Disney dilemma

[JoF]

We have been lucky enough to stay on Disney property for most of our previous vacations and we want to visit again this October.
My sister will be the big 40 and my neice will be nearly 13.
However, the cost of travelling to Disney for 3 of us for 10 days works out at about $7000 - this would be staying in POFQ, with tickets, car hire, QS dining and flights.
I have looked at off site hotels near disney and this reduces the cost by about $2000. This would include everything as above except the QS dining, although would include breakfast.
(In the UK the deals at the moment include QS dining if you stay in a moderate resort)
The trouble is, I think we have been spoilt by staying in Disney, particularly POFQ - we love the boat to DTD and it's fairly easy to get to and from all the parks. Plus its a very compact resort and easy to get around.
I worry that we would miss the atmosphere and the ease of getting from A to B pretty much when we want but the cost is really putting me off.
I have stayed off site before but in the international drive area and its been with friends not family and so a completely different experience.
I am interested in other Intercotee's experiences of staying off site, where you stayed, ease of getting around, shuttle buses etc. Please help! I suppose I am trying to justify spending the extra cash

[SBETigg]

I think staying on site is worth it. You can do things to cut costs (though maybe not as drastically as you wish).

You can use Disney Magic Express for transport to and from your Disney resort once you arrive, if you arrive at MCO.

Consider Pop Century or another Disney value hotel instead of a moderate hotel (POFQ). I think you might find it equally enjoyable, or comparable enough, for less money, and this might still include the QS plan.

Maybe others have some tips. Best wishes with planning!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I love staying onsite, but our first trip was off-site and it was just fine too!

I love being "in the bubble" and being close to everything with the added "perks" of being able to send things back to my room, and charge to the room.

But, it is cheaper to stay off-site, and you'll generally get more room.

You'll have to factor in daily parking (I really wouldn't try and take the shuttle from off-site), and car rental, so it might be not as much more as you think to stay onsite.

[Janmac]

Hmmm . . . basically does your choice boil down to car hire or staying on site?

I know which I'd choose.

Jan

[kakn7294]

I recently looked into staying off-site for a group of parents who are traveling in conjunction with our HS Music Dept student group. They are unable to stay on property because of the high cost of a Disney resort (Easter week) and unable share transportation with the students to and from the parks (students will have charter buses but are at a different hotel) and would need to rely on the hotel-provided shuttles. Most of the shuttle schedules are HORRIBLE!!! Many only run a couple of times a day so if you happen to miss your bus, you will then have to call for a cab to take you back to your hotel. I ended up booking one of the Hotel Blvd hotels across from DTD. Those shuttles are supposed to run about every half hour plus there's always the option to catch a bus to a Disney resort then transfer to DTD and walk to their hotel from there if necessary.

[LVT]

2 value rooms cost a little more than 1 mod. You can spread out. We do the connecting rooms which have an interior door you may keep open.

[JoF]

Thanks for your input guys - I guess I need to weigh up whether I need a car and pay for parking each day. Plus the dining plan really helps - especially when it's thrown in with packages here. I guess we really like the freedom of going back and forth to parks as we please and we always spend quite a few evenings at DTD. I am a bit worried about off site hotel shuttles - I have used them before and they never seem to be as often as they advertise. I might see how much a value resort is and go from there - fingers crossed.

[Tink#64]

JoF, I feel your dilemma! We have always stayed onsite, with the exception of a last minute trip years ago, spring break, nothing available on propery for our first couple of days! We stayed offsite then moved onsite mid trip! I felt like our vaca didn't actually begin until we checked in on property because that's what we were used to to!

This year we are planning our entire stay offsite! , but with this move, we'll be saving our meal allowance for the week! This is huge for us! We're already driving, so we'll have our car & we're planning to stay less than a mile away from from the back gate, so our trvel time to & from the parks shouldn't be any more than waiting for & using the busses! We're trying it this year & we'll see how it goes!

[JoF]

Thanks Tink64 - I am sure it will be fine - we just get used to being spoilt staying on site! In the UK a lot of the package deals include a car- you just pay the insurance - so it doesn't make it that much cheaper if you don't have one. The thing for us is the meal plan - I know it's expensive but a lot of deals here include it as part of the package - this saves us a LOT of money. Another issue is school holidays - if we go during this time, the holiday companies really push their prices up because they know they have a captive audience! I have every faith that we will get to Disney - I am keeping everything crossed

[BigRedDad]

$7000 for 10 days for 3 people is outrageous. You can go for half that. We will be at about $3000 with flights. Add in food for those 10 days, we are at about $4500 on the high end.

Disney is definitely not. You could go on a top of the line cruise with deluxe meals for less than half that price easily. If it were me, I would look at what you are really getting. You can change resorts and save maybe $500. You can get rid of dining because you will probably have left over credits anyway.

As a quick test, I did Sept 20-30th with 10 Day Base tickets, Preferred Room at Pop Century (I know you have POFQ), QS dining plan. The total was $3800. This was without any discounts.

Here is where you can make concessions:
Value vs Moderate
Dining vs No Dining
Preferred Room vs Standard room
Bring breakfast items with you
Bring snacks with you
Drive if flights are more than ~$200.

[VWL Mom]

Drive if flights are more than ~$200.

The OP is coming from the UK. I think that's part of the price being so high.

