Is ee worth staying onsite? PLEASE HELP!

[eeyoresmom]

I posted this same ? on the "offsite" forum, but I really want all opinions. The only time I stayed onsite was last Jan when there was no ee. I came away feeling that the increased cost of staying onsite wasn't worth it for us. Although I did enjoy being immersed in the magic, I have been perfectly satisfied offsite. Now with ee back..........I am returning for Pres. week and am wondering how valuable ee will be to us. I know this is a highly subjective ?, but I really want all opinions! Thank you.

 

[TreeOfLife]

This is how valuable ee mornings are to us: We did NOT visit the parks when they were suspended. I really looked into staying at Universal for the way in which they pamper their guests, giving you more bang for the buck with the front of the line privileges. I refused to spend our money in a Disney resort when they continued to take away privileges for their guests.

If you think you won't get up early during your vacation, then ee mornings aren't for you. But we rise and shine by 6:30 AM, have breakfast, hop on the bus and are there way before the regular guests and by 10:30 AM we've knocked out all the most crowded attractions. We normally return for a nap or break but it is darn well worth the money, I tell you that!

EE mornings make your visit a much more relaxing one, and you really take advantage of opportunities you would not otherwise have. You avoid the dizzying, sweaty lines in front of the most popular attractions. The parks are basically ghost towns during ee time! Without ee mornings, *I* refuse to stay onsite, even if Disney's transportation is still the best way to get around the parks.

It was the persistent requests and demands as consumers from guests like us the ones that brought ee mornings back. I intend to use them daily and milk every penny's worth out of our vacation, like we'll never know when we'll go back.

Hope my $0.02 helped

 

[gepetto]

We stayed at the IL's timeshare 12/26-1/01. We went to the parks that had EE the day before and got there when they opened and walked on all the rides for the first couple of hours.

 

[Plan Man]

EE is great!! We always se the EE park in the a.m. and go to a different park in the afternoon.

It makes a huge difference in the number of rides you can go on.

 

[ebaynut31]

Yes, Yes, Yes. I will always stay on site regardless but ee really worked for us. Walked on all rides without a wait! We were there Dec 19 to 24. Stay on site.

 

[erikthewise]

I think staying onsite is definitely worth it, but EE is only part of why. At busier times of the year EE can make a real difference, but at slower times (when we go) it is not essential. It makes the biggest difference at MK. At Epcot it is really only useful for Test Track as the other three attractions open early are generally not hard to get on at other times.

If EE is the ONLY thing you like about staying onsite, I'd say it's probably not worth it. There are plenty of great hotels and good values close by.

 

[MEM]

EE is definitely worth staying on-site for! President's Week sounds like a very busy week, so EE could make a big difference in your waiting times and "quality of life". My DH is not a morning person by any means, but on EE days, he would leap out of bed at 6:00 a.m. , get the kids rolling and we would be dressed, fed and at the bus stop by 7:!5. We did not use EE for either MGM or Epcot but instead used the trick of visiting the park which was EE the day before. It worked! Little or no lines! We also went back to the hotel for lunch and a swim at noon because we met our goals by 11.

We stayed on-site during the months right after 9/11 even when EE was suspended because we enjoy WDW transportation and at $49 a night, the AllStars were hard to pass up. Because we visited in late January, crowds were not an issue.

Nothing short of buying a vacation home off-site could persuade my family to stay off-site, as long as great A/P rates exist.

 

[photobob]

I choose to stay onsite and don't do EE mornings. I really like to park my car and let Disney take me wherever I want to go. I also like to have souvenirs bought early in the day sent back to my resort so I don't have to carry them and the ability to charge everything to my room so lots of cash isn't necessary.


Bob

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

If you are an early riser, EE is definately worth staying on-site for!

My family is really more like photobob.... the Disney transport & package delivery are wonderful perks.

Total immersion in the magic does it for us!

 

[eeyore0062]

Although you will get your offsite fans, who, no matter what will never think that anything less than staying for 75% off rack rate is worth it... and you will get your diehard onsite fans, who won't go to WDW if they can't afford to stay onsite.

We lie somewhere in between.

It really depends on our budget, who is with us, and our objective for the trip. For a family vacation, where our main focus is to "do" the parks... we definitely like being totally surrounded by the Magic, have the convenience of the Disney Transportation, and the option to go to the EE parks and blaze through the popular rides, and then relax (whether in the parks, or at the resort) the rest of the day.

When DH and I go, and we are on a budget, since we have AP's, we stay offsite, go in and out of the parks as we please, and catch rides as we can. We also like to see other things, and usually have our car with us on those trips.