Which do YOU reccomend?

[Iott Family]

I am wondering which way to go. We are a family of five, possibly six by the time we vacation.Would you get a timeshare/condo/suite off site or stay in two value rooms at WDW? We like the bonuses of staying on site at WDW....transportation, EE mornings, etc. BUT we arent excited about paying the disney rates 2x. And staying at a deluxe resort is out of our budget. We just got back from CBR and loved it until the rain came and we were stuck in our room with three kids.....AAHHHHHHHH!!! Cramped quarters. Did laundry once and it cost 18.00 to use the machines...I even brought my own detergent, etc. We have even looked into DVC but arent yet ready to commit. Disney isnt priced for families larger than 4. Maybe its my midwest upbringing but families of four arent common around here, families of si are more the norm. I wish Disney would rethink its demographics! Laughs!!!

Thanks for any suggestions, past experiences or just plain opinions you might have. We will be vactioning in June and are staying with family in buena vista at a timeshare and are returniing in 2006 around oct/dec. Its our 2006 vacation I am trying to work out. Takes a year and budgeting but we love our time in Orlando!

 

[spiceycat]

see how you feel after you have stayed in a timeshare.

some people love it.

others would rather be at WDW 24/7 - no matter what.

everyone is different.

You can rent points from a DVC member and that would save you some money - but 2-bedrooms are expensive....

Now old is your kids - any other 3 - then a 1-bedroom would be fine.

hey even in your situation I would go for 2 studios (instead of the 1-bedroom) using points it is the same price.....(they at least you have 2 bathrooms)

I would also look at the FW cabins.

www.skyauction.com is a good site for finding inexpensive timeshares. but only if your family can stand to say off site and you like to bid (it is an auction).

if you don't like to bid then use II version - no bidding.
www.condodirect.com

most of the time your best places and prices are around 90 to 60 days before hand - sometimes on skyauction it can be a couple of days, weeks before hand. there is not way to predict. So last minute trips are the best.

RCI has skyauction, and II has condodirect - neither own any of these timeshares, hotels - they can't get you what they don't have. an owner of the timeshares must deposit their week for you to get it.

 

[talicskai]

We always stay at Vistana Resort or Villages. They are nicer than my house!
I love being able to eat breakfast in my jammies (I am on vacation) and being able to throw the beach towels in the dryer after a swim! We have a ton of space plus a VCR and three TV's in case of rain! I wouldn't do it any other way. However, you need a car if staying off site. I would never try to do it without a vehicle. I love going to Super Walmart for my groceries and bringing back takeout for dinner. It saves us a ton of money on tips and soft drinks because we buy our own pop for the fridge. The only meals I cook are breakfast and that is bagels/toast/cereal/coffee and tea. Nothing fancy but certainly cheaper than eating in a food court. We are also huge Sea World fans so we don't spend every day at Disney. Our kids are young and we only go to MK once and then SW once and spend the rest of our week at the pool/hot tub and of course, OUTLET MALLS!
Downtown Disney is a 5 minute drive and we always spend a couple of nights there and at Boardwalk. I certainly never feel "deprived" of Disney because we are offsite.
It is a very personal decision. We have always said no to the timeshare talks so I have never been to one. There are others on these boards that can elaborate on them more. I just can't afford to buy one so why bother going to the speech? It is a waste of everyones time.
There is no right or wrong way to enjoy Disney but with 5/6 kids I would certainly choose a condo. It is the only way for me.
Have a great trip!

 

[disneysteve]

I've rented pool homes, condos and timeshares and I highly recommend any of them. Last trip, we did a week at Orbit One thru Skyauction. $261 for the week in a 2-bed, 2-bath unit. Last year, we paid $90/nite for a 3-bed, 2-bath condo at Windsor Palms. 3-bed pool homes usually start around $100/nite.

There is no hotel on or offsite that compares with the space and amenities of these options so these would get my vote.

 

[Big V]

We have stayed onsite once and prefer having a 2 or 3 bedroom condo with a balcony for the same price a lot better. We always rent a car and do a little site seeing too though. As Steve said, Windsor Palms is a great place to stay!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Some people have to be on-site. I used to be one of those people. We are a family of 5 also, and we really enjoyed the space of the condo. I also used to swear I would never do laundry on vacation either, but coming home with loads of laundry wasn't fun either. It was so easy to put a load in every once in a while.

And I have faced the music about cooking on vacation. I try to make it as easy as possible on myself, but if we want to try to make at least one trip a year(possibly more) than I am going to have to do it. On our next trip, which is for 14 days, I have about 10 meals that we will eat out. The rest we eat in. It's what we have to do to make it a 2 week trip instead of a 1 week trip. It's worth it for us, but for some it's not. You make your vacation what you want, right?

