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Old 19 Jan 20, 09:35 AM  
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dollydaydream7
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Off site perks

Hi I’m looking for your top of site perks. Last time we went in 2016 we had two weeks onsite with ddp and a week off. We found the ddp really great, and on-site was wonderful. Our week off site was on I drive and it just wasn’t as great. We are looking 2022 two weeks on site with ddp and a week at cabana bay but with our large family it’s very expensive. Hubby thinks we should just bite the bullet save hard and go for it but if we did three weeks at cabana bay even with the car hire and daily parking we save quite a bit. He argues we will spent it on food anyway as our 4 boys like to eat. I’m trying to give him reasons to consider offsite but I need some top tips and benefits of not stopping In Disney ( or if there isn’t a comparison to talk me round to hubby’s thinking ) TIA
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Old 19 Jan 20, 09:43 AM  
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Juliemack
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Cost is not the driving force for me but I prefer a mix of both. In my opinion you will get a better quality hotel for the price and that goes for food too. I also feel more inclined to venture further afield as in days at the coast or visiting another town for a couple of nights when I'm off site as I feel lazy when I'm in 'the bubble'... mainly because everything you need is right there.
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Old 19 Jan 20, 09:46 AM  
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WhereIBelong
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My favourite off-site perk is staying in a villa where the kids have a bedroom each. The key to our family trips is space. Less arguments and niggles. (we do a night in an Express Pass hotel for Universal in the middle, but leave our stuff at the villa, no "moving" involved, just an overnight bag).

Nights are so easy, you can also chill out more and have more of a "holiday" - I know some hate being in a home-from-home, but I love it.

Pick up a pizza on way home from the park, eat it by the pool watching the wildlife.

"Waste" a day, get up late, nip out to play mini-golf on the way to the Mall, have a big lazy lunch out, back to the pool mid afternoon then off to a park for fireworks and dessert for "tea".

Since we started doing villas (getting old!) we have had such relaxing holidays with the addition of parks, rather than full on, all days at parks holidays.
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Old 19 Jan 20, 09:48 AM  
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Tinkermom
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We a a big family (6 kids) and do a real mix of stays off and on site. To be honest with big families it is easier off site in some ways. Why not just consider a villa for the whole stay? More room to spread out, no packing and unpacking and the huge bonus of a washing machine!

You don’t say how old your children are but having a villa with a pool definitely gives our older ones some much needed down time, and the younger ones are never out of it either to be honest 🤣

This year we are doing onsite and then off site in a villa in Anna Maria. No one fancied Universal this year and everyone was desperate to head back to Anna Maria, think they’re only going to Disney because of me 😳
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Old 19 Jan 20, 09:51 AM  
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Darthmickey
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Villa - pool, space, freedom!
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Old 19 Jan 20, 10:02 AM  
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dollydaydream7
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Do you find you still get as much out of the parks with a villa? I found on site we used the emh and we used the dining plan to do a lot of character meals too.

I would fancy a villa to be honest as I like the idea of having our space plus with all boys that would help. They would be 12/9/7/4 when we want to go. I’ve no idea on areas though for villas, where is best to look?
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Old 19 Jan 20, 10:13 AM  
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MrFish
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For us it's all about the space. I don't mind a few days onsite but then I'm very glad to get to a villa and my own pool. We are not massive park fans or big eaters however so every family is different. My kids just want to swim all day every day. I do really like the Beach Club but at 500 quid a night at Easter for a tiny room I really struggle to justify it when I can basically stay in a mansion for a similar price.

I know it's a contentious topic but personally I wouldn't stay anywhere near i-drive to be honest and that may have led to your less than ideal off site experience, despite its improvements in recent years.

