On Property vs. Renting a house

[jknewberry]

Hi all,

We are tentatively planning a trip to Disney, and debating the on/off property question, so I am looking for feedback from someone who has done both recently.

We've taken 3 trips with kids.
First one, we stayed off site and liked the budget but hated the commute. It was tough with a 1 and 3 year old, and my elderly uncle with us. We stayed at Embassy Suites and after seeing how much time was spent getting the parks we vowed to stay on property after that.
Second one, we stayed at Wilderness Lodge, renting two rooms for our family of 4 (kids were 2 and 4) and my inlaws came with us. We loved it! We got the dining plan as a free perk and loved that too.
Third one, the kids were 9, 7, and almost 3, and my inlaws joined us again. This time we rented DVC points and stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge, and we loved that- especially since we had laundry and a kitchen. We purchased the dining plan and this time it seemed like WAY too much food (we did the middle level one with table and counter service meals) so I don't think we'll buy the plan again.

For our next trip, the kids will be 12, 10, and 5/6, and it'll be just the 5 of us I think. We're entertaining the idea of getting a house through VRBO close to Disney rather than renting with someone's DVC points again and staying on site. It'll be less convenient to get to the parks, but easier to get everywhere else, and cheaper. We can do breakfast and some dinners at the house, lunch and some dinners on property. We'll look for a house with a pool so we can enjoy that rather than the resort pool, and it will be easier to do off site things like Kennedy Space Center.

Renting a house instead of getting some type of DVC reservation seems like it will cost about half as much (we'd want to go with at least a 1 bedroom so sleeping arrangements are easier), but I am worried we'll miss the experience of staying on site and we'll spend so much time driving back and forth that we'll regret it. But maybe it won't be as big of a deal with older kids, and without my inlaws?

Anyone have any advice?

 

[chalee94]

The biggest advantage of onsite is fast passes IMO. Then it's ease of transportation - with older kids, it's nice as there is an option to turn them loose to ride buses and have a little independence. Then it depends what value you put on theming and staying inside the bubble.

Offsite is cheaper and there are more options with space (rental houses and timeshare villas). Several options are reasonably close to the parks.

But the tradeoffs are all based on personal preference. You just have to weigh the costs and decide what you want most.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Do you have to stay at a Deluxe if you stay at Disney? Can you try a Moderate or Value?

Do you have to make this a budget trip or are you just not finding the value in staying at Disney? Do you have to cook most of your meals or are you just going to do it because you'll have a kitchen? For me, I refuse to cook. A little prep (instant oatmeal, PB&Js, cereal etc.) sure. But the last thing I want to do is cook AND clean dishes while I'm on vacation. I know SO MANY do it and that's wonderful. Not me. I'll budget the extra $200 for the trip (over what we'd normally spend on groceries) for the convenience and experience. We don't always eat 3 meals and we often share (although, my boys are getting older so they're starting to eat more). I buy discounted Disney Gift Cards for the entire trip so it makes it a little more affordable.

I enjoy not having to worry about getting a rental car, filling it with gas, tolls, parking fees. It all adds up. Yes, I'm at the liberty of someone else's schedule but generally we've had good, easy experiences.

We like to enjoy our resort for the amenities and feel it's a valid reason to stay at Disney. I think if we stayed off site we'd spend our money doing other things as we'd be bored. On the flip side, if you like having down time then staying off site is a logical choice.

 

[Ellie008]

The last time we went we rented a house with a private pool. My kids LOVED having the pool to themselves. I loved having a living room so that when the kids are asleep I am not stuck in a bedroom in the dark. I don't think we would ever stay on site again. The house we stayed in was a 10 minute drive from the parks. I thought it was actually more convenient than waiting for buses.

 

[Anchored]

We prefer to stay offsite as a family of 6. I want to feel like I am on vacation and the resorts we can afford do not give me that feeling. We have a favorite airbnb house we stick with if we don't stay at one of the family suite hotels (Embassy Suites, etc)
We never use the buses except to go to MK

 

[mom2rose&john]

I have done both and each one has it's pros and cons. If I am going for 4-5 nights (we usually take a 6am flight to MCO and leave MCO after 6pm) I stay onsite for the convenience because it is a short trip. For vacays longer than 5 night I prefer offsite in condos or houses with a full kitchen and laundry. I don't use the kitchen to make meals but having the ability to eat breakfast and storage for snacks is essential. Plus more space allows us to get along better.

