How have you found split stay on/off site?

[Mariekitty13]

Just after some opinions really

We are going beginning of Nov one week at Disney then second week off site on I Drive.

I'm really looking forward to the convenience of staying at Disney as last time we stayed the whole 2 weeks off site, but think I'll be heartbroken leaving Disney!

At the time of booking we weren't sure which way around too book! So we went Disney first.

Not after any advice, just interested in your experience? When you did split stay which way round did you do it? How did you find it? Were you sad to leave Disney!?

[BevS97]

You need to be doing something different when you move off site. So it's not saying goodbye but rather looking forward to a new experience. Will you be doing Universal as that's exciting and I would look forward and that. Also the chance to eat at some of my favourite off site places.

[Mariekitty13]

Originally Posted by BevS97

You need to be doing something different when you move off site. So it's not saying goodbye but rather looking forward to a new experience. Will you be doing Universal as that's exciting and I would look forward and that. Also the chance to eat at some of my favourite off site places.

See more...

Yes definitely, we're doing universal, seaworld, Discovery Cove, and possibly a beach day... we go hard when we go

[staryeyedbird]

We did it the same way round as you last time and are sticking with it for this trip after a week of only eating using the ddp we really look forward to the freedom of just eating anywhere, we do all Disney the first week then start the universal tickets in the second week

[Louiseanne]

We did Disney then villa last year as DB's family joined us. We've done I drive / universal previously. Next year we're doing Disney for the whole time with maybe a night at Universal as I've decided I'm not a fan of split stays. However there are only 2 of us so space isn't really an issue. No matter where we stay we always start in Disney and end in Disney- it's just our thing.

[klr15]

We did the exact same thing. This year in May for our first visit we spent the first week onsite at Disney's Coronado Springs with the free quick service dining plan. This first week was perfect for us, the freedom of just hopping on the bus and being so close to the parks and being immersed in Disney all the time was magical as well as being highly convenient. It made the first trip to Disney world so much easier.

The second week we stayed on International Drive at the Rosen inn Pointe. We were sad to leave Disney behind, but as we had separated the two trips, we had done everything in Disney we wanted to do and we were really excited to see Universal and Busch Gardens.

The second week was a whole different experience to the first week. We ate in restaurants on International Drive (Miller's, Olive Garden etc), we used Uber to get around everywhere and we visited Seaworld, Universal, Busch Gardens, Florida Mall and did some outlet shopping too. This second week was amazing because we got to experience things like American diners and shopping Malls and such.

We had the absolute most amazing time during both weeks. But the next time we visit we will be doing a split stay between onsite at Disney and onsite at Universal. Mainly because the onsite experience for us at Disney was incredible and hard to beat and so we want to experience an onsite stay at universal too, plus we enjoyed the restaurants at City Walk a lot and spent most of our time in Universal and so it makes sense for us. We don't regret our choices for our first trip though, staying on International Drive was great we just like to be totally immersed in the Disney or Universal bubble.

I have written a trip report on our stay if you fancy a read.

[Moz]

We love it... a week in Disney to start of the tickets and the magic..!
Get the benefits of being on site and the DDP... then move out to a DIBB villa for 2 weeks and get the benefit of the space and a pool...

[arial]

We are doing the same in May when we take our 2 year old for the first time. I'm looking forward to the second week off site where we will have more space and we won't have to share a bedroom! I think if we stayed at Disney after a week off site we would falling all over each other!

[mum of two]

Couple of years ago we did the opposite two weeks in a villa followed by a week at AKL, we found AKL a bit of a let down and longed to be back at our fabulous villa.
This year we have travelled around, Ft Lauderdale, Keys, Naples currently at The Grove (gorgeous 3 bedroom apartment) looking forward to a couple of nights at portofino bay before finishing with a couple of nights in Miami. When we first started coming to Florida we always stayed in Disney hotels but now prefer to have a bit more space and haven't found commute to parks any more time consuming than onsite from the communities we have stayed in.

[Danielle24]

Does your offsite stay come with more space? That can be something to look forward to! We are staying onsite at Disney for a week, offsite in a villa for a week to experience the space and our own pool and then a week onsite at Royal Pacific at Universal. We love onsite at Universal probably more than Disney.