Anyone else feel that there's an enormous difference in quality

[ScubaCat]

The main issue with staying off site, to me, is transportation. I wouldn't do it without a car, myself. Some of the hotels do offer pretty good bus service to and from the parks, but I wouldn't depend on it. That said, Uber and lyft definitely make a difference in that regard.

For my family, coming out of a park exhausted late at night, or situations when I want to stay longer and DW and her son are easily able to head back to the hotel separately are a big deal, so we never stay off-site. But unless you are willing to spring for DVC, there are a lot bigger and more reasonably priced options off-site, especially for bigger families, so it always depends on your situation and what's important to you.

 

[snappy]

I stay offsite, eat at table restaurants, take breaks, and have a fabulous time.

Yes, offsite can work amazingly well. I like both on and offsite and our approach vs breaks and eating at signatures are about the same.

 

[Planogirl]

I've routinely stayed both onsite and off-site over the years and it's all good. We used to stay only onsite but we like to try new things plus we discovered that driving to the parks is no big deal and there are great off-site resorts. Also, I've taken rest breaks my whole life even as a teen so age isn't a factor.

I see a lot of assumptions and generalizations that don't always apply.

 

[buzznina]

There is no "one size fits all", so to the OP the answer is no.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I completely agree! I have never stayed off-site and never want to because of the magic I've experienced throughout the years!



I have never stayed off-site so please correct me if I'm wrong, but staying-offsite seems to have a house feel to it. Like most people will return to their vacation rental properties and cook dinner for the night like they do at home. The purpose of a vacation is to "vacate" your daily routine. I would feel too much at home if I had to meal prep/cook, be concerned with cleaning a home, etc. I know people on-site purchase groceries, but it's just not the same.

I don't go back to my spacious, roomy, 2 bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (which is ON property) and cook a meal.

The only thing we do, which many do even staying on property in a Disney resort is eat breakfast in our room. We don't do that to "save money." We do it save TIME. Everyone can be eating while others are getting ready and out the door we go.

With my fully equipped kitchen for $250/night, I am not limited to pop tarts and juice boxes, either.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I feel that the vacation style #1 is suited better for older people, or people with young kids. I'm 23, have no kids, and would feel crazy going back to a resort to SWIM everyday, or take a nap. I don't need a three+ hour break everyday, and honestly, the park tickets are expensive--I'm not going to waste them by going back to bed after 4 hours.

Also, as everyone has said, there is no 1 or 2. There's about a thousand ways to go to WDW.
We go moderate, Rope Drop to park close (somewhat commando), with long Table service "breaks" and occasional jaunts to the resorts along the monorail line. We enjoy ourselves greatly and love packing it all in.

Maybe someday when we're old, or when we have small children, we'll change. I remember a family vacation from when I was about 6 when we did a #2 kind of vacation (offsite, all day, no stopping for real food) and I was miserable. But, as I said, I was 6.

My kids love midday breaks at 18 and 12. I loved midday breaks since I went to WDW for the first time at 20. We don't look at park tickets as being expensive and having to get the most money out of them. We just look at the whole price of the vacation including hotel, food and tickets. We are also paying for our hotel and like to take advantage of what it offers. Parks for 12+ hours a day does not sound fun to me at all. Or for my kids. They love getting out of the park and hanging at the pool. Disney isn't a parks only trip for me.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

My kids love midday breaks at 18 and 12. I loved midday breaks since I went to WDW for the first time at 20. We don't look at park tickets as being expensive and having to get the most money out of them. We just look at the whole price of the vacation including hotel, food and tickets. We are also paying for our hotel and like to take advantage of what it offers. Parks for 12+ hours a day does not sound fun to me at all. Or for my kids. They love getting out of the park and hanging at the pool. Disney isn't a parks only trip for me.

Good for you and finding a touring style YOU like.

 

[ScubaCat]

They love getting out of the park and hanging at the pool.

Same for us. We spend about half of every day at the pool. Hence, BCV!

 

[Marionnette]

My kids love midday breaks at 18 and 12. I loved midday breaks since I went to WDW for the first time at 20. We don't look at park tickets as being expensive and having to get the most money out of them. We just look at the whole price of the vacation including hotel, food and tickets. We are also paying for our hotel and like to take advantage of what it offers. Parks for 12+ hours a day does not sound fun to me at all. Or for my kids. They love getting out of the park and hanging at the pool. Disney isn't a parks only trip for me.

We take a similar approach. We own DVC, have APs and know that if we don't get to experience something on the current trip, there's always goings to be another Disney vacation. I look at the bottom line for the total cost of the trip and not "OMG, I spent $$$ for today's admission! I must squeeze every last minute of park time from it!" Maybe that's because I'm "old" and have a different perspective on life in general. But FWIW, I also spent a ton of money on my DVC contracts and- gosh darn it! - I'm going to get every bit of enjoyment out of what the resort has to offer!

Perspective. It's all about perspective. BTW - My in-laws are both 93 and my sister's grandmother-in-law is 101. Now, that's OLD!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Good for you and finding a touring style YOU like.

