An extra benefit of staying off site - less stress?

[lindsmom]

I was just over on a few other forums here, and I realized there are so many threads about the stress people are experiencing in planning their vacations.

They are at their 180 + 10 mark, trying to make ADR's, or their 60 day for FP+ etc. And the computer isn't working, and the website is down, and they can't make their ressies etc. And they are freaking out because they paid top shelf for the package and they (and I agree) deserve to make their ressies now but can't.

I would absolutely freak out at that point as well, and I think they are justified to be upset. They are paying double, or triple, what I pay when I stay off site. One of the perks / benefits of staying onsite is early access to FP and ADR. And if it's not working right, then that is not cool.

So I was thinking how for our next trip, I will make a plan (in pencil) and have the ADR's I would like to make, and my FP+ list. And I will call at my 180 or 30 day mark. But I won't freak out (too much) because if I don't get the ressies I would like for us, we will survive. Because I don't feel we are entitled to them. (and I don't mean entitled in any snarky way - again, I do feel if you pay top dollar onsite you are entitled)

My stress will be less, because my expectations are less. If we don't get the adr's, we can eat outside the park or in our condo.

Just thinking how this an added benefit beyond the $$ savings!

 

[2Gma]

For me, staying offsite isn't necessarily less stressful (especially now with FP+) but more peaceful and ALOT more affordable.

We've been on 3 week-long WDW trips and all have been offsite. The first trip was mainly offsite because I wanted separate rooms for our young kids at the time so we all could sleep, we loved our condo/resort so much that trip that now we couldn't think of staying elsewhere. For the first 2 trips (pre FP+) I often wondered why someone would want to pay so much $$$ to stay onsite when the benefits of EMH, etc. didn't really seem to be that much of an advantage. I could still book the same ADRs or go to RD at the non-EMH parks. Of course there is the Disney bubble factor and ease of park hopping we'd miss out on. Granted those things would be nice but not something we valued. But now that FP+ has entered the picture it makes it a little more difficult to be less stressed as an offsite guest. The onsite guests get a BIG advantage (which I feel they should for the price they pay) and it makes it harder to book the same ADRs and FPs that we could get in the past before the new system was in place. So I can see why when onsite guests who have paid premium price get upset when the website goes down on their 180/60 day window. You paid the extra $$ for the onsite advantage like Disney has advertised and now they're not getting it, yes that would be stressful. And yes, I agree with you, its less stressful for me as an offsite guest to make my ADRs/FPs when I know I have to be ok with whatever is left because I chose to stay offsite.

On our latest trip in May I was still able to get almost everything I wanted (no A&E FP) with careful planning and using pre-park opening breakfasts to offset the offsite disadvantage. Going during a "lower" time is almost essential if you are an offsite guest now when it comes to booking things at 180 or 30 days windows. There simply won't be too much left during "high periods" with so many onsite guests grabbing up all the good times.

We had a great time on our first FP+ trip in May! In some ways it was less stressful because we didn't have to chase all over the park for a FP- but disappointing in other ways that we could have done some of favorites more than once like in the past with using FP- instead of having to wait in line. In all, FP+ for us was neither all bad or all good, just different. Our trips in general are usually less stressful because of the way we vacation, early risers and leave the parks when we get hot/tried and go back to our condo where there is plenty of space, its quiet and I can cook my own meals and not be privy to eat at times that are available for ADRs. My expectations are still high considering the money we are spending but not to the point of do-or-die because of the money I've "saved" staying offsite.

 

[spiceycat]

still stay at both. love my onsite and offsite stays. stays mostly offsite for my cats. but soon mover closer to WDW and will be able to visit WDW w/o always staying overnight.

some people will get upset over things that don't even bother others.

alot of times my onsite trips are really less stressful than offsite - don't have to worry about the car - had a wreck once in Kissimmee not fun - never had a wreck when staying on WDW property - although I know if I am there more often then it just might happen.

can read or do activities - there is alot to do at WDW. and now that the offsite places are charging to use their stuff - well it is just not the same.

stay at timeshares - so at DVC there is a community hall with lots of activities some are free some you need to pay for.

disney pools are generally better than offsite - cleaner as well. love boating at wdw - now have done boating at off site timeshares but it is different.

but some people who stay only onsite have more money than sense.

