Anyone stayed offsite?

[Tinkswishes28jen]

We are coming across from UK to FL, this will be our first trip as a family . We will be staying in Lake Buena Vista, as we will be doing the parks and other Orlando attractions. If the trip goes well, we are hoping to come back in a few years and stay onsite.

So for anyone who has stayed offsite, what have your experiences been like? Has anyone used the itrolly or trusted taxi firms ? What time did you leave to go to the parks, and did you have a "plan of attack" ? . Did any of you staying offsite make any ADR s in the park, any recommendations?

Any feed back will be most welcome .

 

[s&k'smom]

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (the 2013 book came out not so long ago) has a great breakdown of off site hotels. TripAdvisor.com would also be a good resource.

 

[jlevis]

Not sure I can be much help. We stay offsite, we have timeshares, but we drive so we have a car available. We often make ADR's the night before, using the web site. We'll also walk-up. The key is flexability and making reservations at off hours. You have to be the judge but I would think a rental car might make your life easier. In any case I hope your trip goes well. We love the World and we love sharing it.

 

[ParentsOf4]

When we stay offsite, we prefer to rent a car and a 4-bedroom house at Emerald Island, about 10 minutes away from the Main Gate. We've also stayed at several condos and hotels, including in Lake Buena Vista.

If at all possible, renting a car is the most convenient form of transportation when staying offsite. (I'm not sure how you are getting from the airport to the hotel but a car will make this much easlier.)

There is no problem with ADRs while staying offsite. I agree with jlevis's suggestions.

As s&k's mom already suggested, your best source of information will be the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What time did you leave to go to the parks, and did you have a "plan of attack" ?

When we drive from offsite, it usually takes us about 15-30 minutes to reach the parking lots, depending on where we are staying and which park we are headed to. In general, we tend to leave about one hour before park opening for MK, about 45 minutes for the other parks. Our goal is usually to be at the gate about 10 minutes before opening. (Some people like getting there much earlier so they can be among the first in the park.) I suggest leaving 30 minutes earlier (e.g. 7:30 AM for a 9:00 AM opening) and see how this works for you on the first day.

The least crowded time at the parks is the first hour after they open. One strategy is to get a Fast Pass (FP) for one attraction as soon as you walk in and get in line for a second attraction immediately after that. Depending on the time of year, some attractions are best done during the first hour or with a FP. Otherwise, you are going to wait a long time in line.

My suggestions for FP/first thing in the morning attractions include:
- MK: Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain (best to do this with a FP in the afternoon when it's warmer)
- Epcot: Soarin' (a painfully slow queue), Test Track
- DHS: Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, Rock n' Roller Coaster
- DAK: Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris

Please let me know if you need more help planning your trip.

 

[Tinkswishes28jen]

Thank you for your suggestions, it is certainly food for thought.

 

[ibisti]

When you say you are staying off site, is that in a villa or a hotel in Lake BV? It its one of the hotels in LBV they have their own bus service to and from the parks which is pretty good. We used to stay in these hotels before we started to stay on site.

 

[Tinkswishes28jen]

Its in one of the LBV hotels, they do offer a shuttle service, but i wasnt sure if they ran untill closing.

 

[onesandzeros]

I’ve stayed at the Fairfield Inn at the Marriot Village several times. It’s located outside of the DTD Resorts and not to far from the Crossroads Center. The rates are reasonable and if booked early, I’ve gotten the forth night free. They also offer AAA and senior discounts. Rate includes free breakfast and there is NO resort fee. Park transportation is available for a fee, but having a car works best for me.

 

[nolatron]

We stayed at the Buena Vista Suites and really liked it there. Will be staying again in February. BVS offers free motorcoach transportation to the parks, and I had to use it one day (wife had the rental car with her sister).

I found though that the bus only runs a 3-4 times in the morning and then 3-4 times in the evening at park close. So if you need to leave mid-day, you will have to take a cab or just not leave.

So something to keep in mind if you stay offsite and plan to use a hotel's transportation service.

 

[ibisti]

Im pretty sure you should be fine with the transport provided by the hotels. I think the buses run up to park closing. They can get pretty busy at that time as the bus covers a number of hotels. Depending on your hotel you can be the last pick up on route to the parks but then the last drop off after doing the rounds to the other hotels. The other option is jumping onto one of the disney buses for down town disney at the end of the day and walking over to your hotel if its one of the closer properties. I've never been asked for id on a disney bus to show you are at a disney hotel. Which hotel have you booked as a mater of interest?

