Why stay on property?

[cjlong88]

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed/appreciated about WDW is that there are options for everyone. On-site, off-site, budget, luxury, large, small, rentals, hotels, condos, free transportation, paid transportation, etc - you name it and you can pretty much find it at WDW and/or the general Orlando area. It’s one of the most diverse vacation destinations in the U.S. in that regard.

Well said!

 

[SaintsManiac]

The one thing that will keep is onsite is the ability to drink and be able to either walk or take Disney transportation back to our resort.

Absolutely. The location of the Epcot resorts is priceless IMO.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

Following the metaphor of Walt Disney world being the size of San francisco...we stay at Walt Disney world when we go to Walt Disney world because we went to Walt Disney world. Just like when you stop at an exit to sleep while on a road trip and there is $49 rooms, $99 rooms, and $300 rooms. Just like when you go out to eat and there is $5.99 value meals, $13 take out, and $30 sit down. When we go to Walt Disney world, we fight through i4 and downtown once, park once, and Disney transports us the rest of our stay. We go downstairs in our night clothes to get breakfast. We wake up one hour before we want to be in a park instead of 3 to account for traffic and parking. To a large portion of on property stayers going forward, regardless of how much "magic" they strip, we will always choose on property for these reasons (amongst others).

The only problem with this analogy is that often you are paying $170 for $70 rooms.

And driving is really not an issue. If you stay on 192/West Irlo you are literally 1 minute from the WDW property line and 5 minutes from Animal Kingdom.

The Disney Spring/Lake Buena Vista area is also super close.

So those reasons really don't hold, though other reasons like Disney branding or the atmosphere are valid.

 

[Evita_W]

For us, it comes down to this, we are DVC members, our DVC is paid in full, our annual dues are still less than what we would spend to stay off property, especially in a similar hotel/condo. Let's look at our trip for next month, cost in the most comparable room I can find (remember to include parking, a kitchen, internet, pool, jacuzzi, all non smoking rooms, etc.) would be $2,966 for our dates. Compared to annual dues for the year at $1,122.13 and I will get two to three vacations off that.

Can I get a cheaper room? Sure, I absolutely can, but it won't come close to the size of the DVC room. I can find something of a similar size, but doesn't have laundry in the room, etc. for $851 a night plus they charge $10+tax per night for parking. If I were paying out of pocket, I would consider it as an option, but you would need a rental car on top of that.

Add in the Disney touches on property, the refillable mugs, etc. and it just works well for us, but everyone is different and again if we didn't have DVC, I would have to seriously reconsider staying onsite, especially after Magical Express ends.

 

[Farro]

The only problem with this analogy is that often you are paying $170 for $70 rooms.

And driving is really not an issue. If you stay on 192/West Irlo you are literally 1 minute from the WDW property line and 5 minutes from Animal Kingdom.

The Disney Spring/Lake Buena Vista area is also super close.

So those reasons really don't hold, though other reasons like Disney branding or the atmosphere are valid.

Driving is certainly an issue if you like to enjoy a cocktail or 7...

 

[WorldOfPooh]

Driving is certainly an issue if you like to enjoy a cocktail or 7...

In that case I would recommend Beach Club.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Depends how you vacation. We have APs and take multiple long weekends a year to WDW but also travel elsewhere. The better the deal at wdw, the more often we can travel in general. If we can find a good rate on-site that’s always the first choice, but isn’t a deal breaker. If we only visited once a year or even less then it would most likely be deluxe only to get the full Disney experience. But with DME disappearing we are even more open to offsite in the future.

