Off site perks

[Will_H]

I like the separation.as much as it's nice being in the disney bubble,I finding better for my family having it feel like a home from home

[Gemini157]

Another villa offsite fan here.
For all the reasons mentioned above. Freedom to arrive and leave at parks when you choose, seeing more of the area outside Disney, and eating at different places, or back at the villa. Lovely big pool, plenty of space and TVs games room etc, washer and dryer so less clothes needed. You can make up lunches to take with you, and stock the fridge with bottled water to take to the parks.
Too many benefits to mention.
I think I have stayed in 5 different villas, all lovely and on really nice complexes.
This was all perfect to us, until the arrival of the revised bl**dy fastpass scheme which favours onsite. It's not enough to lure us away from villas though.
Can't wait to be in the villa in a few weeks time

I agree with other posters that for some a combination probably works best.

[vampiress88]

Also cost for me.
If I went in the cheapest Disney hotel which is all stars, with virgin flights, 21 day tickets, magical express and quick service dinners plus the same travel ins and car parking at man is £9226.

What we are doing instead is virgin flights, villa,car hire with top insurance, upgraded to annual Disney pass, car parking at man, travel ins is currently at £6234.
Last year our family spent £1895 on food,petrol,day at coast,gifts etc
So the benefits for the villa for our family out weigh any of the negatives

[Eccle]

I also love villas, the space, having a private pool, being able to have some more relaxed time, going to all the offsite restaurants. We have mainly stayed in Windsor Hills and it is a great location.

On our last trip we did a split stay and had some nights at Universal, 5 at Disney with DDP then a villa, and I think we will probably do the same on our next trip

[returnplanning]

for us, the mixture of onsite/offsite works really well. A bit of time to really blast the parks, not have to worry about food shopping/prep etc, followed by a more relaxing time.

[Mo&Chris]

What everyone else has said, really!

We get a condo in Windsor Hills, it's one junction along the 192 from the intersection with World Drive, so you're still close enough to split your day, and having seen some of the vloggers trekking from the far side of hotels to the bus stop, to catch a packed bus to the parks, then the same again home, I'm almost tempted to argue that you can get there quicker sometimes from off site!

I love having more space and staying in a place that feels like a home - maybe that just come from having stayed in so many hotels with work! I like not having to put a "do not disturb" sign on the door, or worry about what time housekeeping comes round if I want a lazy morning

Chris also commented that "you can't stop past Arbys on the way home if you stay on site!" OK, that's fairly specific to our tastes, but in general, you can do more and see more than if you were just in the bubble.

/Mo

[Bolto6]

We are not ‘on-site bubble people,’ we did 3 days onsite for our honeymoon and it was enough for us. We prefer offsite in an apartment, last time we had a 2 bed town house on a resort. Although we didn’t really use the facilities (pool etc,) we like having the space.

We do like to eat out on holiday but now with a child, we found it wasn’t always possible to, because we’d get back in the evenings and she just refused to go back out, but with a full kitchen, one of us just popped into Publix and picked something up, either after we’d got back or on our way from the parks. We saved a lot of money doing this.

We have almost always had a washer and dryer where we’ve stayed, and I don’t buy that it takes away from the holiday, we get back in the evening, while we relax before dinner, I can put the washer on (generally 30-45 mins to run,) and then the dryer usually takes a couple of hours, but we don’t have to be in the house to monitor it. I’ve never felt it interferes with my holiday, plus I can take less clothes with me, and save valuable space for new clothes and souvenirs.

If I was onsite, I’d feel obliged to get up and make use of EMH, but offsite without that luxury our mornings are far more relaxed. Most days we wouldn’t be in a park until between 10-11am.

A downside would be having to pay for car parking, but for us it gives us greater flexibility to do what we want, and exploring further afield.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference, if we spent 2 weeks staying in a hotel room, we’d probably kill each other, we can just about manage a week, but we like that extra space.

