Offsite Hotel Recommendations

Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
Hoping to go back to WDW this fall, and have been pricing
staying at Port Orleans Riverside.

I see a lot of chat about how you can save a lot of money by
staying off-site and renting a car.

Anyone had any good experiences with doing such a thing,
and can recommend some places for me to look at?

It would have to be a big saving to make up for no in-world transportation,
extra magic hours, Disney's Magical Express, not to mention the feeling of
being 'in the world' for a week.

But, I still want to look into it, and was hoping I could get some
good insight to help me sort through some options.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and contributions!:wave:
 
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DisneyGigi

DisneyGigi

Well-Known Member
We used to stay offsite but to be honest we were not saving that much money. Maybe a hundred dollars. If you take into consideration the parking as mentioned above plus losing the perks that come along with staying onsite it really is not worth it to me. The only way that I could see a big savings would be if you were using a time share which we did once, at the Sheraton Vistana and of course we got a huge 2 room condo that was very nice but we were hardly there anyway so the space didn't even matter that much. I prefer onsite.
 
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A

ann0d

Active Member
We always stay offsite at a Condo called The Marriott Sabel Palms, right down the road from Disney. No redlights, closer to the parks then some of the onsite hotels, very close to Downtown Disney.
Sure the parking costs extra, but we like the freedom of having a car and not having to do everything in Disney.
Just my opinion.
 
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DisneyMom4

DisneyMom4

Member
I just won't stay off-site. Years and years ago I did - before I knew how to get discounts and special offers. It was such a hassle each day to drive and park - no mid day breaks - no Disney magic.

I know that a lot of people say you save money, but I don't know how much when you factor in car rental, gas, parking fees, etc.
 
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Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yeah, see, everyone here is saying what I felt/thought.

I just can't see saving enough money to make it worthwhile.

You know, I'm planning to stay at a moderate for seven nights. I've got three kids.

So, with rent-a-car, plus parking, minus magic, I don't see how it can be that good of a deal. And yet, you keep hearing that staying off-site is such a big savings. Maybe it's because you don't spend as much on food or something.

Still looking for any other recommendations on this, though, thank you all for your thoughts!
 
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M

Mickey-Mommy

New Member
We have a condo up where we live and swap it for a week or 2 and stay off property. Sure, we have our maintance fee, membership fee and swap fee, but it's allowed us to stay at Boardwalk Villas twice and Beach Club Villas once without having to pay such high prices. My mother in law bought it when the property first opened and you can buy units as cheap as $1,000 and maintance fees only $250. I would love to buy into DVC, but just can't afford to do so. So this is a much cheaper option for us. We also drove down on our last trip and it was cheaper than if we would've flown. We're driving down in September too. That way we have our own car and don't have to rent one. This time though, we're staying at POR so won't have to pay for parking, but are planning on driving to the parks every day to avoid the buses and having to fold our stroller up.

If we don't swap a condo for either inside Disney or off-site, we stay on property. Only 1 time did we ever spend money to stay at a resort off property. We got a 1-bedroom at Westgate towers for only $99 per night. A 2-bedroom was only $129 per night, but we didn't need that much space. You can get good deals like that if you just search around. I wouldn't pay that much for a regular hotel off-site.

I'm sure you would still have fun off-site, but I only recommend doing so if you plan on doing other things besides Disney. If you're only doing Disney, stay with Disney!
 
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J

Jasmine89

New Member
My family has always stayed off-site but it beacause we have a time share. We stayed in a hotel off-site and it was horrible plus we werent staying on sote.
But we prefer it because it saves us a lot of money on food. and as seeing we are a family of five the space is better in a time-share.
if you can rent one i would recommend it but if you are going to stay at a hotel make it an on-site hotel.
 
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amontpet

New Member
We have gone to DW several times and have always stayed off site to keep expenses down. We have a timeshare so we always have a full kitchen and washer/dryer in our condo. We have lucked out and got some really good deals. Because of a last minute booking at SeaWorld Hilton we got a huge 3 bedroom condo for under $200 for a week. It was because of a hurricane had damage where we were going to stay and then we did not have accomodations. So we lucked out and got above deal. My Mother-inlaw came with us so the extra room was nice. Another time we paid around $650 for a week for a 3 bedroom lock off condo at Summer Bay. Again we went with friends and it nice to have separate units and we split the $650 between the 2 families.

