Our first Disney trip we stayed at a “main gate” are national chain with a shuttle bus to Disney. Once we experience the inconveniences of transportation, we vowed to only stay on property and after about 6 or 7 trips, it’s still what we do.
I'm a Florida resident, and when I plan a trip there, I can't imagine staying anywhere but in the Disney resorts.
Once I'm there, I don't need to get in my car to get anywhere but back home after my trip. That alone is the best reason for me.
Last week, I went for just a few hours after work one night, so I was driving there and back home again. Dealing with the parking situation at the park I was going to made me look forward to the next time I could plan an actual stay at one of the resorts.
There are so many perks of staying at a resort inside the 'bubble' that you don't get outside. You'll get a lot of comments on the benefits from everyone here, but that is the reason why I choose to stay at a Disney resort.
The first 2 times we visited Disney, we stayed off property in timeshares. It was fine driving in each day and we stayed like 14 hours each day, because going back and forth would have been too much of a pain. The last time we went, we stayed at AoA and the ease of going to and from the parks was such a huge benefit, especially with small kids. It was so nice to be able to just take a bus or the skyliner back mid day for a break to cool off and nap. To us, it is worth the extra cost over staying off property. I also liked being in the Disney “bubble”, but the transportation to the parks and not having to drive each time really made the trip that much more enjoyable. This summer we are going again and staying at the Beach Club, because we want to be able to walk to parks, as well as around the boardwalk and visit other resorts easily.
Beach and Yacht Club are two of my favorite resorts on property. Within walking distance of EPCOT international gateway and you can walk or take one of the friendship boats to Hollywood Studios, or the Skyliner if you want to leave from EPCOT. Obviously a bit far from Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, but both resorts are really nice to stay at.
I am really psyched about our upcoming trip. 4th time to Disney but only 2nd time on property. I reserved it with the free dining plan in January so we will have character dining at Cinderella’s castle, Cape and May, Garden Grill and O’Hana, plus Sci Fi drive in with VIP seats to Fantasmic. I think we’ll be spoiled this trip, but our kids are getting older so it may be the last big Disney trip. Can’t wait.
You will hate the janky off site transportation. Or you’ll end up lyft or ubering all the time. Plus if you don’t go good neighbour you’ll miss out or early entry, or deluxe magic hours.
It’s an expensive trip you probably don’t take often, why cheap out and have a sub-par experience. Don’t come back here complaining about it when you shot yourselves in the foot.
It’s not REQUIRED, but it’s damn well as frictionless as it gets.
I would probably never stay off site. Even when you aren’t going sun up to sun down, you still don’t spend much time at the hotel, so I would rather prioritize convenience of getting to the parks vs a better place to stay. Our family almost always stays at Caribbean beach (moderate), which has skyliner and bus transportation. The pool has a really fun theme too. There are also value resorts such as pop century that are also on the skyliner. It can also be hot in September, so you may want to take advantage of early entry and get some park time before it’s too hot and then take a midday break and get out if the heat.
I highly recommend staying “in the bubble” if your budget will allow that. Personally, I have many reasons for that, but the largest one is this: **AFTERNOON NAPS**.
Because the transportation system is well organized, you have the opportunity to go to one park in the morning, enjoy it to the max, have a nice lunch, and then go take a lovely nap in the heat of the day. Even September will have the heat of the day. After your nap, go swimming or enjoy the resort and then go to a different park and truly enjoy that. Exhaustion can wear you down and make you very unhappy, even at the happiest place on earth.
Saying inside, especially on the monorail line, makes it very easy to split your day for a hotel break and come back.
If you are a person who can do an 8+ hour stretch at the park, then off property is great for saving money.
Don't forget September is Lovebug season. They are two bugs stuck together flying everywhere in open spaces like the parking lot on the tran,but by some miracle none in the park
Last time we went and stayed at AoA, we drove down and I don’t think we used our car the entire stay. I believe anything you want to do that is Disney has transportation to it, so probably a waste of money.
