Why in the world do I like to stay off Disney World?

While staying on-site has become very popular since Disney has added thousands of moderate and value resort rooms there is still a case to be made for staying off-site like most of us humble folks did for years-and-years when staying on-site was reserved for the upper crust. Staying on-site has some advantages:

• Resorts themed as only Disney can do, including some of the most outstanding pools and food courts known to civilized man
• Extra Magic Hours (EMH) - There is some controversy whether EMH is worth it or not but it something that is only an option if you stay on-site.
• The Dining Plan - Love it or hate it, again it's only available if you stay on-site. (Personally, I'm not a big fan. I wish I didn't have to make reservations 6 months in advance - but that's another rant)
• Transportation - Many guests park their vehicle and never use it or they fly in and never need a car. Disney's transportation system is quite good...depending on which resort you are at and the time of day.
• Package pickup - I love being able to purchase items in the park and just have them sent to the resort rather than carry them around or wait until the end of the day to purchase them.

There are lots of ways to stay off-site. Our favorite way to stay off-site is rent a pool house. So, when I say off-site that's what I'm referring to.

• Cost. Three years ago we found a 5 bedroom house with it's own pool, a full kitchen, big screen tv, grill, washer/dryer, free Internet access, and free long distance phone for 2 weeks for slightly less than what our 1 week accommodations at Port Orleans, Riverside cost. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the two places were in anyway comparable. They were very different. Both were very nice, just different.
• Dining. Staying off-site gives us a lot more options when it comes to dining options. Having a kitchen allows us to fix some of our meals if we want to. We usually eat breakfast at "home" to get an early start, then eat a counter service meal at the parks. Dinner may be on-site, off-site or back home if we want a quiet evening.
• Relaxation. One of the things we realized about staying on-site is that even spending a day at the resort isn't all that restful because you end up packing up the kids to go to the pool or arcade or food court. The nice thing about a pool house is that it's all right there. If the kids want to swim they can change in their own rooms and go for a swim.
• Privacy. There is nothing like having your own room. We have 3 kids - a 5 year old boy, a 9 year old girl and an 11 year old girl. We generally have different bed times for the 5 year old than the girls. Having different bedrooms is really nice for that. And while I'm on the subject, it's also nice to have a queen or king sized bed for the adults rather than the full sized bed you get at the moderate/value resorts at Disney.
• Transportation. OK, when staying off-site is mentioned this always comes up. I can understand this being an issue for the 50% of guests who fly into Orlando (according to NY Times 50% of guests drive) but if you are driving in and have a car anyway this shouldn't be all that intimidating. The house we stayed in was off I-4/27 and took us between 20 and 30 minutes to be at any of the parks. That's no worse and often better than the times we had getting to the parks from Port Orleans using Disney transportation. The only real downside IMO is paying the $10/day for parking.

Like anything else different things appeal to different people. We really enjoyed staying on-site but didn't feel like it was worth the additional cost and we did not enjoy eating out that much. We really like being able to fix our own breakfast, especially. While we really enjoyed the themed pool at the resort, we decided we would be willing to give that up in favor of the simplicity of walking out the door to a private pool. Finally, we really missed having some privacy during our vacation. Given that we can have all the advantages of staying off-site for less money, it's not a hard choice.

If you would like to see what kind of rates are available on houses, take a look at my post listing web sites that have been recommended by fellow Disney fans by clicking here...