Staying Off Site for First Family Trip?

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I thought I had everything figured out for our family of 5 (our three girls will be 5.5 when we travel).

We're booked for two rooms at Pop and planning on putting the DxDP on one room only, with 1a 2c, so that we can do lots of character dining. The plan was always to stay completely in the Disney bubble, ME, Disney buses to parks, etc.

Now, I'm second guessing things. The condos in Windsor Hills seem to be really nice for a lot less $$. But, then we'd have to rent a car, deal with car seats (they're all still in 5 pt harnesses, so a minivan or 3rd row SUV would be needed). And, no dining plan off site. I know for a lot of people, the plan doesn't make sense, but, with our ages and expected meals, I'm looking at about $500 savings doing the meal plan versus paying out of pocket (lots of character meals). And, there's the general hassle of driving to and from the parks each day instead of just having a bus drop you there, plus the $22 a day parking fee at the parks. Heck, I was really looking forward to ME picking up my bags at the airport and dropping them at my room, and then using resort airline check in on the way back out so that we, once again, don't have to drag bags through the airport.

Even with the cost of dining, renting a car, and paying to park at theme parks, the Windsor Hills condos would be cheaper. They would also undoubtedly be less convenient.

So, what are your experiences? Is it worth the money merely for the fact that I wouldn't have to install three car seats in a rental car (f that so hard!)? Or, were you glad to be offsite?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I've stayed onsite and also at Windsor Hills many times. While WH is awesome, I would definitely stick with 2 rooms at Pop. It sounds like the DP will really work for what you have planned for character meals. ME is so much easier than renting a car and dealing with car seats. And of course....the bubble! If you were trying to squeeze 5 people into one room I probably would say offsite just for the extra space. But since you're getting 2 rooms I vote Pop!

 

[mom25kiddos]

We are typically off-site people (but have more children than you do) and need the space. But reading your post I think you want to do on-site so that is what you should do! The deal breaker in our family would be parents sleeping separately, or sleeping with children-but perhaps you can ensure you have adjoining. Have a wonderful trip and let us know what you decide.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We are typically off-site people (but have more children than you do) and need the space. But reading your post I think you want to do on-site so that is what you should do! The deal breaker in our family would be parents sleeping separately, or sleeping with children-but perhaps you can ensure you have adjoining. Have a wonderful trip and let us know what you decide.

It's really the airport experience that I keep coming back to. Having to go get all of our luggage (plus car seats and strollers), drag it to the car rental shuttles, get the car picked up, and proceed to install three car seats sounds just awful. Once that's done, I think having a car and staying in a condo will be nicer than being completely at the mercy of Disney transport. My husband gets a really good deal on car rentals through his employer, so even adding on the car and subtracting the dining plan savings, we'd be spending less to have more space and more flexibility off-site. I even looked at the auto train on Amtrak, because then we'd have our own car with seats pre-installed, but that's expensive and it's own kind of hassle.

 

[Klayfish]

If you want to do onsite, then by all means do it!! However, if you want my opinion and aren't stuck on being in "the bubble", I'd highly recommend offsite. We are hard core offsite people, and would never dream of staying onsite. It would be awful. We're a family of 5, including a set of twins. You have to decide what's important to you and what you want. For example....and these are just our family's opinions...not "facts":

Character dining is a huge waste of money. All of the characters in there can be seen, met and autographed (at least the ones that sign) for free elsewhere in the parks. We did character dining once, many years ago and then realized it was a waste. You can save a fortune by skipping it.

Driving too and from the parks each day isn't a hassle to us, it's actually a HUGE benefit. We can come and go as we please. No waiting for buses, no transferring buses if you're trying to get to different places on property, no squeezing into a crowded bus full of tired/cranky/sweaty/whatever else people. I don't really think it's that big a deal to put car seats in, should take no more than 10 minutes.

