why bother with offsite?

[Praying Colonel]

Through Armed Forces Vacation Club we can stay offsite in a multi-bedroom, multi-bathroom condo with pool and jacuzzi, about 10-15 minutes from WDW, for about $300/week or less. If we're not interested in "Disney immersion" (which isn't as big a deal to us as having more elbow room), Disney transportation (which we're not--we rent a car even if we stay onsite), or EMH (which our family isn't), we can have a nicer stay and a less expensive vacation.

We might be willing to come back onsite if they changed the DDP back to the way it was, but in its current version, we'll just stay offsite and choose the best of onsite and offsite dining options.

 

[asmit4]

There is nothing "special" about staying onsite. There is something "convenient" about staying onsite. My opinion is that when you stay onsite you are paying for location. Your not paying for the room. Your not paying for the amenities. Your not paying for the EMH's. Your paying a hefty price for being located the closest to WDW. So if that means the most to you...onsite is were you need to be.

Have you stayed onsite before? Most people that stay onsite do feel there is something 'special' about staying onsite and having done both- I have to say that I agree with them. Of course we all have different opinions, but I haven't read posts by onsite guests that staying onsite was not special.

I agree that we are paying a hefty price at various times of the year, but it's just me and my mom this time and with the free DDP there is no way we could go cheaper this time around even offsite. When I go with my husband in 2009, we will stay onsite also due to the cost savings once again.

When we have kids to bring with us, things might change and we might do 1/2 our trips offsite and the other 1/2 onsite, perhaps rotating years.

 

[d1gitman]

...I would say that you don't need to cook to have a kitchen. We reheat food but don't actually "cook" much. Having a kitchen is great for reheating left-overs brought back from the restaurants. {leftovers are the LAST thing i want to shove down my throat on vaca}... We also love making our grocery run when we arrive and picking up microwave popcorn and other "heat and eat" prepared foods like French bread pizza, rotisserie chicken, hot pocket sandwiches, etc. We pick up tossed salad, fresh fruit, macaroni or potato salad and other deli items that are already prepared. So, meal prep consists of grabbing something out of the refrigerator and/or heating something in the oven or microwave. It is waaaay faster and more convenient than waiting to be seated at a restaurant, and depending on what you buy, much healthier. I personally don't want to eat restaurant meals two or three meals a day every day...{for us, restaurant meals are a treat and we really enjoy the restaurants at WDW. we look at it as the restaurants at WDW aren't available anywhere but WDW so we like to treat ourselves while there}...{also, microwave food is not anything that i enjoy. i may be a bit of a crank, but i like cooked meals, especially on vaca. i don't like smelling up our hotel room with MW popcorn or any other foods that linger}

Watching TV in the bedroom is OK as long as you all want to watch the same thing, and your selection of what to watch is extremely limited on-site. With a condo, you don't have to watch kids shows the entire time. Your kids can watch what they want, and you can watch a John Wayne movie or a soap opera if you like!...{yeah, my point on that was that for the little amount of TV we watch on vaca, the room and viewing selection works fine for us. if DS's want to play video games, i take them to the arcade, yet another treat as we don't indulge in arcades at home}

this is what i love about Disney, everyone does it different and that is the beauty of it. WDW would probably suck if we all did it the same way, imagine the crowds!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have stayed onsite only for the last 6 years or so and love it sooooo much! But we are staying offsite next weekend because the WDW rates were insanely expensive...$129 for a value and $189 for a mod (I have never paid more than $59 for value and $89 for mod) and there were no more FL resident or AP discounts available.

We decided to turn in points and stay at the Staybridge Suites for free. A free stay is better than no stay! I am not totally bummed about it though because we will be back at the Poly in August for a weekend and 9 days in Oct at the AKL and BW

With the cost of gas and groceries rising every single day you may see more people stay off site, especially the ones that drive up for a weekend like me!

