Offsite- Never Again!!!!

[keypooh90]

Wow. We will never, ever, ever stay offsite again. We stayed for one night at the Sheraton Safari and wow...Disney never, EVER lets their hotels/resorts fall into disrepair like the Sheraton was. Honestly, we were scared every time we were on the elevator because it was so old. The carpet was worn, everything was peeling..eww. So totally not worth the 50ish dollars saved. Not to mention, it took us about thirty minutes to get to the Subway which should have taken us 5-10 minutes. Horrible traffic, and not to mention no access to EMHs. Several times we passed by the line for the Ferry to/from TTC/MK...heck no. We will pay our extra money to get clean beautiful rooms and to be immensed in the Disney theming 24/7. Offsite is definitely not our cup of tea. In fact, we've decided that the only exception for us with staying "offsite" would be to stay at the Swaolphin (Swan/Dolphin), since it is technically on property, has Disney transport, EMHs, and is not in disrepair. I honestly don't see how those of you who stay offsite do it. The one night we did offsite was horrible and almost too much to bear. Only onsite for us!

 

[newmouse2008]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Not all off site resorts are like that. There are plenty to choose from.

 

[Kat&Dom]

Wow. We will never, ever, ever stay offsite again. We stayed for one night at the Sheraton Safari and wow...Disney never, EVER lets their hotels/resorts fall into disrepair like the Sheraton was. I honestly don't see how those of you who stay offsite do it. The one night we did offsite was horrible and almost too much to bear. Only onsite for us!

Sorry you had such a nasty experience. I believe that the majority of pro-offsiters are staying in really nice condos or pool homes. I love off-site with all the space I get in a 3 bed/3 bath condo - it is awesome.

I personally would take Disney any day over staying in a hotel room too. A condo or pool home is completely different from hotel stay. Having 3 bathrooms so everyone can easily get ready, having a full kitchen so you can have a snack anytime is great, washer/dryer in the unit is fabulous.

I totally understand why you did not enjoy off-site in a hotel room but if you ever get the chance to stay in a condo or pool home - I am sure you will find it to be a wonderful experience.

 

[broddam]

Its been about 4 if not 5 years since my family has gone, but being a family of six, we almost have to stay offsite. Not "almost", we HAVE to stay offsite. The price difference is just huge. We stayed at Windsor Hills Resort last time and we loved it. I plan on staying there later this year also. I think you just happened to pick a bad place to stay. Give others a chance, you will be surprised at how nice they can be.

 

[Mysteria]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Not all off site resorts are like that. There are plenty to choose from.

Ita!

I do both onsite and offsite. Offsite is when we have to take the dogs. We always rent a house. A little research and offsite can be a wonderful thing.

 

[keypooh90]

We typically rent DVC points to get the more "homey" experience. I'm sorry, but we will admit to being on-site snobs. It is just not for us. We have always said if it came down to where we really couldn't afford on site resorts, we wouldn't go. Our little experience confirmed this for us.

 

[JoShan1719]

I usually stay off site and have never had an experience like that, thank goodness. I've done the Buena Vista Palace (beautiful!), the Hampton Inn (great service, very clean), and the Sheraton Vistana (just wow, would love to stay there again).

I'm sorry off site didn't work out for you.

 

[eduk8r26]

JUst got back from a week at the Radisson Lake Buena Vista. A beautiful hotel!!! Only drawback was the traffic. We used the shuttle almost every day and it was not a problem for us. But I went into it with the idea I wasn't going to open the parks and close them down every day. I got a great rate so saved quite a bit of money from staying onsite.While I would love to stay at some of the Disney resorts, saving money is a priority for me. I would definitely stay there again!

 

[mousetravel]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Not all off site resorts are like that. There are plenty to choose from.

I agree. We have only stayed offsite for all of our WDW trips, and I don't have any major complaints about any of them. On our most recent trip, we stayed at Best Western LBV inside Downtown Disney area. We loved it!!

Its been about 4 if not 5 years since my family has gone, but being a family of six, we almost have to stay offsite. Not "almost", we HAVE to stay offsite. The price difference is just huge. We stayed at Windsor Hills Resort last time and we loved it. I plan on staying there later this year also. I think you just happened to pick a bad place to stay. Give others a chance, you will be surprised at how nice they can be.

I also agree with this. We also have to stay offsite. As a single parent traveling with DD alone, I try to budget as much as possible. If money were no object, I would definately stay onsite, but for now, we are just as happy staying offsite. We are usually in the parks basically from open to close and only use the room to sleep & get ready, so for me, personally, I just wouldn't spend that much money when we are hardly in the rooms. Now I'm sure if you have little ones, it's probabaly a different scenerio, but that's just my personal opinion/experience.

