is off-site still cheaper than free DDP offer?

[Mama Steph]

We are currently having the same issue. There will be 8 of us: dh and I and our 5 kids, 15, 11, 10, 8 and 6 as well as my sister. We will be going for 10 nights. Could do 2 rooms at a value but we decided we need more beds so sis and 15yo ds don't have to share with anyone. So we are looking at 3 rooms at a value, at the least. Booked a suite and a single room at ASMu with fd. Switching to 45% PIN at a villa would add about $500 but give us a lot more space and comfort. So we decided that for us that would be the most comfortable way to go.
Then I started looking into offsite. I found a nice 3 br br house in Windsor Hills for under $70 a night. With that savings we can rent a car, pay for parking, pay for meals, save about $2000 and have a lot more space. I'm a bit bummed about giving up all Disney-all the time but I would rather save the money and go more often.

 

[grandmadebby]

With free dininng it is cheaper for us to stay on site. In fact with 4 of us over the age of 10 our room is basically free, 29.99 QSDP x 4 = 119.96. In the other room there are 2 over 10 and 2 - 5 year olds so there room is very inexpensive also. (29.99 x 2) + (9.99 x 2) = 79.96. Our trip is in July and we had a pin for the free qsdp and can upgrade for $10.00 a day per adult and $2.00 a day per child so even with that the rooms are very inexpensive. We are staying prefered at Pop Century and don't spend alot of time in the room. After the long trip it is hard for me to justify sitting in my room. The values have gret pools and pretty good food courts.

I think if we spent alot of time in the resort I may feel different but we love the bus transportation, no parking, emh and once we leave for the park in the morning it is very rare that we come back to the resort except for a short swim and bed.

 

[ICF]

I dont like the thought of a week in a small 1 BR at POP or another value....free dining or not. My idea of fun is not being cramped into 1 of those rooms for 7 nights with 2 kids.

I'll take my off-site condo and all the space everyday of the week. We normally are able to get condos for $400 or so that have 2 / 3 BR and full kitchens.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I believe off-site would be cheaper. For example a Fusie drink at WDW is $4, at Target it is $1.59 so the value of free dining is really less when you buy the same items off propergy.

I've done free dining and it is a really good thing, but did cost $$$. However, you have to figure your own budget.

 

[shalom]

I dont like the thought of a week in a small 1 BR at POP or another value....free dining or not. My idea of fun is not being cramped into 1 of those rooms for 7 nights with 2 kids.

I'm spoiled. I think even most of the DVC units are too cramped. I love the Disney resorts for visiting and dining and shopping, but the only time I can imagine us ever staying at one is if it was just hubby and I for a few days. We didn't vacation at all before discovering point system Timeshares, because I don't consider being crammed in a hotel room a vacation At All.

We have five kids so are usually looking for a unit that sleeps 8, and right now I know of at least three ofsite options where we can get a 2 BR, sleeps 8 for under $50 bucks a night. As timeshare owners we do have more options than some, but OTOH two of those options are available to anyone who can find a good rental deal. We drive, so car rental isn't a factor, and we don't eat out much. The one time we got a dining deal (at Sea World) I know they got the better end of it, because I'm so excited or so hot or so something while at the park that I don't eat much. I have a good CS lunch and a few snacks and I'm done. The kids would rather a CS meal of their choice than eating in a "real restaurant" while there, or just snack the whole time, so the dining deal wouldn't help on that front, either.

So for us, I have yet to see a Disney deal that remotely matches staying off-site, either from a financial or a comfort standpoint. It's an individual thing, though - when our kids were way younger and we had fewer of them, some of the on-site deals would have been more appealing than they are now.

 

[daytondisney]

Have to concur with most on here...depends on you and your family. Opinions are strongly held by all, and many choose to ignore the reality in lieu of focusing on the ideal.

I found this first with transportation.

On site: The ideal is that with Disney's transportation you put you bags on the curb at home and they're in your room in Orlando. You get on a bus in Orlando and you're magically transported to your accomodations. Each day the bus picks you up and takes you right where you want to go.

The reality was that we waited on the bus at the airport, we waited in line to check in, and our bags arrived magically in our room...6 hours later.

When we went to the bus stop the first morning, we found it was about 150 yards across a parking lot. We got to fold up strollers and wait for the bus going to the park we wanted, and due to routing, it was hit or miss if there was space on the first or second one. Then we got to repeat this in the evening, stopping at 8 islands before hitting ours - waking and soothing tired kids each time.

Reality of off site: I checked my bags at curb in Dayton and when we got to Orlando, wife and in-laws went to baggage check and found a porter while I walked to Dollar's kiosk. I drove a few hundred yards and handed $25 to the porter who loaded bags into van. Drove to Windsor Hills where "check in" consisted of showing my ID at security gate. Parked 36" from my front door and carried bags the remaining 20 feet. Splashing in the pool within 18 minutes.

