Pros/Cons staying offsite?

[cmshelton1979]

What are your pros/cons for staying offsite?

[2Epcot]

Pro: Usually can save some money.

Con: Too far from the Magic.

[buzz2001]

[cer]

Con: Having to find your own way. To me trying to find my way around an unfamiliar area is stressful. When you stay onsite, this is not an issue.

[vicster]

I have to stay onsite for the complete Disney feeling!!!

[caryrae]

con: you can't do the Extra Magic Hours.

Pro: can be much cheaper especially with bigger group. We had 11 people one trip and ended up renting a vacation home for only $700 for the week and when divided up between everyone it was very cheap. Not sure what it would have cost if we stayed at a Disney Resort. Plus the vacation home had everything including it's own screened in pool.

[vicster]

Con: You can only book ADRs one day at a time.

[MOJoe]

I agree with caryrae, that if you have a big group, a vacation home is a much less expensive option than what Disney offers. And if Disney is only one of several theme parks you hope to visit, then staying offsite would not be a hinderance. And of course, food can be found for less outside the main gate.

But if you are focused on WDW, for most families, the Disney Value resorts are low priced enough to outweigh the savings you can get from being in a cheap motel. The benefits of EMH, and all the transportation provided is a real plus. And the "peace of mind" i get while onsite is invaluable.

[Belster]

To me there are no pros to staying offsite. If I had to stay offsite...we would wait until we could afford an onsite stay. It is truly a personal choice.

[KennyandKim]

We have done both. I would NEVER stay offsite again. Our first trip was offsite. Yes it was cheaper but because we didn't have a rental car we had to leave the parks when the hotel bus made their last pickp.

The whole experience is different staying onsite. We felt so much more like it was a Disney vacation staying onsite. We could stay submerged in disney magic throughout our whole vacation

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

When $$ were tight we stayed off-site many times, it was better than not going at all for us.

But, for the last 15 yrs or so we have been able to stay on-site and to me it literally makes a "world" of difference.

Pro: Obviously you can get a room and meals cheaper off-site. For many this is an overriding concern. If you are going to other attractions you can choose to be centrally located.


Con: The end of the day ordeal to get back to the hotel. After a long day in the MK who wants to have to take the boat or monorail to the tram, then go to your car and have to deal with driving to your hotel?
I'm on vacation, I want hassles and aggravation to be minimal.

Con: No EMH. We aren't early risers on vacation, but the evening EMHs are a nice perk.

Con: Staying off-site makes it a lot less convenient to dash back to your room to escape the middle of the day heat in the summer months. With young children or seniors this can be huge.

Con: Paying for parking every day, unless you have APs.

[MarkC]

Agree the only "pro" is saving money. You can't beat the feeling of staying on property. I don't even know if us veterans can explain it, and I understand for some families its a big savings to stay off-site. If it means you can't go otherwise its worth it, but I would vote for staying on-site every time. And I even have 200k+ Marriott points and could stay for free, and I'd rather pay the money and stay on-site.

[DisneyMom12]

To me there are no pros to staying offsite. If I had to stay offsite...we would wait until we could afford an onsite stay. It is truly a personal choice.

I totally agree.

[Momto3littlemice]

Good question!

I could write a book on this subject but here are a few thoughts. We have done both (our offsite rental is a 5 bedroom house in Windsor Hills that is truly beautiful and so well kept) and I truly think the answer depends on a few things:

1. Financial status - staying offsite is generally much cheaper
2. Access to a car - we drive down, so no problem for us there. I thought I would miss the buses -- but nope... driving is actually VERY easy and it takes us 10 or so minutes to get to the parks.
3. Size of group - we have a large group (11 in our family)
4. Do you have kids? (For us, the space involved with our rental house, having our own pool, and the idea that we don't need to sit in a dark hotel room after they go to sleep -- they are young so that is usually around 8:30!)
5. How magical can you make an offsite location - our rental house is SO beautiful, so big, and we take little extras to make it more Disneyfied. For instance, we have Mickey place-mats, Disney music playing, do hidden mickey games etc.
6. How many meals do you want to eat out? We love being able to cook/grill some dinners so that we can eat more healthfully and spend less money. We still eat well, take our own wine, and eat next to our own pool.
7. Do you use EMH alot? We don't stay out late, so we don't use the nighttime ones. The early morning EMH usually mean a more crowded park by about 11, and we don't park hop much (hard to do with all the small kiddos in tow)

No question, the largest reason for us to stay off property is the $$$. For our size group to stay together (which we want to do because we don't live near each other), we would need a 3 bedroom villa and we can't afford it. I LOVE staying on property and I imagine when our kids are older and we go back to having 2 salaries, we may do that again. But for now renting a 5 bedroom house is definitely the way to go.