 

[lorenae]

If I had three kids, I'd probably stay off-site so everyone had space, including the parents! In a motel room, it's "lights out" at 10 PM and I would sit there with my book light and drink a glass of wine. Not bad for three nights or so, but not fun for a whole week for anyone. A 2 br villa at WDW is way out of my price point, but a 2 BR house/condo/whatever is not.

If you have a car, you can go by your own schedule, and it'll be faster than onsite buses anyway.

 

[jknewberry]

Thanks everybody, I feel a bit better about staying off site now.

Yes, we'd like the extra space, and we are driving down to Orlando so we'll have our own vehicle regardless. I hadn't thought about fast passes, but as far as the bigger kids going off on their own I am not sure they'd be ready for that anyhow, if anything we'd just split up with one adult going with my younger kid and the other staying with the bigger kids.

We have been using VRBO or services like it for other trips, and really like the extra space. When we stay in a hotel, we splurge and get two adjoining rooms- we don't travel often so it makes it extra nice to have 2 bathrooms and separate bed times! I don't COOK on vacation, but I will pick up premade dinners to make like Stouffers or whatever. That way the dishes aren't too bad to do either, and we usually just run the dishwasher once a day.

As far as Delux vs. Moderate or value, the biggest issue is that we like to have a larger bed for the adults Neither of us sleeps well in a double bed together, but if we were to get two adjoining rooms we'd probably be comfortable. The biggest reason we've gone with Delux in the past was that we LOVE Wilderness Lodge, between the atmosphere and location it's perfect for us. It'll be different staying off site, but I think that will make is so we can take the next trip sooner

 

[CoP Luv]

We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort close to Disney Springs earlier this year. For our family, we need the extra space, since it's not really fun for all of us to be in one hotel room (though we would fit). I did miss having the "Disney" charm from the on-site hotels. With the exception of Magic Kingdom, from our door at the hotel to the park gates, it was less than 25 minutes (AK) but closer to 15. It only took us 8 minutes from closing our hotel door to our parking spot in DHS. Even when we stayed onsite at Wilderness Lodge, it took 8 minutes just to walk from our room to the bus or boat (and I LOVE the WL).

I would love to stay at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek next time (it was double the Sheraton for some reason before) the next time we go since that will be more in the Disney Bubble. I didn't like seeing Walgreens or tacky souvenir shops on our drive back to the hotel (but did go to Walgreens for water, snacks, etc.).

Some of the non-Deluxe Disney hotels are switching over to queen beds, just not sure which ones they were.

Pros of Off-site for our family: extra bedrooms, extra bathrooms, full kitchen (or really a full fridge and microwave...that's all we used), not having to rely on Disney busses, can be less expensive than a moderate hotel/can use points to book

Cons: Being out of the Disney Bubble, a long trip to the Magic Kingdom unless you can Uber to Contemporary

 

[PHXscuba]

Based on what you are saying I'd also look into a family suite at Art of Animation or All-Star Music. Two rooms put together, queen bed for you, small kitchenette for breakfast/snacks. It may be more expensive than offsite but not as much as a deluxe or DVC. Art of Animation has a fun pool too.

PHXscuba

 

[Cordy2424]

We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort close to Disney Springs earlier this year. For our family, we need the extra space, since it's not really fun for all of us to be in one hotel room (though we would fit). I did miss having the "Disney" charm from the on-site hotels. With the exception of Magic Kingdom, from our door at the hotel to the park gates, it was less than 25 minutes (AK) but closer to 15. It only took us 8 minutes from closing our hotel door to our parking spot in DHS. Even when we stayed onsite at Wilderness Lodge, it took 8 minutes just to walk from our room to the bus or boat (and I LOVE the WL).

