Offsite recommendations for split stay non-park days

[parasail_of_congress]

We are headed back to WDW in mid-August and are staying onsite (BWV) for parts of two consecutive weeks. We were planning on visiting family during the weekend in between, but we may need a backup plan. We are thinking that staying offsite Friday and Saturday night would be more economical and would also give us a break from the parks. Here are a couple of other details/priorities:

- Two adults, three kids (ages 9, 7 and 4)
- No vehicle
- Cost under $120/night
- Prefer someplace with a decent pool/waterpark/slides within the cost
- Might be nice to have a grocery within walking distance (if that even exists) or at least some affordable eating options

It doesn't matter too much how far away we are from WDW as long as we can get transportation to and from offsite to onsite locations.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Bumping this up in case anyone has any recommendations.

 

[ClapYourHands]

We are headed back to WDW in mid-August and are staying onsite (BWV) for parts of two consecutive weeks. We were planning on visiting family during the weekend in between, but we may need a backup plan. We are thinking that staying offsite Friday and Saturday night would be more economical and would also give us a break from the parks. Here are a couple of other details/priorities:

- Two adults, three kids (ages 9, 7 and 4)
- No vehicle
- Cost under $120/night
- Prefer someplace with a decent pool/waterpark/slides within the cost
- Might be nice to have a grocery within walking distance (if that even exists) or at least some affordable eating options

It doesn't matter too much how far away we are from WDW as long as we can get transportation to and from offsite to onsite locations.

For good waterpark-type amenities, Wyndham Bonnet Creek is a good choice. Unfortunately, you'd probably have to Uber to get there and back, as a shuttle is not provided. But as you'd be in a timeshare condo resort, you would have a full kitchen. Easy enough to get a grocery delivery right to the resort. You wouldn't have to leave until you go back to the parks.

There is also the attached Wyndham Grand hotel. This does provide shuttles to/from WDW, though I don't know if you can take it over before you check in or not. This is a regular hotel, so no kitchen, but because it shares the amenities with the WBC timeshares, you'd have access to the grills outside. It often comes up on Hotwire/Priceline within your budget, though factor in the resort fee. I know there are family rooms with bunkbeds there.

Sheraton Vistana is very close to Disney Springs. There is a limited shuttle to/from WDW, though, again, I don't know if you could take it there prior to check-in, but could take it back. Similar deal to WBC with timeshare condo set up, so you have your own kitchen. The resort is a bit more spread out than WBC, but the pools are nice and there are other basketball courts, tennis courts, etc. It is also usually less expensive and no resort fee.

The Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek is across the street from the Wyndham Grand. The pool complex is fantastic, and there is a WDW shuttle (again, don't know if you can take it to there). This is a regular hotel, so preparing your own meals would be hard. You could still do a grocery delivery for some items, and the regular shuttle service means you could go to WDW resorts or DS for restaurants. It's often available on Hotwire/Priceline within your budget, but make sure you factor in the hefty $45 resort fee.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

For good waterpark-type amenities, Wyndham Bonnet Creek is a good choice. Unfortunately, you'd probably have to Uber to get there and back, as a shuttle is not provided. But as you'd be in a timeshare condo resort, you would have a full kitchen. Easy enough to get a grocery delivery right to the resort. You wouldn't have to leave until you go back to the parks.

There is also the attached Wyndham Grand hotel. This does provide shuttles to/from WDW, though I don't know if you can take it over before you check in or not. This is a regular hotel, so no kitchen, but because it shares the amenities with the WBC timeshares, you'd have access to the grills outside. It often comes up on Hotwire/Priceline within your budget, though factor in the resort fee. I know there are family rooms with bunkbeds there.

Sheraton Vistana is very close to Disney Springs. There is a limited shuttle to/from WDW, though, again, I don't know if you could take it there prior to check-in, but could take it back. Similar deal to WBC with timeshare condo set up, so you have your own kitchen. The resort is a bit more spread out than WBC, but the pools are nice and there are other basketball courts, tennis courts, etc. It is also usually less expensive and no resort fee.

The Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek is across the street from the Wyndham Grand. The pool complex is fantastic, and there is a WDW shuttle (again, don't know if you can take it to there). This is a regular hotel, so preparing your own meals would be hard. You could still do a grocery delivery for some items, and the regular shuttle service means you could go to WDW resorts or DS for restaurants. It's often available on Hotwire/Priceline within your budget, but make sure you factor in the hefty $45 resort fee.

Thank you for posting these options and the thorough descriptions. I remember seeing a few of these when I was looking around initially. They come up on the higher end of our budget, but we may ultimately have to go with it. The one I've been considering is Holiday Inn Resort Orlando - Waterpark, which seems a little cheaper and has a decent water play area. That hotel seems to get really mixed reviews, though, so I'm not firm yet on that decision. Thanks again!

 

[Hollyxpop]

If you don’t want to be at Disney (and wanted to visit universal or go outlets) you could stay on I drive?
Most have free shuttles to universal or you can take trolley the outlets

 

[HopperFan]

Personally, moving offsite for just a couple of nights is going to be more hassle than it's worth. You will have to pay for a uber/taxi/lyft to get you to the hotel then back again to Disney, shuttles are usually unreliable other than Disney Springs hotels, getting a built in water park will be rare in that price point (HI might work, like you say mixed reviews) and the hassle of getting groceries for the few days, there is nothing around HI to walk to.

Since you are talking about a couple nights have you explored a Disney value, which wouldn't be much more than your budget. You won't have to spend all the money to move back and forth off site and worry about shuttles or more car service. Disney will actually move all your luggage for you so you don't spend hours doing this yourself for a couple of nights. Then just have the Water Park Option on your tickets and spend the full days there. When we do that we hit both water parks and enjoy. You can go to Disney Springs and get better value dining wise or even just share a pizza at the food court.

With only a couple nights in between I think it's just way too much work. And that is from someone who stays both on and offsite, have split between on and off, and even done 3x and 4x splits on trips.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Why dont you move to disney springs for the whole trip, the cost is lower so the over all cost comes down, you still have transportation. Our issue with moving is check out times.. check out by noon cant check in till 4, where do your belongings go? Do you really want to bags in a bag check room?

Ps as much as i like the idea of the holliday inn formerly nick hotel. Its pretty run down now days. We normally stay at the Sheraton vistana. We pay 150 a night for the one bedroom king pull out couch... and our youngest gets twin air mattress. No resort fees, no parking fees. Activities every night, water slide and full kitchen.
Even with all that i still liked the hotels at Disney springs. My kids only need a pool.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Personally, moving offsite for just a couple of nights is going to be more hassle than it's worth. You will have to pay for a uber/taxi/lyft to get you to the hotel then back again to Disney, shuttles are usually unreliable other than Disney Springs hotels, getting a built in water park will be rare in that price point (HI might work, like you say mixed reviews) and the hassle of getting groceries for the few days, there is nothing around HI to walk to.

Since you are talking about a couple nights have you explored a Disney value, which wouldn't be much more than your budget. You won't have to spend all the money to move back and forth off site and worry about shuttles or more car service. Disney will actually move all your luggage for you so you don't spend hours doing this yourself for a couple of nights. Then just have the Water Park Option on your tickets and spend the full days there. When we do that we hit both water parks and enjoy. You can go to Disney Springs and get better value dining wise or even just share a pizza at the food court.

With only a couple nights in between I think it's just way too much work. And that is from someone who stays both on and offsite, have split between on and off, and even done 3x and 4x splits on trips.

Since we have five people (two adults and three kids), the cheapest onsite Disney stay for a Friday and Saturday night is $320/night, and that's with the current discount they are running now. Uber would be like $15-20 each way probably? Staying offsite close to our budget price range would save probably $300-400 for two days.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Why dont you move to disney springs for the whole trip, the cost is lower so the over all cost comes down, you still have transportation. Our issue with moving is check out times.. check out by noon cant check in till 4, where do your belongings go? Do you really want to bags in a bag check room?

