Dang ! That Magic Bubble.

[real mad hatter]

Hmmm. Lets see. Whilst shopping yesterday with the DW,we bumped into a friend of hers who has just returned from 2 weeks in Florida. ( They have been going for the past 8 years ) Now this was their first time off site,staying on I- Drive.They have one boy and one girl,now 14 & 12,but she said it was the biggest mistake of their lives.Yes,the vacation was much cheaper,about £1500 less,and the hotel was great,but getting to the parks in their self drive car was a nightmare. ( not sure if she was referring to the traffic or just the driving in general ) but also having to leave at night to get back to their I- Drive hotel. Anyway she said never again. Hmmm.So lets see. If your vacation was going to save you approx $1000 for a 14 night stay for a family of four.Would you consider staying off site or would you pay the extra to stay inside the bubble.I know this has been discussed in the past,but I'am curious to see how many of you would pay the extra $$$$$$$ for a 14 night vacation.

 

[eddiemcgarrigle]

Well, much to my annoyance, I stayed on I-Drive for quite a few of my holidays before finally plumping for a Disney resort. Over the last twenty years, I-Drive has become very focused on older (less kiddie friendly) visitors with pubs and clubs becoming more and more prevalent. I remember the Mercado fondly before it's demise as it was rather quaint with some really quirky shops and Pointe Orlando went seriously downhill when FAO Schwartz closed, then the clubs slowly moved in.

Clubs cater to drinkers who soon become drunks and drunks on holiday are usually loud, obnoxious drunks when they can get away with it. What you don't want while on holiday with young kids are drunks banging doors at 3am and urinating in stairwells and elevators and sadly, that is my memory of staying on I-Drive. For that kind of nonsense I could have just gone to Ibiza.

This is the reason I switched to staying at Disney and I haven't looked back. The Disney Bubble is a wonderful thing.

 

[s&k'smom]

Not even a question for us always onsite, I want the bubble, I want to be wrapped in the excitement, it's our one week of non reality. The only thing we do outside our bubble that week is to check on our fur babies.

 

[real mad hatter]

Well, much to my annoyance, I stayed on I-Drive for quite a few of my holidays before finally plumping for a Disney resort. Over the last twenty years, I-Drive has become very focused on older (less kiddie friendly) visitors with pubs and clubs becoming more and more prevalent. I remember the Mercado fondly before it's demise as it was rather quaint with some really quirky shops and Pointe Orlando went seriously downhill when FAO Schwartz closed, then the clubs slowly moved in.

Clubs cater to drinkers who soon become drunks and drunks on holiday are usually loud, obnoxious drunks when they can get away with it. What you don't want while on holiday with young kids are drunks banging doors at 3am and urinating in stairwells and elevators and sadly, that is my memory of staying on I-Drive. For that kind of nonsense I could have just gone to Ibiza.

This is the reason I switched to staying at Disney and I haven't looked back. The Disney Bubble is a wonderful thing.

Your comments are spot on Eddie. I once stayed at a hotel in Ibiza where Club 18 had just booked into..There were Spanish medics at the hotel every night,with teenagers falling down stairs,etc.Give me the Bubble 24/7.

 

[Hot Lava]

We had to drive through a toll that was literally just outside our hotel every time we went to a park.

What hotel is this?

 

[real mad hatter]

What hotel is this?

Sounds like " Heartbreak "

 

[BoarderPhreak]

...Being in the bubble is a great way to truly get away from it all. We don't even watch the news while we're in the bubble...

Haha! That's so true. When we're in the bubble, we're in it deep. I might casually hit the CNN home page while checking email but that's about it. No news, no TV, nothing but bubble!

"You mean he's a bubble boy?" - Seinfeld

 

[Bethypoo]

I have friends and family who live 20 min from Disney and could stay with them for free. Thanks, but no thanks. I stay on site at an Epcot resort. I can have some drinks with dinner and not have to worry about driving. Besides, I love being in the middle of everything.

 

[littleroo]

Keep me in the bubble please! I don't even want to think about driving! I love not carrying anything and shipping it back to my room! I love the air conditioned buses and the Disney music! Please don't ever pop!!! For me it is worth a grand!!!

 

[BoarderPhreak]

The last two posts say it all for me... DME means no rental car expense, hassle or parking. On-site transportation just continues that and makes getting around (mostly) stress-free, especially if consuming. Having to walk out the door with nothing but my RFID card (or MagicBand, heh) is great - like a cruise ship. And yes, being in the middle of it all is cool.

I can see where some folks might be taken aback a bit by the total immersion experience (aka bubble); it's not for everyone.

 

[lebeau]

In recent years, my family has stayed off site twice. We stayed at one of the Downtown Disney area hotels, and it was actually very nice. A far better experience than our stay at ASM. The rooms were huge and very nice, we could walk to Downtown Disney, there was a Disney store in the lobby, and excellent bus service to the parks. In fact, the buses were on an actual schedule, so you could plan to get to the bus stop 5 minutes before the coach bus - everyone gets a seat - showed up. And they were every 20 minutes in the morning and evening, and I think every hour during the day. Magical! The experience was great, and very, very affordable.

However, we do love staying on property as well. But we will never stay at a value resort again.

I wish Disney would adopt bus schedules. I don't mind waiting for the bus. But waiting without knowing when your bus will arrive is torture. It would be one thing if you could count on a bus every 10-15 minutes. But waits in excess of 20 minutes are becoming the norm.

