Staying off-site drawbacks

[KrisM]

I have been to Disney World over 15 times and I would never stay off of the Disney property...epecially with kids.

I would rather not go to Disney.

The convenience, transportation, and park hopping is worth the stay on property!!!!

Anyone I knew that stayed off property found it to be miserable and swore they would never do it again.

Just my 2 cents!

Where did they stay that was miserable? I don't think I'd want to stay a few miles away, but being so close seems doable, especially for the space.

What is inconvenient? I get the transporation issue. And, what do you mean about park hopping? Is the park hopper only available to resort guests?

I am thinking the convenience of being able to put the kids in another room or 2, having a kitchen and laundry availlable is worth it. But, I've not been to Disney, so I'm really interested in more details of what is inconvenient, etc so I can decide if it matters to us or not.

[egoldber]

The downsides as I see it....

1) You can't use the free Magical Express from the airport (which you may not care about)

2) Lack of availability of Disney Dining Plan

3) You have to pay for parking at the theme parks

4) You can't use the Extra Magic Hours. We like the early ones, but seldom use the evening ones.

5) It is MUCH easier to get to and from your resort during the day on Disney transportation and it is much easier if you want to split up. Even if you drive, that means if someone wants to leave the parks, unless you want to rely on the hotel shuttle, everyone has to leave. Especially since you have 3 kids of varying ages, I think this would be of interest to you.

The main upside as I see it is that you do get a lot more hotel for your money in an off-site resort.

[KrisM]

We are staying at Disney Vacation Club villas. You don't have to be a DVC member, you can either book through Disney, or rent points from a DVC owner. We are staying in a one bedroom suite. We only have two little ones, and I can't imagine not staying in a suite! They still nap, and go to bed at 7pm, we'd be held hostage trying to be super quiet if we didn't have our own room!

OP, re: parking. Resort guests get to park for free.

I've looked at the DVC too and it seems pretty pricey, still. We'd need a 2 bedroom for the 5 of us and it's around 36 ponits/night and at $10/point on disboards it's still $360/night. Does that sound right or am I missing a way for them to be chepaer? It's much cheaper than the Disney rack rates for the villas, but still more than I'd like. A 2 bedroom at WBC is $203/night and is 1257 sq feet. The BW villas are 1071 sq feet and the cabins are 504 sq feet.

[KrisM]

The downsides as I see it....

1) You can't use the free Magical Express from the airport (which you may not care about)

2) Lack of availability of Disney Dining Plan

3) You have to pay for parking at the theme parks

4) You can't use the Extra Magic Hours. We like the early ones, but seldom use the evening ones.

5) It is MUCH easier to get to and from your resort during the day on Disney transportation and it is much easier if you want to split up. Even if you drive, that means if someone wants to leave the parks, unless you want to rely on the hotel shuttle, everyone has to leave. Especially since you have 3 kids of varying ages, I think this would be of interest to you.

The main upside as I see it is that you do get a lot more hotel for your money in an off-site resort.

Thanks!
1. We're driving .

2. I'll have to think about this one. I know we'll do character meals, but I am not sure I want to be tied to their plan and eating only there. Having a kitchen and bringing/buying food might be better.

3. I find that it's $14 to park. Do I have to pay again if I leave an come back or go to another park on the same day? That could add a chunk.

4. I don't think we'd use the evening ones, because I don't see us staying out that late. Mornings maybe.

5. I think this one is the biggest deal. I don't know how much we'd split up. My parents and brother, SIL and 2 nephews will be there too. Our days are not spent all together, but some things will be, I am sure. So, if it means me and DS2 leaving while DH, DS1 and DD meet up with my parents, they could drive them back, I imagine. I'll have to think about this a lot.

Thanks for the nice list of points. I need to figure out what's important and what I can manage through or give up.

[fivi2]

One problem related to what beth mentioned about splitting up is car seats. If you are meeting up with family and hoping some of them can drive you back, you will need car seats in their car. We ran into this problem when my dad drove the wrong car to meet up with us one day and we still had to take the bus back since he didn't have the car seats.

