3 Reasons WDW might be cheaper than you think

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

Interesting article on YAHOO, from the "MOTLEY FOOL"

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/27/3-reasons-why-disney-world-may-be-cheaper-than-you.aspx?source=yahoo-2&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=yahoo-2

[keith_h 420]

While they didn't spend a lot of time on their third point it mostly states if you want to save money use non-Disney facilities or services. To me that defeats one of the things I like about WDW and that's not having to deal with finding a cab or driving, running here and there to find a place to eat or shop, etc. From some of the offers we've received in the mail it appears to me Disney does fair amount of discounting on their other properties too (i just wish they would discount the Fort). This means comparing the Disney rack rate to Airbnb might not be as far apart as it seems to be. I'm not saying that I couldn't save a lot of money by not using Disney facilities but in all practicality once you add in some of the things like free transportation and convenience the overall costs differences are not as far apart as the appear on the surface.

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

We may pay more per night at the Fort then we did staying off property but 99% of the time that is made up by not having meals in the parks, and the overall convenience of staying on property. We still choose to drive to some of the parks, eat at some of the resorts and have a snack or drink in the parks but far less than we would staying off property. With having annual passes the parking is free no matter what so I don't know if staying in any of the other resorts would really be any cheaper/easier for us then staying off property where we would have a kitchen or have to pass other restaurants on the way to and from the parks.

I know unlike most visiting Disney we aren't the norm with only adults, annual passes, and living close enough to visit often and that probably effects how when and what we spend our money and time on while there.

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[Memphis 105]

Sounds like a strange argument to me.  Cadillac might not be as expensive as you think if you are willing  to buy a Chevy.

[5kidsmommy 18]

I know people say staying offsite is cheaper but for us the small savings just doesn't beat the convenience of staying onsite, especially at the fort. For families where everyone will be together every moment of their time at the parks then I can see how staying offsite would work but for our family it would be a pain in the neck. Some nights my husband and I want to go off on our own without our teens, sometimes our teens don't want to get up for rope drop or want to hang out and swim. All these things are possible because we are onsite. Plus we spend most of our park time at MK or Epcot when we are at the Fort and both of those are pretty simple for even the most dippy teenager to figure out. 

We've vacationed lots of places and Disney is still a really good deal. 

[Travisma 1,317]

The only Disney property that we have stayed on is the Fort.  And even at that, we feel like we are wasting money if we go to the parks and not enjoying everything at the Fort to it's fullest.

That's not to say that we haven't done both, but I like to just relax at the Fort, and do minor types of things out of the Fort like hotel hop.

And if we stay off site, we feel the same way if the hotel has a lot of included amenities.  It's hard to get back too late for free happy hour, or leave before the breakfast buffet.

But I can see others points of being close to the action on property especially if you are there for an extended time, and it's only a once or twice a year trip.. 

It's a little different for us since its just a little over an hour drive to get to WDW from our home.