First time onsite v offsite

[Maui_Moana]

Hi
So I am starting to plan our first family trip ( 2 adults, 1child) for next year and looking at May/June.
I can't decide whether to stay onsite for 2 weeks, offsite for 2 weeks or a week of each. If we stay onsite I'd like to book the the free dining plan offer is on, assuming they run it for 2021. If onsite I'd be looking at a moderate resort. Budget is a factor but not the only one. How good is transport onsite v offsite if we don't hire a car? Are there other onsite perks that make the price worth it? Does anyone have experience of onsite v offsite budget for 2 weeks?
Thanks

[tink111]

Hi! We’re doing a split stay this time- one week villa and one week disney. We looked in to a villa the whole time but once we factored in food, car hire and accommodation it worked well for us to do a split stay on our budget! I think for us it came down to the fact I really wanted to stay onsite too! Only ever done it for a few days and can’t wait to be in the Disney bubble. I also like the ease of having dining pre paid gives us one less thing to save for now. I do also love the freedom of a villa tho. For me split stay wins.
As for Perks you’ll get 60 day FP, extra magic hours and magic bands X

[julie42]

We do split stays every time and love it!
The villas are amazing, loads of room and your own pool etc, but you really need a car offsite...theres some fab restaurants but you need to drive to them all.
And onsite is great too. Transportation is easy with the Disney buses, onsite food is expensive but if you had the free DDP it would be fine.
Happy planning.

[Lily8]

We loved our onsite stay. I hadn't planned on staying onsite and it didn't particularly appeal to me, but my daughter (10) was keen (especially as we've stayed off site at Disneyland Paris). We stayed at CSR with free QS dining and it really suited us. We really enjoyed not driving from the airport to the resort and from the resort to the parks; it was just so easy and the buses were, for the most part, frequent and reliable - and beautifully air-conditioned!
FP booking at 60 days (rather than 3 days) is a bonus, and with a 10 night stay we had no issues whatsoever booking FP for all the latest rides (then), including flight of passage, slinky dog dash and seven dwarfs mine train. The (free) quick service plan provided us with ample, good quality food and snacks and CSR exceeded out expectations - such a beautiful resort, with lovely contemporary rooms. We loved it all so much, we're doing it all again this year

[Guest]

We've done a few off-site trips, renting a villa, and stayed on-site a few times (Animal Kingdom Lodge, Port Orleans and one of the budget Disney hotels). We much prefer the space and facilities and price of renting a villa (and having a car, which we would have no matter where we stayed).

The perks of staying onsite with Disney aren't valuable enough to us in terms of the extra cost and lack of space/facilities that we'd be giving up but not staying in a villa. The 60 day Fastpass booking would be nice, but for us not enough to require us to stay on-site. If we were looking to take advantage of on-site perks I'd be more tempted by Universal's all-day Express Pass than the Disney offering right now.

[Maui_Moana]

Thanks for the info. If we stayed offsite I think it would more likely be in a hotel on I drive rather than a villa. I am definitely leaning towards onsite it's just whether we can justify the extra cost.

[3disneykids]

We have been twice. First time offsite second onsite with free QSDP... The price difference when factoring food was minimal (we didn't know about free dining on our first visit. Next time we are doing a week offsite and the rest at Disney.
We don't like the idea of driving on the wrong side and the money saved in parking charges and car hire etc also needs to be factored in when you are thinking about it. Offsite is great for more space if that is something that bothers you. For us it is just a room to sleep in so we don't mind sharing.

I would decide what your priorities are if having free dine would give you a stress free holiday (worrying less about money being spent). Everybody is individual and it is definitely a personal choice.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Maui_Moana

Thanks for the info. If we stayed offsite I think it would more likely be in a hotel on I drive rather than a villa. I am definitely leaning towards onsite it's just whether we can justify the extra cost.

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If the choice is on-site hotel or off-site hotel (and you had the budget to stay on-site) then I'd say on-site every time! For us a villa is a better proposition than on-site, but everyone's requirements and preferences are different so there's no single answer which will be correct for everyone.

Happy planning! Lovely to be thinking about your first visit and all the new experiences that you can look forward to.

[Millie1980]

When you factor in all the extra costs of offsite such as buying food, cost to get to Disney etc, staying on site does work out very good value if you get the free dining plan and you get the perks of being on site

[Danex]

We’ve been 3 times, the first two onsite with free dining and the last time in a villa.

Hands down the villa was by far the most expensive holiday we had there.
By the time we paid for the villa, car hire, car parking, all our food and snacks etc it would have been far cheaper to have stayed onsite.
Of course we had more space and a private pool but the private pools tend to be quite small whereas when we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside quite often we had one of the quiet pools to ourselves and they are huge in comparison.

I’ve not stayed offsite in a hotel so have no experience of that, but with your family I would definitely suggest staying onsite.
If you get the free dining plan (if offered) you will be able to book any of the character meals for your little one without worrying about the cost.

We are back for our fourth visit this summer and we are back to staying onsite again.