When our family took our first trip to Walt Disney World in 2012, there were 6 of us ranging from ages 4-40. At that time I thought I knew the answer to economical lodging. We stayed off site in a 4 bedroom condo. It was fantastic. It backed up to Target and Sam’s Club. We used the kitchen’s slow cooker to prepare dishes like barbecue chicken to be ready for us at the end of a long park day. It worked out wonderfully! We packed sandwiches, snacks and fruit into the parks. We dined twice over the week in park restaurants and got mickey bars once. My crew hates lines and waits, so it kept costs down and tummies happily filled.
Fast forward 4 years. My husband and I were celebrating 20 years of wedded bliss and wanted a fun trip that wasn’t too far from home lest something go wrong. We opted to stay on-site at Pop Century with a free dining promotion. We upgraded from quick service to the regular dining plan (currently this includes one resort refillable mug, one quick service meal, one table service meal and two snacks per guest). This experience priced out to be better than staying off-site! It was so much fun to try so much of the amazing dining that Disney has to offer!
I did a similar trip with our two daughters in 2018. With the added benefit of Magic Express transportation to and from the airport AND the internal bus system, our savings became even better! No Uber or rental car fees were required and literally saved us hundreds of dollars!
This spring, my younger son and I took a quick weekend trip with friends who owned timeshare points. I thought for sure we would spend less money per day staying off site. Shockingly, we did NOT.
Here’s where it gets tricky. The decision to stay on or off site is not an apples to apples question usually.
Here’s the factors that I believe help make the choice clear.
- How many people are in your party? Specifically, how many people who use showers and groom themselves are in your party? If there are 2-3, staying on site in a value resort like Pop Century makes total sense. My kids are now all showering daily, most are shaving etc. One bathroom is a major game-slower. We learned this sad fact in February in NYC, but that is a tale for another day. I need two bathrooms for 4 or more big people. Could you do 4 people in a value room? Sure. Will it be the best experience. Ummm, no. You can certainly purchase two value rooms, but then you have to ask yourself if the cost is worth it to you.
- Can you get free dining? If so, are you willing to stay in a value resort? When I stayed in Pop twice and paid to upgrade our dining, the price was so amazing. If I had free dining, but was booking at room rate in the Polynesian, for example, the free dining doesn’t become so free. If I want to stay at the Polynesian, I’m better off looking for a 25% per night room discount and paying for the dining plan or paying out of pocket for each meal. The free dining is really only a killer deal at the value level, in my opinion. If you want more room to spread out, your best bet is probably off site in a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo or larger. The prices may be much lower for the size AND your will have easy access to a kitchen which will help lower your costs.
- Are you driving or flying? Before March 2017, staying on site meant an additional perk: free parking. With overnight parking put in place in all hotels, the only way you’re scoring free parking is to purchase or borrow into the Disney Vacation Club. If you are flying, you can be transported to and from MCO for free AND around the parks via buses, boats, monorail etc for free. If you fly and stay offsite, you will pay for parking each day and your rental car fees. When flying, hundreds of dollars can be saved staying onsite.
- What’s your traveling style? This isn’t really a cost question, but more of a quality of trip question. Are you a open the park/close the park kind of person, or do you enjoy a break mid-day? Honestly, if you are the latter, staying on site can make resting much more doable. On the second day of the trip with my daughters, we hot-tailed it out of Magic Kingdom in order to take a much needed nap one day. If I had driven from a hotel 20 minutes away, I’m not sure I would have gone back to rest. True, I had to walk to the bus stop and wait for a bus, but it still seemed much simpler than finding my car and driving off site to my hotel. Do you have family members who would enjoy a break even if you don’t all take a break? If so, on site is probably a good idea. My oldest son is a bit of a crowd-phobe. On site he could easily navigate his way back for a nap while the remainder of our crowd partied on.
- Are you game to pay for your vacation with discounted Disney Gift Cards? If so, combining credit card deals, discounts at big box stores on gift cards and Disney promotions could make staying on site very attractive price-wise. By combining all these simple tricks you could be shaving 6-11% or MORE off the lowest price. When it comes to taking a trip to visit THE MOUSE, that savings could equal one big chunk of cheddar!
So, what do you think? Will you be staying on or off site on your next Disney Vacation? Let me know!