Why stay on property when...

[TLSnell1981]

Removed post because apparently the OP has his mind made up. It seems like he just wants to make fun those who enjoy staying on site.

Just my 2 cents.

It's a shame that everybody doesn't drink the Kool-Aid....it's quite magical!!

 

[NHLFAN]

The reason we stay offsite is it's one of the ways we can afford to visited Orlando every December.
Yes, we could stay in a Value Resort but we don't care for Motel 8 like accomodations that Disney provides when we can stay in a VERY nice timeshare for the same price or less.

 

[TLSnell1981]

It's a shame that everybody doesn't drink the Kool-Aid....it's quite magical!!

No offense Tara. I had already posted before I saw your post. It really is a common expression...not pertaining to Jim Jones. Again, I'm sorry if it offended you.

 

[Tara]

No offense Tara. I had already posted before I saw your post. It really is a common expression...not pertaining to Jim Jones. Again, I'm sorry if it offended you.

Don't worry about it -- we all have our quirks I suppose and that's just one of mine. It's one thing to use it in a self-deprecating way, but it's another to throw it around like an insult. Neither use really takes into account the origins of the phrase, but while the former might make me grimace and move right along, the latter really bothers me.

But thanks for taking the time to comment about it...it's a nice reminder of what wonderful people exist in this community!

 

[DaParkers]

I feel sorry for you...I truly do. If that's the inference you make then you should seek professional help.

I thought you were leaving.

 

[DaParkers]

What you call belittling I call stating my opinion. If you feel belittled maybe you should ask yourself why.

Now I'm done wasting my time. Obviously, if you're not part of the "clique" you can't post and expect a to have a frank exchange of ideas and opinions.

PEACE!

You are the weakest link. Goodbye!

 

[mommylicious]

We've done the off site thing and the on site thing. We prefer on site. We are aware there are less expensive options out there off site but we still prefer on site. We don't travel unless we can pay for the trip with cash (or rather pay for it on the card but pay off the card when the bill comes) so we aren't racking up debt to be able to travel. Some of our reasons for wanting to stay onsite:

• We prefer to fly down and for us, a lot of times by the time we rent a car that will fit our family of 5 and all of our stuff from the airport, pay for an off site home, groceries, gas and parking each day, well, we may as well stay on site.
• My DH views not having to drive as a HUGE part of the appeal of our vacation so onsite with Disney transportation appeals to us.
• We do believe in the mid day break philosophy and we do take a mid day break every day unless it is a short day we have planned. We have young kids. If we ride back on a bus/boat/monorail to our resort, they view it almost as another attraction and they stay awake on the ride; if we get to the car and buckle them into their car seats, they are asleep before we are out of the parking lot. Fifteen minutes later when we arrive at our offsite accommodations with DH and I looking forward to a cat nap or just some quiet relaxing time, the kids wake up as we are getting them out of the car and they are energized and raring to go after their power nap. Not so much fun for Mom and Dad!
• I enjoy not having to cook and clean during our stay. I will admit that at the end of a week to 10 days, I am ready for some home cooked food but I prefer not to have to cook and clean on my vacation. I realize I could save some money if I did, but I value not having to cook and clean so to me that extra money is money well spent. Since it is after all, my money and since we are not running up debt to take the vacation, it doesn't matter to me what anyone else thinks of that logic. It makes me happy, it makes my DH happy, it makes my kids happy---nuff said!
• Finally, my kids LOVE hotels. They love the little toiletries (especially the shower cap...something fun about a shower cap!), they love the "everyone in the same room" cozy family thing, they love that we leave and when we come back it's clean, they love that there is stationary in the desk drawer, they love putting the key in the door, they love the pool, they love the elevators...they just flat out love hotels. They don't get that at a pool home. Yeah, it's not the best reason but it's something they enjoy and I like seeing my kids enjoy something.

We like onsite. I'm glad not everyone does...makes it easier to get a reservation for a last minute trip! I'm sure you are glad not everyone likes off site, we're one less car in the line into the parking lot and one less family in the buffet line at Golden Corral! As my 5 year old says "we're all different, and that's OK!"

 

[terri01p]

I would love to try a rental home but for me we always stay at FW because we usually travel with our dog...I've looked into a rental home but it's so hard to tell really what the nice ones are, you think it looks great and then you get there and it's old and worn at least with wdw resorts you kind of know what your getting into. Rental also scare me because you hear so many stories about never getting your deposit back.

 

[chickenskin]

Some people "get it" and others don't, one is not better than the other, it's just an individual thing. We can't even think about staying offsite, it's just not Disney to us.