Each morning we walked the 36" to the van, which already had the strollers inside, and each eveing did the same. Yes, we walked a little farther to and from park, but when kids were placed into van, they were free to sleep in car-seats. When we got home, they were inside and down before the last adult was out of the van.

Another reality of having personal transportation. Freedom. When we weren't at the park and we wanted to eat out, we ate where we wanted. When we discovered that the shuttle was going for a night launch, we were there.

As for comparing accomodations, it isn't even fair.

At th end of the day, there was simply one advantage to staying on site. Extended hours. If they're worth more than $1,000 and inferior accomodations, Disney Resorts is where you should stay.

Just my opinion.

 

[VickiVM]

My husband and I had FD booked for our family of 5 @ POR for 8/15-20 (5 days). My kids are 16, 14 and 12. Total cost of package was approx $2050 or so. Today was my deadline to pay the balance. Two nights ago I remembered vettechick's glowing review of Wyndham Bonnet Creek. I spoke with an owner that evening and had a 2 bedroom timeshare booked for $110/night! Each kid can hav their own bed (if one of them opts to use the fold out couch). Full kitchen, w/d, a real dining table that seats 6 (not even some of the DVC has this). My kids were excited to go to POR - we've been several times before. But when I showed them the pics of the room and the gorgeous property and pools, they were ecstatic. My kids, as most teenagers, love their own space.

So, now we're spending $1700 for room and tix, plus probably another $175 in food supplies, $70 in parking fees @ the parks which brings up the total to $1940...$105 less than the FD package price. We'll likely use up that savings in food @ the parks plus maybe another $200 more.

So that extra $200 will be soooo worth what we may lose by staying off-site. I actually am contemplating a day NOT spent @ the park, but at the resort relaxing

 

[mikkiwikki]

How do you figure that you can only save by staying at an econobox? Seriously, its that type of mentality that makes it difficult for people to look at the real numbers.

POP Century/All-Stars (Disneys Econobox) stay 7 nights in Sep, 2 rooms for 7 people $1200, vs 3 bdr home with private pool, fridge, microwave, flat screen TV's etc $500. More than 1/2 off over what disney charges. Compare that to a moderate at the same time period and its $2100 to $500, how about the cheapest deluxe? $3,500 to $500. Thanks, Ill take the vacation home with all of its amenities.

Yah but you have to take those numbers and add the price of a rental car...
So that 7 nights 2 rooms at pop at 1200 becomes 2100...with the rental car with gas and insurance all said and done. Ill stay onsite

 

[williamson_ja]

With free dininng it is cheaper for us to stay on site. In fact with 4 of us over the age of 10 our room is basically free, 29.99 QSDP x 4 = 119.96. In the other room there are 2 over 10 and 2 - 5 year olds so there room is very inexpensive also. (29.99 x 2) + (9.99 x 2) = 79.96. Our trip is in July and we had a pin for the free qsdp and can upgrade for $10.00 a day per adult and $2.00 a day per child so even with that the rooms are very inexpensive. We are staying prefered at Pop Century and don't spend alot of time in the room. After the long trip it is hard for me to justify sitting in my room. The values have gret pools and pretty good food courts.

I think if we spent alot of time in the resort I may feel different but we love the bus transportation, no parking, emh and once we leave for the park in the morning it is very rare that we come back to the resort except for a short swim and bed.

This is exactly what we figured. Once you count in the free dining, we are getting our rooms for free. You really can't beat free. Even $25/night is more expensive than free. It also depends on what your eating patterns in the park are. If you like to cook on vacation and eat a lot of off-site meals... staying on-site won't work for you as well. We eat all of our meals either at the parks or at our resort. We also love the character meals and by the time you paid for those out of pocket, you'd add a lot to your off-site budget.

We would never rent a car at Disney. It's just too easy to take the bus. We actually love the Disney transportation. It's part of what we like about going to disney. You don't have to drive.

 

[angelmav]

Yah but you have to take those numbers and add the price of a rental car...
So that 7 nights 2 rooms at pop at 1200 becomes 2100...with the rental car with gas and insurance all said and done. Ill stay onsite

You really twisted the numbers. Why would you rent a car AND stay at POP? The price off site is $500 compared to the $1200 rate at Pop, Minivan rental was $385, $75 for 5 days of park parking (3 days at waterparks which dont charge) 1 tank of gas before returning $35, total offsite WITH rental car, parking, gas, 4 bedroom pool home $995 offsite vs $1200 onsite and thats comparing a Value.

