For years, there have been massive advantages to staying at Walt Disney World owned resorts: free transportation, higher line-skipping choices, additional hours, and extra that justified the upper price. In this publish, we’ll take a brand new take a look at how perks have modified and whether or not on-site motels are nonetheless definitely worth the premium pricing. (Updated February 3, 2023.)
I’ll preface this by saying that we now have been advocates of staying within the Walt Disney World “bubble.” In our On-Site v. Off-Site at Walt Disney World article we try and be balanced, however concede that we’re drawn to being contained in the Walt Disney World “bubble,” which presents benefits when it comes to location, comfort, and the sensation of an all-encompassing trip vacation spot.
However, that began to alter even pre-closure. We nonetheless love a variety of Walt Disney World motels and do on-site stays, however not strongly advocate them for everybody. Accordingly, what we’re going to do is ask and try and reply an vital query: what if the promoting factors of staying on-site are not as helpful as standard WDW planning knowledge suggests?
This is a query we initially posed a number of years in the past as Walt Disney World lodge costs started to soar and the benefits provided by on-site perks have been much less noteworthy. Since reopening, we’ve revisited this subject a few occasions for various causes. That began with the top of Extra Magic Hours and free QuickPass, in addition to the still-temporary suspension of the Disney Dining Plan.
For our 2023 replace, we’re revisiting this for the primary time from a constructive perspective. There have been a number of constructive developments final 12 months and this 12 months, and we’re additionally granting larger weight to varied issues that we beforehand glossed over. This has us asking ourselves: is Walt Disney World’s on-site benefit beginning to reappear?
Let’s undergo the professionals & cons, level by level, beginning with the Disney Dining Plan. This remains to be on non permanent hiatus, however we’re nonetheless anticipating Walt Disney World to deliver it again someday in 2023, as lined in When Will the Disney Dining Plan Return? However, we’ve been anxiously anticipating its return for over a 12 months–in any case, Disney did promise it will be again quickly a few 12 months and a half in the past.
For many planners, having the ability to buy the Disney Dining Plan was crucial from a budgeting and comfort perspective. While we’ve been skeptical of this for years, nevertheless it’s nonetheless true that visitors discover themselves shocked by meals prices greater than the rest at Walt Disney World (see the fascinating survey knowledge about midway down this text).
Nevertheless, contemplating the suspension of the Disney Dining Plan an on-site benefit that has “disappeared” overstates the problem. The actuality is that the overwhelming majority visitors will come out forward from a budgeting or comfort perspective by pre-purchasing low cost Disney reward playing cards and utilizing these to pay-as-they-go for meals.
For most, the Disney Dining Plan presents the phantasm of comfort and budgeting; there’s much more flexibility and financial savings in paying out of pocket for meals and snacks. Of course, there are exceptions to this–households of huge carnivores or these prepared to “hack” the Disney Dining Plan did come out forward. But for probably the most half, the home all the time wins. We look ahead to the Disney Dining Plan returning, nevertheless it wasn’t the profit that some cracked it as much as be. (Conversely, it’s additionally not as unhealthy as a few of its detractors make it out to be.)
Next, let’s flip to Walt Disney World’s two replacements for Extra Magic Hours: Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours. Early Theme Park Entry permits all on-site resort visitors and people staying at choose third occasion motels to take pleasure in 30-minute entry to any Walt Disney World theme park, every single day earlier than regular working hours start.
Early Entry signifies that Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (for instance) open each day at 8:30 am and eight am, respectively, to resort visitors, and half-hour later to off-site visitors. The logical criticism right here is that morning Extra Magic Hours was an hour lengthy, so that is half the time, and thus, half nearly as good.
We have accomplished Early Entry over one-dozen occasions (actually), and that has not been our expertise at 3 of the 4 parks. Crucially, Extra Magic Hours occurred on choose days of the week and solely at one park on every event. This imply consolidating all on-site visitors at a single park. Early Entry happens each day in any respect 4 parks, and higher spreads out the gang consequently.
In observe, we’ve discovered Early Entry to be far much less busy than EMH. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom, it basically presents a 2-3 trip headstart for on-site visitors and is definitely a fairly important. (Most days, it’s not nearly as good at Magic Kingdom.)
