Staying Off Site for First Family Trip?

[QueenIsabella]

I think I'm going to keep moving forward based on my original plan for this trip. The next time we go down to FL, the girls will likely be in backless boosters, we'll be splitting our trip between the mouse and Harry Potter, and characters won't be such a draw, so we'll undoubtedly be off site. If plans change and the DxDP goes up too much, or room discounts don't come in for our dates, then maybe I'll get back on an offsite kick for this trip, too. It seems like, if there ever were a time to do the onsite thing, it would be now.

That's what I was looking at, too. Offsite is a great option for larger families, and especially with older kids. Your planned trip might not be the absolute cheapest, but you seem to have found a good balance of saving money and splurging. I hope you all have a magical trip!

 

[RocketCityMama]

If you truly want to do that many character meals I would stay onsite, enjoy the convenience of the Disney transportation, being able to pop into your hotel if you need to, etc. We have a trip coming up soon, family of 5, we are staying onsite for a week at POR and then offsite for a week at FIL timeshare. Both times will be equally amazing. We decided to onsite for this trip for at least a week because a. we have not been since 2009, b. our 8 yr old has never been and c. we love staying onsite! We opted to skip the dining plan because for one week it was around $1700 for the middle plan and I know we can eat for much less even with the few adr's I have booked.

I don't think you can go wrong either way, your family will have a great time!