Originally Posted By KatieKate123 There are many other benefits of staying on property at Disney that other hotels would not offer. Example: Dining Plan, extra hours, so even though this is a hypothetical questions it's not really. Now if I got those extra benefits and the shuttles were like Disneys where its every 20 minutes or so for each park, then it might be worth thinking about. Now for myself personally I probably wouldn't do it anyways. It's too far away, it's also dosen't have that Disney Magic. I have done it both ways. Staying on property and off. Off was a ok, nothing awful about it, but for my kids there was just something about staying on Disney property.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***<---- pulls into EPCOT's parking lot at 9 am. OH SH%$#@%^%!!!!!, Wife forgot her park hopper pass and sunscreen back at the hotel........Oh well, tack on another 15 minutes and make that an extra 45 driving for the day*** Little difference from if you were staying at one of the Disney brand motels, though. and it's funny how you expand 5-10 minutes into 15...makes for a convenient argument.
Originally Posted By CoolDisneyFan for us we just want to be on the monorail! esp. the polynesian cuz you can walk to the epcot monorail. also easy to get to hollywood studios and those 3 our are faves!
Originally Posted By barboy2 ///and it's funny how you expand 5-10 minutes into 15...makes for a convenient argument. /// I didn't expand X,........5-10 minutes one way would be approx. 15 "round trip", no? If I were already at my destination, say EPCOT, when I discovered that I forgot to bring a necessity for the day I would have to make a "round trip" from EPCOT to the hotel and back to EPCOT.
Originally Posted By barboy2 .......which leads me back to my chief argument against WDW's vast layout-----don't forget a necessity for the day if you're without car and staying at Wilderness Lodge(or the likes) or you'll pay dearly compared to making that same mistake say at Disneyland.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***///and it's funny how you expand 5-10 minutes into 15...makes for a convenient argument. /// I didn't expand X,........5-10 minutes one way would be approx. 15 "round trip", no? If I were already at my destination, say EPCOT, when I discovered that I forgot to bring a necessity for the day I would have to make a "round trip" from EPCOT to the hotel and back to EPCOT.*** And that becomes 45 minutes how, exactly?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well, AKL to MK was approx an hour door to door when we went by bus, nothing convenient about that.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<We hear so often from both sides on this issue, and I can certainly understand the appeal of "staying in the magic", although that does depend on the quality of the resort and, of course, the price.>> Disney has hotels and resorts elsewhere in FL off property. I alwasy prefer to stay "on property" which I can affordably do in any of the Downtown Disney hotels. If I want to stay at an incredible resort in Orlando then I would stay at the Gaylord Palms Orlando Hotel. No Disney resort or Disney hotel comes close to the accomidations at the Gaylord Palms.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper You know...it occurs to me that as much as transportation would cost big money to fix at WDW, there is a precedent for doing it. Fastpass has nothing to do with enhancing the guest experience (as much as they will try to see folks on that). It has to do with keeping you out of a line so that you will spend money in a store or a restaurant. That was the impetus for Fastpass and, by and large, it succeeds at doing that. Well then, spending an hour in a bus to get from the MK to the AK does seem to take away one's opportunity to be separated from their money. I guess the question they have to ask at Disney is how much money can they generate by speeding up the travel times?
Originally Posted By Mr X A nice notion, Wahoo, but I think a false one. It is better for them to have the rubes (er, sorry, customers) arrive in variously staggered times throughout the parks. Firstly because they want the hotel guests in first, and secondly because getting them their any faster wouldn't matter as they all have to wait in line to get into the place in the first place (in other words, if everyone could get there at opening, it wouldn't make any more money since they'd all be standing in line waiting for opening). I like your optimism, though! ])
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I believe that all the parks actually open part way before the official rope drop. I know that MK and the Studios are open part way up the main shopping street, with all the stores open. Epcot's rope is somewhere in Innoventions Plaza, so there are a couple stores before that. I think DAK's is at the end of the bridge to Discovery Island, but I'm not sure if there are any shopping opportunities before that point. Either way, I seldom hear complaints about the early morning transportation. On my last visit (only one on property), we seldom had to wait more than one bus in the morning, and they were running very close together (less than 5 minutes, some times there were two that pulled up at the same time). However, it's later in the day, when you're trying to get back to the hotel or park hop that it's a lot more difficult. It was not uncommon on that same trip to have to wait 3 or 4 bus loads at the end of the day, which were spaced as much as 25 minutes apart. No, they can't really squeeze much more out of the guests by speeding that transportation up (though I would be more likely to grab an end-of-night snack at the hotel if I got back in a timely manner), but the earlier you get your guests home at the end of the day, the earlier you can start squeezing them the next morning!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb I'm very late to the party so I will answer the original question. First off, I live in the no-man's-land between Pixie Dusters and Gloom and Doomers. Second, I do not *have* to stay on property, but that's because in my impetuous youth I purchased a Kissimmee time share, so every other year you can find me staying just off the 192. Other wise, I would probably always stay on property unless I were in Central Florida for other area attractions (like I will be while staying just off 192 this November). I would *absolutely* stay at this hypothetical resort! It sounds great. BTW as for the WDW commute, I have made it from the front door of my condo to inside the gates of the MK in 25 minutes.
