why stay on site?

[mhsjax]

My point didn't come across how I meant it to. Sorry.

If you would have looked at ALL my response and not just the first sentence, we stay onsite and offsite both, and we love BOTH, for different reasons.

My problem is the people who say that you can't have any fun, any magic or any relaxation unless you are staying onsite. That's why I didn't quote anyone, because I wasn't trying to make it a "my way is better".

No problem.

 

[kkandaj]

Let me preface with saying I have not stayed onsite since I was 8 in the campground.

BUT--being the frugal person I am, I can't comprehend spending the extra money. In May, we will be staying "offsite" at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which is right next to the "onsite" Carribean Beach Resort. I am paying $113/night (including taxes) for a 3 bd/2ba condo, full kitchen, washer/dryer with free shuttles to the parks (along with pools, lazy rivers, activity centers, mini golf, and more). The exact same week, I would have to pay for TWO rooms at CBR, at an avg of $190/night per room (not including taxes). So roughly $3000 for the two rooms, compared to the $795 I am paying. Other than EMH, are there amenities at CBR that I am not seeing that are worth $2000? I am comparing CBR because they are literally right next to each other. I can't imagine that traveling an extra few parking lots is going to take away the "magic" for us. Our rental car is a little over $200. I have no idea what renting DVC points from someone would cost, but a full kitchen is required for DS's food allergies. And there are 5 adults and two children on the trip.

One day, I would love to stay onsite to see what the hype is, but would never pay the prices for the type of room we would need. Even if it was just DH, DD, DS and I, we would still need a kitchen. (A food allergy mom doesn't have the luxury of not cooking on vacation. Even with Disney's allergy policies.) A trip for DH and I would work in a value, but never taking the entire fam.

In 2009 we rented a house--4bd/3ba with it's own pool/game room. It was 8 miles from Disney World gates and took us 20 minutes total for the drive. It was an awesome trip! And so relaxing! We paid $650 for the week.

It all depends on what kind of vacation you want. I don't understand how the "magic" is gone if you're not onsite though. The magic is seeing DD in awe watching Tink fly from the castle, or DS at 18 mos waving frantically at Goofy in the MNSSHP parade yelling "Foofy bike!" OUR magic is also having space to spread out, so I don't become angry mom in a tiny, cramped room.

 

[kkandaj]

eek---double post

 

[crisi]

What? Mickey soap and the Stitch wake up call (is it still Stitch, I haven't used it in a while), and the annoying "Ten Things to Do" girls aren't worth $2000?

Over the years, our reasons for staying onsite have changed - ease has been a big consistent one. Its easy. Another, at times, is a certain expectation of quality (but I find Hilton to be MUCH more consistent ) Theming is important to us - where do you find anything like AKL offsite? Or even Wilderness Lodge or the Poly - although now there are really nice hotels all over. Now its flexibility with teenagers - we don't NEED to stick together as a family for transportation.

On the magic - you find it where you feel it. And it doesn't even need to be Disney.

 

[Sugar Jones]

We like staying onsite for the convenience. My husband is a big meal plan fan, to him it's like all inclusive. Everything paid for in advance. I am a big fan of NOT cooking while on vacation.

For our trip next year I have been considering Bonnet Creek. We are planning some time at US, so to me it makes sense, but dh is still stuck on staying onsite with the mealplan.

I'll take getting to go to Disney however I can, whether it's onsite or not

 

[alex9179]

Why stay on site?

The simple answer is... because I want to. That's it. I could justify on or off, but it's our vacation and we're going see, eat, and stay at WDW

 

[mrsklamc]

We also have had great trips staying offiste, most recently at Windsor Hills last year. We loved having a washer/dryer and space to spread out, but we missed being able to swim at any hour (Windsor Hills pool closes PROMPTLY at 10 pm), .

I can't do anything about a kitchen but another solution to being able to swim at all times is to get a pool home. It's wonderful.

Actually the last owner we rented a pool home from was so helpful, I bet they'd be more than willing to take the pots, pans, etc out of the kitchen and then you couldn't feel obligated.

 

[Planogirl]

I like staying onsite occasionally for the convenience. The extra hours don't mean much to me and I couldn't care less about the big plastic icons and that type of thing. There are wonderful offsite hotels too plus I love to drive so it's no big deal to drive to the parks.

