Having second thoughts about $300 for the night.

[sandheichert]

Booked a trip for december for my family last month. I am having trouble dealing with the price of the room due to the fact that our children are still young. 1yo boy and 6 yo girl. Has anyone stayed at The Horizons by Marriot?

 

[wdwfan100]

I have not stayed there and I understand your reservations about the expense. We usually stayed on the property and one of the ways we justified some of the cost of that was that we could take frequent breaks from the parks and go to the pool or put the kids down for a nap. The hotels were either a bus, boat or monorail ride away (depending where we stayed). Have you looked at the Swan or Dolphin? It is in that price range and is on the property. Being on the property makes things a lot easier in my opinion. I cerainly am not trying to talk you out of your current resort. Just giving you an opinion.

 

[happymom52003]

Trust me...the fact that your kids are so young is one of the BEST reasons to stay on property. You are booked at the Wilderness Lodge, right?

The WL and any of the monorail loop resorts are the best place to stay with young kids because you have easy access to the Magic Kingdom.

Believe me...with a one year old, you will want to come back to your resort in the afternoons to rest. It is alot more difficult and time consuming to do that if you are staying off property.

I am assuming you can afford the $300....but you just are not sure it will be worth it. Please correct me if I am wrong. If this is the case, then I really, really think you should keep your reservation at the WL. For us, the extra money has always been well worth it (our youngest was one on her first trip as well).

However if budget issues are a concern, I still think you should stay on property....just check out some of the moderate or value resorts.

 

[DivineMadness7]

I get the hesitation at spending $300 but I don't get the off property switch rationalization. There are cheaper options on Disney property that are very good. The values certainly aren't the deluxes and you get what you pay for, but there's nothing wrong with a value or even a moderate at about half the price. I'd urge you to not go off property. I know a lot of people sing its praises, but the convenience of being on property along with the "magic" just trump everything else. ESPECIALLY with young kids. Being able to just hop on those Disney buses and have a quick trip back to your room will be priceless, trust me.

Not telling you to switch, because to me the Wilderness Lodge is worth every penny. But if you do think it's a bit out of what you would like to spend, you should consider looking into Port Orleans Riverside, it is a favorite of my family as well as many on these boards. Good luck!

 

[wdwmomof3]

If you are having second thoughts now, maybe you should reconsider your resort choice. There is nothing in this world wrong with staying at a value or a moderate resort. After all, you are still at Disney. We do not spend enough time in the room to justify paying 300.00 plus a night, so I just can't make myself do it. (yet):animwink:

As for the on site v/s off site, I had rather be on. There is no doubt about it, it's just more magical. What ever you decide to do, you will still have a great time so don't stress about it to much. :animwink:

 

[wdwfan22]

Booked a trip for december for my family last month. I am having trouble dealing with the price of the room due to the fact that our children are still young. 1yo boy and 6 yo girl. Has anyone stayed at The Horizons by Marriot?

I would really suggest staying at a Disney Moderate or value resort. There are many perks to being an onsite guest and it's just easier when the kids are that young. You'll be able to really live the magic day and night

 

[bayoumoon]

Booked a trip for december for my family last month. I am having trouble dealing with the price of the room due to the fact that our children are still young. 1yo boy and 6 yo girl. Has anyone stayed at The Horizons by Marriot?

For about the same price of The Horizons you can easily stay at a Disney Moderate resort. The use of Disney Transportion is a major plus for me, we save the car rental and parking lot fees too. The ease of their system is sooo worth staying on property. Hope you enjoy which ever you choose to do.

 

[gabroccoli]

We have a 3 1/2 year old and stayed at PORS in december. Now don't get me wrong it is convenient staying on property. But we both said next time that we would spend the extra money. To stay on a monorail resort or WL. Due to the fact that we spent most of the time at the MK. I think going off property would be making a mistake.

 

[The Mom]

When I started going to WDW, my oldest was a toddler. We stayed with relatives in Longwood, but the drive just kept getting worse and worse, so I started staying at hotels on "the strip" but the drive just kept getting worse and worse, so finally ended up staying onsite.

20 odd years later, I still won't stay offsite UNLESS there is a reason to be someplace else, such as a meeting, or a plan to spend most of our time at the "other" theme parks.

I agree that the luxury of taking just one bus/boat/monorail ride to your resort, in air-conditioning, beats taking a tram to your car, getting into a hot car, and driving back to a resort to take a nap/swim is worth the extra money. So is the luxury of not having to drive home after an exhausting day of walking around the park. (Although I have been enough times that this is no longer a problem; I only feel as if I have to see anything new, as I've seen everything else dozens of times.)

