off site or on site!

[maxiesmom]

I'm a big fan of off-site as I like to save money on our trips - and prefer to have some kind of kitchen facilities so we can fix cereal and toast for breakfast instead of wasting valuable park time in a restaurant (or getting up at the crack of dawn to hit the restaurant and still make park opening).

That said we just bought into DVC - so I get the best of both worlds - the kitchen and the Disney magic!

I'm interested in this thread as it's a topic I happen to be discussing the pros and cons of staying on property over at my website right now :0)

You can get a kitchen on site too. We stayed at the Beach Club Villas a couple of years ago, and had quite a few meals in our room. It is very nice to be able to make a sandwich, or to throw some pasta in a pot. But we like to be able to do that while being on Disney property at the same time.

Like I said before, I have done multiple trips both on and offsite. There is nothing wrong with being offsite, and I would do it again in a hearbeat if that was the only choice. But for me paying the extra $$$ to be totally immersed in everything Disney is well worth it. Plus, by the time you factor renting a mini-van in to the budget, well, you don't save that much money over being on-site.

 

[MiaSRN62]

post removed

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

A fridge is not all what it is about for us. I have looked at the size of the rooms and we really do enjoy having the extra room for our budget. It is just what works for our family. It is a personal choice for everyone. I think the OP needs to price it all out and make the decision that fits their family best.

 

[emmsmama]

You know what it is right for your budget. Just thought I'd mention about the frig since some offsiters may not be aware they are in the rooms.

Unless you do a fridge swap with a DIS'er or in some other way, you don't get a fridge in any of the value resorts.

Imo, if you are comparing a Moderate, Deluxe, or DVC on-site stay to an off-site condo stay then on-site will likely win. Right now I am not sure if I will stay on-site or off or split it up, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that if I was one of the lucky ones that got the 40% off code for a moderate or deluxe I would be staying onsite for at least a week. However when comparing a value to a condo or townhouse the condo/townhouse is likely to win out.

One other perk I don't think has been mentioned about onsite is that you can make your ADR's for the length of your stay 180 days out. My understanding is that those staying offsite can book 180 days in advance but only exactly 180 days. So staying offsite you can book only one day's adr's at a time, but staying onsite for one week you can make 7 days' worth of adr's. Someone can correct me if I am wrong though

 

[Lucky'sMom]

The more I read on this thread, the more it upsets me. Why are we turning against ourselves?! We all have friends or family members that go the beach every year, or the lake, etc. Most of us prefer Disney vacations year after year. We understand that other people prefer other vacations each year, why can't we all understand that "Disney people" prefer on-site or off-site year after year? There is absolutely no right or wrong on where you choose to stay. Some find the "magic" in the theming on-site, some find "magic" in the space for the money "off-site", we see the benefits in both, and have done both many times. Can't we just all get-along???

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Unless you do a fridge swap with a DIS'er or in some other way, you don't get a fridge in any of the value resorts.

I think Anybody can get a frig at a value resort. When we stayed at ASMo in '96 it was $10.00 per night. We didn't get one when we were there in September, but I hadn't seen anybody post about them not being available anymore.

 

[Reflection]

You can get a kitchen on site too. We stayed at the Beach Club Villas a couple of years ago, and had quite a few meals in our room. It is very nice to be able to make a sandwich, or to throw some pasta in a pot. But we like to be able to do that while being on Disney property at the same time.

Like I said before, I have done multiple trips both on and offsite. There is nothing wrong with being offsite, and I would do it again in a hearbeat if that was the only choice. But for me paying the extra $$$ to be totally immersed in everything Disney is well worth it. Plus, by the time you factor renting a mini-van in to the budget, well, you don't save that much money over being on-site.

Whenver the ye olde onsite vs offsite discussion comes up I think it important to note the tangible and intangible benefits for staying onsite.

The intangible benefit/value--and it is this intangible, "Disney Magic," that the fervent (i.e., those it-is-onsite only-for-us-or-we-don't-go-folks) and perhaps not so fervent 'onsiters' are willing to pay major bucks.

For many people (and I'm one of them), Disney Magic, is not something they feel need to pay for in order to have a fantastic vacation. I think tension in this discussion arises when with assertions that a vacation in Orlando when time will be spent at Disney will not be any good or fun unless there is Disney Magic. Speaking for myself, and I've stayed onsite and offsite (prefer offsite), I've never understood what Disney Magic meant and I always have a 'magical' vacation regardless of the location of my accomodation.

