When I was younger, we went twice and stayed in Disney. While I don't remember much, my parents had a lot to say about the hotels and such. For one, unless you're looking into a condo type of deal, most of the hotel rooms were quite small - even for 2 adults and 2 children! Plus, the price of a room for one night is two to three times as much as a normal hotel outside of Disney. Last Spring Break, we all went back to Disney World again, this time staying outside of Disney. We rented a house - seriously, a house with a private pool, garage, backyard, several bedrooms, baths, etc etc - for half as cheap as one of the smallest hotel rooms going in Disney. Does that make sense?

The first time we stayed in Disney, we stayed in All Star. The rooms there were EXTRA small and the room was pretty expensive. The second time we stayed in Disney, we stayed at the Carribbean (sp?). The second time around, we had a big water park type of thing somewhere on the grounds. Along with the water park, there was a mall with a food court. The food there was outrageous in cost, but very yummy.

The perks of staying on Disney grounds? You get into the parks earlier than the normal public. You can trolley to the parks instead of driving/parking. It's a bigger convience, really, with the parks. When we rented the house, that's what we missed - the convience of just getting up and hopping on a trolley. However, if you are going to stay in Disney and go to the parks, I suggest a park hopper. This lets you go to any all the parks you want to go to each day. If you decide to go to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and MGM in one day, you'll only have to pay the price of the park hopper - not individual tickets for each park. You're going in the summer, correct? I don't know if you've ever been, but unless it's raining out there, sometimes that weather can be pretty miserable! With a park hopper and staying on Disney grounds, you can leave at any part of the day, go back to your room, eat/refresh/take a nap, and then hit the parks back up at around 5 or 6 when it's not so hot. I highly recommend doing this, also.

So all in all, if the convience is more important to you than the space, than stay on Disney grounds. However, prices for those hotels are outrageous. Good luck deciding. Hope I helped a little.