Thanks for this. And yes, the prices are so high. I remember when we first starting going (as adults) and the GF was $400. We’ve been lucky to stay at deluxe hotels on our last 5 trips, but we did that by renting dvc points, which had to be done so far in advance.We have always stayed onsite for our last 12 visits. Our last trip in October we stayed offsite. We did rent a car I was a little nervous about driving but found the roads in Florida far superior than Hawaii's. We got a super cheap rate at the Hawthorne suites Lake Buena Vista, free parking, breakfast and it was a suite with a separate bedroom. We are planning another off site stay in November at the Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa, a two bedroom for 3 weeks with all the taxes resort fees is $3788.00 I have never stayed there, it does seem to get decent reviews. For us I do not think I would stay on site again, just cannot justify the price they want.
I can't believe I forgot about this one!If you have a car you have a ton of cheap options off site. We did caribe royale which is a “suite” style room. There’s a bedroom and separate living room type setup that can be closed with a door with a pull out my kid slept on and loved. However if you have to rent a car and then pay for parking etc it may be cheaper to book a cabin at the fort or a aoa family suite
I was thinking the same thing. We could hold a room somewhere else as a back up, and see what DVCs are available.Maybe a somewhat crazy idea, but it would work if you are flexible. In DVC, 1BR take a lot of points, so they are the last to book. You could book this "last minute" by DVC standards, like 3-4 months out, maybe even shorter. This is when points become distressed and have to get used. If you could get something like $16 points, it might make it competitive. Then, you'd have to match up flights and all of that...
I'd just go AoA suite. It's a stinking adorable room, about $500/night for the summer, so not crazy by Disney standards.
For off property, I would look into the Wyndham Bonnet Creek. People really love this hotel, and the rates have been pretty surprising when I've looked. It has large, timeshare style units with bedrooms and kitchens and such.
Unless the recent refurbs have changed anything drastically about the layout in the Disney moderates, we've put entire twin air mattresses in the "closet" section of the bathroom in POFQ. With the curtain closed, it's practically a different room. Once our kids are asleep, they're asleep, so we usually just had to either hold it until about an hour after we put them down, or take turns using the bathroom near the pool. I'm sure others have stayed there more recently that might know.
We've also stayed at the Doubletree near Disney Springs. The bus transportation isn't quite as convenient as on property, but its fine.