New to Disney..stay out of Disney resorts to save money?

[Skallywag Steph]

I have a random question which may have already been answered, but hopefully I'm not repeating something already said. I'm hoping to piggyback on the original post since I'm in early stages of planning and desperately trying to save my family some money.

When you book offsite, if not at one of the "Disney affiliated" hotels, it's my understanding that you can't book your FP+ as early as onsite guests. For anyone who has been in this category, does this tend to impact your trip much? I mean, do you still get FP booked for everything you wanted, or do you end up missing out?

My family are coming from California. As a family of 6, a 10-day onsite vacation is going to cost us about $20K including air fare. I'd love to save a couple thousand if possible by staying offsite, but I don't want to miss out on anything. My family (3 adults and 3 kids who will be ages 7, 7, and 11 when we go) goes to DL all the time and are used to staying offsite due to the prices in California, but WDW is a whole other ballgame and realistically we'll only go once in a lifetime.

The fast pass booking window is the biggest downfall to staying offsite in my opinion. You may have trouble with the most popular rides but if you're going to be there 10 days you can rope drop those you don't get and should have time to see everything.

 

[whitneyebz]

Hmmm...I guess I didn't read enough information. They aren't allowing the rolling 60 day FP's anymore? So if I do one night at the campsite I can get FP's for those 2 days but then wait 30 days for the rest...I guess I will have to deal with that It's still worth it because it saves us 2 days of parking fees and gets us our magic bands (which I am getting either way!).

Let's say I don't do that...how hard is it to get Flight of Passage FP's 30 days out? I know we can keep dropping and booking FP's until our trip, is there any good app or website to help with that? I am sure I've heard of one before...but maybe I just keep checking the Disney app/website.

 

[whitneyebz]

I should also add that I don't care about most FP's- I would like to do most of the rides at Epcot because I don't recall them being there when I went at age 14, and Disneyland doesn't have anything that Epcot has. We just want to do whatever is different! Toy Story Land looks cool, but we won't be sad if we miss Slinky Dog (looks fun but not super exciting). We probably want Mine Train as well, and maybe that Everest ride. I will say it again though, I hate this type of system and wish that no one was allowed to book FP's until the day of, like at Disneyland. But maybe I'm missing something and it will be awesome.

I am super excited about this trip despite all the crazy planning involved!

 

[Summer2018]

I should also add that I don't care about most FP's- I would like to do most of the rides at Epcot because I don't recall them being there when I went at age 14, and Disneyland doesn't have anything that Epcot has. We just want to do whatever is different! Toy Story Land looks cool, but we won't be sad if we miss Slinky Dog (looks fun but not super exciting). We probably want Mine Train as well, and maybe that Everest ride. I will say it again though, I hate this type of system and wish that no one was allowed to book FP's until the day of, like at Disneyland. But maybe I'm missing something and it will be awesome.

I am super excited about this trip despite all the crazy planning involved!

I guess it’s what you’re used to doing.

As a WDW veteran, when I found out that we couldn’t FP 60 days ahead of our trip to Disneyland, I freaked out. Everyone told us to get Maxpass which I didn’t understand. After researching it, we decided not to get it. When all was said and done, we didn’t need to FP any rides at all. We never waited longer than 10-20 minutes. The only ride we missed was Peter Pan because it had a 60 minute wait time. Maxpass wouldn’t have helped us because Peter Pan doesn’t have FP.

I loved Disneyland, but I love the 60 day FP at WDW.

 

[RamblingMad]

I went when I was a teenager and want my kids and husband to experience it. I definitely prefer Disneyland, but we don't have the Animal Kingdom out here, or Toy Story Land, Pandora...We also aren't planning to go until 2021, so at that point, Hollywood Studios should be done, right? We're also planning on going to Universal for a day to see the Harry Potter stuff we don't have in CA and Cape Canaveral as a day trip. My oldest is super into astronomy and space exploration. I think everyone should experience more than one Disney resort, so we're going. Only question is how much we'll have to spend. $20k does include food budgeted, but the problem is needing 2 rooms or a suite onsite. Offsite is clearly cheaper. We could get a condo at Bonnet Creek for $200 a night. Just a question of if the FP would be a problem.

I wouldn't rule out Fort Wilderness and renting a RV or a cabin. With a big enough RV, you should be able to fit everyone.