Decent off site villa areas not too far away would be around Lake Wilson Road, so Windsor Hills Resort and Reunion.
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Old 19 Jan 20, 10:19 AM  
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NewtoOrlando
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We like to do a mix of both. We only ever do 5 nights onsite with ddp, and then move to a villa. If it waa just me and dh then longer onsite would be fine but with the kids (14 & 12) it’s just too much for our family dynamic! We love villas, space, own pool, not having to lug stuff down to the pool when we want a quick dip, all the munchies from Walmart, and the ability to just jump in the car and drive where we want. We do visit the parks, but we also go to the beach, look for wildlife, the shops, just out for dinner in restaurants that are cheaper and far better than most on Disney property, plus a lot more relaxed. We stay in either Davenport around the US 27 or in Kissimmee, this year we have a villa in Emerald Island. There’s so more scope to do more when in a villa or out of the bubble!
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Old 19 Jan 20, 10:32 AM  
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orlandonewbie
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If you have two weeks on site you should have plenty of time to make use of EMH and dining plan.
We have stayed in a beautiful 6 bed villa at WH for less than half the price per night that we are paying for 1 room at a deluxe Disney hotel. We had a private pool so the kids could swim anytime we were home, even if we didn’t feel like it. I could make my breakfast and sit outside to eat it while they played in the pool. There is also a much larger resort pool. We had a games room. We could wash clothes easily. We could have easy dinners at the villa when the kids were too tired to go out to another restaurant. When one of the children was ill we could move them to their own bedroom so they didn’t disturb anyone else. It is only about 10 mins to AK car park - faster to drive from the villa than catch a bus from most of the onsite hotels. When you have a car you can leave as soon as you have had enough. We also saw some of Florida outside of Disney.
A lot of International Drive feels a bit grotty and run down to me, I’m not surprised it felt like a big step down from Disney. Not everywhere is like International Drive.
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Old 19 Jan 20, 10:56 AM  
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vampiress88
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I love Disney always have but we are not Disney bubble people, I don’t like having to adr, feel like I need to make the most of the meal plan and it would be too full on for me to have Disney in my face all holiday.

Used to love I drive. Went 6 times on I drive and it was brilliant for what we needed it for. First few times I didn’t get a choice (was a kid) last few time’s we were teenagers and needed to do it budget and be central so it fitted all our needs back then and I drive is good for certain people. It all depends on your family.

My hubby decided last year a month before going that we had to change from I drive to a villa, never been in one, we had never had a car, it was allocation on arrival so no idea where it was. I thought he was crazy and we had a good few arguments but the dibb people gave me lots of advice on why a villa is good.

And the villa was AWESOME 😎 so much so that I will never go back to a hotel and I doubt I’d ever go back to I drive.

We had a villa near 192 so was a little way out but every point that all the previous posters have made I have completely agreed with.
• inclined to venture further afield as in days at the coast
• staying in a villa where the kids have a bedroom each
• Pick up a pizza on way home from the park, eat it by the pool watching the wildlife.

"Waste" a day, get up late, nip out to play mini-golf on the way to the Mall, have a big lazy lunch out, back to the pool mid afternoon then off to a park for fireworks and dessert for "tea".
• villa with a pool definitely gives our older ones some much needed down time, and the younger ones are never out of it either to be honest 🤣 (mine are 4&5 and love it)
• We love villas, space, own pool, not having to lug stuff down to the pool when we want a quick dip, all the munchies from Walmart, and the ability to just jump in the car and drive where we want. We do visit the parks, but we also go to the beach, look for wildlife, the shops, just out for dinner in restaurants that are cheaper and far better than most on Disney property, plus a lot more relaxed.
• swim anytime we were home, even if we didn’t feel like it. I could make my breakfast and sit outside to eat it while they played in the pool. There is also a much larger resort pool. We had a games room. We could wash clothes easily. We could have easy dinners at the villa when the kids were too tired to go out to another restaurant.
• When you have a car you can leave as soon as you have had enough.

I’m sat here like Churchill the nodding dog at all of these but the downsides are no cleaners, no EMH, no 60 day fastpasses,driving.

It’s so nice though, making me excited thinking bout going back to a villa. I loved that we basically just did whatever we wanted. In a hotel the kids would have been more bored as we didn’t always wanna go in the pool so we probably would have tried to do more things around I drive,we wouldn’t have eaten in the hotel so would have spent more on breakfast, we would have had to go out to eat every night and this wouldn’t have gone well when hubby wasn’t well.

I love a villa. It’s the only thing that’s best for our family.
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