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

By the end of a long day in a park, I am happy to escape the "magical bubble".
Especially when saving over 1000$ for a week stay with more space than most on property rooms.
I don't understand spending lots of money when we are in the parks all day.
 
By the end of a long day in a park, I am happy to escape the "magical bubble".
Especially when saving over 1000$ for a week stay with more space than most on property rooms.
I don't understand spending lots of money when we are in the parks all day.

Your last sentence says it all. You are in the parks all day. Not everyone is. Many people spend as much or even more time at the resort. If you're someone who wants to pop over to a park for an hour or two, you might find value in staying in the Epcot area or a monorail resort, even at deluxe prices. If you're only in your hotel room to shower, change, and sleep, then where you stay matters a good deal less.

Different vacation styles. Different priorities. Different budgets. Isn't it great there are so many ways to do Disney?
 
Your last sentence says it all. You are in the parks all day. Not everyone is. Many people spend as much or even more time at the resort. If you're someone who wants to pop over to a park for an hour or two, you might find value in staying in the Epcot area or a monorail resort, even at deluxe prices. If you're only in your hotel room to shower, change, and sleep, then where you stay matters a good deal less.

Different vacation styles. Different priorities. Different budgets. Isn't it great there are so many ways to do Disney?
Well said.
 
Hello, anyone recommend staying off of Disney resorts but still within like 10 miles to save money? Still get the same Disney experience? Is it safe out of resorts ? VRBO or Airbnb?
You will not get the Same Disney experience, the full disney immersion staying off site.
Yes you can likely save money off site.
Consider the parking fees, the extra time needed for driving to/from, the fact you ll likely be tired after a long park day to then drive after finally getting to ur parked vehicle. Is Kissimmee safe, pretty much. If ur used too and like staying in someone else’s place( Airbnb etc) I suppose it’d be no different near disney than anywhere else.
Many stay off site, some ( us) would never stay Offsite and both sets of people can be happy for different reasons.
My disney visits are based on my need
to “ return home” get fully immersed in Disney and not think about the outside world... so for me staying on-site is the Only option.
Enjoy ur visit!!
 


I have not stayed onsite since having kids, but did want to chime in that we rented a house in Windsor hills and loved it. The whole area feels extremely safe, it’s an easy drive to all the parks, we all had our own rooms which meant better sleep, everyone has room to spread out and have alone time (there is togetherness all day at parks), and the private pool was amazing.
 
We’ve done both and prefer the ease of onsite. We have 3 small kids and we don’t do mid-daybreaks so “space” is not a concern convenience to and from is, especially when one kid is ready to head back and the others aren’t it’s a quick walk/boat/monorail/or bus ride and then the others can leave at their leisure too. We use our room for pool time, breakfast, and sleep... and obviously bathing, haha!

When we’ve stayed off site safety was never a concern :)
 
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If you have a large group and would need multiple rooms, I can see the appeal of offsite. However, if you’re 4 people or less and in 1 hotel room, Disney has a wide variety of hotel options for many budgets and those stays come with some nice perks that make a difference on the ease of your trip (earlier fast passes, extra magic hours, park transportation etc).
 


I know there are already many replies, but I will chime in. I do think this is such a personal choice and depends on your budget and almost more importantly, the # of people in your party. We have 5 children so staying onsite is not an option for us. If we had two kids or we were taking an adult-only trip, I would consider staying in a value or moderate hotel with little frills for under $225/night and experiencing onsite perks at least once in my lifetime. But, I guarantee it would be a one and done for me unless I hit the lottery and could afford to stay at a Deluxe resort like GF or Polynesian. I don't like being tied to a specific schedule with meals each day (ADR's etc, give me anxiety), and I absolutely hate waiting in lines for buses. For someone else, these onsite "perks" that I don't enjoy in a vacation may just be the selling point for a great trip. I have read so many posts about how people love not having to drive or cook on vacation. I can appreciate that. But for me, so many of the things I value in a vacation-- extra space, a washer and dryer in unit so I can pack lighter for the kids, a kitchen to store my own groceries, a car to come and go as I please, are just not affordable onsite options. So, we will always be off-site people!
 
