One of the earliest planning decisions you need to make is choosing where to stay on your Disney vacation. There are many facets to this decision: staying on Disney property or staying off Disney property? If staying off property, do you want to stay at a hotel or rent a house (Air B&B)? If staying on property, do you want to stay at a Value Resort, a Moderate Resort or a Deluxe Resort? Do you want to stay at the Swan, Dolphin or Swan Reserve? Another option to consider: You could rent points and stay at a Disney Vacation Club Resort.
Advantages of Staying on Disney Property
Once you’ve decided WHEN you want to go to Disney, your next big decision is WHERE to stay. Choosing where to stay on your Disney vacation is a HUGE decision. Where you stay will have a big impact on your vacation budget, whether you need to rent a car, how much time you spend at the parks, how early you need to get up in the morning–You’d be surprised what an impact where you decide to stay will have on your overall vacation experience.
Some of the advantages of staying on Disney property include:
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- Proximity to the Disney World theme parks.
- Free parking at the resort and at each theme park.
- Free Disney transportation within Walt Disney World.
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- You don’t need to rent a car, unless you want to.
- Early park entry: Disney resort guests can enter 30 minutes before official open time every day at every theme park.
- Extra evening hours: Disney resort guests can stay 2 hours after park close at select theme parks 2 nights per week.
- Advance dining reservations can be made 60 days in advance of your stay for the entirety of your vacation–up to 10 days.
- Great Disney gift shops at each Disney resort.
- All Disney resorts offer lots of family friendly activities every day. There are craft activities, movie nights, s’mores, character visits, and more!
- Restaurants and food courts: All Disney resorts feature some dining options. Value Resorts feature food courts with counter service meals, while Moderate and Deluxe resorts usually feature both counter service and table service meal options.
- Resort Mug with Free Refills for the duration of your stay. All Disney resorts offer refillable mugs for purchase. These mugs can be refilled at no additional charge at beverage stations at several locations around your resort. Note: you cannot get refills in these mugs at the theme parks–but you can get free water throughout each theme park, and the refillable mugs work great for that, too.
- Room service: some Disney resorts offer room service options.
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Intangible Advantages of Staying on Disney Property
There are additional, less tangible advantages to staying on Disney property as well. There’s nothing like being in the Disney bubble for your entire vacation. Even the highway signs on Disney property are themed! Each resort has it’s own theme, and you can count on Disney to carry the theme throughout your resort. And you gain time by staying on Disney property. You don’t have to get up as early, or get back to your resort as late if you’re staying on Disney property. You’re avoiding Orlando traffic, which can be pretty challenging.
Disney resorts are SO CLEAN. We’ve been visiting Walt Disney World for more than 50 years, and we’ve stayed at MANY different Disney resorts. We’ve never had an issue with a room not being clean, or with the resort public areas being clean. I’m not saying there are never exceptions to this–but they are exceptions. Disney has very high standards, and cast members are held to those standards.
When evaluating whether to stay on or off Disney property, you need to consider those “intangibles” in addition to the more tangible advantages. If budget is the most important thing to you when you are planning, you can definitely save money by staying off Disney property. But you may not save as much as you think.
Things to Consider if Staying Off Disney Property
There are a lot of great hotels located off Disney property, in every possible budget. And Central Florida offers a TON of vacation rental homes and condos. Again, in almost every possible budget. Every time we plan a longer Disney trip, we always consider staying at a vacation rental home–especially for our big family trips. There are twelve of us–and the inventory of vacation homes with 5 or more bedrooms is plentiful.
For our most recent trip, we very strongly considered it. But ultimately, we decided the advantages of staying on Disney property outweighed the cost savings of staying at a vacation rental. But everyone’s priorities are different and you have to consider what is important to you when making this decision.
Considerations
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- You HAVE to have your own transportation if you stay off property. If you’re driving to Disney, this is no big deal. However, if you’re flying, you will need to rent a car.
- You will need to pay to park at the theme parks. Currently, parking at each theme park is $30 per vehicle, per day.
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- Travel time to and from Disney World. Depending on where you are staying, you may need to allow as much as one hour for travel time to the theme parks. Traffic in the Orlando area can be brutal. I live in Chicago, so Orlando traffic is no big deal for me–but generally, most Orlando visitors and residents complain a lot about the traffic in Orlando.
- If you have read any of my previous blogs, you know I’m a big proponent at getting to the parks EARLY. The crowds are lightest first thing in the morning, so if you want to avoid long lines, your best bet is to arrive at the parks before opening. This means getting up earlier to allow time to drive to Disney, to park and to walk in from the parking lot.
- Keep in mind that at the end of the night, you’ll have more of a drive back to your hotel or vacation rental.
- You can make Advance Dining Reservations for meals on Disney property 60 days before your trip, but only one day at a time. (When you stay on Disney property, you can still make your reservations 60 days out, but you can book all your reservations for up to 10 days).
- You won’t have access to Early Park Access (30 minutes per park per day if you’re staying on property).
- You won’t have access to Extra Evening Hours (2 hours after park close at select parks 2 nights per week for Disney resort guests).
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The Bottom Line
Choosing where to stay on your Disney vacation is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when planning your Disney vacation. Deciding whether to stay on Disney property or off Disney property will have a major impact on both your budget and your overall vacation experience.
If you are working with a tight budget, the most economical options are off Disney property. However, it’s important to consider the costs of renting a car, parking at the theme parks, and the time-cost of driving to and from Disney.
In our next blog, we’ll discuss the different types of Disney resorts to choose from.
Where do you like to stay when you visit Disney? Are there any Disney resorts or any off property resorts that you’re wanting to visit? Please share below!
Ready to Plan Your Next Disney Vacation? I’m ready to help! Email brooke@disneycastledreaming.com
P.S: The name of this blog is going to be changing soon. Our new name will be Magical Castles Travel or WDW Castle Dreaming Travel.