Dang ! That Magic Bubble.

real mad hatter

real mad hatter

Well-Known Member
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.;)
 
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Jim Chandler

Jim Chandler

Well-Known Member
On or off the BIG question....
On site you can get anywhere without driving yourself and you avoid all parking costs:) .
On site you take the available transportation and put up with all the other families doing the same:eek: .
However going off site can be a major hassle:confused: .

Offsite you can come and go as necessary but you have traffic:oops: and parking costso_O.

If you have kids staying on site IMHO is better you can keep the kids entertained with all that Disney has.
Not to say they can not be entertained off site but Disney is entertainment for kids with out trying.

Adults only, off site works, but for my wife and I, we do onsite when we are going to a
Disney hotel we have not stayed at or for Christmas at the GF.

It all depends on what your overall plans are.
 
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Sarah Rae

Sarah Rae

Member
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.
 
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Jim Chandler

Jim Chandler

Well-Known Member
Sarah Rae said:
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.
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FYI you were still on site just not at a Disney run hotel. Like the Swan and Dolphin the hotels right outside of DTD are on property.
Royal Plaza, Holiday Inn, Wyndham, Doubletree, Buena Vista, and Best Western are on Hotel Plaza Blvd. on Disney property. They were some of the first hotels that Disney had.
 
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HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Ya know- I've priced the Peabody, the Ritz and the Waldorf and while the prices are cheaper than say a garden wing room at the Contemporary and I know those resorts are very luxurious compared to the bulk of the onsite deluxe hotels...I see myself using that room and property a lot more if I'm onsite. i.e. the ease of getting back and forth and taking advantage of your hotel makes it more enticing to keep staying onsite. We stayed offsite from 1985 until our first onsite stay in 2010 and I don't think I could ever do it any other way. It's just so much more relaxing and convenient to us to be onsite. If it wasn't in the budget...I'd probably wait until it was to return. That's not to say that our offsite stay trips were horrible, but there were enough transportation nightmares and letdowns from being outside the bubble that it's just not something i want to do again.
 
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popcenturylover

popcenturylover

Well-Known Member
We've considered staying off-site for our next trip but, adding up the "extra costs". Meaning- the resort fees & parking in the parks each day plus, missing the "Magic". Just not worth it to us! The only way I believe that we'll stay off-site is if we bring all 3 of our kids, son-in-law, & Grandbaby. Then & only then might it be worth it!
 
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danpam1024

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
Depends- if I really don't have the money, but NEED to get my "fix", we will stay at a Hilton (points usually get us a free night or two). We just take taxis. If we are planning on 7+ days on property and I've been actively planning (dreaming) of it and something happens, I'd rather shorten the vacation or push it back or downgrade the room and be on property.
 
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StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
I'm really spoiled. There's no way...I think I can figure out a way to stay on site, even if it means staying at All-Star, than staying off site. Of course, as an adult I'll be living and working down there, so I guess I won't have much of a choice.

My family also owns DVC. There's no longer a need to stay offsite. If there ever was before.

It was strange travelling to Hawaii in June because it was the first time in six years that I've stayed someplace non Disney. Granted, the Hilton Hawaiian was nice, but still. Not surprisingly, I was able to relax a whole lot more over at Aulani. It just had that Disney feel, you know?
 
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Pooh Lover

Pooh Lover

Well-Known Member
The enjoyment we feel from staying at our resort is the main reason I don't seriously consider moving to Florida. I want to stay on site and totally immerse myself in Disney with next to no outside world influences. Watching the news at night is as close as it gets and is sometimes a buzz kill. For me, the resort is at least half of my experience and I wouldn't be willing to give it up.
 
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DimpledDevil18

DimpledDevil18

Well-Known Member
We had always stayed off site and really were pretty content in doing so until my brother won a three night stay on property at Dixie Landings through Boy Scouts. We of course wound up adding on to the trip and split our stay between Dixie Landings and the Days Inn Suites in Kissimee we had always stayed in. What a let down it was having to leave Disney property and move off site. It just could not compare! From that point on we always stayed at a value resort on property. The benefits definitely outweigh the costs for us.
 
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M

MountainMedic'sWife

Active Member
I can't adequately answer because we have never stayed onsite as a family but, for us, offsite works well. And it is about money. We are lucky enough to get a condo for free or very cheap through my husband's father and are able to go more often because of it. We have four kids so the extra space and the kitchen are well worth it. And because I can pick the complex we would like to stay at, I can get us very close to Disney so driving has just never been a problem. Now if we were looking at one hotel versus another, I'm not sure the answer would be the same.
 
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Littlekitten73

Littlekitten73

Well-Known Member
MountainMedic'sWife said:
I can't adequately answer because we have never stayed onsite as a family but, for us, offsite works well. And it is about money. We are lucky enough to get a condo for free or very cheap through my husband's father and are able to go more often because of it. We have four kids so the extra space and the kitchen are well worth it. And because I can pick the complex we would like to stay at, I can get us very close to Disney so driving has just never been a problem. Now if we were looking at one hotel versus another, I'm not sure the answer would be the same.
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It's the same for us we have been 4 times and soon to be going in our fifth. We really do love playing with the mouse and all he has to offer, but like the conforts of home too!! So we compromise and we hire a villa for our vacation. We can come and go as we please and have our own pool. We vacation with my husbands elderly mother and she likes her privacy, along with our two kids 14 and 10 who are at that age!!! So for us a villa offsite is good!!!
It saves us at least $1500 over the 2 weeks.

Although one of these days I'm going persuade my DH to let us stay at the Flordian just once ;)
 
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ImagineerDude

ImagineerDude

Well-Known Member
If it were up to me, the bubble for sure with an MK view! But we actually have a view of the World and fireworks from our timeshare off property which is super nice and on a golf course. It's so nice waking up in my own bedroom looking out to see the Contemporary and tip of the castle with DawM fireworks exploding. I wanna go back NOW!!!!!!!
 
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Skibum1970

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
Another factor is using the Magical Express. Staying in the bubble means stepping into the bubble at the airport. The welcome video as we ride towards our hotel and not having to rent a car are two nice points. People have mentioned not fighting traffic and that is very awesome. I was in FL on business and rented a car for personal use to go to MK. First time that I had to take the monorail and parking tram in order to get to the MK. While fun (the monorail, not the tram), I so missed picking up a bus at a resort. I don't mind having to wait for a resort shuttle as it is simply awesome being there. I even love the television channel that shows the lady talking about Disney stuff to do, 24 hours a day. I just feel that, if we stayed offsite, we would feel as if we somehow cheated ourselves. I know that's ridiculous but it is how we would feel.
 
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