Having a 3 or 4 bedroom home, with all the comfort and space it provides beats the daylights out of a tiny hotel room. You'll have a full family room, full kitchen, laundry, everything. If you want to keep a bunch of snacks around, you've got a full kitchen for it (you don't have to cook at all if you don't want to). The kids can have their own bedrooms, community pool(s), etc...I couldn't imagine being stuck in a hotel room (or two) for a long time. No way.

The "Disney bubble" is what you make of it. Our bubble extends far beyond WDW actual property. There are so many cool things just off property that it gives you even more to do. Shops, restaurants, etc... I can "commute" to WDW from our rental condo/house probably about as fast as some do from their value resort.

Never stayed at Windsor Hills, so can't give first hand experience. But we've looked at it because of all the hype it has on this board. Seems like a nice place, but nothing special compared to the hundreds of other nearby places. We typically pay about $700-$850/week for a 3 or 4 bedroom, 2-3 bath house...including all taxes and fees.

Why drag your bags through the airport? They have tons of people who work at the airport who would help you, a simple $10 or $20 tip would be a nice thank you, but they'll do the heavy lifting. Even if you have to do it yourself, it'll take what...an hour...and then the work is done. To me, that's well worth the huge savings.

 

[MrsDuck]

Look into renting DVC points so you can be a in a one or two bedroom villa. It is the best solution, I think!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

It's really the airport experience that I keep coming back to. Having to go get all of our luggage (plus car seats and strollers), drag it to the car rental shuttles, get the car picked up, and proceed to install three car seats sounds just awful. Once that's done, I think having a car and staying in a condo will be nicer than being completely at the mercy of Disney transport. My husband gets a really good deal on car rentals through his employer, so even adding on the car and subtracting the dining plan savings, we'd be spending less to have more space and more flexibility off-site. I even looked at the auto train on Amtrak, because then we'd have our own car with seats pre-installed, but that's expensive and it's own kind of hassle.

Not to start a car seat debate, but you mentioned the kids are 5 1/2. Do they HAVE to be in 5 point harnesses still? If they could do booster seats instead those would be MUCH easier to install.

 

[Klayfish]

Not to start a car seat debate, but you mentioned the kids are 5 1/2. Do they HAVE to be in 5 point harnesses still? If they could do booster seats instead those would be MUCH easier to install.

I was wondering this myself. Certainly it's each parents decision, and maybe the kids are really small. If you can do without that kind of elaborate seat, you'll be much better off. Pretty sure by that age, my kids were either completely out of any type of seat or just in a simple booster.

 

[MonorailNate]

I would recommend staying onsite for the total Disney immersion. Character meals are fantastic for kids your age but they are expensive, time consuming and chaotic. We typically did a character breakfast and a dinner when our kids were young. I would not have wanted to do character dining everyday.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Not to start a car seat debate, but you mentioned the kids are 5 1/2. Do they HAVE to be in 5 point harnesses still? If they could do booster seats instead those would be MUCH easier to install.

I was wondering this myself. Certainly it's each parents decision, and maybe the kids are really small. If you can do without that kind of elaborate seat, you'll be much better off. Pretty sure by that age, my kids were either completely out of any type of seat or just in a simple booster.

My girls are currently only 31-33lb. They're not going to break 40lb in the next 10 months, which is the minimum for most boosters, including the seats that we currently own which convert to booster. I could go buy another set of boosters with the 30lb limit, but then I'd be concerned about their safety. I don't think they'll have the maturity to sit safely in the booster for the length of the ride from the airport to the Disney area, especially considering that we aren't doing any booster training at home, nor do we intend to. Plus, I expect they'll fall asleep in the car on the ride back from the park if we stay for the night shows and I would want the 5pt harness at that point. I have been toying with boosters for the rental, don't get me wrong, but I just can't justify to myself the safety risk for the sake of convenience. I know everyone has their own opinions, and I also don't want to start a car seat fight, but, for us, we want to keep them in the safest seat we can until they exceed the height/weight limits for that style of seat.

