Why should I stay onsite?

[emily nicole]

The only thing drawing me to on-site would be the transportation. In 10 days we are flying to WDW for a short trip, mostly for Boo Bash. So we are staying at Movies basically because we won't have a car. At least we still have DME.

In December we are taking a longer trip and driving down from Tennessee. Originally we booked Movies then switched to POFQ when it opened back up. (POFQ is our favorite resort.) After looking at the price tag and thinking long and hard about it, we switched to offsite for substantial savings. I just cannot justify it when we will have a car and are still saving a huge amount even paying for premium parking every day. (Paying to park at POFQ really turned me off too.) I used to love evening EMH's, free or discounted dining, 60 day FP+ booking benefit, etc. With those things gone, I just can't justify the cost anymore.

 

[Aravan24]

With the new Genie system unveiled, onsite Guests have the “privilege” of purchasing their tier 1 attractions at 7 am. Offsite Guests cannot purchase these until the park opens.

This means that, for example, if you are unable to get a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group at 7 am, you and your family of 4 will have the “privilege” of paying perhaps $96 (I.e. $24 per person) to buy a Boarding Group. (Official price has not yet been announced - $24 is what several have speculated for ROTR.)

Maybe $24 during low park attendance dates...I wouldn't be shocked to see it double that price during peak periods though. Frankly, it's going to be interesting to see what they try and get for premium attractions during busy season...

 

[Bobb_o]

The 30 min early entry will become real important if you're not paying for tier 1 rides. If you're there early you can ride mine train, flight of passage, Slinky, or test track with little to no wait. 30 min after people are in the waits will be quite long.

 

[wfjny]

We tend to go for a weeklong trip in the summer, where we stay at our DVC. The rest of the time, we go for long weekends (now limited to 3 days with he reservation system), and we stay off-site. Like you, we drive (Charlotte, NC area). We always have a car.

We have AP, so parking is not a concern. We may do a nice meal at the parks once in a while, but mostly we eat back in our room, or off-site.

Taking Disney transportation can be both a pro and a con. Had some good experiences, but probably more bad ones. Waited over an hour once, that was terrible. Walking to the Parks is nice, but when you are averaging walking 13 miles a day, I can skip the walk. Sure, being at a monorail hotel is fun, but is it really worth the price. Having been a frequent traveler, I can get a room on points.

Our last trip:
Hotel on points (3 nights), so basically free
Used our AP for parking, so free parking
Used our AP for getting into the parks, so free park admission
Work had given me a $100 gift card for something, so, we also had a free dinner

Yes, I know none of those things were really free. The hotel points came from somewhere, and AP are far from free. But for a last minute long weekend trip, it was quite affordable and enjoyable.

 

[gharter]

I think with all the changes they have made, we will start to see fewer people pay the extra to stay on site.
Of course, there are a lot who never took advantage of the perks before, so for them this isn't a change.
I don't see getting in 30 minute early as a huge benefit.
Getting up at 7 to reserve a ride for later in the day, while helpful, isn't that big of a perk.

 

[aeasterling]

With a lot of the perks gone, I still have one major benefit of staying on site and that's transportation that allows us to split up. I am an early riser, planner and I LOVE rope drop. My husband, on the other hand, is slooooowwww in the morning. So he says he'll rope drop, but 2 minutes before we need to leave he goes to the bathroom for his 15 minute "alone time". Grrr.

The first time we went to Disney we stayed off site. This was back when they had the cute open show at the MK train station. I told him ahead of time how much I wanted to do it. Guess what, we never made it to any park untill an hour after opening!

Our last 3 trips have been on site - best one at YC When it's time to go, I grab whichever of our kids is ready and head to the parks. If hubby isn't ready we just meet up with him later. So i would say my reason for on-site is marital harmony!!

 

[The WDW 3]

I see almost ZERO perks to staying on site as someone who drives down from Georgia. The only thing is that I get in 30 minutes earlier than everyone else? First of all....how are they even gonna regulate that? Have a "resort guest only" line? Even so, are they gonna open the parking lot gate 30 mins sooner for resort guests? It takes that "30 extra minutes" to get from the parking lot to the gate at MK easily.... its gonna take those 30 minutes just to scan the resort guests into the park. I don't need disney transportation since I'm driving. So I'm really considering dropping my resort booking and staying offsite. A fraction of the price and I don't get gouged for parking at the hotel. Am I missing something here?

Mickey Mouse

 

[loves to dive]

We are one of those families that rarely used the perks, not saying we didn't ever use them but it was rare. We drive down from Ga. so have a car but park it and don't get it again until to leave. We have been going since there really weren't any perks to staying on site, long before FP, no EMHs, just transportation and being in the bubble. We stayed off site once and that long line into MK and parking the car then hauling the kids out to it when the day was done (with them fighting) getting in a hot car and having to drive when I was tired and the kids were tired and grumpy and I said never again. We stay at the Epcot resorts (now Swan/Dolphin) so we can walk to Epcot and HS. We don't mind the buses, when my son was smaller they were great for napping. I like being able to hop on a bus and sort of zone out then go to the pool for a break then back to a park later on. We like an occasional refreshing adult beverage and certainly aren't going to drive after that. I figure having to pay to park at the resort is offset by not having to pay to park at the park if we were to stay offsite. If I stayed off site in a larger place, I still wouldn't cook so having a kitchen is no perk (I hate to cook and am certainly not doing it on vacation). The bubble and the transportation is it for us.