I would love to stay at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek next time (it was double the Sheraton for some reason before) the next time we go since that will be more in the Disney Bubble. I didn't like seeing Walgreens or tacky souvenir shops on our drive back to the hotel (but did go to Walgreens for water, snacks, etc.).

Some of the non-Deluxe Disney hotels are switching over to queen beds, just not sure which ones they were.

Pros of Off-site for our family: extra bedrooms, extra bathrooms, full kitchen (or really a full fridge and microwave...that's all we used), not having to rely on Disney busses, can be less expensive than a moderate hotel/can use points to book

Cons: Being out of the Disney Bubble, a long trip to the Magic Kingdom unless you can Uber to Contemporary

Totally not derailing this thread, but I stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for two nights during our honeymoon before we moved to Port Orleans French Quarter. That resort is AMAZING!!!!! If you get the chance to go, EVER.............DO IT.

 

[stsomewhere]

We just stayed at Wyndam Bonnet Creek. We loved it! We had a two bedroom condo. It had 1 bedroom with a King bed, and another with 2 full beds. There is a sofa sleeper in the living room. It was a few minute drive from the park.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Based on what you say, I think a timeshare community might be your best bet. You'll get the condo/house feel, but also have resort amenities like pools, waterslides, mini-golf, etc. The two that have been mentioned - Sheraton Vistana Resort and Wyndham Bonnet Creek - get a lot of love on these boards. WBC is closer (basically onsite - seriously, many onsite resorts are further from the parks) and has fantastic amenities (two water slides, two lazy rivers, pools, etc.). SVR isn't much further away (over near Disney Springs) and has good pools (though not as many fancy water features) plus tennis and basketball courts. The Vistana also tends to be cheaper. I would absolutely stay at either resort.

I know you say that for your offsite stay, transportation seemed to take much longer. However, I wonder if some of that was the ages of your party. When you're strapping an infant and a toddler into carseats, wrangling diaper bags and strollers, and walking no faster than an elderly uncle, yeah, transport is going to be a drag. Even if you'd stayed onsite, you'd likely have found getting from point A to point B to be tiring.

With kids old enough to walk on their own, hop a parking lot tram, not need all the "stuff" that goes with babies, you will likely find staying offsite at a close resort to take no longer, and often times less time, than staying onsite using Disney transportation. Last year, we stayed at the Swan - pretty central, right? Walk to DHS and Epcot - woo hoo! But we waited and waited on buses for MK and AK. One night after shutting down AK, we waited at least half an hour for a bus, which was also combined with Boardwalk and Beach Club. If we'd had a car, we could have been in our beds at WBC or SVR before the Disney bus even showed up.

 

[Klayfish]

This will be completely dependent on your priorities and values. No real "right or wrong" way. We're dedicated off site people. We love having a 4 bedroom house for less than 1/2 the cost of a small cramped on site room. We love all the conveniences of having a house offers. We love the gated community feel. We love having our own car, in fact having to use a WDW bus would be a deal breaker for us. Having a car lets us come and go whenever we please, wherever we please. To us, the "WDW bubble" is purely fictional and overdramatized hyperbole. Our "bubble" is what we make of it, and it includes so much more than just WDW property, yet we still feel plenty of Disney magic.

But that's just our way and what's right for us. If offsite is right for you, great. If you really want to be onsite, then do it. You'll be happy with whatever it is YOU want to do.

 

[kymom99]

If things go well next month when we take a day trip over from Madeira beach, I’m going to seriously consider off site when we finally get back there for a longer visit. If it were just the 3 of us a hotel room is ok. But if my step daughter cans her son goes we will be paying for 2 rooms. Plus my husband has newly diagnosed good allergies so travel can be challenge. A kitchen would help us tremendously just to be able to store safe food items or heat up something quickly for him. I have gone back and forth with this many times. I hope you are happy with your decision. Please let us know what you decide.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Thanks everybody, I feel a bit better about staying off site now.

Yes, we'd like the extra space, and we are driving down to Orlando so we'll have our own vehicle regardless. I hadn't thought about fast passes, but as far as the bigger kids going off on their own I am not sure they'd be ready for that anyhow, if anything we'd just split up with one adult going with my younger kid and the other staying with the bigger kids.

