We're offsite converts now!!!

[kkleiner]

Hi, We exchange into offsite timeshares through my father in law's interval membership (he owns a red week in a NH resort). We get into some great places for only $200 for the whole week this way - 2 bedroom units, etc.

We go during kids April vacation (last week in April) and this time will go 3 days earlier than vacation week and do an onsite reservation for just those 3 days. I can use a disney agent to help me get a package deal with tickets and they will also do our dinner reservations for the whole week.

We are actually trying to trade into a DVC resort using Interval, they are doing a continuous search for that, but we have plenty of places to go if we don't get into one of those. With 3 kids, can't beat offsite villas/timeshares!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We too stay offsite & love it

it will be our 3rd visit to WH this Christmas & can't wait

 

[jjjmranch]

I've read thru all of the posts on this thread - It appears most of the posters are from "across the pond". We've done both several times each - onsite and offsite - and both have their good and bad points.

Nope, not all posting are from "across the pond." Good old Illinois folks here who love staying offsite!

 

[ntsammy5]

We've stayed onsite at Disney for 31 of our last 32 trips since 1995. We've stayed at all levels of resorts, SoG and FW. This next trip is offsite. Why since it's only DW and I? MONEY. I get a 2BR villa for 1/2 the price of a value resort! Plus, I'm not that happy with Disney food anymore -- overpriced and mediocre quality. IMO DDP has ruined the TS eating experience at WDW. We can eat better and cheaper offsite. Plus we'll be spending time away from Disney! So we'll stay offsite for longer and cheaper and have lots of room. Sounds good to me.

 

[Kay7979]

We enjoy both experiences. It is nice being "close to the action" and staying at a Disney Resort. The theming is the main draw for me as I find it more of an "escape from reality" to stay somewhere that evokes the feeling of being in another era and a different place.

I don't like being crammed into one room, though, no matter how nice it is. We're used to staying in one or two bedroom timeshare condos. And I prefer to have a car, despite having Disney bus service, since it's much quicker to drive from resort to resort for dinner reservations, and from the resort to DTD etc. when you have your own car.

We're staying at the Beach Club Villas in November (studio) and at a one bedroom timeshare condo concurrently. Actually, we over-lap all but one day. We got the Beach Club studio for $294 for the week through a timeshare deal, so we'll split our time between the resorts and enjoy the best of both.

It's fun being on-site, but when we do a total WDW vacation, I actually miss spending time on International Drive and 192, checking out fun restaurants, tacky tourist shops, and the myriad other Orlando attractions. Most of the time I prefer an ORLANDO vacation over a strictly WDW vacation, so staying off-site works best for most trips.

 

[kaguilbeau]

O.K. all you converts. I'm really trying to come up with an off-site solution for us. On this trip we'll have 7. All but one is over age 19. We like to come and go to the parks at different times and have really enjoyed having the disney shuttle buses handy. DH will go early in the morning with me and DS, but will return in the early afternoon. The 20 yr olds sleep in and arrive at park late morning.

While we may have a rental car, one car won't cut it with that much coming and going.

So what type off site accomodations have you experienced that has reliable, frequent transportation? I can't find much. I did find some all-suites, but in reality that will also be cramped.

I'm looking for suggestions for workable solutions

 

[declansdad]

I love it when occassionally a onsite lover pops across to try and convert the offsiters to repent their sins and stay onsite. This is our first trip to WDW and I was starting to feel like I was committing a mortal sin by staying offsite, but with two small children I couldn't think of anything worse than sitting in the dark trying to get them to sleep, budget wise it was a much much better option also as we are travelling with our inlaws. I love this forum as not only does it validate my decision but you get lots of good information.

We are only doing Disney for the week we are in Orlando this time but plan to come back in the future and check out the rest of the area. Our second week will be spent 2 hours south of Orlando, another sin, going to Florida and not spending all the time in the World....

