Out of the loop...

Staying onsite is amazing as you say Phil! We've never stayed offsite but whenever I talk to anyone that stayed offsite and did day trips to the parks, I quickly realize how different their experience is to ours. I don't think you get the same Disney immersion as you do when staying onsite. I always recommend to friends that they stay onsite if possible.

Although not a monorail loop resort, we stayed at the Boardwalk for the first time last September and fell in love with the place! I think the big draw of the Epcot anc MK resorts is that you're so close to many things. We also noticed we hardly ever take a bus anywhere when at the Boardwalk. Bus is only needed to get to AK or DTD.

Our bucket list includes a stay at the Poly and Contemporary.

I have done it both ways, and agree on how awesome staying onsite is too. Walking "home" from the park at night is priceless, as is hopping a bus when you are tired.

We've stayed both on and offsite. I will happily stay offsite if that's what it takes to fit another WDW trip into my schedule, but I completely agree that staying onsite is so much better and a completely different experience.

We have never stayed in a monorail loop resort, but I can say that the magic is just as real in the values as it is in the deluxes. Sure, there are huge advantages to staying deluxe (and especially staying DVC, where you have loads of space compared to a value and get a kitchen and sometimes a washer/dryer right in your room), but I had just as much fun at Pop Century as I did at Old Key West.

DH has taken 8 choirs (with the band) to perform at WDW and they always stayed offsite because it's actually easier to control the troops (they can't hop on a bus and go back to the resort) but when our family or the two of us go, we ALWAYS stay onsite, with a dining plan, so we can just enjoy. He doesn't want the car rental or driving, we love the ME, it's just all relaxation and enjoyment time for us and he won't go back (me either)!

I do love the monorail loop and really prefer to stay there. However, I would not say you are out of the loop by not staying there. It really all depends on your favorites. My favorite things are the MK and the view of the MK from across the water. I do find it funny though that I can take or leave the monorail. If you like EPCOT I think any of the EPCOT resorts would be a better fit. I do enjoy those resorts and the views from them, but I am not an EPCOT fan so we do not stay at those resorts as often.

We've never stayed on the monorail loop, but we'll be trying it for the first time this fall with 4 night at Bay Lake Tower. Without DVC, we'd probably never have done it. We spend so little time in the room that I have a hard time justifying the cost for us, but I'm really excited to have the opportunity to stay on points.

I'm not a bus fan, so having access to the monorail would be pretty awesome, but we've started renting a car when we visit and I'm kind of hooked on that even though we stay onsite. I love having the freedom to go where I want when I want, so that makes the monorail less of a "necessity". I really like the EPCOT resorts because the boat/walking access to DHS and EPCOT is just as good to me as monorail access as far as convenient Disney transportation. Maybe I'll feel differently after the fall trip.

You can walk to and from MK from Bay Lake Tower.

Sorry--I didn't state that as clearly as it was in my head. At the EPCOT resorts, I can walk to both EPCOT and DHS. At BLT/Contemporary, I can only walk to MK--still a huge benefit, but less so than being able to walk to 2 different parks.