How can you afford to stay on-site?

mikeymouse

Well-Known Member
I've tried to compare apples to apples, but its just not possible. There are 6 adults in our party plus 1 infant. We pay $120/night for a 3bdr/3bath pool home for 10 days. King/queen/twin beds. All amenities. With park tickets, ground transportation, and food/souveniers, its about $3000 per couple. For us to stay on site, its at least $500/night and we are talking maybe 1 real bed, a murphy bed, and bunkbeds. Seriously? How do you do it?
 

ann0d

Active Member
I hear you! It is so much cheaper to stay offsite. For the four of us (3 adults and one child, who is charged as an adult anyway, so I might as well say 4 adults) to go down for 12 days it costing us about 895 a day (that is my guessimate right now). We don't go down every year, and we save for it. Also I can justify the expense in my mind. I had cancer twice in the past 3 years, and my whole philosphy about money/life has changed. Of course when I was younger I couldn't afford staying for 13 days and staying at Fort Wilderness, and only went down every 5 or 6 years. Plus raising the kids was the priority.

I guess it all depends on what is important to you. All in all it is crazy the expense.
I think with large groups it definetely pays to stay off site.
 
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real mad hatter

Well-Known Member
Hmm,Let Me See!

Well our 14 day vacation this year,staying again at PORS in July,including flights from Scotland,free QS dining,14 day ultimate tickets,coach transfers from sanford,that's two adults and one teenager,has cost us around $5500.Now that compared to friends who just came back from Euro Disney in Paris which cost them for two adults and a ten year old,$4500,the euro rate is hellish for us Brits,but hey,I told them to push the boat out for Florida instead of France.Com on,Mickey with a French accent,I don't think so:ROFLOL:
 
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minniemickeyfan

Well-Known Member
I think it depends a lot on individual needs. I definitely think your size group can get much better accomodations for the $ than on property. I would have no desire either to sleep on murphy beds. Which is why I can't understand how people would want to pay more for a suite at Art of Animation than to buy 2 standards rooms and rent a refrig for less and have REAL beds. But I guess that's a personal preference.
For us though, we only need a room for the 3 of us, Value's are fine, and for an AP rate of $89-119 a night this May/June it makes sense for us to stay onsite.
 
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draybook

Well-Known Member
For our family of four, with our kids counting as adults, our usual September trip runs about $2100 for 7 days on site. That's because Free Dining is a blessing and we stay at Pop Century. There's no way we'll pay extra money for a room in which we will only sleep and shower in.
 
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DrummerAlly

Well-Known Member
It depends on your family situation and needs.

If you are traveling with multiple adults, multiple children, already plan on renting a car, etc. then of course its cheaper to stay off site.

If you are a family of one or two adults and less than 3 children, then the price difference of off site vs. on site becomes very small when you factor in the cost of a rental car and parking as long as your comparing similar properties. Staying on site is a convenience and doesn't necessarily equate to a crazy expensive vacation for many families.
 
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erinshaneb

Member
We have three adults and two kids going again this year...My father travels with us and he likes his own room (with two young kids, you can't blame him :ROFLOL: ) We have found it's cheaper to do the villas than to get two rooms..we split everything down the middle (yes, techincally we should pay more since there are more of us, but that's how he wants to do it)...we could get a lot cheaper accomadations off site, but we would miss out on stuff I think..we pack so much into a day there, that and figuring driving time (never mind the expense of renting a car and paying for parking), I think we would be cheating ourselves...my husband's philosphy is this "If I am going to Disney, then I am going TO Disney...I want the whole experience" We just budget for it..with the two small kids it's nice to be able to hop a bus if needed to get back to our room in a hurry or play all day at one park and eat dinner at another...it's an added expense, but we feel the pluses way out weigh the minors...(or negatives in the bank..lol :ROFLOL:)
 
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Mrs.Skellington

Active Member
We use to feel the same way. We would always rent a house because for 16 of us, staying on site just seemed so far out of reach. Then, we found out about the free dining. We would spend so much on food and parking that the 150 a night for a house just plus the thousands of dollars on food while in the park was killing us.

We only go every other year but, we save our money and stay onsite now. For a value during the time we are going, it is 910 for 8 nights tax included. Tickets you pay for no matter what. Food, quick service is free but upgrading to the DDP is only 140 per adult for 8 days. I look at this as very cheap.

I know there are more expensive ways to do it but we truly only sleep and shower in the hotel so we really don't need anything bigger or better. ASMo is fine by us.

The total per adult for us is around 700.00 for 8 nights. I would say that is so doable. This includes hotel, food, and tickets. If you think that is expensive, then I would love to see your food bill at the end of your trip.
 
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havoc315

Well-Known Member
Of course it's a matter of priorities.
It's also nearly impossible to to an apples to apples comparison. As there are different pros and cons available on and offsite.

But looking at pure price alone, I think the price difference is overstated sometimes.
Staying on property spares you the need to rent a car. Once you factor in that fairly substantial savings, then offsite isn't a whole lot cheaper than value resorts or moderate resorts.