 

[MichelleVW]

I usually stay onsite, but have been looking into a vacation home for our next big trip. We end up driving to most of the parks anyway and I would love to have a kitchen available. I get tired of restaurant food all the time.

It would be nice to be able to spread out and not all be in the same room all the dang time.

We stayed at Pop in March with the 4 of us and it was pretty crowded and I would have loved to have more room for the same price.

DH and I are staying onsite again in Sept, but that's because we're taking advantage of free dining.

 

[d1gitman]

There is nothing "special" about staying onsite. There is something "convenient" about staying onsite. My opinion is that when you stay onsite you are paying for location. Your not paying for the room. Your not paying for the amenities. Your not paying for the EMH's. Your paying a hefty price for being located the closest to WDW. So if that means the most to you...onsite is were you need to be.

i beg to differ...for those of us who do like to be immersed in Disney, staying on site is special. i haven't seen Disney theming at ANY offsite hotels. If being immersed in Disney at the hotel isn't your thing, then for you, it isn't special. I wouldn't make a blanket statement that IT isn't special...it's all in the eyes of the beholder.

If i am not paying for the room, then what am i paying for? i certainly get to stay in the room and sleep in the room? I FEEL that by staying on site, I am paying for and getting ALL the things you mentioned. Location, Amenities, EMH's, Convenience and, a room.

 

[teedisney]

We've booked our first on-site vacation so we can have a true comparison.

We've done rental houses and timeshares before but have visited Disney and Universal.

My DH was actually not thrilled that we will have 1 hotel room. We only have 1 DS.

We'll see. Maybe I can do a better comparison after our trip.

 

[blu3d3vil]

Onsite is special and if it was cheaper we would do it more often.

 

[Darcy03231]

We went last summer and had 9 people in our party.

Cost of 5 bdrm/3 bath, private pool home for 14 days in August (including all taxes and fees), car rental (2) & parking (2 cars) = $2,480.00.

Cost of 3 rooms at a value resort at WDW for 14 days in August (including all taxes and fees) = $5,334.00

We loved having all the extra room to spread out, the full kitchen, the private pool and having a washer & dryer. We saved a lot of money by eating meals in too. I also liked not being tied to WDW for the entire trip.

I'm going this fall and taking my 4 y.o. niece. Since its just the two of us it was much more economical to stay on-site at a value and get the DDP.

 

[Minniemouse07]

FWIW my ILs live 20min away from WDW and we prefer to stay on property!

 

[d1gitman]

FWIW my ILs live 20min away from WDW and we prefer to stay on property!

you can't compare the option of staying with IL's over staying on site now....

 

[Minniemouse07]

you can't compare the option of staying with IL's over staying on site now....

You should have heard me explaining why we weren't staying w/ them!

It was a lovely speech about "immersing dd in the magic."

 

[mamamac]

A few reasons why we are looking to stay offsite

1. I am NOT sleeping in the same room with my MIL & FIL!!!!
2. My kiddos need a place to sleep with a door that closes.
3. Our vacation will be longer because we can afford to stay for 2 weeks with a house. (6 BR 5 BA with pool)
4. I LOVE to cook and having a full kitchen for some meals will be wonderful.
5. I want to be able to relax in a nice spa while the kids are sleeping.

 

[kelmac284]

There are 7 of us and my mom owns a timeshare. So we need a big place and it is MUCH cheaper for us. Esp since we go for almost 2 weeks at a time. Plus it is so nice to have the washer and dryer as well as the kitchen. We eat breakfast in the room and it saves a ton. Sure it is nice to stay on property but having the large room is so much nicer and the place we are staying in this time has a huge water park, golf course, restaurants, tons of activities and it is really close to the park. There are pros and cons to both but you can't beat the savings.

 

[littlewitch34]

Because either way, it costs the same for us, and the house we get is totally awesome!

http://www.lovelyfloridavilla.com/index.html is the house we're staying at. It's close to Disney, and we aren't commndo-style park guests, so we don't mind driving in after park opening. We leave around 9 AM, get breakfast, and get to Disney around 10:30.