Kirsten

I would never try to convert anyone. To each his own is the way I look at it. I guess we have been lucky, because we have never had long waits for busses (with one or two exceptions), we have made it to a park in less than 10 minutes, we have enjoyed the food, and we don't go to watch tv. Also, we have never had a problem getting ds to go to sleep at the end of a day.

If we travelled with a bigger party, off-site would be worth looking into, but at this point we enjoy our on-site stays.

Hope you all have a wonderful trip, on-site or off.

 

[Hoodie]

I found this interesting because the last time I stayed offsite I swore it would be the last time I stayed offsite. It was a miserable experience.

It was also a good 10 years ago now at a standard hotel. Should I give it another shot? The houses/condos intrigue me, but is seems everyone is in them for at least a week. Our usual trip to WDW is about 4 days - 5 if we do one of the "other" parks. Do they rent for shorter times?

 

[spiceycat]

offsite transportation is pretty bad.

and with the gas problem it won't be better - won't be surprised if some of the bus transportation for offsite was cut back.

here is a great example of offsite transportation

Shuttle Departs Hotel at

09:50am for Magic Kingdom® Park
9:15am Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
11:00am EPCOT® &Disney-Hollywood Studios ®
5:30pm Magic Kingdom®

7:45am Sea World & Universal Studios

Return Shuttles Depart Theme Parks:

Sea World 7:45pm
Universal Studio 7:30pm

Animal Kingdom® Theme Park 6:15pm
Hollywood Studios® 8:30pm
EPCOT® 6:00pm & 8:45pm
Magic Kingdom® Park 5:45pm & 10:30pm
*11:30pm if park closes at 11pm

now most places won't even get you a direct time - the buses may arrive sooner or later.

at night if you miss the last bus - then you get to take a taxi.

how responsible are your teens?

Cypress Pointe is not far from WDW - but it requires walking along some very, very busy streets.

we are talking constant traffic and it is pretty bad.

 

[*disgal*]

I would never try to convert anyone. To each his own is the way I look at it. I guess we have been lucky, because we have never had long waits for busses (with one or two exceptions), we have made it to a park in less than 10 minutes, we have enjoyed the food, and we don't go to watch tv. Also, we have never had a problem getting ds to go to sleep at the end of a day.

If we travelled with a bigger party, off-site would be worth looking into, but at this point we enjoy our on-site stays.

Hope you all have a wonderful trip, on-site or off.

Yep, I'm guessing there are three of you?

I totally agree "to each his own". And if I only had one child or two of the same gender, I probably wouldn't have ever ventured offsite. Our experiences have been mostly like yours. We've had some minor bus problems, only dislike the eggs at breakfast at the food courts......pretty good experiences.

But we are a family of 5 and we've done the POR twice and we just felt like sardines. Never again. And I spent $30 on laundry (had to, since we were there for 11 days in August, two outfits a day.....we would have had to bring a trailer behind us to fit all of the clothes we would have needed without doing laundry) that didn't even get the clothes dry.

And this next trip is at Easter, so two rooms at Value would be $292 a night (and that's if rates don't go up next year.....haha). Sorry, not paying that for a value resort.

Don't get me wrong. I see more onsite trips for us. But they will be either when it's just me and DH, or when I get tons of cash coming my way and we can stay at the Cont. in a 2 bedroom. oh, please, oh, please. ok, or the Poly......or maybe even WL.......

 

[*disgal*]

O.K. all you converts. I'm really trying to come up with an off-site solution for us. On this trip we'll have 7. All but one is over age 19. We like to come and go to the parks at different times and have really enjoyed having the disney shuttle buses handy. DH will go early in the morning with me and DS, but will return in the early afternoon. The 20 yr olds sleep in and arrive at park late morning.

While we may have a rental car, one car won't cut it with that much coming and going.

So what type off site accomodations have you experienced that has reliable, frequent transportation? I can't find much. I did find some all-suites, but in reality that will also be cramped.

I'm looking for suggestions for workable solutions

are you driving so you will have one car already? If so, I would rent another car so you could have two groups if you needed.