Dont oversell/undersell the difference by using a bad comparison to what I originally posted. Granted, free dining swings the numbers in the favor of onsight but it equals out at the Moderate level which is where you have to book to get the DDP rather than QSDP anyway.

 

[visitingapril09]

We are a family of 6 and this is only our first trip to Florida since our son's Wish trip 6 years ago (which, obviously, we didn't arrange our own stay).

We are 2 parents and then 18, 16, 15 and 12 year old when we go. There is no affordable option to stay on property for us, from what I could see. I do think it depends upon what your goals of your vacation are too. For us, we are spending 2 weeks there. So we are renting a van and are wanting to do some non-Disney exploring also. We booked a great townhome with 3 bedrooms 2 baths laundry hot tub at Terre Verde for 69 a night.......we can't beat that for our family situation. We are used to taking care of our own food on vacation and, as my daughter has type 1 diabetes, would likely need to buy groceries regardless even if we were on the dining plan so that we had supplies close at hand.

I think every family is different and you should do whatever is best for your family's needs and situation and wishes. For us, it was staying off site.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

I think really as others have said, only you can decide what is least expensive for you, remembering that "expense" can also include lost time and opportunity. It depends how you like to vacation. If you will be happy eating at off-site restaurants, you can save money, even over free dining. We are not "down-time" people, so off-site doesn't work for our family only because we don't go to Disney without Dlxdp and tons of character meals, also we are unwilling to take the time to travel back to an off-site location during the day to cook and eat. One important expense to remember though, if your party of 8 eats together at any TS restaurants in Disney, whether on the dining plan or not, you will have 18% gratuity automatically added to your bill. You can only avoid this by splitting into the 2 family groups for TS dining, or by eating exclusively CS.

 

[wrconrad]

I think if you only look at cost, Free DDP isn't worth it. However, using DDP is an entirely different experience. If you use TS for dinner you can have a very nice meal every day and not worry about your budget. Making ADRs is part of the fun too.

When I tried to 'calculate' the cost of DDP or free DDP, the one thing that really makes it a value was time. Eating off property is almost always cheaper but you are still paying for your on property time. Depending park hours and your ticket package, a family of 5 could be paying up to $30 an hour for park time. Planning an off property meal can easily cost $150 is park time. The question, is saving $50 or $100 worth the lost park time?

 

[angelmav]

I think if you only look at cost, Free DDP isn't worth it. However, using DDP is an entirely different experience. If you use TS for dinner you can have a very nice meal every day and not worry about your budget. Making ADRs is part of the fun too.

When I tried to 'calculate' the cost of DDP or free DDP, the one thing that really makes it a value was time. Eating off property is almost always cheaper but you are still paying for your on property time. Depending park hours and your ticket package, a family of 5 could be paying up to $30 an hour for park time. Planning an off property meal can easily cost $150 is park time. The question, is saving $50 or $100 worth the lost park time?

Where are you coming up with this 'lost park time' analogy? From where we have stayed off-site, we could go door to door faster to most parks than had we stayed on-site. You lose the EMH (which TGM and a host of others advise against using anyway) but thats it. 10 minutes from property is not the hassle you imagine. Plus you can still eat on property, the dining plan is hardly the savings it used to be.

We had ADR's, ate on property and saved a bundle. Pre-paying for the DDP isnt saving your budget, it is lessening the amount you need to bring.

I understand why people pay what they pay to stay onsite, but using strawman arguments against that dont hold water is a bit disingenuous.

To the pp before you, the automatic gratuity starts at 6, not 8 people.

 

[Brian Noble]

We do about half and half offsite and onsite stays. For the most part, the trips are just about identical. We never use EMH when we are onsite. We eat about the same number of meals in the parks, and the same mix of table vs. counter service. We tend to drive ourselves to the parks most of the time when we are onsite, and we stay at a place (like Bonnet Creek) that is as close to the parks as many Disney resorts when we stay offsite.

So for us the comparison pretty much boils down to the bottom line---figure what you'd spend on lodging, transportation, and food, and compare it. If we were willing to stay in a Value, that would probably be the cheapest alternative, even upgrading to the regular dining plan. But, we're not. I *might* do it if it were just the two of us, but once the kids are coming along, a 260 square foot room for the four of us just isn't vacation.

Once you get past that and into the Moderates, I find that usually I can get a (much larger) place to stay, a rental car, and pay for the food I want out of pocket for about the price the Moderate costs under most discount scenarios. For example, right now, RCI is running a promotion that will get you a condo for about $325 for a week during the September-November time frame. It would pretty easy to still pay for your rental car and food and be around the same price as the $1400 that the Moderate would cost for the week for the room plus food plus Disney transportation.