We have two little girls. We go back to our room in the afternoon for a nap. That means waiting for a bus 4 times a day. We spend hours every day at the bus stops waiting for Godot. The girls are excited in the morning and drained in the evening - so basically impatient. And then the buses are standing room only. I can't remember the last time I sat down because I always end up giving my seat away. Usually, karma has worked out so that my kids get a seat, but not always. Last trip I held the 3-year-old while several able bodied men sat and watched.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

That was SO frustrating this last trip especially! Four AK busses would go by... Where's the EC bus? Who knows!

 

[lebeau]

That was SO frustrating this last trip especially! Four AK busses would go by... Where's the EC bus? Who knows!

On our 2010 trip, we had ressies at the castle. Got to the bus stop an hour in advance. Watched at least 3 buses go by for every park other than MK. The bus finally pulled up with 10 minutes to spare. There was no way we would make it on time.

Our bus driver told us he had been pulled off the DTD line to come get us. Of course the bus was standing room only. It had been an hour since any one at Port Orleans had been picked up to go to MK. Not a magical start to the day.

That's the most extreme bus situation we have encountered. But it's not at all uncommon to have a 20-30 minute wait only to end up standing in an over-crowded bus. Sometimes, I feel those packed buses are unsafe. I nearly fell over carrying my 3-year-old last year.

And don't even get me started on the scooters and all the problems they create!

 

[BoarderPhreak]

^ Ouch! That's horrible. But interesting, too - what caught my eye? You said Port Orleans! Riverside? That's where we stayed too and I noticed all the bus issues. I wonder if that resort is too big for the frequency of busses that roll through there or something? Poor coordination with this resort.

But yeah, overall there was a minimum wait of 15m and more often, 20m+. Sometimes, extremely rarely, you'd get there and the bus you want just showed up. But that was very rare. We went during spring break so the busses were generally crowded - not at the North Depot where we got on, but certainly by the end!

Oddly, we never had this problem at the Swalphin or CS.

 

[JustJude]

I see why folks like this so called bubble however I don't want to have to rob a bank to have a few cocktails or some food either. Love a wee stroll to happy hour

 

[luv]

Staying offsite doesn't mean you can't take the bus! If you just love taking the bus and hate the hassle of driving, you can still take the bus! Orlando has busses, too.

I don't personally enjoy taking the bus and don't do that in Orlando or in Disney, but its there!

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Staying offsite doesn't mean you can't take the bus! If you just love taking the bus and hate the hassle of driving, you can still take the bus! Orlando has busses, too.

I don't personally enjoy taking the bus and don't do that in Orlando or in Disney, but its there!

Of course. But that means relying on your particular hotel's "shuttle" which tends to leave at particular times or on a schedule in the mornings and evenings, and not so much during the day. They may also lump everyone "going to Disney" on one bus, meaning a longer journey overall. You need to pay attention to when and how often they depart and also how early/late. If you should miss your intended bus, consider the consequences.

Just sayin' - be informed!

 

[luv]

Of course. But that means relying on your particular hotel's "shuttle" which tends to leave at particular times or on a schedule in the mornings and evenings, and not so much during the day. They may also lump everyone "going to Disney" on one bus, meaning a longer journey overall. You need to pay attention to when and how often they depart and also how early/late. If you should miss your intended bus, consider the consequences.

Just sayin' - be informed!

You don't need the shuttle. You can take the bus. Go to the bus stop, get on...regular bus. Less convenient than a car, but so are Disney busses (with the exception of the MK if you leave before closing.)

Just for people who say they'd stay off the Disney property, but love taking the bus - they can do that!

 

[jenji124]

Definitely onsite. We've said offsite once and it was a downtown Disney hotel. We still felt like we weren't at Disney. We want to be surrounded by the bubble all times. I won't go if it can't be onsite.

 

[lebeau]

^ Ouch! That's horrible. But interesting, too - what caught my eye? You said Port Orleans! Riverside? That's where we stayed too and I noticed all the bus issues. I wonder if that resort is too big for the frequency of busses that roll through there or something? Poor coordination with this resort.

But yeah, overall there was a minimum wait of 15m and more often, 20m+. Sometimes, extremely rarely, you'd get there and the bus you want just showed up. But that was very rare. We went during spring break so the busses were generally crowded - not at the North Depot where we got on, but certainly by the end!

Oddly, we never had this problem at the Swalphin or CS.

Yep. It was Riverside. I got the impression that French Quarter had slightly better bus service. They got picked up last on the way out to the parks and dropped off first which meant shorter bus trips. Also, we would see FQ-only buses, but never Riverside exclusive buses. Which is counter-intuitive given that Riverside is the larger of the two.

In 2012, we stayed at Art of Animation which had its own bus route. We didn't have any nightmares like at POR. But the waits were longer than they used to be. There was a time when the average wait for a bus was 10-15 minutes. Worst case, you waited 20 minutes. That used to happen once per trip. But lately, we run into 20 minute waits pretty often. And not even at park close.

Definitely agree with you on the coordination. There has to be a better way. I'm sure Disney could cut down on bus waits, but clearly they don't believe it is worth the expense. But the poor bus service has had me second-guessing whether or not it is still worthwhile to stay on site.

 

[real mad hatter]

I see why folks like this so called bubble however I don't want to have to rob a bank to have a few cocktails or some food either. Love a wee stroll to happy hour

We don't like the Bubble..We love it..However you don't need to rob a bank for a cocktail..Even myself ( a typical Scotsman ) with hard saving every penny/dime can afford to live in the Bubble,at least just once.However there is a problem.Once you've experienced staying inside the magic and leaving the sad world outside.A Disney vacation will never feel the same.This is only my opinion.I was once an offsite vacationer,but never again..