 

[Disneyliscious]

disney pools are generally better than offsite - cleaner as well.

Most townhomes and private homes have their own pools. So only your family uses it. It doesn't get much cleaner than that. A private pool is one of the main reasons I rent a private home. I don't want to swim in a bunch of kids pee water.

 

[mshanson3121]

lol. I sure don't think staying off-site is any less stress - you still have the same amount of planning, you still have to do ADRs, FP+, figure out itineraries, and if anything trying for FP+ is more stressful since you have less selection (rightfully so). But, to me off-site is worth it, because I want bedrooms for everyone. I don't care how "cute" the theming is, there is nothing magical or relaxing about sharing a hotel room with kids without any privacy for 10 or 11 days. I want bedrooms for the kids. I want to be able to relax and watch tv at the end of the day without worrying the sound or the light is keeping the kids awake. I want to make my own food instead of constantly eating QS/CS burger and fries, I love having my own private pool that we don't have to lug towels and toys for half a mile to get to, or get a shuttle, or drive to. I love that we can open our living room door and literally jump into a pool - any time of the day or night we want. To say nothing of the insane cost savings. Yes, it would be nice to be able to use Disney shuttles and be a bit closer but... I'm willing to sacrifice!

 

[wdw4rfam]

I think staying offsite may be less stressful........until you get there. I don't want to plan all of this, but the fact is if I don't, we won't get any good TS meals or good FP. Yes I was stressed on ADR day, but I got everything we wanted. Yes I will we a little stressed on FP day, but I have no doubt again I will get everything I want. But we will have the perfect vacation, and that is 10 days stress free and that's what matters

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

disney pools are generally better than offsite - cleaner as well.

We have personally found the pool experience at the offsite resorts to be far superior to our onsite stay at POR.

The pools at our home resort (SVR) are more plentiful, just as clean, have some nicer features (waterfalls, splash fountains, etc.) and offer many more special events (poolside movies, organized games, karaoke, music by a DJ). There are also way more hot tubs, the pools are open later, and several pool have full service poolside bars (for food and drinks).

 

[jm106]

Depends on what stresses you out, I believe. I find the planning and obsessing so fun and a part of the anticipation. We still had to take the same steps to get ADRs, FP (and have to log in for each day.)
I hate the travel back and forth from off site, it stresses me out terribly, never goes as smooth as I try to make it and the traffic stinks(once took us 3 hours to get back to our resort for lunch. Messed up the rest of the days plans..)
We like to take a mid day break on site but off, it can be more of a hassle depending on location. My kids love the pools and activities and I appreciate the rest. We stay both on and off, it is different experiences for us and we change according to budget and plans. Last trip was a free condo so we dealt with being off site. Having the extra space was ok, but not necessary for us. I felt like I had to shop and cook more bc it had a kitchen but we were so busy and didn't take a break mid day so it was a wasted trip to get groceries. Ill go back to doing meals same as I did when on site.

 

[spiceycat]

Most townhomes and private homes have their own pools. So only your family uses it. It doesn't get much cleaner than that. A private pool is one of the main reasons I rent a private home. I don't want to swim in a bunch of kids pee water.

I only stay offsite in timeshares. I can't afford private homes.

We have personally found the pool experience at the offsite resorts to be far superior to our onsite stay at POR.

The pools at our home resort (SVR) are more plentiful, just as clean, have some nicer features (waterfalls, splash fountains, etc.) and offer many more special events (poolside movies, organized games, karaoke, music by a DJ). There are also way more hot tubs, the pools are open later, and several pool have full service poolside bars (for food and drinks).

I have stayed at SVR - it is wonderfully. but all the pools that I visited were very, very crowded. It is just recently that Disney started locking their pools - some at OKW and PO are still open 24 hours as well as CBR, CSR, ssr. Since the child drowned at Pop.

most disney resorts pools are cleaned daily, some even more often - the crowded ones. Disney will close the pool and clean them immediately if something happens.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I have stayed at SVR - it is wonderfully. but all the pools that I visited were very, very crowded.

most disney resorts pools are cleaned daily, some even more often - the crowded ones. Disney will close the pool and clean them immediately if something happens.

