Do you ever regret staying off site? - Update! We're staying offsite!

[minmate]

We enjoyed our offsite vacation this year at Caribe Royale in a 2 bdr villa Thought we'd miss the Disney magic but didn't bother us a bit. Drove down so we had our own car. Felt more freedom actually than having to wait for buses. We parked right in front of our room. A lot less walking and waiting. We actually made I back to our hotel as quickly, if not quicker than relying on WDW buses to get us to a value resort.

Loved having comfy king size bed for us and queen size for kids to share. That was a big selling point for us. We had Deluxe level accommodations at a fraction of the cost. All of this made me feel better, at least mentally, about the value, which in turn put us in a good mood during the trip. I love a "bargain" and really dislike feeling like I'm overpaying for something. What a room's value is lies in the eye of the beholder.

Now with all that said, we are a family of six, with teens. WDW does not have "bargains" for our demographic. Except maybe if Free Dining came as part of the deal.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've especially regretted staying onsite for the marathon the last couple of years,yes its great to get up and take the bus to the race at 3am but I've had issues with the AC just not getting cold enough making it hard to fall asleep which is kind of a big deal when you have to run 26.2 miles the next day.I stay off site at the Baymont inn by Sherbert rd and that AC cranks up to where the room is almost freezing,I'm seriously considering staying off site for the marathon next year.

 

[Portugal1000]

You'll see from my signature that we have stayed onsite and offsite. Stayed at SSR 3 times mainly due to the great free dining and 40% off deal for UK residents. We made the most of it but its so expensive now that it literally works out about £4000 (pounds not dollars) to stay there compared to Bonnet Creek. We have stayed at Bonnet Creek 5 times now and I have to be honest, even if SSR was the same price I think I would still stay at BC because I love so many things about the resort. Rooms much bigger, you can walk to all the pools (at SSR depending where your room was we actually had to drive to one of the pools, mainly because it was just so hot, wouldn't dream of driving that distance in England) I love that at BC you can just walk round the whole resort quite quickly so can go to all the different activities.
So I guess the answer is no, have never regretted staying offsite. My brother and his family stayed with us last year and they loved it. We did visit a couple of Disney resorts but they agreed we had a far better resort.

 

[richmo]

...I must add that we don't plan on visiting other places other than WDW and we are not fans of driving. EVen when we had a car last time we used the buses almost every day except a few times since we both do a lot of driving normally so it's nice to have a break from it....

I sense from this that you are still considering offsite with no car. As I mentioned in my first reply, I'm totally with you on staying offsite. There's plenty of advantages.

However, keep in mind a couple things:
- You mentioned this is your first trip with your little one. From my experience, kids rule. What you think your schedule may be could completely change. What do you do when (if) he/she melts down and you need to leave the park? Hopefully that doesn't happen, but it could. WDW is a lot of input for a young one and their reaction is unpredictable, along with their fatigue level.
- Related to the last point, when you commit to the hotel shuttle, you're now working off their schedule, not yours. The flexibility you get from having your own car is worth a little inconvenience of driving. Hotel shuttles, at least those I know of, are nowhere near continuous.

There is one exception to the offsite/have a car rule. If you stay at one of the Downtown Disney hotels (technically on-property), you could use their buses. There is a regular Downtown Disney bus loop that will get you to and from the parks on a regular basis. In particular, you might want to look at the Doubletree, since they have suites, so you could put your little one down and be in a separate room. The other nice thing about the Doubletree is it is directly across the street from Crossroads Plaza (many restaurants: Chevy's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Fuddruckers, Sweet Tomatoes, Friday's, Uno, Taco Bell, McDonalds.. and I'm sure I've forgotten some, and a grocery store.)

 

[EvangelineG]

We have only ever stayed offsite at a large villa with a private pool. I would love to stay onsite someday, but only after the kiddies are grown up and we are taking a couples trip. For now everyone having their own bedroom, and many bathrooms to get ready in in the mornings is priceless!

 

[Brian Noble]

Our next trip will be our first trip with our little one and to enjoy our trip better we would like to have a separate bedroom since LO goes to bed early and is very sensitive to noise so we don't want to have to tip toe around at 8pm!

