Staying Off Site Worth It?

[firefly_ris]

Okay ....... got a message about doing this, let me sort it out and then I'll come back.

I'll keep an eye. I don't go as frequently as many people here do but I could start with a contribution of a review for Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa for a start.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We are going back to off site for our next trip. As our kids get older (and bigger) having the space of a condo just can't be beat. Having two bathrooms, beds for everyone, a kitchen, it just feels more relaxing than being in one hotel room. And my condo rentals usually cost LESS than one room at a value resort. Plus, I really like having the washer and dryer especially in the summer when your clothes get sweaty.

But we love staying on site. We've stayed at POP twice. We like the convenience. The parking/buses, the magic bands, the food courts. Would we miss these things too much? How much is parking per day now?

Of these, the only thing I missed was the Food Courts. We have stayed at Windsor Hills twice and will be doing it again. I actually get to the parks faster driving from my condo and parking than I do waiting for and riding a Disney bus. And when you park at the MK, you still get to take the monorail or ferry to get to the park. You can still use Magic Bands.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

For us, the magic is driving under the Disney World sign each day. Then the parking lot tram, etc. The anticipation keeps building until the opening ceremony and then rope drop. That is our thing.

You know, I was surprised at how much I missed doing this on our last trip. We'd stayed offsite and then went back onsite and I really missed driving under the sign each morning.

 

[michbaron]

We’ve done both and have been happy with both it just depends on the particular trip. Our last trip has us at Disney 6 days in a row then universal for 3 so we stayed at art of animation and then stayed at cabana bay ... on our upcoming trip we’re doing it mixed up, a day at Disney a day st universal two more Disney etc just how it worked out so we’re staying central to the two of them, also this time we’re flying and renting a car, we usually drive so just pack a ton but now we can save on baggage fees bc we’ll have a washer and dryer, we don’t cook on our trips but still get more use out of our leftovers bc we have a fridge at Disney but off sight we also have a microwave and stove to reheat the food... were APs so the parking is whatever and we actually had a standard room at pop that we canceled and went with the offsite two bedroom villa and still had enough in the difference to do a dessert party and EMM

 

[stephk1981]

Different families are looking for different things in a wdw vacation. We tend to stay at Epcot resorts for longer stays and MK resorts for shorter stays. Staying at an Epcot resort, to me, is a huge benefit. We can walk to two parks, no worries over ANY type of transportation but our feet! Plus we normally go to parks in the morning then back to the resort to swim and relax, then to World Showcase for dinner most evenings. Staying off site for us would take up a ton of our time. We go to Disney a few times a year, but had the opportunity to ' live' in Orlando for 7 months for my husband's job a couple of years ago. We obviously were off site in a rental about 8 minutes from Disney. I LOATHE driving in, waiting in a huge line for them to check my AP, then finding parking at the ticket center, then getting on the monorail to finally get to MK......it was almost not worth going to MK to me. With all of this said, I haven't stayed at a value resort since I was a teenager, so if we had to deal with a ton of people getting on buses at the end of the day, my mind may change.

 

[BigredNole]

After my last trip in December onsite, we will never do that again without a car. And now that Disney is charging to have a car, we will not stay on property ever again. We timed our bus stop waits for the 7 day trip. It was 16 hours of waiting. 3 of those were over 75 minutes with the longest being almost 2 hours. The Guest Relations people at OKW knew my name and I had their direct number. it was still horrible.

Although we were not planning another trip, we are going again this Summer. We will get one more use out of our APs. With all of the Disney price hikes, they have priced us out of returning. We are currently looking at options offsite and I have a few I am seriously considering. I have SV for $750 in a 2BR unit, WBC for $800 in a 1BR, and a few others in that same price range.

 

[firefly_ris]

After my last trip in December onsite, we will never do that again without a car. And now that Disney is charging to have a car, we will not stay on property ever again. We timed our bus stop waits for the 7 day trip. It was 16 hours of waiting. 3 of those were over 75 minutes with the longest being almost 2 hours. The Guest Relations people at OKW knew my name and I had their direct number. it was still horrible.

