We have to stay offsite...

[mom2-four]

And I'm bummed about it! DH insists that we fly to Florida which means we have to sacrafice the resort. He thinks its pointless to spend the money on a disney themed resort. So, I'm now looking into offsite places.

In your opinion which one did you like the best and why?

 

[InstImpres]

what is the hotel budget you are working with so we can make suggestions

 

[dawgsgirl]

You might want to visit over on the Orlando Hotels and Attractions Board. Lots of good advice there. I think you will be surprised at how much you might like staying off-site. You will still be at Disney!!!

 

[hsmamato2]

Just be sure to factor in the cost of a car rental instead of magic express and disney buses.....

 

[FayeW]

We loved Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. You can rent a 2 bdrm from www.hotelkingdom.com for about $95. per night. Next month we are staying at Orbit One, which also gets great reviews. With your family of 6, I think you should consider renting a townhouse or condo at Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, or Emerald Isle. They are very, very close to AK, and it will be relatively quick to return to your house or condo.

 

[Cinderellafifi]

Don't forget to check out the hotels at Downtown Disney! You are still really "on site"! Mousesavers is running an awesome deal for Best Western DTD, depending on when you travel.

More info will help so you can get the best advice.

 

[RockyMtnMaria]

If you are flying and staying offsite, then you will need to rent a van, right? I am assuming you have four children because of your user name. We have four children as well, and I looked pretty hard for a deal on a rental van. They were all VERY pricy, and the best rate I ever found was $450 for our 7 night trip (they considered it 9 days for the rental because of when we arrived and left). That would go a LONG ways towards paying for two value rooms at Disneyworld.

I'm not trying to make the decision harder for you, but simply let you know that it might be difficult to actually save money if you are limited to a rental van.

We drove 9 hours to my parents house, then flew from there. This saved us $2,000! Then we used Magic Express and the bus service for transportation, and visited during free dining. This was the cheapest option for us, and yes I *did* price outside options.

The Disney theme might not be worth the extra price, but the free transportation sure can be! I'd price out van rentals and then compare the cost difference.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

You might want to visit the rent/trade board on this site. You can get a deluxe resort for the same, or even less than, a budget on-site resort by renting Disney Vacation Club points from a DVC member who can't us them. If you have a large crew of kids, the extra space of a 1 or 2 BR is a blessing, and might cost less than 2 rooms. If staying off-site, you might also try time-shares or vacation home rentals. These are typically rented out to the general public when owners aren't using them. You can often get a really great price.

DH and I own both DVC and Hilton Grand Vacation Club. Hilton has 2 resorts close to WDW, and both are beautiful. Vistana is another great resort nearby. They often rent out their condo-like accomodations to the public. I have seen 2BR for as little as $120/night. If you are really looking cheap, Comfort Inn has several around the WDW area that can be less than $50/night. Stay away from Budget Inn and Econolodge. We have stayed at these places on our night of arrival and have had really bad experiences with both chains. Dirty bed sheets, vomiting drunk guys, sticky stuff on the floor, that kind of bad experiences.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[deekaypee]

I second Cinderellafifi's suggestion! You might be able to find a good price at the DTD hotel. DTD hotels also served as my gateway hotels, the ones that convinced my DH that staying on-site was part of the magic. (But still a nice alternative.)

That said, the AS resorts are pretty reasonable. What's your budget?

 

[Taratink]

We choose to stay offsite. I have tried a few WDW resorts and we liked them but staying offsite is great as well. We have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort last year and had a great time. It was nice having 2 bathrooms and tons of space.
Tara

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Depending on how many people you have you may want to look at Rental homes or Town Homes.

 

[i3utterfli82]

I really think the Disney Value resorts are in the same price as your offsites, this is especially true if you book a package. For the package I booked last month our stay at POP only came to $49/night. Also look at DisneyWorld.com for room only specials. I think you might be surprised on how close they compare. You will also get the free parking at Disney ($10 day) and save money on gas driving back and forth.

 

[chobie]

I really think the Disney Value resorts are in the same price as your offsites, this is especially true if you book a package. For the package I booked last month our stay at POP only came to $49/night. Also look at DisneyWorld.com for room only specials. I think you might be surprised on how close they compare. You will also get the free parking at Disney ($10 day) and save money on gas driving back and forth.

Time is also money, especally at WDW and the amount of time shuttling back and forth might not be worth it, plus you get the extra hours staying on-sight. The down side to the values is that they are small and you can't do meals in therooms, so if you are planning on saving money then cooking some of your own meals then an off-site with a kitchen would better suit your needs.

 

[LindaBabe]

With that many children you'd need a two bedroom villa. I think you'd be better off renting a house or townhome off property, and a van to transport y'all. With a house you'd have sufficient bedrooms, washer dryer, kitchen and probably a pool all your own. There's a lot to be said for tthat!

 

[figgy4me]

I haven't checked Sky Auction lately, but we had a two bedroom 2 bath condo/villa with a full kitchen plus washer and dryer for $216 for a week at Summer Bay Resort. I have seen some lower and some higher. This one had a king bed, 2 doubles, and a sleeper sofa.

We have only flown one, but the mini-van we rented was around $250 for 7 days. you need to check mousesavers.com for discount codes - it is alot of work, but usually the savings will make up for it.

 

[tomandrobin]

Click on the Dis Home page for advertised off-site hotels.

 

[HeatherC]

Marriott's Grande Vista is also a beautiful resort with a real easy drive to Disney. You can see it on www.vacationclub.com. If you join Marriott Rewards...for free by the way...they sometime have members only rates available. Just type in M11 in the promo code box on the marriott website.

Happy planning!
HeatherC

 

[mbb]

There are some really great off-site accomodations with wonderful "disney-style" theming...some of them are even completely "Mickey-fied"!!

Like bedrooms are all Princess, ToyStory, Animal Kingdom, Lilo and Stitch themes...living areas of WDW touches...it can be really wonderful, and off site accomodations can offer so much more room, amenities and comfort than a hotel room.

...but I understand your pain We always like to do a few nights onsite, and the majority off..that way, I can really ss----ttt---rr-ectch our vacation budget

We like to rent directly from owners themselve, and these are some great sites:
www.windsorhills-rents.com
www.orlandovillas.com
www.lastminutevillas.net
www.onlinefloridavillas.com
www.fabvillas.com

And there are lots more

Also, give our Accomodations Review Board a go..lots of great suggestions just up top

HTH!!

 

[HappyLawyer]

I LOVE staying offsite,
there is something about staying at disney just cuz it is disney, but offsite i feel free and not confined to disney, there is so much more to FL then disney and we like to experience it all

 

[Aurora63]

I've stayed at a few off site places, my favorite was Gaylord Palms...best thing about it was that it was only $90 a night on Priceline...but it's a gamble what you get on that site...anyway, the resort is gorgeous, and it's so close to Disney...literally right down the street. If it's in the budget, look into it. I think rooms there are normally about $250-300 a night.