WDW 1st time family trip..need help on where to stay?

[loveysbydesign]

We're planning our 1st trip for May and are really having a difficult time deciding if we should stay on WDW prop. or off? I've been to WDW before but my dh, ds-6 and dd-3 have not. Will staying off prop. save us a lot of $, if so how will it affect my sanity-lol! Do most off prop. places have shuttle buses to WDW and the airport? If so where is the best place to stay....ugh I'm so confused!

 

[kilee]

If you will not be renting a car then I'd go onsite. The shuttles have very limited runs and are sometimes more of a headache than they are worth. I think you can save a lot of money by going offsite--- but w/o a rental car I wouldn't try offsite.

Don't forget to check out the Theme Park Planning and Strategy Board for a lot of planning tips.

 

[tiggeroo13]

I think it depends on how much money are you going to spend on-site. If you are looking at going totally inexpensive. The value resorts on property are pretty cheap. I've seen the lowest rates around 59/ngt to 99/ngt depending on the season. If you are looking at moderate resorts on property, then I would look at both on and off property resorts. Same with deluxe. We stayed at the Radisson Resort for 79/nght and it was great. We have heard that Seralgo is pretty cheap and is fun for kids, but I dunno. There are great reviews on this site that will help too. I have to concur that if you are not renting a car the best thing to do is to stay on property! Good luck!

 

[PixiePop]

I would definately stay on-site, especially with children. If you want to take a break during the day it is much easier to get back to the room when staying on-site, you can also take advantage of extra magic hour (either early entry or late). You can stay at a value resort for reasonable money and they have a great theme--especially for children. We have stayed at the All Star Movies and loved it.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[mbb]

We're planning our 1st trip for May and are really having a difficult time deciding if we should stay on WDW prop. or off? I've been to WDW before but my dh, ds-6 and dd-3 have not. Will staying off prop. save us a lot of $, if so how will it affect my sanity-lol! Do most off prop. places have shuttle buses to WDW and the airport? If so where is the best place to stay....ugh I'm so confused!

Your budget is the biggest determining factor..

If you don't plan on cooking, stay on..
If you plan on cooking, get a condo/villa..

Because I just feel like staying off-site in a basic hotel room is not-so-much-so-fun

The other option is if you plan on doing a little cooking, but want onsite, look into renting points from a DVCer..fab way to get onsite at tremendous value

HTH!!

 

[Taratink]

My kids are 4 and 6. Two years ago we stayed offsite and this past trip we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. Both trips were great. We only had one room with bunks at the WL and it did put a damper on my time with my husband. We did enjoy the convience of the boat to MK but we drove everywhere else. The Lodge was beautiful but it was tough being in a small room for a week. Many of the hotels have villas but I was not willing to spend the money since we like to go every year. Our offsite stay was at a suite hotel and we had lots of room. We are staying at a 2 bedroom villa this trip and I am looking forward to the washer/dryer, two bathrooms and the kitchen. I am planning this trip to be a relaxing one instead of a comando WDW trip. There are so many great options, just check out everything. When you decide where you want to stay start asking about the best deals you can get. I saved a lot of $$ by taking advice from my dis friends.
Tara

 

[SeattleRedBear]

I agree with what others have said. IMO, whether you rent a car is the first question to answer. With two small children, if you don't rent a car, then your life will be much easier if you stay on site (or conversely, much more difficult if you don't). If you need to economize, consider getting a refrigerator (or bring a cooler) for the room. Especially if you end up coming back to the room for a mid-day break, breakfast and lunch can be cheaper by making it yourself. You can find other money-saving ideas on the budget board.

 

[ch261]

I personally prefer to stay off site. For the money, we get tons more space. (We've just outgrown staying in one hotel room.) We like having more dining options than just the parks and hotel food court. Renting a car is necessary, but I think it's almost as easy as using the Disney buses. We never have to wait for a bus or squish on with too many other peole, or drive through ten stops before we get to where we're going. Our last trip, we usually stayed at one park for part of the day, then went back to the condo for a rest and a meal, and finished out the day at another park. Staying off site was no problem for that.

 

[d4est]

I played around with the same question. I did the numbers crunch & finally decided that staying onsite was the best for us, especially as first timers to DW. I could have saved on hotel costs by going with priceline or skyauction, but then we would need a rental car. That would eat up our savings from the hote. Plus, we wanted the dining plan, cause for DH, vacations are all about eating well! We will definitely save money with the dining plan.

