What To Do If Part of Your Group Wants to Stay Offsite?

[mirlow]

I'm thinking about joining my parents and my sister with her kids for a 5 night stay in January. The problem is my dad is paying for my sister and her 2 kids, so he wants to find some deals. Well he got a call about a time share where he can get this and that so he wants to stay there. When I talked to him the other day he said he thought we should all stay at the same place Now I don't know if we will be going for sure, but if we do I don't want to stay where he is planning on. I thought if we did stay off site I could do HIFS or a DD hotel, but that's it? I really want to stay at POR. I want to try this resort and since we usually stay at a deluxe I thought this would be a good time to try a moderate. I don't know what to do? It's so much slower in January so maybe it wouldn't matter to much if we stayed at this timeshare place? We would save a lot of money. My sister is leaving a day early, so the last night we are there I was going to treat my parents to either the Polynesian or AKL concierge I would at least get my fix in for one night!

 

[robinb]

Since you are joining your family, I think you should stay with them. Saying off-site is not the end of the world . I stay both on-site (DVC) and off-site all the time. I think you'll be fine at a timeshare and you'll save a fortune (can you say next trip???)! I would also skip the fancy hotel for the final night as I don't think it's worth moving for a single night and it'll eat up what ever savings you had by staying at the timeshare. If you really want to do something special for your parents then make a reservation for a special meal instead.

 

[mirlow]

I should mention one thing I am concerned about is that there would be at least 2 resort days and I'm not sure if there is much to do at this place? It's nice to hear from others who do both on and offsite. I worry about offsite with 3 young kids and no daddy joining us this time. We will have grandparents and as you said Robin we will save a lot of money, we spent way too much on our trip in July I did want to stay at one of our favorite resorts our last day because we will be celebrating my dd's 2nd bday while we are there (like she will even remember )

 

[floridalover]

Same problem in my family. I love disney resorts and want to spend the whole trip onsite at POR. DH likes the spaciousness of a villa offsite. (onsite villas - too expensive)
I said I would compromise and that if our trip was a 3 week stay, the last week we could get a villa. Downside to this is guess who would have to clean and tidy on holiday ? Me!

 

[Karel]

I think you should do what is right for your family. If you want to spend the extra money and stay on site, then you should. You can always go visit them or they can come to you. It would be different if your dad was paying for you also. I'm very leery of timeshares, though I have heard there are some really nice ones.

 

[Joan S.]

If you liked to try something special for all-How about Chef Mickeys for your dd 2nd B. Day! Maybe you could also take a ride on the monorail and show your family the deluxe hotels and what they have to offer?I would vote stay with your family. On resort days you could go to the Belz outlets or shop in DD and the Marketplace. In July we ventured offsite to an Olive Garden Res. and it was wonderful! There is a whole lot of stuff beyond Disney maybe you could explore a little. Or a day at SeaWorld or Universal? Half the fun is in the planning! Just a day by the pool with their cousins might be something your children would really enjoy. Good Luck Joan

 

[mirlow]

I have solved my dilemma I thought that since I am flexible with my dates I would just go earlier than my sister (my parents will already be in Florida). Now I can stay at WDW for 4 nights and then move to the timeshare for the rest of the nights when the rest of my family was going to check in and I'll just leave a little earlier. Since I was going to spend the money anyway, my parents can stay with us at what ever WDW resort we decide Then the timeshare part will already be paid for. Now I'll be down there for a week! Now my parents can have some quality time with both families.

 

[Gillian]

What timeshare is it? Many of them are very nice, with lots of space & nice pools. I doubt you'll be bored there!

The orlando board has info on disney area time shares. You might find out something good!

 

[robinb]

Mirlow:

Great solution! Now you need to pick your WDW resort .

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Glad to see you came up with a great decision! Just one question.....do you know which time share your parents are staying in? Seriously, if he "got a call" it could be a scam! It's happened to a few people I know. Sadly, the worst one is is Ramada!!

 

[mirlow]

It's Westgate Lakes. I've done a search and there seems to be mixed reviews. I won't care so much now that I can get my WDW fix in first My parents aren't into resorts like I am. They like the nice resorts too, but if they can stay somewhere cheap and get tickets to other attractions they will do that. Now the hard part is deciding where to stay the first part of the trip