We’ve used Early Entry to perform each Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash at DHS, all three headliners at EPCOT, and just about every thing in Animal Kingdom. Early Entry is a big perk, and it’s doubly useful to have the ability to use it each single day at whichever park you need. Do not underestimate its worth and skip Early Entry as a result of it’s “only” half-hour. (In case you’ll be able to’t inform, we’re enormous followers of Early Entry–it’s larger than many followers suppose.) Learn extra technique in our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World.
Next, there’s Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This profit is solely for visitors staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas (Disney Vacation Club models), or different choose motels (at present Swan & Dolphin and Shades of Green). Guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are usually not eligible for Extended Evening Hours.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours happen solely two nights per week in complete–usually Mondays at Epcot and Wednesdays at Magic Kingdom. This runs for 2 hours every night time, however that is solely a perk for individuals who e book costlier motels (or the Swan & Dolphin, which are sometimes priced on par with Value or Moderate Resorts). This makes Extended Evening Hours a double-edged sword, with its high quality hinging on resort standing.
For those that are eligible, Extended Evening Hours is enormous. Crowds are nearly non-existent, as are traces for many sights. It’s method higher than Evening Extra Magic Hours, which had grow to be overcrowded because of expanded eligibility throughout its previous couple of years. (In truth, the crowds throughout Evening EMH are one of many causes we first wrote this publish, within the first place–Evening EMH had grow to be virtually ineffective because of overcrowding.)
Unfortunately, this comes on the expense of Value and Moderate Resort visitors who, as famous above, can not reap the benefits of Extended Evening Hours. So if you happen to’re a Deluxe or DVC visitor, this perk is improbable. If you’re staying at a Moderate or under, it’s terrible/nonexistent. See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for extra guidelines, eligibility, technique, and many others.
There’s additionally the brand new Genie+ line-skipping system, which changed the free QuickPass trip reservation program. (See our Guide to Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World for full particulars, suggestions, and every thing it’s essential to know for making most of that line-skipping system.)
There are two parts to this: Genie+ Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes. The latter presents on-site visitors the “benefit” of having the ability to buy Individual Lightning Lane entry at 7 am as a substitute of park opening time, which is when everybody else can purchase entry. Certain Individual Lightning Lanes do promote out previous to park opening time, in order that window is useful for headliner sights–however even that’s seasonal. If you’re visiting throughout busy vacation journey dates, it issues. If you’re entering into May or September, not a lot.
It can be useful if on-site visitors may e book Genie+ trip alternatives early, however that’s not how this works. Everyone is ready to e book Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations beginning at 7 am. That may all the time change down the highway, however for now, that’s how the system works.
There’s no sugar-coating this one. Losing free QuickPass+ was a colossal blow to all guests of Walt Disney World, however particularly on-site visitors. One of the perfect on-site benefits at Walt Disney World was the expanded QuickPass+ reserving window; that was a big headstart and allowed on-site visitors to scoop up many of the finest trip reservations earlier than their journey.
Two of the latest modifications concern transportation. At the start of final 12 months, the Disney’s Magical Express airport shuttle service ended. Now, guests arriving to Orlando International Airport might want to hire a automotive, use Uber/Lyft, or organize for an alternate shuttle service so as to get to their resort. This was an enormous loss for a lot of Walt Disney World guests.
Disney’s Magical Express’ closest paid replacements are Mears Connect and the Sunshine Flyer. See our Guide to Airport Transportation for Walt Disney World for different choices. There’s no one-size-fits-all excellent answer; it depends upon your occasion measurement, price range, and different elements.
We’ve used each Mears Connect and Sunshine Flyer, and have discovered them to be nearly equivalent to Disney’s Magical Express in velocity, high quality, and repair. The largest draw back is that there’s a charge, and that since these are third events, there’s not seamless integration between the resorts and the shuttles within the occasion that a problem arises. (Some followers will cite the dearth of baggage dealing with, however that disappeared from DME previous to this, so it’s onerous to tie that to this explicit change.)
