Thanks for the citation, BeerMe (best screename ever). I know that some families stay onsite and love it. No harm in that and I'm glad they keep the Disney corporation firmly in the black so there is a hub around which to build superior private accomodations that can be had for 1/2. Without on-siters there would be no surrounding restaurants, stores and attractions.
I posted my perspective to help those who have never made their obligatory pilgrimage to worhip The Mouse, or who have been but never seen the grass from the other side of the fence. I relied on "
the magic" and "
you're never in your room" arguments for my first trip, compared what I spent for a stay at a moderate to what it would buy me elsewhere and will never look back.
Also, my argument isn't about a generic family staying at a generic place offsite versus same family staying onsite. It was about my family, staying over a week and visiting the parks for a predetermined number of days, and spending roughly the same amount of money (for lodging, food, transportation, park tix). Today, that pits 4 adults and 2 boys choosing between a 4BR house with a game room, private pool, rented van against 2 Disney Moderate hotel rooms.
Some added perspective:
If "
you're never/hardly ever in your room," (argument made by value/moderate "resort" guest):
1. Why does Disney offer everything from Pop and All-Star to Grand Floridian and Contemporary, with wildly disparate nightly rates?
2. Why would someone pay 3X more for one onsite room they're hardly ever in than a different onsite room that they're hardly ever in?
3. Where are you when you're not in your room?
Truth is, accomodations matter to a lot of folks, and Disney's tiered system is indicative of this. Animal Kingdom closes at 5-7pm, MK closes somedays at 7pm (Halloween), kids get tired. If your kids don't and will be up for going to the pool for a few hours after 9 hours at the park that began at rope drop (preceded by a healthy breakfast), great. If you think your kids might be tired and want to decompress, the "hardly ever in your room" argument hits you in the face.
BTW, Florida ain't Arizona. (Rain)
Offsiters staying in accommodations with a full kitchen argue that they can stock some groceries so as to have drinks, snacks and light meals at home. I find my own kids, as well as the adults, like this option, especially at breakfast. The onsite argument is usually,
"I don't want to cook on vacation."
1. If I was talking to my mom 40 years ago this would be a great argument - we rarely ate out and she prepared every meal. Today, with our kids schedules, we eat out a lot more than I ever did as a kid, and when we're home, I help cook.
2. What is th alternative to preparing a meal where you're staying? I mean, you still gotta eat, right? To prevent yourself from "having to" prepare a meal at the house before/after a long day at the parks, onsite you "get to" walk your kids somewhere and eat at a food court/restaurant.
3. While the kitchen is a benefit to those who want to use it, it isn't a negative to those that don't. You don't pay extra to have it, in fact, it cost less. Don't want to cook? You can drive to your choice of restaurant (including tose on Disney property) or walk to Disney's choice of restaurant.
The accommodations
Orlando is our destination because we want to experience the Disney theme parks. Unless we were going to Universal, there probably isn't another reason we'd go there other than Disney. And whether park tickets are purchased as part of your Disney package, from AAA or from some third-party discount broker, it costs roughly the same to go to the parks.
Since the theme park experience is the same no matter how one gets in (yes, I know the doubled nightly rate of an onsite "resort" room gets me 2 hours a day at a park and time of Disney's choosing), the "resort" experience has to have a value commensurate with the cost of it (IMO). Sure, there is some overlap such as travel to and from parks, but at the end of the day, there you are.
The "resort" rooms and the "resort" food do not add to our desire to go to Orlando or Disney, and the value is not commensurate with the cost. (If you paid $200 a night for a Disney Moderate in Orlando while attending your cousin's wedding, would you say to yourself,
"Wow, we really have to do this again!")
Secondly, if your goal is to get the most out of the parks, the accommodations have to further that goal.
Your sleeping arrangements in a moderate will be the same as in any other hotel you've ever stayed in, and I must say, are substandard to a lot of them. I'm sure Disney has a rotation schedule for mattresses that will have them switching out yours just before your visit, but mine must've been scheduled for the week after. On second thought, mine was likely scheduled for a month before my visit but it didn't get done - until I complained after a few nights.
That aside, I'm sure that my 2 boys aren't like any other 2 brothers in that they like to pick at each other from time to time. While your 2 kids would probably sleep like logs together in the same bed and never argue about the precise centerline of the mattress and any incursion of said line, mine wouldn't. So in a hotle room, 1 sleeps with me and 1 sleeps with mom, and nobody sleeps well.
You'll also probably notice about every 18 minutes throughout the night the in-wall AC compressor will kick on/off just like in every other hotel room you've ever stayed in. Just sayin'.
In an offsite house/condo Mom and I sleep in a King bed with a pillow-top mattress (or some such mattress pad), under a ceiling fan circulating quite centrally conditioned air. The kids get their own bed in their own room with the same set up. Sure, there's the obligatory 1/2 hour of argument about who get which bed (not your kids, right?), including justifications, rationalization, yelling, a bit of crying (me, not them), promises to offset the injustice and terms of agreement. But after that, it's all good (for about 3 days).
Everybody gets to sleep on the road just like they do at home, and that furthers the goal of enjoying the parks - and each other.
As I've said, my opinion is based on taking what I want to spend and comparing what it buys me onsite to what it buys me offsite. It's based on my family, our personalities and preferences and what we value.
It costs us less to get what we value more at Windsor Hills.
I do this for you, fellow pilgrims. I know your kids are angels, fully appreciative of the blessings God has bestowed on them as evidenced by His providing the means and opportunity to visit such a magical place. Mine are just a little below that level. But they have their limits, and you do not want to be around them late in the day if they're not properly rested. (If you have an affinity for mediating disagreements and you see some Dad trying to reconcile a disagreement about 1 ice cream cone that appears to be .47 ounces larger than the other one, or who got to go first 3 days ago, feel free to intervene.)
Enjoy your time!
Honestly arguing that off site is less magical than on site or not a real WDW vacation is like arguing that we don't need air to breathe....you can say it all you want, but it doesn't make it true.
I just don't get why people think off site do it that way because it is all they can afford....I read somewhere a budget trip to Disney for a family of 4 is in the $2,000 and moderate vacation in the $5,000 range and a bells and whistles vacation $12,000. I think you can do all three types on or off site, but it is just what you really need for your family to really enjoy it.