We have 5 children so staying onsite is not an option for us.

I know this is weird but this is part of the reason why we only have 2 kids and will not have any additional. Not specific to Disney but just in general when traveling, buying a home, or even vehicle choices.

If I had 5 kids I would never stay on site at Disney, it wouldn't even be an option.
 
I know this is weird but this is part of the reason why we only have 2 kids and will not have any additional. Not specific to Disney but just in general when traveling, buying a home, or even vehicle choices.

If I had 5 kids I would never stay on site at Disney, it wouldn't even be an option.
You are smart! 🤣 Honestly, I couldn’t imagine life without my cherubs (my house would be so eerily quiet with only my oldest two girls). And, I have resigned myself to driving a minivan for the next 15 years #iusedtobecool. But, we still take what I consider to be pretty lavish Disney vacations and for that, I feel fortunate because so many cannot. It just takes a lot more thought and planning (for me) that it would if we had a small family. I approach the vacation budget like a puzzle or mental challenge and look for ways to solve & save.

I think my single most exciting budget score of this trip is that I am flying all 7of us direct to Orlando for $665 round trip. You didn’t read that wrong! I couldn’t even drive us there for that price with stops from New England down I-95. Hoping Frontier doesn’t flake out and cancel the flight, but we can deal with carrryons and less leg room.

As for other trips, we utilize Vrbo for home rentals and when we need to do block hotel stays for my daughters’ large dance comps we try to divide and conquer and hubby will stay home with the youngest members of our fam so we don’t have to book two rooms. Those are not really vacation trips anyway but unfortunately cost the same as a vacation!!
 
I mentioned a few pages back about helping my son in law's sister booking an offsite trip. We have some numbers now to show how the cost differs enormously.

She has a reservation for OKW for October and the price is $3,500 for 6 nights. She will most likely rent a car for between $90 and $150 per day, depending on which type she wants. The SUV is $150 so we will go with that for argument's sake. She will have to pay for parking for 6 nights at OKW at $24 per day at a total of $144. I'm putting this here for the "but you don't have to pay to park at the parks" arguement. You do still have to pay for parking at the Disney resorts if you have your car. She has 5 day tickets so she won't have to pay the $125 for parking at the parks. Parking at OKW is still more expensive over the week than paying to park at the parks.

For offsite, she can get SVR (2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, living room, dining room, full kitchen, washer/dryer, jacuzzi tub in master) for the week (7 nights) for $800 through skyauction, which is accessable to everyone. (we sometimes stay through our timeshare co. and get great rates, but skyauction can be accessed by the general public) No parking fees, no daily resort fee. SVR is directly across I4 from Disney Springs, for reference on how close it is to property. It takes about 5-10 minutes to Epcot and HS, and maybe 15 minutes tops to MK or AK. Getting into a car at the end of a night and driving will take way less time than standing in a crowd waiting for a crowded Disney bus and they will be back at their resort in way less time, in most cases. I know this for a fact because every time we stay at our offsite resort and our DVC family stay onsite and we leave parks the same time, we always get back to our resort at least 15 - 30 minutes sooner than they get to theirs, the same is true for getting to the parks as well. The ONLY exceptions has been when they stay at BLT and can walk or when we go to MK because we have to wait for the monorail or ferry.

So, if she stays offsite for $800, adds parking for 5 park days, the cost of rental SUV she's roughly paying $1,075 for the week for just the resort, car and parking. If she stays with OKW, rents a car, pays for parking at the resort she's up to $3,794. The price difference is $2,719 that she would save by staying offsite. For me, and a lot of people, paying $2,719 just to stay in a "bubble" is definitely NOT worth it. YMMV and to each his own.

I'm posting this because we are in the middle of working numbers for her. Every question she's had about parking fees, transportation time, the "bubble", etc. have been the same comments I've seen on this thread from people who enjoy staying onsite. Now she's presented with actual numbers and facts and is shocked. She knows she could stay in an All Stars for a little cheaper, but she likes the resort feel of OKW and doesn't like the value resorts. SVR has the same feel as a moderate Disney resort.
 
