Originally Posted By mossy I see you can stay off site for $60/night in a decent hotel......a moderate is $169/night, and then I imagine the meals are pricey. Is it worth it ??
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Depends on who you ask. While I love staying at Disney's resorts, there is no denying you can save a lot by staying off-property. My last stay was just three nights, so it wasn't worth it to me to stay at a Disney resort. My room was $38/night. Nothing fancy, but a clean enough room, which is all I needed.
Originally Posted By magnet There are benefits to staying on-site. You can take a break mid-day and go back to your room, and you can participate in extra magic hours. However, the savings of staying off-site win me over every time. I love staying in a hotel along I-drive when I visit.
Originally Posted By seafairy1622 I've only been twice and both times stayed on site, AKL and POFQ. For me, I love the disney resorts very much! I love the extra magic hours and magical express. I was very impressed with their service. I am going back July 22 and staying at CB. It is worth it to me to spend the extra money.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip If you really want the whole "Disney Experience" it is definitely worth staying onsite. Our first visit to WDW we stayed at a nice mid-range offsite hotel (a Radisson). Our second visit we stayed at the All Star Music. To us there was no comparison and we have stayed at Disney Resorts ever since; staying in the Values, Moderates, Deluxes and Home away from Home resorts. We would never consider anything else. On the other hand, if after about 12-16 hours on Disney property the thought of more Disney stuff gives you the hives, then you are probably far better off staying somewhere else. Looking strictly at the accommodations, you almost always get more for your money staying offsite. But if you factor in parking, Disney transit, Extra Magic Hours, etc. then I think the value really evens out.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Your first choice is absolutely to try to stay onsite, the convience alone is worth it. Your next choice is to stay at a DTD hotel. Your still going to get the convience, a better deal on the price of your room but no use of Extra Magic Hours ( unless your staying at the Hilton ), and inconsistant transportation which is not Disney. I would ONLY consider staying off property IF I got an incredible deal on my hotel/ resort room OR my partys' needs exceeded what Disney can provide ( for example on several trips there were at least 8 of us and members of our party wanted a kitchen and wanted us ALL to stay in the same space with no seperate rooms (( big mistake ))). On that trip it was easily an hour commute just to get to WDW proper. When your on property if members of your party get tired they can alway use Disney Transportation to get back to their rooms if they forgot something or are tired. Time is money... so wasting time communting is NOT condusive to a pleasant vacation.
Originally Posted By MPierce I can't imagine going to WDW, and not staying on property as long as it's affordable.
Originally Posted By CTXRover I'd definetely recommend onsite if your budget allows it. There are very nice hotels and resorts outside WDW property that are cheaper (not for $60 a night though), but the convenience and benefits of staying onsite far outway the cost benefits of staying offsite imo. Specifically, onsite guests have access to Disney's Magical Express Service which picks you and your luggage up from Orlando International airport and takes you to your Disney hotel and back. No worrying about picking up your luggage at the airport or finding transportation to WDW, they do it all for you and it works very well imo. Not to mention, the service is 'free' to onsite guests. Other benefits of staying onsite include Extra Magic Hours where one of the four WDW theme parks open one hour before or stays open 3 hours after the normal park operating hours. Plus, both water parks offer an extra magic hour in the morning to resort guests every day of the week during peak times. While the resort transportation is free to any guest at WDW, it benefits those staying on property the most. Waits for the buses usually are around 10-15 minutes, but even this is being worked on as the entire bus fleet is being upgraded with GPS and demand dispatch, as well as now featuring themed music specific to the destination. In other words, the cost of renting a car or hailing a taxi to get you to and from the airport and to and from the parks to your hotel is nothing if you stay onsite and decide to use Disney transportation. On site guests also experience 'Disney' 24 hours a day, which is worth it imo. Depending on the time of year you are going, on site guests can also book as part of their package the "Disney Dining Plan" which allows you to eat at the resort during your stay for cheaper than it would be to eat at each place and pay individually. If you are looking at a moderate Disney resort, I would highly suggest Port Orleans Riverside or Coronado Springs. I'm personally not a big fan of Port Orleand French Quarter or Caribbean Beach, but they too have their fans. Hope this helps some with your planning.
Originally Posted By Labuda "Depending on the time of year you are going, on site guests can also book as part of their package the "Disney Dining Plan" which allows you to eat at the resort during your stay for cheaper than it would be to eat at each place and pay individually. " That doens't depend on when you book - it's available year-round.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost After visiting WDW regularly since 1983 I have to admit I have never stayed on site. I am sure that to most people it is worth the extra money and I guess if you can get on the free dining plan it can come out to be pretty reasonable. I don't have any reason for not staying on site that is bigger than I am too cheap to do so. I cannot be without a car so I always rent one anyway and I like to do other things around central Florida and beyond. I've seen the argument many times about being able to "take a break" in the middle of the day. Staying off-site has never prevented me from doing this. I can come and go as I please. I usually stay on rte 192. There are so many dining places to choose from out there and you don't have to pay the long price for it. There is everything from Denny's to really high quality eatery's and everything in between including huge buffets, etc. I am not trying to talk anyone out of staying on site because that is a personal choice and it has to fit in with what style of traveler you are and what you want to do. If you want to go to Sea World or Universal, Gatorland, Kennedy Space Center, Cyprus Gardens, Flea Markets, Helicopter rides, Old Town Park or any of the many, many things to see, staying off site is the best way to do it. If you plan on never leaving Disney then on site is probably for you.
Originally Posted By CTXRover <<That doens't depend on when you book - it's available year-round.>> I think I was thinking about the free Disney Dining plan offer when I wrote that it is available during certain times of the year, but obviously I didn't write it that way. Thank you for correcting me and reminding anyone else reading this thread about its availability year round. Sorry for the mistake.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Ok, we've been there for extra hours at night, nobody ever checked our tickets to see if we stayed on/off property. Probably they check for early extra hours.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^That's VERY unusual. EMH's at night require a wristband for every member of your party and in order to get one they require a room key, which is run through a scanner. Sounds very odd they just let you ride everywhere, everytime without armbands.
Originally Posted By kennect Did I miss this somewhere above??? On site guests pay no parking fee's if they drive to any of the parks.....We always stay on site and always have a car so it is a nice perk...We dropped our AP status a few years ago....Do the current AP's still include free parking???
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl ^APs do include free parking. ^^I have stayed at Epcot during extra magic hours without a wristband to watch the second showing of Illuminations. I didn't attempt going on any of the rides though. (The park was so empty, I'm sure a CM would have noticed)
Originally Posted By kennect Bobbelee9, Last time we were there they did a major check on the guests eligible for the extra hours bit....This was during the evening not the morning....
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Am I misunderstanding EMH? I'm talking about the different park each night open for 3 extra hours, not the special Halloween or Christmas events.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 No. You got it right. I'm trying to figure out how you manage to keep going and they let you ride whatever you want without a wristband.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Did I miss this somewhere above??? On site guests pay no parking fee's if they drive to any of the parks.....We always stay on site and always have a car so it is a nice perk...We dropped our AP status a few years ago....Do the current AP's still include free parking??? << If you stay at any WDW resort you do not pay for parking at any of the parks, all you have to do is present your room key.