I can see how others don't find it worth the price and if it were more than just me or just me and my son or if it were going to stretch my comfort level as far as money, I would certainly consider staying off property. Going solo a lot, the bubble is great.

 

[MarkS2112]

It’s getting harder to justify on-site these days with perks dwindling and nickel diming for everythin. transportation is iffy in some hotels and 30 min of extra time is nothing. Without fast pass perk I see more people going offsite.

 

[StuckInKS]

There are barely any perks and zero for us because we don't use morning EMH. We won't qualify for the evening EMH because we are staying value. We are staying onsite because that is what we prefer to do. We could probably rent a vacation home for less than our two value rooms are going cost, but that is not what we want to do. Going to Disney is not just about the parks for us. The only offsite location we would consider is the Swan/Dolphin because of its location, but it seems to be almost as expense as a deluxe for our dates.

 

[gharter]

It’s getting harder to justify on-site these days with perks dwindling and nickel diming for everythin. transportation is iffy in some hotels and 30 min of extra time is nothing. Without fast pass perk I see more people going offsite.

If we didn't own DVC, I suspect we would be one of them.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

No reason, legitimately all perks have been stripped.

 

[Amore Disney]

With a lot of the perks gone, I still have one major benefit of staying on site and that's transportation that allows us to split up. I am an early riser, planner and I LOVE rope drop. My husband, on the other hand, is slooooowwww in the morning. So he says he'll rope drop, but 2 minutes before we need to leave he goes to the bathroom for his 15 minute "alone time". Grrr.

Oh my gosh, I can sooooo relate. My little brother (who is... a full grown adult) pulls this every. single. time. Grrr indeed.

We stayed at Pop, and the freedom to say "okay, take your time because we leavin" was truly priceless. After that, for the most mysterious of reasons, my brother suddenly was capable of getting ready on time. Go figure.

 

[DisneynBison]

Will Genie+ become the new free dining? I can see Disney using it as a enticement, it doesn't cost them anything. Lightning lane for free, move up a resort category or length of stay and get a complimentary tier 1 pick. No food cost to dish out and just using up ride capacity to fill hotel rooms on Disney's end.

 

[Apiary]

Will Genie+ become the new free dining? I can see Disney using it as a enticement, it doesn't cost them anything. Lightning lane for free, move up a resort category or length of stay and get a complimentary tier 1 pick. No food cost to dish out and just using up ride capacity to fill hotel rooms on Disney's end.

Maxpass at disneyland was used like that at least once. I got a ticket deal in 2019 that included max pass.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Will Genie+ become the new free dining? I can see Disney using it as a enticement, it doesn't cost them anything. Lightning lane for free, move up a resort category or length of stay and get a complimentary tier 1 pick. No food cost to dish out and just using up ride capacity to fill hotel rooms on Disney's end.

I would need free dining and free Genie + to get me to book rack rate at a Deluxe again. That would get me sort of back to what I had on my last trip in December 2019, but still no free DME.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I have DVC so it's not really relevant, but not having to drive anywhere is more than enough for me. Unless they start charging for resort transportation.

 

[sheilafri]

Unless we can get a really good DVC rental deal we stay offsite since we drive down. Save so much money and I honestly feel like we get where we want to go sooner since the busses the last few times we used them were always late.

Lately we have been staying at the hotels on Flamingo Crossings its right outside of the welcome to disney sign and they have all been nice stays and only a 10-15min drive to each park. I would check them out.

I like that area too. We stay until the parks close so just want a comfortable bed, a clean room and not too much of a drive back. Disney doesn’t seem to provide that anymore at anything like a reasonable price.

 

[VandVsmama]

With a lot of the perks gone, I still have one major benefit of staying on site and that's transportation that allows us to split up. I am an early riser, planner and I LOVE rope drop. My husband, on the other hand, is slooooowwww in the morning. So he says he'll rope drop, but 2 minutes before we need to leave he goes to the bathroom for his 15 minute "alone time". Grrr.

The first time we went to Disney we stayed off site. This was back when they had the cute open show at the MK train station. I told him ahead of time how much I wanted to do it. Guess what, we never made it to any park untill an hour after opening!

Our last 3 trips have been on site - best one at YC When it's time to go, I grab whichever of our kids is ready and head to the parks. If hubby isn't ready we just meet up with him later. So i would say my reason for on-site is marital harmony!!

Same here! We'll always stay on site for the same reason. Every day, DH wants/needs an afternoon hotel break. But sometimes, he's ready for the break to start earlier than the kids & I are. Staying on site means that he & I can come and go at different times and we don't have to hassle with coordinating the transportation. My DH wants to sleep in, whereas on a Disney park day, I'm so excited I can hardly sleep and I'm ready for rope drop!

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh my gosh, I can sooooo relate. My little brother (who is... a full grown adult) pulls this every. single. time. Grrr indeed.

We stayed at Pop, and the freedom to say "okay, take your time because we leavin" was truly priceless. After that, for the most mysterious of reasons, my brother suddenly was capable of getting ready on time. Go figure.

Same here! I've used this technique, too. Suddenly, my DH then scrambles to get ready. LOL.