Ps as much as i like the idea of the holliday inn formerly nick hotel. Its pretty run down now days. We normally stay at the Sheraton vistana. We pay 150 a night for the one bedroom king pull out couch... and our youngest gets twin air mattress. No resort fees, no parking fees. Activities every night, water slide and full kitchen.
Even with all that i still liked the hotels at Disney springs. My kids only need a pool.

Yeah, the price for Vistana wouldn't be too bad if we had four, but since we have five, the lowest cost looks to be $180-200.

The main reason we booked at BWV is to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. My thinking is that since some of the days will be really easy to walk to parks, it's OK if it's a bit cumbersome to get over to an offsite hotel, especially if those days we wouldn't be going to the parks anyway.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Yeah, the price for Vistana wouldn't be too bad if we had four, but since we have five, the lowest cost looks to be $180-200.

The main reason we booked at BWV is to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. My thinking is that since some of the days will be really easy to walk to parks, it's OK if it's a bit cumbersome to get over to an offsite hotel, especially if those days we wouldn't be going to the parks anyway.

Try skyauction.com for the two bedroom.

 

[ClapYourHands]

The main reason we booked at BWV is to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. My thinking is that since some of the days will be really easy to walk to parks, it's OK if it's a bit cumbersome to get over to an offsite hotel, especially if those days we wouldn't be going to the parks anyway.

Just as a heads up, in August, the rates at the Swan/Dolphin are pretty low. The Dolphin has double beds in its rooms, which means those basic rooms can also accommodate a rollaway bed. I don't know how you booked or if you'd be interested at all, but often the cheapest way to get a family of 5 into a boardwalk area hotel is the Dolphin. It's a tight fit, but maybe you could save some money by staying there one of those weeks if you're planning to be in the parks all day. Since you said Mid-August, I'm looking at an opaque deal I know to be the Dolphin on Hotwire right now, and found that for 8/16-8/21, it's $1,120 inclusive of all taxes and fees. Feel free to disregard, but wanted to throw that out there as an option.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Just as a heads up, in August, the rates at the Swan/Dolphin are pretty low. The Dolphin has double beds in its rooms, which means those basic rooms can also accommodate a rollaway bed. I don't know how you booked or if you'd be interested at all, but often the cheapest way to get a family of 5 into a boardwalk area hotel is the Dolphin. It's a tight fit, but maybe you could save some money by staying there one of those weeks if you're planning to be in the parks all day. Since you said Mid-August, I'm looking at an opaque deal I know to be the Dolphin on Hotwire right now, and found that for 8/16-8/21, it's $1,120 inclusive of all taxes and fees. Feel free to disregard, but wanted to throw that out there as an option.

It's interesting you mention Swan/Dolphin because we had initially thought about staying there. We decided against it due to our schedule and split stay option (we originally were going to stay with family during the weekend, and the pricing when I looked wasn't as good for two smaller stays). So we booked the split stays on DVC member points that ultimately came to roughly the same price as S&D anyway.

But just now, I looked up S&D and the two nights we need are listed in the value category. So I went ahead and booked (and signed up for the credit card to get the additional amount off). This puts the total price around $125/night and will be much easier to get to and from the hotel from BWV. Thanks for the suggestion - my wife is breathing easier now that we won't need to go too far offsite

 

[ClapYourHands]

Glad it worked out for you! The pools are quite nice, not water park level, but the grotto pool has a water slide.

Your resort fee gets you a daily ride on the Swan paddle boats, and s’mores at the evening campfire.

The Garden Grove (Swan) has a nice weekend character breakfast that is much more affordable than on-site character dining. There is also evening character dining that I haven’t personally tried, but the reviews are good.

Even though you will be technically offsite, bell services will move your luggage between on-site hotels and the Swolphin. It’s a nice perk.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Even though you will be technically offsite, bell services will move your luggage between on-site hotels and the Swolphin. It’s a nice perk.

This perk is what sealed the deal. Thanks again!