We prefer to be able to save time and eat breakfast before we go to the parks and we bring snacks for the kids. We always go to a Wal-mart Super Center to stock up and get a lot of souveniers too. Towels and t-shirts are really cute and inexpensive.

We love the flexibilty of having a car. We don't have to worry about what time to get to the bus stop and if there will be room on the bus. You can find discount codes for car rentals on the following website. http://www.mousesavers.com/rentalcar.html

Then depending if we are at the parks all day or not we could have dinner in our condo as well. We noticed we could eat healthier meals for a fraction of what we would have paid in the parks.

Another thing you will have to take into consideration is if free dining is on at that time. We are considering to go again next year (combine with a cruise) and if free dining is on we may consider staying on site. I would love to do it once! As others have stated it is hard to put a price tag on the "magic" factor and extra magic hour. In the past we have not been able to justify the extra cost of staying on site. We have always gone for a week and a half to 2 weeks. So next time we would be there for 5 - 7 days. If you are going in the fall you should be able to find some really good deals for off site resorts. Good luck with your decision!
 
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NiarrNDisney

NiarrNDisney

Well-Known Member
They are not really off site but I did have great experiences at the Hilton and the DoubleTree in DTD. Also I have heard from my family members that the Regal Sun (DTD) and the Gaylord Palms were great. I once stayed at the Nickelodeon Family Suites once, OMG it was a little scary but when you are spending most of your time at the parks its not that bad also the breakfast buffet was good and an added bonus.
Edit - Avoid the Holiday Inn NikkiBird Yuck yuck yuck...
 
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K

Keri

New Member
We stayed at Tropical Palms several years ago. It's just a short distance down the road from Disney. We enjoyed it VERY much. It's similar to a campground but you stay in a modular. It sleeps 8, you have a kitchenette, and a private deck. The pool is HUGE! It's also right next to Old Town. There were 8 of us and a few years back it cost only $98 a night. Check it out.
http://www.tropicalpalmsresortfl.com/
 
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S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
We always stay offsite close to the parks. We have annual passes so there is no parking fees. We like the freedom of coming out of the park in the evening, hoping in our car and out in minutes. Don't care for waiting on crowded busses or waiting on the right one to come along, etc. We like to explore the area and often dine outside rather then inside. We always arrive at opening in the mornings and do not take the mid-day breaks as so many do and we often leave the park(s) by dark for the day.
 
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retlaw_yensid

retlaw_yensid

Member
Honestly, if you are worried about costs, I would recommend staying at a Value resort. We always stay at Pop Century. We always say...we're not in WDW for the hotel...it's just a place to crash...but we at least want to stay on Disney property to get all the Disney perks and convenience.
 
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Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
kwlundy said:
Honestly, if you are worried about costs, I would recommend staying at a Value resort. We always stay at Pop Century. We always say...we're not in WDW for the hotel...it's just a place to crash...but we at least want to stay on Disney property to get all the Disney perks and convenience.
Click to expand...

I think this is good advice, but it won't work for us. We have three kids,
and in order for us all to sleep, we'd need a suite. If we go suite, it's
more expensive than a regular room with a trundle bed at PORS.

Well, what I'm seeing here, and this isn't a bad thing, is that my decision
last time to go to the moderate PORS wasn't a bad one.

I wonder why I keep reading "stay off-site, you'll save a ton of money"?
It's a myth, it seems, that won't go away.

For me, I guess, "meal management" is the biggest place to save money
on a trip.
 
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PrincessMiko

PrincessMiko

New Member
The only time I have found that it is better to stay off-site is if you are doing more that just Disney. The best resource we have found for off-site accomodations is vrbo.com where you can rent actual homes and condos. This significantly cuts down on the cost of food. (A $10 trip to the grocery store for milk and cereal vs. $100 every morning for breakfast buffets)
The vacation rentals are also nice because everyone gets their own room (in most cases) and there is more than one bathroom.
 
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