Then firstly of 2023, Walt Disney World introduced again free in a single day self-parking to visitors staying at Walt Disney World Resort motels. Complimentary parking was an on-site perk till a number of years in the past, and it was one other immediate for this publish within the first place.
We hated the cost for parking, and thought it was a nasty determination that diminished the differentiation between Disney and its real-world counterparts. We weren’t alone. At the time, the introduction of the parking charge was probably the most controversial change we had ever seen made by Walt Disney World. Not solely did our publish garner over 300 offended feedback, however Walt Disney World acquired hit onerous by damaging critiques on crowdsourced journey websites like TripAdvisor and Google. I had by no means seen followers so mad–though backlash to the following elimination of free QuickPass and Disney’s Magical Express did exceed that response.
In addition to this, Walt Disney World resort lodge visitors additionally proceed to obtain complimentary customary parking at Walt Disney World theme parks, which is one other plus. In tandem, these two issues take a few of the sting out of the elimination of Disney’s Magical Express–not less than for the visitors who choose to hire a automotive whereas staying on-site. (That quantity will solely develop, as Universal Orlando continues to broaden and switch itself into an equally-compelling theme park vacation spot.)
Sticking with the subject of transportation, that is one other on-site benefit provided by Walt Disney World…and one which has arguably improved by fairly a bit. Let’s begin with the impartial parts: the monorails and boats are roughly the identical.
Given that the monorails proceed to age and one boat route has been lower, the argument might be made that these have gotten barely worse. Anecdotally, I’m unsure I agree–monorail upkeep has decreased downtime and the one boat route is utilized by a small minority of visitors. Speaking of issues utilized by a small minority of visitors, we’re followers of the Grand Floridian walkway to Magic Kingdom–our favourite type of transportation is “feet” and we want Walt Disney World made itself extra walkable. (Which would ease the burden on current transportation.)
As a complete, we view Walt Disney World transportation as higher in the present day than it was 5 years in the past. The massive factor right here is the Skyliner, which we view as the most effective transportation choice at Walt Disney World. When there’s a line, it’s always shifting and normally a brief wait. Since the opening couple of months, the Skyliner gondola system has been extremely dependable.
We’re enormous followers and strongly favor the Skyliner resorts now. It’s particularly a game-changer for Pop Century; given all the perks and transportation benefits of that one resort, we are able to simply justify the premium pricing there.
Also serving to with previous transportation woes is bus wait occasions, which present up each on digital boards on the bus stops and within the My Disney Experience app. There’s nonetheless room for enchancment right here, and there have been lodge stays after we’ve seen overcrowded and inconsistent bus service. (In explicit, Coronado Springs is a giant offender.)
Walt Disney World has additionally addressed its bus driver scarcity, which really predated the closure, by bringing in a 3rd occasion to help with routes. All issues thought-about, we’ve been extra happy by bus service and located it to be extra environment friendly final 12 months and in early 2023 than it was in 2017-2019. With that mentioned, few issues are as hit-or-miss as WDW bus service. Someone may have a superlative expertise, and another person an terrible one–regardless of staying on the identical resort throughout the identical dates–just by advantage of luck and timing.
I gained’t embrace Minnie Vans as a transportation “improvement” since there’s a dear surcharge for these, and we don’t usually advocate them. Plus, if you happen to’re prepared to make use of Disney’s Minnie Vans, you would possibly as effectively be prepared to make use of Lyft or Uber, which have grow to be ubiquitous in Central Florida. The ease of Lyft and Uber is unquestionably an enchancment for visitors, nevertheless it’s neither right here nor there from an “advantage” perspective because it isn’t a change made by Disney.
Turning again to eating, there’s an on-site benefit with regards to reserving Advance Dining Reservations. Currently, everybody can e book desk service eating places 60 days previous to the date on which they’d wish to eat. In addition, Walt Disney World resort lodge visitors could make Advance Dining Reservations for his or her size of keep (as much as a 10-day keep) as much as 60 days upfront of their check-in date.
