Hi Janet! I think you would be fine either way. I have stayed off-property a couple of times. I did always reserve one character meal (Chef Mickey's for breakfast), but other than that, we would either grab a counter-service meal for dinner, or eat at a restaurant close to our hotel which was in the Downtown Disney area.
The counter-service meals at the parks provide a big enough serving to fill you up for dinner. You may prefer to do that on the nights that you plan to stay at the park until closing time, or at least until the fireworks/parades in the evenings. If you are wrapping up your park visits early on some days, then an outside restaurant would be perfect too. Keep in mind that there are plenty of restaurants to choose from in the
Downtown Disney area. They aren't usually as crowded as the theme park and character meal restaurants and you could stroll around Downtown Disney while waiting for your table. One of my favorite restaurants there is
Paradiso 37. I definitely recommend the "crazy corn"!!
Have a magical vacation!!!