However, I do have a couple of favorite Disney hotels that I like to revisit just because I like them and not specifically because they are Disney hotels. I like Port Orleans Riverside and the Animal Kingdom Lodge a lot. I also like the Polynesian Resort but we've been priced out of that one.

 

[C_leen]

Hi!

I think one thing to consider is the crowd level during your planned visit.

I have stayed at FW, WL, YC, and two of the hotels in the old core of Lake Buena Vista. Once I enter the park, I forget where I am staying. I let myself be a kid again. Now that I have my own kid, it is super to experience WDW with him.

Now for my trip planning this year for just DS and me, we need to experience Universal's WWOHP. DS is just about to start book 7! So we will be splitting this trip between the two Orlando heavies. I have decided since the crowd levels aren't too bad during our visit, that I will stay off site for WDW (no free dining), but on site at Universal (Loews hotels are so nice & access to their fastpass version!). When I looked at crowd levels, they actually route you away from the parks with extra magic hours, so it could easily become a feature of staying on site that you do not use!

Have a wonderful trip, no matter where you rest your head!

 

[mickeygaga]

Honestly, I would not go to Disney and stay off site. If I couldn't afford to stay onsite, I'd postpone the trip until I could. When I advise people about their Disney trips I make no personal suggestions, except about staying onsite. It is the one thing I do believe makes a difference.

Now, the OP is driving, but for those who are flying, they get off the plane, they're whisked away by Disney transport to their on-property resort, they do not worry about driving or parking, they never once have to leave the "magic" until they step off the Disney bus onto the airport tarmac at the end of the trip. That is what I pay for, never having to touch the real world in the slightest from the time I arrive at my destination until the time I'm dragged kicking and screaming away.

This!! I love the feeling of being completely immersed from beginning to end.

 

[mhsjax]

I can't do anything about a kitchen but another solution to being able to swim at all times is to get a pool home. It's wonderful.

Actually the last owner we rented a pool home from was so helpful, I bet they'd be more than willing to take the pots, pans, etc out of the kitchen and then you couldn't feel obligated.

Yes, but as I sit here in my living room starring out at my pool, I just don't put a priority on pools like some do. I realize that not everyone has a pool and for some kids this is a must but for ours, it is been there and done that. They only want a pool to maybe take a quick dip in to cool off. It really depends on what you want out of a vacation. I want the top 10 things on the WDW TV, I want the Disney theme, I don't want to leave property, I want a maid that comes in every day, I don't and refuse to even think about using a kitchen. But that is how we do it, doesn't make it right or wrong. Just our way. It's all good.

I do realize you were responding to another poster and her problem with the pools closing early. But thought a lot of people love to have a pool in the back yard, so I just gave my thought on that particular amenity.

 

[mrsklamc]

Yes, but as I sit here in my living room starring out at my pool, I just don't put a priority on pools like some do.

I do realize you were responding to another poster and her problem with the pools closing early. But thought a lot of people love to have a pool in the back yard, so I just gave my thought on that particular amenity.

Yup, different does not = wrong. Lots of folks love staying onsite because of the transportation, & the LAST thing I want to do on vacation is ride a bus.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I can't do anything about a kitchen but another solution to being able to swim at all times is to get a pool home. It's wonderful.

Actually the last owner we rented a pool home from was so helpful, I bet they'd be more than willing to take the pots, pans, etc out of the kitchen and then you couldn't feel obligated.

LOL!!!! I'm sure they would remove the pots and pans if I asked them to .

We looked into pool homes, but by the time we added all of our costs together, we were even closer to narrowing the gap between staying onsite with FD and offsite + the cost of food.

 

[mhsjax]

Yup, different does not = wrong. Lots of folks love staying onsite because of the transportation, & the LAST thing I want to do on vacation is ride a bus.

totally with you on that one. That is one amenity, if you can really call it that, we don't use. Did it one time. um, no thanks.

 

[kirstenb1]

We are DVC, go 2X a year at least and I see less and less value to staying onsite. If we weren't DVC owners (which I do love) we would probably not pay for WDW resorts unless we got a fantastic rate. I also don't like the dining plan and even free dining is not at all appealing to us (we don't eat like that and paying rack rate for the rooms means you still are paying for the dining ).

