April 2021 Offsite

Walt Disney World
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I’ve renewed my subscription. Looks like y’all are stuck with me for another 2 years. We returned from a wonderful visit at POFQ for Halloween. We REALLY enjoyed this hotel. The Halloween party was good - 2018 party was way better though. I truly agree with what others have said - they’re overselling these parties now. This trip marked trip #5 in 5 years after a many year long hiatus.

We’re returning April 2021. We will fly in on Good Friday, and stay until the Friday after Easter. I currently have 2 reservations. Room only POFQ for the week ($2900 OUCH!) was my first booking. Since then, I convinced myself that Windsor Hills should be considered ($1165 yippee!). 1st floor condo appears to be 2nd building back from the pool. We will not likely rent a car while we are there since DH does not want to bother with driving. I’ve priced out the cheapest car rental and average Uber cost - they’re about break even if we only Uber one round trip per day.

Will I miss the bubble? Could I convince myself that for $1800 I can forego the bubble?

I’m aware it’s Spring Break and potentially crowded. I’ve been looking at the crowd predictions for Easter 2020 for comparison. Looks like Easter Saturday is most crowded - 10/10. We’re probably looking to balance park time and resort time on this trip, so maybe this is a good day to skip the parks? Is that Saturday typically more crowded than Easter Sunday?

I don’t plan on cooking, even though we have a full kitchen in the condo. I will likely prepare coffee in the morning and that is it. Maybe get milk and cereal. I’m trying to gather a list of breakfast options, that are either in the park, or close proximity to the parks. Please add to my list, or if something should be removed let me know and why. Restaurant and park location listed

Kona Cafe - MK
Plaza - MK PPO (best eggs benedict last year!)
Yak & Yeti Quick Service - AK (breakfast bowls, sandwiches, muffins)
Woody’s Lunchbox - HS
Ale & Compass - EP
Trattoria al Forno - EP (been there 1x delicious)

My daughter will be 10 this trip, and is already starting to phase out of characters. I’m not opposed to a few character meals, but our selections should focus more on food options and service. It doesn’t need to be white table cloth every meal, but it needs to be more substantial than a Starbucks muffin.

If you’ve read this far, thank you!! Please let me know your thoughts.

More to come on this I’m sure as I put together this trip.

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Garden Grill & Sunshine Seasons are good Epcot breakfast spots in Epcot. More than a muffin and easy to book / grab a quick bite.

If you want grocery items delivered to you then Amazon and multiple local options are available.

$1800 is IMHO a significant savings. My family only “treats” ourselves to Moderate rooms every few trips. So… often the price for a value resort vs. off-site hotel isn’t a big price jump to me and we stay in The Bubble most times to get the 60FPP window, MagicBands and Disney Transportation (DME). I used to rent a car, but now that on-site guests pay to park it makes more sense to use an Uber / Lyft.

If my only choice was POFQ or save $1800 and stay in a Condo - I’d probably save the money.
(We aren’t “resort” people. When we are on vacation we are out having fun not sitting around. I can sit at home for free and my bags don’t need a “fancy” room to stay in all day.) :sunglasses:

I thought my daughter was “over” characters by the time she was 12. However, it only took one good interaction from Alice & the White Rabbit to hook her again. She’s 18 now and still wants autographs. Character M&Gs are the top rated attraction at Disney parks. So be prepared… doesn’t have to be an expensive M&G dinner, but she may still want to do this once she gets in the park.

As I’m sure you know… 2021 is too far to do much of any planning. I’ve got a Dec. 2021 trip and I’m still counting down to the “Room Only” booking date!!

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Thanks @darkmite2

Yes, $1800 is significant!! This cost savings will easily cover our airfare for the trip. I told DH if the price of POFQ came down to $2k we could consider it more strongly which is why I have held it.

I have considered grocery delivery. This condo requires you to be present. Not a deal breaker, but will definitely require some further planning.

We are definitely on-the-go-while-vacationing folks too. We used to be park open until 10-11pm people with no break. Much to my surprise we had a reasonable amount of down time last trip. The only park we closed was Epcot because we stayed for Epcot Forever. I don’t expect us to spend tooo much time at the resort but the pool looks very nice, they have a hot tub (not available at a value) and 2 bathrooms (sweet!).

I will add Garden Grill to my list. We’ve never eaten there. Can you feel the rotation while you are eating? Do they have any tables that don’t rotate?

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No. It’s super slow

You probably know this, but just in case… the tables don’t rotate, like say The Mad Tea Cups, the restaurant as a whole very slowly rotates.