 

[mommyintn]

Your situation is just about like ours! We are going for the 1st time in March with our 2 boys ages 6 and 3(Feb. 1st). I really wanted to stay onsite for convience and just the whole "Disney" experience but couldn't imagine sitting in the dark waiting for the kids to go to sleep. I found a great condo in Windsor Hills off the vacation rental by owner website (VRBO) and it comes to about $125 a night for a 3 bedroom/3 bath with a plunge pool on the back porch. We had planned on a rental car anyway (since I've never been to Florida) we wanted to see the area when not at Disney. Lots of options! You'll get a lot of great info off of these boards, before I got on here I kept saying I didn't want our vacation to be "all Disney" but the excitement of all these folks has rubbed off on me.

 

[DawnM]

We like the flexibility of having a car, so even when we lived in CA and flew to FL we rented a car.

We have stayed onsite and off. When we stayed on site we rented vacation points from a DVC member and paid $99 per night with no additional taxes. That was for a Sun.-Thur. night stay at Old Key West. It was great, but still very expensive.

We have found for us that staying off-site, even if we rent a car, is far cheaper. We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard for $38 per night, Doubletree Villas for $42 per night and then our last trip was at Vacation Village (condo) for $260 for 7 nights. ($36 per night)

The condo was the best deal for us by far. It came out to $36 per night including tax and had a kitchen-ette, 2 TVs, a washer and dryer in the unit. We ate b-fast in the room and had a fridge for milk and such. We also sometimes ate dinner in the room. Just pizzas and such, but it was more relaxing than having to go find a place and eat out with 2 very tired kids who really just needed to get back to the room and relax.


Last time we went to Disney and had to rent a car we got an economy car for $12 per day. If we stay in a condo for $36 per night and rent a car for $12 per day, that is still a big savings off of staying on property and it gives us the flexibility to go anywhere we want to eat, play, etc....

This is what works best for us.

Dawn

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thanks to all of you for your input! It's helping me to feel less confused and more in control! I'm beginning to think we might be better off staying off-site and renting a car, it'll be easier on our budget and then if the kids all of the sudden start begging to go to SeaWorld or something we'll still have that option.
I had really wanted to stay onsite, but since we're on a limited budget and my 2 kiddos do NOT do well in small hotel rooms, (plus my dh snores like a grizzly-lol) it might just be better to stay offsite. If any of you have been down there within the past year and can recommend a great offsite place to stay I would be very grateful! Links to the website would be even better! One other quick ?, if we rent a car would we just get it at the airport?

 

[minnie29uk]

On my first 3 visits to Florida I satyed in Disney hotels.I dont drive and all I wanted to do was visit Disney attractions.So this was ideal.
Ive now baught my own villa and cant imagine going back to a hotel room because of the space a private vacation villa offers.Its lovely to have a fully fitted kitchen as I do like to save by making my own pack ups and cooking most meals.
The private pool and games room is the biggest bonus.

Either way - its Disnney,and you are going to have the greatest time,

Lynn

 

[crjack]

On these boards, Cypress Pointe & Cypress Point Grand Villas get great reviews. If we weren't sharing a vacation home with family on our next trip we were going to finally try it for ourselves.

Check out their rates on www.hotelkingdom.com. It's in a great location to Disney and other attractions and offers you some extra space, washer/dryer, kitchen, etc. Much easier for spending a week away from home without being cramped and stressed.

We enjoy having a rental car and found when we switched to off-site we saved more than enough to cover it's cost. Just like the commercial....."flexibility to come and go when we want" -- priceless!! Even when we stayed on-site, my children were close in age to yours and using a bus with little ones isnt always easy. We had fold up strollers, bags, etc. and waiting around after being at a park just added to the inconvenience. Plus we had to add in transportation costs of getting to and from the airport (before Disney offered Mag. Exp) so it really made the cost of the car insignificant.

There are lots of rental companies right on-site at the airport and it makes pick-up and drop-off much easier. For great rates and discount codes you should check out the mousesavers newsletter. There are many potential discount savings listed every month and you can sign-up to receive an electronic copy every month. We have used discount codes twice now that have saved us a lot of $$ on our rentals.

There are lots of great off-site choices. Each family has different vacation habits and preferences so think about things that are the most important for you to decide if it makes sense.

Have a great trip!