TTMA staying off property

[Rory607]

Tell me the pros and cons of staying off property and where you have stayed! We will probably not be planning a WDW trip before summer 2022, but I always love thinking ahead and dreaming of Disney. We have always stayed on-property and love it. But it seems like the benefits are being taken away and I’m not sure if I can justify the cost anymore.

The biggest con in my mind is transportation. We do not want to rent a car or have to drive once we get off the plane. My H is just completely against it. He doesn’t want to spend the money or deal with traffic and parking lots while we’re there. Disney transportation is not always great, but it gets the job done. So is there anywhere worth staying that has decent shuttle service? Our kids are school age and don’t need naps anymore, so we can spend longer amounts of time in the park.

 

[Elephantay]

Our experience:
We were visiting family a few hours from Orlando but decided to get a taste of Disney along the way. Our plan was two nights, then car rental/road trip to our destination.
To get DME, we stayed a night at an all star resort. We swam, ate there at the food court, and then took a bus and headed to the Poly to watch fireworks with dole whip. Great time!
The next day we played mini golf then checked into the B resort. Got a great price.
Planned a night at DS for dinner and fun. We had a nice night with dinner and shopping and music, but then couldnt get back to the resort! We waited at the DS bus station for over 90 minutes trying to get back to our hotel. It was awful. We kept calling the resort and trying to figure it out and were assured a bus would be there in five minutes... The resort was clean, but the place felt deserted. The front desk experience wasnt friendly. We never used the pool but it wasnt impressive. Never again.

 

[DL1WDW2]

What does TTMA mean?

 

[Elephantay]

What does TTMA mean?

talk to me about

 

[DL1WDW2]

Thanks or should I just say “T”

 

[kanerf]

Many off-site locations have a shuttle service to WDW, but it usually is not free and as one of the other posters commented, not particularly reliable. Your best bet is to rent a car or use Uber.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

We stayed at the Hilton at Disney Springs and loved it, but transportation back from MK was a mess (not a fun time with 2 strollers and 2 sleeping kids). I have heard good things about the Bonnet Creek resorts. I went to a conference there, but didn't go to the parks, but the signs seemed to indicate a fairly regular shuttle schedule. We have family that enjoy the Swan/Dolphin as well.

 

[MudQueen22]

I'm curious also.
We have always stayed on property, but I'm now wondering how much of a savings it really would be to stay off-site.
So many of the hotels closest to WDW are lower cost, but they charge a resort fee AND a parking fee. When you add in the fee to park at WDW parks, it appears to be a wash.

Am I missing something?

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Pete from Dis Unplugged just did a pod cast ( I think question and answer one or the one after that). Towards the end, he mentioned several places to stay off property which sounded very nice. He had nothing but good things to say about them. Give it a look.

 

[Rory607]

Many off-site locations have a shuttle service to WDW, but it usually is not free and as one of the other posters commented, not particularly reliable. Your best bet is to rent a car or use Uber.

This is what I’m afraid of and why it might not be for us. If we’re going to pay to rent a car, pay to park at the parks everyday and deal with traffic, I think we would rather be onsite. Thank you for your input!

 

[Rory607]

We stayed at the Hilton at Disney Springs and loved it, but transportation back from MK was a mess (not a fun time with 2 strollers and 2 sleeping kids). I have heard good things about the Bonnet Creek resorts. I went to a conference there, but didn't go to the parks, but the signs seemed to indicate a fairly regular shuttle schedule. We have family that enjoy the Swan/Dolphin as well.

I’ve looked around online a little at Bonnet Creek and it does look nice. I’ll have to look into the shuttle more. Swan and Dolphin is a great option that I had forgotten! I never considered it before since you didn’t get magical express from the airport, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Definitely putting that on my research list.

 

[Rory607]

Pete from Dis Unplugged just did a pod cast ( I think question and answer one or the one after that). Towards the end, he mentioned several places to stay off property which sounded very nice. He had nothing but good things to say about them. Give it a look.

Thanks! I will check it out.