As mentioned in our Top 10 Tips for Booking Difficult Advance Dining Reservations, this “60+10” window might be extremely advantageous for well-liked desk service eating places or bigger events, particularly throughout busier journey dates. If character eating or extremely themed eating places are vital to you, that is enormous.
Even on the 60 day mark, Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Topolino’s Terrace, Be Our Guest Restaurant, ‘Ohana, and others can be scarce. We view dining as a big component of the Walt Disney World experience, so this is a big advantage to us. However, it doesn’t matter to everybody, so your mileage might fluctuate. Also, there are methods (see that ideas publish) for scoring final minute availability–however they don’t work in addition to reserving in the course of the 60+10 window.
It’s undoubtedly nonetheless good to remain in a resort with an immersive design, consideration to particulars, and varied Disney touches. It’s additionally good to have the ability to stroll to the parks, or be a part of the Disney bubble.
For many individuals, it’s unattainable to overstate the significance of this. There’s a sure x-factor that the Disney resorts provide that elevates the general expertise into one thing extra particular. This is true for us, and even with all the complaints right here, we nonetheless favor staying on-site in Disney-owned properties.
To their credit score, Walt Disney World’s resorts are nonetheless meticulously themed, with a ton of attraction, element, and transportive environments you largely gained’t discover off-site. This has lengthy been a giant promoting level, as your resort keep looks like an extension of the theme parks.
This applies largely to the outside grounds and inside frequent areas. With sure latest room refurbishments, the sense of theme inside Walt Disney World’s lodge rooms has been diminished. We’ve been extremely important of this as a result of themed environments are what defines Disney, and are within the wheelhouse of Imagineers.
Many of the brand new rooms appear to be striving extra in the direction of crowd-pleasing kinds, with generic trendy designs, clear and crisp aesthetics, and usually elegant luxurious (the final one solely applies to Deluxe Resorts). In common, the rooms are much less enjoyable and have traded distinctive and colourful designs for extra bland and primary ones.
On a constructive word, Disney appears to be turning the nook on this. The new rooms on the Grand Floridian are an unequivocal improve over their predecessor in each theme and luxurious, and only one latest instance of a shift on this regard. It would appear that the worst of this occurred between 2016 and 2019, with the rooms within the final 2-3 years hanging the stability significantly better. Hopefully that is the beginning of a constructive development and shifts into the ‘on-site advantage’ column over time.
The downside with the earlier transfer in the direction of trendy and nondescript rooms is that Disney went from a realm with virtually no actual competitors (ornately themed designs) to inserting itself in direct competitors with real-world lodge manufacturers by mimicking their fashion. This not solely makes for a better head-to-head comparability when it comes to visitor rooms, nevertheless it’s additionally a comparability that’s typically not favorable to Disney. I like a variety of issues about Walt Disney World, however don’t view it as one of many world’s nice operators of motels.
Actual luxurious hoteliers reminiscent of Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, Waldorf Astoria, and Four Seasons have excessive finish properties close to Walt Disney World, and so they usually surpass even Walt Disney World’s flagship lodge on a luxurious entrance. It’s controversial that even the Marriott, Hilton, and Wyndham motels give Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World a run for his or her cash–and people are sometimes priced under Moderate ranges!
This brings us to the ultimate consideration, which is price. This has all the time been the first promoting level for staying off-site. It’s value reiterating right here as a result of the price distinction between off-site and on-site lodging has grow to be rather more pronounced in the previous couple of years.
As mentioned in How Much Does a Walt Disney World Vacation Cost in 2023?, the typical complete worth of a visit this 12 months versus a comparable trip in 2019 is up by hundreds of {dollars}. On a constructive word, that has already improved since publication, as roughly 8 completely different reductions have been launched for 2023. It’s doubtless extra are coming as pent-up demand is slowing, too.
Nevertheless, if you happen to final weighed the professionals and cons of staying off-site and on-site a number of years in the past, and decided on-site was a greater match for you, there’s a good likelihood you’ve grow to be habituated to staying on-site. You’ve felt the rise in costs over time, however the pull to remain on-site at Walt Disney World is powerful. Perhaps you not have reweighed these execs and cons–particularly the rising price disparity.
