What should I do?

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

I am trying to plan a special trip for my daughter's 5th birthday and my mother's retirement. We will be 4 adults and 2 kids. I have been planning all along to stay onsite at a DVC 2 bedroom villa. The room only rates I am quoted on disney.com are between $4-5k depending on the resort. Out of curiosity I looked into vacation homes offsite and found I could rent a 3 bedroom house with a pool for around $1000 bucks. A big difference. Is it worth it to pay the premium to stay onsite? Is the Disney quote the best deal possible or are there hidden deals? How far in advance can I book ADRs if I am staying offsite?
I really want this trip to be special--Breakfast at CRT, birthday cakes and goodies, etc. I also want to be able to conveniently go back to our room/villa for downtime midday. We will be going in September 09 (I know, a long time off but I want to save my pennies now)
I need advice!

 

[MagicMe]

I would check out the DVC section of the boards. Many members have points for sale. don't be afraid to check them out first. They will take the points they are selling to you and book your room. It should be cheaper that way but probably won't be as cheap as the offsite. Still, I am one of those that always stays on site. I did my first trip to WDW offsite (many many moons ago) and I find that there is nothing to compare with the fun of staying on site.

If you are not set on a complete "home" environment, you may want to look into getting two rooms (adjoining) at a Value or moderate.

We've done DVC the past two years (a two-bedroom for six adults) booking a regular package through WDW and booking room only using DVC points. We really enjoyed having the extra room but we found that we really only used the kitchen some of the mornings and just a bit late night. You can now add the Dining package on to a DVC reservation so that makes it even better.

 

[carrie6466]

I am staying in an off-site time share and was able to make my ADR's with no problem. I made them in Feb. for my trip 6/27 - 7-2.

Carrie

 

[pepe of ohio]

Seems too much to me. I'ld look into booking 2 rooms at a moderate or AKL or WL, at 250 a room comes to 500 bucks times length of stay or even one room deluxe, say Poly or CR that holds 5 people at 400 a night for say 7 nights is 2800 and you have the MK at your door step and the monorail.

We've never stayed off site, never will because of afternoon breaks and our children are grown and married, but its easier to break if staying on property, just a short ride to your resort, dip in pool, lunch or nap and again a short ride back to any park. On site you need no car so you save on rentals. We've never used anything other than Disney transportation and never had any regrets, its free, huge savings and gets you where you're going with less hassle.

I'ld go over my options for staying on site, even a suite at the values before going off site, just seems the magic is better on property, alot to do and see and all free transport to all of it, stay late at a park and let the Disney people get you back to your resort. No car finding, parking, fees, no hot car and no traffic jams.

 

[iluveeyore]

Check the DVC rent/trade board - renting points can be half the cost of paying rack rate for the DVC villas. We have a two bedroom we are sharing with friends this year and for five nights it is 150 points in July at OKW or @ $1500. We use our points as members, and our friends pay the difference. Weekend nights are higher, but it should still work out cheaper for you. If you aren't going to be in your room much or cooking like we do, then two rooms at a deluxe/moderate would be better too - also, AP rates are out, that might be worth a look as well.

 

[msgrimm23]

my family of 5 books two rooms at the pop its a great price great room and you are on disney prop

 

[solferino]

Also agree you should check into booking 2 rooms at a value or mod. We've gone with IL's the past few trips and have done it this way and it works great. We've always had rooms right next door to one another and as much as I love DH's parents, I like having our own room and bathroom.

 

[danielle782001]

Staying on-site gives you the use of Disney transportation (don't need to rent a car) and the dining plan (you save a lot on food when you get this). Look at those costs when thinking about staying off property to save some money. You will save time by staying on-site as well. It is faster and easier to get around when you stay at a Disney resort (and FREE!!). The villas are great for large groups because you have a kitchen for quick and cheap meals in the room (we grab breakfast in the room). There is a washer/dryer to keep up with the mountains of laundary a large group makes and they are very comfortable. Two rooms in a moderate resort may end up being more expensive. You need to look into that.

Side-note: My unlce did two rooms in the Pop last month because of the same reason and said it wasn't worth the savings. They were not happy with the rooms or the hotel after visting others to dine.