Thoughts on staying offsite

[DisMama5]

We have never done this. I feel like half the magic is staying onsite at a Disney hotel. Can anyone who has experience with this give me some insight. We are a family of 11 for our next trip and I'm starting to think we might be better off renting a house rather than staying at AOA but then again, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up staying onsite, the hotel itself is part of the magic IMO.... What does everyone else think? Is it really any save money wise??

 

[maxiesmom]

You can save a ton of money on your accommodations staying off site. But that also depends on if you will already have your own transportation or not. If you have to rent a couple of vans, then you will lose most of your savings. I would never stay off site without having my own vehicle to use.

 

[DisMama5]

Yes we would have to rent cars. I'm guessing 2 because there's 11 of us. So it sounds like we won't really save much if anything by staying off site then...

 

[sbmorasch]

If you have a car it is fine! Off property is so much cheaper! almost 50 dollars cheaper a night. The only down fall is that you don't get extra magic hours. But if you hAve little ones going with you. They would not be able to get threw the night. Also if you don't want to take a car you can always get a cap to the closest park and buss it back to where ever you wanna go. that's what I did as I did not have a car. hope you have fun!

 

[rwdavis2]

Yes we would have to rent cars. I'm guessing 2 because there's 11 of us. So it sounds like we won't really save much if anything by staying off site then...

How many rooms do you usually get for 11 people? For 11 people and their luggage you will need 3 cars or at least 1 car/1 van. Then parking for them all at the parks.

I don't know how you go about touring with 11 people. Do you do everything together or split up?

The best thing about a house is the space, kitchen, laundry, and usually a pool. We've used All Star Vacation Homes. You can price one there. They have lots of different choice.

 

[kay1864]

Depends on what car you rent, and where. In April I rented a compact for $141/week (fees and everything). Hotel near Universal for $57/night (deal on TripAdvisor for a 3-star hotel that was normally $99/night).

 

[Frozen2014]

Dh wanted to stay offsite , but I convinced him to stay onsite (with compormise of one non-park day). At the time, my reasoning was mostly to get the full Disney experience. But now I'm really glad that we are onsite as there are some big advantages to staying onsite

• You can book ADR for your entire trip at 180 days (or first 10 days). Otherwise, you can only book exactly 180 days out
• At 60 days, you can book 3 FP per day. Otherwise, you can book 30 days out
• Extra magic hours (if you care)

Having said that, you are a large party, so can see offsite making sense.
Either way, it's Disney and you'll have a fabulous trip!

 

[wdwjeffc37]

If you have 11 people the two "cars" probably won't cut it with luggage. You will have to have vans or large SUVs and that will cut into your off site savings. Also you may have to pay for parking at the parks for two vehicles. You can save some money on food if you can plan your meals around your park times. You can certainly eat breakfast at your off site accommodations but going back for lunch is more problematic. If you stay to park close then dinner off site will be very very late. Eleven people is a lot for on site. At least three regular rooms. Have you looked into rent FVC points. Sometimes that can be cheaper than regular reservations. Personally we have tried off site and didn't like it. Especially park closing traffic and not being able to take an easy afternoon break. Explore all possibilities and price everything out before making your decision. But overall enjoy your trip.

 

[darkwing818]

We've stayed at an OKW 3 bedroom villa twice with 11 & it worked out great. As the PP noted maybe renting points can keep the costs down & we've stayed off site a few times, years ago & hated it, but that's just us. On the other hand, my brother & his family always stay off-site & love it. Everyone is different

 

[maxiesmom]

Unless you can find very cheap accommodations having to have 3 rental cars will kill any of the money you are saving by staying off site.

It never hurts to look though. But I can tell you I often check off site prices, and needing to have a rental van (which is what we would need) almost always negates the savings.

If all you are looking for is the extra space, the off site is the way to go. Just know that you will not be saving any money, but if the space is very important to you, it may be worth looking in to.

 

[katt789]

You will definitely save a lot of money staying offsite, hotel costs are cheaper.

My main concern staying off site is transportation. To & from the airport on a Mears shuttle is around $30 each, plus then dealing with shuttles to & from the parks on an offsite hotel is hell. They usually only travel to Epcot and they're on random and not good schedules. We ended up cabbing more often than not when we're offsite.

If you have your own car, then yes, it would be beneficial.

Also look into Renting DVC points for Disney? It probably works out to cheaper than a suite at AoA, and you can stay somewhere nicer hotel wise?

 

[DisMama5]

Thank you everyone, you guys are wonderful! I don't think off site will be an option for us after reading the responses and I was doing a little research in-between. Having a ton of space isn't the main priority, it was more or so if we would save a good amount but by the looks and sounds of it, we won't. We have always stayed onsite so I'm not sure off site would've been for us to begin with. Thanks again guys!!

 

[DisMama5]

We've stayed at an OKW 3 bedroom villa twice with 11 & it worked out great. As the PP noted maybe renting points can keep the costs down & we've stayed off site a few times, years ago & hated it, but that's just us. On the other hand, my brother & his family always stay off-site & love it. Everyone is different

I've tried looking into renting but I'm so confused by it. And I also can't seem to find the 3 bedrooms? Any advice on this? I would love to look into it!

 

[DisMama5]

You will definitely save a lot of money staying offsite, hotel costs are cheaper. My main concern staying off site is transportation. To & from the airport on a Mears shuttle is around $30 each, plus then dealing with shuttles to & from the parks on an offsite hotel is hell. They usually only travel to Epcot and they're on random and not good schedules. We ended up cabbing more often than not when we're offsite. If you have your own car, then yes, it would be beneficial. Also look into Renting DVC points for Disney? It probably works out to cheaper than a suite at AoA, and you can stay somewhere nicer hotel wise?

I tried to start putting numbers together for that but I'm a little confused on how it works exactly or how to go about it. We would need probably the 3 bedrooms which I'm having a hard time finding to rent. Or two 2bedroom villas. If you have any tips on how to go about this I would totally appreciate it!

 

[HM]

We have never done this. I feel like half the magic is staying onsite at a Disney hotel. Can anyone who has experience with this give me some insight. We are a family of 11 for our next trip and I'm starting to think we might be better off renting a house rather than staying at AOA but then again, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up staying onsite, the hotel itself is part of the magic IMO.... What does everyone else think? Is it really any save money wise??

I always felt that way too, until I stayed offsite. I've now had three stays offsite (many more onsite).
I liked having more room and spending less for my room.
I found I didn't mind driving to the parks and it didn't take any longer than riding a bus from an onsite resort really.
I got plenty of the "Disney Magic" and didn't feel like I was missing anything in my timeshare resort that had a lot of the same amenities the Disney resorts do.

 

[kay1864]

At 60 days, you can book 3 FP per day.

This is an advantage only for A&E and 7DMT. Any of the other FPs can easily be gotten at 30 days out.

Extra magic hours (if you care)

Good for morning EMH, but evening EMH = "Avoid that park on that day"

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

As far as point rental- do a search on the forum for DVC point rental and you should get lots of info. I prefer going through a middle man- like davids vacation club rental or there's a few other big ones- basically a member can't use there points so they contact the broker and the broker finds someone to rent the points. Typically they ask $14 per point. It can save you a ton of money going this route as opposed to going direct through disney.

As far as bigger accommodations- Disney calls them grand villas. Old key west grand villas are amazing and sleep 12. You are still on site and you get a three bedroom villa with full kitchen, laundry, etc. it's like staying at a vacation home with full disney amenities (access to the pools, park buses, etc).

 

[maxiesmom]

I've tried looking into renting but I'm so confused by it. And I also can't seem to find the 3 bedrooms? Any advice on this? I would love to look into it!

http://www.dvcrequest.com/?oid=15_1

This is a good place to start.

 

[abmitch01]

We've been going with various family configurations probably 5-6 times over the past ten yrs all off site. DD and I are trying on site next week. We always rented in Windsor Hills. Google Windsor Hills, their web page comes up, you can put in your dates and all the properties that are available to rent come up. We stayed in some beautiful houses and condos for less than $100 a night and then we were splitting that cost amongst us so it was super cheap. Granted most of our trips were in the off season. We had private pools. 2 master bedrooms. And it was less than a few miles to Disney. I highly recommend this development but there are probably dozens just like them.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We loved our offsite stay last year. They way I looked at the savings was to compare it to a similar sized unit on-site. We rented a 3-bedroom, 3-bath for $140 a night (all taxes and fees included). A similar unit onsite would have cost many times that amount. Our trip was 10 days. We saved time and money having breakfast at the townhouse. My sister got her own bedroom and bathroom. Our teen boys had a room, bathroom, and a PS2. They enjoyed playing games in the evenings while the rest of us were downstairs watching TV. Everyone had their own space for sleeping and relaxing, which really cut down on stress levels. Plus, being able to toss in laundry whenever we felt like it was invaluable.