There are many benefits about staying on site at WDW. I think one of my favorite perks is being able to send your merchandise to your room so you don't have to carry it around the park. I think this is a WDW exclusive things, as far as I know. But I love this perk, even from DTD you can use it.
What is your favorite thing about staying on site?
Um...everything?!?! lol 
I have 2 favorite things that are somewhat linked. 1) the transportation 2) maintaining the "bubble" I think they're linked since the transportation allows you to maintain that magical Disney bubble.
Agreed EVERYTHING is awesome about it. There are just some things I really enjoy after experiencing both staying on and off I would never stay off ever again. lol
For us, it's the extended theme park hours (Magic Hours), the ability to get into the parks before the crowds. 
The best thing is being enclosed in "the Bubble"...we have stayed offsite a few times, but it is just not the same. On our 2005 trip, DH and I had to travel to Miami for a job interview and nothing went right on that excursion. Returning to our Disney Resort we joked that "the Mouse was P*ssed" that we left property. Once we were back on property all was well!! To this day we still joke about "taking the chance on leaving property"...sometimes it just isn't worth it!! 
We bought a teardrop camper last year and this will be the first trip where we will stay at Ft. Wilderness. I'm curious to see if the magic is still there even when camping. Something tells me that the experience will be fun at the campground but not the same as staying in one of the hotels. I'm hoping, down the line, to purchase a DVC membership...once we pay off the camper...next year maybe 
Resorts
2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
I just love not having to think about anything. Transportation is all there and ready to go, and I do not have to think about or see the real world during the entire course of my vacation!
Golf course transfer!. When you stay at a WDW resort they will take you from the resort to the WDW golf course any time you want! They even move the golf clubs around. All Free.
I do have a question for the group. We need to get from the GF to the Wilderness Lodge and we do not have a car. What are your suggested travel recommendations? Cab is to easy. Need to be at WL by 9 AM. I am sure there is an interesting, but not to lengthy option.
Extra Magic Hours, transportation, package delivery, Magic Express and staying inside the "Disney Bubble" are all my reasons. Love the feeling of being free from the stresses of everyday life! Once I enter the bubble it all just washes away!
** BeLiNdA **
I do have a question for the group. We need to get from the GF to the Wilderness Lodge and we do not have a car. What are your suggested travel recommendations? Cab is to easy. Need to be at WL by 9 AM. I am sure there is an interesting, but not to lengthy option.
This links with my love of the WDW transportation. Take the Monorail from GF to the Contemporary and then take a boat from the Contemporary to the WL (there's a shuttle boat that goes around Bay Lake between the Contemporary, WL, and FW). Just make sure you get on the resort boat and not the boat to the MK. The skipper will confirm where the boat is headed. Shouldn't take too awfully long, it's free, and it's fun!
I have never heard of the "bubble" before but I do understand it! It is like everything in the world is magical and you are in a complete different world to the real one. It is why it is one of my favorite places on earth. Though there are still rude people like those who cut in line or crash into and don't apologize but that is just rude people and even though I don't get angry like I would in the "real" world.
Oooo also a good one! is the Magical Express! No renting a car to get to airport to the World and no having to worry about your luggage! Its awesome!
I have only used this service twice as when I went as a child we drove because my gram does not due flying! Something about flying from CT to Hawaii to were my grandfather was stationed for the military for her first flight ever. lol
Golf course transfer!. When you stay at a WDW resort they will take you from the resort to the WDW golf course any time you want! They even move the golf clubs around. All Free.
I do have a question for the group. We need to get from the GF to the Wilderness Lodge and we do not have a car. What are your suggested travel recommendations? Cab is to easy. Need to be at WL by 9 AM. I am sure there is an interesting, but not to lengthy option.
I totally didn't know this! I am not a golfer but that is totally awesome!
The best thing is being enclosed in "the Bubble"...we have stayed offsite a few times, but it is just not the same. On our 2005 trip, DH and I had to travel to Miami for a job interview and nothing went right on that excursion. Returning to our Disney Resort we joked that "the Mouse was P*ssed" that we left property. Once we were back on property all was well!! To this day we still joke about "taking the chance on leaving property"...sometimes it just isn't worth it!!
We bought a teardrop camper last year and this will be the first trip where we will stay at Ft. Wilderness. I'm curious to see if the magic is still there even when camping. Something tells me that the experience will be fun at the campground but not the same as staying in one of the hotels. I'm hoping, down the line, to purchase a DVC membership...once we pay off the camper...next year maybe
I have not stayed at the campgrounds but I have been there and it is cool, but not overly Disney themed like you suspect. Though they do have the horses near by if you are horse fan (just a little secret this is were they keep Cinderella's white ponies) And I also think that the Hoopdee Doo Review is in the same area which is an AWESOME show if you have never seen it. My grampa was chosen to be in the show and came on stage in a pink tutu, yes we have a picture! Just to get an idea my grampa looks a bit like Grumpy.
