The pros and cons of staying *off property*

As promised here is the second part of the *where should we stay when we go to Disney* update. On Wednesday I looked at the pros and cons of staying in a Disney World resort - and today we’ll look at the case for staying off property instead.

Pros of staying off site

• Well the obvious one is cost – there are plenty of hotels, motels and private villa rentals available for less than the cost of staying in a Disney Resort
• Easier to visit other attractions – there is life outside Disney World and you can choose your location depending upon the other attractions you want to visit on your trip – such as Sea World, Universal Studios, or the malls!
• Access to cheaper restaurants – there are lots of “chain” eateries available to help you keep the costs down
• More space – if you are travelling as a family then you may want to consider a villa – why cram yourselves into a hotel room when for a similar price you can have a whole house??
• Breakfast facilities – you need to be at the parks before opening to avoid the lines – so you don’t want to waste valuable time eating breakfast in a restaurant – so choose a villa or a suite with kitchen facilities and you can fix yourself toast and cereal instead
• Private pool – most villas come with private pools – so there’s no fighting over the sun loungers ;0)

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Cons of staying off site

• You’ll need a car (I don’t really see this as a con but some people can’t/don’t like to drive on holiday) – although you can get a coach or town car transfer from the airport, and many hotels do shuttle buses to Disney and the other parks you’ll be pretty stranded without your own transport
• Takes longer to get to the parks – so you’ll have to forfeit a little of that lie-in!
• No Disney perks – you’ll miss out on things like Extra Magic Hours
• You’ll need to stick with your party – when relying on a car it’s less easy to split up
• No Disney Magic – the extra magic you’ll experience by staying in a Disney resort just can’t be found anywhere else!

So there you have it – personally I am a BIG fan of staying off property; we usually hire a private villa and I love the convenience of the kitchen, the pool, and the extra space! We stay in Kissimmee and from most of the villa locations you can still be at the park gates within 20-25 minutes.

That being said we travel as a couple – and as we holiday there so often we have just invested in the Disney Vacation Club programme (timeshare) which gives us the luxury of a villa on Disney Property – the best of both worlds!

If you are planning a trip and you are looking for a private villa with a pool then you really can’t go wrong with this 4-bed in Cumbrian Lakes, Kissimmee. We stayed there for three weeks in May 2007 and loved it; I’ve stayed in a lot of villas over the years and this one put all of the others to shame – if we weren’t in the DVC system now I’d want to stay there every trip :0)

Any questions?

If you have any specific questions about staying off-site, or you just want to share your thoughts on which you think is best then post them down there in the comments section.

Tags: WaltDisney World, Villa, Kissimmee