With over 25 unique resort hotels, Disney can accommodate almost all family needs and budgets.
If you are looking for something affordable for just a couple people, then check out their value resorts. If you are planning a huge family reunion and you want everyone close by, many of the Deluxe resorts have suites that can accommodate large families.
Is it really cheaper to stay off property?
When staying off property, you'll need to rent a car or Uber to the parks, and both have a cost. When you get to the park if you are driving, there is a $20 per day parking fee if you are not an Annual Passholder, and on top of that, you have to pay for gas to get back and forth. That doesn't include the time to not only travel from your off-property hotel to the Parks, but then parking, and waiting for a tram. Can you put a value on the time not being immersed in your vacation experience?
Disney has a variety of resort hotels ranging from Value all the way up to Deluxe that can accommodate any off-property price range.
There are benefits even before you arrive!
Reserve Dining
Have you ever tried to just walk up to a full-service restaurant for lunch only to be told they are all booked up? As a resort guest, you can reserve dining up to 180 days in advance.
Access to Fastpass+ Planning
Get first access to reserve select shows and attractions up to 60 days before your arrival. When booking your Disney resort hotel, purchase and link your theme park tickets, and you can reserve up to three Fastpasses per park, per day.
Disney's Magical Express Service
Disney's Magical Express Service
Disney's Magical Express service is a complimentary service that transports you and your family to and from Orlando International Airport via a luxury motor coach. The service also includes luggage delivery right to your Disney hotel room. Just add a Magical Express luggage tag provided in your pre-trip paperwork to your luggage before you check them at your home airport and the next time you see your bags will be in your Disney hotel room.
Now that you are on property
Stay immersed in the Disney experience
Experience the same Disney service and storytelling even when you are not at one of the four parks. Staying at a Disney resort puts you in the middle of the magic close to the parks and Disney Springs. Not only do you stay immersed in your Disney experience, but you don't waste time driving off-property.
Some resorts are close enough to walk to certain parks.
Extra Magic Hour
Guests at Walt Disney Resorts can enjoy extra time in the parks before they open and after they close. Additional hours at the parks each day allow you and your family to experience select attractions and entertainment experiences without the crowds of non-resort guests.
Complimentary Magic Bands
When you stay at a Walt Disney Resort hotel, you receive a complimentary Magic Band for each person in your party. The Magic Band resembles a wristband and can be personalized with your name. Magic Bands can be used to:
- Unlock your Disney Resort hotel room
- Enter theme parks and water parks (with valid admission ticket)
- Charge food and merchandise purchases back to your Disney Resort hotel account
- Connect Photopass images to your account
- Check-in to Fastpass+ attractions
On select attractions, Magic Bands can also enhance your experience by bringing a personal touch.
Resort Package Delivery
Whether you plan on doing a lot or a little shopping, having your purchases delivered to your Disney Resort hotel is a free and convenient service that prevents you from having to haul your purchases around the parks all day.
As a Disney Resort hotel guest, you can have your purchases delivered to the resort gift shop available for pickup usually no later than 3pm the next day.
Free parking and complimentary transportation between resorts, parks, and Disney Springs
If you plan to drive to Walt Disney World, parking at your Disney resort hotel is complimentary. Once at your Disney Resort hotel, if you prefer, depending on where you are coming from and going to, Disney provides complimentary transportation via many options such as busses, monorails, and various types of watercraft.
Flexibility
One aspect of staying at a Disney Resort hotel that isn't talked about much, but for us is probably the best reason of all to stay is the flexibility of coming and going from the parks when we want.
This is even true today with older children, but this was even more so when we had very young kids. When our family was young, we could not last all day at the parks. We tried staying from open to close once, it didn't work.
Our revised strategy is as follows: We go to the parks in the morning before the bulk of the crowd gets there, and enjoy the parks with relatively shorter lines. Then we leave the parks and go to Disney Springs or our resort for a nice relaxing lunch. When the kids were younger we would go back to the resort, and at least one parent would stay in the room while the kids napped, and the other parent rode thrill rides, had some quiet time or whatever they wanted. At any age, this is a winning strategy during the summer when it can be blisteringly hot. We go back to the parks either at dinner time or after and enjoy the magic of the parks at night and again, with relatively fewer guests.
Using this strategy really only works when you stay on Disney property. With complimentary Disney transportation, you can wake up early with the younger kids who seem to want to wake up at 7am while on vacation - go figure, and take them to the parks while the teenagers sleep in. Later you can meet-up with the family members who didn't want to greet the world at the crack of dawn. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa can only do a few hours at the park and want a nice relaxing place to rest after being at the parks, it's so easy to head back to an on property resort for anyone who is ready for a break. Have you seen all those exhausted people sleeping on benches, and ledges at the parks, chances are they are staying off property, but the rest of their party was not ready to leave.
Once we started doing our Walt Disney World vacations this way, we realized that we did not think of our "vacation" as going to the Magic Kingdom. In reality, our vacation started the minute we boarded the Magical Express at the airport, and it ended when we got back off the Magical Express a week later at Orlando airport. Everything else in between was a magical experience immersed in the world of Disney.
So is it really better to stay "off-property?
For most of the people I talk to, they tell me the cost of renting a big enough place for everyone is the reason they stay off-property.
Disney has over 25 unique resort hotels that can accommodate any size family arrangement or budget. There are also additional costs that should be considered when staying off-property.
There are also a host of other intangible benefits for staying at a Disney Resort hotel. I hope this article gives you insight into both the tangible and intangible benefits to help you plan a wonderful Walt Disney World vacation.