Need advice about staying off property

[kangamangus]

We just returned from our first ever off site visit and I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I too was worried about getting around with our vehicles, cooking, would it still feel "magical" etc....we stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and the view from our 19th floor balcony was not anything we could ever afford on Disney property. We saw the epcot ball, and the fireworks each night from MK and Epcot. Now to say it was all perfect, it wasn't. I didn't like the long transportation to get to the MK. Park>walk to tram>ride tram (including folding up double stroller)>take tram and decide to use monorail/ferry>ride over to MK. Did I miss the Disney all the time like when you stay on site ( I sure did!) but I don't know if I missed it enough to make up for our experience at WBC. The pools, the room size (4 bedroom presidential), the view and being able to come home with all clean clothes and eat breakfast each day in the room and suppers late at night was perfect. We return in two years and I'm not 100% sure which way we will lean to for our accommodations. They both have such pluses!! (2700 for 8 nights in a 2500 square foot condo, great pools view, cook meals and everyone has their own space) vs. ( 100% disney all the time, great disney theming, the bus system, the EMH). It is hard to choose for our family what we will do next time!

 

[Beemitchcowski]

We have had 2 offsite stays. We originally chose offsite due to price. We were on a budget and the 4 of us...one being a baby...we wanted the extra space. Our first trip...we took my older sister with us...It was nice having an extra bathroom....and my sister got her own space. We also liked being able to make our own meals. I had groceries delivered and planned out some easy meals. I was too afraid to have a bunch of meal reservations because just in case my kids needed a sudden break...I didn't want to worry about having to get to a reservation/being charged for not going.

 

[miamimi]

My, my, quick to judge, aren't we? My wife is a bodybuilder, as am I (look at the profile picture, you can only see my wife's arms, but you'll get the idea). We feed our children healthy in general, but since they are 12, 9 and 9 we're not going to make them eat the same exact nutrition that my wife and I do. As I said in my post, we buy those things for the kids. If you must know, for my wife and I, we buy non-fat greek yogurt, boneless skinless chicken breast (not covered in anything), tilapia, raw almonds, and other such foods. I can assure you that my wife's daily nutrition plan isn't something you can get in WDW, and for the most part, neither is mine. We also have daily protein shakes and other things that would be far less convenient in a hotel room. To top it all off, I have Crohns' disease, so what I eat is very important and I am quite careful with it.

WDW certainly has improved their menu choices over the years, there are now healthy choices for sure, but not enough to meet our requirements. Even for our kids, the nuggets and Hot Pockets are not every meal. Even on vacation, much of the food we give them is better than what they'd get at WDW. As an example, we buy all natural peanut butter and high fiber, low carb wraps to make PB sandwiches with. Not going to find that at WDW. They are kids, so we do let them enjoy some junk snacks. Even I will eat things I like while on vacation, to the extent I can, such as some junk food, but I still maintain a very clean base. But with my health, I'd literally get sick if I ate out every meal every day. So yeah, actually, despite your misguided sarcasm, good nutrition has a ton to do with it. Surely you don't have an objection to feeding some chicken nuggets and Hot Pockets to children while on vacation, do you? Nor taking the kids out for ice cream for dessert? Again if you must know, typically my wife and I just get a cup of coffee. Though I admit that on vacation I will cheat and get ice cream sometimes, 'cause I want to. My wife, no...she won't.

And yes, saving money is never a bad things. Along with all the other perks that come with staying off property. As mom2rtk said, different strokes for different folks.

mom2rtk,
Yep, sounds like we do vacation very differently. Nothing wrong with that. As I said, I don't have anything whatsoever against staying on property. I can see where it would be attractive to people and understand why they do. It's just not for us, especially not with our current situation. Believe me, we don't go on vacation saying "Gee, I can't wait to have to prep food", but we also don't see it as a major issue or anything that interferes with our vacation. That "work" that goes into it is really a non-factor for us. Plus, we really do enjoy the freedom of having our car and our own space.

I’m sorry if I offended you. You see, I’m a registered dietitian and I end up counseling people every day who think potato chips are a vegetable!

So when you posted that you were focused on nutritious eating and then went on to mention: ice cream, hot pockets, chicken nuggets, and doughnuts it seemed contradictory. Some people might read your post and assume that these foods are indeed nutritious.

