It's that, or we just don't go. I do not want to go if I have to stay off site for all the reasons I listed plus 1 - On our late July trip we stayed off site close to WDW when we arrived as it was late at night. We drove into WDW close to opening time and the traffic- OMG. In all our many years of coming to WDW, we never drove in at that time and never realized just how massive the line to get in is.
We've always stayed offsite and the only time we've ever dealt with traffic is when heading for Disney Springs later in the day. But we're ropedroppers, so we have been at the park for a good half hour before opening time.
If you like to rope drop most days there are still benefits to staying onsite: early entry spread out through all parks which should let you get on the 2 e-ticket rides and not pay for them.
True. As an offsite rope-dropper, I loved Extra Magic Hours, because they funneled onsite people to a particular park and I could go somewhere else! If we'd stayed onsite I either would have avoided the EMH park, or I would have gotten park hoppers, which we have had but mostly don't like. I should think the fact that onsiters can now choose their own park makes onsite more appealing for ropedroppers; it does for me, assuming that people will be more spread out and so can do as much in those 30 minutes as they could in an hour.
I am betting Disney knows that a lot of them will be spending the extra money to avoid the lines because that sounds like a good way to maximize your time and might make you feel like a big shot, just like they will spend the money to stay on property because of the location (and that is still a VERY big perk) and the "status" of it all
Very true. I haven't seen it so much at the Disboards, but when I was first considering going to Disney I ran across that precise attitude all the time, where people were clearly praising (or insisting on) staying onsite because only the peons didn't.
And some of the same grumbled about the fact that anyone at Disney could get a Fastpass, wishing they were like Universal where you had to pay for them!
If the lost of the free fastpass system change your mind about staying on property, what will the 1.5 hours a day you lose commuting to and from the parks cost you?
Even the times we stayed out by Universal, we've never spent 1.5 hours/day communiting to Disney, and we've generally stayed in places where the commute is the same or less from our resort as it is from the average Disney resort. Although some of the closest ones you don't go through the "welcome gate" every morning, which we kind of missed, and which we also would not have staying onsite.
And keep in mind the distance you'll need to walk from the lot to the park entrance, and that for MK you'll then still need to also take a monorail or ferry/boat to get to/from the park entrance in addition to walking from the lot to the TTC.
I've always thought that missing out on the monorail or the ferry going to the MK is yet another
cost of staying onsite, and not a benefit.
The first time we went to the MK, we had someone drop us off at the Contemporary and walked over, which is nice, but I much prefer the ferry. I have always had my doubts about walking up to the International Gate from one of the Epcot resorts for rope drop as well, although I can see the appeal of that entrance if you're just going in for dinner or whatever. But the front entrance is clearly designed to impress and welcome, while the International Gate is not, and the thought that goes into the entrances is the sort of of subtle appeal that I most appreciate about Disney.
We've always either come early enough to park quite close, or gotten a magical upgrade to parking right outside the gate, so the walk has never been an issue, either, and when we've left and come back, so we parked further out, the shuttles have always been prompt. The free parking for staying onsite always struck me as a legit perk, and although I'm not surprised they took it away, for us paying for parking if you're staying onsite is a definite con.
I'm curious to see how Genie shakes down. At this point I'm not sure if we'd consider it a plus or a minus -- too much up in the air. Hubby will probably like it -- he already spends his time in the parks just going where someone else tells him!