The tangible benefits: closer proximity to theme parks (provided you are staying at the Beach Club, Yacht Club or Boardwalk (or associated DVC property) because you could walk in a short amount of time to EPCOT; it is much longer walk to MGM. I've not stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge but I don't believe you can walk from that hotel to the Animal Kingdom. The only Magic Kingdom resort from which you could walk is the Contemporary); Early Magic Hours; and the transportation. Depending on how often you have visited WDW theme parks, EMH may not be something you want to do. I know, even when staying onsite, I prefer to visit the non-EMH park(s) to avoid the crowds. And lastly, use of WDW transporation is not limited to those who stay onsite. Guests with valid theme park admission may use the monorail, buses, boats and other transportation. I don't like waiting for buses when on vacation, and always rent car whether I stay onsite or not. But this is my personal preference.

I think people get the best bang for their buck when staying offsite when it is a choice between WDW moderate, deluxe and DVC accomodation or comparable offsite units. At this level of accomodation, particularly deluxe and timeshare condo/villa, offsite locales simply offer better value. And by the time you factor in car rental, you won't be paying as much as if you stayed onsite.

 

[wahoostampingirl]

The more I read on this thread, the more it upsets me. Why are we turning against ourselves?! We all have friends or family members that go the beach every year, or the lake, etc. Most of us prefer Disney vacations year after year. We understand that other people prefer other vacations each year, why can't we all understand that "Disney people" prefer on-site or off-site year after year? There is absolutely no right or wrong on where you choose to stay. Some find the "magic" in the theming on-site, some find "magic" in the space for the money "off-site", we see the benefits in both, and have done both many times. Can't we just all get-along???

Well said. We've stayed on-site and off-site (sometimes in the same trip) and there are pros and cons to each. I will mention one advantage of staying off-site that I haven't seen mentioned yet. On our most recent trip, both of our kids caught the dreaded stomach bug and I got an eye infection. We were in a condo in Windsor Hills and there was a very good Urgent Care right down the road. I'm not sure of the medical facilities on-site, so I can't compare them, but this one was so convenient for us. My dd6 had to stay home from the parks one day and it was nice to be able to have her sleep in a bedroom while I could watch TV on a comfy couch in the living room, make myself lunch, do some laundry, talk on the phone without bothering her, etc... I know (and hope) this probably won't happen on our vacation again, but for this trip it was so much more comfortable having the extra room since we had to be at "home" a little more than we bargained for.

With that said, we also stayed at POR for the first night of the same trip and loved it. I definitely would like to go back there sometime as well. For our family, it seems to work out that we like staying on-site for shorter trips and off-site for longer trips.

 

[Reflection]

The more I read on this thread, the more it upsets me. Why are we turning against ourselves?! We all have friends or family members that go the beach every year, or the lake, etc. Most of us prefer Disney vacations year after year. We understand that other people prefer other vacations each year, why can't we all understand that "Disney people" prefer on-site or off-site year after year? There is absolutely no right or wrong on where you choose to stay. Some find the "magic" in the theming on-site, some find "magic" in the space for the money "off-site", we see the benefits in both, and have done both many times. Can't we just all get-along???

I think most of the people posting on this thread do understand it is a matter of preference and I don't see people turning against one another. Ii do see people stating their preference when they have experienced both onsite and offsie stays. I think this is a balanced discussion--and many have pointed out the benefits of staying onsite. The thing is those onsite benefits may not be of interest or value to someone for a variety of reasons.

Whenever i've seen a 'should my family stay onsite or offsite question' on the Resorts Board, the overwhelming response is onsite only because you will have a terrible time not being immersed in the 'magic,' no other hotel or facility is capable of good service, and you will be exposing yourself and family to unsafe conditions and heaven knows what type of salacious and unsavory people and surroundings so why even bother to go. Typically, there is no acknowledgment that there may be benefits to not staying in WDW accomodations.

 

[Miss Stitch]

Do you know what I find magical? Not cooking or cleaning or doing the laundry for 9 days while I'm at Disney. I despise doing those chores when I'm at home, why on earth would I shell out a few thousand dollars to go to Orlando and cook, clean and do the laundry? We went to Disney last September for about $2800.00 stayed on-site at Pop for 8 nights, had park hoppers for 8 nights, had free transporation (bus and ME), and had the dining plan for 8 nights. And the very best part - a maid cleaned my room everyday, lovely restaurant staff cooked and brought meals to me everyday and I didn't do one load of laundry. Now that's magical!