Yup. It has nothing to do with age or being old. Different strokes and all that.

 

[Nancyg56]

I don't go back to my spacious, roomy, 2 bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek (which is ON property) and cook a meal.

The only thing we do, which many do even staying on property in a Disney resort is eat breakfast in our room. We don't do that to "save money." We do it save TIME. Everyone can be eating while others are getting ready and out the door we go.

With my fully equipped kitchen for $250/night, I am not limited to pop tarts and juice boxes, either.

Exactly. THis is the first time we booked a villa, and are looking forward to having a few conveniences that we were never able to truly take advantage of. We can have a light meal in the villa before heading out to teh parks, and do not need to take time to stop at a CS restaurant We can take leftovers home and heat them up thereby wasting nothing. My DH almost cries watching food get tossed out so he will not need to see my beautiful steak I only ate a portion thrown in the trash. We are not extravagant when we travel to Disney, and goodness knows I could be staying in a 5 bedroom home with a kitchen that would make Julia Child drool, and that oven would never see a meal cooked.

My kids love midday breaks at 18 and 12. I loved midday breaks since I went to WDW for the first time at 20. We don't look at park tickets as being expensive and having to get the most money out of them. We just look at the whole price of the vacation including hotel, food and tickets. We are also paying for our hotel and like to take advantage of what it offers. Parks for 12+ hours a day does not sound fun to me at all. Or for my kids. They love getting out of the park and hanging at the pool. Disney isn't a parks only trip for me.

We do that too. I do break down the components of the trip initially so that when I look for discounts I know which ones will really be a better value, but after that I am done.

I think that one of the reasons some people will marvel at those of us who only spend what amounts to a 1/2 in a park is becuase they might not travel for the lengh of stay that allows for reduction of daily tickets as more days are added on. I just asked my niece if she woudl be up to a park day for a few hours on arrival day. I honestly thought she wanted to relax at the resort, settle in. Nope. She was trying to save money. Jenna, we have 0 day hoppers. WE can go in and out as often as we like.

WE set a budget of how much per person per day for th trip, and usually stay within +/- a few dollars.

 

[Cee]

Always stay onsite. Love it. Never commando. At this point, we do the attractions we love and leave the rest to opt for relaxation and cocktails. Aaaaaaah........

 

[Remy is Up]

I will stay on or off site depending on trip and focus. At the end of the day the commando style isnt the way for us as a planner, I'd rather get up early and do emh, be done by 11 resort till 4 or 5 nice dinner and fps at a park for evening. We have learned how to use emh and fps, so whatever we want to do has minimal lines and we can do a ton and still have a nice sit down dinner and a break in the day to swim, nap, or whatever.

 

[leebee]

We've done both, and enjoy both. Our very first visit was offsite with my sister, BIL, and 13month old niece and DH, DD who was 5, and myself. We went to the parks around 9am, had lunch there, stayed until 6 or 7 (it was March so the parks closed early). We'd drop the boys and the kids off at our hotel (2br unit at Residence Inn). They'd feed the kids and start bath time while my sister and I went to Goodings and picked up heat-at-home meals or ran out to get take out from a restaurant. We did one character meal during that trip and didn't see a single evening parade or fireworks. We had a MAGNIFICENT time, and knew we'd be going back soon. Twenty years and 29 trips later, we are still going back, still mixing it up. We've stay onsite at POP, ASMu, POFQ, CSR, BWI and offsite at a variety of places, including Marriott Vacation Clubs (my sis/BIL are timeshare owners), through HotelKingdom and VRBO, as well as at the cheapest accommodations we could find so we could stay longer. I can't say that one is better than the other, although I ALWAYS am happier when we rent a car, regardless of offsite or on. I hate the Disney busses! Some trips we were commandos, some trips we take mid-day breaks, some trips we go to the parks at 11am and close them down at midnight (or later...). The most cooking I've ever done since that first trip, except for our breakfasts (bagels, cream cheese, yogurt, fruit, cereal), was when my MIL joined us. One evening I threw some chicken parts in a baking dish with a handful of cut up green peppers and onions from the salad bar, covered it all with a jar of pasta sauce, cooked a pot of spaghetti, warmed up some bread, and opened a bag of salad. VOILA! A "home cooked" dinner. Pots, pans, dishes all went in the dishwasher so clean up was minimal.

My point is, unlike the OP's assumption of "trip 1" or "trip 2" there are MANY ways to "do Disney" and we, at least, do a variety of styles. I am looking forward to August, when DD (now almost 25) and I are staying 6 nights at AKL! Dream trip! As we are celebrating her 25th birthday, I suspect we are going to have a couple of pool (bar) days as well as hit the parks. CAN"T WAIT!!