Offsite is no fun without good transportation.

 

[*disgal*]

I found this interesting because the last time I stayed offsite I swore it would be the last time I stayed offsite. It was a miserable experience.

It was also a good 10 years ago now at a standard hotel. Should I give it another shot? The houses/condos intrigue me, but is seems everyone is in them for at least a week. Our usual trip to WDW is about 4 days - 5 if we do one of the "other" parks. Do they rent for shorter times?

Yes, there are at least two different kinds of offsite trips. One..........standard hotel room, nothing fancy, maybe even not so great.

Two..........2/3 bedroom condo/multiple bedroom pool home at a nice resort with everything you could want INCLUDING free wireless internet.

Ofcourse you have the expensive, really nice hotels/resorts that you pay big money for or get them off of priceline.com, etc.

Big, BIG difference.

And YES! A lot rent for less than a week. vrbo.com...........check that out. windsorhillsrent.com..........great resort. That's where we hopefully will be staying. You can email the owners and they get back to you with what rate they are offering.

The only thing that you will find is that lots of them charge for the cleaning fee (oh, anywhere from $60 to 90, depending on the size) if you stay less than 7 nights, but that's not a deal breaker.

 

[Happiest mommy]

off-site only for us we rent a car and we love it!!! welcome

 

[anne1125]

Our first trip was onsite (CBR) and it was nice. Then we discovered timeshares. I am sooooo spoiled. I will never stay anywhere except a 2 bedroom condo again. We don't own in Orlando but can always get just what we want. Our next trip is Jan. 1st. We traded into Marriott's Grande Vista (total cost $800 - our maint. fee & the exchange fee).

Can't wait!!!!

 

[littlestar]

We usually travel as a group, anywhere from 6 to 8 of us on a trip.

We own DVC points and a couple of every other year lock-off timeshares - a Marriott in Branson and a Smoky Mountain unit. We are members of II (Interval International - exchange company).

We usually book 5 nights in a DVC studio on points for one of my daughters and their husband and a 2 or 3 bedroom at either a Marriott Vacation club resort or Sheraton Vistana Villages for the rest of the group. This helps everyone have a bedroom instead of having one couple on a pull-out couch.

It works out real well cost wise. For our fall trip, I got a Sheraton Vistana Villages 3 bedroom condo for $600 for the week through Interval on a cash Getaway. When we trade our other timeshares into Orlando, we do it for a total cost of about $450 a week for a 2 bedroom. We own lock-off timeshares so we get a lot of bang for the buck for our maintenance fees. We bought our Marriott timeshare unit resale for about $2,400 total and our Smoky Mt unit resale for right at $1,600.

We enjoy onsite and offsite. The first time we stayed offsite, I couldn't believe how nice the Marriott Vacation Club resort was that we stayed at. It was a revelation for a previously die-hard onsite person. That's when I started looking for a resale Marriott unit.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our first trip was onsite (CBR) and it was nice. Then we discovered timeshares. I am sooooo spoiled. I will never stay anywhere except a 2 bedroom condo again. We don't own in Orlando but can always get just what we want. Our next trip is Jan. 1st. We traded into Marriott's Grande Vista (total cost $800 - our maint. fee & the exchange fee).

Can't wait!!!!

Hi Neighbor! We're in Cherry Hill too!


Anyway, another vote here for staying off site. We stayed onsite once and felt like sardines. We also didn't like that we have to trek out for every sip of coffee or drink and having 1 bathroom is awful. Our neighbor turned us on to rental homes and we fell in love with so much space. ahhhh...
We've since bought a TS at Summer Bay and love it. 3 BRs, big jacuzzi, kids have their own room and tv and dh and I get some privacy. It gives us all a chance to unwind after a day in the parks.
We like having a car anyway since there's so much to do in FL besides WDW. I guess if WDW is truly all you want to do and you're a small family then onsite would be appealing.