We stay in a suites hotel, so dont't cook or clean, we eat out and our maid cleans our room, but I do like the facilties to be there if we decide we don't want to go out. I bring enough clothes for our trip, so we don't really need to do laundry, but I find my kids spill everything down themselves and if I wait till I get these clothes home, I cant get rid of the stain.

If people want to absorb themselves in Disney thats great and not leave property thats great, but if everyone does this, there wouldnt be a hotel room left for you!

We pay $9,000 for our trip including 14 nights in a hotel, flights tickets etc. that doesnt include spending money, our hotel and flight alone cost $7,000.

Everybody enjoys different things, have different ways to travel, like different places to stay, and have a different budget. That is what makes the world a great place. It would be very boring if everything did the same thing. I have considered staying on-site but decided it wasn't for me. It didnt take any of the magic away from my vacation.

I'm not from the US and coming to Orlando is more that just going to Disney for me, the magic for me is taking two weeks from my ordinary life, no work, no cleaning, no cooking if I dont want to, no deadlines and spending quality time with my family in a country that I love.

 

[emmsmama]

I think Anybody can get a frig at a value resort. When we stayed at ASMo in '96 it was $10.00 per night. We didn't get one when we were there in September, but I hadn't seen anybody post about them not being available anymore.

Thanks, I forgot about that option. Either way, it's not included in the values, but an extra you have to pay for. $10 isn't very steep, but that brings the cost of a value up to $92/night when you can get an offsite condo or even a nice townhouse with private spashpool in value seasons for that price.

I still haven't decided whether I will stay offsite the whole time or just part of the time, as there are just so many options and variable to consider

 

[Reflection]

We stayed off site and as you can see, once was enough. Does is cost more to stay at Disney? Not really by the time you add everything else in. You only save if you do as planned. You may want to look at the rent/trade boards from DVC members as you may be able to get a good deal on a 2BR villa on site. What is cost us in gas, parking, food (yeah right...we were going to leave and come back or head out to the car for lunch) the headache of who was awake enough at night to drive back or who's turn it was to have an adult beverage because the other person had to drive, if we wanted to take a break midday, really couldn't. If the only driving force behind the decision is cost, yes, usually it does cost a little less if you stay offsite, but you also don't get all of the benefits of being onsite as a trade off. And remember...off site is only cost effective if you DO eat offsite, pack snacks, food, water (although we always bring our own water). We recently bought into DVC for these reasons. We can't fathom staying offsite, but that's us and that is what works for us. There are many pros to staying onsite which is why this works for us!

An offsite 2-bedroom villa/condo of comparable (possibly even better) quality to onsite DVC is absolutely less expensive than renting DVC points. The suggestion (my bolding above) for the only way to save is just not true. There is nothing wrong with DVC--I particularly like the Boardwalk Villas --but onsite villa rentals are expensive. DVC point rental is less expensive than obtaining a regular reservation through Disney reservations but it is not less expensive than comparable offsite. Depending on the location of the offsite accomodation, travel by car is likely to be faster than Disney bus travel to its various resorts.

Regarding needing to bring snacks into the parks--well that suggestion appears to apply to those staying onsite as well--note the numerous questions on the resorts board/budget boards on what snacks to bring, how to fit in a grocery stop from the airport to Disney, room refrigerator sharing, etc. Whether staying on or offsite, I don't buy snacks to bring into the park, because part of my vacation experience is to purchase a Dole Whip if that is what I want.


If personal preference is for onsite only, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having that bias, but passing on unfactual information about costs and travel time (car vs Disney bus) is just not helpful.

 

[Reflection]

Unless you do a fridge swap with a DIS'er or in some other way, you don't get a fridge in any of the value resorts.

Imo, if you are comparing a Moderate, Deluxe, or DVC on-site stay to an off-site condo stay then on-site will likely win. Right now I am not sure if I will stay on-site or off or split it up, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that if I was one of the lucky ones that got the 40% off code for a moderate or deluxe I would be staying onsite for at least a week. However when comparing a value to a condo or townhouse the condo/townhouse is likely to win out.

