Dream Castle Hotel in DLP - please tell me pros and cons of being 'off-site'

[smoggie]

It's our first trip to DLP and just been looking on Expedia and trip advisor.
Trying to weigh up pro's of being on-site in Disney hotel, but cons of mixed reviews from Trip advisor uunless you're in the Disneyland hotel (which isn't available for our dates and prob. too expensive).
So, I've looked at Dream Castle, which seems to have really good review, fab looking family bedroom and amenities.
Does it really matter being 10 mins bus/shuttle ride away? I know we won't have the advantage of getting into the park ealy, but is this a huge problem?
We're going May half-term if that makes any difference.
I would be really grateful for any advice / tips about being 'off site' as I don't want to screw this up. We want a nice hotel and I think would prefer this to being on-site but would take advice form the experts!
TIA

Message withdrawn

thank you..I'll have a look at Explorers and Cheyenne. I'll prob be back with more questions but thank you so much for the info. so far"

We stayed at Davy Crocketts a few months back - mainly coz it was the only 2 bed option available to us that did extra magic hours. The extra magic hours were fab and without a doubt you should do all you can to get them, especially in school holidays or weekends, it made a huge difference.