To stay on Disneyworld property or not?

Old May 4th, 2003, 06:28 PM
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To stay on Disneyworld property or not?

Is it really worth it to stay on the monorail or bus system? We'll have a vehicle and don't mind going in/out once a day to get to the next park. Any advice?
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Old May 4th, 2003, 06:47 PM
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We did in March . . If we went often, probably would not stay on site, but this was the first and likely the only time for us. We stayed at the Contemporary, the one the monorail runs thru. Hotel was nice enough, we were upgraded to a corner suite at no charge ( I suppose because the Northeast was snowed in that week).

We were there four days and appreciated being able to get on the Monorail and go "home" after a long day. Also nice to see the fireworks at FantsyLand at nite from the bar/restruant on the top floor.

Rich
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Old May 4th, 2003, 06:53 PM
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I'm sure on property can be nice, but we've always stayed about a mile off property and felt we actually had more hotel aminities, less crowded and a pretty reasonable price. A lot of these places that are close Disney also have shuttles to Disney. We've stayed at the Homewood Suites and enjoyed it very much. It even came with a nice breakfast.
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Old May 4th, 2003, 08:07 PM
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Depends on who WE is. For two parents with two or more kids, if one kid gets tired or isn't feeling well, monorail and bus access might help. One parent could take ill child back to room while the rest of the family stays out to enjoy the day.
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Old May 4th, 2003, 08:25 PM
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While I have never done it because I have family in Orlando, if money is no object, stay on the property. You can come and go during the day, and go back to the room when you are about to get overdosed or a kid gets cranky. In warm weather, you do the parks in the morning, swim in the afternoon, and return to the parks for night activities.

If you stay outside of Disney, you go in in the morning and stay til you are dead. It is too much trouble to come and go.
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Old May 4th, 2003, 09:16 PM
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We stay at Sheraton Lakeside and enjoy getting away from "everything Disney" at the end of the day. The shuttle from the hotel drops you at Disney door.

If you stay at a hotel with no shuttle, you can park at the Disney Shopping Center and take their shuttle into the park. The shuttle drop off is much shorter walk than Disney parking.
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Old May 4th, 2003, 10:39 PM
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I wouldn't stay on-property for the convenience of the bus and monorail system. An exception might be if you have teens or others in a group that might want to go different ways during the day. There is a definite "completeness" to the on-property resorts though, you don't have the strip malls and fast-food joints cluttering up the scene. It's been a number of years since we've been there, but we would probably stay on-property again (but might end up using the car more than bus/monorail). The lakes and activities around the on-property hotels are what would tip the balance for us. Costs (food in particular) would push the other way; while the hotels meals aren't as bad as in-the-park food, it is still pretty pricey.

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Old May 5th, 2003, 03:19 AM
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Amazing - questions like this have been posted before and the concensus is always stay on property. Now I have some in agreement with my opinion - which is it is fine option to stay off. Yes, proximity to hotel is nice on-property. But we like to stay off because of:
cost and space - we can get a nice suite for cost of even less expensive WDW properties
facilities - we love having a kitchen, not because we are cheap but because it is nice to take a break from fast food and eating in a real restaurant and get some rotissertie chicken, salad bread for example and veg-out in the room after walking around all day
mouse-overload. My husband and kids love WDW, but even the most Disney-fanatic travelers can get a little weary of big mice and associated Disney stuff. To get close to the real world daily is a nice break
We have never relied on hotel shuttle to parks - often it is unreliable coming back to hotel. Just add 20 minutes or so to travel time to park. We still find it not burdensome to go back to hotel early afternoon.
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Old May 5th, 2003, 05:07 AM
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Personally, we like to stay on-property because we love the Disney resorts. However, the transportation issue is no longer a reason that we stay on-property. We have never stayed at a monorail resort, and now that we have kids, we drive to the parks rather than use the buses. We find this is easier for us and as resort guests, we can park for free. Personally, I think it is more convenient to get back to your on-property resort if you have young ones.
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Old May 5th, 2003, 06:20 AM
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I've done both - stayed on property (at a monorail resort and at bus serviced resorts) as well as stayed off property at a chain motel. I prefer on property because I feel more like I'm on vacation at a resort than we do staying at a chain motel in Kissimmee. Prior to our most recent trip we had always stayed at the "deluxe" resorts and loved them.

This trip we stayed at Coronado Springs a "moderate" WDW resort and it was by far our favorite. We thought it was beautiful, felt like we were really on vacation, the pool was spectactular and the food court had plenty of choices. We also had a car as we prefer not to rely on buses. We did make use of the buses under certain circumstances and they were very convenient - never waited more than 2 minutes.

If you stay off site you will pay $8/day to park.
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Old May 5th, 2003, 06:45 AM
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It depends on your family. We have always stayed off-site. We rent a condo or a home for a week. Do a search for "vacation rentals" +Orlando -- we have been able to get 3 bedroom condos or patio homes with pools for what we would pay for a hotel in the area. Last year: nice 3 BR condo in complex with a pool & tennis for $70 per night, located off Hwy. 192 about six miles from the Disney main gate. We enjoy having separate bedrooms, a kitchen, washer and dryer, and room to spread out after a day at the parks. Our kids are 8 and 10, and we enjoy the Universal parks a little more now -- but even these parks are only 15-20 minutes from the last condo we stayed at. We get up, eat breakfast at the condo, pack a backpack with snacks and water bottles, head for the parks, stay until late afternoon, and then head back. The kids swim, we relax, and then we either go out to dinner, call for chinese delivery or the like, or eat something simple that we can prepare in the kitchen without too much effort. This type of vacation works well for our family, but some really enjoy staying on site -- I would say that it is probably best for families with young children who still require a nap -- being close would enable one parent to be with the napper while the other parent goes with the older kids.
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Old May 5th, 2003, 04:26 PM
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My husband and I have been to WDW three times (our last trip was June, 2002) and we stayed on-property the first 2 times (Caribbean Beach and Dixie Landings).The hotels were great, and we liked the Dixie Landings best--it's really pretty and the rooms seemed a little nicer than when we were at the Caribbean. For the 1st trip, we used the Disney transportation, i.e., buses. At the Dixie Landings,we actually just drove our own car to the parks since we had free parking and enjoyed going a little faster on our own without having to walk to bus stops and wait.

Last summer, we stayed off-property for the 1st time at the Radisson Resort Parkway. We wanted to save some money and this place had a great rate ($59.00 through mousesavers.com). We still drove ourselves to the parks each day (even though the hotel had a shuttle), and we were only 5 or so minutes away. Being off property was no problem at all. I was afraid of losing the "magic" but it turned out just fine. We were probably closer to some of the parks from the Radisson than are some of the WDW hotels. We came back to the hotel everyday for a mid-day break and then went back to the parks at night (parking pass is good for a whole day at any park).

If you want to see Disney and save some money, then consider staying off property. Check out some of the Disney websites such as mousesavers.com or mouseplanet.com to get information on various hotels. It will help you make sure you're getting a good deal. You should also read "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World." This book is VERY helpful for information about each park, hotels on and off-property, food inside and out of the parks, etc. It also gives great tips for how to best see each park. Have a great trip!
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Old May 6th, 2003, 04:58 AM
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Hi Lee4,
Where do I find "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World"?
 
Old May 6th, 2003, 12:08 PM
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Unless you're spending lots of time in your room, an off-site property is much more affordable, even when you include the cost of a car. You're only a few minutes away from anything. Plus it's nice to "get away" at the end of the day. We enjoy Homewood Suites on Parkway Blvd. (Kissimmee), apt. style living with breakfast and mgrs. reception included. Pool is small for kids, but there's always the Disney water parks to fill that void.
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Old May 6th, 2003, 12:12 PM
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Please go to www.mousesavers.com

They have listed an awesome deal that may work for you.

We have always stayed off property, but with these great rates ???

Emjoy
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Old May 6th, 2003, 03:17 PM
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I agree it may depend on the ages of We. - We have been numerous times. The last 2 we stayed at Beach Club resort and loved it. The location is great and we had teenage kids who were able to go in thier direction and we in ours. We were able to get a room with 2 queen beds and a day bed so all 5 of us were able to share 1 room without being cramped. I am sure out next trip we will stay on site
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Old May 6th, 2003, 03:37 PM
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You can find "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" at any bookstore--just look in the travel section. The same people who write this book also write similiar guides for other cities, such as New York, New Orleans, London, etc. I recommend any of these if you'll be visiting these cities.
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Old Jul 29th, 2003, 03:30 PM
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The above book is the best !!!! I get one every year.
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