 

[Monykalyn]

Our first family trip was when my girls were 6 years and 16 month old. Offsite in 2 bed, 2 bath condo resort. Rented car, car seats and brought our stroller. Truly didn't think it was that bad-was so easy to get girls fed in morning from comfort of room with full kitchen, table etc.
A lot of times driving to parks from offsite takes about same amount of time as catching a bus, and way better to have seats at end of day when legs are tired than standing on hot sweaty crowded bus. Even now-though I like the convenience of being able to split up easier onsite-our max is about 5 days. We just prefer the space of offsite.

With that said however-the new rooms at Pop have the murphy bed that goes up and becomes a table, and if you get connecting rooms you would still be able to have that table, 2 small fridges for snacks, 2 bathrooms etc. Just keep in mind that trying to get to a resort from a resort on property with buses is a PITA.

How many character meals were you planning? They can get redundant after a while, and can eat up alot of time from the day as well. There are lots of tips/tricks to get discount disney gift cards to help keep cost of food down.

Just keep in mind-would you be OK being split up if you can't get connecting rooms?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

If you want to do onsite, then by all means do it!! However, if you want my opinion and aren't stuck on being in "the bubble", I'd highly recommend offsite. We are hard core offsite people, and would never dream of staying onsite. It would be awful. We're a family of 5, including a set of twins. You have to decide what's important to you and what you want. For example....and these are just our family's opinions...not "facts":

Character dining is a huge waste of money. All of the characters in there can be seen, met and autographed (at least the ones that sign) for free elsewhere in the parks. We did character dining once, many years ago and then realized it was a waste. You can save a fortune by skipping it.

Driving too and from the parks each day isn't a hassle to us, it's actually a HUGE benefit. We can come and go as we please. No waiting for buses, no transferring buses if you're trying to get to different places on property, no squeezing into a crowded bus full of tired/cranky/sweaty/whatever else people. I don't really think it's that big a deal to put car seats in, should take no more than 10 minutes.

Having a 3 or 4 bedroom home, with all the comfort and space it provides beats the daylights out of a tiny hotel room. You'll have a full family room, full kitchen, laundry, everything. If you want to keep a bunch of snacks around, you've got a full kitchen for it (you don't have to cook at all if you don't want to). The kids can have their own bedrooms, community pool(s), etc...I couldn't imagine being stuck in a hotel room (or two) for a long time. No way.

The "Disney bubble" is what you make of it. Our bubble extends far beyond WDW actual property. There are so many cool things just off property that it gives you even more to do. Shops, restaurants, etc... I can "commute" to WDW from our rental condo/house probably about as fast as some do from their value resort.

Never stayed at Windsor Hills, so can't give first hand experience. But we've looked at it because of all the hype it has on this board. Seems like a nice place, but nothing special compared to the hundreds of other nearby places. We typically pay about $700-$850/week for a 3 or 4 bedroom, 2-3 bath house...including all taxes and fees.

Why drag your bags through the airport? They have tons of people who work at the airport who would help you, a simple $10 or $20 tip would be a nice thank you, but they'll do the heavy lifting. Even if you have to do it yourself, it'll take what...an hour...and then the work is done. To me, that's well worth the huge savings.

So, if we were paying OOP, I can't imagine we'd do nearly as many character meals. But, with two rooms booked and putting only one of them on the DxDP, we end up paying $200 a night for the 9 days, 8 nights and that would cover all of our meals, snacks, drinks at the park including a character dine every day. Our total food budget would be $1600 plus tips and a small grocery delivery for fruits and dairy in the hotel room. We are planning on staying at the park each day, not leaving and coming back later, so we have to eat something and the character meals would afford us a longer rest before we strike out for the afternoon. While I know they take up quite a bit of time, that would kind of be the point for us, since they're in lieu of a trip back to the resort/condo. Also, my girls are obsessed with characters right now, so we would likely be doing the character meals PLUS the meeting in the parks. I think the value proposition for us is higher than others because of how much my kids like characters and the price point the dining plan ends up being for us by splitting the rooms. If we stayed off site, we'd still be buying a lot of food in the parks, so I don't think we'd be that far off from the $1600 mark but it would be a lot more quick service.

