Why do you stay off site?

[disney-super-mom]

WOW, you've all brought up great reasons to stay off-site. Some of which I never even thought of!

It's great to know that you only have to pay $10 per day for parking, even if you visit multiple parks in the same day.

And being able to put your little ones to bed, while you can stay up and relax, watch TV, or whatever, without worry about tip-toeing around and waking up the kids.

And the clothes washer and dryer.....THAT would be AWESOME to have on vacation. Especially with two little boys who seem to wear as much ice cream as they eat!

A king size bed.....DH and I would LOVE it!

A place for everyone to sit down and eat, watch TV, other than on a bed.

Hmmmm, it's sounding better and better all the time!

 

[FLParadisevilla]

I think you would enjoy renting a home off site! You can try it once and see what you think!

 

[Big V]

I get up early most mornings, while my DW and DD like to sleep in. I make my pot of coffee and sit out on the patio and enjoy the warm weather and sunrise and listen to the birds singing! You can't do that in a hotel room!

 

[Mainebound]

WOW, you've all brought up great reasons to stay off-site. Some of which I never even thought of!

It's great to know that you only have to pay $10 per day for parking, even if you visit multiple parks in the same day.

And being able to put your little ones to bed, while you can stay up and relax, watch TV, or whatever, without worry about tip-toeing around and waking up the kids.

And the clothes washer and dryer.....THAT would be AWESOME to have on vacation. Especially with two little boys who seem to wear as much ice cream as they eat!

A king size bed.....DH and I would LOVE it!

A place for everyone to sit down and eat, watch TV, other than on a bed.

Hmmmm, it's sounding better and better all the time!

I agree with everything that has been said in favo of offsite stays. Our experience is that transportation was more stressful and time consuming using WDW transportation than our own car.

I can't tell you how much more relaxing our offsite experiences in a pool home have been.

The boys can swim while we sit on the chaise and watch them (I would never do this in a crowded pool where you can't tell one wet 5 year old boy from another).

They can play in the games room (many homes have air hockey, foosball, etc.) or play video games (many homes have playstation), or just fool around with their new toys (last year they got swords and viking helmets in Norway in Epcot). Things they cannot do in a cramped hotel room.

While they are doing this, we can read, surf the net (many homes have computers with internet, most at least have internet), upload photots we took that day to our laptop, catch up with work (unfortunately I usually have midterms to grade.).

We also like the quiet of the offsite places we have stayed. When we get back "home", it is time to simmer down. In contrast, when we return to a WDW hotel room, they walk by the kids playing at the pool, runnning in the lobby, they hear kids running by our room in the hallways, they see the parks or pool out the window, and they cannot sit still knowing all this is going on if they just open the door to our room.

If they are arguing (as siblings sometimes do), in a pool home, we can send them to different rooms for a breather.

We can have relaxed, healthy meals, by the pool if we want. I really don't care for parades and throwing napkins while I eat. Yes, of course, we do character meals, but rowdy restaurant meals for 10 days is not my idea of fun. And I don't want my kids morphing into chicken nuggets by the end of the trip.

Then of course, there's that fact that our 6 bedroom pool home with 2000 square feet and its own pool costs only slightly more than a 275 sq ft. room at Pop. Add the savings on food, and you have a compelling economic reason to stay offsite.

 

[marli]

Hi,
We are a family of five and we stay offsite for all of the reasons that have already been listed, it is hard to argue with more space, larger beds, washer and dryer, 2 or more bathrooms (an absolute must in my family). Also important to us is the fact that we have our own fridge and this allows us to not always be hostage to "park food" or restaurants, my husband will eat eggs and bacon everyday at a restaurant if we are out but if we have our own kitchen he will eat smarter chioces, we all do. Then I don't feel so guilty indulging in those dole whips and mickey bars later on.

 

[englishteacha]

We stay off site because it's so much cheaper. We can stay in a condo, rent a car, and get our park tickets for much less than staying onsite. We usually do some non-Disney attractions, too, so we'd have the car anyway. Why pay Disney prices if you're not actually going to be at Disney the whole time?

 

[undertheradar]

We are a family of five and we have stayed onsite as well as offsite. We prefer offsite for the added space, bathrooms!!!!, kitchen, dining rooms, living rooms, fireworks views, pools, and general relaxation.
We're going to Oahu in August for a High School football game and are staying away from Waikiki. It is nice to be able to eat when you want to eat, take a nap, have room for everyone to have some space.

 

[AllesonWonderland]

We're about to take our first trip and we're staying at Windsor Hills! When I first started researching options it quickly became evident that we would get 'more bang for the buck' by staying offsite. We're only a family of 4, but for the same reasons as others have listed we would need(want) 2 rooms onsite. There goes the budget right there! We're going over Spring Break which is peak time on the Disney calendar, but was still low season for the townhouse we rented. 2 rooms or the family suite for 8 nights would have run about $2400 for our dates. The townhouse was only $910. (And it would have been lower but we got the pool heat) To make sure we weren't missing out on too much 'magic', I went with the townhouse instead of a condo so we'd have the splash pool for the kids. Then I found one with Disney-themed rooms for the kids. Got a great deal on airfare and a car rental, so right now we have lodging, transportation, airfare and tickets all for less than the family suite quote! SOLD!! hahaha

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Darcy03231]

We stay off-site for the cost, the extra room, and the pool to ourselves. This year we have 10 people going for two weeks. If we stayed on-site we would need 3 rooms at a value resort for two weeks at $3,891.72 (I just priced it for the time frame we're going). I rented a 5 bdrm/3.5 bath house for $550/wk including taxes. Right there I've saved $2791.72. By having the house with a full kitchen and BBQ we'll eat breakfast in every day and most likely quite a few other meals. We always rent a car as we go for two weeks and like to do other things outside of WDW so I don't count that as extra by staying off-site. Since we go during the summer and have stayed on-site I've found the pools to be so crowded you really can't swim.