Rented a house in Reunion one year. It was great. Nice coming back to your own private pool. Was about a 10-15 minute ride to the MK area, closer to Celebration and the AK area. Never any traffic. Would definitely do it again, and we are DVC members.
 
resigned myself to driving a minivan

Haha we have 2 kids bought a Telluride (3 rows) and were looking at a Minivan. We can barely fit in that when traveling lol. Between the 2 kids (car seats take up captains chairs), 2 dogs (they take up back end with 3rd row folded), luggage (fills up rest of 3rd row that dogs don't take), and stoller; I couldn't imagine. I like Petes analysis of DVC though that we are like lobsters and we grow to the size of the tank we are in haha.

So, if she stays offsite for $800, adds parking for 5 park days, the cost of rental SUV she's roughly paying $1,075 for the week for just the resort, car and parking. If she stays with OKW, rents a car, pays for parking at the resort she's up to $3,794. The price difference is $2,719 that she would save by staying offsite. For me, and a lot of people, paying $2,719 just to stay in a "bubble" is definitely NOT worth it. YMMV and to each his own.

Except if you are renting a car on site you are throwing away a lot of the benefit personally. So that is $1,075 of cost avoided. I would also say you can get a standard view at Animal Kingdom Villas via DVC rental for around $2,800 for a 1 Bedroom so thats another $700 shaved off the pricing. So you are left with a $1000 difference or $142/night.

I am doing really quick random math on this as well but if I knew about her trip back at the start of the year she likely could have gotten Boardwalk Villas Studio at $17/point for $1800 for the 7 nights. Now you are left with a complete wash compared to staying offsite and renting that SUV.

Getting into a car at the end of a night and driving will take way less time than standing in a crowd waiting for a crowded Disney bus

I would contest are you not going to wait on trams, busses, and boats to get back to your parking? Also have a long day in the park is it not just nice to sit and not have to deal with traffic?
 
Except if you are renting a car on site you are throwing away a lot of the benefit personally. So that is $1,075 of cost avoided. I would also say you can get a standard view at Animal Kingdom Villas via DVC rental for around $2,800 for a 1 Bedroom so thats another $700 shaved off the pricing. So you are left with a $1000 difference or $142/night.
"Benefit" is subjective here. Some people don't feel Disney transportation is a benefit, but more of a hassle. Both she and my SIL and their whole family who own DVC and go frequently like to drive rather than deal with Disney transportation. They already have their flights booked or they would eliminate the rental entirely. There is some kind of dance competition/thing their daughter is in while they're there so they want to have their own transportation.
I am doing really quick random math on this as well but if I knew about her trip back at the start of the year she likely could have gotten Boardwalk Villas Studio at $17/point for $1800 for the 7 nights. Now you are left with a complete wash compared to staying offsite and renting that SUV.
I'm not debating that there are ways to do a Disney resort trip cheaper, I'm comparing what she actually has booked now and how an offsite resort compares.

Here's the actual breakdown of costs that we're all currently going over.

OKW onsite
6 nights for $3,500
Rental SUV $150
Parking at OKW $144
Total = $3,794

SVR offsite
7 nights for $800
Rental SUV $150
Parking at parks, 5 days $125
Total = $1,075

Price difference = $2,719

But for argument's sake with your Boardwalk deal:
7 nights for $1,800
Rental SUV $150
Parking for 7 nights at BW @ $24 per night = $168
Total = $2,118.00
Price difference for BW vs SVR = $1,043. Not exactly a wash, IMO. ??

Also, cramming into a one bedroom or studio with three kids (2 girls, 1 boy) is not their "ideal" vacation. The lower cost alternatives you posted, while I appreciate you posting the prices for comparison, don't compare with SVR's two bedroom, two bathroom, full kitchen, etc. which offers them a lot more room.

I would contest are you not going to wait on trams, busses, and boats to get back to your parking? Also have a long day in the park is it not just nice to sit and not have to deal with traffic?
The only park, as I mentioned, that takes a while for us is MK. We typically park close enough in Epcot and AK that it's quicker to walk to the car. We've done it in HS also, but I've skipped that park the past two trips so I can't comment on what the new parking situation/new entrance is like. Sitting in my own comfortable car in air conditioning is a much better trip leaving the parks, IMO. And it's not like your driving for more than 20 minutes tops, traffic moves quickly and smoothly so it's not stressful in the least. At least to us.

As I mentioned, YMMV and to each his/her own. I can only comment on my experiences and those of my family, both DVC and non DVC, onsite and offsite. And these numbers are not "what if's" or "could be's", they're actual price differences that we can see and work with for her situation right now.

Bottom line is that everyone will pick the resorts, experiences, parks, transportation, etc, etc, that works for them and appeals to them individually. Nothing wrong with that. I am putting this out there in a thread about asking about saving money by staying offsite as we are currently dealing with a specific situation and going over what will work for her.
 
We have stayed on-site more than off-site. We prefer to stay on-site. We like to be totally in the Disney bubble. My husband likes letting Disney take care of the transportation from point A to point B. It drives us crazy to fight traffic to get to the parks and deal with parking and then people just don't know how to act when the trams come! Somehow the lines for the buses don't seem as bad...maybe because there are designated paths to queue up in. Even at the resorts, people do okay with lining up and shuffling on the buses. It is way easier to take breaks and head back to the resort and actually come back to the parks when you are staying on-site.

We are a family of five, and we have always just stayed in one room or once we were pixie-dusted with a family suite at ASMu. I guess we are so tired when we are in our room, we just chill out and space has never been an issue. We have rented a camper and stayed at Fort Wilderness. We were there with extended family and each part of the extended family had their own camper. We covered 3 spots. That was a lot of fun!

I get that the price is so much better off-site...but since we are okay with not always having to stay at one of the more expensive resorts, we like to stay with the on-site resorts!
 
"Benefit" is subjective here. Some people don't feel Disney transportation is a benefit, but more of a hassle.

Then I would likely never book on site. Just book Disney Springs Good Neighbor hotels at most if I felt I needed to drive or other rentals further off site.

I'm comparing what she actually has booked now and how an offsite resort compares.

Except that is not a fair comparison. I am sure I can find overpriced off-site hotels as well. The point I was trying to make is the math is flawed as you only mentioned All Stars as an alternative but she doesn't like value resorts, well this is Deluxe resorts as a comparison for pricing.

It's fine if you want to stay off site but the math should be the best on both sides for you to make a decision. Things like needing the car and renting DVC would give them free parking as another example. Them being DVC members means they likely could get points cheaper than the $17/point since they could transfer as opposed to renting.

Way more math and options to save money. I would also say though they likely can get better options off site as well for possibly cheaper if they looked evel which then comes with a whole new set of variables.
 
Except that is not a fair comparison. I am sure I can find overpriced off-site hotels as well. The point I was trying to make is the math is flawed as you only mentioned All Stars as an alternative but she doesn't like value resorts, well this is Deluxe resorts as a comparison for pricing.

Fair enough to say the onsite and offsite should be similar, but @mckennarose isn't using a budget hotel to do her offsite comparison. I don't know if you've ever been to SVR, but I think it's pretty comparable to OKW in terms of the quality of the units and the amenities offered. What OKW offers additionally is the ability to forego having a car (if someone wants that, and it doesn't sound like these vacationers do), and the Disney resort perks (free magic bands, 60-day FP, EMH, etc), but in terms of the actual accommodations, I think SVR is a fair comparison.

Because of the level of competition in Orlando, there really aren't that many resorts I'd consider overpriced. Even truly 5-star resorts like the Waldorf can be had for not much more than a Disney moderate, and sometimes for less.

Unless I'm reading this wrong, it seems like @mckennarose is showing that a value resort is the only Disney option that compares in price to an offsite option like SVR. If people want a deluxe-type option, they either need to go offsite or pay deluxe prices.