I could go on and on but I have to say we were VERY skeptical about going off property because we are VERY into the magic of Disney. But, we are so glad we tried it!

[princessgirls]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think Disney packages a vacation nicely...

GRANTED, I LOOK for DEALS...
Hands down, my Orlando vacation cost me more money last year than my Disney vacation package will this year.
Here is why:
1. We rented a car for a full week for $379. Not bad on the price, but when I go on a Disney package, we don't rent a car, thus saving the $379.
2. We wanted to experience different parks. ONE/TWO days at these places is A SMALL FORTUNE!!!! Seriously...it is ridiculous.
3. I was food-shopping, making breakfasts, and lunches, one dinner, loading dishwashers, making beds, etc. Gee, I do this at home all the time. I was packing up to go to the pool, with snacks, sandwiches and all the rest. I would rather bop out and go to the parks.
4. Food was EXPENSIVE at Sea World and all of the other places we hit. No, this was not a revelation, rather an observation by someone who loves the Disney Dining Plan. I DO NOT want to pay $50 for lunch every day, and yes, I did pack lunches to save, but DON'T do that when I book a WDW package.
5. You don't have to pay to park at any of the WDW parks. $15 a day adds up!!!!
So here it is in a nutshell...Disney makes things easy. I like easy... As most of us do,
I LOVE the paying for most of my trip up front, meals, entertainment and ALL.
Just my two cents worth.
Julie

[vicster]

3. I was food-shopping, making breakfasts, and lunches, one dinner, loading dishwashers, making beds, etc. Gee, I do this at home all the time. I was packing up to go to the pool, with snacks, sandwiches and all the rest. I would rather bop out and go to the parks.
Julie

BINGO - not my thing to do on vacation! I'm with you 100%.

[January-2007]

We have a baby so we like staying offsite for now because we can stay in a two bedroom condo for way less money than we can stay in a hotel room at Pop (which we love, but goodness that extra bedroom makes all the difference). We like to drive to the parks anyway and we drive down so there's no extra cost there except for parking. I miss the food courts and the arcade. The feel of being onsite is great, but I also enjoy the quiet relaxation we can have in the living room of our condo. For now with our little family we are doing the offsite thing, but I think once our son is older and doesn't wake up so easily we will try to stay onsite again.

[JerseyDad]

....last year...we came this (.) close to staying off-site. And then we recalled the WDW trip we took in 2006...where our friends (four families) stayed at the Wyndham which is literally across the street from the bus area at Downtown Disney. They were late for EVERY meet-up we had scheduled....every event...dinner....etc. At that point we decided to stay at our go-to (POP) resort..and had a great time as usual. There is just something "extra" that touches everything you do...when you're on-site.

[nfrustaci]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think Disney packages a vacation nicely...

GRANTED, I LOOK for DEALS...
Hands down, my Orlando vacation cost me more money last year than my Disney vacation package will this year.
Here is why:
1. We rented a car for a full week for $379. Not bad on the price, but when I go on a Disney package, we don't rent a car, thus saving the $379.
2. We wanted to experience different parks. ONE/TWO days at these places is A SMALL FORTUNE!!!! Seriously...it is ridiculous.
3. I was food-shopping, making breakfasts, and lunches, one dinner, loading dishwashers, making beds, etc. Gee, I do this at home all the time. I was packing up to go to the pool, with snacks, sandwiches and all the rest. I would rather bop out and go to the parks.
4. Food was EXPENSIVE at Sea World and all of the other places we hit. No, this was not a revelation, rather an observation by someone who loves the Disney Dining Plan. I DO NOT want to pay $50 for lunch every day, and yes, I did pack lunches to save, but DON'T do that when I book a WDW package.
5. You don't have to pay to park at any of the WDW parks. $15 a day adds up!!!!
So here it is in a nutshell...Disney makes things easy. I like easy... As most of us do,
I LOVE the paying for most of my trip up front, meals, entertainment and ALL.
Just my two cents worth.
Julie

i totally agree with you especially with #3 and don't forget that you always wind up doing laundry too !!! I think moms will agree that they would like to be on vacation too !

[KylesMom]

We stayed off site for our honeymoon almost 20 years ago (my 25th birthday, no less through a bank travel package). We've stayed on site for the past 11, going on 12 when we went back with a 2 year old. Pro of staying offsite (at a horrible motel)? CHEAP.

I wish I had more pros of staying off site, but I have none. Needless to say, DH won't even think about a Disney vacation if we were to discuss an off-property accommodation - he's not interested. While I'm curious about some of the on-property hotels that Disney does not own, it probably wouldn't fly in this house unless I had some really, really good recommendations to back it up!