 

[horseshowmom]

I'll back up what everybody else says.

There are only 3 in our family (counts as 4 since DD always takes somebody). We could fit in hotel room but don't want to and definitely don't want to share one bathroom.

I like packing less and not having to take home dirty clothes (which would be a depressing end to vacation ). The clothes just wash away while I lounge by the pool!

After I stayed in a house for the first time many years ago, I never went back to a hotel room. I like both houses and condos (depending on price and location).

If I stay onsite, Disney has me hostage and can charge pretty much whatever they want. I like being able to either do some of my own meals "at home", order pizza delivered, or eat at some of the restaurants in the area (a "good" meal for the cost of counter service in Disney).

I love Disney too, but I've never understood why anybody thinks you have to stay onsite or you miss the "magic". We've always had a wonderful time (at a significantly better cost).

 

[nyfinfan]

- Save $$$
-Private Pool
-Plenty of room with kiddies
-Each get our own room (with own bathroom)
-Washer/Dryer

IMHO it's worth the $$$ to rent the car and pay the parking for these reasons.

 

[*MissNorway*]

We stay off-site because it's sooooo much cheaper. I don't wanna spend money on hotels...cause we spend very little time there.

 

[wayneg]

Only ever stayed at ASM and never again, cant understand why anyone would want to? basic, expensive and small rooms.
Looked at staying at POR for our trip in August $4,905
Booked Courtyard by Marriott LBV $1,178
Even if we stayed onsite we would still hire a car as I hate Disney busses and prefer to eat offsite.
We go to Orlando for upto 50 nights a year dread to think what it would cost all onsite. Even with our AP's they can't tempt me back onsite. Never availabilty for Xmas or Easter.

 

[Kuffam]

We have always stayed on-site and have gotten a length of stay pass. It was nice because we would get a early flight in and a late flight out and had a 1/2 day at the parks with out paying a full day admission. However now they don't do that, so we're trying off-site. This looks nice because:

1. We can stay longer (got a cottage for a week, on what we spend for 2 days at a value resort).
2. Have a kitchen- We do a Wal-Mart run for breakfast, lunch, & snack food. This time we might add a dinner or two.
3. We get a car anyway (because of #2) and also find it quicker & easier than buses. Plus DS doesn't do well with the wait.

 

[Mari annie]

For years we stayed on Disney Property
Then we did the condo tours for cheap
now we own
That's why

3 trips to FL and Annual passes



how many more days until 4.10?

 

[kydisneyfans]

We initially did it for cost reasons, but found that we can get better anemities in a much less crowded enviroment for a fraction of the cost. Many offsite locations are actually a shorter drive time wise to the parks than a 20 minute wait to stand on an overcrowded bus. Many condo areas have activities for the kids, great to take advantage of on the "down" days.

It just seems more relaxing and we have more "freedom" offsite.

 

[chrisann]

we like the extra space when we are going to be going to bed (the separate rms are nice)which we could never afford if we stayed at the disney resorts that do have them. Also the only resorts that have decent or better pools are the moderates and up and when you go for 7 or 8 nts, $130 nt, gets a bit steep. We pay less than that per night, and we've had amazing pools at the resorts we've stayed at, it's good to have a pool day in the middle and the end of the week. Also, being able to keep more than juice boxes cold and having a freezer are very nice!!

 

[2princesscuties]

If it were up to me we would be staying onsite.A few years ago DFIL bought a timeshare condo @ Horizons which is so beautiful from what I hear.We are going to be experiencing it for the first time in 9 days.DFIL has 5 children(2 of them from 1st marriage,3 stepchildren)and 7 grandchildren and he wanted us all to have a nice place to vacation at.I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I would much rather stay on-site.

 

[spiceycat]

If it were up to me we would be staying onsite.A few years ago DFIL bought a timeshare condo @ Horizons which is so beautiful from what I hear.We are going to be experiencing it for the first time in 9 days.DFIL has 5 children(2 of them from 1st marriage,3 stepchildren)and 7 grandchildren and he wanted us all to have a nice place to vacation at.I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I would much rather stay on-site.

send him stuff on Disney Vacation Club - if he can afford a Marriott - DVC is a little cheaper - go look at the resale area.

 

[jekajekalynn]

I have never stayed onsite, but I have stayed in one hotel room with my DH and kids, and DH and I each sleep with a kid -- not fun.

These are our reasons:

-DH and I NEED a king sized bed
-DH and I are important too, and we can put the kids to bed and spend some time together (in the pool and hot tub of the rental pool home) in the evenings, this is an important part of the vacation when we can reconnect (we don't have the opportunity to vacation without our kids)
-we like to each have our space sometimes
-we also go to Universal and Sea World
-we get tired of restaurant food and like to cook and bbq for ourselves, we also eat healthier
-save money on food and lodging (we get the whole house for the price of one value room)
-we drive down so already have our vehicle
-we don't like taking buses and relying on someone else to get us around
-we like the amenities -- washer/dryer in our own home, large fridge full of whatever we want to drink/eat
-we love having our own pool to swim in whenever we want
-we have a great family bonding experience without overindulging in each other's company
-enough bathrooms that everyone can get ready quickly

Sitting in the hot tub with DH in the evening with drinks in hand catching up and discussing our day is not something we could do at a value resort.

I agree.. I have never stayed onsite.. and never will.. I HATE hotels.. and I have stayed at The Ritz.. lol

They (hotel rooms) always smell like smoke and oversprayed Fabreeze..

I love the space.. the savings.. and the fact that the pool doesn't close ..