Large family contemplating a stay (offsite) with no car. Need advice!

[Penmac]

We are a family of 7. We have gone to Disney 3 years in a row and had a car each time. We stayed at offsite condos, which worked well for us. We flew the first year, but had enough in the budget to do a $275 car rental (prices are much higher this year than in 2015!!). The next two trips we drove from New England. So, each year we had a vehicle and could come and go as we pleased, which is important with so many small kids (our oldest is only 9).
This year we are not feeling like our Sienna is reliable enough to make this long trip again and we found it stressful last summer. It's a great car, but we have 90,000 miles on it and just don't want the worries of breaking down. We priced out renting a minivan and driving it, but it just about costs the same to fly all 7 of us down there on Southwest as it does to drive a rental and make one hotel stop halfway. That would also add about 4 extra days to our trip, and time is a valuable commodity. This doesn't seem cost effective or sensible to put ourselves and children through all of that when it won't actually save us too much money.
So, here we are. I booked us at the Doubletree Suites in Disney Springs since the suites sleep 6 (our 2 year old can sleep with us- that's usually where he ends up every night anyway!), and the shuttle seems reliable and easy. But, 7 people with no car?! How good is this shuttle? Can the double stroller fit on easily enough? Are the lines long? Can we walk to area shops and fast food from this hotel? I will probably do an Amazon Pantry delivery, but would want to walk for milk, bread, etc.
I am also worried about transportation from the airport to the hotel for 7 people. I am thinking this could get pricey. Any suggestions?
I am starting to wonder if driving, although tons of work, would make our trip more enjoyable from once we get there. Since Doubletree has an expensive daily parking rate I would likely cancel our reservation and book at Windsor Hills or somewhere similar. An onsite stay is impossible for our budget so we have no other option besides this Doubletree if we fly. It seems great, but I am nervous to vacation with my huge family and no car!!!!

 

[MommyinHonduras]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-springs-hotels-bus-information.3653605/. This great thread will help with bus questions. Some transportation services from the airport come with a 30 minute grocery stop. I would look into those for your crew. We are a family of 7 and thought about DT but got a great agency exclusive for 2 rooms at POP that I could not pass up.

 

[Klayfish]

OK, first, let me say this. I am an obsessed car nut, like out of control nut. I've owned 80+ cars, I race them as a hobby, and also work in the auto claims industry for a living, so cars are literally my life. A Sienna with 90k miles and you're worried about it breaking down? Honestly, that's silly, very silly (I'm not calling you silly, just saying worrying about a Sienna is silly). The Sienna shares its' platform and mechanicals with the Camry. It's probably the most reliable car on the planet, bar none. Unless you've been intentionally neglecting it, 90k isn't even broken in yet...heck even if you have been purposely trying to kill it, you've got a while to go. The Sienna, with normal care, is good for 250-300k easily. I wouldn't even think twice about putting my family in a Sienna with 90k miles and doing an entire lap of the country. Seriously, I can't stress it enough, 90k miles is NOTHING to be concerned about. Take it to a shop before you leave...have fresh oil put in, check everything and hit the road.

But if you must do it another way, then no way would I ever stay offsite without a car. We are hardcore offsite people, we've never stayed onsite, never will. The car is utterly essential to an offsite trip. Otherwise, with a family your size, I don't even know how you'd get around...you probably couldn't use Uber/Lyft.

Seriously, drive. The Sienna will be fine, it's not even close to halfway through it's useful life. Use VRBO to find a better place than Windsor Hills...it's a nice place from all I've seen, but seriously overpriced. You can get a 4 bedroom 3 bath townhouse for $100-$120/night easily.

 

[Crystal824]

I personally would never do an offsite stay without a car. I haven't stayed at the Doubletree, but typically those shuttles at offsite hotels just aren't that great. This one could be an exception, but I would definitely check out the transportation before I got there. Typically, the offsite shuttles only run a few times a day. You have to make rope drop and often miss the night shows. Again, I'm not sure about this hotel, but I would definitely call and ask. I would figure out if it was cheaper to just stay on site, drive, or cheaper to fly and rent a car. I get not wanting to put all those miles on your car. That is a long trip. I would make sure I have a car if staying offsite.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I personally would never do an offsite stay without a car. I haven't stayed at the Doubletree, but typically those shuttles at offsite hotels just aren't that great. This one could be an exception, but I would definitely check out the transportation before I got there. Typically, the offsite shuttles only run a few times a day. You have to make rope drop and often miss the night shows. Again, I'm not sure about this hotel, but I would definitely call and ask. I would figure out if it was cheaper to just stay on site, drive, or cheaper to fly and rent a car. I get not wanting to put all those miles on your car. That is a long trip. I would make sure I have a car if staying offsite.

