Can't decide.......stay on site or not???

Have you stayed ';on site'; Universal or Disney?

We%26#39;ve just turned up, slept wherever we could find that was convenient and clean and available, but this trip to save time searching on arrival I thought we should book.........however should we choose an ';on site'; accommodation?

Are there benefits other than extra hours in the parks and express ticketing ( is that just at Universal though?)?

thanks in advance,

Can't decide.......stay on site or not???

I love staying on site.

Disney Buses every 10-15 minutes.

Extra Magic Hours.

Magical Disney Express from Airport.(suitcases delivered to your room).

Deliver purchases back to your room, to save you carrying a bag around the park.

Put your Disney Park Tickets onto your Room Key. If you lose you key card they will replace your Park Ticket. (you may want to double check this, but im sure i read it somewhere).

Disney refillable mugs (approx. $12)Free refils for rest of your stay, but only at Hotel not Parks.

Place meals and drinks onto your Room Key (i think only if you have a CC???).

Universal...

Boats to Parks

Room key acts as Express Pass Plus (ride each attraction more than once).

If you book a 1 night stay, your room key acts as a EPP for the day of book in %26amp; check out.

I would highly recommend staying on site,especially at Disney. I love it.....4 weeks 6 days to go. Hurrrahhhh!

Caz Essex X

Can't decide.......stay on site or not???

I totally agree with Caz. I stayed off site once and would not do it again. We have stayed twice onsite and are about to book third onsite too.

There are lots of advantages!

One being, when we are using the Disney transport late at night and watching all that traffic queing to get out of WDW I feel a little pleased that we will be tucked up in bed quicker than they will be!!

Aren%26#39;t I wicked!!

i totaly agree with the others weve been 5 times and stayed on i drive the 1st 4 times went for last xmas and new year but stayed on disney far much better not much traveling to parks extra hours weve booked to go next sep and some family are coming theres 13 so far more booking up and we all have booked for disney hotel carnt wait

We are doing 1st week off site - shopping, Busch, Seaworld, Universal etc then week on site at Animal kingdom and emerse ourselves in WDW with Character Dinners the lot.

1 week off in good hotel and ultimate orlando tickets plus 1 week in AKL with DDP is costing me same as 2 weeks at Disney Moderate - without Ultimate Orlando tickets.

If you plan on being at the parks for the majority of the time, it%26#39;s great. Even if you do rent a car, you also save the $12 parking fee that Disney Resort guests are exempt from.

I stay on-site sometimes and off-site others. My parents have a timeshare right off Disney property, so it%26#39;s ridiculously convenient. We%26#39;ll be using that in February. Then later in the month I may stay with them (they live within an hour) OR I%26#39;ll stay on property, based on the deal they have, and who%26#39;s coming with me. I love staying onsite. It%26#39;s really convenient (even if you drive, which I always do!) And you%26#39;re completely immersed in the ';magic.';

We only began staying off-site a couple of years ago. Before that we were always on-site from 1989-2006. I do like off-site because you can get sooooo much more for your money. Over Easter 2008 (this is peak season) we stayed in a clean, convenient, very large (1329 sqft) two bedroom condo at Cypress Pointe for $105/night when Pop Century (260 sqft, no fridge, no coffee-maker) was going for almost $150/nt. In the condo we could spread out, fix meals and snacks in the full kitchen, etc. and I am able to escape from the ESPN that hubby keeps on 24/7. If you have little ones they can nap or go to bed early without your having to worry about disturbing them.

I have to admit that I%26#39;m also not a huge fan of food courts. I thought that Everything Pop was very, very crowded, noisy and extremely mediocre for the $. I prefer to make a grocery stop and have most of our meals in the condo, saving our eating out money for something better than a food court. When I was at Pop without a car I felt trapped at the Disney eateries.

I do enjoy staying on-site. I just have a hard time justifying the expense unless it%26#39;s something really special. As far as the buses go, we prefer to drive even when we%26#39;re staying on-site so that perk doesn%26#39;t really apply to us. I have to admit that walking to Epcot from the Beach Club or riding the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom is much nicer than driving but, since we go several times each year we can%26#39;t really afford the Deluxe resorts every trip.

Sorry about the long reply!

Jennifer

Everyone has their own opinion but mine is stay off site....

Its cheaper and as the previous post stated more for your money...

Yes you dont get the extra hours but just make sure you arrive at the parks nice and early and u will be fine...

Goodness knows it costs enough to get there and im happy enough just going to Florida...

So I am happy to make some savings on the hotel and spend it else where, as we hardly in our rooms anyway.. and there is lots more than just Disney on our to do list..

Have fun!!

Hey it%26#39;s simple. If you can afford it then stay on-site. There are so many perks.

If you want to maximize and stretch your budget, then look off-site.

It depends if you are going to be spending almost all of your holiday at disney?

We have stayed off site once - loved it

and On site really loved that

Next year 2009 we are staying onsite again and have got the free dining so this comes into thinkng aswell.

Disney does look after you really very well, and the family insist we always stay on site now.

Thanks everyone for all your comments-

I think we may compromise and stay 1 or 2 nights at Universal Hard Rock(any comments on that Hotel???)

to get the best of the fast pass tickets and stay off site for the days we spend at the Disney sites.....or should we do it the other way round??

I just think it would be nice to splurge a LITTLE, since it%26#39;s Christmas!!!

We have 3 teens so space is an issue in hotels - we can%26#39;t just squash up now everyone likes some space and privacy otherwise tempers do fray rather rapidly!

One thing that may be good though is the free dining (teens can EAT!):-) do you have to stay a week or more?

tech help and advice