In our view, the actual candy spot is on-site third occasion motels just like the Swan & Dolphin, Four Seasons Orlando, and Bonnet Creek Resorts. (See our List of the Best Third Party Hotels Near Walt Disney World.)
Several of those have places which might be nearly as good or higher than Disney-owned and operated motels, and are inexpensive. Many additionally provide the identical perks as Disney motels. Swan & Dolphin, for instance, provide Extended Evening Hours whereas Disney Value and Moderate Resorts gained’t have entry to these.
You additionally would possibly take into account renting a trip house, each for the sake of privateness and isolation. (See our Best Vacation Home Rentals Near Walt Disney World.) These are particularly nice for bigger events, and you may actually hire a whole home for the price of a mid-tier Walt Disney World lodge room. Some of those comprise themed youngsters rooms, in-home theaters, sport rooms, non-public swimming pools, plus every thing else you’d count on from a home.
Another nice choice proper now’s staying at Universal Orlando, which nonetheless does provide most of its on-site benefits and its personal sense of immersion and being inside a “Universal bubble” (albeit to a lesser extent).
If you need to go all-out with Universal’s nicest motels which might be in strolling distance of the parks and embrace limitless line-skipping at sights through Express Pass, see our Hard Rock Hotel Review and Portofino Bay Hotel Review. Even although these are Universal Orlando’s costlier motels, they’re nonetheless priced about on par with Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World.
Our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews covers the professionals & cons of all these resorts, a lot of which we love for his or her places, theme, on-site perks, and worth for cash. Additionally, consult with Universal Orlando v. Walt Disney World Resorts for a comparability between Disney’s and Universal’s motels to see what every does higher.
Ultimately, that describes our dilemma with lodging at and round Walt Disney World. The rational aspect of my thoughts is aware of that staying off-site supplies considerably higher worth for cash and that the a few of the perks we obtain from Walt Disney World motels aren’t as helpful as they as soon as have been.
We do now have a cheaper price ceiling for many Walt Disney World resorts (besides Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, and All Star Movies, that are all a bit greater for us now), which is usually a problem provided that room charges have been rising. However, there are nonetheless methods to seek out good reductions, and failing that we are able to both use or hire DVC factors or take a look at the on-site third occasion choices like Swan & Dolphin, Disney Springs, and Bonnet Creek.
There’s additionally Universal Orlando, and we completely love a number of of these motels. Universal can maintain its personal with a lot of Walt Disney World’s motels from a thematic perspective, and lots of the facilities at Universal are literally superior to Disney. Plus, the perks of staying on-site are far superior and nightly room charges are far decrease.
Beyond that, there’s a burgeoning trip house rental trade, low-cost Airbnbs, and sturdy slate of latest off-site motels close to the parks. We must be additional investigating all of that, as some nice offers abound. The Central Florida lodging market is extremely aggressive outdoors the Disney bubble, and that’s mirrored in pricing and facilities.
With all of that mentioned, there’s the emotional aspect. We have nostalgic attachments to sure resorts at Walt Disney World, and luxuriate in their lush grounds, eating, and facilities. We love having the ability to keep late within the parks, even when they’re crowded and all we’re doing is wandering round. We benefit from the seamless expertise of going from the parks to our resort, feeling a brief reprieve from the actual world.
It’s tough to place a worth on all of that. While we “value” it under the price distinction between comparable third occasion motels, we frequently bounce by hoops to seek out methods to justify staying at Walt Disney World motels. I’m not suggesting that is the best (or incorrect) method. I do know a part of that is Disney’s emotional energy, and we fall for it hook, line, and sinker loads. I’m not making a judgment both method–it merely is what it’s. However, we discover it taking place much less and fewer with Walt Disney World persevering with to boost costs and lower choices–that makes staying off-site a a lot simpler determination!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about motels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To get monetary savings on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets publish. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips publish takes a singular take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every thing it’s essential to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you suppose…are the perks of staying on-site as helpful to you as they as soon as have been, or are you getting much less worth in your cash staying at Walt Disney World motels? Will you proceed to remain on-site regardless of this all? Have you already moved off-site? Other ideas on this? Any questions we may also help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!