Why We’re Staying Off Property
For most people, the foundation of a Walt Disney World vacation tends to look pretty similar year after year. There are those who stay on property at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels and those who prefer staying off property at one of the many hotels available in the surrounding area. In most cases, at least based on people I’ve spoken to over the years, this decision of where to stay usually doesn’t change much. Those who stay on property tend to make that their go-to; the same for those who stay off property. The same can be said for us. We fall into the category of people who always stay on property when visiting Walt Disney World or other Disney Parks around the world. In fact, as some of the happy haunts who have been with us for some time will know, we’re Disney Vacation Club Members. . . . . so staying on property is really a no-brainer.
So why aren’t we staying at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels during our upcoming trip? Great question!
Thanks to a current change in policy, which we can only hope is temporary, Disney Vacation Club Members do not have access to the full amount of points that they otherwise would on a regular year. [We’ll get more into this some other time, because it’s a detailed and somewhat dull discussion that won’t interest non-DVC Members much. Though, it is one worth having. . . . so we’ll go ahead and do that later.] This has left us wanting to visit Walt Disney World, but not having the points to stay at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels we otherwise would have. Of course, being people who prefer staying on property, the first thing we did was check to see if any of the resorts we don’t usually stay in were available; they weren’t. This left only one option on the table: stay off property.
Like I said, staying off property is not an option that we usually [or ever] entertain. This isn’t just because we’re Disney Vacation Club Members, though that does play a role. It’s also because we really enjoy staying within the resort. Whether you want to describe it as staying in the magic or being surrounded by the Disney Bubble, we like the experience of leaving the “real world” behind for a week or two. Neither of us were willing to give up our opportunity to visit Disney because we didn’t have a resort hotel to stay at though. . . . so here we are!
Now, since this is a new experience for us, we really want to take this opportunity to share every detail with those of you who [much like us] have never gone this route before. We’re going to talk about the process of finding a hotel, what to look for, what to keep in mind and what you won’t have access to if you’re staying off property versys at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels. We’re also going to be talking numbers too, which I think will be helpful for those number crunchers and pennie pinchers out there.
At the end of the day, what we’re hoping to do is give those of you who have been toying with the idea of staying off property a good look into what you can expect. We also want to do our best to answer all of the questions you may have, so we’re hoping that you’ll head on over to the 2 Foolish Mortals Jamboree and share your thoughts with us. As always, we’ll do our best to get to all of your questions, so don’t hold back!