We are looking at going to Disney at either the end of July or mid September. We usually stay at Pop Century, but with costs going up staying offsite is looking much better. I’m looking at several places close to Disney that have a washer and dryer in the room, much more space and free parking. Even with paying to park at the parks each day we would save several hundreds. I love being in the “bubble” but if some of the perks of staying onsite are gone for now I’m not sure it’s worth the extra cost. What do you think? And does anyone think fast passes will come back at all in 2021? Getting the 60 day fast passes was a big perk.
I realize this doesn’t answer your question, but linking this recent thread if you want to see more off-site options.
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I would guess that FP might not be back at that point but 30 minute early entry into the parks might be instituted by then. They have not put a date on that to my knowledge.
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Thank you, that helps!
I’ve thought about that, but wasn’t sure if that was a huge deal unless they were back at full capacity.
I’m planning for the happy medium right now - booked at the Holiday Inn DS for June. Much cheaper than fully on property but prepared for any perks that may (unlikely but maybe) return.
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We enjoyed staying off property and will probably continue to do so. I’m very interested to see how the early opening ends up working out.
When choosing a house, we are very particular about travel time to the parks, because you can easily put yourself 30 minutes away and then you have to factor in additional traffic, possible backups at parking lot entry, and actually walking in from the parking lot. Also, right now all Disney transportation is getting a significant head start compared to cars driving in, so that’s a 2nd factor at rope drop to consider.
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This was posted a week ago, you might want to read it if you would normally do rope drop.
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Hey! We actually quite like staying off site. We’ve stayed at Rosen Shingle Creek before, which is stunning. Being off site means you have great access to Orlando, iDrive etc. - Plus I have always felt that you get the excited feeling every time you drive through the WDW gates for a park visit, which is kind of cool and something you don’t get when staying in a WDW hotel. If you’re at a nearby resort, you can even get an Uber in which means you’re dropped off right at the gates with no hassle. I can vouch for off site really working!
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Thanks for the responses! Gives me alot to think about!
We generally find a house or condo through homeaway (well, now known only as vrbo.com). Often, a listing will say like, “15 minutes from Disney!” or something like that, but I generally double that time in reality. Still, even 30 minutes away isn’t all that different from staying on property having to wait for buses, etc. (not including the resorts that are within walking distance) to the time isn’t really a big deal.
Aside from our trips in 2020, we have always stayed off site, and will likely do so in the future again unless it is just me and my wife. We love being able to have a house with private pool/hot tub, full kitchen, laundry, etc, for a FRACTION of the cost of staying on-site.
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I think eventually I will be where Ryan is with staying offsite but while my kids are little I really enjoy staying close to the parks for breaks/naps. Little kids are unpredictable and being onsite allowed us to take breaks separately a couple of times too. But I do see the possible savings and feelings of a house instead of a hotel/motel room.
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BTW, here is a house we stayed at in 2016. We liked it. I’d stay there again, for sure, even though the drive was a little further away than some.
Our next trip, however, I’m more likely to stay someplace else because we expect to have a larger group…so I’m likely looking something with maybe 6 bedrooms. We are still talking like a few years out, but something along the lines of this:
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Try VRBO. There are TONS of places listed. We went a few years back with another family, 5 bedroom, pool, game room. The place was beautiful and relatively inexpensive. Some of those homes are closer to the parks than some of the Disney resorts.
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