An extra benefit of staying off site - less stress?

[disneysteve]

I will say that I talk to many people who express their wish to go to WDW, but the cost deters them.

Same here. Several families have gone to WDW thanks to us who wouldn't have otherwise gone because we showed them how to do it on a budget, which included staying offsite.

 

[spiceycat]

Same here. Several families have gone to WDW thanks to us who wouldn't have otherwise gone because we showed them how to do it on a budget, which included staying offsite.

agree - that say - Disney attitude now instead of trying to encourage moderate income families is - hey if you don't want to stay here others do. they have started with the bungalows at Polyn and now WL to cater to the rich. So they will continue to increase prices for everything to discourage us not so rich from going.

hey by some people standard I am also poor. but until the day comes where I can not afford a WDW ticket - will kept going - because it is my happy place.

one of the reason that I am moving to Florida is WDW. want to be closer to it so even when I am 85 can still drive too it. my new home is about 55 miles away but due to the lakes you must go around so it takes an hour to an hour and half to get there.

 

[Guittech]

OUr trip last year was off site, and there was "some" stress, as It was for our honeymoon, and my wife and I had some places we really wanted to see and have meals at (Brown Derby was booked solid by the time we were allowed to make ADRs and 7 dwarves minetrain was a NOGO for fastpasses) OF COURSE, we had picked a week at random, originally we were going to go i September when it would be quiet but instead we booked in November since we had planned on doing an all inclusive caribbean resort and wanted to avoid hurricane season... Yeah.... Canadians... We thought "Well theres NOTHING going on in November! Let's go to Disney after all!"

Not remembering that you guys have thanksgiving at a different time than us.

We had locked into our vacation plan without realizing we would be at the park during thanksgiving!

DOH!

So THAT led to stress. planning out our next trip, in a year and a month is already stressful since I am having to try and accomodate 6 adults with WILDLY different eating preferences, activity preferences and activity level... I picked onsite to reduce my stress! If i was trying to book the 6 adult trip AND find a place offsite AND try to rent a car big enough for all of us and our luggage (only 1 driver who will drive in the city out of all of us) then I would be pulling out what little hair i have left!

 

[Guittech]

That being said, staying offsite would allow us to go more often...
It's the flights that really kill our Disney dreams lol

 

[bsj1701]

It's the flights that really kill our Disney dreams lol

Agreed! Oh, if Disney would only start their own airline! Magical Express is free, how about cheap tickets to Orlando with proof of WDW admission purchase and/or hotel stay!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

That being said, staying offsite would allow us to go more often...
It's the flights that really kill our Disney dreams lol

So drive...if that's a possibility for you. We're just over 1,200 miles away from WDW and we usually drive. Our upcoming trip later this month is an exception - we found RT flights from Chicago on SW for $98. Flights haven't been this low for us since 2007 which is the last time we flew. Our yearly trips in between, we've driven and mostly stayed offsite.

 

[Guittech]

So drive...if that's a possibility for you. We're just over 1,200 miles away from WDW and we usually drive. Our upcoming trip later this month is an exception - we found RT flights from Chicago on SW for $98. Flights haven't been this low for us since 2007 which is the last time we flew. Our yearly trips in between, we've driven and mostly stayed offsite.

We are a little further, just under 1300 miles, but I only drive motorcycles, which means my DW would have to do all the driving (She refuses to ride on the back of my bike! ) Thats a good 20-22 hours of driving, which my inlaws do every year, but the missus as a rule won't drive more than 8 hours in a day, which means 3 days down, 3 days back... leaving a day or 2 at disney for our week off. I don't blame her, she isn't a relaxed driver under normal conditions! Flights for the 2 of us from Toronto tend to be closer to $1200 once baggage fees are involved. On Air Canada Rouge, which is essentially a city bus with wings.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We are a little further, just under 1300 miles, but I only drive motorcycles, which means my DW would have to do all the driving (She refuses to ride on the back of my bike! ) Thats a good 20-22 hours of driving, which my inlaws do every year, but the missus as a rule won't drive more than 8 hours in a day, which means 3 days down, 3 days back... leaving a day or 2 at disney for our week off. I don't blame her, she isn't a relaxed driver under normal conditions! Flights for the 2 of us from Toronto tend to be closer to $1200 once baggage fees are involved. On Air Canada Rouge, which is essentially a city bus with wings.

That makes all the difference. DH and I both drive our minivan and we both enjoy the drive (all things considered).