Although we were not planning another trip, we are going again this Summer. We will get one more use out of our APs. With all of the Disney price hikes, they have priced us out of returning. We are currently looking at options offsite and I have a few I am seriously considering. I have SV for $750 in a 2BR unit, WBC for $800 in a 1BR, and a few others in that same price range.

If you do either of those (Vistana or Bonnet Creek), I'd love it if you could write a quick little review (and what your total cost ended up being) -- these are my 2 "front runners" for an early 2019 trip I'm hopefully going to be able to save up for during this year. My last off-site stay was at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa which I thought was great but these 2 seem a little bit closer and I'm looking to change it up.

I can't believe those bus wait times! We were at POFQ in October and our longest wait was for an AK bus, and it took over 45 minutes to arrive. I thought THAT sucked, 2 hours is unacceptable. Rental car all day, thank you.... I've already spent the entire day at the parks in hoards of people, I don't find the bus experience charming in any way. If it wasn't as crowded as it tends to be these days maybe I'd still be OK with it, but it's just too much now, especially with 3 little kids.

 

[BigredNole]

If you do either of those (Vistana or Bonnet Creek), I'd love it if you could write a quick little review

You can't go wrong at all with WBC. I have been there 3 times now and all are beyond anything Disney has for me. To cook at Disney, you need a 1BR DVC. The price of 1 or 2 nights at a 1BR DVC is the same as a week at WBC in a 1BR. The grills outside of almost every building are excellent. People say they don't want to cook on vacation. Me, I say I don't want to spend $200 on a $20 meal. Also, WBC pretty much has something going on at any time during the day for kids. If something is not going on, putt putt golf, the game rooms, pools, etc offer so much.

I have not stayed at Sheraton Vistana. I have heard great things. However, for Disney, the WBC location cannot be beat. As for the bus waits that I stated, this was not the time including travel. This was the time sitting at a stop waiting for a bus to show up. We wasted 2 waking days of time on a 7-day trip waiting for a bus just to arrive. We will never do that again.

 

[firefly_ris]

Everything I've read and heard so far sounds like Bonnet is the fit for us -- I have 3 kids but they are all on the small side (my DH and I are only 5' and 5'4" respectively, so our kids who will be 8, 7 and 5 this time next year aren't exactly grand in stature) so I'm really leaning more towards the 1BR instead of the 2BR because all three of them don't have a problem sharing a queen sleeper sofa. I love the full kitchen for having breakfast in the room (and a place to store leftovers), and I also love being able to throw a big load of laundry in on the last night after the kids go to bed so I go home with all clean stuff. They also apparently don't have any resort or parking fees that I can find. Now Step 2, earn the extra side cash to pay for the trip.

As for the bus waits that I stated, this was not the time including travel. This was the time sitting at a stop waiting for a bus to show up. We wasted 2 waking days of time on a 7-day trip waiting for a bus just to arrive. We will never do that again.

That is completely insane -- not to mention you basically paid extra/upcharge to stay on property so you could waste literal days-worth of time standing around waiting to crowd into a bus. People complain about having to get from the parking lot to the park but geez. I'd at least prefer the illusion of making forward progress on my own time and free will than being at the mercy of the bus.

 

[TamaraQT]

You can't go wrong at all with WBC. I have been there 3 times now and all are beyond anything Disney has for me. To cook at Disney, you need a 1BR DVC. The price of 1 or 2 nights at a 1BR DVC is the same as a week at WBC in a 1BR. The grills outside of almost every building are excellent. People say they don't want to cook on vacation. Me, I say I don't want to spend $200 on a $20 meal. Also, WBC pretty much has something going on at any time during the day for kids. If something is not going on, putt putt golf, the game rooms, pools, etc offer so much.

I have not stayed at Sheraton Vistana. I have heard great things. However, for Disney, the WBC location cannot be beat. As for the bus waits that I stated, this was not the time including travel. This was the time sitting at a stop waiting for a bus to show up. We wasted 2 waking days of time on a 7-day trip waiting for a bus just to arrive. We will never do that again.

I dont know if you realize it or not but with those statements I highlighted you just had a "drop the mic" moment. As far as I am concerned you have just settled the entire onsite/offsite debate.

People say they don't want to cook on vacation. Me, I say I don't want to spend $200 on a $20 meal.