Time of year must have sometthing to do with it. We have stayed in both August and May and both times, the pools were very uncrowded. There were times in our most recent trip that there were less than 5 people swimming (including us) at 9 pm at night in the Fountains pool.

SVR also closes their pool when someone has a biological accent....the Fountains pool was the victim of a "code brown" last summer, and was closed to all swimmers until it was completely cleaned.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I was just over on a few other forums here, and I realized there are so many threads about the stress people are experiencing in planning their vacations.

They are at their 180 + 10 mark, trying to make ADR's, or their 60 day for FP+ etc. And the computer isn't working, and the website is down, and they can't make their ressies etc. And they are freaking out because they paid top shelf for the package and they (and I agree) deserve to make their ressies now but can't.

I would absolutely freak out at that point as well, and I think they are justified to be upset. They are paying double, or triple, what I pay when I stay off site. One of the perks / benefits of staying onsite is early access to FP and ADR. And if it's not working right, then that is not cool.

So I was thinking how for our next trip, I will make a plan (in pencil) and have the ADR's I would like to make, and my FP+ list. And I will call at my 180 or 30 day mark. But I won't freak out (too much) because if I don't get the ressies I would like for us, we will survive. Because I don't feel we are entitled to them. (and I don't mean entitled in any snarky way - again, I do feel if you pay top dollar onsite you are entitled)

My stress will be less, because my expectations are less. If we don't get the adr's, we can eat outside the park or in our condo.

Just thinking how this an added benefit beyond the $$ savings!

I totally agree with this. We do both now but I am so much pickier when I am onsite. Offsite I am more willing to just roll with it. I never thought about this before like this, very interesting!

 

[DisneyDazed]

The things I love about staying offsite is yes everyone gets a room and I have a kitchen. Not that I use it everyday but if I couldn't get an ADR that's ok I will make a family favorite in the condo. This trip I didnt go crazy planning and I have fast passes and the ADRs that were a priority.

 

[kathy884]

Compared to work (especially this past year at my company -- I work in IT), planning for onsite or offsite is total and complete relaxation and escapism. lol

We've also been many times too, so don't have a big need to cram a ton in.

Actually I think maybe offsite is more relaxing to me, as we always have a car when we are offsite and can do whatever we want, go wherever we want, eat wherever we want, and we don't have to pay Disney prices for food. I don't mind driving in Orlando and like the freedom a car provides. If you find Orlando driving stressful, that would be a plus for onsite.

OP -- I agree with your overall premise too. When I'm paying the big $s I do have higher expectations. Offsite I almost always am thinking: Wow -- what a great place -- boy for the great quality of this resort I sure got a good price for this. And that helps the vacation meet my overall expectations too.

 

[quagmire0]

Might change this year because of the FP+ situation that we've never dealt with, but I haven't had many issues getting ADRs. Maybe I didn't get the exact time I wanted, but they were usually pretty close. Nice thing about offsite is that you can save a ton dining elsewhere - or even just ordering delivery or carryout.

 

[Monykalyn]

We did a longer trip this year-and stayed onsite for the first 6 days, and at our timeshare (Marriott Sabal Palms) for the next week.
It was our first stay onsite-we are a family of 5 so finding space is difficult. We stayed at CBR and BC. Found great deals for both booking through Orbitz. My DH still thinks it was crazy to pay money to stay onsite at Disney but there is no denying there is certain perks. We went mainly for Star Wars Weekends at the Studios so being able to get my FP for the shows at the 60 day window was nice-however it seemed like there were plenty available (with exception of the Frank Oz show last weekend) at 30 day mark. Plus we did take advantage of EMH twice-an am one at AK and late night one at MK. It was very nice to be able to split up and have some go to the room to rest when they wanted without having to arrange transportation. It was nice to be able to just use MB to charge stuff to room-and allow the kids to do so as well if they went on their own (mainly the older one). We survived 6 days in one room-although I think it helped that we did a split stay-forced us to stay more organized in the room and packing.