 

[wiigirl]

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (the 2013 book came out not so long ago) has a great breakdown of off site hotels. TripAdvisor.com would also be a good resource.

Both these are really really good for offsite and the logistics of staying off site.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I have stayed at my in-laws time share off site many times - it's at Orange Lake. We usually drive to Florida, so we drive into the parks. I want to say it's about 15-20 minutes for driving time. We've taken cabs before, usually there is one out front already. Both options have been fine for us. I believe we took a shuttle once, and that worked out too, but I cannot remember how late that shuttle ran. I would think until park closing at least though.

We make our ADR's 180 days out, regardless of where we are staying, if it's somewhere that's tough to get into like 'Ohana. We have made reservations closer to the trip as well, for places that aren't as hard to get into, or we've just chosen from what is available at that point.

Our plan of attack is the same off site or on site. We like to visit the parks at rope drop, and try to ride popular attractions first while getting a fastpass to another. We usually spend the whole day at the park, or take a break in the afternoon & hop to another park for the evening. =-)

 

[stevehousse]

We have twice now stayed at a rental home with Villa Direct. Their rates are awesome and when we went last May, we had a 5 bedroom with pool and it was under 100 dollars a night!!! And I was very nice! That was my biggest concern about staying in a vacation home, but we were very impressed. It ws great going to the parks early morning, coming back to swim or nap(2 DSs) then head back at night. Not to mention our vacation home was literally 3 stop lights down from the Disney complex and it would take us less than 10 minutes to get on property. We will be staying with them again May 2013!

We also always make our ADRs 180 days in advance.

 

[real mad hatter]

Also from the UK.The first time back in 2004. We did a two centre vacation.1st week onsite,2nd week off.The I-drive trolley is great,you can buy a one day ticket or a week ticket,whatever suits you.Done Seaworld and Uni/ islands,shopping malls,you name it.But our last three vacations have been 14 days onsite.There's so much to see in Orlando you could spend a month and not do it all.Would never stay offsite again as we have been bitten by the magic of staying inside the "Magic Bubble" Since your offsite your planning will req getting up early and doing lots of research on what the times the parks are and getting your adrs ASAP. P.S. I hope you get the chance of staying onsite one day.You'll never stay offsite again.

 

[disneygirl76]

We are coming across from UK to FL, this will be our first trip as a family . We will be staying in Lake Buena Vista, as we will be doing the parks and other Orlando attractions. If the trip goes well, we are hoping to come back in a few years and stay onsite.

So for anyone who has stayed offsite, what have your experiences been like? Has anyone used the itrolly or trusted taxi firms ? What time did you leave to go to the parks, and did you have a "plan of attack" ? . Did any of you staying offsite make any ADR s in the park, any recommendations?

Any feed back will be most welcome .

I did 1 1/2 times. We stayed at a Marriott time share that my parents have. Our resort, even though super close to WDW did not offer transportation to and from the parks. Which later, we realized the money we spent on Mears and the time it took, we should have rented a car or stayed on property. We found that we missed out on hours beyond just missing EMH b/c we had to pick up the Mears shuttle we prepaid for (it was a wee bit cheaper to do it this way) and they had a set of times that we had to be there by. If I stayed off site, I would rent a car. But of course you have to pay for parking too. We did make ADR's in the parks during this trip. We were able to get in to the MK early bc the ADR was in the park before it opened. But we nearly missed the ADR b/c the car was 20 mins early picking us up so we missed it and he had to come back. It was a pain. I totally understand staying off site but my DH and I decided that if we ever do, then we need to have our own car or rent one so we are in control of getting to and from the parks.

 

[luv]

I stayed in hotels, motels, condos, town homes and a house once...but always with a rental car. If you're coming for 10-30 days, a room (or even two) gets old fast. More space is a nice thing to have, especially if you want some relaxation on your vacation.

A rental car is always a good idea, if you can afford it. If you are offsite, it is practically a must.

 

[Tinkswishes28jen]

Thank you all very much for your feedback , it has given me a lot to think about and plan