How is it cheaper to stay offsite? My maths says it's not...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by sonic_heroes

Every one is different this and I would not like to share my holiday at a villa with 10 people. X

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I second that emotion!

Whether it's 10 adults in a rented house - or 6 adults in a two-bed at OKW - either way that would be too stressful for me.

To "big picture" your question, though -

Last year our family of three had two weeks in a studio at SSR for £3,500 (Hotel+Tix+Free Dining).

On our previous trip we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Sea World - in a 1BR suite - for £980.

The suite had a separate bedroom for DH and I - and we had a full kitchen and washer/dryer.

Additional expenses: approximately £1,000 for WDW tix, parking, and some in-park meals.

We were out another £600 or so for non-Disney food and the car.

So it was £1,000 cheaper to stay off-site in our case.


HOWEVER (and the last thing I want to do is put words in your mouth) - if you're looking to "give yourself permission" (IYKWIM) to stay on-site - do it! It's great (and my strong preference - especially if we're only doing the Disney parks) to be totally immersed in the Disney Bubble.

If you're looking at the Disney VALUE resorts (All-Stars, Pop) - then I agree 100% - compared to most off-site options - it's a wash. We've stayed at Pop Century before - and I would absolutely stay again. It was clean, comfortable, and fun - with the free QS meal thrown in it's also a pretty good deal.

It all depends on what you value - is it space and amenities - or proximity to the parks? This is a dilemma you're lucky to have.

[Mexy02]

Why 10 adults offsite but only 6 onsite ? Am I missing something?

[sparklegem]

We stayed off site last time and spent a fortune on food! I'm not one for cooking on holiday (it's my holiday too) so we eat out a lot. Eating in the parks adds up. We are staying onsite at AKL this year with free DDP, the difference in price for staying there is roughly the same amount that we spent on food for 4 of us.

If you are happy to cook and take packed lunches, along with everything that involves. I think you can make staying off site much cheaper. Personally that's not a holiday for me.

[teerts]

OP, I have the same experience, last year I priced up our holiday as below all based on 2A 1C (9) flying from LGW on 21/10/16 for 14 nights:

Vista Cay through Booking.com: £1391
Intermediate SUV through Alamo: £422
Direct flights through Virgin.com: £2,500
Disney Ultimate Tickets: £967

Total: £5280

14 Nights SSR with DDP & $200 Gift card & Int SUV: £5,740

Noted, on site was nearly £500 more expensive but I still had to pay for food & parking for 14 days. Although the room at Vista Cay was a bit bigger, onsite was closer & I got some other benefits such as EMH, 60 days FP, 180+10 ADRs, free transport (if I required it), less distance driving.

Each to their own I guess, I prolly could have found cheaper if I hunted around but I really don't know many other places to look other than the direct pages.

[PPM]

£4320 for two weeks in a Villa?

We get a villa on Highlands Reserve, beautiful 5 bed, with views straight onto golf course. Costs around £1750. This is for dates in May and includes pool heat.
£4320 must get you a palace

[Guest]

We're going back for our 3rd visit in the summer staying off site. We tend to have cereal/toast/scrambled egg on toast in the villa for breakfast. We go out one morning to iHOP for pancakes.

We buy a big polystyrene cool box from Target when we get there and freeze small bottles of water. We make sandwiches, buy fruit, crisps etc and take them into the park for lunch.

Then on the way home stop of at somewhere to eat, Texas Road House and Chili's being two of our favorites.

As others have said we tend to be happy with a light breakfast and lunch so we only buy the odd thing like ice cream and drinks in the parks.

[Floridatilly]

My friends have booked an amazing modern 6 bed villa for next August at £1000 per week so the price for a villa is far too high and the cost per person for food is way too high. We are a family of five and have change from £150 per day and we eat loads and not at the cheap places.
10 adults could not fit in a 2 bed villa at OKW so another 1 bed would be needed which will pump the price up a lot. Dining onsite is very expensive we was paying a fair amount in tips for a family of 5 at our TS restaurants, in fact sometimes the tip was the same cost as a whole meal offsite.
We do love being onsite and we are spending 9 nights onsite then 4 weeks in a villa.
It would be cheaper to stay in a villa the whole holiday but we enjoy both.
I certainly would not say onsite is cheaper unless you only do QSDP or unless you intend to eat at Disney restaurants every day whilst in a villa (that would be expensive!)
We compared our meal at mama Melrose onsite and carrabbas offsite, onsite was double the price yet the steak was much nicer off site

[Guest]

Originally Posted by PPM

£4320 for two weeks in a Villa?

We get a villa on Highlands Reserve, beautiful 5 bed, with views straight onto golf course. Costs around £1750. This is for dates in May and includes pool heat.
£4320 must get you a palace

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Yes, there is something wrong there?... For two weeks at that price?

[RM2016]

I'm clearly being a bit thick but how many adults are actually going? as both 10 and 6 are quoted. With regards to food calculations Disney menu prices are quite a bit more than offsite eateries, if you were in a villa you wouldn't eat as many meals onsite. I think your Villa cost too is a tad generous for a fortnight! Calculations aren't exactly like for like.

[Guest]

Your villa price seems quite high in my opinion.

Also, you seem to be comparing 10 people offsite versus 6 people onsite (unless I've read it incorrectly).