To the PP asking about a large group in a house, I would recommend getting 2 cars (see the transportation board for discount codes/coupons) When we went with dbil (and his family and mil) there were 9 of us in a 4br, 3 bath home (5 adults, 4 kids) We didn't feel the least bit cramped and could share common space (LR, kitchen, pool) so it's not so separate feeling like if you had 2-3 hotel rooms. Because it was their 1st trip and we had already been many times, we knew we wouldn't always want to be together or going at the same pace.

I don't look at it as being a right or wrong way to do Disney, you just have to find what's comfortable for you or makes you happy. I wouldn't recommend staying in some cheapo Best Western, then saying "off site is awful." There are plenty of really nice offsite acommodations.

 

[horseshowmom]

Congratulations! It seems such a big step to take but once you're over that hurdle you'll never stay in a hotel again. I was nervous and anxious the first time we rented a home but once we got to the house, my fears melted away and we had a fabulous time. We've done it several times since, always with the same company, and it's always been wonderful.

All joking aside, you have to be careful though because renting a house will ruin you for hotels. After we started with that, I found myself really dissatisfied with putting us in a hotel room.

Now, I always check VRBO (just stayed in a 1BR condo in Biloxi while at a conference - about $40 less per night than the others paid for a hotel room, and I had a full kitchen with a W/D ). If I can't get that, I'll rarely stay in just a room - always get a suite (and generally look for Staybride Suites, Homewood Suites, etc.).

Nope, not all posting are from "across the pond." Good old Illinois folks here who love staying offsite!

Mississippi in my case, and we've been renting houses in Orlando for 15 years.

 

[Zeebs]

I would never try to convert anyone. To each his own is the way I look at it. I guess we have been lucky, because we have never had long waits for busses (with one or two exceptions), we have made it to a park in less than 10 minutes, we have enjoyed the food, and we don't go to watch tv. Also, we have never had a problem getting ds to go to sleep at the end of a day.

If we travelled with a bigger party, off-site would be worth looking into, but at this point we enjoy our on-site stays.

Hope you all have a wonderful trip, on-site or off.

I am quite sure that you wouldn't, and I agree each to their own. But you know some people just quite can't believe that you wouldn't want to stay onsite and I have seen some interesting comments on this forum, about how much better on site is etc etc. I just find it funny given the nature of the forum those posters should realise that people are happy with their decision to stay offsite. One day I would love to stay onsite, when the kids are bigger and we can afford delux to have the benefit of the monorail. WDW will not be a regular holiday destination for us, we have other places to go and see (I am from NZ and live in England so we use up time to go home as well) but every 3-4 years or so I am hoping to make it over. So I have plenty of time to save for that delux.

A holiday is a holiday after all and I am going to enjoy it all I can.

Kirsten

 

[Frothy]

All joking aside, you have to be careful though because renting a house will ruin you for hotels. After we started with that, I found myself really dissatisfied with putting us in a hotel room.

Absolutely agree with you. The vacation home we rent has 6 bedrooms, around 2,600 sq ft, a games room, a big screen TV, an oversize pool, a lake and fountain view and a sunset to kill for... and all this for far less than I'd pay onsite or at other hotels I've had to stay at around the country previously.

The biggest thing is that everyone has their own bedroom, so no more cramped hotel rooms and fighting over the TV and bathroom. I also try and find homes when we travel but nowhere seems to have what we can get when visiting Orlando.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am quite sure that you wouldn't, and I agree each to their own. But you know some people just quite can't believe that you wouldn't want to stay onsite and I have seen some interesting comments on this forum, about how much better on site is etc etc. I just find it funny given the nature of the forum those posters should realise that people are happy with their decision to stay offsite. One day I would love to stay onsite, when the kids are bigger and we can afford delux to have the benefit of the monorail. WDW will not be a regular holiday destination for us, we have other places to go and see (I am from NZ and live in England so we use up time to go home as well) but every 3-4 years or so I am hoping to make it over. So I have plenty of time to save for that delux.

A holiday is a holiday after all and I am going to enjoy it all I can.

Kirsten

Well said!
ITA!