But the first thing all the kids said when we walked into the condo was "look at all the space", and each kid got their own bed, and washer/dryer in unit, larger fridge for breakfast items and snacks. One night we were too tired to do much and called in a curbside order to Chili's-nice to have a table to eat at (not to mention it was a cheap meal compared to disney prices). We got to use the World Center Pool and slides and it is as good as a water park.

I can completely see the allure of staying onsite, but for us-it would be 5 or 6 days max before we would be crazy.
We have actually been talking about buying another timeshare week-one that trades into RCI so maybe possibly we could use our timeshare week to stay DVC (I know it would probably be OKW or SSR but that would be ok-best of both worlds?)

 

[disneysteve]

I sure don't think staying off-site is any less stress - you still have the same amount of planning, you still have to do ADRs, FP+, figure out itineraries, and if anything trying for FP+ is more stressful since you have less selection (rightfully so).

Or you could be like us. We don't make ADRs. We don't book FPs in advance. We don't plan out itineraries. We have no desire to do any of that. To me, all of that would be more hassle than it's worth. I'd rather stay home.

Yes, we make the very rare ADR. Last trip, we had dinner at BOG for the first time. I think that was our first advance ADR in at least 5 years.
Last trip, we got an advance FP for Mine Train (which we ended up not even using because one member of our group wasn't feeling well that night).

Other than that, we did everything as we went along once we were there, which is our usual routine. We used the FP system, but only the day of or maybe the night before. And other than BOG, we didn't eat anywhere that required an ADR.

If your vacation planning is that stressful, I don't see the point.

 

[mshanson3121]

Or you could be like us. We don't make ADRs. We don't book FPs in advance. We don't plan out itineraries. We have no desire to do any of that. To me, all of that would be more hassle than it's worth. I'd rather stay home.

Yes, we make the very rare ADR. Last trip, we had dinner at BOG for the first time. I think that was our first advance ADR in at least 5 years.
Last trip, we got an advance FP for Mine Train (which we ended up not even using because one member of our group wasn't feeling well that night).

Other than that, we did everything as we went along once we were there, which is our usual routine. We used the FP system, but only the day of or maybe the night before. And other than BOG, we didn't eat anywhere that required an ADR.

If your vacation planning is that stressful, I don't see the point.

Yes, but if we were like you, our trip would be miserable. With two children with special needs, not booking FP+ is not an option. If we're spending all the money to get to Disney and do a once in a lifetime trip, we're sure as heck going to do a character dinner - which you don't get to do without an ADR. The vacation planning may be stressful, but the point of doing the planning beforehand, is so that your actual trip is not stressful

 

[mshanson3121]

Actually I think maybe offsite is more relaxing to me, as we always have a car when we are offsite and can do whatever we want, go wherever we want, eat wherever we want, and we don't have to pay Disney prices for food. I don't mind driving in Orlando and like the freedom a car provides. If you find Orlando driving stressful, that would be a plus for onsite.

This. There is nothing about staying in a Disney hotel room for 10 days with our children that is even remotely appealing to me. However, the idea of having a large home with four bedrooms, a games room for DH, a LARGE private pool, that we can jump in whenever we want... the knowledge that I can sit on our own private deck lounging with a drink in my hand, that we can have downtime with the kids tucked into their own bedrooms while we go shoot a game or two of pool... now THAT is relaxing

 

[mshanson3121]

I only stay offsite in timeshares. I can't afford private homes.



I have stayed at SVR - it is wonderfully. but all the pools that I visited were very, very crowded. It is just recently that Disney started locking their pools - some at OKW and PO are still open 24 hours as well as CBR, CSR, ssr. Since the child drowned at Pop.

most disney resorts pools are cleaned daily, some even more often - the crowded ones. Disney will close the pool and clean them immediately if something happens.

Trust me, it's far more affordable than you think. You can easily get private homes for $100 a night, depending on where you stay.

 

[disneysteve]

we're sure as heck going to do a character dinner - which you don't get to do without an ADR.

I'm curious how true this is today. We haven't done a character meal for quite a while but when we did, we never booked it in advance. We used to have lunch at Crystal Palace almost every trip. We reserved it when we got to the park in the morning. Other times, we might call a day or two in advance for dinner at 1900 Park Fare or somewhere else. Is that no longer possible? If so, that's really a shame.