One other perk I don't think has been mentioned about onsite is that you can make your ADR's for the length of your stay 180 days out. My understanding is that those staying offsite can book 180 days in advance but only exactly 180 days. So staying offsite you can book only one day's adr's at a time, but staying onsite for one week you can make 7 days' worth of adr's. Someone can correct me if I am wrong though

Regarding what I bolded in the above post--I think the opposite is true that better monetary value is obtained from offsite when compared to Disney's deluxe and condo accomodations, and I'm interested in how you reached this conclusion. A 1-bdrm villa (regular season) at the Boardwalk DVC is $495; less a 40% discount, the nightly rate pre-tax is $297. With tax the nightly rate is $333.64. So a week's stay is $2335.48. Comparable offsite villa for a 1 week rental is significantly less than that.


Re the ADRs--I'm not sure if what is written above is correct. The only reservation I make sure to make well in advance is Hoop de Doo Revue and there are no restrictions since your credit card is charge immediately for the reservation. Our party size is just two--my daughter and myself--and we really don't have problems finding seating at table service restaurants because we can be flexible. My must-do WDW dining includes Brown Derby and Citricos, and I've not had problems getting a table when we travel. This is my experience; YMMV.

 

[kty]

We were in Orlando this past November, and it was our first time in a townhome. Actually, it was the first time we ever stayed anywhere other than a hotel room. We travel pretty extensively with the kids 12, 8, 6 and because we are a family of 5, we now need to get two hotel rooms to be "comfortable". The two hotel rooms with connecting doors work fine. When vacationing, we typically stay in the nicer hotels - westin, hyatt, marriott, etc. I do not like to cook, clean, or do laundry on vacation - or so i thought. After staying in a townhome, with all of the extra room and ammenities, I would not go back to a hotel room - in Orlando anyway - knowing what I know now. I enjoyed having the kitchen, for breakfast in pajamas and healthy snacks at night. what we did quite often was get take out from places like red lobster, outback, chinese, etc. Also, I actually enjoyed throwing a load of laundry in (although we overpacked) and heading to the parks, having everything clean. (I hate doing laundry at home). however, the most interesting thing was that when asked, the kids loved their own space, the hubby loved the space and they would choose to stay off site again in a hearbeat. To me, the most important selling point to staying off site was the fact that we did not hear hotel doors slamming, people talking loudly, etc. We actually slept all night!!!

 

[dioxide45]

For the OP. If it is your first trip to WDW and you can swing the extra money in the budget, I would suggest going with onsite. I have done both and my first stay was onsite. There is definitly a different atmosphere with staying onsite and it is something that you won't get offsite.
Now that we are more veterans we mush prefer to stay offsite, more for the extra room and other things that would be a hassle onsite (better restaurant and shopping selection).
If you have been to Disney before go ahead and stay offiste, if you absolutly hate it, you can at least say you tried it and you don't have to do it again. As you indicated you will save money. Car rentals are cheap in Orlando, probably the cheapest of anywhere in the continental USA, so the added cost for a car will not make staying onsite cheaper in your situation. Book that car early and keep checking and rebooking if it becomes cheaper. We rebooked a car through Alamo four times and got the price down from $95 to $75 for a one week rental that we just dropped off today.

 

[emmsmama]

Regarding what I bolded in the above post--I think the opposite is true that better monetary value is obtained from offsite when compared to Disney's deluxe and condo accomodations, and I'm interested in how you reached this conclusion. A 1-bdrm villa (regular season) at the Boardwalk DVC is $495; less a 40% discount, the nightly rate pre-tax is $297. With tax the nightly rate is $333.64. So a week's stay is $2335.48. Comparable offsite villa for a 1 week rental is significantly less than that.

I completely agree with you for monetary value that off-site wins easily when compared to moderate or deluxe onsite. I should have been more specific that what I meant was that the accomodations would be better in a moderate or deluxe so if someone is comparing mod or deluxe onsite to a condo off-site it might make them more likely to stay onsite *if the cost isn't a factor*. You still wouldn't get as much space as off-site, but the resort would have a few more features that might skew the results. However, if money is a factor or you are comparing a value resort to off-site then imo off-site is more likely to win. Honestly though for me, I would rather spend $150 on a sweet house with a private pool, games room, etc. or $100 for a nice townhouse with splash pool or hot tub than spend that money on a mod, and no offence to those who stay deluxe, but my frugal heart would go into arrest spending $200+ on a room for one night lol.