If you could even get Allstars at a discount, say $65 a night X 2, that would be $130 a night. That's $910 for the week. I could find a pretty nice place for that. I checked out villadirect.com and found this one. Hope the link works. http://www.villadirect.com/nvd_summ...Year=2006&dpDay=14&dpMon=5&dpYear=2006&agID=0

That one is in Clermont. Probably don't want to be that far out, but it just gives you an example of what is out there. Do a search on that site and you will find tons.........I've heard a lot of nice things about Windsor Palms and Emerald Isle, to name a few.

Good luck.

 

[disneysteve]

If you could even get Allstars at a discount, say $65 a night X 2, that would be $130 a night. That's $910 for the week. I could find a pretty nice place for that.

Just a comparison...

Our last 3 trips to Disney, 1 week each time, cost us a total of $905 for accomodations including tax. One week was a 1-bedroom suite, one week was a 3-bed condo that we split with my MIL, and the third week was the Orbit One 2-bed unit. So we got three trips for what 2 rooms at All Star would cost for one week. No brainer in my book.

 

[lisa0477]

I am wondering which way to go. We are a family of five, possibly six by the time we vacation.Would you get a timeshare/condo/suite off site or stay in two value rooms at WDW? We like the bonuses of staying on site at WDW....transportation, EE mornings, etc. BUT we arent excited about paying the disney rates 2x. And staying at a deluxe resort is out of our budget. We just got back from CBR and loved it until the rain came and we were stuck in our room with three kids.....AAHHHHHHHH!!! Cramped quarters. Did laundry once and it cost 18.00 to use the machines...I even brought my own detergent, etc. We have even looked into DVC but arent yet ready to commit. Disney isnt priced for families larger than 4. Maybe its my midwest upbringing but families of four arent common around here, families of si are more the norm. I wish Disney would rethink its demographics! Laughs!!!

Thanks for any suggestions, past experiences or just plain opinions you might have. We will be vactioning in June and are staying with family in buena vista at a timeshare and are returniing in 2006 around oct/dec. Its our 2006 vacation I am trying to work out. Takes a year and budgeting but we love our time in Orlando!

HI there! I am going in March with a family of 6. Four Kids me and my husband. I am trying my hardest to get a good place off site. There is no way in heck I will survive all of us in a small space. As much as I want to stay on disney I just can't. Can't afford it and I can't split my famly up. I have twins that are 2 and a 1 year old and a 7 year old. If you find something let me too. I have a friend working on a deal at the Double tree suites for me. Lord knows I can't afford it other wise.

 

[Iott Family]

I am waiting to see what the new disney package specials are. I just so love the convenience of staying onsite. But it is unlikely that we will stay onsite again while vacationing with the kids. cypress palms looked nice and I sent away to holiday villas for a brochure. So im revising my first statement and saying the luxury of having a kitchen, private pool, more than one bathroom and a wash machine has turned me into an off site junkie in search of the perfect deal.

Now that im not buying my tickets thru disney in package like we have done in the past. How do I get the best deal. We want to do the parks 4 to 5 days of our 8 day vacation stay. My children are 7-9-and 11months. Im thinking of october to early december of 2006. Best as I can tell the weather is decent and the crowds arent sardines being herded like cattle! Laughs!!!

And to the mother of the family of six.....you certainly have your hands full!

Thank you so much to everyone!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Now that im not buying my tickets thru disney in package like we have done in the past. How do I get the best deal. We want to do the parks 4 to 5 days of our 8 day vacation stay. My children are 7-9-and 11months. Im thinking of october to early december of 2006. Best as I can tell the weather is decent and the crowds arent sardines being herded like cattle! Laughs!!!

The best deal for the tickets............................If that is going to be your only trip for the year, I would just buy the five day basic ticket and add on the hopping option. Buy the four day if you will only be there 4 days. Remember, these will expire 14 days from purchase or first use....something like that. So you don't want to buy the 5 day if you think you will only do 4 days.

The best deal for the place to stay..................I budget out our trip and see how much we can afford to pay for a hotel/condo. Then I try to find the place to match (or hopefully below) the price I can afford.

This next trip for us has to be really cheap as far as the condo goes because we will be spending $1900 for AP's for the five of us so we can go again the next year and not have to buy hopper tickets again.

 

[spiceycat]

I would go with 10 day and add the no expiration date and the park hopper.

go look at
www.skyauction.com
click on USa/Canada
click on florida (right side)
click on hotels only (right side)

the timeshare are the ones for 7 days. If you see one you would like to bid come back here and see what this site thinks of the timeshare.