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We always (almost) stay off-site, and it isn’t just the savings…you also get a LOT more space to spread out by staying off-site for a significantly cheaper price.

We have done Windsor Hills, three bedroom condo. Stayed I think 6 nights for about $700.

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We had lunch at Garden Grill in September. The rotation is very slight. Very.

The mac and cheese was way too good. The kind of good that you know will not be repeated any time soon. Something else was only meh but I don’t even remember what it was now.

Regarding out of the bubble. Thanksgiving week 2017 we had a great 5 bedroom house west of WDW. Like $800 for the week. Great house. I think we’d all drove to WDW so we had vehicles.

The most noticeable UNbubble is that we missed rope drop every morning. EVERY morning. And we love rope drop. Thanksgiving week, 30 day fast passes. We missed rope drop.

Last time we’d stayed off property was I think 1987. Definitely out of practice. :crazy_face:

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We always stay off-site and I love the space.
Windsor Hills is an EXCELLENT location for WDW. We just stayed about a mile south west of there last month and it’s crazy close.
I’ve never stayed in their condos, but did stay in a town house there in 2007. They’ve done a lot of refurbing to the clubhouse and pools.

We rope dropped every morning. I’m not one to sleep on vacation and my kids mobilize like they are in the army.

I’ve never stayed in the bubble, but I do know myself well enough to recognize that I like the non-Disney days in FL to break free of all the Disney-atmosphere. It’s so personal.

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The bakery in France is great for breakfast.

Also I love The Wave @ Contemporary. It has a decent buffet for those who want it. Those who don’t can get a stack of pancakes, or eggs, or anything else off the menu.

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May I ask why you missed RD every time? We’re you further away than. You thought and didn’t allow enough time to drive?

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We stay off site as well. How did you price out your Uber? I’ve never used it (shock and surprise! I’m a terrible millennial). Can you do that easily in the app? I could see our group splitting up and some go back for a break while others stay (and are then carless)

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Pricing out Uber is tricky because the cost changes depending on demand. So a trip during a lull time will cost less than when everyone is fighting to get one. It makes planning using Uber tricky if cost is a factor.

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We should have 2 cars, so it would just be an extra $25 to park a 2nd car at the parks (although I’m sure they’ll raise the price on that by the time we go.) So that’s my daily Uber budget and that seems tight if we’re not staying on property and are a bit father away.

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Yes you can plug addresses in the app and get estimates, or use their website.

For Uber, I assumed $350 for a 7 night trip.
$30x2 for airport transportation (this could be slightly higher)
$20x2x7 park days for round trip transportation daily. Then I rounded up to $350. No stress transportation.

Cheapest car during April 2020 as a comparison point was $200 for that week. Assumed $150 for daily parking at WDW, assumed gas and incidentals(tolls?) $50. $400. Then I have the stress of driving because DH said he didn’t want to drive on vacation. At best I figure I break even. The cost variances are not high even to encourage me to rent a car.

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You can also consider a throwaway campground. For about $60-70night we get 60 day FPP access, free parking, and our magic bands. Cost of campsite plus house is still less than on-site

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I won’t do that. We are going during a very busy week. Someone might actually need that campsite.

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@Nicky_S thanks for the suggestion. The Wave is added to the list.

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Many ways to look at that. Those campers could book today, too. You are a somebody. Etc.
If it’s that busy a week will you not need the 60 day FPP?

If you don’t plan on cooking, what will you eat on Easter Sunday? Uber for meals? There are a lot of options in that vicinity. The route from WH to WDW goes right by a Walmart, and one of my favorites - Black Angus. I am all about a car.

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We aren’t SW people, DH and DD won’t ride FOP again. The only 2 rides I’m moderately worried about is SDD and 7DMT, maybe RNRC. I might be ok with 30 days for those. Mickey and Minnie Railroad might cause me some grief. It’s still really too early to know for sure.

For Easter we may be in a park, or maybe DS or maybe poolside with a drink in my hand!

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We are planning to do that for at least one night. That would give us $100 worth of parking. But if we’re not riding headliners then the 60 day fp for our whole trip isn’t necessary. Then again, Ratatouille will be open by then. (And I was estimating the campground to be closer to $90 per night and I don’t think the fp are worth $40 a day to me)

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For sure.
We are a group of 10 usually, though this last trip was only 7 of is. The campground angle is certainly most maximized in a bigger group… you have to calculate the ROI :+1:

$90 per night is more than I’ve ever had to pay. That would be higher than I’d like TBH. First time we did it it was much much less. Wish I could find my numbers for comparison. This time it was $59 weekday and $69 weekend plus fees.

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