Disney Springs hotels are different, they run on schedule every 30 minutes starting a hour before parks open and run til 90 minutes after closing at the parks and til after 3 am for Disney Springs.

 

[starry_solo]

Maybe do a one day rental to get whatever groceries you want?

 

[Penmac]

OK, first, let me say this. I am an obsessed car nut, like out of control nut. I've owned 80+ cars, I race them as a hobby, and also work in the auto claims industry for a living, so cars are literally my life. A Sienna with 90k miles and you're worried about it breaking down? Honestly, that's silly, very silly (I'm not calling you silly, just saying worrying about a Sienna is silly). The Sienna shares its' platform and mechanicals with the Camry. It's probably the most reliable car on the planet, bar none. Unless you've been intentionally neglecting it, 90k isn't even broken in yet...heck even if you have been purposely trying to kill it, you've got a while to go. The Sienna, with normal care, is good for 250-300k easily. I wouldn't even think twice about putting my family in a Sienna with 90k miles and doing an entire lap of the country. Seriously, I can't stress it enough, 90k miles is NOTHING to be concerned about. Take it to a shop before you leave...have fresh oil put in, check everything and hit the road.

But if you must do it another way, then no way would I ever stay offsite without a car. We are hardcore offsite people, we've never stayed onsite, never will. The car is utterly essential to an offsite trip. Otherwise, with a family your size, I don't even know how you'd get around...you probably couldn't use Uber/Lyft.

Seriously, drive. The Sienna will be fine, it's not even close to halfway through it's useful life. Use VRBO to find a better place than Windsor Hills...it's a nice place from all I've seen, but seriously overpriced. You can get a 4 bedroom 3 bath townhouse for $100-$120/night easily.

This is great advice- thank you. I think our hesitation is because last summer we did all the right things before we left- full check of the car, new battery, oil change, etc. We reached the NJ turnpike and our check engine light came on, which has never happened. It was a Saturday morning at 7am, and we pulled off to a Toyota dealership and spent the next 3 hours waiting for them to tell us it was a computer/sensor issue and it was ok to drive (that light is still on all these months later, too so clearly we need to put more time into the maintenance!) We were so stressed over the whole situation that we said never again would we put ourselves through that. We spent those 3 hours googling area rental car places that might be open on a Saturday AM and have a 7 passenger van available if we needed to leave our car in NJ (there were none). We kept imagining being stuck in NJ until the following Monday AM.

With that said, you make a strong case for us driving our own car and everything did work out OK last summer after all- a testament to the Sienna. And, we would save $1000+ if driving our own vehicle. Thanks for the advice. As for Windsor Hills,
I thought the prices of the condos seemed reasonable? $95/night for a 3 bedroom. Any other towns/areas that you recommend?

 

[Klayfish]

Great timing, I was just coming on the board to check in.

Yes, even the Sienna will have a check engine light come on eventually. Not sure what year you have, but modern cars have endless sensors. Their job is to hopefully alert you of a potential issue before it becomes a big one. Much better than the old days when you may not know you have a problem until you're stuck on the side of the road. Often times the sensor isn't anything related to being able to safely drive it. Could be emissions related, could even be a gas cap. Again, have a routine service done to it, have the check engine light issue addressed and be on your way. Sure, I get it, it's worrisome with the potential of being broken down on your way with such a long trip. But first, with a Sienna, the odds are quite low...very low. Second, if it happens, you'll find a way to manage. You're not driving through the Sahara desert, you're always near civilization and you've got a smartphone. A few years ago, we were moving our family from the Philadelphia area (where we had lived our entire lives) down here to Atlanta. We're cheap, so we did it ourselves. DW was driving one huge U-Haul, I was driving an even bigger one. I had our family minivan in tow. Well, right around the middle of nowhere Virginia the tow dolly that our minivan was on got a flat tire. The van was just too heavy for it (it was my FILs trailer). I had to change the tire on the side of the highway and we limped to a nearby Motel 6 or Red Roof Inn, I forget. We had to spend the night there, in a small motel. We had to leave our minivan behind and just drive down with the 2 UHauls and an empty trailer, and we sent for a shipping company to get the van from the hotel parking lot. Definitely not what we had planned, but we managed fine and now we look back on it and laugh.

If you got a 3 bedroom for $95/night, that's awesome! I had always heard that it was around $200/night. For that price, yeah, stick to that!

 

[hsmamato2]

I can't speak to the car...and I've never stayed at double tree, but I am assuming a few things from my research on the hotel (also, post this over on Orlando hotels forum) Doubletree looks like a great place, gets great reviews, and seems to have a decent shuttle, tho you should call and ask them about earliest latest times for that. They seem to be about a 10-15 minute walk from the springs,which is nice. They're offsite, but close enough to Disney that I think it could be doable, although you might have some inconveniences from being slightly off disney transport etc. Honestly.if I was in your shoes, I'd try it to save the $$$. I would NEVER stay offsite past the hotel blvd. strip and try it without a car though.

