Is there an advantage to stay onsite anymore?

[Stratman50th]

I don't want to drive in central Florida,

And the bubble and escape from the real world is the reason I go.

I'm with you! I don't want to drive in central Florida either! Unfortunately I live here so I don't have a choice in the matter....

 

[wahoostampingirl]

One possible downside to a large group staying off site, is that the group has to be rounded up and set off and leave together. Whereas, staying on site, individuals can come and go as they please.

We also thought this would be a problem, but my husband ended up using Uber or Lyft if he wanted to leave the parks before the rest of the family. It was very inexpensive and had no issues with getting picked up promptly from the parks.

 

[disneyseniors]

I don't want to drive in central Florida,

And the bubble and escape from the real world is the reason I go.

Not having to drive in Florida or at WDW is the main reason we love DME. The other reason is that the bubble starts as soon as you step off the plane and go to the disney transportation area. I feel it was a bad move for disney and hope they bring it back. The bubble effect is true, but somewhat fading for us at this point.

 

[wahoostampingirl]

as most have said, transportation is really the only big benefit - especially at a Skyliner resort (which I'm obsessed with.) That said, we're staying offsite in late June because we just couldn't justify the insane cost difference for the week, as hard as I've tried to justify it.

I agree that being at a Skyliner resort is wonderful! My daughter and I stayed at POP in Dec, along with a friend of hers for a delayed graduation trip. It was our first time at POP and I really enjoyed it, but it was tight quarters for 3 adults. For our June trip we are staying offsite (which is what we usually do), because I would need two rooms at POP since my husband and son are coming along. The 4 of us would be miserable for 8 nights in one hotel room. The price of a 3 bedroom condo at Windsor Hills is less than half the price of 2 POP rooms. I will miss that easy Skyliner access though!

 

[shawthorne44]

I actually think onsite transportation is not a perk. The amount of times I've walked past crowded Disney bus stops with people waiting 30 minutes for a bus at park close - straight to my vehicle to drive to my offsite villa which is closer to the park than many Disney hotels . . .

My own vehicle is more flexible, convenient, and time saving to me. Our party is large, so we always have 2 or 3 cars for people to come and go as they please. We don't rent, but drive all the way from Canada to save on flights and car rentals. I'm surprised this option isn't talked about more on these boards. So many people worrying about the cost of vehicle rentals when they live 10 or 15 hours from the parks and could just drive themselves instead of fly... We live 22 hours away and it's still cheaper with a hotel stay on the way for us to go this route.

Having our own pool and hot tub and tons of space to spread out is priceless for me (but in this case, also thousands of dollars cheaper). Having said that, everyone's preferences are different, so do what's right for you.

I agree with you. We live near DFW. We leave Friday early afternoon and arrive very early on Saturday morning. We don't have to worry about them changing flights on us and we can take everything we want, including my comforter.

We live outside the area airport shuttles will pick up. There is one person in town that does Uber/Lyft. When we used her I had to leave an extra hour to scramble for other airport transportation if she didn't show up. Then it was a 2 hour drive to the airport, and you have to arrive 2 hours before the flight. Assuming the flight takes off on time, there wasn't a problem with the luggage, that would be 3 hours later. So, now it is 8 hours after we left the house, and we have to either get a rental car or transportation to the hotel. Assuming we left at out normal time of early Friday afternoon, it is now very late Friday night and we check into the hotel and start having fun at about the same time early Saturday morning as if we drove. Even we left early in the day, I'd need some downtime when we arrived after the stress of the flight. So, we'd have time to eat dinner and rest in the hotel room.

 

[gatorlisa]

I've always been curious as to how long your "ten minutes or less from all the parks" works out at closing. From the vantage point of the bus, it looks to me like it could take a good long time to just get out of the park parking lots.

I have stayed both on site and off site, and we are back at our room faster driving to an off site than using the buses. The way the parking lots at Disney parks are managed with everything being one-way traffic, exiting is very efficient. I should probably say our off site was 15 minutes or less from the parks. Sometimes, with traffic on I-4, it takes closer to 15 minutes to get "home" for the night. It's usually a 5 minute walk to the car, 10-15 minutes to drive to the hotel, and then another couple of minutes to the room. This is for anything but MK. For MK, probably need to add in another 20 min to deal with the whole MK to TTC process. When we have stayed on site and used the bus at park close, it's usually anywhere from 10-40 minutes for a bus, another 7-10 minutes to the resort, and then another 5-7 minutes walk to the room from the bus stop. MK is probably faster saying on site and using the buses. For the other parks, my experience over the years has been that driving is faster.

 

[Traver Freeman]

I love love love Caribbean Beach for the Skyliner. Several folks have mentioned the Skyliner. I can't overhype it enough. I thought I would HATE it. I don't like being up high and I don't like swinging things. It's the reason I've never gone on the Ferris wheel at DCA. My wife is worse than me.