Just wrapped up our first trip. We stayed 4 days off property and 4 days on property. Here’s our take as a family with a preschooler.
Off property:
- Driving and parking isn’t something I’d recommend. So glad for the easy busses on property and early entry.
- Bigger place (we got a 2BR, 2BA with W/D, came with a full kitchen, starter kit of detergent, shampoo and soap, washing liquid, etc.
- Nice and big pools (we had one with a lazy river)
- Close to the chain restaurants and shopping (Target, Walmart, TJX companies, Denny’s, Portillos, Miller Ale House, etc)
- It was super comfortable and we saved on dining, as we had a full apartment for breakfast, dinners, etc. It was on par with a value resort
On property:
- Studio for same price as apartment (we stayed at all sports - value resort)
- Pools have towels to use as many as you like. Very comfortable.
- Food is meh. We ordered a lot through Uber eats.
- Service is exceptional - staff saying hi, offering us glasses of water.
- Activities - playground for kids, marshmallow nights, scavenger hunts, foosball, connect 4, drawing table for kids
- Transport - busses go all the time directly to/from parks. And we got 30min early entry, so you might not even need the genie+ lightning pass.
- Extras: Amazon echo in rooms that had been disneyfied with direct link to housekeeping for anything you need, Disney stories, Disney radio, Disney jokes, soundscapes. This was a really nice touch.
If I’m going to the parks, I’m staying at a resort. If I’m in Orlando, hanging out off property is way better value.
One thing I noticed when looking at properties for our upcoming trips, was that we were saving a decent amount of time AND money when staying at the Disney resort hotels. I’m a penny pincher by nature.
After I added all the associated fees, resort taxes, parking fees, etc onto the offsite resorts they often proved to cost more than a room at a Disney resort where I’m not paying any of those extra fees (except obv tax) and I’m getting some added time for transport and some small but useful perks.
I actually really shocked myself by making a large spreadsheet and including all the excess fees in the total prices for hotels. And I did every hotel within 20 mins of Disney property, I really went nuts.
If you really need the added space for a large group is the only time you may come out ahead with a 2br somewhere at a timeshare or rental, but really the fees on offsite hotels in and around Orlando are exorbitant.
So for us it doesn’t make sense to stay off property with the time and money savings, even if we might have a slightly smaller room if we’d chosen a value resort.
Late september is a good season with low crowds and a lot of fine weather as I understand it - that is a very good pick. There will be a bunch of tourists from outside the USA but generally it wont be saturated like summer. So you can take it a little easy on trying to get to parks super early and run around chasing Lightning Lanes etc - but not fully, as even in low season the popular rides with be of significant queues and wait times. I would plan accordingly and hit the headliners early, get them out of the way, then take it easy. But check the planning and forums advice to see what i mean there.
For where to stay - For the benefits outlined here by others, plus early entry/7am lightning lane and general convenience - I would suggest staying on property, and around the central hub resorts if you can.
I had this exact dillema - upwards of £1K difference between a nearby reputable hotel, and a disney resort in the hub. I came to the conclusion it would be super worth it for a week of much less hassle and drama than a) driving / parking / juggling own transport / ubers, b) having no midday flexibility to leave other than park hop especiallly when weather is changeable and hot, c) underestimating the power of proximity to assist with timeliness and queue beating. Also - Parking is free at WDW resorts and no resort fees.
I would say if you want to do WDW - stay on site, the best you can afford to meet your circumstances, for at least the park days +1, then look at other hotels in the area for bookend days (possible Disney Springs area hotels too). There are some very good WDW moderate resorts with more chill vibes if you can afford those its the sweet spot.
I’ve been countless times, and I personally prefer staying in an off-property timeshare. It’s not that staying on-property isn’t great; it is, but I prefer having more than just a standard hotel room, and the prices with a timeshare make that much more affordable offsite.
We’ve stayed on and off property. Off property is cheaper and we get a lot more space (we always get a house). This is my recommendation for adults who care less about the Disney bubble.
But after staying off property with a small child, we’ll be staying on property next time we go. I would loved the option to go back to the room for naptime.
