Can you get a car? I don't bother treating the Hakuba resorts as individual as they each have barely enough terrain for a couple of laps on each and you could be done by midday on the first skiing day.
What about Myoko? Similarly, 3 resorts but the shuttles are better than hakuba so you probably don't even need a car.
I think the Tribute is often more expensive than the Sheraton at Kiroro, and that place is sooo flat! Kiroro is for the BC access I reckon.
Last year we went to Shokanbetsu and camped in the backcountry hut there. That's probably not an option :P but we then based out of Furano. I really like furano as a little resort and there are lots of BC day trips you could take to start to get away from expensive and crowded resorts!