We LOVED the Skyliner so much. It's smooth, breezy, and super comfortable. We'd ride the Skyliner just to ride it after coming back to CBR for the night. It was a better ride than some in the parks, and a good People Mover substitute while it remains closed as it has a similar relaxing feel to it.

We love CBR and loved it before the Skyliner, but we always enjoyed trying different places to stay. Now, anytime we go, CBR is our resort hands down. We can't even conceive doing a non-Skyliner resort. If we ever can afford to stay Deluxe, it'll definitely be a EPCOT area resort like Beach Club because we want the Skyliner that bad.

 

[kniquy]

ADR benefits

There is still an ADR benefit, which in the world of limited capacity it does give you a leg up on those staying off site. We usually us ME but with reported longer waits we are opting for a private car service. We do enjoy just getting to our resort and not having to worry about driving so we do enjoy the buses. We went for thanksgiving and really found no issues with the resort buses - not any different than pre-covid. We own DVC so for us staying onsite does cost less than finding an off site place, but I would probably lean towards offsite

If you don't care about dining anywhere in particular then you are right there is limited benefits to staying onsite. Rental car prices might be something to factor in as you might save on a place to stay but then end up spending a lot on a rental car + gas + stress of driving + cost of parking. So you do have to compare all incurred costs to figure out what makes sense.

 

[Lilsia]

With often having to wait 30-60 minutes for a bus, that then will make multiple stops.... Hard to say that's really better than walking to your car and leaving.

In fact, many on-site guests end up taking Uber because the buses are so bad currently.

I have never waited 60 minutes for a bus. I think the longest was maybe 30 minutes but that is so rare that I can't even tell you what year that was. I have been going to WDW for about 27 years and always stay onsite and use the busses. I have not have the issues that some of you complain about. Maybe I have better luck but if the buses were this bad, you would think that I would have encountered what you are saying more then once or twice in the hundreds of times that I have ridden the bus. Closing time can get busy but I have never waited more then 2 buses and the second comes right after the first. I try to avoid peak times so I guess that helps. But saying that the wait times are "often 30-60 minutes" is a gross exaggeration. My last trip was 6 weeks ago and the buses came in a timely manner and where mostly empty.

 

[havoc315]

I have never waited 60 minutes for a bus. I think the longest was maybe 30 minutes but that is so rare that I can't even tell you what year that was. I have been going to WDW for about 27 years and always stay onsite and use the busses. I have not have the issues that some of you complain about. Maybe I have better luck but if the buses were this bad, you would think that I would have encountered what you are saying more then once or twice in the hundreds of times that I have ridden the bus. Closing time can get busy but I have never waited more then 2 buses and the second comes right after the first. I try to avoid peak times so I guess that helps. But saying that the wait times are "often 30-60 minutes" is a gross exaggeration. My last trip was 6 weeks ago and the buses came in a timely manner and where mostly empty.

Not talking about over the year. Just talking about over the last few months. And there are reports of people getting on line for the bus (and Skyliner) 45-60 minutes before transportation even opens.

Tom Bricker did a good report on it:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/inconsistent-bus-wait-times-disney-world/

 

[Lilsia]

Not talking about over the year. Just talking about over the last few months. And there are reports of people getting on line for the bus (and Skyliner) 45-60 minutes before transportation even opens.

Tom Bricker did a good report on it:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/inconsistent-bus-wait-times-disney-world/

I can only go on what I experience. I have been twice since the reopen for a total of almost 4 weeks and I never experienced that with the buses. They were always timely and never had an issue with getting on the first but that came. I don't doubt that it may happen, but I also know that while you are waiting for the bus, it FEELS like you are waiting much longer then you actually are. I have great hearing and so I overhear conversations that people have and have often heard of people complaining about how long the wait is and how they have been here for a half an hour, etc, etc. But when I look at the time, it's actually been about 12 minutes. LOL So I tend to take these reports with a grain of salt and go off of my past experience.

 

[Blanco]

I can only go on what I experience. I have been twice since the reopen for a total of almost 4 weeks and I never experienced that with the buses. They were always timely and never had an issue with getting on the first but that came. I don't doubt that it may happen, but I also know that while you are waiting for the bus, it FEELS like you are waiting much longer then you actually are. I have great hearing and so I overhear conversations that people have and have often heard of people complaining about how long the wait is and how they have been here for a half an hour, etc, etc. But when I look at the time, it's actually been about 12 minutes. LOL So I tend to take these reports with a grain of salt and go off of my past experience.

while the claims of waiting for a long time maybe true, some people discount the fact that they are waiting with their feelings and emotions rather than measuring the actual time spent. That makes a big difference. LOL.

 

[btk2333]

I actually think onsite transportation is not a perk. The amount of times I've walked past crowded Disney bus stops with people waiting 30 minutes for a bus at park close - straight to my vehicle to drive to my offsite villa which is closer to the park than many Disney hotels . . .

