On site vs. Offsite
I have to say that many people have more money than I do. I am fortunate enough to have had the cash to buy my wife and I an annual pass and we went on our honeymoon for two weeks. At that time we stayed on site at CBR. Now, I have to say that I loved staying there. I really did. It was beautiful and quiet.
However, I think some people are paying for extra ammenities aside from what comes with the room standard. At CBR, as wonderful as it was, it was nothing more than a normal place. Sure, the room was nice, but CBR has some of the biggest rooms on the entire Disney property (nearly every hotel room other than CBR and one other place is smaller than a standard hotel room in square footage) and was the size of an average hotel room.
It was colorful and clean, but it was no more spectacular inside than any other place than color. YOu can stay at very clean hotels for hundreds PER NIGHT cheaper.
TV shows (Travel Channel) make it sound so incredible, and it is, if you are paying for the rooms they are. The Travel Channel is purchasing the top price of everything you see. You see them getting massages and all. Sure you can get it, but it's HIGH PRICED and NOT included in the price, which some think after seeing these programs.
We got no special treatment or pampering of any type while at CBR, so I dont see what the big deal is. We loved the atmosphere but for the money I just dont see the point of paying that kind of money, unless you go seldomly. When you go rarely, sure, it's nice just to stay on the site, just to know you are there.
Others make the argument of staying on site to allow for easy transportation to parks and back...........................................I can say that is what I was most excited about in preparing for my honeymoon. I even stated on this very board that I didnt want to touch my car after I parked it, until my two weeks was up.
Not only did it not turn out like that, I used my car ALOT the second week.
First of all, like many others have said, the buses are free to everyone. Also, don't fool yourself, people not staying on the property can and will park on your resort, (yes you can go on a resort you are not staying at) and they will actually hop on your bus to go to the parks. We saw it.
Secondly, the buses are EXTREMELY crowded at night on the way back to the resort and some resorts are far away from the MK especiallly which means you could be standing and holding rails for a 15 minute ride.
Thirdly, before you even get the bus to return to your resort from the parks, it may take what seems to be forever to get a bus. No, this isnt just your imagination in waiting. During peak times, it was not uncommon to wait over a half hour to get a bus from MK to CBR.
by the beginning of the second week, we noticed ourselves worn out just from waiting on buses and riding full buses. It got to the point where we felt like we had to be at the station of MK to watch fireworks so that we could be the first out to the bus station. We quickly realize how rediculous that is since we were on our honeymoon, yet, you can't hang around all night and wait, because the crowds gather and the buses only run an hour after park closes.
So, the second week we began driving our own car to the parks, EXCEPT FOR mk. Mk is still quicker by bus because of parking, then monorail/ferry, whereas the bus drops you off at the gate.
Example: After Fantasmic! we waited 15 minutes for a bus (after we arrived at the station) then it took another 15 to finally get dropped off at our stop. Now if you notice CBR is just around the corner from MGM. We drove our own car the next time and from the time we were in the parking lot until we parked at CBR was 8 minutes instead of over 30. This extra times makes a big difference when you are tired.
Sure, it's nice to stay on the property but, it's really not a pampered fill time unless you just have cash to throw around, which I dont.
This time we're going back for our first Anniversary and staying at a NICE hotel off site for MUCH cheaper and it's actually much NICER than CBR (CBR is nice though) and it's nice to know that we'll probably actually be back at our resort before most people on the property.
