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opinions needed: RE WDW resort experience vs offsite
We're planning to visit WDW during Thanksgiving break. DD is 9yo and has never been. We've been several times for conferences and stayed at Swan and Dolphin. I really liked it and it was convenient to get to and from the parks, etc.
That said, we're also traveling with my in-laws and could rent a condo and split the cost. I'd want to visit every park possible so we'd probably stay the whole week.
My personal experience without kids at the resort has me leaning toward going the condo route and saving $$ (I assume?), but wonder if there's maybe something I'm missing that would be different with our daughter. Honestly when I'm at the resort for conference, I don't pay much attention to what the families vacationing are doing, so I have no reference to decide.
Any insight is appreciated!
Re: opinions needed: RE WDW resort experience vs offsite
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Honestly, the savings for us was worth it to stay offsite (we had a 2 year old and a 4 year old) and I don't feel like we missed out on much at all. I've been three times before and stayed onsite once with DH pre-kid.
We were all too exhausted to go back at the end of the day (except one day my sister and her family with the 4 year old went back to see the light up parade at Magic Kingdom). We took our lunch in every day and made dinner at the condo 6 out of 7 nights (used a crockpot for meals on the longer scheduled days at the parks).
My answer might be different if we weren't completely exhausted by the end of the day and dealing with a 2 year old who desperately needed to go to bed at a decent hour
. When I went with DH, we DID use the extra magic hours to go back to the park after a nap (I was 15 weeks pregnant at the time).
Transportation wasn't bad at all but we got to the parks early and didn't have to park very far away. My sister had a great schedule for us (she bought the $20 planner thing from Disney) and we saw everything we wanted to had never waited more than about 30 minutes so we were DONE by about 3 pm. This was in June and it was super crowded.
ETA: My 2 year old had a great time but doesn't watch/know many Disney characters. That said, my niece LOVED meeting all the Disney princesses and staying offsite did not make a big difference in her Disney experience. I think either way you'll have a great time!
It really depends on what you want out of the vacation. Making dinner every night and cleaning the kitchen afterwards isn't everyones definition of "vacation"!
There are pros and cons to both. Staying onsite is definitely more convenient.
This is me. And add on "Will also always stay at one of the monorail resorts". Being able to get back to my room in less than 10 minutes (if at Epcot or MK) was totally worth it, IMO. AND not having to take kid out of stroller, wait in line for bus, hold, while standing, the kid and the stroller, and unfold and set it all up when we got off. Not having a stroller aged kiddo might make staying at the other resorts okay, but I will never not stay onsite.
This. After staying at the Wilderness Lodge, I won't stay off monorail ever again. It was a total pain. I cannot imagine staying offsite. That being said, there are fridges in the room. You can buy milk at the little shops inside the hotel and have cereal in the room for breakfast to save some money. I would not be interested in cooking dinner after a day at Disney.
So Tasty, So Yummy
We stayed onsite the first time we went about 4 years ago at the Contemporary. It was nice to be on the monorail but after going to San Diego and staying in a 2 bedroom suite, it's hard to go back to a typical hotel room.
So we're planning on staying at the Homewood Suite in Lake Buena Vista when we go in January. A one bedroom is only $113 a night and a 2 bedroom is $209 a night. It has a separate living room and full kitchen. LOVE IT from our San Diego trip. Also, breakfast is complimentary and it's the hot stuff. Minivan rental is only $500 a week but we want a car because we're planning on going to Universal Studio, Legoland and may also go to the beach if it's on the warm side. They also serve complimentary dinner during the weekdays which for some reason, the girls enjoyed a lot because they were simple food (spagetti, baked chicken, mac and cheese...) DH and I would order take out. We don't need the magic hours because the girls are normally knocked out by 8pm and so it's not a big deal that we're not getting that extra perk.
Thank you everyone for the responses! We definitely have a lot to think about. We will be going the exact week of Thanksgiving since we'd have to work with DD's school schedule; I would love to go the week after when there's better deals.
I do have a promotion email from Disney Destinations but I think it's good for every week except TG.
We are choosing to drive at the moment although that might change. If we stay offsite, I'd find an option that offered continental breakfast so we'd only worry about lunch and dinner. I'd try to bring in lunch as much as possible and figure out dinner.
I hadn't heard about the convenience of monorail, so that's definitely new to me, although with a 9yo I don't think it'd be that difficult to travel between parks via other methods.
I'm really excited for this trip, and I just want to make sure we have the best experience for DD.
my kids weren't little when we went. it's still annoying to have to wait for a bus, no matter the age!
we slept in every day, went to a park for a bit, came back to the hotel, played in the pool, took a snooze, had dinner, then took advantage of the magic hours in the evening time! mid-day and morning seemed to be the most crowded times, it seemed like the crowds thinned out late afternoon/dinner time.
the later evening magic hours were truly magical. we walked on rides over and over gain.
we also missed the hot-afternoon part of the day at the parks, and were in the pool instead. that worked out really well for us... we had to get up "early" the day we did character breakfast but that was the only day we didn't sleep in.
having the park-hopper passes also served us well.
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