My own vehicle is more flexible, convenient, and time saving to me. Our party is large, so we always have 2 or 3 cars for people to come and go as they please. We don't rent, but drive all the way from Canada to save on flights and car rentals. I'm surprised this option isn't talked about more on these boards. So many people worrying about the cost of vehicle rentals when they live 10 or 15 hours from the parks and could just drive themselves instead of fly... We live 22 hours away and it's still cheaper with a hotel stay on the way for us to go this route.

Having our own pool and hot tub and tons of space to spread out is priceless for me (but in this case, also thousands of dollars cheaper). Having said that, everyone's preferences are different, so do what's right for you.

im glad this works for you but the idea of driving that far is something I would never consider doing. My personal limit on driving is 5-6 hours- any more than that and I’m flying.

we are a group of 6 (sometimes more if extended family comes along). We either walk, monorail, bus or Uber everywhere and it is just so much more relaxing than having me be in charge of driving people everywhere- it’s part of the vacation


i agree that disney buses can be frustrating sometimes which is why we try to stay at yacht and beach (can walk to our two favorite parks).

Everyone is so different on vacations- that’s why sites like these are so great to get tons of different ideas!

 

[Tattylou]

When you wake up to the train whistle at the Grand Floridian and look out your balcony to see the Magic Kingdom. Then you get in a boat that seems to be taking you over to some magical island.

Or you are in the pool and the monorail whizzes by reminding you you’ve never left the magic.

Or you stand on your balcony and serendipitously catch the Electric Water Pageant.

When you know everyone you see or pass by at your resort is doing the same thing you are, and the energy is palpable.

Ok well that makes me need to be at the Grand Floridian right now! I’ve never stayed there, but it’s on the bucket list.

 

[Tattylou]

im glad this works for you but the idea of driving that far is something I would never consider doing. My personal limit on driving is 5-6 hours- any more than that and I’m flying.

we are a group of 6 (sometimes more if extended family comes along). We either walk, monorail, bus or Uber everywhere and it is just so much more relaxing than having me be in charge of driving people everywhere- it’s part of the vacation


i agree that disney buses can be frustrating sometimes which is why we try to stay at yacht and beach (can walk to our two favorite parks).

Everyone is so different on vacations- that’s why sites like these are so great to get tons of different ideas!

I am with you. I live in Massachusetts and there’s no way I’m driving to Disney 22 hours with kids in tow. Maybe when I was 25 with other adults on a fun road trip, but not now. It wastes too much “vacation time” too and I imagine the ride home as torture - at least the ride down there is excitement to keep you going. I prefer to be there in three hours and then I prefer to not have to even think about driving for the entire week. I don’t cook on vacation either. It’s part of the vacation for me. If we want a Disney vacation where we don’t deal with busses and Disney transportation then we go to Disneyland!!
I agree different strokes for different folks and that’s what makes the world go round. It’s always interesting to hear what works best for everyone.

 

[revdon64]

October is fiftieth anniversary kickoff. If you're even able to get anything, your choices may be very limited. And if they're still doing park reservations at that time, there's another hurdle to get over.

We've been an "inside the bubble" family for fifteen years, but with the loss of almost all the perks at this point we're seriously considering off-site too. Good luck!

 

[vivianmarie244]

I am the family taxi driver, scheduler, and cook every day, all day. Not having to worry about driving around Orlando, scheduling an Uber, or cooking a meal is a good enough of a perk to keep me onsite. We are able to get off the plane and I can immediately relax. It's my vacation too! Priceless! And I do love that Disney bubble!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I've put in a request for my top three choices with David's DVC and awaiting the results.

I have never really used Uber at all and am wondering how well it works getting around WDW property? Long wait? No-shows, etc? How easy with a family of 5 (no car seats needed)?

 

[Sarahslay]

I've been five times since reopening, with a 6th coming up Memorial Day weekend, and honestly I just really don't want to have to drive once I park at the resort. Once I take my bags out of the car I don't want to see my car until we are putting our bags back in. We tend to stay at resorts where we have easy access to at least one park, at Christmas we stayed at CR for the first half and did all MK days during that time (with an AK and Epcot thrown in), thens witched to Riviera and did all HS days and some more Epcot. We couldn't beat being able to walk or take the skyliner, and go back to the room easily when we were tired (or, my 10 year old was tired). They also, while not announced, do let onsite folks in the parks before they start letting cars in to the lots, so that IS a perk.

 

[Ursula J]

I am the family taxi driver, scheduler, and cook every day, all day. Not having to worry about driving around Orlando, scheduling an Uber, or cooking a meal is a good enough of a perk to keep me onsite. We are able to get off the plane and I can immediately relax. It's my vacation too! Priceless! And I do love that Disney bubble!

That's exactly it--I'd be in charge of everything practical if we stayed off-site. But I'm "off duty" the minute our plane takes off in Chicago. I pay extra for the bubble and I will absolutely never give it up.