 

[mskayjay]

Well I've done both and there are truly + and - to each. Depending on where you stay, being offsite can be not all that different from being on. Dont' start flaming me!!!! We stayed waaaay off which stunk! and we stayed right off near DTD. Since we are not big into the whole pool thing usually (this trip it will be very hot so we prob will!) and most of the time at the hotel is sleeping time, I don't always consider being immersed 24/7 a necessity. On a shorter trip especially we cram such a long day at the parks that when we get to the hotel, we just crash! In that case, a onsite isn't that important. This trip, its just the two of us, long stay for us (1 week), built in down time, want to be on site, so its worth it.

The beauty is that you have those choices......well all except the adult only hotel......

 

[ChrisinNJ]

i haven't seen Disney theming at ANY offsite hotels.

But, there are plenty of disney themed houses & condos...

http://www.mickeyscondo.com/safari/


Christine

 

[Chelley00]

i beg to differ...for those of us who do like to be immersed in Disney, staying on site is special. i haven't seen Disney theming at ANY offsite hotels.

There are many villas and condos Disney themed bedrooms, bathrooms, gamerooms, and I've even seen some with Mickey shaped pools. To me, really, other than All Star Movies, none of the onsite resorts are "Disney themed". Sure, they all have great themes, but not Disney

 

[NancyIL]

We used to stay offsite because my DH didn't want to pay WDW resort prices for 5 of us. Then in April 1999, my 3 kids and I drove to WDW. Since there were just 4 of us, we split our stay between 2 nights at Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista (for $27.95/night, as I recall!) and the just-opened All Star Movies Toy Story - for $99/night. Once we moved onsite, the car never moved, and I was never so happy to NOT have to drive around the parks again! I was an onsite believer after that.

In June 2005 I was at WDW for just one night, and my resort of choice was unavailable. I stayed at the Sheraton Safari, which was a very nice hotel, and it was free using Starwood points. However, I hated driving to and from the parks. I'd much rather have a regular onsite hotel room and eliminate the offsite transportation hassles.

 

[Cool-Beans]

For less than Disney is charging for a moderate resort, we got several bedrooms, several BATHROOMS (hear the angels singing?), a kitchen with fridge, microwave, whole bit, washer/dryer, living room with couches, TV, movies. 8 nights, less than $1000 with all the taxes and crap added in. dreamsvillas.com

Again, less than Disney wants for one small room and one itty bitty bathroom.

Plus, if I'm driving past the Taco Bell anyway, why not have that for lunch instead of paying $20/person somewhere else? Olive Garden is much better than Tony's Town Sqauare and is about half the cost. And the drive isn't as long as I thought it would be. 17 minutes from front door to Epcot parking spot, after turning off the car.

I've stayed in all of Disney's hotels except Saratoga and Pop Century. Stayed in most of them several times, especially the Poly. I was at the Poly so much that some of them know me by name without even being told I was coming. I'm starting to develop a "been there, done that" feeling toward the Disney hotels. I no longer need to be there. They really aren't any nicer than the staff is elsewhere and the rooms are so damn small. Cute, pretty, etc., but small.

Disney has some nice and well-themed hotels. They carry your bags, they're close to the parks, and a few of them (especially AKL, for me) give you a little "magic." And you can't beat the monorail for getting to the MK, that's for sure. There is certainly nothing wrong with staying in a Disney hotel!

I just want more. What can I say? I want more and I'd like to pay less for it, too. I want it all. I want it now.

It isn't that I'll never stay in a Disney hotel again. I'd just rather not.

...especially not having to share a bathroom. I really, really (A LOT!) liked that.

To me, it is no longer a question of why I should go offsite. It is more a question of why I should pay more for less. Unless someone else has their heart set on a Disney hotel...I'm not paying more for less any longer. (cue the Twisted Sister )