I went to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue last weekend. I hadn't been since the 80s, and it was great. Nothing like that at Disneyland. Plus camping out is awesome. You'll want AC though since you're pretty much camping on top of a swamp.

Kennedy Space Center is right by the cruise ships. Ideally, do a Disney cruise and then check out the space center.

 

[whitneyebz]

I guess it’s what you’re used to doing.

As a WDW veteran, when I found out that we couldn’t FP 60 days ahead of our trip to Disneyland, I freaked out. Everyone told us to get Maxpass which I didn’t understand. After researching it, we decided not to get it. When all was said and done, we didn’t need to FP any rides at all. We never waited longer than 10-20 minutes. The only ride we missed was Peter Pan because it had a 60 minute wait time. Maxpass wouldn’t have helped us because Peter Pan doesn’t have FP.

I loved Disneyland, but I love the 60 day FP at WDW.

We used maxpass the last time we went and loved it- without it, we would have had to wait a long time for certain rides. I love it because everyone has the same advantage and you don't have to plan your fastpasses. We did so much! But both days were very busy.

I do agree that it's what you're used to I am actually really excited about WDW because it's going to be such a different experience. And I miss Epcot and Animal Kingdom! Those are the most different from what Disneyland has. We are already used to staying offsite so no matter where we stay, the accommodations will seem like a luxury resort in comparison.

 

[mckennarose]

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When you book offsite, if not at one of the "Disney affiliated" hotels, it's my understanding that you can't book your FP+ as early as onsite guests. For anyone who has been in this category, does this tend to impact your trip much? I mean, do you still get FP booked for everything you wanted, or do you end up missing out?....................

No, it doesn't impact our trips as much. We either do a throwaway room or we adjust by doing rope drop, riding certain attractions before close (FOP) or look for FP+ during the days we're in the parks. A good understanding of what rides and attractions are popular and the best time of day to ride them is key. I see a lot of people get hung on getting FP and worry about having a good time if you don't get the ones your want or the times you want. Many, many people visit WDW every day without FP. Some of my family members are DVC and they NEVER get FP ahead of time. I don't understand it, but they would rather play each day by ear!

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As for FP's- that's honestly my only concern with staying offsite. I am now looking into booking a throwaway room (check out the comment a few replies above this one! I had never heard of it before!) I would just do it for one night, and then you have access to booking FP's early! I am so excited about this because it will get us our magic bands as well as free parking the day of check-in and check-out.

You also get to use EMH for two days, which can be helpful in strategizing. If you pick your AK day on an EMH morning, you can get into the park a full hour before the general public.

........................
Now the 60 day window can be helpful, but you still might not be able to book what you want with a throwaway room. For onsite stays, the window opens up for the whole stay at the 60 day mark, so people with a week onsite are booking the other days at 60+1, 60+2, 60+3, 60+4, 60+5 and 60+6. Many people report difficulty getting the headliners until the 3rd, 4th, or even 5th day of their onsite stay. You will probably have better availability at 60 days than at 30, but you still might not be able to get, say FoP even for your second day (60+1) because everyone onsite who booked a longer stay that started before you had a head start booking FP for that day.

A lot of this depends on the time of year. We frequently go in May and I've not had difficulty getting FOP for either my 60 day or 60+1, they are usually times in late afternoon. We've also had success getting same day FP for FOP (3 times on 3 different trips) so that also can happen. And riding FOP at the end of the evening is another successful strategy that we've used. I'm using FOP and the main example here because it is the most sought after ride currently. SWGE is still a wild card and we don't know how that will work once it's open. There are currently no FP for SWGE!

At 30 days (normal offsite FP booking window) I've been able to get 7DMT, PP, Soarin, RnRC, ToT, and some other harder to get rides that I can't remember off the top of my head. NRJ has popped up a lot on the same day I've been in AK. A lot of times these are for times later in the day, but then you can rope drop...say MK.... ride a lot of the attractions in the first hour or so and then use FP later in the afternoon.

Hmmm...I guess I didn't read enough information. They aren't allowing the rolling 60 day FP's anymore? So if I do one night at the campsite I can get FP's for those 2 days but then wait 30 days for the rest...I guess I will have to deal with that It's still worth it because it saves us 2 days of parking fees and gets us our magic bands (which I am getting either way!).

Let's say I don't do that...how hard is it to get Flight of Passage FP's 30 days out? I know we can keep dropping and booking FP's until our trip, is there any good app or website to help with that? I am sure I've heard of one before...but maybe I just keep checking the Disney app/website.