 

[Angry Eyes]

Sorry you had such a nasty experience. I believe that the majority of pro-offsiters are staying in really nice condos or pool homes. I love off-site with all the space I get in a 3 bed/3 bath condo - it is awesome.

I personally would take Disney any day over staying in a hotel room too. A condo or pool home is completely different from hotel stay. Having 3 bathrooms so everyone can easily get ready, having a full kitchen so you can have a snack anytime is great, washer/dryer in the unit is fabulous.

I totally understand why you did not enjoy off-site in a hotel room but if you ever get the chance to stay in a condo or pool home - I am sure you will find it to be a wonderful experience.

Um yes, exactly what this person said. Using the Sheraton Safari as the bar for all off-site hotels only idicates a lack of planning and preparation in staying off site in the first place.

 

[kathy884]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. / So many people really miss not having Disney 24/7 too and like to stay onsite on every visit. You're not alone in that.

If you try an offsite hotel again, I'd recommend checking a site like TripAdvisor for hotel reviews (really helpful for making a good choice on a property). Also, I agree that we pro offsiters who post alot on this site mostly go for the lovely condo resorts and pool homes that are such a great value, especially if you are renting from a homeowner or timeshare owner directly. There are lovely offsite hotels too, that I think are a good value -- Orlando is sooo overbuilt and there is sooo much to choose from.

When were you driving to parks? We always go early (rope drop) / leave the condo an hour before the park opens and even at Christmas and spring break, traffic was never a problem in the morning (total breeze / faster than onsite using buses / exception being monerail resorts or deluxe resorts where you just walk to the park which I admit is pretty cool, but pretty expensive too).

 

[sympatico]

Staying for one night at one hotel in this area hardly gives you a true off site experience. That would be the same as me saying that I stayed in All Star Sports for one night and it didn't like it so therefore all of Disney is bad.
It's fine if you like onsite better but I don't think you have enough off site experience to make that last statement:
"I honestly don't see how those of you who stay offsite do it. The one night we did offsite was horrible and almost too much to bear. Only onsite for us! "

You tried to get by cheap. You usually get what you pay for.
There are beautiful resorts, condos and homes offsite at a fraction of the cost of Disney and much more luxurious than the values and moderates and maybe even the deluxe Disney resorts if you compare apples to apples.
But to each his own. We've never had a problem getting to and from Disney from any of the areas we've stayed in offsite. We drive back from Disney to the Formosa Gardens area quicker than on site guests using buses.
Sorry you had a bad experience but don't judge everything offsite by that one night.

 

[JoShan1719]

Staying for one night at one hotel in this area hardly gives you a true off site experience.

That's what I get for skimming instead of taking my time and reading.

OP, you only spent one night off site? I agree with Sympatico, that's not enough to say that all off-site hotels are bad. But, you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[miralys]

Sorry you had a bad experience with an off-site hotel. We had one too recently, at Ramada. Hoo boy, Ramada is now a curse word in our family!

It's your choice to stay on-site exclusively, and I can understand why you would want to, but not all off-site locations are like that. I've been to several hotels that were very lovely and much better than our Pop Century stay, IMO.

On-site and off-site both have their pros and cons. We do both, depending on what we want to accomplish. To lump all of either accomodation into one category is simplistic at best.

 

[Beccabunny]

We've stayed offsite at WH over the last two years. Both townhomes we stayed in had over-the-top Disney theming in the kids' room, more than you would ever see at a Disney resort.

In order to get the spacious accomodations we like onsite, we would have to go with DVC. I've read lots of reports of many of the units looking worn and shabby, and we could never afford them anyway.

 

[travelfanatic]

The problem was clearly where you chose to stay! The Sheraton Safari would not be for me either. I do tons of research before deciding where we stay on or offsite. Having said that I have never been disappointed. Sorry for your experience but I don't think you can't make a fair assessment based on where you chose to stay offsite. I bet if you had chosen Hilton Bonnet Creek, Lake Buena Vista Palace, Gaylord Palms, Sheraton Vistana, etc..... You would have had a different experience.

 

[leanne11]

we stayed at a comfort in by the airport..for 1 nite and yes we weren;t expecting much..and it was cheap and we ran out of there as soon as we awoke..but not ALL hotels by airport are bad.....just sayin'..........

 

[grandmadebby2]

Sorry you had a bad experience but we stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and it is lovely, clean and everything in great condition. Maybe you picked a bad motel.

 

[Enjoying Life]

We only stay off-site as well

 

[It'sOffToDisneyWeGo]

Sorry you had such a bad experience but I don't think a blanket statement about all off site lodging works. I know there are places off site that I would not choose to stay at. I did stay at Wyndsor Bonnet Creek in June and had a wonderful experience. I did months of research on my lodging and restaurants though.

Hopefully you can give it another chance.