Originally Posted By barboy2 ///And that(staying in an amazing Disney hotel off property) becomes 45 minutes how, exactly?/// Well Mr. X, based on you saying """So, is it JUST the fact you might have to spend 5-10 minutes on a "non-Disney" road that makes all the difference to you?""" hotel to WDW---7.5 minutes WDW to hotel for nap/shower---7.5 hotel to WDW---7.5 WDW to hotel---7.5 That's an extra 30 minutes drive each day of stay. Then I said: """OH SH%$#@%^%!!!!!, Wife forgot her park hopper pass and sunscreen back at the hotel.""" so that is another 15 minutes round trip. 30 minutes each day with a possibility of another 15 if one forgets a very much needed item back at the hotel after pulling into EPCOT's parking lot. ****By the way you were talking about how I might have been 'expanding' time to suite my argument but ironically it appears that you messed with the time. On post 1 you said the Disney hotel would be 15 miles from WDW. How could one travel 15 miles in "5-10 minutes". If we were driving in 'BFE' Montana, sure, but not in Kissimmee with stop lights, other cars and speed limits.****
Originally Posted By barboy2 As for the new hypothetical What kind of exclusive and unique attraction are we talking about on option A? If it involves keeping score/ interaction and video screens with hardware(Toy Storyish) then it would repel, not attract me. But if it were some other D or E then 'yes', I would go for the commute and stay in the mega deluxe/super duper hotel. I'd do B since, again, I don't go to the WDW for hotels---- I just spend washing/grooming and sleeping time in them and that is it.
Originally Posted By barboy2 As to 132 and 133 transportation times apply to much more than rope drops, far more----- morning transportation likely accounts for less than half of the aggregate travel times on property. Park to park, park to on-property hotels or park to downtown Disney(or visa versa or any combo) means that for every minute one is in his car, riding a bus or kicking back on a water transport means, obviously, that that is one less minute in the day to buy a dole whip or Hana Montana t-shirt.
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin For the original question, I would not stay further away for better amenities. I have been to Florida once, and will probably not go more than five more times in my life unless a lot changes. I will be going there to see WDW, and I want Disney immersion, and I want to be near the parks. Also, we did not mind the buses at all and got terribly lost when we rented a car. And we're lucky enough we won't be staying at Values. For the later scenarios, I would not stay at A unless the attraction there was super amazingly attractive to me personally, and then likely only once. If all the current on-property places turned into non-themed motels then I would choose one of the nicer close-by hotels. When we were there in October, we were not let past the tunnels onto Main Street at MK until official opening time. At DHS the rope was down the street and stopped before the turn-off to the right, and I did not notice if the stores were open. At EPCOT they did not let us through the gates until official opening time.
Originally Posted By u k fan I'm very late to this discussion, but I'll take you up on your new resort X. I have stayed on and off property (every time on property at a value resort) and if I could get Disney luxury for a similar price by being 15 minutes away I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's nice to be fully immersed, but coming from the UK even staying on I-Drive or the 192 is a cultural experience. Just getting breakfast at McD's in fun! We always hire a car so transport is neither here nor there, but during my last stay at POP I was more than happy with the buses (when we used them). If the hypothetical Disney resort had a bus service then that's fine as our group could still split if they wanted to. I don't really get why so many people wouldn't want to stay at this new resort. I'm all about the parks, but is 15 minutes so far away? Not for me!!!