Since Disney changed the rolling window, some people have booked a throwaway for every-other day, which gives you 60 FP for your entire trip length. You would just have to log on MDE every-other day to book your FP for two days. The cost of a campsite is about $100, so adding three throwaways (every-other day) to your budget could be around $300. But, if you're already staying offisite you can save thousands and have some wiggle room for the extra money. You'll also get free parking for your check in and check out days, so if you do an every-other day throwaway you are getting free parking for the entire week. I'm putting this out there as another option.
$300 approx. Three throwaway campsites, booked every-other day
-$150 parking for 6 days in parks (free with campsite)
-$60 approx. cost of 4 Magic Bands (not incl. tax, free with campsite, can get up to 10 MB)
= $90 plus whatever you consider the "value" of 60 day FP and EMH.

I have not seen FOP at 30 days out, but I have seen several same day FP for it. You need to refresh MDE quite a bit to get one, if there are any available. One morning last September we got up at 6 am to rope drop AK and on a whim I checked MDE and got FP for later that morning!

There's so much pressure to try to get everything in, ride every ride, see every show and get the most out of your vacation, however it's impossible to see and do everything in one trip. The reality is that WDW is enormous and there are so many things to see and do that you won't feel bed if you can't do everything. Pick a few priorities and see what you can do to make those happen.

 

[Klayfish]

When you book offsite, if not at one of the "Disney affiliated" hotels, it's my understanding that you can't book your FP+ as early as onsite guests. For anyone who has been in this category, does this tend to impact your trip much? I mean, do you still get FP booked for everything you wanted, or do you end up missing out?

My family are coming from California. As a family of 6, a 10-day onsite vacation is going to cost us about $20K including air fare. I'd love to save a couple thousand if possible by staying offsite, but I don't want to miss out on anything. My family (3 adults and 3 kids who will be ages 7, 7, and 11 when we go) goes to DL all the time and are used to staying offsite due to the prices in California, but WDW is a whole other ballgame and realistically we'll only go once in a lifetime.

We are dedicated offsite people, even if it didn't save us a fortune we'd still do it. We rent a 3-4 bedroom condo/townhouse for $100/night or less, including all taxes/fees.

Yes, at initial 30 day booking you will have a somewhat more limited selection. However, many/most things will still have availability. The biggest tip I can give you is to learn how to "refresh" on MDE. We are very heavy users of this and get pretty much anything we wantt (FOP and SDD being the exceptions). It can take a while sometimes, but it's worked like a charm for us. We never rope drop, as we find it a waste of time, so we get to the parks around 9:45am. If we stay until 3pm, we can easily go through 10 FP+. There's no "guarantees" of course, but we are very successful. We even got the kids on Space Mountain literally back to back during Xmas week.

I guess I'm one of the few who actually loves the MDE and FP+ system. I find it far, far superior to the way they used to do it.

 

[Miffy]

how hard is it to get Flight of Passage FP's 30 days out?

In answer to that question--it's pretty difficult but it's not impossible. However, you will have to spend time perhaps every day checking MDX for FoP availability. Often the day before the day you want the FP+ for, things magically appear. Or the day of.

Have an alternative strategy in mind--either rope-drop FoP, which means getting to the DAK entrance at least an hour before park opening, or plan to ride FoP close to park closing, when the posted standby wait times are highly exaggerated.

While at DAK, I have several times scored FoP as my 4th or even my 4th and 5th FP+. This could take either a little or a whole lotta refreshing MDX.

Whatever you do, try not to wait until late in your stay to ride FoP, because once you do it once, you'll want to do it again and again. To me, it's simply the best ride Disney has ever done--and many other people share my viewpoint on this.

 

[whitneyebz]

No, it doesn't impact our trips as much. We either do a throwaway room or we adjust by doing rope drop, riding certain attractions before close (FOP) or look for FP+ during the days we're in the parks. A good understanding of what rides and attractions are popular and the best time of day to ride them is key. I see a lot of people get hung on getting FP and worry about having a good time if you don't get the ones your want or the times you want. Many, many people visit WDW every day without FP. Some of my family members are DVC and they NEVER get FP ahead of time. I don't understand it, but they would rather play each day by ear!


You also get to use EMH for two days, which can be helpful in strategizing. If you pick your AK day on an EMH morning, you can get into the park a full hour before the general public.

