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

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I know I have some in the old photo albums. It’s finding the albums that may be a challenge . . .They are in the same one from our first PO stay that had plastic key cards with patterns of holes to unlock the doors. When we first stayed at CR they had regular metal keys you turned back in at the end of the stay. The top of the key was shaped like the outline of the tower.

We stayed off property for years and never felt like we were missing out, but WDW was much smaller then. Even living where I can see WDW from my driveway, I prefer an on property stay to making day trips from the house. In the back of my mind I am always dreading the drive home when I do a day trip. I don’t stay in the parks nearly as late when I don’t stay on property.

Real keys? Wow that brought me back. It's been forever and a day since I stayed at a place with real keys and nowadays you've got keyless entry at certain places. That is seriously cool theming with the actual key you had back then.

Last year I found a park ticket from 1999 that I know I used a day or two left over days in 2005. I also found a few souvenirs from past trips. I don't have the sharpest memory of those earlier trips as I previously stated but those souvenirs at least give me a happy smile lol.

BTW that's really cool that you live that close to WDW.

 

[Huff]

Our first on property stay was 1986, and we had to show ID for transportation.

Prior to the opening of Epcot in 1982 Disney transportation was very limited. Generally only monorail guests needed to use it. Otherwise they used their own car. In 1982 when Epcot opened and monorail extended Disney started selling 3 or 4 day park hopper tickets. I believe these tickets allowed access to the monorail for offsite guests. Single park offsite guests could not ride.

 

[Huff]

I could stay 20 minutes away for free w/ my ILs and pay to stay on property...so for us it is a significant difference!

I would pay the difference!!!!! IL's are not always considered 'vacation'! lol

 

[coast2coastmickey]

Quite a number of offsite resorts that are on par with Disney deluxe's also charge for parking or resort fee's. Your style would also not work for us as we ALWAYS park hop to other parks and to various resorts for dinner or lunch. Having to go out of the park, walk to our car, drive elsewhere, shuttle or walk to next park or resort is a PITA and slow. We find Disney transportation far faster and easier. Sure you can use that but then you'd have to get back to your car. Again, a PITA! I could easily get a very nice 3 or 4* offsite hotel for about the same as I'm paying for a value or moderate but the convenience of onsite is worth some $'s to me.

Sure, other places charge for parking and resort fees. But I don't care about that. I care about the total, out of pocket cost to me. Even including parking and resort fees, it's easy to find suite-style accommodation (meaning a kitchen, bedroom, and living room), for $150 per night or less, just a few minutes (yes, just a few minutes) outside of the WDW boundaries. We're not talking roachy bedbuggy condos either. We're talking fully equipped and granite-pretty kitchens, super comfy mattresses, and spotless clean rooms.

Also, I disagree that Disney resort transportation is quicker. Sometimes it is, sometimes it in't. Walking to a bus stop is just as far as walking to a car in most cases (MK is the main exception). While you're waiting for a bus, I'm starting my car and blasting the A/C. I don't have to worry about giving up my seat, because I'm certainly giving it up to women/children/elderly if I'm on a bus. It takes just as long for me to drive from one resort/park to another resort/park as it takes the bus driver to do the same. It takes roughly the same time to walk from the car to the gate or use a parking tram as it takes you to get off the bus and walk to security. Then, we all have to go through security together.

Your only valid point, to me, is that the convenience is worth the $s to you. And for that, I agree that some see it as worth it. As with anything in this world, convenience is always available for a price. In this case though, the convenience you're paying for is removing the "complexity" of a rental car from your vacation planning, but it's not necessarily saving you any time. I hope anyone reading this long thread needs to realize that you should always compare the out of pocket final price of an offsite option before running away at the sight of a resort fee (if you're even considering offsite in the future).

 

[dansdad]

Reading through the posts I don't know why anyone feels the need to prove which way is better.

Don't you know the whole point is to "win" the internet?

 

[MissionMouse]

It is great to have the freedom to choose. There are many ways to visit WDW outside of the OP definition. I am glad we are all able to tour WDW our own way and enjoy our free time with an occasional WDW Trip.

 

[snappy]

As a general guideline, when planning a trip, i budget $400 for a rental car including gas, plus $22 per day parking at Disney. We usually go around 6 park days, so add $132. That's about $550 rounded up to pay for transport and parking.

Then I compare the cost of a hotel: onsite deluxe (the only option we consider) is at its lowest, $350 per night, usually much much higher. That's $2500 a week for a hotel (usually much more). Our favorite hotels can usually be had for $150/night including taxes and fees, so that's around $1100 for that option. Doing my quick math, I see offsite at $1650, and onsite at $2500. That difference in price more than pays for our food, and we eat whenever and whatever we want.

Obviously the math leads to onsite if you want a moderate or value, but those rooms are tiny (even deluxe rooms are tiny), and we place a ton of value on having a full kitchen and having in-room laundry, which is easily found off site.

Yea I love packing a carry on because I can wash clothes whenever I want in the unit. It’s really nice. I also limit carbs so I do a target run in the car I rent or our car if we drive for what I like to eat and stay on my diet. Nice AND healthy.