 

[PaulaSB12]

You can rent some VERY nice homes with all the amenities for some great rates?! I've never understood why so many people think it's a must to stay on Disney property. Now granted we tend to go in the slow season (usually January) so it is off season but what's the draw? I got a beautiful 4 bedroom home with pool for 10 days for $999 and that inlcudes all taxes, cleaning and pool heat. I personally get sick of eating out every day so a nice quick spaghetti dinner at home vegging out in front of the TV is a great break. We don't have to deal with the "loud" couple in the next room and getting to and from the parks is a breeze. I always chuckle when I see the resort people standing in line for the bus when I'm out of the park, in my car and on my way home in 10 minutes. We swim when we want without a bunch of unsupervised kids running around and the pool never closes. Do they spike the water with something in the resorts to make it worth the hassle?

What gives?

I have always gone solo, so whats thepoint of having a house? I only need a room with a bathroom.

 

[goofy4tink]

I haven't read all the posts here, so if I'm repeating, I apologize. But, different strokes for different folks. Isn't it wonderful that there is something (someplace) to suit every type family/person?
Why do I choose to stay on-site?
1. We own DVC. We bought because we love what WDW has to offer our family.
2. No way do I want to cook on vacation. If I pull out a bagal and some cream cheese in the morning, that's close enough to cooking for me.
3. We used to be in the parks all day, sun up to sundown. Not so much anymore. We like to relax at our resort. We find it meets our needs quite nicely.
4. Heading back to our resort midday is easy peasy for us...especially during those hot/humid summer months.
5. If I want to go to other areas in Orlando, I can rent a car and go. In fact, we do that quite often....but it's usually to head to Tampa to visit family or to Cocoa Beach to hit the Atlantic.
6. No one place is ever going to be perfect for everyone. I have friends that don't get why I love Disney so much and why I can go there at least once a year, usually twice. It's my happy place. I love the parks, the resorts, even the buses. Is it perfect? Of course not. there are things I think could be improved upon.
7. There may very well come a time when we decide to stay off-site. And when that time comes, I will be fine with that experience.

But, right now, WDW resorts 'get it done' for me and my family. Doesn't for you? That's okay too. Go where you are comfortable going. There is no sense dumping on those who feel happier staying off-site. I won't pick on you for staying off-site, whatever your reasons, if you don't pick on me for my choice to say on-site. Seems fair enough to me.

 

[pamouselover]

I am a disney addict, and proud one too.
When my Mom lived in Orlando, the drive to Disney property was a nightmare.
I miss her living there and us not having to pay for a hotel and the free tickets to WDW from my aunt. But I truly love waking up and mickey calling me. Though stich really annoyed me this year!
If I had to stay off site to afford to go to WDW, I would. Any trip to see the mouse is better then no trip to see the mouse.
Keep this clean disers.

 

[boomhauer]

1. EMH - I stay long enough so I don't need an extra hour to make a difference.

How about an extra 3 hours at night? Personally, I think it's a blast being in the Magc Kingdom with shorter lines late at night.

3. Transportation - It takes me no more than 15 minutes to get from park to house and I don't have to make multiple stops. Plus, with a car I can make a trip to the beach or to the corner store if I need something.

How long does it take you to get from the MK parking lot to the front gate? Personally, I much prefer hopping on a boat or monorail and being back to my room in 10 minutes at the end of the day, as opposed to taking a monorail to the TTC, then a tram to my car, then fighting the traffic, and driving back to my hotel. But that's just me.

4. Resorts - I can and have gone to many resorts and done most of the same activities that the on-property people can do except maybe use the pool (but then again I have my own private heated pool).

I've never seen a home with as fun of a pool as the ones at the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge or Port Orleans. It's also pretty nice at the end of the day to sit by the pool, meet some new folks, and have a couple of drinks.

5. DDP - I can eat at all the same restaurants and more often since I'm not paying the extra price for the on property "magic". You're still paying for your meals - they're just covered in your package price.

Not if you go during free dining.

6. Afternoon breaks - We don't do marathon days so breaks aren't really a necessity - we just stay more days. Beside, most feedback I've seen on here leads me to believe that many don't do breaks because of the hassle.

Depends where you stay. Staying at any MK resort takes all of about 10 minutes to get back to your room. When you've got little kids in tow, it's awesome.

7. Boomhauer - you must not know that many people. LOTS of people don't stay on property.

I know. I just said, I don't know anyone that's stayed on-property, then had any desire to stay off-property.

8. "Free parking" - NEWSFLASH...it's not free - you're still paying for it!

????

So from what I've seen so far, the only thing I'm missing is the 24x7 in-your-face magic. I guess I've never drank the same Disney Kool-Aid that you guys have. I'll stick with pocketing the cost difference and just make that many more trips to the world.

To each his own. Personally, I love the kool-aid and never think twice about the price.

 

[boomhauer]

I was looking for some reasons to change my mind about staying onsite vs. offsite. Little did I know this was such touchy topic that would reduce people to childish remarks. Sorry I bothered.

