Offsite...not my cup of tea

[Fritz_and_Ernst]

Forgive me, I know there are so many posts about offsite vs. onsite. This is my two cents and I did not want to post to an old thread. If you are tired of the subject leave it alone.
Just got back from staying at the Westgate Towncenter off of 192. Westgate has some very nice "condo" accommodations. With 8 adults and 6 kids, we fit very nicely into two one-bedroom units. Full kitchens, washer/dryer, really nice rooms. I felt it was clean, especially compared to some the resorts you see along I-4 and 192.
It had a very nice location. We could get to the Studios in less than five minutes. Compared to some onsite resorts, getting to the parks was almost the same time.
But after staying 27 times onsite, my first time offsite just does not live up to the experience of staying within the WDW compound.
Here are the things I find difficult about staying offsite:
1. Getting to the parks. The best example of this is the Magic Kingdom. In what I think they would change the design if they were to rebuild it, the 1.5 mile from the TTC to the MK is horrible. You do not realize how nice it is to be dropped off right at the entrance.
2. Parking. Being AP holders, we did not have to pay, but I can't imagine if we were shelling out the $14 a day for parking. That is cutting into the money you saved by staying offsite.
3. Food. We go on vacation to live like we don't usually live. Although I often have said Disney food is good and not great, they are different experiences, including counter service. Our resort had a deli and a Pizza Hut Express. I have a Pizza Hut 2 minutes from my home. We could go out on 192 to the Burger Kings, McDonalds, etc. It is just not the same as booking an ADR in your hotel restaurant or walk to the counter service venue.
4. Clientele. Just not the same. Very messy, loud, etc. Just everyone had a different feel.
5. The feeling. Sorry it is corny and bashed by pro-offsite people, but you lose the feeling of being at Disney. From the staff to the gift shop to the refillable mugs to the cleanliness of the resorts, IMHO this is why you go to Disney. You get so wrapped into it, you forget that the rest of the world is still going on.
For me and my family, we will continue to stay onsite. (We stayed off because my father in law won the trip in a church auction.)

PS Here is the main story of why I know we will always stay onsite. We are at AK, and my 1 1/2 year son is just being super cranky. Well we are there in a pack of 12 w/ two cars. My other son is 5 and ready to party. On one of our normal vacations my wife would just return to the hotel in the car or take a bus. In this situation, I would have had to take her back to the hotel, go back to AK and pick everyone else up later.
I just don't think there is any comparison.

 

[Fritz_and_Ernst]

One more thing, our midday break/nap. We take off when its hot and crowded. Easy to do when all you do is hop on WDW transportation. Not as much fun when off and you are transporting yourself. Battling 192 or I4 traffic anytime after 8 am is just not fun.

 

[NewfieFan]

Interesting thoughts... thanks for sharing.

I, myself haven't ventured off property yet... don't have any interest to! (Even though, folks say there are a lot better accomodations for a lot less $$$.)

Put me in the corny pile too... I like being at Disney 24/7! It's why I go to Disney - to escape the real world.

I understand why some people go off-site and why they might even prefer it... but it's not for me!

 

[Biff215]

1. Getting to the parks. The best example of this is the Magic Kingdom. In what I think they would change the design if they were to rebuild it, the 1.5 mile from the TTC to the MK is horrible. You do not realize how nice it is to be dropped off right at the entrance.

I agree that having to go through the TTC to get to MK is a pain, and they have designed all of the other WDW parks differently. It is an obvious advantage to staying on-site, however, so I'm not sure Disney would change it even if they could. Who knew Walt's idea would turn out to be a major perk one day!

As DVC members we are all about being on property. Other than cost, I can't think of a single advantage for our family staying anyplace else. And I'm on vacation, so I'm fully prepared to spend money! :lol:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

[stitchsMom]

I can't help but agree with your opinion. We have gone down several times since part of our family moved to Orlando over 25 years ago. We always felt that we had to pick one park to go to, there was no park hopping for us! And there were no breaks to head to the pool, check out a restaurant, etc. The theory was that since we had to make the drive, and pay the parking, we had to stay at the park the whole day. Once we started staying on property... wow what a difference. It seemed the whole experience was so much more enjoyable. I will never stay offsite again.

 

[kangaand2roos]

I agree with you too. We went last year for a couple days and stayed off site because someone was paying for the hotel for us, both my husband and I agreed there is no comparison to staying WDW. We both said if there is an extra cost by staying there it is completely worth it.

 

[wolf359]

I've only stayed off property three times, and two of those were on school group trips. That one time I stayed off property on a "leisure" trip was at Westgate also, and I came to the same conclusion.

We got a great rate for staying there, but I couldn't imagine staying off property as my normal way of visiting Disney World.

As you already mentioned getting to and from the parks was a bit of a chore and the resort was certainly less magical.

I know many people justify staying off property because they see the hotel room as only a place to lay their head but losing Extra Magic Hours and package delivery, and paying for parking all made a big difference in the actual theme park experience.

 

[zjer]

I stay onsite because there is nothing like the feeling of waking up early and stepping outisde into the warm, damp air, knowing it is just a short jaunt to the bus stop where you can be at any park you want in ten to fifteen minutes.

I know purely from a hotel perspective, I am getting less for my money staying onsite, however from a vacation perspective staying onsite is a fantastic deal.

I don't want to go to Orlando, I want to go to Disney World.

 

[One Lil Spark]

I've done it both ways, but most definitely prefer on property. After a long day going at the parks kamikaze style and fighting the crowds to leave the gates, the last thing I wanted to do was drive back to our hotel. Letting Disney Transportation drive me home was so much easier. :lol:

 

[wm49rs]

I enjoy staying onsite, and usually do for at least a few days during each trip we go on, but the amount of money we save staying offsite is just too much to pass up on. I'm not sure exactly where you were staying, but our condo in Windsor Hills is convenient to all of the parks, and when we don't have ADRs we'll make something there. I think we also enjoy having the laundry at our immediate disposal because it allows us to take fewer clothes and reduce the packing loads. But I understand why anyone woudl prefer to stay on the grounds. We probably would as well; we just can't afford to do so.....