 

[Ricguz]

This has been a really great post. We all have different reasons why we stay or don’t stay on property especially when Disney seems to be taking our magic away a little at a time. But like a said in my early post and others have stayed, I like the idea being in my little dreamland (Disney bubble) staying at my Epcot resort (BC/YC), walking early in the morning around the boardwalk or walking to Epcot, HS. I love the idea having a cocktail on my balcony overlooking the lake or pool or walking to my favorite bar/pub without driving around. I just get the feeling when I’m there, it’s my world and everyone is visiting my world. I know it sound weird but that’s how Disney gets me. It just feels special to me. I respect everyone opinion, really great discussion.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

This has been a really great post. We all have different reasons why we stay or don’t stay on property especially when Disney seems to be taking our magic away a little at a time. But like a said in my early post and others have stayed, I like the idea being in my little dreamland (Disney bubble) staying at my Epcot resort (BC/YC), walking early in the morning around the boardwalk or walking to Epcot, HS. I love the idea having a cocktail on my balcony overlooking the lake or pool or walking to my favorite bar/pub without driving around. I just get the feeling when I’m there, it’s my world and everyone is visiting my world. I know it sound weird but that’s how Disney gets me. It just feels special to me. I respect everyone opinion, really great discussion.

The commonality I see is that most "On siters" talk about the Deluxe/Premium/Highest level at WDW being worth it.

I'm not seeing many I love staying at the $170 All Star Values or even the moderates. The good feelings are all being generated by the highest tier that has great location.

 

[Leight19]

The commonality I see is that most "On siters" talk about the Deluxe/Premium/Highest level at WDW being worth it.

I'm not seeing many I love staying at the $170 All Star Values or even the moderates. The good feelings are all being generated by the highest tier that has great location.

I would second this as my takeaway from thread. I think there is very compelling reason to stay at Epcot resort or monorail resort over the off site options despite the price difference. When you start looking at Disney value resorts or the moderate resorts the benefits of on site seem to be more directly effected by these changes as the location isn’t as premium so the other benefits need to justify value (although price difference is smaller as well).

Anyone have any thoughts about staying on site in value room vs offsite? For me my value stays have always been in the cheaper rooms with free dining plan as driver. I’ve never priced out full stay on site vs off but for this with free qs meal plan at $50 a day per person for up to 4 adults I believe it actually makes the room “free”. Ive always assumed I pay for it somewhere else but I never explored cost of offsite hotels or third party tickets to see where markup came from. Without meal plan deal I would find it difficult to justify the on site costs of going value especially with limiting of benefits.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I love Pop, especially now with the Skyliner. However, I would only do 4 nights tops. We did a week there last trip and it was too long.

 

[Farro]

The commonality I see is that most "On siters" talk about the Deluxe/Premium/Highest level at WDW being worth it.

I'm not seeing many I love staying at the $170 All Star Values or even the moderates. The good feelings are all being generated by the highest tier that has great location.

Pretty sure we will love Gran Destino, but I will let you know.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I would second this as my takeaway from thread. I think there is very compelling reason to stay at Epcot resort or monorail resort over the off site options despite the price difference. When you start looking at Disney value resorts or the moderate resorts the benefits of on site seem to be more directly effected by these changes as the location isn’t as premium so the other benefits need to justify value (although price difference is smaller as well).

Anyone have any thoughts about staying on site in value room vs offsite? For me my value stays have always been in the cheaper rooms with free dining plan as driver. I’ve never priced out full stay on site vs off but for this with free qs meal plan at $50 a day per person for up to 4 adults I believe it actually makes the room “free”. Ive always assumed I pay for it somewhere else but I never explored cost of offsite hotels or third party tickets to see where markup came from. Without meal plan deal I would find it difficult to justify the on site costs of going value especially with limiting of benefits.

If you actually look at the "Deluxe" or Premium resorts they have little Disney IP.
Rather they are based on a famous desired geographic location and often modeled off a famous hotel:
Polynesian: Hawaii
Grand Floridian: Mt. Washington Resort/Hotel Del Coronado
Wilderness Lodge: Somewhere in the Rockies
Boardwalk: Atlantic City
Yacht Club: Newport
Beach Club: Newport
Animal Kingdom: Africa
Contemporary: Space

So you are getting a desired travel location and building along with great location to the parks. Rooms can be kind of small but are luxury and the lobbies are really impressive. So it's kind of a luxury good that is hard to compare on top of having a functional advantage (location and EMH)


Then the further down the totem pole you go it's just Disney IP stamped all over the place. But the building itself is college dormitory/motel 6 level construction. And the location is pretty far (in fact the motels on West Irlo are almost an identical distance at a fraction of the price)

The All Stars
Pop Century
AoA

So if you look at the values, which are in the $170 range, when you take away DME, EMH, free parking, etc, etc. then I think most people looking at it objectively would say that these hotels would lose out to the cheaper ($55-$120 range) but higher quality off site hotels.

