The prices at the Disney value resorts are equal to or lower than similar-quality lodging off-site.
No way. Orlando is the ultimate city for cheap lodging. For rates less than what is offered for the standard motel rooms at the All-Stars (and Pop-Century) you can stay at an all-suite property like Hawthorn Suites. With kids, having a separate bedroom is far better than any of the perks offered by Disney for staying at their properties.
Extra Magic Hours are only of real value in the peak seasons. Disney transportation is awful: crowded and slow. The only resorts I really enjoy are the monorail resorts, and they're just ridiculously expensive for what you get.
Edit: Looking at Hotwire's areas, it could be one of the hotels close to I-4 on 192 but those aren't any worse than the All-Stars.
I will dispute that fact. Disney is the absolute best at keeping it's physical structures in shape. Disney actually runs courses on how they do their maintenance and the Disney management philosophy.
A $16 a night no-tell motel off Disney will not be in any way a comparable place to stay. It will be a cheap motel that delivers what you pay for. There is nothing wrong with that, but it will not be any type of Disney experience nor Disney quality.
I have "done" Disney staying on-site, staying off-site, and driving in for the day. Each has pluses and minuses.
I understand that many people could care less about Disney or what it offers in the overall experience. Everyone has their own way of calculating value.
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Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
I have "done" Disney staying on-site, staying off-site, and driving in for the day. Each has pluses and minuses.
I understand that many people could care less about Disney or what it offers in the overall experience. Everyone has their own way of calculating value.
That's the best post of this thread. My experiences are exactly the same as yours, in terms of the various ways of doing Disney. And "value" to me means a lot more than "the cheapest place I can lay my head at night".
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I used to be somebody: UA 1K, CO plat, US CP, Hyatt plat, Fairmont prem, SPG plat, Sheraton gold, Westin burg, Hertz PC
The hotels on I-192 (Irlo Bronson Hwy) are for the most part the kind you find in the back of those books you pick up at highway rest stops. Even the ones with name branding were pretty poor places to put your family for a vacation compared to the Disney value hotel experience (that is, if in fact you are going to Disney).
If someone needs to get a $16 hotel in Orlando, they probably shouldn't be doing the parks anyway, as the budget usually goes out the window on a Disney vacation, no matter where you stay.
Those hotels definitely have their place, and for families that absolutely cannot afford the $80 or so to stay on Disney property they are possibly the only way that some can do an Orlando vacation, but I would definitely choose Disney value resorts over those Kissimmee resorts unless I was truly on a shoestring (or not traveling to the parks with family).
Additionally, Disney still offers free transportation from MCO to their hotels and that may allow families to forgo the cost of a rental car. And traffic on I-192 can be awful.
If someone needs to get a $16 hotel in Orlando, they probably shouldn't be doing the parks anyway, as the budget usually goes out the window on a Disney vacation, no matter where you stay.
We have annual passes and go to Disney about one weekend a month. We have stayed at every level of resort on-site, and we've stayed at properties from the super-cheap 192 motels up to the Peabody. I always feel ripped off in the Disney resorts, and we've always had a better time staying off-site. These days our preference is various all-suite properties, from the Quality Suites up to Embassy Suites, depending on the deals available.
Disney transport is awful, Disney food is mediocre at best (excepting the international restaurants at EPCOT), and the All-Stars and Pop-Century are just overpriced roadside motels. The Deluxe resorts are nice, but even so they are extremely overpriced for what you get.
No offense, but that statement is just ridiculously out of touch.
We have annual passes and go to Disney about one weekend a month. We have stayed at every level of resort on-site, and we've stayed at properties from the super-cheap 192 motels up to the Peabody. I always feel ripped off in the Disney resorts, and we've always had a better time staying off-site. These days our preference is various all-suite properties, from the Quality Suites up to Embassy Suites, depending on the deals available.
Disney transport is awful, Disney food is mediocre at best (excepting the international restaurants at EPCOT), and the All-Stars and Pop-Century are just overpriced roadside motels. The Deluxe resorts are nice, but even so they are extremely overpriced for what you get.
This shows the difference of someone who has done Disney in every way possible. Your view is very much colored by the overwhelming number of times you have been to Disney.
After going to Disney once a month for a long time, then any place to stay is fine since you could care less about most things Disney. Sometime familiarity does breed contempt.
For someone going to Disney the first time part of the magic is immersing yourself in the total Disney experience from the Mickey soap to riding the bus to the parks. To compare your repeated once a month trip to a once in a lifetime experience is not quite the same.
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Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
This shows the difference of someone who has done Disney in every way possible. Your view is very much colored by the overwhelming number of times you have been to Disney.
After going to Disney once a month for a long time, then any place to stay is fine since you could care less about most things Disney. Sometime familiarity does breed contempt.
For someone going to Disney the first time part of the magic is immersing yourself in the total Disney experience from the Mickey soap to riding the bus to the parks. To compare your repeated once a month trip to a once in a lifetime experience is not quite the same.
Sure. First-time visitors should indeed stay in a Disney hotel for the total immersion. I always recommend they rent a car, especially if traveling with young children during busy times; those 45-minute waits for a packed bus with a cranky kid after Wishes back to Pop Century are killers.
I like staying in Disney hotels, which we have done many times, as much as the next guy (we are DVC members), but sometimes you just want to save the money.
Last month, Choice Hotels was having a promotion that made some of their rooms essentially free (I use the points to renew a Southwest Companion Pass, which is worth about $2500 to me).
I was traveling with my DS12, who needs to learn a bit about economizing anyway and about the sort of grungy roadtrips that you take as you enter your late teen years. The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) will not allow this when she is along.
We saved hundreds of dollars and he learned some good lessons, including that you need not spend $20 per person for every meal (love those room picnics).