 

[Fritz_and_Ernst]

Offsite you are getting more room for your buck. Also, I know financially it is more feasible.
This trip we had just made it so painfully obvious how much we love staying on. And I just want to add with two kids 1 and 5, we are just blown away by the Contemporary. Love the walking path to the MK. My 5 year old could ride everything all day and never leave.

 

[wm49rs]

Offsite you are getting more room for your buck. Also, I know financially it is more feasible.
This trip we had just made it so painfully obvious how much we love staying on. And I just want to add with two kids 1 and 5, we are just blown away by the Contemporary. Love the walking path to the MK. My 5 year old could ride everything all day and never leave.

We've enjoyed the Contemporary as well. We also really like the FW Cabins for a longer vacation.....

 

[Nemo14]

We swore by staying on-site when our kids were younger, but I think you'll find as they get older and privacy issues and a host of other angsts come into play, that you'll have a much greater appreciation for staying off-site. JMHO.

 

[Susan Savia]

As long time Annual Pass holders, we have never stayed onsite. We have perfect accommodatons just outside the gate and we are just minutes to the door. We figure our time in the parks from rope drop to dark each day is long enough without adding more hours to the end of the day with the EMHs. We've never had a desire to waste time by leaving the parks to return to our room to sleep or swim. We can sleep later or swim at home. We are on vacation. Our accommodations are large, clean, safe and the staff are friendly and helpful. We have many ammenities included that Disney does not such as a fridge in our room and wireless internet. We're not big eaters so we don't often eat in the parks. We enjoy a good dinner offsite which is a big savings. There are many fine restaurants in the area and I am not speaking of Burger King. Going in the off season like we do, crowd levels are low and temps are comfortable. For early 2011 we recently booked 10 nights for $350. (It cost this much for one night at a lot of the Disney resorts) I know the Disney Resorts are beautiful and expensive. Looked at the pictures, read the reports. No, we don't lose anything by staying offsite. I can turn down my own bed. We also dont care for standing in lines waiting on busses or a room so far from the front it takes 20 minutes to get to it. We like parking at our door for easy packing and unpacking access. There are so many pros and cons about onsite or offsite. We all make choices. Our choice is the HUGE savings we get which also enables us to go on 2 or 3 other week long vacations every year. As they say, these are my 2cents worth.

 

[Fritz_and_Ernst]

Susan,
If you don't mind sharing, what is your favorite offsite.

 

[matt_taylor1985]

We love staying off-site. We've only stayed on-site once and it was at POR, which we really loved and would love to go back to, but...

Last year I didn't hire a car and when tired, I would disagree about using the Disney transport for convenience. My parents now own a house at Sandy Ridge, near Champion's Gate. It takes us literally 10 minutes to get from MK to our house (i've timed it ). When tired, I loved that I could walk out to my car this year and just jet off, whilst many were still waiting on resort buses.

We find that, coming from the UK, many things that are common place to US travellers, are new and exciting to us, such as simple things like food to us. We like being able to go out and do some shopping and bring it back and stock up our kitchen.

We do laundry and go out to the parks, then deal with it when we get home. We can come back to our own pool and go in as and when we like without thinking if it's bothering anyone.

We have a games room with air hockey, pool table and xbox 360. All things that are good for down time.

That being said, we did love POR and would definately go back and stay there. There's just no way, I can justify paying the price for the hotels that Disney alot of the time, charge.

I loved the boats at POR, the foodcourt, silly things like our refillable mugs. I loved being on site at all times and yes, I did miss not being there all the time this year, but again, coming from the UK, there's many things that we don't get here that are a nice novelty when we get to the US.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Never stayed offsite, but we did consider it and then realized why we were going to disney, to have a vacation and not have to worry about a thing. Its great to just hop on a bus or monorail and go where ever you want. Its easy to leave a park in the afternoon and then go back at night or to another park. We know the world, and thats where we want to stay.:sohappy:

 

[glee]

I love the excitement of travelling to disney each morning. Plus i prefer having our own car because you dont have to wait for stupid buses. You can go any place you want and you eat healthier because you can travel away from McDonalds etc.:king::animwink:

 

[Missin_Disney]

Its a tough one.

As a previous poster commented, when coming from the UK its a whole experience for us Brits!!

I have stayed on site at the WL and it blew me and my wife away, the whole experience was amazing.

BUT....now we have 2 young children (1 and 3) for our next visit in 24 days time, and i cant think of anything worse than once they are tired and need their bed than to be confined to a hotel room (which arent that big) from 7pm onwards.

The houses we stay in, they have their own room, and we can sit and relax by the pool, drink in hand until its our bed time :animwink:

If it was just the 2 of us it would be on property every time, but as a family the freedom of our own house for a couple of weeks beats it hands down.

 

[bugsbunny]

After 20+ trips, I'm ready to stay off-site. The convenience of being dropped off out front by a bus is TOTALLY negated by the bus system itself. I'm sick of having to stand on every bus, put up with the scooters, and wait 30-45 minutes just to get one.

Prepare to crucify me for being pure evil, but to get around the TTC and/or paying for parking, I just go to WL or any monorail hotel when going to MK. Just tell the guard at the front of the hotel you are there to eat breakfast or whatever. Then just park in their lot and jump on the monorail/boat. At the Contemp, its a 3-5 minute walk to the front of MK. No TTC and no tram! :ROFLOL: