Off site or on site?

[Akasha]

Hi

A friend of mine told me about this website - WOW there is just so much information here. We are planned to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando in September and even though we have been saving for a long time, I have been suffering from some sticker shock at some of the prices. I always imagined staying AT a Walt Disney World Resort, have sent away for the vacation planning video every year now, but as our planned vacation date get's closer I am wondering if it is worth it, or if there are some nice off-site resorts that we should consider.

Any other "Budget Board" tips would be great as well. Like the best place to rent a car, inexpensive restaurants, etc.

Do you know if any Walt Disney World Resorts have rooms with Kitchens?

 

[DisneyObsessed]

To me, I can't justify the prices to stay in WDW. We don't spend much time at all at the hotel. We swim a bit at night, sleep and take showers. We spend all our time at the parks. I just spent 11 days at HJME for $433. That meant we had a lot of extra money to spend on eating and souvenirs. There are alot of people who will tell you there's nothing like staying onsite. Maybe someday I will find out for myself. But for now, whatever makes it affordable for you is the right way to go. Hey, any way you decide, it's WDW! There's no place like it

 

[sixcats]

Having done both on and off site, I like onsite best. For a room with a kitchen you can try a cabin at Fort Wilderness. There are also sometimes villas available at one of the DVC resorts. You can get more information about those options, as well as renting points from a member at the Disney Vacation Club forum on this site.

 

[Pumbaa_]

For me, it is worth it to stay on site. When I am on vacation at WDW, I do not want to deal with driving. I want to take my towncar ride from the airport to my resort, and the next time I see a car it is on my return to the airport.

I like the advantages of being onsite. I like...
being able to charge things to my room using my key card

having my purchases sent to my hotel so I don't have to carry them

the Disney transportation (and not having to leave the parks with thousands of others!)

wake up calls from Mickey

and the list goes on. There are hotels and rates for every budget. If you can, try to stay on site. The magic is worth it.

 

[tonilea]

By choosing to stay off site, we have been able to double (yes, double) the length of our vacation. Of course, IF we had unlimited funds we would stay on site. We have found that Priceline allows us to stay in nicer hotels for the cost of a budget motel. I go to spend time in the parks, not my hotel room. So for my $$ is is off-site.

 

[Akasha]

Thank you all so much for your advice and suggestions. There will be 5 of us going I think, so the final decision isn't up to me, but I volunteered to put together all of our options.

Any specific hotels you recommend, either on or off site? We are 4 adults and one child, but my daughter is very small and she can sleep on the floor.

This is going to be harder to decide than I thought!

Thanks

 

[Lisa P.]

Tell us more about your travel plans. We've thoroughly enjoyed both onsite & offsite trips.

How long is your planned trip? The longer your stay, the more a spacious suite or villa offsite will be appreciated and the more your savings will add up by staying offsite. A short whirlwind trip is best done onsite, IMHO.

Will you have a car? A must for offsite. Without use of a car, I wouldn't consider offsite at all, personally.

How old is your daughter? The limit for most Disney resorts is 4 to a room, plus a child under age 3 in a crib. Most of the deluxes (and one moderate only) permit 5 to a room. Even if allowed, most people prefer not have to share a single bathroom for 5 people, especially if it's more than a couple of days. If you want a variety of restaurants onsite, the deluxes are nice for that.

Getting connecting rooms or a villa with a kitchen onsite is possible but quite pricy. Even with deals, they're nearly $200 per night (incl taxes) for a Cabin (stylized mobile home) at the very nice Campground onsite and $350 per night for a timeshare villa onsite. Renting DVC points from a member will get you into a beautiful DVC timeshare villa onsite for a comparatively cheap price if you are only planning to stay Sun night through Thurs night. Fri/Sat nights are much pricier. DVC studios only sleep 4 (except for some at BWV) and have only one bath but do have a microwave, mini-fridge and coffee maker.

Offsite, lovely suites and timeshare villas abound and they tend to be quite reasonably priced - under $150 per night including taxes for a Two Bedroom villa that sleeps 6 or 8 adults comfortably. If you'll be staying for a full week, look into renting a 2Bedroom/2bath timeshare villa for a week from an owner at a "Gold Crown or 5 Star" Resort. Not only do these offer fully-equipped and supplied kitchens, but jacuzzi tubs and inroom washer/dryers... along with nice pool areas and all the pleasant amenities. These weekly rentals can be found for $700 per week offsite, occasionally for much less (email me if interested in more detail).

You're going in value season - that's great! Deals can be found both onsite and offsite at that time of year. Look at Mousesavers for some possibilities. Hope this helped. Have fun planning your Disney trip!