Um, before any "childish remarks" were posted you did say this:

I guess I've never drank the same Disney Kool-Aid that you guys have. I'll stick with pocketing the cost difference and just make that many more trips to the world.

 

[fla4fun]

I guess I can bring a little different perspective to the table.

I stay on property because I live 20 minutes away. I work in Orlando. If I wanted something other than the totally immersive Disney experience, I'd stay at home for zero dollars and do day trips (and since I have an AP, no parking fee for me whether I stay on property or off). I like that I can go to Disney and feel like I'm hundreds of miles from home, without all the hassle of going to an airport or a long road trip.

I don't vacation at Disney all the time (I usually plan a big trip elsewhere every other year). But when I vacation at Disney, I want to be AT Disney, not just in the vicinity.

 

[hammie59]

Coming from someone who has always stayed OFF property, I can hardly wait to stay ON during the next visit. I totally get what you're saying about the better value, space, etc...but there always seeemed to be something missing, like we were "leaving the party early" so to speak. I was always a little envious of those who were staying on property.

Now granted I haven't stayed there yet, so I suppose my opinion could change. But I'm really excited about the up coming trip to be completely drowned in Disney Magic. (my husband could take it or leave it)

Maybe it depends on how into Disney you are, I don't know.

 

[ducklite]

You can rent some VERY nice homes with all the amenities for some great rates?! I've never understood why so many people think it's a must to stay on Disney property. Now granted we tend to go in the slow season (usually January) so it is off season but what's the draw? I got a beautiful 4 bedroom home with pool for 10 days for $999 and that inlcudes all taxes, cleaning and pool heat. I personally get sick of eating out every day so a nice quick spaghetti dinner at home vegging out in front of the TV is a great break. We don't have to deal with the "loud" couple in the next room and getting to and from the parks is a breeze. I always chuckle when I see the resort people standing in line for the bus when I'm out of the park, in my car and on my way home in 10 minutes. We swim when we want without a bunch of unsupervised kids running around and the pool never closes. Do they spike the water with something in the resorts to make it worth the hassle?

What gives?

This one is easy. We DO like to eat out every night. A pot of pasta smothered in Ragu is about as appealling as dog food IMHO. We tend to dine at the Signature restaurants, and like to have a pre-dinner cocktail and a bottle of wine with dinner--not a wise idea if you're going to be driving back to your room.

We tend to spend most of our time at Epcot, and stay at the Epcot resorts. I can guarantee we're back in our room before you've left the parking lot.

We tend to go during off season and seldom find the pool that crowded. And staying at the BWV and BCV you never hear noise from the hallway or other rooms. With only two or three of us, we have plenty of space and privacy in a one bedroom villa. And you can have noisy naighbors in a rental villa off-site just as easily.

And some people just aren't price sensitive, and have no problem paying to stay on-site.

 

[Nancyg56]

I was looking for some reasons to change my mind about staying onsite vs. offsite. Little did I know this was such touchy topic that would reduce people to childish remarks. Sorry I bothered.

I did not see any snippy remarks until your last one. I did read a lot of reasons people choose to stay on site vs off site. You don't seem to really want to know even though you asked.

 

[Rylee]

I don't think the OP is still coming around, but after reading through this entire thread, I'd like to offer one more reason for staying ON-site, that I haven't seen mentioned...

The ability to split-up, with ease...

My children are 20 years apart in age, from oldest to youngest. When the timing can be worked out, we use our vacation time as a way to reconnect with each other. (One is away at college, one a college graduate, living on her own, 3 hours from home.) With children ages 6 - 26, and 2 Disney loving parents, (but one with more get-up-and-go than the other) we like to be able to split up from time to time.

We spend most of our time together, and always eat one sit-down meal together per/day, but if we are visiting MK for a 2nd time on the same trip, the oldest daughter may say she wants to sleep in and just meet us later, or the girls might head back to the resort in the afternoon to catch a few rays by the pool. And, although I love Disney as much as my husband, I can't keep up with him ..!!!.. so he and the older kids might stay right 'til the very end of the extra evening hours, while I take the youngest back to the resort.

Also, with charging privileges and the DDP on our room key, I don't have to worry about making sure they have money on them for something they may want/need when we split up for a couple of hours.

All this is easier when staying on-site and being able to use Disney's transportation.

 

[fakereadhed]

I was looking for some reasons to change my mind about staying onsite vs. offsite. Little did I know this was such touchy topic that would reduce people to childish remarks. Sorry I bothered.

These kind of posts confuse me. Why would you post a question about onsite vs. offsite on Disney Resorts and then get upset when people give their opinions on staying onsite? If you don't want an opinionated answer about a hot button topic, then don't ask.