And I also think that the Hoopdee Doo Review is in the same area which is an AWESOME show if you have never seen it. My grampa was chosen to be in the show and came on stage in a pink tutu, yes we have a picture! Just to get an idea my grampa looks a bit like Grumpy.
There are a few pictures of Mrhub in that same TuTu on this forum,and believe me it is worth searching for.
FutureMrsHurst wrote:And I also think that the Hoopdee Doo Review is in the same area which is an AWESOME show if you have never seen it. My grampa was chosen to be in the show and came on stage in a pink tutu, yes we have a picture! Just to get an idea my grampa looks a bit like Grumpy.
There are a few pictures of Mrhub in that same TuTu on this forum,and believe me it is worth searching for.
For me it's the disney customer service, nothing compares to it, and if you do find someone who isn't so 'disney' if you tell someone about it they bend over backwards to make up for it!
Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa
Complete Disney immersion 24/7... 
From the minute we boarded the DME to when we left for the airport on our departure day, everything was awesome. By far the best thing for us was the superlative customer service and overall friendliness of the Cast Members. The convenience of the bus system, the meal plan (not having to dig for my wallet every meal time was such a relief), the over the top theme of our resort, the magic of fast pass...
I love the 60-day FP window for onsite reservations.
I do have a question for the group. We need to get from the GF to the Wilderness Lodge and we do not have a car. What are your suggested travel recommendations? Cab is to easy. Need to be at WL by 9 AM. I am sure there is an interesting, but not to lengthy option.
Transportation should begin by 8am at the latest (usually before) assuming that MK opens at 9:00. Monorail to MK or Contemporary. Both have a boat that services Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness on a loop.
Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch
Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.
The transportation for me. It's not perfect in terms of timing but it's free and you don't have to fret about taxis or trying to find your car in a giant parking lot.
"All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day, not above them but part of them.
And out there living in the sun, give me one day out there, all I ask is one to hold forever. Out there where they all live unaware, what I'd give, what I'd dare, just to live one day out there."
What is your favorite thing about staying on site?
For me its not having to drive. I am *always* the designated driver when we go out at home, so I don't often get to enjoy a cocktail or two with dinner. At Disney I have no such worries because someone else is doing the driving for me. 
FutureMrsHurst wrote:And I also think that the Hoopdee Doo Review is in the same area which is an AWESOME show if you have never seen it. My grampa was chosen to be in the show and came on stage in a pink tutu, yes we have a picture! Just to get an idea my grampa looks a bit like Grumpy.
There are a few pictures of Mrhub in that same TuTu on this forum,and believe me it is worth searching for.
Lol, I might have to look that up!
I've stayed off site way more than on-site, but when I do stay on-site, I enjoy the extra magic hours and the transportation to and from the parks. The close proximity to the parks is obviously a perk.
It's definitely a give and take for me and the family. If we stayed on-site every visit, we wouldn't be able to come as much as we do. So we sacrifice in some ways and make up for them in others.
I am however looking so forward to our stay (just wife and I ), at the BWV's for the Food and Wine festival... I know the overall experience will be WONDERFUL!!!
I love getting up in the AM and heading down with my resort mug to fill up with coffee at the resort fill station and then park somewhere for a leisurely people watch or to update my FPs or make a plan for the day.
This is our first trip to stay completely off site. So far the biggest difference is not having the fast pass window. We have loved taking advantage of magic express, Disney transportation, and the magic hours. We have had fun learning more about Orlando and the rest of the area.
Or boat from GF to MK and boat from MK to WL.
I agree with all the above, but will also add the bonus of Magic Bands (though I know you can purchase them if you stay off site). They make life so easy, no cards/cash/keys etc to carry and when you go swimming you don't have to leave valuables on your lounger, unless you choose to take electronic devices with you, of course
Fiona
I love getting up in the AM and heading down with my resort mug to fill up with coffee at the resort fill station...
I did that every day! It was refreshing to greet the happy CM's and see so many excited happy people.
I love getting up in the AM and heading down with my resort mug to fill up with coffee at the resort fill station and then park somewhere for a leisurely people watch or to update my FPs or make a plan for the day.
That's my favorite thing too-for some reason, doing something as normal as getting my morning drink and relaxing by the pool or in the lobby makes me feel like I live there. Odd, but true.
