I can't say one is better than the other because I have never stayed onsite, and I have only been with my family once before (we've done 2 trips to Disneyland though). I have longingly looked at the resort slideshows and thought YES, I want to stay onsite -- in fact I do *that* all the time. The cold shock of the quote, though, always puts me off.
We stayed off-site for a week at Christmas 2004 with DS (then 9) and DS 6 (Comfort Suites Maingate East). We never had a problem with traffic and viewed the tram/monorail travel into the parks as part of that magic! We got 5 day parkhopper w/waterpark option, after making the conscious decision NOT to go to any park on Christmas day! Unfortunately it was too cold to use the waterparks although we did take a cool-ish day at the beach midweek. As for the "immersion in the magic" by staying onsite -- by that midweek day trip to Daytona Beach I have to say I was ready for a break from all things mouse-related (sacreligious, I know!) If someone had wished me a magical day at that point, well...you know!
The hotel had breakfast included. There was always plenty to eat there and we grabbed yogurt/applesauce cups/fresh fruit for snacks. We had a fridge and microwave in our room as well as a table to eat at, so I bought breakfast stuff, lunch stuff, and a couple of frozen type dinners (like frozen lasagna); snacks and drinks galore as well.
We had planned on all breakfasts at the hotel, one snack per day bought in the parks, and one "restaurant meal" per day. On days where it was supper, I made sandwiches and we packed a picnic lunch to the parks. On days that it was lunch, we ate it in the parks and had supper in our room -- heated in the microwave or purchased takeout (I know, that's restaurant food -- but the microwave was too small for frozen pizza! )
On Christmas Day we went to Mass and then had a huge late lunch at a buffet place that had waaaaaay more food than one could ever dream about (the quality was so-so but the kids raved about it!). Our decision to not go to the parks ended up being a joke because it just torrentially POURED, all day!!!! We would not have gone anyway, it was like a monsoon! LOL
This worked out really well for our family -- no one complained about homemade lunches when they knew they could have a Mickey bar later! The one thing I would say is that once we left the parks, most of the time even with the best intentions of returning after a rest, we ended up being too tired to venture back out once we were :home". That was partly a function of the kids (the 6 year old did not have much staying power back then) and partly a function of a DH with the ability to conk out on a horizontal surface in about 10 seconds flat! One night I left 3 "boys" sleeping and went for a quickie shopping trip to the outlet mall and DTD. I was happy! LOL
This time (Dec 08) with my 2 "take up alot of space" boys (both literally and figuratively) there is no way we would do well in one hotel room, so for peace of mind I am looking at condos or suite hotels. I just can't justify to myself the cost of staying and eating 100% onsite during a holiday rate season... although my good friend the Disney fanatic insists it is THE only way to go!
We stayed off-site for a week at Christmas 2004 with DS (then 9) and DS 6 (Comfort Suites Maingate East). We never had a problem with traffic and viewed the tram/monorail travel into the parks as part of that magic! We got 5 day parkhopper w/waterpark option, after making the conscious decision NOT to go to any park on Christmas day! Unfortunately it was too cold to use the waterparks although we did take a cool-ish day at the beach midweek. As for the "immersion in the magic" by staying onsite -- by that midweek day trip to Daytona Beach I have to say I was ready for a break from all things mouse-related (sacreligious, I know!) If someone had wished me a magical day at that point, well...you know!
The hotel had breakfast included. There was always plenty to eat there and we grabbed yogurt/applesauce cups/fresh fruit for snacks. We had a fridge and microwave in our room as well as a table to eat at, so I bought breakfast stuff, lunch stuff, and a couple of frozen type dinners (like frozen lasagna); snacks and drinks galore as well.
We had planned on all breakfasts at the hotel, one snack per day bought in the parks, and one "restaurant meal" per day. On days where it was supper, I made sandwiches and we packed a picnic lunch to the parks. On days that it was lunch, we ate it in the parks and had supper in our room -- heated in the microwave or purchased takeout (I know, that's restaurant food -- but the microwave was too small for frozen pizza! )
On Christmas Day we went to Mass and then had a huge late lunch at a buffet place that had waaaaaay more food than one could ever dream about (the quality was so-so but the kids raved about it!). Our decision to not go to the parks ended up being a joke because it just torrentially POURED, all day!!!! We would not have gone anyway, it was like a monsoon! LOL
This worked out really well for our family -- no one complained about homemade lunches when they knew they could have a Mickey bar later! The one thing I would say is that once we left the parks, most of the time even with the best intentions of returning after a rest, we ended up being too tired to venture back out once we were :home". That was partly a function of the kids (the 6 year old did not have much staying power back then) and partly a function of a DH with the ability to conk out on a horizontal surface in about 10 seconds flat! One night I left 3 "boys" sleeping and went for a quickie shopping trip to the outlet mall and DTD. I was happy! LOL
This time (Dec 08) with my 2 "take up alot of space" boys (both literally and figuratively) there is no way we would do well in one hotel room, so for peace of mind I am looking at condos or suite hotels. I just can't justify to myself the cost of staying and eating 100% onsite during a holiday rate season... although my good friend the Disney fanatic insists it is THE only way to go!