Again, please accept my apologies.

 

[Familytradition]

First off .... We have never stayed on property and this coming May will be our 14th trip to Florida/Disney so I can only tell you what we have experienced from the off property side.

• Staying in condos allows for a lot of freedoms that you may like. Large rooms gives everyone some room to "breathe" after a long day in the parks.
• Getting to and from the parks using your own car allows you to come and go as you please.
• Some resorts offer transportation to the parks but we've never used them ( I don't know if it's worth it)
• Having a washer/dryer lets you pack less, which means less luggage, and less hassle.
• Having breakfast and maybe a few suppers at the condo are a nice change of pace. Many of the condos offer BBQ stations where we'll often bbq some burgers hotdogs etc.
• There have been years when my boys have said they didn't want to go to Disney they would rather stay by the pools and play the games/activities that were organized by the resort so at night we'd walk around the Disney hotels just to get our "Disney fix" for that day.
• Since my DW is always doing the cooking/laundry at home I take over for the 2 weeks that we're down there. LOL ... I'll admit it's not always a smooth operation like it is when she does it, but I think she gets a kick out of it.
• We bring our GPS with us so it's been very easy to get in and out of the parks.

As another poster said .....you don't get access to reservations as early and you don't get the EMH benefit ... but we're ok with it. Hope that helps.

 

[andyw715]

Well I have booked a 5 night stay at Holiday Inn Suites - Waterpark that looks very close to WDW
https://goo.gl/maps/Wqug9466nkL2

I booked through Discovery Cove and get the 5th night free. $334 for 5 night in a 2 bedroom family suite. Not bad for $67/night and has a waterpark.

I'll let you know my review in a few weeks

 

[mom2rtk]

• Since my DW is always doing the cooking/laundry at home I take over for the 2 weeks that we're down there. LOL ... I'll admit it's not always a smooth operation like it is when she does it, but I think she gets a kick out of it.

That would certainly go a long way toward making it a more appealing option.

 

[BigredNole]

They both have such pluses!! (2700 for 8 nights in a 2500 square foot condo, great pools view, cook meals and everyone has their own space) vs. ( 100% disney all the time, great disney theming, the bus system, the EMH). It is hard to choose for our family what we will do next time!

What's the price of an equivalent 4BR room at WDW? The closest I can come up with is two 2BR suites at about $1,600 a night at OKW resort. I would easily take a 4BR Pres at $2,500 for 7-nights.

 

[BigredNole]

Well I have booked a 5 night stay at Holiday Inn Suites - Waterpark that looks very close to WDW

Holiday Inn and Suites is the old Nickelodeon resort with a new name. Rooms are less expensive and FL residents get great rates. Our one experience there was lower class drunk fest. Not all of the people, but the 10% there ruined it for the other 90%. Drunks pushing your kids and others out of the way to go down a 10 foot slide and not wait is disgusting. Watching another drunk go off threatening a Muslim family that they are terrorists and fighting with police while being arrested.

Now this is just my one time stay. We had 3 nights booked, only stayed one and demanded are refund. Took a little persuading and fighting but they gave us our $125 back for the other 2 nights. We found another hotel to move to.

 

[Klayfish]

I’m sorry if I offended you. You see, I’m a registered dietitian and I end up counseling people every day who think potato chips are a vegetable!

So when you posted that you were focused on nutritious eating and then went on to mention: ice cream, hot pockets, chicken nuggets, and doughnuts it seemed contradictory. Some people might read your post and assume that these foods are indeed nutritious.

Again, please accept my apologies.