I'm leaning toward 4 days on-site at a value since this will be our first WDW trip and I want to experience the full "magic" people talk about, and then the other 10 days I'll probably spend offsite. I still might just do 14 days off-site, but think I might regret not experiencing both ways to form an opinion.

 

[Brian Noble]

Well, heck---if cost isn't a factor, I'll take a Grand Villa at BWV, please.

Of course, unless one is post-economic, cost is probably a factor. Even someone who can afford to stay in a Deluxe might reasonably conclude that the additional money required to do so does not provide sufficient value. On the other hand, a person might instead reasonably conclude that it does.

 

[nicolem05]

just my 2 cents~~ We just returned 3 days ago and if you go to WDL by all means try to stay on site.. but in WDW why would you bother?? I was so worried that we would regret staying "off-site" (we stayed at Bonnet creek in the gates) but honestly I was SOOOO happy we stayed where we did!! Our resort was amazing!! We had great shuttle although we rented a car so drove almost everyday just for our own comfort. We were literally a fence between us and Caribbean beach and after meeting some folks from there and seeing their place definitely liked ours better.. they did too and said they would book at our resort next time (Bonnet creek). If you are will to pay the extra money and compromise accommodations for the extra hour in the park then by all means stay on site. But WDW is sooo big I couldn't tell the difference!! Most on-site resorts required transportation to and from parks unlike WDL where you could walk in and out at your leisure. In my opinion its a big waste of money! I agree with pp's that you can spend that dough in the parks or on special experiences!

**BTW after reading more above posts I will add we could afford a deluxe 2 room DVC rental and we were on the fence about it until shortly before the trip.. but in the end the sq.footage won and the great amenities bonnet creek offered including great pools and fun activities as well as a price tag 1/3 the price.. even when you can afford the extra money it doesn't mean you don't still see better places for your money to go
**As for the ADR's for my experience the above post is totally wrong. I did make reservations less than 180 in advance because we only planned the trip 2 months before we left but I made all my reservations at once almost 2 weeks worth and changed a few a couple days down the road including adding a fantasmic package and was never told that staying off site meant that I could only make one day at a time.. wouldn't that be a lot more work for them??

 

[emmsmama]

**As for the ADR's for my experience the above post is totally wrong. I did make reservations less than 180 in advance because we only planned the trip 2 months before we left but I made all my reservations at once almost 2 weeks worth and changed a few a couple days down the road including adding a fantasmic package and was never told that staying off site meant that I could only make one day at a time.. wouldn't that be a lot more work for them??

If you are 180 days or more out from your vaca you can only make reservations for one day at a time (the day that is exactly 180 days away from the day you are making the call). If you call when it is less than 180 days from your vaca then for sure you can make a couple week's worth of dining reservations. If you stay on-site though technically you can make reservations *more* than 180 days prior to your stay dates as long as it is is within 180 days of your *first* day of stay on-site when you call.

Honestly I don't understand why people are getting bent out of shape over this choice. Everybody likes different things and has different circumstances. I'm still undecided whether to stay onsite or off and I value what everybody has to say about their experiences and preferences. I take what people say and see how it applies to my situation. If someone says they love on-site because you don't need to rent a car I don't really factor that into *my* situation because I know I will drive there and have my own car or rent a car regardless. If someone says they love offsite because they can sip margaritas by their poolside and bbq supper I don't factor that in because we don't drink or bbq lol. But when someone says they like onsite for the EMH or offsite for the extra space then those are both things that are important to my family and I factor those things into my decision-making process.

 

[IDoDis]

Yes, everyone weighs things differently. There is no right answer to this question, but it's useful to read the posts because someone may bring up something you didn't think about.

For us, the issue on our last trip was space at Pop Century. We loved staying there, but after a week, we were bickering too much with each other because we never had any "alone" time. We never took advantage of the EMH because we went during the summer when the parks were open until 11:00pm most nights w/out the EMH hours which is plenty late enough for us. We also made it a point to avoid the EMH parks. Some friends of ours always did EMH parks, but followed our advice not to go to the EMH parks (go to that park the day after EMH instead) and they were amazed at the reduced waiting time in lines and said they got to do a lot more in a shorter amount of time. If we stayed up until 2:00am for EMH, we'd sleep half the day the next day and miss out on the shorter morning lines.

So for us, EMH was not a factor when deciding where to stay on our next trip, but the amount of room space was a factor. This summer, we opted for an off-site suite where we can spread out for less $$. We may even change our reservations to a condo instead.