For years we only stayed on property when visiting Walt Disney World. We always purchased the dining plan with three sit down meals as well. We continued this tradition for 7 visits. The advantages of staying on property are tremendous including the Magical Express Transportation to and from the airport, ability to purchase Magic Your Way Tickets and the Disney Dining Plan. Only WDW resort guests have unlimited use of the WDW transportation System and can take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours in the parks. If the parks are overcrowded, WDW resort guests are given priority. There are additional privileges including delivery of merchandise from the park and Downtown Disney stores, beautifully themed resorts that keep you immersed in Disney 24/7, and Disney Cast Members and Disney Guest Service that is incomparable.
In 2008, my parents were unable to use their time share and asked us if we wanted to transfer it to a property near Disney. We had just been in October of 2007 but my parents had to use their time share by the end of June. We were hesitant to stay off property but we now had three children and it made sense to try it out since the accommodations were free! We stayed at the Westgate Vacation Villas and we were less than 10 minutes from the Walt Disney World Resort. The accommodations were only a year old and the space was huge! We were in a two bedroom lock off that had two bedrooms, two queen sofa sleepers, a full kitchen, a mini kitchen, a huge living room, a smaller living room, two full bathrooms, and two sets of washers and dryers. Our oldest girl was seven years old and our twins girls were two years old at the time. We loved the space and the resort. We even loved having breakfast in the Villa before leaving for the parks, cooking and eating a few dinners, and doing laundry. I know it seems crazy to cook and do laundry on vacation! Having access to a full kitchen with the three children was an advantage since they had wasted so much food during our last vacation and we could feed them what they love to eat. The best part about doing laundry on vacation was unpacking clean clothes when we arrived at home. We had never been to WDW in the summer and we were thankful to have purchased two cases of water that we kept frozen so that we could have cold water in the parks. We even went to non-Disney parks for the first time as a family! We were surprised that we found leaving Disney property each night was a nice break from everything Disney.
Advantages:
• Less expensive (okay – so there is no comparison to free but in general off site resorts are less expensive)
• Huge accommodation (on par with the size of bathrooms in the Bellagio in Vegas)
• Quick access to non-Disney parks, restaurants, and shopping
• Found it relaxing not being immersed in the Disney excitement 24/7
• Easier and faster transportation to and from the parks with our own vehicle
Disadvantages:
• None of the perks of staying on property
• We felt like we were spending more money at the restaurants on property because they were not prepaid as part of a dining plan.
• No Disney Theming
• No Disney Guest Service
With that being said, my Husband and I concluded that we really liked it because of the size of the accommodations and convenience of having a kitchen and laundry room. In addition, we have stayed at six different hotels in the Orlando resort area and all three of the Universal hotels. We really missed the Disney theming and the Disney Guest Service. All of these hotels were nice and all of the Universal hotels are themed but it is not the Disney experience. The employees at all of these hotels were courteous but as I mentioned before, the Disney Guest Service is incomparable. If you are a Disney nut then you know that everything at Disney is well thought out and scripted from the placement of every shrub to carrying out the theme to include even the trash receptacles. All Disney Cast Members are trained in the Disney Traditions and are expected to uphold those traditions. They are expected to deliver a seamless experience to the guest. The Disney experience cannot be duplicated. We really missed the convenience and atmosphere of being in a WDW resort.
Although we have enjoyed off site experiences, our next investment will be to join the Disney Vacation Club. We feel that would be the best option for our family especially since we now have four children. We would have the Disney experience and still have the conveniences of home.