 

[Akasha]

Oh my! So many questions and so much information!!! Thank you.

Let's see. We were thinking 3 days at WDW. Will that be enough to do everything? I'm sure there can't be that much that we'll want to do. And yes we were thinking of getting a rental car.

Oh and my daughter is 5, but she is really small for her age. She'd be happy to sleep on the floor. You know kids, they just love sleeping on the floor.

 

[kozmo]

Stay onsite,its magical

 

[Disneydenise]

I would stay on site. Three days is not even close to enough time. There really is a lot to do. Your daughter 5 this is the perfect age to see most of the attractions. The character interaction with the young children is wonderful. There arre many different resorts that would fit your budget in Disney. I would consider two rooms at the AS if $$$ is a concern. Check out the discounts available on this board too. I would never consider going to WDW without staying on site.

 

[JohnnyOldBoy]

"3 days at WDW. Will that be enough to do everything? I'm sure there can't be that much that we'll want to do."

Wow! Obviously, you haven't been to WDW before. You don't know what you're in for. We've spent two full weeks at WDW (3 times!) and didn't run out of things to do. You should start with a good guidebook. I've always recommended The Unofficial Guide To WDW by Sehlinger, others recommend The Passporter.

On site or off? We usually stay offsite since you can stay 3 to 6 nights for the price of 1 onsite and since we are at the parks or other places, and only use the room for a place to sleep at night. We have also stayed onsite but, since we were at WDW before, we did not visit the parks but enjoyed the other Disney resort activities. If you're only staying two or three nights I would recommend a Disney moderate resort (CBR, CS, POR) POR Alligator Bayou has some rooms with trundle beds so the little one doesn't even have to sleep on the floor (allows five if one is under 12).

Traffic? We're from the Chicago area so what is considered traffic at WDW is no big thing to us. If you're from a small town or rural area you may find the highway system in and around WDW to be daunting.

Rental car? We wouldn't be offsite without one, it allows you to shop, eat, and do other activities outside WDW. But again, for only 3 days you wouldn't have much time for that anyway. Onsite, WDW transportation is fine if you don't mind waiting for and riding a bus. A car is more flexible but the parking lots are huge and you will probably end up riding a tram from the lot to the park.

So many Questions? Try the guidebook. As you learn more, your questions can become more specific and the answers from the amazing variety of knowledgeable DISers even more helpful!

 

[BethR]

Hi Akasha!

Welcome to the DIS! I don't know how much time you will have in the Orlando area, but if this is your first trip to Disney I think that you will want to spend more than 3 days there. Don't forget there are 4 Main Parks, 3 Water Parks, Downtown Disney - a FANTASTIC shopping area and much more.
I definately suggest getting a good guide book (I like the Unofficial Guide but there is another one that is geared to families with kids - I don't recall the name, that is good too.)
If you are only going to have 3 days at Disney, then I would suggest that you stay on-site if you can.

 

[dgaston]

Greetings Akasha!

3 days is not enought IMHO! Another way to save money and stay onsite is to camp in the campground. I know many people would not consider this, but it's a great way to have Disney Magic for less $. I think you will need maybe 2 days for MK, and at least one for each of the other parks. Your daughter will likely enjoy AK and MGM, and kids love making the masks at Epcot.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

You won't be disappointed staying on site. There is so much more magic!! I feel that once you stay on site you will always stay on.

 

[duck_adoo]

We went for our first trip last year and stayed on site (CSR). We *loved* not having to drive. We're going back this summer for a surprise visit just for 3-4 days and we also haven't decided whether to stay on or off. I'm curious about the people who have stayed offsite for much less money. While I've been looking for rates in mid Aug. We can stay at the Allstar (onsite) for the almost same price as any of the offsites that I've seen (we also have DC). I think the least expensive I've seen is $79. One other question..when you stay offsite I've read you have to stay at the TTC until the gates open. Does this make a big difference in line lenghts when you get in the park? The reason I ask is because last year we were able to take advantage of the EE and pretty much got Fantasyland done before the main gates open. (we have 2 6yr dd's)I'd like to be able to use the same plan, but if we stay offsite,I'm wondering if it'll still work? Thanks,Duck

 

[Lisa P.]

I agree with the others who say 3 days will not be enough to see most of the major theme parks, let alone the water parks. You won't even get to enjoy your resort's themed pool and activities. For what you'll spend on transportation to get there, it is probably worth it to go as cheaply as you can daily but try to add a couple of days.

Most guidebooks recommend that you allot a full day for each MK & MGM, less than a day for AK and more than a day for Epcot. If you spend the few hours you'll have on travel days at your resort, you'll still need 5 nights to do it that way. And you'd come home completely exhausted. You truly have no idea how much there is to see & do, how spread out the whole place is.