[BigRedDad]

Missed that they were in the UK

[Patricia]

Coming from anywhere outside of the US is always expensive.. although, I've always been able to travel cheaper by booking room only discounts and eating OOP. Unless you're there to eat, I have cut the table service restaurants to save a bundle. Mind you we are not big eaters and only have two meals a day, a bigger lunch and a light dinner. We will grab snacks at a resort food court and throw them in our bags for the day. Traveling with kids I have even packed granola bars, gum, fruit chews, etc.. and have even taken small cereal boxes for our room in my suitcase. I later use the empty suitcase space for souvenirs.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

I hear you. It's so expensive to go to Disney and you can get some really great deals on hotels.com, hotwire, and other sites. 99% of the time, we stay off site.

As long as I've been going to Disney (since I was a child with my parents) we only did the hotel shuttle thing ONCE because it was that unreliable and they have SUPER limited hours. You may be missing the fireworks show or be limited on ADR times if you decide to eat on site. Call the hotels you're considering for more information.

You can stay at the Disney area hotels near DTD, but don't be fooled by the closeness. It's still quite a hike to get anywhere. The Disney property is HUGE and you'd waste too much tiime.

If you stay off site, I really would recommend renting a car, but as everyone else stated, you'll have to pay to park every day. Do the math and see what you come up with.

Don't forget to factor in if you'll need to purchase insurance on the car and other such fees. Call your insurance company first. Sometimes you insurance already covers the rental. You can also factor in the cost to park at Disney everyday.

The pros of staying off site is that you do have access to different places to eat, which may be cheaper, depending on where you go. My father and I never stayed on site and we always found a good place to eat in the Orlando area.

Maybe you can get a fridge in your room and have some meals like that? But you may be able to do that on site too. (See below)

Is there anything else in the Orlando area that you'd like to see? Other theme parks/attractions on International Drive? They're not Disney, but you can open yourself up to that. Again, these places do cost money so factor that in to your decision. Keep in mind that you'll be paying for gas.

As for the magic, DBF and I mainly stay off site because we have a car and his annual pass pays for parking. We don't really mind too much, but maybe it's because we reconcile that we can go a few times a year.

Also, there are only two of us so it is easy to decide when to go back to come and go from the hotel (OS) to on site stuff. When we went with his parents I wish we stayed on site. They were ready to go back to the room at seven and we wanted to stay till midnight, but we only had one car. If you're going with a group who has different priorities, then maybe on site would be worth it. That's SO important.

Really, you just need to factor in what is important to you. If you and your family would be okay spending the evenings in an off site hotel by the pool or having family time in the room, then maybe it won't be so bad. Staying off site, you're still able to get in early and get back to your room for a nap in the hot afternoon, only to bounce back to Disney in the evening. Thats only if the shuttles run at the right time or if you have a rental car.

If you feel like it would be easier to stay onsite, you probably do have a few options. Like other people were saying here, you could downgrade to a value. They may not have all the comforts, but they have beds, pools, and food courts.

You can probably also have two meals in your room. Breakfast you can have yogurt, cereal, fruit, etc. and lunch you can have sandwiches and maybe leftovers from the night before? If you're on the dining plan, this is a great option for cutting back costs.

Another option would be to push the trip back so you have more time to save?

[gottaluvtink]

If there are only three of you, why not a value resort? I always stay on property and last May, a friend wanted my daughter and I to go with them. They had free rooms at Bonnet Creek. We went and we were miserable. Ended up spending a fortune on cabs because the shuttle service was HORRIBLE! If you are a person who doesn't care when you get to the parks, and you don't mind leaving early, then you will be ok, but we are there before rope drop and stay until after fireworks or closing. Another reason to use the value resorts. So inexpensive and we only need a bed and a shower. We use Magical Express and the Disney buses. Also. We always go during free dining. We also upgrade our dining plan sometimes, which cost a little more, or you've can just use the free quick service. If you are used to staying on Disney property, I'm afraid you will be horribly disappointed staying off site. Our trip was FREE and it just wasn't the same. We agreed we would rather have paid!

[JoF]

Thanks everyone.
We may end up pushing the trip back.
We like going in October as it's a great time of year but we were also thinking that my neice may not want to come with us if we leave it much longer. She is already at the stroppy teenager stage now and she is only 12!
The only reason we had chosen a moderate resort is because the deals here at the moment include the quick service dining plan. If we stay in a value and have dining plan then we have to pay for it and the cost ends up being very similar.
If I book the hotel and flights separately, the cheapest flights are about £520 ($800) each.
I am going to weigh up all the costs, parking, value resort, off site, car hire etc and see what happens.
I know I'll get there eventually

[Jen1984]

I'd have a quick look at the ba website, coming from the UK I feel your pain, but I've managed to book a fantastic deal with flights from Jersey-Gatwick-MCO and 14 nights at a 2 bedroom apartment for £ 4000- and that is August, in the middle of the school holidays for 3 adults and 1 11yo, so you should be able to get it much cheaper. We're in walking distance of Seaworld/ aquatica etc so hoping that adds to the atmosphere! If that doesn't appeal I did notice that they had deals on the hotels near dtd, but the extra space won us over in the end!

Sometimes going away from the packages makes it cheaper, we found that we would be paying a lot more for the same deal with any of the major holiday companies!

Oh, and look at flying out mid-week if poss, we saved £1000 by flying on the Wednesday instead of the Saturday/ Sunday! Crazy!

Hope this helps!

[Katzateer]

We used to stay offsite for many years and really enjoyed the places we got to stay. The sponsor on intercot for home rentals have very nice houses and the prices aren't bad.

Never used shuttles from hotels/ condos to parks. Just rented a car and it was much easier.