This one is by far my favorite!!!

 

[TamaraQT]

I respect everyones choices and preferences. But having stayed on-site and off-site, nobody will EVER be able to convince me that driving to the parks, parking, getting a tram to the gate takes up more time than waiting for buses. And when its time to leave, you wait longer for a bus than a tram to your car. When you get to your car you only have your own family to transport to one location. Not having to make "stops" and put up with a bus load of tired people. There is no comparison to that

I find it amusing when I read people trying to justify reasons for using disney "public transportation" because really that's all it is. Public transportation with a Disney logo on it.

 

[KristinU]

Public transportation with a Disney logo on it.

Public transportation but with NO SCHEDULES, that's what drives me nuts about Disney Transportation. As a regular public transit taker for my daily commute, it just loses all efficiency if there are no time tables to go by. I know there are people that argue that Disney can't set schedules and anticipate volume, etc., but there are large cities all over the world that literally do just that. I would never leave my office and go hang around the bus stop hoping a bus will be coming along some time in the next 15 to 45 minutes.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

If you do either of those (Vistana or Bonnet Creek), I'd love it if you could write a quick little review (and what your total cost ended up being) -- these are my 2 "front runners" for an early 2019 trip I'm hopefully going to be able to save up for during this year. My last off-site stay was at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa which I thought was great but these 2 seem a little bit closer and I'm looking to change it up.

I can't believe those bus wait times! We were at POFQ in October and our longest wait was for an AK bus, and it took over 45 minutes to arrive. I thought THAT sucked, 2 hours is unacceptable. Rental car all day, thank you.... I've already spent the entire day at the parks in hoards of people, I don't find the bus experience charming in any way. If it wasn't as crowded as it tends to be these days maybe I'd still be OK with it, but it's just too much now, especially with 3 little kids.

We loved WBC so much this last trip that when I asked my husband if he wanted to split us into 2 rooms at an All Stars for less money or a bit more for the 2BR he said Bonnet Creek with no hesitation. He liked us having our own bedroom and having a kitchen. He gets up 2 hours before everyone else and it just worked very well for us.

Trying Vistana in the fall as I got an amazing deal and wanted to compare the two resorts.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We loved WBC so much this last trip that when I asked my husband if he wanted to split us into 2 rooms at an All Stars for less money or a bit more for the 2BR he said Bonnet Creek with no hesitation. He liked us having our own bedroom and having a kitchen. He gets up 2 hours before everyone else and it just worked very well for us.

Trying Vistana in the fall as I got an amazing deal and wanted to compare the two resorts.

Both WBC and Vistana are beautiful! Can’t go wrong with either one. We’ll never go back to onsite again.

 

[WaterLinds]

Lots of great information and ideas to consider in this thread. And I love the idea of getting more active/current threads going for some of the more popular off site destinations for easier comparisons. I haven't stayed at any of them yet so I have nothing to contribute but probably plenty of questions.

we are planning for a trip next March--likely to be a pretty busy time, so things like 60 day FP and EMH, plus easy access to the parks, all have some value to us. But so does saving money--I'm considering things that the extra $ could buy us, like dessert parties, EMM, extra days of park tickets, etc.--as ways to fit more in but still come out ahead/have a more comfortable space.

I haven't decided what we're doing yet, in large part because many places(including Disney) don't have prices for 2019 set yet, or aren't booking for our dates, or various deals/specials won't be announced for a bit, etc. But I've started working on a spreadsheet to compare our options. In case it helps anyone else (or maybe provides a good framework for resort information/review threads?), here are the factors I'm considering: (edit--I meant these are the things I'm going to analyze specific resorts for, but I realize now that it sounded like I wanted to compare off site vs on site in these areas. I think that's useful but this thread has covered that pretty well for most areas...I want to compare specific properties for myself now!)

-access to Disney perks (EMH, 60 day FP)
-room cost plus extra charges (parking, resort fees, etc)
-amount of space available (sq ft, number of bed/bathrooms, kitchen, etc)
-pools (slide, lazy river, zero depth entry,splash pad, heated, etc.)
-dining (any meals included? Quality/price of restaurants on site? Access to grills, off site food, etc.)
-travel time to parks (shuttles/buses, driving--how variable is Drive depending on traffic?)
-any resort activities
-standard hotel ratings/reviews--cleanliness, helpfulness of staff, in room amenities, etc.
-any extras offered at specific hotels
-laundry (in room? Free?)