[TwinFoxes]

I've looked at the DVC too and it seems pretty pricey, still. We'd need a 2 bedroom for the 5 of us and it's around 36 ponits/night and at $10/point on disboards it's still $360/night. Does that sound right or am I missing a way for them to be chepaer? It's much cheaper than the Disney rack rates for the villas, but still more than I'd like. A 2 bedroom at WBC is $203/night and is 1257 sq feet. The BW villas are 1071 sq feet and the cabins are 504 sq feet.

We only need a one bedroom. It's still pricey. Honestly, the Wyndham looks very nice, and is way, way less than what we are paying for a DVC one bedroom (maybe $70/night less?) We're not paying $360/nt...thank goodness!

What cabins are you talking about? The Fort Wilderness ones? We considered those too, I can't remember why we didn't book, maybe because they're small.

After looking at the Wyndham website, I might consider it in the future...although like I said, I'm a total sucker for the whole "Disney Magic" thing. I like the theming, and feeling like I've been transported.

[KrisM]

One problem related to what beth mentioned about splitting up is car seats. If you are meeting up with family and hoping some of them can drive you back, you will need car seats in their car. We ran into this problem when my dad drove the wrong car to meet up with us one day and we still had to take the bus back since he didn't have the car seats.

Thanks for pointing that out! I am sure it would not have occured to me until we were there. DS1 is in a booster and I'd be fine with having a booster for DD as a spare for those short trips (she'd be over age 5). Just need to make sure DS2 was associated with our car!

[KrisM]

We only need a one bedroom. It's still pricey. Honestly, the Wyndham looks very nice, and is way, way less than what we are paying for a DVC one bedroom (maybe $70/night less?) We're not paying $360/nt...thank goodness!

What cabins are you talking about? The Fort Wilderness ones? We considered those too, I can't remember why we didn't book, maybe because they're small.

After looking at the Wyndham website, I might consider it in the future...although like I said, I'm a total sucker for the whole "Disney Magic" thing. I like the theming, and feeling like I've been transported.

Yeah, having that 3rd kid throws things off a lot! It is really limiting for 5 to a room.

Yes, Fort Wilderness cabins. My ILs are staying there this fall and they have 3 kids as well. We'll see what they lthink of it.

http://bonnetcreek.com/bcgallery/mai...&g2_itemId=114 has pictures of the floor plan layouts.
2 bedroom:

and 1 bedroom, which is 900 sq ft:

[TwinFoxes]

One last drawback, that seems small, but is AWESOME to have, you can't get your purchases delivered to your room if you're staying off property. We use this all the time. If you buy anything, even something small like a mug, they send it to your room for free. No lugging extra bags through the parks! (although with a stroller it won't be so bad).

[WatchingThemGrow]

We're not totally experienced staying on/off site, but here's my thought... we just *really* enjoyed parking our car and being on foot(stroller) for our stay. Getting to wherever you're going at Disney feels like you're a vacationer because they drive you around in costumes, lol. If you're really loving your role as a chauffeur, a cook, a laundry do-er, etc. stay at bonnet creek. If *you* want to be able to relax and enjoy your DC, DH, and extended family, stay on-site and have that stuff done for you. I would MUCH prefer to be "off-duty" for my vacation and have those things taken care of. If it means my vacation is shorter, that's fine. Eating on site for your trip isn't going to hurt them. Rewearing their clothes or getting laundry done for you or bringing more isn't a dealbreaker, is it? Make it so you get a break, Kris. Mamas need a break from chores and being *with* your kids is more fun that worrying about how you're going to divvy up the food you smuggled in, etc.

And about the space...we found at our stay at POR last year that there is so much to do at each resort that you don't really hang out in your room. We just came back there to sleep (well, and pump) or change clothes sometimes. We will do the 5 in a room thing for as long as we possibly can on site while we do short visits the next several years.

I like to look at how we'll be getting to each park. This time, we're going to MK, so we're staying at the Contemporary so we can walk right over on the pathway, pushing our fleet of strollers. Is it FW that does the boat shuttle thing?

Does that make sense about the mom vacation part? Sorry I got so wordy..