 

[YeOswaldianSociety]

Excellent thread, I've loved reading everyone's thoughts. As a newer DVC member I'm kinda in love with the bubble of Disney and have been since my youth. I do see the excellent reasoning and price difference that folks are currently faced with and I'd be remiss in not feeling that WDW is definitely going to have an uphill climb to rebuild the trust that so many blindly gave them in the past. Right now the arrogance that they are showing should not be met with compassion in any form and I hope that people show them this with their choices in how they spend their vacation dollars. This is just my opinion though.

 

[PetePanMan]

Simply put, we love to stay onsite but the costs are getting harder and harder to justify. There is a line for us and we are approaching it soon.

 

[Ricguz]

I completely understand the differences on why we stay and do the things that we do while on Disney property. Families are looking for best value and what fits for them. I’m older so I like the convenience of BC/YC area plus the stores and restaurants in the area. I don’t get the dining plan any more and rather eat at CL, a little at a time and actually enjoy the pool more. I also like food and wine at Epcot so it’s more convenient and easier for me. We all do what we can to get the most out of our vacations although Disney is making it harder taking the things we love away.

 

[Dug720]

The commonality I see is that most "On siters" talk about the Deluxe/Premium/Highest level at WDW being worth it.

I'm not seeing many I love staying at the $170 All Star Values or even the moderates. The good feelings are all being generated by the highest tier that has great location.

I actually usually stay at Mods or Values - my first 2 Deluxe stays are coming up in February and July, but I'd be just as happy at a Mod or Value (I'm staying Deluxe for my Feb trip because I can and want to help out my amazing TA who I know has had so much of her income diminished thanks to COVID cancellations and July because it's my 50th birthday and the Poly has always been a dream. After that I'm fine going back to a Mod or Value. DME or no.)

 

[Uncle Coaster]

So if you look at the values, which are in the $170 range, when you take away DME, EMH, free parking, etc, etc. then I think most people looking at it objectively would say that these hotels would lose out to the cheaper ($55-$120 range) but higher quality off site hotels.

I am in the opposite boat. I generally only stay at values when I’m offsite. Deluxes are out of my price range.

I have never looked at a vacation objectively. If I did I would just go to my local amusement park instead of WDW to begin with and save myself even more money. But I don’t I like to go to places that are different and offer varying experiences and feelings so WDW occasionally wins out over other places.

The same process works when picking my hotel and All Star Sports generally wins over a run of the mill offsite $120 a night hotel.

 

[Disneylover99]

The commonality I see is that most "On siters" talk about the Deluxe/Premium/Highest level at WDW being worth it.

I'm not seeing many I love staying at the $170 All Star Values or even the moderates. The good feelings are all being generated by the highest tier that has great location.

We've stayed at Deluxe several times, Poly being my favourite, but we happily stay at Pop for 2 weeks. I know we're not the norm. We generally add on four days at a deluxe either before or after our Pop stay. But I'm considering ditching Pop, and sadly the Poly. Cost is the number one reason, especially when we factor in the exchange rate on our dollar. We'll have to see what the future brings. I don't foresee any travel for us this year anyways at this point.

I actually think $170 at a value is reasonable. Though I‘m starting to think we may be able to do better offsite. It’s more the $562 a night at the Poly I find hard to stomach.

 

[jeffmw]

I don't know, is Universal really that much cheaper? It would cost more for my dates to stay at Royal Pacific than to stay at Gran Destino.

I looked yesterday and rooms at RP and the other high-end Universal hotels were ~$300 per night. My Beach Club room for the same time period is nearly 2x that. And the Universal stay comes with Express Unlimited. Unless I'm missing something, it's way cheaper.