I imagine others will have different priorities, but I think that's most of what's important to our family for this trip. I'd be interested to hear other ideas for things to consider, though!

Overall I'm pretty sure that list will point to staying off site (.probably WBC?) for us, but I still need to work through it all--and see what the prices will be, what discounts will be available, whether the DS resorts will continue their extra perks for 2019, etc.

 

[BigredNole]

Well, I thought we were going to be staying at WBC this Summer. I was about to book a 1BR for $800. Because we are trying to not spend a ton, I found a 3BR/3BA rental at Wyndham Reunion Resort for $550 for a week. That was too much of a deal to pass up. I jumped all over it. We may have friends or family join us. They can pick up a part of the tab if they want. Looking at the map, it is about as far away as Orange Lake Resort was. We will be doing a ton of research on the resort before going down. I did verify that daily water park passes are included for 8 people for the entire stay.

 

[TamaraQT]

Well, I thought we were going to be staying at WBC this Summer. I was about to book a 1BR for $800. Because we are trying to not spend a ton, I found a 3BR/3BA rental at Wyndham Reunion Resort for $550 for a week. That was too much of a deal to pass up. I jumped all over it. We may have friends or family join us. They can pick up a part of the tab if they want. Looking at the map, it is about as far away as Orange Lake Resort was. We will be doing a ton of research on the resort before going down. I did verify that daily water park passes are included for 8 people for the entire stay.

I have never stayed at Wyndham Reunion resort...BUT....a few years ago while staying at WBC we met a family who stays at Wyndham Reunion often. They say they love it. They said it also has lots of amenities. A 3 bdrm/3bath for only $550/week is too good of a deal to pass by. I am excited for you and can't wait to hear the details.

 

[BigredNole]

Out of curiosity, I did a little more research on the rental company. Turns out it is the eBay store for SkyAuction. I am feeling much more confident that it was a legitimate rental. We can't wait for the trip. We may be inviting friends or other family members to come spend some time with us. Since there are only 3 of us, we have tons of space

 

[Dallas_Lady]

And when its time to leave, you wait longer for a bus than a tram to your car. When you get to your car you only have your own family to transport to one location.

The end of the night is what makes having your own car, whether it's onsite or off, worth it. I have waited in line an hour just to get on a bus at park closing, and then have to ride squished and/or standing up. Going right to my car and driving right to my door is amazing after a long day.

I haven't decided what we're doing yet, in large part because many places(including Disney) don't have prices for 2019 set yet, or aren't booking for our dates, or various deals/specials won't be announced for a bit, etc. But I've started working on a spreadsheet to compare our options. In case it helps anyone else (or maybe provides a good framework for resort information/review threads?), here are the factors I'm considering:

-access to Disney perks (EMH, 60 day FP)
-room cost plus extra charges (parking, resort fees, etc)
-amount of space available (sq ft, number of bed/bathrooms, kitchen, etc)
-pools (slide, lazy river, zero depth entry,splash pad, heated, etc.)
-dining (any meals included? Quality/price of restaurants on site? Access to grills, off site food, etc.)
-travel time to parks (shuttles/buses, driving--how variable is Drive depending on traffic?)
-any resort activities
-standard hotel ratings/reviews--cleanliness, helpfulness of staff, in room amenities, etc.
-any extras offered at specific hotels
-laundry (in room? Free?)