A lot of this depends on the time of year. We frequently go in May and I've not had difficulty getting FOP for either my 60 day or 60+1, they are usually times in late afternoon. We've also had success getting same day FP for FOP (3 times on 3 different trips) so that also can happen. And riding FOP at the end of the evening is another successful strategy that we've used. I'm using FOP and the main example here because it is the most sought after ride currently. SWGE is still a wild card and we don't know how that will work once it's open. There are currently no FP for SWGE!

At 30 days (normal offsite FP booking window) I've been able to get 7DMT, PP, Soarin, RnRC, ToT, and some other harder to get rides that I can't remember off the top of my head. NRJ has popped up a lot on the same day I've been in AK. A lot of times these are for times later in the day, but then you can rope drop...say MK.... ride a lot of the attractions in the first hour or so and then use FP later in the afternoon.


Since Disney changed the rolling window, some people have booked a throwaway for every-other day, which gives you 60 FP for your entire trip length. You would just have to log on MDE every-other day to book your FP for two days. The cost of a campsite is about $100, so adding three throwaways (every-other day) to your budget could be around $300. But, if you're already staying offisite you can save thousands and have some wiggle room for the extra money. You'll also get free parking for your check in and check out days, so if you do an every-other day throwaway you are getting free parking for the entire week. I'm putting this out there as another option.
$300 approx. Three throwaway campsites, booked every-other day
-$150 parking for 6 days in parks (free with campsite)
-$60 approx. cost of 4 Magic Bands (not incl. tax, free with campsite, can get up to 10 MB)
= $90 plus whatever you consider the "value" of 60 day FP and EMH.

I have not seen FOP at 30 days out, but I have seen several same day FP for it. You need to refresh MDE quite a bit to get one, if there are any available. One morning last September we got up at 6 am to rope drop AK and on a whim I checked MDE and got FP for later that morning!

There's so much pressure to try to get everything in, ride every ride, see every show and get the most out of your vacation, however it's impossible to see and do everything in one trip. The reality is that WDW is enormous and there are so many things to see and do that you won't feel bed if you can't do everything. Pick a few priorities and see what you can do to make those happen.

Such a great response, thank you. You've really made me feel better about FP! And also, your math works out even better because there are 6 of us so magic bands would cost us $90! I can see the value in booking 3 throwaway campsites...when it's time to book, I'll decide what I want to do with that.

We don't want to ride everything. We are Disneyland regulars, and will probably visit Disneyland one more time before WDW- so we will do the Star Wars stuff there instead. That I am not even going to worry about. And whatever rides are basically the same we will skip or only ride if the line is short!

Mainly I am excited about Epcot (my favorite park when I was a teenager, and now it has so much more!), Pandora, Toy Story (but, mostly just out of curiosity...it's not actually very high on my list). And basically all of Animal Kingdom as well. Oh, and Rock 'n Rollercoaster which I've only ever ridden in Paris! (And loved it, and I know my husband and kids will love it too). At Magic Kingdom there isn't much that's different, but we will want to ride Mine Train, and Space Mountain (since it's different at each park). We'll also hit all our favorites when we can. I know there are rides we will skip, because we are mostly just looking to have a totally different experience from Disneyland

And then dining is a whole other thing. I need to start looking into which restaurants we want. We aren't big on characters but I think we'll like Ohana and 1900 Park Fair.

 

[whitneyebz]

In answer to that question--it's pretty difficult but it's not impossible. However, you will have to spend time perhaps every day checking MDX for FoP availability. Often the day before the day you want the FP+ for, things magically appear. Or the day of.

Have an alternative strategy in mind--either rope-drop FoP, which means getting to the DAK entrance at least an hour before park opening, or plan to ride FoP close to park closing, when the posted standby wait times are highly exaggerated.

While at DAK, I have several times scored FoP as my 4th or even my 4th and 5th FP+. This could take either a little or a whole lotta refreshing MDX.

Whatever you do, try not to wait until late in your stay to ride FoP, because once you do it once, you'll want to do it again and again. To me, it's simply the best ride Disney has ever done--and many other people share my viewpoint on this.

Sounds like a good strategy. If we can't get a FP at 30 days, I have no problem refreshing until we get it or rope dropping or getting on it before closing. I am considering making Animal Kingdom our first park day, maybe second. And then we will go again. In all likelihood we will end up with parkhoppers so we can go back to our favorites.