The fact that I can enjoy a glass of wine, or two, in the evening without worrying about driving is just icing on the cake.

 

[Disneykidder]

As soon as I saw your post, I was thinking exactly what everyone else has said. Stay on property and for that price you are in the magic 24/7. Plus you are close enough to go to your resort for a quick swim, nap or freshening up. For $300, you can stay at AKL and see animals, WL and be right near the MK, Contemporary or Poly and be a mono resort. (Or stay at a mod...1/2 the price you are currently paying) My vote is for a Disney owned resort...then you can justify it more.

 

[fizzle75]

I must echo what many other posters have said and strongly encourage you to stay on property if you feel you must make a switch. If you can afford it though, I can't hype WL enough, it's an amazing resort and it's proximity to MK just sweetens the deal that much more. If money is an issue then I think you should consider staying on property at one of the moderate resorts. All of Disney's moderates are great especially Port Orleans Riverside/French Quarter, Caribbean Beach and (to my surprise)Coronado Springs. The convenience and "magic" of staying on property is worth every single penny so unless you will be spending some of your trip doing things outside of Disney I definitely think you should either keep your current reservation or change to one of Disney's moderate resorts instead.

I hope this helps. Have a great trip!:wave:

 

[dwightshrutefan]

Booked a trip for december for my family last month. I am having trouble dealing with the price of the room due to the fact that our children are still young. 1yo boy and 6 yo girl. Has anyone stayed at The Horizons by Marriot?

Yes! Its extremly nice! Im pretty sure ur kids will love it. Theres a pirate ship in water to play in, and a water play area thing, and mini golf, its really nice.

Id also recommend Grand Vista by Mariott. But only swim in the new area, theres 2 pools and one has a water play area.

Cyprus Harbor by Mariott is also extremly nice!

 

[kangaand2roos]

We styed at POR last year, my kids were 2 and just about 4. It was really convenient. But this year we have decided to stay at Poly b/c its even closer to the MK and the monorail is SO easy with small children. The convenience of being so close to the hotel that we can go back and relax at anytime is worth every penney. My husband and I figure if we are going to splurge for a deluxe hotel, now is the perfect time. When the kids get older the hotel is basically a place to sleep but at their ages now we enjoy the hotel as well as the park so the kids can decompress but yet can get to a park within a few minutes.

 

[sandheichert]

thank you so far.....one other reason I was thinking..

about chaning to a resort off property was the fact it was a 2 bedroom timeshare I was going to get for $645 for the entire week. Marriott Horizons. Good reviews and only about 10 min away. Thanks again for all who have given suggestions.

 

[dwightshrutefan]

about chaning to a resort off property was the fact it was a 2 bedroom timeshare I was going to get for $645 for the entire week. Marriott Horizons. Good reviews and only about 10 min away. Thanks again for all who have given suggestions.

Great Choice!

 

[MasonDuo]

Wow you can't go wrong with a price like that for 2 bedrooms.

 

[Disneykidder]

I'm kind of confused...if it is $645 for the whole week, then it isn't $300 a night. $645 is awesome!! Lots of room and amenities.

I will always love to stay on property. There are also villas in WDW that offer those amenities, too for around $300, maybe a tad more.

 

[Carolyn1717]

For $300 a night why don't you just stay on property. You could do AK or WL and have all the advantages that are given to resort guests. Free transportation all over property, early and late night admission to parks for resort guests only, plus just the convience of being right there close to everything. Gives you the opportunity to go back to your resort during the day maybe for a swim, plus 250 restaurants right there.

 

[sandheichert]

Thanks for all the help .but to clear it up

I am booked currently at WL for about $300 a night. After doing some research I found a Marriott timeshare that I can get a 2 bed with kitchen for $645 for the entire week. I know its about the convience of just getting on the boat and getting to the MK with my 1 yo and 6 yo but I am just torn between saving about $1500 for the week. About $5200 to stay on property (lodging, tickets, food and souvieners) to about $3700 (lodging, tickets, food, car, parking, gas and sounviners...........just so torn. Want the disney experience but t hinking about saving it for a few years until both kids are old enough to REALLY enjoy being just a boat ride from the parks.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

Port Orleans Riverside is wonderful. It is reasonably priced as well. Consider this before staying off property.
1. Extra Magic Hours
2. Dining Plan
3. Disney transportation vs. other transportation vs. driving
4. 24/7 Disney magic
5. Stacy's top 7 show (silly and cheesy show but it really makes me feel very much like I'm at WDW)
6. wake-up calls from Disney characters
7. flexibility to go back to the resort and rest without a huge waste of travel time
8. resort refillable mugs
9. packages sent back to your room from in park purchases
10. towel animals from mousekeeping