You make a good point about DVC being cheaper, but with DVC rental, the prices are going to be at least comparable to moderates, and often above. I've looked into renting DVC myself, and it's never been as cheap as a value or offsite. And that's even if you can get the DVC rental for your dates, and they are always nonrefundable.

I would never say that offsite and onsite are the same, because they are absolutely not, and really do offer different experiences. How people value different facets of the experiences is going to determine if they find the prices reasonable for each.
 
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Unless I'm reading this wrong, it seems like @mckennarose is showing that a value resort is the only Disney option that compares in price to an offsite option like SVR. If people want a deluxe-type option, they either need to go offsite or pay deluxe prices.
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Exactly, thank you. The ONLY WDW resorts even in the same ballpark price-wise are the Values. She wants a higher-end resort and SVR does rank up there with the moderate WDW resorts.
If you want a true representation of how each WDW resort compares with offsite resorts, AAA has a diamond ranking system for all the Orlando/Kissimmee/Lake Buena Vista hotels. Both OKW and SVR are both ranked at a 3 diamond resort. The All Stars are 2 diamond ranked. HUGE differences in amenities, accommodations, quality, etc. from and All Stars to SVR.

....
Them being DVC members means they likely could get points cheaper than the $17/point since they could transfer as opposed to renting.

Also, SHE personally doesn't own DVC. Her parents do, as do several Aunts and Uncles. Her parents used their points already this year so she can't go on their points. She wants a nicer, higher-end experience and accommodations, but not an All Star and not spend $3,500 for a hotel only. She doesn't want to cram into a tiny room and they won't be spending every waking moment in the parks. They plan to use their resort for more than just sleeping at night. It's a whole vacation experience for them, not just a Disney parks all day, every day. They need room for the toddler to take a nap and not get woken by noise in the same room.

Again, to each his/her own. I'm thankful there are so many options for all of us to do Disney the way that works for each individual family.
 
I don't know if you've ever been to SVR, but I think it's pretty comparable to OKW in terms of the quality of the units and the amenities offered.

I am not saying SVR is not nice. I was stating however OKW was overpriced in comparison to what you could get renting points elsewhere.

She wants a nicer, higher-end experience and accommodations, but not an All Star and not spend $3,500 for a hotel only.

Which is fine and why I outlined that there is an onsite option that is not $3,500 that is 1BR. Like I said to someone else if I felt I was required to have a car then I for sure would not stay on site at that point. I was just trying to outline how the math was actually a wash for onsite 1BR AKV vs the SVR option with rental car.

Again, to each his/her own. I'm thankful there are so many options for all of us to do Disney the way that works for each individual family.

Which is a great thing as it keeps the hotel costs down both for on and offsite.
 
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Which is fine and why I outlined that there is an onsite option that is not $3,500 that is 1BR. Like I said to someone else if I felt I was required to have a car then I for sure would not stay on site at that point. I was just trying to outline how the math was actually a wash for onsite 1BR AKV vs the SVR option with rental car.
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I get what you're saying, and as I posted above, I appreciate you posting prices for comparison. However a one bedroom is not something they are interested in and she's been to WDW many times for her entire life, at least 20+ trips, so the "convenience" or "benefit" of WDW transportation is not something she, or anyone in their DVC-owning family are interested in or do regularly. They all prefer driving over WDW transportation. For what they want, the price of $3,500 for a room-only to sleep is not what they want and she's looking for ways for her trip to be more affordable.

The "bubble" is not something new to her, or her family, so not as "worth it" for them as some people feel. But again, she's not new (ish) to WDW and has "been there, done that" (her opinion) so she's ok with not staying at WDW resort, using WDW transportation, etc. The point is that there are offsite options that can work for her, which we are trying to help her with, as she's never done it yet. She's exactly where my SIL was a few years ago, who grew up the same thinking that "there's only one way to do Disney" (onsite) and now see what the options are. They have never looked into it before and are now genuiney surprised by what's actually out there.
 

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