Staying off property for the first time.

[Bubba88]

This is the first time in ages I'm staying off property, I'll be down from 9/27 till 10/4 and staying at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. Has anyone stayed there? I used to not having to drive around the parks and hopping from park to park that this is going to be a different experience for me, could use some pro's and con's and tips on driving to the parks. I still thinking of getting the dinning package with park ticket, is this a good idea or not. Any advice would be greatly helped.

[mini-V]

This is the first time in ages I'm staying off property, I'll be down from 9/27 till 10/4 and staying at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. Has anyone stayed there? I used to not having to drive around the parks and hopping from park to park that this is going to be a different experience for me, could use some pro's and con's and tips on driving to the parks. I still thinking of getting the dinning package with park ticket, is this a good idea or not. Any advice would be greatly helped.

Driving to the parks is pretty easy. Most of the big purple signs will get you to where you want to be. Have you checked with the hotel to find out if they provide transportation to any of the parks. That could save you on parking.

[disneyfanatic101]

I stayed at our friend's Maririott timeshare right outside of the resort. I can't remember. But getting to the parks was easy and if your a AAA member you can get reserved parking (up close).

[nicks10]

I don't believe you are eligible for the Disney Dining Plan if you are not staying on-site. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that before.

[Bubba88]

You are right about the dinning plan, I found out you do need to stay at the park to us that. Also checked with the timeshare and there 8 miles from Disney, they said like 20 to 30 mins without that I4 traffic. And no shuttle to the park from timeshare.

[DisneyFamilyJD]

You will be fine!! Marriott Cypress is beautiful. I have stayed ther before, but my parents home resort is Marriott Grande Visat in Orlando. It will take you about 15 minutes tops to get to and from the parks. Driving around is quite easy and I prefer to rent a car anyway. There is so much else to do in Orlando besides Disney!!! Have fun

[ohiodisneydad]

There is so much else to do in Orlando besides Disney!!! Have fun

Isn't this a ban-able offense????????? Joking!

[kentgurgie]

Never and I repeat never take a shuttle bus, most of the shuttles dont adjust to Disney park hours and you may have to go back on the last one at like 7:00 no matter what!

[mritty]

This is the first time in ages I'm staying off property, I'll be down from 9/27 till 10/4 and staying at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. Has anyone stayed there? I used to not having to drive around the parks and hopping from park to park that this is going to be a different experience for me, could use some pro's and con's and tips on driving to the parks.

Remember to work in $11/day for parking into your budget, unless you're an Annual Passholder as well.

A lot of people will tell you to park your car where you're going to *end* your day, and take Disney transportation between parks, but I can never understand how exactly that's supposed to work. I mean, it seems like a rather huge waste to park at the TTC and then take a bus from there to the Animal Kingdom, and another bus from the Animal Kingdom back to the TTC to go to the MK later in the night.

However, do make sure that you take your car with you when you park hop if you're going from a park that closes early to a park that closes later. You don't want to be stuck at the Magic Kingdom at 2am if your car is at Epcot which closed at 9pm. You'd likely have to take a taxi from MK to Epcot to retrieve your car.

I still thinking of getting the dinning package with park ticket, is this a good idea or not. Any advice would be greatly helped.

Sorry, that's not possible. The Disney Dining Plan is only available as part of a Magic Your Way package, or an Annual Passholder package. Either way, the Disney resort stay is part of the deal.

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

We've been staying off site for years and love it with the money we save. We typically stay at the Comfort Suites on Irlo Bronson (Hwy 192), but this past June rented a 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA home located in a gated subdivision at the western end of Irlo Bronson because we were staying for 10 nights. Having a private pool and all that space was great. We could leave the house at 8:35 and still make rope drop with 5 minutes to spare at Epcot, the Studios, and AK. Go on Google Earth or Yahoo Maps and look at the road network form your hotel to the World. You might find a shortcut with less traffic lights.