I am so over Disney transportation. Sure it works great sometimes, but we have had way too many horror experiences on it to make it worthwhile to us. If I am paying thousands of dollars to stay at a Deluxe, I expect Deluxe level transportation! My time is way too important to me. We always rent a car now and love, love, love it. Especially with young children.

Our favorite offsites are Bonnet Creek and Buena Vista Suites (for short stays). They are as close to, if not closer than some of the Disney resorts. We also are AP holders so we don't have to pay for parking. I do miss using our KTTW card for charging (I like the itemized bill at the end of the week) and sometimes I miss evening EMH when staying offsite...but that is about it. Since we usually split our stays with DVC and offsite though it usually isn't a huge issue.

Couldn't agree more. We've been DVC'rs since 1993. What really hooked us was the kitchen/washer and dryer convenience, and the flexibility they afford. Back then I had no idea there were offsite condo type accomodations. If we didn't have DVC, we'd probably never stay onsite again. I don't especially dislike onsite, but have become very spoiled by have condo/house type accomodations as opposed to squishing 4 of us in a room with one small bathroom.

 

[TheRatPack]

We stayed off site for years. My husband was stressed during those vacations, having to drive to and from the parks, having to make sure he had enough cash every day to pay for food or other items in the park. He drives around all day for his job, and he's great with direction so that's not really the source of the stress.....I think it's just overall traffic and the area...etc. I make enough room in the budget to stay on site. It's way overpriced, and I know that.....BUT he's much less stressed when he can park the car on check in day and not get in it again until we check out and head home. He also likes the dining plan.....again I realize it's overpriced, but the whole pre-paid all inclusive thing really puts him at ease on vacation so I make it work.

 

[Happiest mommy]

LOVE staying offsite!!! love the space being able to put the girls to sleep in a seperate room while we relax I don't mind making food we are not the type to eat out all the time an occasional meal ok and of course ADR'S to our favorites but after a while blah!! we love to drive around and visit other attractions its freedom to us to get in the car and go but thats how we like it and not to mention the money we saved

 

[eliza61]

Okay this may be obvious but is the advantage to staying on site basically the experience and the transportation? I am not flying so we'll have our car and have the AAA pass to park and the buses seem to be a bit of a hassle anyway. The condos I'm looking at are about $125/night for 3 bedrooms. The disney resorts for 2 rooms would be exceptionally more expensive. If you had a car and tickets and not unlimited money (If we stay at a resort, other things will probably have to go like mostly counter service dining) would you stay at a resort still?

Thanks in advance! So glad I found this site.

probably not. We are dvc members so that's why we stay onsite. I really cannot ever justify paying the prices disney wants for a deluxe and we don't like values.
There are simply way to many nice hotels not to mention condos close to disney.
We stayed at the Waldorf for half the cost of a disney deluxe and it was quicker to get back to the hotel than it was getting back to BC with disney transportation.

We do love EMH, but if we didn't have our dvc membership I would not stay onsite anymore.

I would love to try the polynesian though, just once.

 

[slusher]

We don't stay on site due to cost. Why? The cost is due to a need that we can't ignore. We have a smoker in our family and if someone doesn't have their morning cigarette it can be a very grumpy day. The last time we went to WDW we stayed in Wilderness cabins which worked well for smokers but the cost of those is well beyond our budget now. So we've rented an offsite pool home that allows smokers and that we can afford.

I know that people hate smokers, I do too and I live with one.

 

[W8n4night]

Great and reasonable responses all . At the end of the day there isn't a right or wrong to it, there's simply being there as family and friends.

I've never not stayed on site and perhaps at some point in time I'll want to. The magic is also simply the knowledge of how many possible ways there are to do the trip. As a family of 4 there is no real option for us to drive, I would never put myself of my family through that and the valuable vacation days I have would be seen by me as wasted sitting in a car for 10 hours a day for 4 or 5 days.

One of the things I do appreciate is the "hands off" experience. I don't have to think about or do much of anything. The immersion factor is also nice but not limited to the resort I'm in or the park I'm sitting in, its the shared experience of the people, the smiles of the kids who aren't even mine. The smiles of parents and their families immersed and in a small way sharing a rather unique and positive experience. Of course this experience can be felt in many ways but part of the fun is for us is the shared experience and trading of nods in the bus que, food areas and paths of any onsite resort.