I love staying-offsite. We did price our last trip to stay on-site and wouldve cost us $2000 more (flying in from UK for 14 nights). We are a family of five too. Just think of the magic you could create with your savings. Disney want me to pay more, for less space!! They might throw in a Mickey wake up call, or an extra couple of hours in the park, so I am paying $2000 more for that! I've heard more horror stories about transportation and ME than good. If they weren't free, I'm sure most people wouldn't pay for them.
There seems to some kind of Disney snobberty about staying on-site, not particularly on this board but in general. I can't understand why, everyone has different ideas of a great vacation. Mine isn't being squashed into a small space for two weeks with four other people, on top of each other, whats magical about that?
The rooms at Disney are small, even the suites. Off-site you have more space, cooking and laundry facilties, most hotels offer a free breakfast and free internet access. We aren't Disney blinkered, we visit lots of other places, KSC, Universal, Seaworld etc, as well as lots of shopping with the $2000 I saved. It is not a money issue about staying onsite for me, I still spend the money I save, Its purely a space issue.
The magic only stops when you let it
The magic is not just Disney, the magic should be spending quality time with your family. Disney is just a setting for this, some of our most magical moments from our vacation have occured in the strangest of places, walking along I-Drive, Eating at Ponderosa, sat outside our hotel waiting for a cab etc,.