I really like the idea of having my own car, mostly. However, if we leave after fireworks with everyone else, I think I'd rather be waiting in a bus line than sitting in a giant line of traffic to get out of a parking lot. How bad are parking lot exits at that time of night? In my head, it's like leaving a major sporting event, where everyone's trying to push into the lines and barely inching ahead.

While I agree car seats "should" take 10 minutes, that's not always the reality. The same seat will fit well in some cars and have to be fought with in others, depending on the slant of the seats, location of the tethers, etc. I know it could be easy, but it could also end up being quite an event to get all three snugly installed. Then, there's the question of space for luggage and the double stroller. I believe most places rent Chrysler Pacificas as the minivan, which would be ideal for us. We could do two in the back, one in the middle, stow the extra captain, and have plenty of room for our stuff. But, if it's another style of van, we could end up fighting to fit our luggage after we do get the seats in. It could be easy, or it could be a nightmare, and I'd rather not start my trip with a nightmare. It's a risk I'm theoretically willing to take, if the reward is worth it, which is how I ended up here to begin with.

You definitely don't have to sell me on how much better a condo would be than hotel rooms. That's really why I started second guessing myself at all!

As to luggage in the airport, I'm not familiar with how the luggage carts work. I've only ever flown when it's with adults who are fully capable of dealing with their own luggage, so I never paid attention. We could get a cart from baggage claim to the airport shuttle, right? But, getting off the shuttle, do they have lots of carts at the rental desks, too? What's the situation like from getting off of the airport shuttle to actually getting to your car?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Look into renting DVC points so you can be a in a one or two bedroom villa. It is the best solution, I think!

I have been looking into that as well. The two rooms at Pop is cheaper and would let us do the DxDP on only one room. So, if we're on site, that's where we'll end up.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I would recommend staying onsite for the total Disney immersion. Character meals are fantastic for kids your age but they are expensive, time consuming and chaotic. We typically did a character breakfast and a dinner when our kids were young. I would not have wanted to do character dining everyday.

So, the expense won't be an issue with our DxDP set up, and the time consuming part was kind of the point. We'd be doing that in lieu of a break back at the resort. The chaos is admittedly something I'm not looking forward to, but chaotic dining is pretty much my life right now, anyway. Seriously, they break out into song pretty much every meal *without* masked characters, so I'm not sure it'll be all that different

What did you do to break up your days, if not a sit-down lunch? Are you "rest at the resort" people?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Our first family trip was when my girls were 6 years and 16 month old. Offsite in 2 bed, 2 bath condo resort. Rented car, car seats and brought our stroller. Truly didn't think it was that bad-was so easy to get girls fed in morning from comfort of room with full kitchen, table etc.
A lot of times driving to parks from offsite takes about same amount of time as catching a bus, and way better to have seats at end of day when legs are tired than standing on hot sweaty crowded bus. Even now-though I like the convenience of being able to split up easier onsite-our max is about 5 days. We just prefer the space of offsite.

With that said however-the new rooms at Pop have the murphy bed that goes up and becomes a table, and if you get connecting rooms you would still be able to have that table, 2 small fridges for snacks, 2 bathrooms etc. Just keep in mind that trying to get to a resort from a resort on property with buses is a PITA.

How many character meals were you planning? They can get redundant after a while, and can eat up alot of time from the day as well. There are lots of tips/tricks to get discount disney gift cards to help keep cost of food down.

Just keep in mind-would you be OK being split up if you can't get connecting rooms?

We weren't planning on going resort to resort on the buses, so that's not a concern. While we want connecting rooms, we'd deal with it if they weren't. We were specifically looking at Pop over the other values because of all of the upgrades you just mentioned that came with the refurb. We'd likely keep one bed up at all times, so we'd always have the table, we'd use the two fridges, bathrooms, etc.

