If you were going to stay off site...

We did off-property in 2003. We ended up renting a house from All Star Vacations rental homes, which we found through the All Ears website.

Price-wise, I think it was around $200 a night, but I really don't remember.

It was a nice house - 3 or 4 bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms, full kitchen, nice living room area, and a screened in pool. IT was about 2-3 miles from Disney.

At the time, it suited us well - we nice to go back after lunch, take a nice, quiet nap and enjoy a pool all to ourselves. It was also nice having the kitchen, though nowadays, for me, who wants to spend valuable park time cooking?!

I think it depends on how often you go as to whether you would consider off-property. For us, going every 2 years, I wanted to stay on-property when went. If you go more frequently, I can see mixing it up now and then and taking advantage of some of the deals.

actually you might be suprised to know that i have never stayed ON site.....

coming from the UK for the length or time and price of flights, its just way too unaffordable for us. We look at spending $8500 and that is staying as cheap as possible! We usually stay on Idrive or in a villa.

If i could stay onsite i would love to try the contemporary

Hello Waldorf!!!!!!

That post of the DBF was enough for me..a friend of mine recently stayed there and from just the snippet I heard from her it sounds luxurious!

We stayed off-site in 2009 at a hotel overlooking Seaworld. The place had only been built about 6 months earlier so was all very clean and new.

What's a typical trip length for you, Robyn?

Well it USED to be 2 weeks but after our 3 week honeymoon, its been hard to go down so we had 3 weeks again in September/October but that does include a couple of days in Miami

It tells you something about the group here that staying off-site is considered rare. I could be wrong but I'd think that's the norm with most people.

That is completely awesome! I'm so glad you get to stay for a nice long visit.

We stayed off-site for our first few visits, but quickly went to an on-site hotel when we could afford it. They just dangle them in front of you with all that themeing and wonderfulness. I couldn't resist.

3 Weeks is a good length of a visit to anywhere I say!

I don't know what I'd do with three weeks in the world! Usually our trips are 4-5 days..we had a 9 day one once and it was like heaven! I never wanted to leave.

I stay half the time onsite since I have DVC but I also stay off site alot too.

Next week I'm staying off site in a timeshare that I got from Interval for $333 a week in a 3 bedroom Marriott at Grande Vista.
I also rented my friends a week at Sheraton Vistana Resort in a 2 bedroom for $285 for the week.

I find that Orlando has soooooo many timeshares that you can always get a good deal on a full week.
I've gotten deals in the past for $79 a week in a 2 bedroom at Westgate Villas in the off season of October.
Sure beats staying in a dumpy motel in Kissimmee.

Sometimes I only go for a few days but buy the week and let a few days go unused or give it to a friend to use the rest of the week. Alot of people think that owning a timeshare is an expensive investment but you can literally buy one on ebay for $1.00 and if you buy a triennial unit like I own in Kissimmee you can get multiple weeks out of just one every 3 year use TS.
The cost is only about $200 a year for the maintenance fees and the cost of joining the exchange companies is about $80 a year for RCI or II. Add the exchange fee and you get alot of really cheap vacations. I get about 9 weeks vacation out of my one week ownership. So the average cost of a week runs about $240. You can also rent from RCI and II directly for very reasonable prices.

Of course staying off site may require a car rental but since I drive and live in FL I don't have to worry about that. Some of the timeshares do have free shuttles to the parks though which is nice.

I stayed at Bonnet Creek last month and even though it's not a Disney resort it might as well be one. It's literally on Disney property. Right next to that Waldorf Astoria but wayyyyy cheaper if you own Wyndham points.

And in case you are wondering, no I'm not a timeshare salesman just a very happy owner who likes to share the info to my fellow Disneyphiles who might not be aware of the alternatives.

Our first 4 trips we stayed off-site and it was always at the Homewood Suites on I-Drive. I loved it but I liked Homewood Suites anywhere. The houses always intrigue me because they always look so nice!

I still like my original answer to this thread..the Waldorf! Now..who is willing to sponsor that trip!??

Bella I am sending out sponsor request letters now.

I have no plans of ever staying off site....ever.
pop century has everything I need for a Disney vacation

Gracias...let me know how that goes!

I agree with the They Just have a Car Family...I never want to stay off site either.

LOL
It's a mixture of our last names sometimes I forget that we don't explain.

Yeah, Waldorf seems really cheaper than the Disney hotels. I think u should try at least at once. Disney hotels always had a high rent and i have no plans to stay offline.

I've done it, but I love EMH so it's worth it to me to pay more for Disney hotels even though they aren't as nice as many offsite resorts, plus I do love staying in the themeing and magic. For our next trip we are thinking of 2 days at IOA for Harry Potter so we are going to stay at one of US/IOA's resorts for that, probably Royal Pacific.

Being a gov't worker I do have access to a discount travel site where you can stay in timeshares for cheap sometimes, so we may do that in the future for some disney trips. But for our 10th anniversay it's going to be AKL, you can't beat the themeing.

Ohhh, that is very good to have govt facilities. If it get on travel then its like cheers to our trip. AKL is quite amazing... Enjoy there and we are here to listen from you about experience.

Kelvin, are you using a translator to post?

We usually stay on property but for this upcoming trip we'll be off-site since the main purpose of the trip is a baby baptism rather than a Disney vacation. That said, how could we be in Orlando and not go to the World. So we are staying nearby on 535. Hopefully it'll be nice the hotel seemed to have good reviews. I'll let you all know

I'm still having trouble understanding the question!

I'm with CarJust/JustCar. Onsite for me all the way.

I've stayed at the Royal Pacific last Oct and I can say that the best part of the hotel is the fact that you get into Universal early and the Express ticket. The hotel is not much (especially if you are used to Disney) and not well setup. Overall it was not a good experience.

That being said if you can get a good rate the Gaylord Palms is an AWESOME resort. Make sure you get an atrium view. The wife an I spent a weekend there without leaving once.