All good. I can only imagine the stuff you hear in your line of work...hey potato salad is a salad, right??? Like I said, for the kids, we keep in mind they're young and let them enjoy the foods we know are junk, but it's all in moderation. When at WDW, we still bring healthy foods for them like I described, but at the same time...they're kids, it's WDW, we're on vacation...so we loosen up a good bit for them. We take them for ice cream, or buy a Mickey head bar in the park. Besides, they walk so much at WDW, they burn plenty of calories. But for me and my health, I'm sure you work with people that have my condition. I discovered after I was diagnosed, probably 13-14 years ago now, that nutrition control is key. That lead itself into discovering bodybuilding, and my wife followed me into the lifestyle. We don't compete at shows (though she is probably going to), but it's just how we live our life. I allow myself a cheat meal once per week, and on vacation I really do keep my base foods clean, but do eat more "junk" simply because I want to. However, if I tried to "eat out" every meal, I'd get sick within a day or two unless I was super picky where and what I ate, which is a pain. For my wife, she's just really, really into the lifestyle. Her nutrition is extremely specific to the point that her salads (which aren't traditional lettuce/carrot, etc...) are weighed, as is every almond, tilapia, etc...that she eats. Her coach lets her have a cheat meal from time to time. On vacation, we don't bring the food scale, but she stays quite true to her diet. I did convince her to eat with me at the Moroccan restaurant in Epcot, but of course her meal was heavily protein based and minimized (to the extent she could) carbs and saturated fats. But otherwise, pretty much everything for her was packed.

What's funny is that I wind up losing weight every time we go for a long trip at WDW...even though my calorie intake goes up and my diet isn't as clean as at home. It's all the walking (i.e. cardio) that we do. My home routine has some cardio, but is largely weight lifting based...at WDW it's flipped...mostly cardio with very little weightlifting.

I can't imagine what the price of a 4 bedroom place on property would be. Staying on property I'm sure has a lot of perks, and I'm sure it's wonderful. We have wandered through a lot of the resorts on property just to see them and they are all fantastic, haven't seen one I didn't like. They just don't have the things we want for our family...at least not at a price we can afford.

 

[lindsmom]

What's the price of an equivalent 4BR room at WDW? The closest I can come up with is two 2BR suites at about $1,600 a night at OKW resort. I would easily take a 4BR Pres at $2,500 for 7-nights.

I can only find 3 bedrooms max (no 4 bedrooms). Grand Villas and Treehouses. Value season, for example, ran $3630 (treehouse) or $4530 (OKW Grand villa).

Holiday week, goes up to $7155 (treehouse) or $9225 for the Grand Villa. Up to $21585 for a Poly Bungalow or $21285 for a GF Grand Villa.

These rates are through David's DVC Rentals, for weeks in December.

 

[Beemitchcowski]

My goodness I wish I had that kind of budget. Our entire vacation is about the price of the OKW Grand Villa during Value season.

 

[Klayfish]

I can only find 3 bedrooms max (no 4 bedrooms). Grand Villas and Treehouses. Value season, for example, ran $3630 (treehouse) or $4530 (OKW Grand villa).

Holiday week, goes up to $7155 (treehouse) or $9225 for the Grand Villa. Up to $21585 for a Poly Bungalow or $21285 for a GF Grand Villa.

These rates are through David's DVC Rentals, for weeks in December.

And I thought I had a beef when I had to pay about $100/night for our 4 bedroom condo at Christmas. Sure puts things in perspective.

 

[BigredNole]

Disney is turning away from Walt's dream very quickly. It will no longer be a place for everyone. It will be a place for the upper middle class and above. They are going to find ways to restrict offsite guests even more. They will also tier the benefits of onsite guests eventually. It will start with the FP system. Monorail resorts get 6 FP per day and can book 90 days out. Other deluxe resorts get 5 and can book 75 days out. Moderates get 4 FP and book 60 days out. Value resorts get 3 and book 45 days out. AP holders not on property get 3 and book 30 days out. All other offsite guests do not have access to FP system.

Believe me this will happen within a few years.

 

[Klayfish]

Sorry, don't believe you on most of that. What kind of business model would that make? Remember, they want guests in their parks spending money, not trying to turn them away. WDW supports an entire city around it, for people who stay off site. Restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, grocery stores, shops, on and on...all there because WDW is there. I don't think WDW would do that in the first place, and the pressure they'd get from the surrounding community would be insane.

Do they want their guests staying onsite? Sure, of course they do, more money for them. Who wouldn't want that if they were running a business? But I simply don't believe that they're going to make a concerted effort to shun off site guests. Makes no sense.