We're looking at a character meal pretty much each day for lunch (I think it's 7 meals out of the 9 days) as our way of sitting for a bit before we start our afternoon. We're pretty sure that, if we try to leave and rest midday we'll never get back out the door for evening touring. Instead, we'd want to kill some time in the restaurant before striking back out for the afternoon.

 

[MonorailNate]

So, the expense won't be an issue with our DxDP set up, and the time consuming part was kind of the point. We'd be doing that in lieu of a break back at the resort. The chaos is admittedly something I'm not looking forward to, but chaotic dining is pretty much my life right now, anyway. Seriously, they break out into song pretty much every meal *without* masked characters, so I'm not sure it'll be all that different

What did you do to break up your days, if not a sit-down lunch? Are you "rest at the resort" people?

We like to get to the parks as close to rope drop as possible. When we are hot and tired, we head back to the resort for a swim and a nap. We go back out in the evening and stay until park closings. My “kids” are 17 and 24 now but we have done this since daughter was 5 and son started going at 14 months.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I think the math and more carefree existence is on your side with the original plan.

 

[robinb]

How much are you saving if you stay offsite (assuming the same amount for food)?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We like to get to the parks as close to rope drop as possible. When we are hot and tired, we head back to the resort for a swim and a nap. We go back out in the evening and stay until park closings. My “kids” are 17 and 24 now but we have done this since daughter was 5 and son started going at 14 months.

I feel like I'm missing something fundamental here. It seems like the vast majority of the travelers love the midday resort break. I am not one to go against the grain but I just can't picture this working for us. My kids haven't napped since they were 3. Really, they started not napping well at 2.5 and I fought tooth and nail to keep my midday break, trying to force naps, until I gave up the ghost at age 3. If they are napping, it's because they're feverish. Seriously, if any of my kids lays down midday, I pull out a thermometer. Even when we cruised, and they were waking up way early because we couldn't block the sun well, they couldn't nap but they could fall asleep early. Is that my disconnect? Do I just have weirdo kids?

If we rope drop, I feel like my kids will turn into pumpkins by 7pm latest. If we go in late, then I can stretch things out to the fireworks as long as the evening involves mostly shows or other sitting activities leading up to the night entertainment. We were only going to try that once per park with a 9 day trip.

With the resort break, you're looking at an hour to get out of the park, to the bus, and to the resort. If they swim at the resort, that'll just tire them out more and there's NO WAY we make it back to the park. Or, we lay in beds with them chatting to each other and me whispering, "It's rest time, not talking time" until I get frustrated and give up. Then, it's another hour to get back into the park for an evening and, if they didn't rest, they still turn into pumpkins at 7pm, but I lost 3ish hours in transit and non-rest. If I do sit down meals at lunch, then I'm losing 90 minutes to 2 hours at a character meal instead.

Does the Disney "magic" extend to kids napping who otherwise wouldn't?

 

[Monykalyn]

It sounds like you have a nice long trip planned, nice for not having to rush.

The chaos is admittedly something I'm not looking forward to, but chaotic dining is pretty much my life right now, anyway.

I can imagine LOL!

We're looking at a character meal pretty much each day for lunch (I think it's 7 meals out of the 9 days) as our way of sitting for a bit before we start our afternoon. We're pretty sure that, if we try to leave and rest midday we'll never get back out the door for evening touring. Instead, we'd want to kill some time in the restaurant before striking back out for the afternoon.

What time of year are you planning on going? We will do a meal to take a break, but we typically head out of parks during afternoon-hottest, most crowded time of day.
Sometimes we grab a QS lunch and head out for a bit more touring or if offsite we head out and grab something back at condo. It is really really nice to refresh with a swim break/shower/change of clothes for evening touring-especially after an afternoon siesta. It might be "easier" logistic wise to just stay in parks, but energy/crankiness wise...
Sometimes we do the sleep in, late breakfast/lunch thing, clean up and head out for a sit down dinner meal before evening touring.
My kids are older and they still look forward to pool/resort breaks-especially if warm/hot out. Actually-the spouse needs his afternoon nap breaks too .