We have done both offsite (Windsor Hills) and onsite, multiples times both ways. Here's who "wins" in our experience:

-access to Disney perks (EMH, 60 day FP) Onsite, but we've never used EMH and probably never will. The 60 day FP is a real thing now, though.
-room cost plus extra charges (parking, resort fees, etc) Offsite, even with paying for parking
-amount of space available (sq ft, number of bed/bathrooms, kitchen, etc) Offsite. We've stayed in 2-3 bedroom condos for less than a Value resort
-pools (slide, lazy river, zero depth entry,splash pad, heated, etc.) Can be equal, depending on where you stay. The pool at Windsor Hills rivals any Disney pool. And since we can only afford Values or Moderates at Disney, I'd say for our money it's better.
-dining (any meals included? Quality/price of restaurants on site? Access to grills, off site food, etc.) Onsite. This is the only thing I really miss about onsite is having a food court.
-travel time to parks (shuttles/buses, driving--how variable is Drive depending on traffic?) It depends on how far away you stay offsite, but I'm going to assume you're looking at one of the closer offsite properties. MK is probably a draw because you still have to do monorail or ferry when you drive. The other 3 parks, driving is faster than waiting for and riding buses no question. And at park closing it's a slam dunk.
-any resort activities Onsite, but I will say that this isn't a factor for me because we honestly never used any of these even when we stay onsite.
-standard hotel ratings/reviews--cleanliness, helpfulness of staff, in room amenities, etc. Varies greatly depending on where you stay. But don't believe the hype the Disney is the only place that knows how to cater to guests. They used to be hands down the best, these days their service isn't what it used to be.
-any extras offered at specific hotels Varies
-laundry (in room? Free?) Offsite if your room as a washing machine. We LOVE this!

 

[WaterLinds]

The end of the night is what makes having your own car, whether it's onsite or off, worth it. I have waited in line an hour just to get on a bus at park closing, and then have to ride squished and/or standing up. Going right to my car and driving right to my door is amazing after a long day.



We have done both offsite (Windsor Hills) and onsite, multiples times both ways. Here's who "wins" in our experience:

-access to Disney perks (EMH, 60 day FP) Onsite, but we've never used EMH and probably never will. The 60 day FP is a real thing now, though.
-room cost plus extra charges (parking, resort fees, etc) Offsite, even with paying for parking
-amount of space available (sq ft, number of bed/bathrooms, kitchen, etc) Offsite. We've stayed in 2-3 bedroom condos for less than a Value resort
-pools (slide, lazy river, zero depth entry,splash pad, heated, etc.) Can be equal, depending on where you stay. The pool at Windsor Hills rivals any Disney pool. And since we can only afford Values or Moderates at Disney, I'd say for our money it's better.
-dining (any meals included? Quality/price of restaurants on site? Access to grills, off site food, etc.) Onsite. This is the only thing I really miss about onsite is having a food court.
-travel time to parks (shuttles/buses, driving--how variable is Drive depending on traffic?) It depends on how far away you stay offsite, but I'm going to assume you're looking at one of the closer offsite properties. MK is probably a draw because you still have to do monorail or ferry when you drive. The other 3 parks, driving is faster than waiting for and riding buses no question. And at park closing it's a slam dunk.
-any resort activities Onsite, but I will say that this isn't a factor for me because we honestly never used any of these even when we stay onsite.
-standard hotel ratings/reviews--cleanliness, helpfulness of staff, in room amenities, etc. Varies greatly depending on where you stay. But don't believe the hype the Disney is the only place that knows how to cater to guests. They used to be hands down the best, these days their service isn't what it used to be.
-any extras offered at specific hotels Varies
-laundry (in room? Free?) Offsite if your room as a washing machine. We LOVE this!

That's a great breakdown of offsite vs on! I do think I will miss the easy transit to MK staying off site--especially after fireworks, when you're exhausted after a long day, it's awfully nice to be able to just hop on a bus and not have to think. But we had great return bus service from MK on our last trip (getting there in the morning was a longer wait, though). It was definitely faster and easier than driving would have been. We had a car for the other parks, although returning next year if we were to stay on property I would think twice about that with the parking charges.

My plan is to use all those categories in my spreadsheet for specific properties, so comparing pools, transportation, etc. from, say Windsor hills to WBC to the DS hotels to a few on property spots. I'm fairly certain an off property spot will come out tops, given the price difference, but I don't know which one yet. I was thinking categories like those might also be handy as a framework for reviews/information threads about the various off site options, too.

I might even go crazy and assign scores in each category and then weight the categories by importance! I've been known to be a bit obsessive about vacation planning, though.

One more thing I thought of to add to our calculation is rewards memberships--we have Hilton honours and IHG accounts, so any properties booked through those groups would be beneficial to us. Others may weigh other brands more for this reason too.