I guess THIS is my problem....the feeling of being held CAPTIVE. It all comes down to if you are going for a DISNEY vacation or an ORLANDO vacation and that is where the onsite vs offsite argument should REALLY begin. If you plan to ONLY visit DISNEY then there should be NO-OFFSITE options. You are going to DISNEY ONLY. My family and I go to ORLANDO for vacation and that includes more than DISNEY !!! Disney is NOT enough to keep me entertained to the point that I want to ESCAPE reality. That may be another PERSONAL issue within itself, but I digress to make it a topic of conversation. So if I am going for DISNEY only, then I will stay on-site. If I plan to enjoy ORLANDO and other areas of Florida, then I stay off-site.
WE RENT a car, we STAY at Timeshare Resorts, WE DINE at restaurants in the area. We do things we don't get to do at home. One of the highlight of MY vacation is being able to come back to my room and RELAX in a Jacuzzi tub while the kids are doing stuff in their OWN room or in the livingroom or making snacks in the kitchen or whatever. MY TIMESHARE ROOM is a vacation getaway at the end of the day. No cramming into a room with 2 beds and 1 bathroom. That is NOT my ideal of vacation. There is NOT ENOUGH MAGIC for me to enjoy that. So staying onsite for me will only work for a 3 or 4 day stay. After that, find me a TIMESHARE RESORT so MY REAL VACATION CAN BEGIN !!!!
Not sure what a throwaway room is, but it was already noted you were British when you referred to a renting a car as HIRING a car. That cracks me up everytime...it never gets old