We have been using VRBO or services like it for other trips, and really like the extra space. When we stay in a hotel, we splurge and get two adjoining rooms- we don't travel often so it makes it extra nice to have 2 bathrooms and separate bed times! I don't COOK on vacation, but I will pick up premade dinners to make like Stouffers or whatever. That way the dishes aren't too bad to do either, and we usually just run the dishwasher once a day.

As far as Delux vs. Moderate or value, the biggest issue is that we like to have a larger bed for the adults Neither of us sleeps well in a double bed together, but if we were to get two adjoining rooms we'd probably be comfortable. The biggest reason we've gone with Delux in the past was that we LOVE Wilderness Lodge, between the atmosphere and location it's perfect for us. It'll be different staying off site, but I think that will make is so we can take the next trip sooner

I have 2 sets of twins and we have been going since my kids were 4, 4, 9 and 9! We never stayed off site until 2015. When they got so big and we really needed bathrooms! Plus, staying offsite gave us the ability to allow them to bring a friend.

We have stayed several times at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. LOVE those. The room would hold all your kids (bunks and a full bed) and then you would have a full kitchen and a very comfortable murphy bed for you and your husband!
You can rent a golf cart from Disney (if it is in the budget) we had a blast just touring campsites in the golf cart.

All the other times, we stayed in our RV at the fort. I only did the cabins when it was free dining because it was a heck of a deal for us.

Now that everyone is big we rent this one. It is super close to WDW. No highways to get on. www.stayhappilyeverafter.com

My parents pull their RV to the Fort when we go so it allows us to be linked as friends and family and we still are able to do the 60 day fastpasses. Remember parking at the parks is $25/day now.

 

[badiggio]

If money is an issue stay off site.If not ,on site deluxe, is the way to go,imo. it's so much more convenient getting to and from parks.We've done both and have stayed at Wilderness too,among others as well.It's our favourite and getting to and from Magic is so fast and easy with the boat,especially after the mad rush after the fireworks.Even if you have a car ,you still have a ways to go before your at the gates and same leaving.Your renting a vehicle ,or your own,paying for gas and parking on top of it and dealing with traffic.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

With little ones its really nice to be close so you can head back for naps and such.
We stay at Sheraton vistana, i really like the full kitchen and two bedroom at a good price.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I am not a die hard must stay on Disney property person so I appreciate staying off site and spending the money saved on extra perks in the parks. The two major downsides to offsite are 30 days vs 60 days advance fast passes and extra magic hours. The disboards make it seem like everyone is in "the know" and is booking fast passes right at the 60 day mark and nothing is left. The reality is there are plenty of folks who don't even know about advance fast passes and somebody is certainly staying in all those offsite hotels and vacation properties.

If you are a good planner, you will still have a fabulous time. I would be prepared to be at rope drop with a plan of action. You are driving your own car which means you can bring stuff from home. I would think about some make ahead items that you can freeze and reheat or like you said, buy pre-made items that are just heat and eat. Other options are look around your VRBO for restaurants that you can call in an order when you leave and then pick up on your way home. If you will have park hoppers you can also leave a cooler in your car with some snacks, sandwiches and cold water bottles to take into the park or eat while transiting parks. Nobody likes to do dishes, so throw in a pack of paper plates, napkins, etc to make food clean up a breeze.

I agree that the dining plan is too much food. Your two oldest kids are now Disney adults so that will up the price significantly on the dining plan. i would still plan some in park table service restaurants but maybe think about lunch or the latest breakfast seating and consider it brunch. One big meal at lunch/brunch would be plenty for us when supplemented with easy breakfast at the VRBO then a later snack/lighter dinner.

Having multiple bathrooms and a place for everyone to spread out makes getting ready so much easier and getting everyone ready for bed too!

 

[alm1211]

we stayed on-site until we purchased a small cottage at Margaritaville Orlando Resort. I was so doubtful about not being on property, but it has turned out to the best idea! We are only 10 mins from Animal Kingdom, we don't feel as rushed, we save money on lodging and especially food. For the price of a moderate resort, we have so much more space, our own pool, access to the resort and tons of restaurants to chose from. Definitely a good decision.