Waltdisneyworlddreamer, we've stayed offsite, then onsite and back and forth over the years. Onsite offers theming that's really fun but offsite offers luxuries and accommodations that are not available onsite for the price. So we continue to stay offsite for all longer stays. There are plenty of others who do as well. To each his own.

Duckadoo, look at this thread, Quick, cheap (suite?) w/ a mini fridge??? to get ideas of where to look for deeply discounted offsite rooms. For those who are traveling in pairs and whose travel dates are fixed, Priceline offers incredible discounts as well. Frankly, for a 3-4 night trip, staying offsite won't save you much. Since you enjoy the onsite transportation, just stay with it. We found it to be a mixed bag... sometimes better than driving, often worse. We disliked standing with children in long lines for standing-room-only buses at the end of a tiring day. We'd rather keep moving toward our car and sit for the short drive to offsite, sometimes a shorter drive than to All Stars or a moderate.

Onsite stays no longer include EE. EE has been suspended completely with no notice of when/if it will resume. They've replaced it with character vans that visit Disney resorts in the mornings on a rotating basis. This must employ the services of a pretty good handful of people for those couple of hours. But it's nothing compared with running all those other areas for an extra 90 minutes each day... Park Security, Parking & Ticket Entry Attendants, Guest Relations, Bus/Boat/Monorail Staff to all the Resorts, Ride Attendants, Cleaning Crews... lots of people plus utility/gas usage for that EE time period. It'll be interesting to see if Disney ever resumes that perk.

 

[ContempoSMT]

i have stayed offsite once and onsite many numerous times adn the magic is unbeatable inside of Walt Disney World

 

[Biyanna]

Any reason as to why you going in September? It's quite hot and rains often. But you should be able to get a reduced rate onsite because it's not peak season. Watch http://www.mousesavers.com for special onsite room rates. Also theres alot of great info. on this board. Look in Disney Resorts for more info. on Disney resorts. And look under Orlando Hotels & Attractions for info. on offsite properties. They have alot of interesting threads about house rentals that include heated pools, 2 or 3 berooms,etc...
If you want to read up on some great rates offsite try TravelSheryl Priceline board. http://pub4.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding You can see what room rates others are getting, read property reviews, find out about bonus money, bidding strategies, etc...We stayed at the Wyndham Palace on our last trip. Room rates were starting at 159.00 and we paid 33.00 w/Priceline. Remember to take your time and read through the info. prior to bidding. Your on the right track. Deciding whether to stay on or offsite and getting the best rate always comes 1st. (With me) Then everything else will fall into place. Take your time, you have plenty of time before your trip and remember planning is half the fun!!!!

 

[Robinrs]

I have to agree, three days is not alot of time at WDW. I go 4 times a year and now my shortest time period is 5 days. I really believe you need some downtime or you'll burn out.

Staying on and offsite has it's plusses and minuses. I've done both and prefer off. BUT if I had a younger child, mine is nine, and had limited time, I'd stay on. My son and I like separate quarters, which is priced ridiculously onsite, so we stay off in suites or vacation homes. Prevents us from bumping into each other AND I don't have to watch HIS TV shows..

Whichever you choose, do the parks WISELY. Get a good guidebook and plan ahead of time and you won't waste valuable time. Train yourself in how to lure your child away from the "money pit" stores that are at just about every exit of the rides, don't eat in the parks and believe me, you will not break the bank.

Enjoy yourself!

 

[Akasha]

Why September?

Actually I don't know. I guess a different month would be better if the weather is going to be sucky. We were sitting around talking about it and just said September. Buffy's husband said that he would pay for it and that is so cool.

Every body has been so nice and I do say thank you. On that other board about hotels to. I feel overwhelmed right now. I called Walt Disney World and it really unsettled me. I thought I could just say "Hey We're coming!!!" and they would write us down for a room. They wanted so much stuff like everybody's name and how old we all are then they wanted me to pay some money really quick. I really felt like they were judging us because we all have different names.

And then the guy said that we couldn't stay were I want to stay because we have 5 people and I really tried to explain that Anne didn't need a bed and he wouldn't litsen. And he put us in another hotel and it rEALLY seems expensive. I think that is it. I think they just want more money. He also said I can't bring my dog which bums me out big time. Chris says that I should just call back and say Anne isn't coming and then we can just sneek her in. Maybe the dog to. I don't know.

Gosh I'm sorry that this was so long. This whole vacation thing is not what I thought it would be. People in the commercials seem so happy but I do not feel happy right now.