There are three things you might want in a Disney vacation:
1: To stay onsite.
2: To spend a reasonable amount of money on lodging.
3: To have a reasonable amount of space.

Most people can't have all three at the same time, so you have to decide which one you will live without. The one that I will *NEVER* skimp on is #3.

More of my stays have been onsite than off, but that's been through timeshare exchange into DVC villas. If I had to rent from an owner or pay market rates, I'd stay offsite in a place like Bonnet Creek and never look back. We have a stay planned for the holidays this winter, and already have a backup booked at Bonnet. If a DVC exchange comes through, great, but if not, no worries.

 

[bankr63]

So, do you regret staying off site

Never, ever, ever, ever....

and if you had the option would you prefer on site?

I would like to try a Disney Deluxe 2BR Villa someday, just for the fun of it, but only if it was not much more expensive than staying at Vistana (and that, my friend, is highly unlikely to happen). I don't see a lot of value in the Disney "extras", and we like our space and all the extras you get offsite.

Note, even if you dislike driving, you would probably find the Marriotts, Sheraton Vistana, or Hilton Grand Vacation I-Drive that cluster around the World Centre Dr. and 535 area to have really excellent road access to the parks with no stressful traffic. Driving from this area is generally quicker than DT from the Disney resorts.

 

[Ametista]

My DD has always been prone to meltdowns, esp when its hot out and she gets tired. For that reason we always have a car so we can make a speedy getaway, and we love the extra space we get staying offsite. A private pool comes in really handy when its hot out too.

 

[disneyfan55]

We enjoyed our offsite vacation this year at Caribe Royale in a 2 bdr villa Thought we'd miss the Disney magic but didn't bother us a bit. Drove down so we had our own car. Felt more freedom actually than having to wait for buses. We parked right in front of our room. A lot less walking and waiting. We actually made I back to our hotel as quickly, if not quicker than relying on WDW buses to get us to a value resort.

Loved having comfy king size bed for us and queen size for kids to share. That was a big selling point for us. We had Deluxe level accommodations at a fraction of the cost. All of this made me feel better, at least mentally, about the value, which in turn put us in a good mood during the trip. I love a "bargain" and really dislike feeling like I'm overpaying for something. What a room's value is lies in the eye of the beholder.

Now with all that said, we are a family of six, with teens. WDW does not have "bargains" for our demographic. Except maybe if Free Dining came as part of the deal.

Yes, I agree 110%!!! I typed something similar in another thread just a few minutes ago. We stayed at a Value suite the time before the Caribe and it cost much more and so much less room! The drive is about equal. Buses for the value resorts and even moderates have become long wait times. Even for our Music family suite we drove to the parks to avoid this. We did have the free dining for the family suite stay but even with that I think it was a better deal at Caribe. They offer some really good rates and considering the full kitchen, washer/dryer and room and privacy, you can't beat it.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

We stayed offsite once at Bonnet Creek, so still sort of on site, but not Disney owned. We didn't regret it, but I don't think we would do it again. I missed the Disney 24/7. Yeah, I found out I am one of those people. We had a 2 bedroom condo, and with all that space I was wishing we were in a hotel room at POFQ. I know, CRAZY!! Yup, different strokes for different folks!

 

[skylizard]

The bus vs. rental car scenario is a big one for many families. We were no fans of Disney transportation....we didn't find the "magic" in standing in the heat waiting for a bus, then continuing to stand on that bus after an exhausting day at the parks when there weren't enough seats for the people aboard, or worse yet, being squashed up against someone you don't know after a long, sweaty day of touring. Sitting around for another 10? 20? or more? minutes waiting for another emptier bus to come around didn't appeal either, especially if there was an ADR to be reached by a certain time.

We love hopping in our car, each having our own comfy seat for our weary bodies, turning on the AC to whatever temperature is right for us, and enjoying some peace and quiet after a day of stimuli.

I have to agree with this. The Disney buses just don't appeal to our family. I find having my own car at Disney much more convenient and comfortable (and faster to get to places).

 

[daytondisney]

So, do you regret staying off site and if you had the option would you prefer on site?

