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Original poster

Disney help ... on site or off

9 replies

Squaddielife · 02/05/2017 15:16

Really don't know where to start. There's SO much information out there that it's overwhelming!
So, firstly I need pros and cons of staying onsite at disney hotel as opposed to on international drive for example in a villa.
We're family of 3, DS age 8. Looking for october 2018
Cheers

OP posts:
mummymeister · 03/05/2017 09:18

we used the books WDW with kids and Beyond WDW with kids as a good start and then also the DIBB website. we have always stayed in a villa off of site because we are a large family and lots of hotel rooms didn't make financial or good sense for us.

the books are good because they give you lots of pros and cons plus touring plans for the parks and when we go again, I will be buying the next up to date copy as mine has been loaned out so many times to grateful friends and family.

where you stay all depends on what you want as each has pros and cons. personally I liked being away from the disneyfied atmosphere for a bit but some people love it. also there are various dining and meal plans that might work more for you or not - it depends.

if your ds is 8 then do consider a day trip out to the space centre.

Geekmama · 04/05/2017 06:42

The benefits of staying on site.....

  • Beautiful themed hotels.
  • Disney dining plan.
  • Feeling the Disney magic. throughout your holiday.
  • Extra magic hours.
  • Not having to drive as much.
  • being able to take a siesta during the day, going back and enjoying the parts for without the faff of parking.
  • Disney transport is amazing.
  • Magical express that pick's you up from the airport.
  • Free parking if you want to Drive to the park's.

The benefits of staying offsite.....

  • Renting the Villa means you have more space.
  • You can self cater, so the holiday doesn't have to be so expensive.

We've been a couple of times, i've stayed on international Drive and this time I'm staying on-site at the wilderness lodge. Big problem with the Basic resort are that they are big, I believe most of them have 2000+ room's so buses can get quite busy. If you can afford to stay in a moderate or deluxe resort ( for example The wilderness lodge has about 700 room and if you compare that to pop century that has 3000s see what I mean ) I would suggest you stay on site, if not then a villa is probably your best choice. Smile

mummytime · 04/05/2017 07:03

We last stayed in a Villa to the South of Disney (not I Drive), and it was very quick to get in, and for the price of squeezing into a hotel room, we had a 4 bed villa with pool. But do be careful about the maps as they always choose a scale to make it seem as close as possible.
We used the Unofficial Disney guide to help.

Have you heard of DIBB www.thedibb.co.uk/ ? They can be very helpful, as can the forum on Trip advisor.

mummytime · 04/05/2017 07:04

Oh and we were close enough for siestas too (just slightly further than the Animal Kingdom resorts).

HotelEuphoria · 04/05/2017 07:14

We wént five times when the kids were small and always stayed in villas as it was lovely to have a pool outside the kitchen on days off. I would recommend you buy the book Brits Guide to Orlando from Amazon, its renewed every year and was our bible. It includes best advice from using coupons to the fastest moving queues to stand in to the best days to visit certain parks.

Enjoy.

Original poster
Squaddielife · 04/05/2017 10:48

Thanks everyone Smile

I will buy that book thanks hotel

mummytime what's the unofficial disney guide? I've looked on the dibb but it's quite overwhelming to be honest and i'm a disney virgin so have no clue where to start or even what I need to be looking for/interested in lol

We're thinking either April, May or October. Anything glaringly obvious as to why we should avoid these months? Which is likely to be the cheapest (or is it all round year peak time?)

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Frecklesfrodo123 · 04/05/2017 10:53

I have done both, first time we stayed in the villa and this year we stayed at the art of animation.

Would never do a villa again now, as my child is an only child it was better for her having people to play with, the ease of just popping into The parks on our rest days if we got bored, the activities around the hotel was fab also!

ChestyNut · 06/05/2017 17:58

Spring break is often in April coupled with Easter and it was really busy!

Are you looking to book in school holidays?

Original poster
Squaddielife · 08/05/2017 14:44

We're possibly looking at May 2018 now. Will take DS out of school for a few days before or after the hol to try and keep the price down.
Getting quotes for Port Orleans Riverside and will then compare that to a villa / flights / tickets price etc.
Are there any hidden extras that I need to consider?
I know obvs accommodation/food or dining plan/flights/car hire/spending money/attraction tickets.
is there anything else? Is car insurance included?

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