 

[100AcreWood]

Yes, Windsor Hill for $95 is a great rate. I have stayed there three times and I love the location. You definitely need a car. We're trying Disney Springs this summer without a car. We'll use their transportation and lyft from the airport. I'll post after our trip to give my feedback.

 

[robinb]

I would do a quick "back of envelope" comparison of the 3-bedroom at Windsor Hills plus a car plus parking against the Doubletree plus a shuttle. I think that WHs will come out to be a bit more expensive but break it down to a daily difference and consider that you'll have extra room and a full kitchen which will actually save you money.

If you do end up at the Doubletree, it's about a 15 minute walk over to the Crossroads where there is a grocery store and restaurants. Pull up Google maps and go to satellite view.

 

[Fosteringaprincess]

We love love love Windsor hills! It's is a beautiful area. So close to Disney and so many shops. They have pretty good prices. We are staying in 3 bed 3 bath for 115 a night in the fall with a private splash pool plus it has an amazing resort pool with waterslide. And when we were there in oct they were were adding on more slides I believe.
I do feel staying off-site you need a car though. We prefer off-site. We are a family of 6 and have 2 extra coming for a few days...it's nice to have extra room.

 

[Penmac]

I would do a quick "back of envelope" comparison of the 3-bedroom at Windsor Hills plus a car plus parking against the Doubletree plus a shuttle. I think that WHs will come out to be a bit more expensive but break it down to a daily difference and consider that you'll have extra room and a full kitchen which will actually save you money.

If you do end up at the Doubletree, it's about a 15 minute walk over to the Crossroads where there is a grocery store and restaurants. Pull up Google maps and go to satellite view.

I did a price comparison and rental car plus Windsor Hills is more $$ than shuttle and DB. I think we have taken the rental car option off the table entirely. It’s either drive our own car or fly and do without a car.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

If you fly & are looking for transportation from the airport, Lyft does have the option of picking you up in larger vehicles such as minivans.

 

[robinb]

I did a price comparison and rental car plus Windsor Hills is more $$ than shuttle and DB. I think we have taken the rental car option off the table entirely. It’s either drive our own car or fly and do without a car.

I don’t mean to pry, but how much more per day? Does having the full kitchen make up for it?

Also, there are tricks to getting a good rate for car rentals. You can look at a place away from the airport and take an Uber there to pick up your car.

 

[bgirl29]

Also rental car prices change frequently. On our recent trip I saved half of the cost by checking prices closer to the trip. Also if you have a Costco membership they usually have decent prices on their website.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you fly & are looking for transportation from the airport, Lyft does have the option of picking you up in larger vehicles such as minivans.

A minivan won’t be able to pick up a family of 7 with luggage.

 

[happymommy]

Have you considered flying and getting two rooms at a value resort? That way you would get all the transportation perks of staying on site, extra magic hours, etc.

I've stayed at the Doubletree a couple of times. It's okay, and yes the bus will be okay with a double stroller. The bus does adhere to a 30 minute schedule.

I own a Sienna; have almost 150K miles on it. It runs perfectly, but I couldn't fit luggage AND 7 in it, AND drive all that way. Fly if for no other reason than it saves 4 days (and aggravation). We drove a minivan from Maryland once, but it was just the 4 of us, and I had it packed to the gills (used bins instead of luggage; we were gone for almost 2 weeks). My double stroller was kind of big (but it was excellent, and well worth bringing). No way could you fit a double stroller, luggage for 7, etc... with all of you.

I would definitely take the quick flight! You can gate check your double stroller, check all your luggage free, then if you did decide to go on site, let Disney do the driving and handle your luggage!

You wouldn't be guaranteed connecting rooms, but you can request it as your only request, and many folks get them.

It may work out cost wise to do that and stay on site.

 

[zobow02]

My Family and I have gone to Disney 15-25 times and have always driven to FL here's my advice. If you fly, you are, without a doubt, going to get one of the best rates on property. Why?
1. Disney Magical Express is free
2. The Transportation is reliable and free
3. you can get rooms with kitchenette's in family suites (music, AofA) or mini fridge in all standard rooms
4. Can get two rooms at a value resort and save lots of money (make 2 reservations)

I would say stay at an all star (each room sleeps 4) and get two rooms, since your youngest is 2 years old, he isn't considered a guest so if you wanted a family suite (sleeps 6) you would reach the max of guests allowed in the rooms. Also, All star sports is a few miles away from a Mc Donalds (which you can walk to) if that helps

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have two Toyota solara convertibles. One with 190000 miles and the other with 135000 miles. My husband drives the 135000 Toyota down to Florida every year from Chicago for baseball spring training. He’s never had a problem. I get a oil change and general check up right before he leaves.