Disney Villa vs off site hotel?

[MozzchopsThirty]

I may have to re think my next Disney trip.

I can save about £600 by staying in an off site hotel instead of a villa.

It will only be me and the dcs, so I don't really need the privacy of a villa and we will still have car hire.

Am I making a huge mistake?? How was your hotel stay?

We've been to Orlando three times over the years, the first two times we stayed in a villa, the third time we stayed in a suite hotel.

I will never go back to a villa! They were lovely, but I still ended up making beds, tidying up, making breakfast, sweeping floors etc. at least in a hotel, someone else makes the bed and hoovers the floor .

If breakfast is included, it can save quite a bit of money as well, as we ended up having a big breakfast, and not really needing much lunch.

Also, depending on the hotel and location, you may not need a car, as many hotels have free shuttles to the theme parks, and may be within walking distance to restaurants in the evening. Villa stays almost always require a car .

We are going again next year, and have already booked our hotel. You do sacrifice space , but I found hotels to be cheaper and more convenient .

Thanks budgie that's what I was hoping.

I also felt that I was washing, drying, making beds in the villa, it was lovely but I would like to not do these things.
I didn't cook once so the kitchen was wasted.
The car hire is free so I'd take it.

I think a villa is worth it if money is no object, you're a big group, or with your partner and need your own room but sharing with the dcs for 2 weeks is no biggie for me
Thanks for that

Also where did you stay?/are you staying?

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista. We needed a suite hotel, as there are 5 of us, so this gave us a bedroom with two double beds, plus a separate lounge with a sofa bed.
It was clean, comfortable, and the breakfast was great. The pool was lovely. They do a managers reception in the early evening, which is basically free beer/wine/cocktail / slushies for the kids and snacks.

The location was great for both Disney and universal if you have a car, as you can drive up the back roads which is much quicker . It was a bit too far from restaurants to walk, but no problem if you've got the car.

There was also a restaurant on site and a pizza express if you're too tired to go out some evenings (especially after the free drinks

Next time we are staying at Springhill suites Seaworld, because if it's location - we are only going to seaworld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove this time round.

Otherwise, I'd definitely stay at the embassy suites Lake Buenavista again. But shop around to get a good price.

Breakfast at that chain is included as part of the room rate.

There's also a couple of Embassy Suites along I Drive and both of these are near restaurants and the I Ride trolley stops as well.

I haven't visited Disney but my advice is general. With a hotel room, depending on the age of your kids, you may be stuck sitting in the dark each evening while they sleep. We have a young 'un so a villa with separate sitting room makes a huge difference to our evening. Or a hotel suite would also work. Just a thought

That's true Reiltin, having a hotel suite rather than just a room does help with this. Although we found that due to jetlag and long hours at the parks, we were going to bed at the same time as the kids !

I'm not too worried about them sleeping and me wanting to stay up, after a day at Disney it's pretty much the other way around

I'll take a look at embassy suites thanks