Staying Off Grounds - Fantasy World Resort

[disneyplanningmom]

Hi,

I am planning our second trip with our kids. :mickey: We stayed on site last year and paid for two connecting rooms at a value, but to save a large amount of $$ on lodging we are looking at staying off site, possibly at a place called Fantasy World Resort - has anyone stayed there or can anyone comment on this place? Or recommend another place that has lots of room?

We have 3 kids and need a lot of room for all of our sanity. :) We don't plan to be in the room that much of course, but when we are we need room to spread out. This place has the room, has a good location, and we plan to rent a mini van. We can get a really good deal here and it got overall good reviews on all of the travel sites I have looked at.

What will we miss by staying off the grounds - EMH, no dining plan? I know we will miss the atmosphere but we are on a tight budget and we can stay a few more days by staying off site.

Last year we only stayed 4 nights due to cost and it just was not long enough!

Appreciate any advice.

[ojeilatan]

While I have only been to WDW once, and it was on site, I can give you a bit of advice I hope is helpful.

Your plan sounds like a great idea. Disney resorts are nice, and the atmosphere is fun, but when it comes to needing some room, you would have to shell out some dollars. In the saving money/space department, your plan sounds like it should work well.

We didn't use the dining plan, although we considered it. We ended up really enjoying the freedom of eating where we pleased, when we pleased. (although, next time, we will be making a few advance dinner reservations to make sure we get to eat at a couple places we really want to!)

One morning, we went to morning EMH at Animal Kingdom. BIG mistake. The park was insanely busy from the start, and continued to be all day. We only did each ride once, because it was so busy. A few days later, we returned, on a non-morning EMH day, and it was wonderful. 30 minutes at the most for Expedition Everest! :party: We found this to be true for the other parks. If it wasn't a morning EMH day, it was great. For evening EMH, we went to MK once. After a long Disney day, we were pooped. I literally fell asleep on a boulder in line for Thunder Mountain. It was nice, but not something we went to more than once. It's hard to keep going that late after being out all day.

All in all, I don't think you will miss much by staying off site. It sounds like you will be more comfortable, be able to stay longer, and have an overall better experience due to that. Comfort and a few extra days can make a big difference. It leaves time for rest, and a nice place to rest at Good luck with everything!:mickey:

[anewvision]

You didn't say what this off site room was
costing.

[keacc]

We stayed on site for many years. One year we made the same decision that you are pondering now and would never go back on site. We rented a 3 bedroom condo for much cheaper than any place on site. Since then we have rented 3, 4 and 5 bedroom pool homes. My kids each got their own room and we had plenty of room to spread out. Having a kitchen is a big plus. We were able to have a good breakfast before leaving for the parks. It was nice to come back and have snacks and beverages (nothing like a cool beer after spending time at the parks). It was even better to have our own pool with the pool homes. The pools at the condos were not as crowed as WDW pools. It is also great to have a washer and dryer. We pack much lighter because we can do laundry. You do give up a maid coming in every day to make your bed, but we didn't mind. Check out All Star Vacation homes who is a sponsor of this site. There are also many other places to find rental homes. PM me and I can send you some links.

[PetefromRI]

We stayed offsite for the first time this past May at a 3 bedroom villa at the Marriott Grande Vista.It was awesome and I only wish Disney could offer the same for the money.My only thing that I didn't care for was the driving,when I'm on vacation I hate to drive.We will stay there again but the onsite-offsite tug-of -war has us staying at POFQ next May.

[Sashacrab]

We always stay off-site and love it. We've stayed at Orbit One and Windsor Hills. Both are very close to the Disney entrance ramp (like 1 and 2 traffic lights). It takes about 5-8 minutes to get to the ticket transportation center, which is a lot faster than waiting for a bus and all of their stops.

[wedway76]

I’m a big proponent of staying in WDW as long as possible, and if staying off site allows you to stay for a few extra days, then I would do the same thing. That is the reason why we stay at Value resorts. We have only one child the rooms at the Value Resorts are fine. We usually get one room at a Value for 10 to 12 days.

A few years ago to celebrate out 20th wedding anniversary, we treated ourselves to 5 days at the Contemporary, and even though we had a great time, It just wasn’t enough time.

If you can afford a few extra days by staying offsite I say go for it.

[MouseHouser]

We love staying on site.

That said, we've stayed off site many times and always had a great time. Whatever works for your situation. I understand how important extra space is for kids.

[floridamom]

My parents did an Interval exchange for the Villas at Fantasyworld about 4 years ago and DH, DD and I went to stay with them for a couple of nights. We were glad that we weren't there the whole week. Perhaps the units have since been renovated, but I would NOT recommend this resort to anyone under the conditions we experienced. Everything was dated, the layout was strange and inconvenient, with an odd cruise-ship-like shower in one bathroom, and in general the property was not very well maintained.

My parents' timeshare is through Marriott, so we had been used to nicer properties, but I have to believe there are better timeshare-type places in the Orlando-Kissimmee area. (We have stayed at a few of the Marriott ones in the Disney area and would recommend them all). Then again, Fantasyworld may have been totally renovated since we were there-it would be worth calling and asking.

I totally understand the rationale of saving money on accomodations in order to spend more days at WDW; I hope you find a good quality place at a reasonable rate that allows you to make the most of your budget.:mickey:

[robyn221]

I looked at Fantasy World Resort when I was doing some preliminary planning for a WDW trip. There are a large number of reviews of this resort on TripAdvisor.com. It has an average rating of 4.0 (on a scale of 0-5), but there were a number of folks who mentioned the need for updating the decor.
Robyn:mickey:

[JCDarzi]

We've done three different variations for lodging for WDW vacations.

1) Very cheap hotel that was very close to WDW - hated hotel, get what you pay for and absolutely no Disney magic once we left the park. Our thinking was that the money that was saved on lodging could be put toward rest of vacation. In hindsight, it was not worth the bargain lodging (which was $29/night off season at a Holiday Inn in 1999)

2) Stayed in a vacation home with indoor pool - thought this would be great because we were traveling with grandparents who would be helping babysit our DD1. This could have been great but the group that we went through (with a friend's recommendation) would assign whatever house was available at the time. We were first assigned to a home in an area that I was afraid to be in, lock on door broken and no locks on windows. We complained enough that they reassigned us. The next house was considerable nicer and more up-to-date. Unfortunately the air conditioner was broken. It took nearly two days to get it fixed. By then, our vacation was almost over. I would be very careful to make sure you know what you are getting before you go.

3) Staying at the Park at Value resorts - This is what we have done ever since. The best thing about staying in the park is always being in the Disney state of mind. Even in the value resorts, the Disney magic in evident everywhere. Their attention to quality and detail always amazes me. We've had no more scary trip reports since staying at WDW.

Where ever you decide to stay, make sure that you love the lodgings whether on or offsite. My DD who is now four will tell you that her absolute favorite thing about a WDW vacation is the pool at Pop Century. The lodgings are as much a part of the vacation as the theme parks.

[ddcrna]

We stayed at Fantasy World a few years ago - it was a DUMP. Try checking out Holiday Villas, Quality Suites, or Marriott's Royal Palms, Sabal Palms, or Imperial Palms.

[andreallybadeggs]

Have not stayed at this particular property but have stayed off site several times. We prefer WDW accommodations when it's just our family, but we've also gone with friends and family for whom cost was a real issue so we did condos instead. Those were also WONDERFUL vacations.
We enjoyed having a little more room, a full kitchen, and a handy washer/dryer. Just make sure you avoid the EMH parks and you'll be in good shape.:thumbsup: