Disney veterans, first stay off-site

Taylor'sMom

Wish I was there...
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Hi all! I like to think we are Disney veterans, having been at least once a year for the last 15 years. We've travelled in various times of year and stayed at several Disney resorts in all categories, Value, Mod, Deluxe and DVC Villa. We are currently planning a trip with another family and will be staying off-site. Currently looking at Orange Lakes. I'm very excited for the trip... but a bit anxious over the "difference" we will experience staying off-site. Having to drive to parks and deal with parking, not being able to pay for everything with the tap of a Magic Band, no extra magic hours, etc. We do have many old MB's in our MDE account, so I think we will book FP at 30 days and utilize them for entry and FP.

Our party consists of: 4 adults, 2 teen girls, 2 toddlers

Trip is in July 8-15, so I know it will be hot and crowded. I anticipate we may take mid-day breaks back to the resort for a quick swim (if travel time isn't ridiculous), and then return for evening activities?

Looking for any "tips" you can share, for our first off-site stay.
 
I would look into a vacation rental in the Windsor Hills area. Not far off property. We rented through All Star Vacation Homes for a townhouse but they rent all sizes of homes. Usually with pools. We did this in 2008 and it didn't seem much different than staying on site. We usually drove to the parks anyway when onsite.

The offsite accommodations are (usually) so much less expensive than onsite WDW the parking fees were irrelevant. We rarely do EMH so that didn't matter either.
 
Look into Wyndham Bonnet Creek through Vacation Strategies. We have stayed there several time. Very close to park. Beautiful resort. Great accommodations for your size party. Much, much, much less expensive than on property.
 


DS and his family stayed at Orange Lake last March for our Spring Break trip and didn't find the travel time too bad at all. That being said, they went back to swim only once - it was his wife's and two stepsons' first trip to WDW, so they stayed late in the parks!
 


There are offsite resorts (Disney Springs area) that now have the privilege of 60 day out FP reservations and early entry privileges (started Jan. 10). Not sure how budget friendly they are but they may have suites to accommodate all.

These resorts have a shuttle, too. It's not quite as good as the Disney shuttles, but it would save on parking fees to the park.
 
Sometimes, we'll stay at Floridays somewhat near DS. Based on the size of your party, you may want to consider a 3 bedroom suite. They have complimentary shuttle access to the theme parks.

The main pool is very good (and there is a separate "adult" pool).
 
Another recommendation for Bonnet Creek. It's practically onsite so you'll find travel times to the parks similar to being onsite. And the resort itself is AMAZING! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Orange Lake is nice, but it's further from the parks than I usually want to be.
 
We're long time off site veterans, have never actually stayed on site. As for where to stay, there are SO many choices, especially along Rt. 192. There's a lot of hype here over Bonnet Creek and Windsor Hills. We haven't stayed at them, so I can give a first hand account. But I will say that we've stayed at least 8 or 9 different locations around WDW and they're all fantastic.

FP+ at 30 days is no big deal, especially in summer. Easy to get anything I want.

Driving to the parks is all about perspective on driving. We love driving to the parks, and for us using WDW buses would actually be a deal breaker. No way, no how would I want to do that. We love the freedom of having the car to let us go where we want, when we want. There are so many things you can do outside the parks too.

We don't eat in WDW restaurants, we bring our own food in. And since we always stay offsite, we've never tapped our MBs to pay for anything. But frankly, my feeling on it is 100% :confused3 So you have to swipe a card instead of tap, what's the difference?

You'll have a great time!!
 
My first trip to WDW was in 1980. It was offsite as there was no way my friends and I could have afforded to stay at the very limited and expensive onsite accommodations available back then. When i started going back more frequently in the 90s it was often because I was the keynote speaker at conventions so again I was often offsite.

I've been a DVC owner now for about 15 years so I have a lot of experience with both onsite and offsite. The only negative experience that I ever had offsite was once when the location was so far away (don't remember where) that it took forever to get to WDW. I personally find that mid-day trips to one's room are inconvenient and time consuming with or without onsite buses unless you are talking about going between MK and a monorail resort.

I used to never use the buses. But now that I am older and require an ECV I like the convenience of being able to get from one place to another with my ECV. But as a mobile person I didn't find any great advantage to using the buses when I had free parking from an AP.
 
We don't eat in WDW restaurants, we bring our own food in.

We are getting ready for our first offsite stay and plan to bring our own food in this time. What are your favorite picnic meals for in the parks that you have done over the years?
 
My DH is not as into the parks as I am so I often go solo during the day. As I usually have a nice dinner with my DH I often take my lunch to the parks.

I find most QS/CS places to be overcrowded, overpriced, and often unappealing. I’m just taking food for me so not really a picnic for a family.

I’ll usually take a really good sandwich and the sides that I like. Which for me is usually cut up vegetables and a piece of fruit. Sometimes I take an assortment of meats and cheeses instead of a sandwich.

My advice for a meal on site is to think of foods that you really like. And maybe add some “treats” that may be limited at home. I would avoid anything required to be kept warm. It’s a lot easier to keep things cool either with an ice pack or ice in zip lock bags.
 
Again, thanks for the input everyone. I'm reconsidering mid-day breaks... might be easier to just find a place in the parks to chill and cool off.
The more I think about the trip, the more excited I get... and the less worried I am over the little bits we may miss out on. It's all about perspective! :)
 
When you are at MK it is quite easy to hop on the monorail and take a break in the lobby of one of the hotels. Not the same as being in a pool - but it can be very restful. At Epcot I've stopped over in the lobby of one of the hotels out the International Gateway exit.
 
Yea just the post I needed to see... We are planning a visit for Summer 2019 and I'm super anxious about it so tips are definitely appreciate. :)

We're long time off site veterans, have never actually stayed on site. As for where to stay, there are SO many choices, especially along Rt. 192. There's a lot of hype here over Bonnet Creek and Windsor Hills. We haven't stayed at them, so I can give a first hand account. But I will say that we've stayed at least 8 or 9 different locations around WDW and they're all fantastic.

FP+ at 30 days is no big deal, especially in summer. Easy to get anything I want.

Loved reading this... I've been worried about FP+. Thank you!
 
Just perspective on offsite FP- we were offsite over thanksgiving and I got nearly everything I wanted (lucked into flight of passage FP when more were released). Even got SDMT. And even though we were onsite for NYE I forgot to finish making fastpasses until a couple weeks out (although there's tons more flexibility for us two over NYE vs four or five peeps I usually do). Still lots left-spaceship earth and test track were the ones I couldn't seem to pick up lol!
 
Just perspective on offsite FP- we were offsite over thanksgiving and I got nearly everything I wanted (lucked into flight of passage FP when more were released). Even got SDMT. And even though we were onsite for NYE I forgot to finish making fastpasses until a couple weeks out (although there's tons more flexibility for us two over NYE vs four or five peeps I usually do). Still lots left-spaceship earth and test track were the ones I couldn't seem to pick up lol!

Awesome. Thank you!
 

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