As for making it for the upper middle class, I do agree that it's becoming more and more expensive as time goes on. I just looked it up. At least according to Google, a one day ticket in October 1971 cost $3.50, which in today's dollar is just under $21.00. By June 1982, it had jumped to $15, which is $37.50 in todays' dollar. From there, the prices continually skyrocketed. That goes hand in hand with the continual growth of WDW. Which is why I would also argue that they definitely won't shun off site guests, because I'm sure they realize how costly it is for a family to come to the parks.

 

[andyw715]

WDW offers a lot for the price ($105) of a one day ticket. Hard to compare 1971 or even 1982 prices to today's as there is a much larger offering today.

A good comparison would be to look at 1986 prices. Inflation adjusted 1986 price is $57.....so you could say the price of admission has just about doubled in 30 years, like most everything.

 

[Beemitchcowski]

It may be $105 for one day.....but our family of four can get 8 days for $1600--it breaks down that once you hit...what 5 days? It becomes cheaper and cheaper per day....That's why we go for 8 days....we stay offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and only spend $130 a night for a 2 bedroom.....you can spend that just going to your local hotel.....it costs the same pretty much to fly no matter the number of days...so when you think about it...Disney ticket prices aren't that bad....It's everything else...character dining...the extras.

I do find it sad that there is a "division" between offsite/onsite guests when it comes to perks...but I guess they have to do that for marketing purposes.

 

[Klayfish]

Yes, I agree completely. The longer you stay, the more value you get. When we lived in PA and had to fly down, we would always do a minimum of a 10 day trip, because like you said once you reach about 5 or 6 days, it's really cheap to add additional days. But the one day price is crazy. When we bought our AP last year, we were bound and determined to get our money out of it. We got exactly 50 park days out of the AP, so when you do the math that way, it was a great bargain. Just don't look at how much money we spent on condo rental, boarding our dog, etc...

Yeah, it sort of stinks not getting the same perks as on site guests, but honestly I totally understand why WDW does it, so it's a trade off we live with.

 

[greenclan67]

That would certainly go a long way toward making it a more appealing option.

I thought the same thing.

 

[trouttigger]

We have been to WDW many times and have never stayed off property, but with the costs always going up, we are considering it. Can anyone give their thoughts and opinions. We are looking at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. One concern is driving. We like just being able to walk to the bus stop, hop on, and not worry about directions or traffic etc. Also, and I know this will sound petty, but I like having fresh towels, clean room etc by Mousekeeping without having to do it myself. Does doing chores like this make it feel less of a vacation? Help!

I'm very similar to you. We've stayed on property with free dining, loved it, but this trip we currently are at WBC for 4 nights, only in parks for a day (rope drop til goodnight kiss).

What I like about WBC over Disney property:
1 - The room to spread out is fabulous. I can have a private conversation with DH in a separate BR. I was up early and made coffee without worrying that I would wake up others.
2 - The drive was less stressful than seeing a bus pull off for our park as we were walking to the bus stop. Once you are on the main road, follow the signs.
3 - I'm not one to save cash by cooking in the room, but we are supplementing our restaurant purchases with cheap options for quick b'fast & lunches in the room.
4 - The price. I got a 2BR 2 BA for $150/night during T'giving time. Better prices might be available at other times. If we consider a moderate with free dining next year, I will have to run the numbers to see if it's worth it.
5 - While eating in the parks, we aren't overeating with food that comes with free dining plan.
6 - I actually like parking in the parking garage. The car won't be as hot when we leave for other activities.

Cons: Nothing significant. Yes, $20/day to park and the hassle of driving. I miss not having Disney hints in the theming, but I decorated the living room with stuffed animals and figurines.

If we can get free dining next year, we might do a multi-day trip and stay on site. Not sure. We will evaluate and discuss. The forced purchase of park hopper or water park ticket is a huge disadvantage to me to get free dining. I don't like to park-hop.

 

[trouttigger]

We had a discussion at dinner tonight, and DS brought up a couple of other Cons for staying off property.
* Giving up EMH - We have made use of those when staying on property.
* Having the 60 day window for setting up fast passes. From what I can tell, correct me if I'm wrong, it may be impossible to get FP for 7DMT or Frozen. We skipped those two rides this trip. If we have a longer trip, we will make each of these a 1st priority upon entrance as best we can.