We don't regret staying offsite. That said, if Disney could rent me a 3 BR town home at even 2-3x the price we pay at WH, I'd stay onsite. They can't, so we don't.

You'll never know what's best for you and your family until you compare for yourselves.

 

[daytondisney]

I have to agree with this. The Disney buses just don't appeal to our family. I find having my own car at Disney much more convenient and comfortable (and faster to get to places).

We've been offsite in February and October. I underestimated how efficient Disney would be at getting traffic in and out of the lots, and the trams.

Best $15 spent every day. I'd drive even if onsite.

 

[daytondisney]

There are three things you might want in a Disney vacation:
1: To stay onsite.
2: To spend a reasonable amount of money on lodging.
3: To have a reasonable amount of space.

Most people can't have all three at the same time, so you have to decide which one you will live without.

Perfect

 

[Detailor]

One really interesting thing about staying off-site is that people who do that fall into different categories and therefore have wildly different experiences. There's the hotel crowd (who themselves fall into a few different categories - those just looking for an inexpensive place to sleep, those looking for some resort features like a nice pool, some looking for specific location and convenience (think Downtown Disney hotels and convenience to DTD), some looking for more expensive full-on hotel resort amenities making the experience more like that of a Disney hotel), folks like my family who stay at timeshare resorts, people who stay at one of the many vacation rental communities whether that be in a condo, townhouse or individual pool house. Clearly, that means that the off-site experience is far from being a one-size-fits-all adventure.

When we starting going to WDW back in 1997 (that was about 24 trips ago), our travel agent found the Vistana Resort (now Sheraton's Vistana Resort) timeshare resort for us and we were overwhelmed at how nice the resort experience was. At the time it was my wife and I and our three daughters (then 17, 15 and 5) and the we expected the trip to be a once in a lifetime event so we went to the Disney parks, Universal, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, Cocoa Beach and were very happy to come back to a place that was actually big enough for all of us to relax from the hectic pace we'd set for ourselves. The only thing that we regretted was agreeing to go through a supposedly 90-minute timeshare presentation and wasting a morning (the $200 Disney script money that we got for attending was split between our older daughters as an apology for holding them hostage for so long!!!).

I think that the off-site resort experience was a major reason that we ended up going back so many times after that (that and the Dole Whips at the Magic Kingdom!) and I'm not sure that we would have been as anxious to go back if we'd stayed in a Disney hotel (and certainly not if we'd stayed at a regular old off-site hotel).

That experience led to several stays at timeshare resorts via rentals from owners before we bought our first timeshare week at a North Carolina resort (go figure, we were living in New England and just wanted a relatively inexpensive resort week to use as an exchanger to get back to Orlando and other sunny and warm locations).

So a number of people have mentioned a lot of the off-site benefits - more space, lower cost, more amenities, etc., and those are all quite nice - but one that our family has always liked is the escape from the inundation of the theme park experience. I think it's actually pleasant to leave Disney (or Universal or SeaWorld) behind when we head back to our resort. Though, with that said, I'll admit that we really enjoyed our stay at the Saratoga Springs Resort Disney Vacation Club timeshare - a really nice location across the lagoon from DTD and we got to see the DTD Fourth of July fireworks up close (don't think they do that anymore). But even during that vacation we rented a car and usually drove to the theme parks. [Disclosure: I enjoy driving and the freedom that having a rental car gives me and my family to go wherever we decide to go during our weeks away from home.] Orlando in general and the Disney property specifically is easy to navigate in a car so I've never found any particular stress in driving around the area - even in the pre-GPS days when I'd gotten us a little lost on occasion. The bottom line is that, for us at least, having a rental car is a must and one with a convertible roof is always a nice bonus.

I'd suggest that if you've experienced on-site and liked it but have even the remotest amount of an adventurous attitude then going off-site will be just fine. It's not the same, you have to make adjustments particularly in terms of transportation that you wouldn't have to make on-site but the trade offs are pretty impressive depending on your reasons for staying off-site. And there are a lot of lodging choices in the area. Depending on where you end up staying you may well find that the change is well worth it and you may be delighted that you tried it.