 

[quagmire0]

Stress is usually self-induced. At the end of the day, you have to just realize it's a VACATION. I love planning like anybody else, but I've never found myself so consumed with getting ADR's and the like. I do get them at the 180 mark and if something isn't available for the exact time I want, I make different arrangements. We've had great success using touring plans and getting to see and do what we want. I think some people just want an absolutely RIGID schedule/plan and they need EVERYTHING to be JUST RIGHT. But everything is never just right unless your expectations are taken down a notch. And if you have kids, it's almost guaranteed that everything will never be just right.

 

[powellrj]

We have done Disney pretty much every way. On-site, off-site, staying with friends, going with a group. DH and I are going to the food and wine this year and decided to stay at SSR. As it got closer to our trip and it came time to make our final payment, I just couldn't do it. The first reservation I made was for free dining, then I decided to take the room only discount and only do 2 days at the parks without dining plan. I really got to thinking about the money, the crowds, the lack of room and changed our reservation to a house with a pool. I have our meals planned because we have our favorites, we will be going to the parks for 5 days with hoppers and the trip is still cheaper than the first trip I had planned and we will be much happier.

 

[MAmomma]

Definitely interesting to hear everyone's take on this... We are staying onsite this trip but stayed offsite last time (at a Marriott resort) and had a wonderful experience. Granted, I was able to get all of the ADRs that I wanted for that trip...

 

[JaxDad]

Agreed! Oh, if Disney would only start their own airline! Magical Express is free, how about cheap tickets to Orlando with proof of WDW admission purchase and/or hotel stay!

If Disney did start an airline, I doubt it would be cheap!

 

[tristyp]

Last year we went to Disney for the first time. We stayed at Dolphin for 2 nights, Bonnet Creek for 7 nights and SVV for 6 nights. We are a family of five so are options are limited at onsite at Disney and when free dining wasn't offered at Port Orleans and listening to all the on-site vs off-site it made my decision easy. I have come to realize that everyone has different ideas of a vacation. We enjoyed our 2 nights at the Dolphin. They had a beautiful pool, great restaraunts and we were able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios which was a nice perk. Due to my status as an spg member we were also upgraded to a room with a view of the Epcot Fireworks which was really cool. We booked ADRs. We got the fast passes we wanted with the exception of the mine train and Anna and Elsa. I booked fastpasses at about 45 days out. I would have done at 60 days but we actually added the 2 days at the Dolphin at that time. It was an awesome start to our vacation and offered a lot of "perks". I can definitely see how some people would enjoy this convenience. However after heading to Bonnet Creek after this we got a huge room, we were close to the parks and had a full kitchen and a washer and dryer. The extra room for our family was huge. it allowed my wife and I to have some adult time without the hush hush of a small room. The pools were awesome. We don't mind doing a bit of cooking on vacation and were able to eat cheaper for the week then we did for the 2 days at Dolphin. We ate out way more then we ate in, probably 5-2. The SVV was also beautiful, had great pools and a large unit. Vacationing like this allowed us to have a 16 day vacation compared to a 7 day vacation. Our preference is off-site and I am sure some people would argue that the Dolphin was not on-site. In saying that you can also get some great deals at Disney as well. I helped my neighbours book there trip which they left for today. They are doing 7 nights at all-star sports. They got every fast pass they wanted and all at good times. They got free QS dining which they preferred to TS because they didn't want to have to plan meals. They did all this for 2400. That's a good value. There is only 4 of them which makes the small room more bearable and they will go from morning to night. We wanted to relax as well on our vacation so we didn't go as hard core but yet did everything we wanted to. I think there is advantages and disadvantages to both. I prefer off site but that is the way I like to vacation. Other people prefer on-site. I wouldn't knock either way. its about what works for you and your budget.

 

[GreatLakes]

I haven't really noticed any difference in stress staying offsite vs onsite. Then again I don't get all whiny if I can't make ADRs or FP+ reservations at midnight of the first available day. I don't do the ultra planner route and waited until a few weeks out to decide on what we wanted to do. Even then we were really flexible. There were days we went to a different park then we planned so we made FP+ changes that morning and managed to get every single FP+ we wanted. It isn't nearly as hard as these boards would have you think in my experience.

If you just chill out and go with the flow without worrying about it you'll have a much more enjoyable trip. I know we do because we don't obsess.

 

[Sparkly]

Eh, neither are any more or less stressful. We rarely book ADRs and don't do FPs right at 12am 60 days. We're quite laid back compared to a lot of DISers it seems!