 

[snappy]

We've done both, and enjoy both. Our very first visit was offsite with my sister, BIL, and 13month old niece and DH, DD who was 5, and myself. We went to the parks around 9am, had lunch there, stayed until 6 or 7 (it was March so the parks closed early). We'd drop the boys and the kids off at our hotel (2br unit at Residence Inn). They'd feed the kids and start bath time while my sister and I went to Goodings and picked up heat-at-home meals or ran out to get take out from a restaurant. We did one character meal during that trip and didn't see a single evening parade or fireworks. We had a MAGNIFICENT time, and knew we'd be going back soon. Twenty years and 29 trips later, we are still going back, still mixing it up. We've stay onsite at POP, ASMu, POFQ, CSR, BWI and offsite at a variety of places, including Marriott Vacation Clubs (my sis/BIL are timeshare owners), through HotelKingdom and VRBO, as well as at the cheapest accommodations we could find so we could stay longer. I can't say that one is better than the other, although I ALWAYS am happier when we rent a car, regardless of offsite or on. I hate the Disney busses! Some trips we were commandos, some trips we take mid-day breaks, some trips we go to the parks at 11am and close them down at midnight (or later...). The most cooking I've ever done since that first trip, except for our breakfasts (bagels, cream cheese, yogurt, fruit, cereal), was when my MIL joined us. One evening I threw some chicken parts in a baking dish with a handful of cut up green peppers and onions from the salad bar, covered it all with a jar of pasta sauce, cooked a pot of spaghetti, warmed up some bread, and opened a bag of salad. VOILA! A "home cooked" dinner. Pots, pans, dishes all went in the dishwasher so clean up was minimal.

My point is, unlike the OP's assumption of "trip 1" or "trip 2" there are MANY ways to "do Disney" and we, at least, do a variety of styles. I am looking forward to August, when DD (now almost 25) and I are staying 6 nights at AKL! Dream trip! As we are celebrating her 25th birthday, I suspect we are going to have a couple of pool (bar) days as well as hit the parks. CAN"T WAIT!!

I am with you 100% on renting a car. Like many, I have had some bad experiences with the busses but will take them on occasion. Especially to MK. But having a car gives me a feeling of freedom so I rent cars if we fly, and we still sometimes drive anyway. I know my way around and it is soooo much easier to eat at resort restaurants if you have a car. I am looking at you California Grill and Sanaa.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Yup. It has nothing to do with age or being old. Different strokes and all that.

Yes, for YOU it has nothing to do with YOUR age.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

One thing about staying off site... is your lobby isn't full of people who are not actually staying at your hotel! Some times it's not so easy to go back and relax at a hotel full of people hanging out there who did not pay to stay there. Most relaxing vacation at wdw yet was when we stayed off site.

 

[rentayenta]

Really interesting thread.


I prefer to stay on site in DVC and take things a little slower enjoying the pools and nice meals but to say or insinuate others’ vacations are lesser in quality i.e. less valuable because they do it differently doesn’t seem fair. Not everyone likes the same things. My guess is 99% of the people who take their family to WDW are there to make memories and there are lots of ways to do that. All that glitters isn’t gold.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

BWI & WL are my favorites but I have stayed Value, Mod, and Deluxe. Even tried out the Cabins in 2003.

We love being onsite because a true vacation to us is to park our car and not get in it for 8-10 days.
My family would never do the DDP because to us it is a huge waste of money. We could never eat that much...ever. We have about 5 ADR's and that's enough....we will grab & go most of the time. (Too many rides & shows are awaiting us!)

So I agree we all vacation different. Better for us...may definitely not be better for you.

I do have one question though.
Although off site vacationers do not have a resort room to go freshen up or nap.....there isn't anything to keep them from using resort transportation and with the sunglasses on nap at a resort (lol) or eat at the restaurants.

True or not true?

I can see someone being questioned if they enter a resort pool but that's about it.

Sort of makes me feel a little stupid paying Deluxe prices. I'm not that crazy about the rooms.

We also have our own pool in our backyard so even though the pools are themed and fun they don't interest us much on vacation.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.......... but we do tend to go to our room and put on fresh clothes or freshen up mid day if it's sweltering..... so we will most likely stay on site guests probably forever.

WL has turned into our second home.

 

[Marionnette]

I do have one question though.
Although off site vacationers do not have a resort room to go freshen up or nap.....there isn't anything to keep them from using resort transportation and with the sunglasses on nap at a resort (lol) or eat at the restaurants.

True or not true?

I can see someone being questioned if they enter a resort pool but that's about it.

Sort of makes me feel a little stupid paying Deluxe prices. I'm not that crazy about the rooms.

Yes, day guests can and often do visit the resorts to shop, dine and {{sigh}} catch a nap in the lobbies. Someone even posted the location at the CR which is somewhat secluded and ideal for that afternoon snooze not too long ago. The pools are another story. There are varying degrees of enforcement to the "resort guests only" policy at some pools, SAB's being the most strictly enforced.

IMO, the ability to go back to the room, shower and rest in a real bed trumps snoozing upright in a busy lobby in my sweaty clothes. If those were the only two choices, then staying onsite would be the winner. But a lot of offsite resorts and vacation homes are just as close to the parks (time-wise) as some of the Disney resorts. And no one from housekeeping is going to barge in, interrupting your rest, in order to do a "security" check. So, maybe you and I are both crazy to give our money to Disney when there are options out there that are more affordable and attractive.