Enjoy!

Dick Taylor

 

[bluwater]

No, I have never regretted it, but I have stayed onsite more than off. Really, the only regret I've ever had was after a poor onsite experience and thinking about how much I spent to be disappointed.

For that reason and some others, I'm now converted to offsite. I'm not trying to save money - I'm just looking for an improved resort experience. I also don't have young children and we don't like using the busses. I do bring my teen daughter who usually travels with a friend, and for that reason we are trying to stick with Bonnet Creek or DTD hotels for their busses. DH and I prefer to use a car.

We like suites - with fridge and microwave, at least. And we all like our space.

Renting a car in Orlando is about as inexpensive as it gets. I have enough Hertz points to cover a rental car for a couple of weeks and I won't use them in Orlando because the cars are so reasonable.

 

[katyjeka]

We always have a magical trip, staying both onsite and off. I'll probably get slammed for this, but we are not big fans of Disney dining. We enjoy the snacks and a few counter services as well, but find the overall food quality to be just okay. Dining in Disney is VERY time consuming, so we eat a lot of our meals outside the gates. When spending hundreds(no kidding) on a meal for six of us, much better meals are found offsite. We also spend at least 12 nights when we go, and I love having the washer/dryer in our unit. I can wash a load before we leave and dry it in the evening. So convenient. We refuse to spend the amount Disney wants for a villa, although we have found a few good deals renting from owners, but they are hard to come by. Another HUGE advantage to staying offsite, my dh and I have true privacy. We are able to enjoy our evening or early mornings, not tripping over beds and trying to stay quiet. So, to answer your question, no regrets!!! Have a great trip.

 

[Ksquared]

I've stayed both onsite and offsite and loved each trip for different reasons.

When we stay offsite, it's been at a timeshare (Vistana, Bonnet Creek, Orange Lake) and then our latest trip was a 4 bedroom pool home. We've stayed onsite at DVC resorts and I've also stayed at moderate hotels as well.

I'm not a value type of girl but I don't have to stay at a high-end resort either.

I never regret my offsite trips. I believe mixing things up, staying onsite/offsite helps us afford to go almost every other year. When we are offsite, I utilize the washer/dryer and other amenities and I happily spread out with the extra room we get. When onsite, I enjoy using the dining plan and making the most out of the amenities at the resort I'm staying.

Your vacation is what you make of it. I don't think you will regret staying offsite at all.

 

[JimMIA]

We've been offsite in February and October. I underestimated how efficient Disney would be at getting traffic in and out of the lots, and the trams.

Best $15 spent every day. I'd drive even if onsite.

I think most Disney guests would have more enjoyable vacations -- whether they stay onsite or offsite -- if they drove to the parks.

The mentality of "I don't want to drive on vacation" is really counterproductive. I wish bus riders would come home from a WDW trip and seriously add up all the hours they wasted waiting for, or riding on, a bus! I think they'd have a whole different perspective.

Disney world is a very easy place to navigate in a car. There's not much traffic and it moves well. And having your own transportation opens up a world of other opportunities -- shopping, dining, other attractions...too many to list. And when I'm onsite...we can leave our rooms at the exact same moment and I will be parked in the theme park parking lot before you even get ON the darn bus!

The Mouse does not provide bus transportation to make your vacation more enjoyable.

They do so in order to hold you captive onsite, so that they get ALL your vacation money -- not just tickets and lodging, but also food, shopping, entertainment, and every other purchase you make.

 

[etoiles]

Thanks for the feedback! I've read all the posts carefully and you have really given us a lot to think about.

I know those that say driving is better and I must admit that with a little one we might change our minds about the buses! I did not think about it but I bet they are more of a pain with a stroller and then with a little one and no sitting room! The buses can be a pain at night after the fireworks waiting for 3-4 buses but in general we enjoyed riding them. We did always have a car so if we went to AKL for dinner, for example, then we drove but this time we are flying because I don't think DS can handle 20 hours in the car!

For those that drive, what about Magic Kingdom? Is it not a pain to have to park, take a shuttle to the transportation center and then get on something else yet again??