 

[nesser1981]

Our last trip we stayed off property at a condo just around the corner from Animal Kingdom. I loved staying there, but I'll add we've never stayed on property. What I enjoyed about where we stayed was we had 2 full bathrooms and 2 bedrooms, kitchen and living room. It was nice in the evenings to be able to spread out and get a break from everyone else.

I didn't feel like we were all that far away from anything where we stayed. 30 minutes maybe, we also visited Universal and went to Medieval Times.

I am curious about what we're missing by not staying on property, but we saved a ton on our condo, less than $100 a night for our family of 5. Thanks to a deal my FIL has that he shared with us.

 

[FGT770]

Our last two trips have been off site at Windsor Hills. As a family of six the prices to stay on site are pretty steep unless you do adjoining rooms at a value resort. We have paid what amounts to a little over $100 per night for a 3 BR/ 3 bath townhome with a splash pool. We park at the front door and the furthest drive is 20 minutes to MK.

We live 10+ hours away and drive down but paying less for accommodations allows us a longer vacation. I don‘t mind driving to and from the parks at all. Parking and transportation at MK is the most time consuming.

We enjoy having more space, eating out at various restaurants in the area and being able to head over to Tampa and Busch Gardens which about an hour away.

 

[Elephantay]

Our last two trips have been off site at Windsor Hills. As a family of six the prices to stay on site are pretty steep unless you do adjoining rooms at a value resort. We have paid what amounts to a little over $100 per night for a 3 BR/ 3 bath townhome with a splash pool. We park at the front door and the furthest drive is 20 minutes to MK.

We live 10+ hours away and drive down but paying less for accommodations allows us a longer vacation. I don‘t mind driving to and from the parks at all. Parking and transportation at MK is the most time consuming.

We enjoy having more space, eating out at various restaurants in the area and being able to head over to Tampa and Busch Gardens which about an hour away.

That sounds incredible!

 

[hpsalb]

We’ve stayed offsite more than onsite. We are within reasonable driving distance, so we always drive and thus have our car with us. So different scenario than most.

We can get so much more space and amenities for much less just outside WDW. DH really likes to leave the bubble anyway. Windsor Hills is our favorite and we’ve often stayed at condos with fun Disney theming. It’s close to tons of shopping and food options.

Staying offsite has opened up more options for us. Instead of “going to WDW,” we to “go to Orlando” (well, the greater area). There’s so much to do in the area.

For us, unless we plan to stay at a resort where we can walk to a park, it’s not worth it. We’ve never used MDE and prefer our own car to the bus. Now with parking fees at the resorts, FP MIA, and EMH functionally gone, there’s little reason for us to stay onsite.

Not all offsite resorts have parking fees. Some do, but so far we’ve never stayed at one that did.

 

[mjkacmom]

Just Uber.

 

[Rory607]

Our last two trips have been off site at Windsor Hills. As a family of six the prices to stay on site are pretty steep unless you do adjoining rooms at a value resort. We have paid what amounts to a little over $100 per night for a 3 BR/ 3 bath townhome with a splash pool. We park at the front door and the furthest drive is 20 minutes to MK.

We live 10+ hours away and drive down but paying less for accommodations allows us a longer vacation. I don‘t mind driving to and from the parks at all. Parking and transportation at MK is the most time consuming.

We enjoy having more space, eating out at various restaurants in the area and being able to head over to Tampa and Busch Gardens which about an hour away.

We fly, so renting a car is an added expense for us. I realize that it is still cheaper to rent a car than to stay on-property, but we’ve just gotten used to being in the bubble at WDW. We also often travel with grandparents, so Disney transportation has allowed us to split up and everyone can get where they need to be. Thank you for your input! The extra space of a condo sounds really nice.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We use to stay at vacation clubs Sheraton vistana ( they have 2 locations) to be exact. They are awesome there is a great thread on here as well.
We had a 2 bedroom living room full kitchen washer dryer. I normally get them off skyauction.com
The last few times we have stayed on property at pop or asm because there has been such good deals in the last year..