never been to florida before. Any opinions on where to stay? We are staying for five days, two adults and three children..and may rent a car for one day. Do the resorts have good transportation to and from the parks. Is it better to pay the extra money to stay at a disney resort? any help appreciated. thanks.
disney resort or not
Hi co27,
Yes! It is worth the extra money to stay at a Disney resort. We have had very good experiences with the Disney transportation system over the years. Here are some Disney resorts that can sleep 5. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Yacht and Beach Club, and Yacht and Beach Club Villas, Fort Wilderness cabins, or the villas at the Wilderness. The Coronado Springs is the only moderate resort that has some suites that sleep up to 6. One of our favorites is the Yacht and Beach Club which is considered a deluxe resort. Some families book 2 rooms at the value resorts with larger families also. The value resorts are the All Star Movies, Music and Sports along with the Pop Century. The convience of Disney%26#39;s transportation and location of the Disney resorts is well worth the price!
disney resort or not
It depends entirely on what you what to do. If you have small children, I highly recommend staying on Disney property. you are surrounding by Disney magic 24 hours a day, including wake up calls by Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse shaped soaps, etc. The Disney transportation is excellent. We did have a rental care the entire time which we picked up at the airport. Parking is free at the parks for Resort guests, and it made it easy to come and go as we pleased, as well as go to universal Studios and to macdonald%26#39;s. Food in Disney tends to be overpriced, especially at the food courts in the ';budget'; value resorts. We brought a water pot for boiling water for oatmeal in the morning, soup at lunch, etc. Fridges are available.
We did use Disney transportation about 1/2 the time, especially to go to Downtown Disney. I wanted to have a drink with dinner, and didn%26#39;t want to drive. Buses are convenient and clean, but very crowded at the end of the day when the parks are closing. you may have a wait for a bus. And if you want to go for dinner at a different resort than the one you are staying at, there is no resort to resort transportation. you%26#39;d take a bus to a park, then transfer to another bus or other transportation. For example, we stayed at All-star Sports. We wanted dinner at Chef Mickey%26#39;s at the contemporary. You would get a bus to the Magic Kingdom, then take the monorail to the Contemporary. We just drove and parked in the lot. Early morning character breakfasts might be hard to get to without a car.
A car is almost a necessity if you are going off-property. Taxis are very expensive when the have to come to Disney to pick you up. So, if you are going to Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove, etc, you will need a car. Also, there would be shopping at the outlet mall and more restaurants. If I was going to be going to those other places, I wouldn%26#39;t bother staying on Disney property.
Sorry for the long post! I recommend deciding what your ';must-dos'; are for those 5 days, and then decide if you want to stay on property. If you are doing only Disney, then my vote would be to stay on-site. I%26#39;ve never regretted it!
Hi,
If you are only doing Disney parks, staying on property would be the most convenient choice without a car daily.
We were there last year and stayed off property, but we rented a car for entire stay. It was well worth it as we didn%26#39;t want to depend on waiting for a bus at a certain time to go back and forth.
I would stay off property again in a heart beat. We found everything to be very easy to get to. We stayed 5 miles from Disney enterance on International Drive @ Sheraton Vistana Villages. Most pleased!
In over 12 trips to Orlando we have stayed on-site only once right after 9/11 when we were able to get a really good deal. Otherwise we have stayed off-site. After staying on-site once we never want to do it again. Even though we got a good deal by Disney standards it was still our most expensive Orlando trip ever. We didn%26#39;t find the Disney transportation to our liking and drove to the parks after the first day. On day 5 of our 7 day visit we all went into Disney overload and had to escape to the Universal parks and Sea World for a few days. I%26#39;m glad we stayed on-site with Disney just once but we never want to do it again. Being hit in the face with Mickey and all things Disney for 24hrs a day gets old, at least to us. I know there are plenty of people who could choke it down for weeks at a time and love it the whole time. To each his own. We rent villas (homes) now on our trips and love the privacy and peace and quiet and they cost a lot less than Disney hotels.
I can%26#39;t imagine why anyone who goes to Disney would not stay on property. The convience of the transportation alone is worth the added cost. If cost is the issue, there are lower priced properties to chose from. The rooms may not be as large but you still get to experience the true Disney Magic.
We have been to Disney 6 times so far.
We still haven%26#39;t found the need to to go off property.
Our 1st three times we stayed at The Carribean Beach resort which is a moderate priced resort. Rooms are average but the grounds are well kept and beautiful.
Next visit was at Old Key West. We stayed in a spacious 2 bedroom unit. Very nice and quiet. Great if you wanted a place away from the hustle and bustle. Nice walk to Downtown Disney from there.
Next 2 visits were at Boardwalk Villas. We loved the location. You were able to walk to both Epcot and MGM. We walk to Epcot and take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom. We take the bus to Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney.
If you plain on staying at one of the resorts, take the ';Free'; Magical Express and the save the money you would have spent on a rental.
I%26#39;d have to go with Coastermeister here - Disney overload. I stay outside Disney. But, a friend of mine goes down twice a year and always stays in the park and can%26#39;t get enough of Disney. So - I%26#39;d say it%26#39;s a very personal decision, like how much chocolate is too much? How much Disney can you stand before you hit overload?
It really all depends on your budget.
if you%26#39;ve got big holes in your pocket and money to burn then perhaps staying on site at a Disney Hotel, bearing in mind food is also set at a premium if you also decide to eat On-Site.
It isn%26#39;t necessarily better to pay extra and stay at a disney Resort-Ask yourseld, what you want from this first trip.
There are many good hotels just outside of Disney 5/10 minutes drive at the most which offer great value.
Others on this site will advise you which.
I myself, would not wish to be strictly %26#39;confined%26#39; to Disney as much as I admire it%26#39;s grand scale, and spectacle.
I agree with the last 3 posts. but particullally with Coastermeister and The Reverand, but from a slightly different angle.
My question would be why do you need to spend so much for somewhere to sleep and store your luggage.
There are lots of nice hotels off Disney at considerabale less money. Even the cheapest Disney rooms are expensive.
We get people on these forums advising first timers to ';Stay at the Grand Floridian'; no wonder they dont come back for 10 years they need a morgage to pay the hotel bill.
You can get a week in an off site hotel for the price of a night there. And as one post says you need to be able to get away form the mouse for a bit. How much chocalate is to much. or did you mean how much beer is too much beer. When it makes you sick and you need to throw up.
But I suppost there always those who lead sick lives where all their world consists of is just fleecing the rest of us, and showing us how well they have done it. And they do have to burn their bucks somewhere,as there are no pockets in Shrouds.
I like that because these ten bob millionires and toffey nose snobs arent bunging up the places I like to stay in.
See Poacher%26#39;s comments above..........
...................would be why do you need to spend so much for somewhere to sleep and store your luggage.
E x a c t l y........
Just pick one - Disney is s WORLD CLASS RESORT DESTINATION - how will you know until you try SOMETHING?
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