Having said all that, I am considering onsite for our next trip with DDP, (if it’s available which is unlikely as I’m looking at October,) so I can justify Character dining for our DD (she’ll be 7 in 2022.) We’d only do the bare minimum 5 days, but it’s purely for that reason.

EDIT: cost is also a huge factor, we’re not millionaires and cannot really afford to do 2 weeks onsite. I have people saying to me ‘oooh it’s really expensive,’ if it was we wouldn’t go as much as we do. They have it in their heads that it’s going to cost upwards of £10,000, but that’s only if you want it to. I did our Sept 2018 trip for £3300 (Man-Mco flights with TC,) out of curiosity I’ve priced up October half term this year, and have got it to just over £3500 (indirect flights Lhr-Mia-Mco with BA)... this October price includes Disney park tickets at £1177 for the 3 of us.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by Bolto6

We are not ‘on-site bubble people,’ we did 3 days onsite for our honeymoon and it was enough for us. We prefer offsite in an apartment, last time we had a 2 bed town house on a resort. Although we didn’t really use the facilities (pool etc,) we like having the space.

We do like to eat out on holiday but now with a child, we found it wasn’t always possible to, because we’d get back in the evenings and she just refused to go back out, but with a full kitchen, one of us just popped into Publix and picked something up, either after we’d got back or on our way from the parks. We saved a lot of money doing this.

We have almost always had a washer and dryer where we’ve stayed, and I don’t buy that it takes away from the holiday, we get back in the evening, while we relax before dinner, I can put the washer on (generally 30-45 mins to run,) and then the dryer usually takes a couple of hours, but we don’t have to be in the house to monitor it. I’ve never felt it interferes with my holiday, plus I can take less clothes with me, and save valuable space for new clothes and souvenirs.

If I was onsite, I’d feel obliged to get up and make use of EMH, but offsite without that luxury our mornings are far more relaxed. Most days we wouldn’t be in a park until between 10-11am.

A downside would be having to pay for car parking, but for us it gives us greater flexibility to do what we want, and exploring further afield.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference, if we spent 2 weeks staying in a hotel room, we’d probably kill each other, we can just about manage a week, but we like that extra space.

Having said all that, I am considering onsite for our next trip with DDP, (if it’s available which is unlikely as I’m looking at October,) so I can justify Character dining for our DD (she’ll be 7 in 2022.) We’d only do the bare minimum 5 days, but it’s purely for that reason.

EDIT: cost is also a huge factor, we’re not millionaires and cannot really afford to do 2 weeks onsite. I have people saying to me ‘oooh it’s really expensive,’ if it was we wouldn’t go as much as we do. They have it in their heads that it’s going to cost upwards of £10,000, but that’s only if you want it to. I did our Sept 2018 trip for £3300 (Man-Mco flights with TC,) out of curiosity I’ve priced up October half term this year, and have got it to just over £3500 (indirect flights Lhr-Mia-Mco with BA)... this October price includes Disney park tickets at £1177 for the 3 of us.

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I’m very curious as to how you got £3500 including tickets? I see it’s indirect but is that including condo/villa and car hire and for how long. Seems like a very good price

[Bolto6]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

I’m very curious as to how you got £3500 including tickets? I see it’s indirect but is that including condo/villa and car hire and for how long. Seems like a very good price

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17th to 31st October - we get 2 weeks for half term, and we are a 3.
Flights were just under £1200 including luggage - I had got them priced at £1657 into Tampa and then saw a post on here that BA had gone cheaper into Miami.
Car Hire - priced for Tampa at £315 for a full-size, so need to check MCO, but we paid this price in Sept 2018 at MCO, but may need to add another £100 or so.
3 bed apartment - £820
Disney Tickets - £1177
Total = £3512 (but depends on car hire costs)

[Guest]

we have stayed both on and off-site

Of course On-site is better, its just far easier, the plus's people list for off-site can also be on-site, you want to eat off-site, do it, you want to have a " rest day " you can do that, look at the disney pools at the resort, look at the movie nights etc etc

the plus sides of onsite are massive