW shuttles(slow). We have found that even when on-site a rental car is very disirable, so I don't factor this in. Off-site you don't get EMH's, but at the time we're going the parks are open long hours(MK 9a - 11p) and we don't want to be up quite that early for an 8a opening(at the gate at 9am is fine) or stay really late past 11pm anyway. Upscale off-site resorts like WH generally have as nice or nicer pool complexes(and private pools/spas in some units - a big plus) than WDW and shorter walks to parking(or bus stops), pools, clubhouses, etc. With an off-site condo you can buy food, snacks, and more at much more reasonable prices, but you also have to buy items like toilet paper, salt and pepper(get the cheap $1 shaker), dishwasher soap, etc. And you'll have to do normal clean-up: for us that means we pull up the bedspeads and load the dishwasher every morning, and throw up a load of towels/laundry when needed - I think having a W/D in the condo more than makes up for this "inconvenience." No big deal to us, but some people simply must have daily hotel style maid service, which is sometimes available in a condo for an extra fee, but it's pricy. We usually eat all our breakfasts in(cereal, eggs, pancakes, bagels, etc - easy QUICK stuff), pack a snack and frozen water bottles, and cook an easy dinner every other afternoon/early eve(we still eat out a bit). We usually do a quick shopping after an inventory of what we need on arrival and make a run to Publix and stock up for the week. Most owners supply a "starter" of toilet paper and perhaps some bath soap, some supply more, but our experience has been you pretty much have to buy all your expendables - we bring some toiletries from home and buy the rest on arrival. Some owners like 2min2disney actually have a supply list - he has posted it here before and if you search you should be able to find it - he may post a link if he reads this.
windsorhillsrents.com and vrbo.com seem to be the two biggest websites for WH rentals