Of course, for the price of a value/moderate resort, you can undeniably get bigger/nicer accommodations off property. You can get a deluxe level-off-property resort, or a large condo, for far less than Disney charges for their deluxe level rooms.

But of course, staying at a deluxe level resort on-property, has some benefits that you simply can't get off-property. For better or worse, being totally immersed in Disney 24/7. A more "all inclusive vacation"-- where you can just deal with Disney, instead of dealing with Disney, a car rental agency, an off property hotel chain, etc, etc. Extra magic hours. Proximity to the park. (Only by staying on property, can I view Magic Kingdom fireworks every night, and then be in my bed within 5 minutes.)

So from a pure cost-perspective, you do best at a value/moderate on-property, of staying off property. That's not really open to debate.
Beyond that, it's a question of what you get for the money. And your personal preferences and priorities from there.
 
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erinshaneb

Member
I know there are more expensive ways to do it but we truly only sleep and shower in the hotel so we really don't need anything bigger or better. ASMo is fine by us.

Wish my husband felt this way, but no..he likes to have a place to unwind at the end of the night....I know being 6'5 and 240 makes it kinda uncomfortable in a double bed, but...oh well...he pays the bills..:ROFLOL:
 
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sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Discounts. I wouldn't pay rack rate.

Like others have said, it's what works for your family and what you want out of your vacation. We used to stay at Pop and hit the parks as much as possible. Those days our whole 7-9 day vacation for our family of 4 would run a couple thousand dollars or so if that. Over the years we've evolved in what we enjoy and now we find time spent at our resort is just as much fun if not moreso than the parks. If we stayed off-site we'd eat waaaay too much time getting to the car & driving back & forth. Obviously staying in deluxes now we're spending a good bit more than we used to. We save and work towards our vacations throughout the year. It's what works for each family and what they can or are willing to spend.
 
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DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
For us to stay on site, its at least $500/night and we are talking maybe 1 real bed, a murphy bed, and bunkbeds. Seriously? How do you do it?

3 separate rooms would lower your costs and give you better sleeping arrangements.

Renting DVC points may be an option for you to consider.
 
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Poofiesdream

Well-Known Member
We rented a home one year and is was way cheaper and a great place. Plenty of room and our own heated pool! Now we stay on property because my husband uses a scooter to get around. Transporting it would be a big problem even with our car. Taking it apart and putting it back together every day. Disney allow us scooter delivery and pick up from our resort for free from the rental company and the Disney bus's work fine taking the scooter to the parks. You will have a great time what ever you decide!:wave:
 
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38053WDW

Well-Known Member
We have three adults and two kids going again this year...My father travels with us and he likes his own room (with two young kids, you can't blame him :ROFLOL: ) We have found it's cheaper to do the villas than to get two rooms..we split everything down the middle (yes, techincally we should pay more since there are more of us, but that's how he wants to do it)...we could get a lot cheaper accomadations off site, but we would miss out on stuff I think..we pack so much into a day there, that and figuring driving time (never mind the expense of renting a car and paying for parking), I think we would be cheating ourselves...my husband's philosphy is this "If I am going to Disney, then I am going TO Disney...I want the whole experience" We just budget for it..with the two small kids it's nice to be able to hop a bus if needed to get back to our room in a hurry or play all day at one park and eat dinner at another...it's an added expense, but we feel the pluses way out weigh the minors...(or negatives in the bank..lol :ROFLOL:)
"We just budget for it" couldn't have said it better .. we go about every three years and this is our MAJOR vacation so we plan and save up for it. There's nothing like laying your head down in bed at the Contemp and still see the castle changing colors... and I have to get my trian whistle to wake me up every monring :) ..Also the beds/sheets/pillows Contemp vs POP do not even compare when getting that good night sleep .... Last, When we leave we check our luggage in @ the Contemp before heading for the airport ...:D ... Again it is up to you ...
 
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Disnee4Me

Well-Known Member
Get a Disney Visa Card. We have over $1100 on our card in 2007, so we had four free tickets and a couple of hundred off of our room (we stayed at Pop Century). Just don't blow your budget so your paying fees. I charge groceries, gas, my cable bill and our house/car insurance. It really adds up. I have almost $1000 in Disney dollars now (we also went in '08 and '09 and used up whatever Disney dollars we had. But by next year I am hoping to have closer to $2000 Disney dollars, so staying on property won't be a problem. Plus I'll use the card while I'm there, so I'll start building the dollars up for the next trip.
 
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eddiemcgarrigle

Well-Known Member
Free dining and free parking certainly helps. Just those two things account for a large chunk of the cash I spend on holiday. The other thing to consider, travelling from Scotland, is that a summer trip to somewhere in the Med can cost me upwards of £3.5k and staying in a mod at WDW only costs £1k more. The cash difference between the two is closed when you consider I don't have to spend much on food at WDW.
 
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