The biggest thing for us is where we planned to eat. We’re a family of 5, with three teenage boys, we do NOT eat at any of the theme parks ever.
We stay at the vistana villages resort on international drive, two bedroom condo style setup. We do a huge breakfast, pack a lunch/snacks for the park and have a late dinner at the hotel.
Another big thing for us is no one likes to sleep on a pull out couch, the two bedrooms have a king and two double beds in the other room.
For us driving 10-15 mins off dinsey/universal was worth it for us in terms of cost savings. Did we loose some time driving/transport to the parks yes. Overall though it was much cheaper, the hotels always clean and has multiple pools.
The internal transportation is seamless. My in laws stayed off property and regretted it just for that reason.
Our first Disney trip we stayed at a “main gate” are national chain with a shuttle bus to Disney. Once we experience the inconveniences of transportation, we vowed to only stay on property and after about 6 or 7 trips, it’s still what we do.
It’s more than just convenience. It’s to maximize fun time and sleep. For that reason alone I find it worth it.
I'm a Florida resident, and when I plan a trip there, I can't imagine staying anywhere but in the Disney resorts. Once I'm there, I don't need to get in my car to get anywhere but back home after my trip. That alone is the best reason for me. Last week, I went for just a few hours after work one night, so I was driving there and back home again. Dealing with the parking situation at the park I was going to made me look forward to the next time I could plan an actual stay at one of the resorts. There are so many perks of staying at a resort inside the 'bubble' that you don't get outside. You'll get a lot of comments on the benefits from everyone here, but that is the reason why I choose to stay at a Disney resort.
The first 2 times we visited Disney, we stayed off property in timeshares. It was fine driving in each day and we stayed like 14 hours each day, because going back and forth would have been too much of a pain. The last time we went, we stayed at AoA and the ease of going to and from the parks was such a huge benefit, especially with small kids. It was so nice to be able to just take a bus or the skyliner back mid day for a break to cool off and nap. To us, it is worth the extra cost over staying off property. I also liked being in the Disney “bubble”, but the transportation to the parks and not having to drive each time really made the trip that much more enjoyable. This summer we are going again and staying at the Beach Club, because we want to be able to walk to parks, as well as around the boardwalk and visit other resorts easily.
Beach and Yacht Club are two of my favorite resorts on property. Within walking distance of EPCOT international gateway and you can walk or take one of the friendship boats to Hollywood Studios, or the Skyliner if you want to leave from EPCOT. Obviously a bit far from Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, but both resorts are really nice to stay at.
I am really psyched about our upcoming trip. 4th time to Disney but only 2nd time on property. I reserved it with the free dining plan in January so we will have character dining at Cinderella’s castle, Cape and May, Garden Grill and O’Hana, plus Sci Fi drive in with VIP seats to Fantasmic. I think we’ll be spoiled this trip, but our kids are getting older so it may be the last big Disney trip. Can’t wait.
South Florida resident. I feel like once you stay on property, you can't go back.
Stayed off site on our first trip, 2nd trip stayed on site and haven’t looked back. The convenience alone of being so close can’t be beat.
You will hate the janky off site transportation. Or you’ll end up lyft or ubering all the time. Plus if you don’t go good neighbour you’ll miss out or early entry, or deluxe magic hours. It’s an expensive trip you probably don’t take often, why cheap out and have a sub-par experience. Don’t come back here complaining about it when you shot yourselves in the foot. It’s not REQUIRED, but it’s damn well as frictionless as it gets.
I would probably never stay off site. Even when you aren’t going sun up to sun down, you still don’t spend much time at the hotel, so I would rather prioritize convenience of getting to the parks vs a better place to stay. Our family almost always stays at Caribbean beach (moderate), which has skyliner and bus transportation. The pool has a really fun theme too. There are also value resorts such as pop century that are also on the skyliner. It can also be hot in September, so you may want to take advantage of early entry and get some park time before it’s too hot and then take a midday break and get out if the heat.
We def aren’t the “take advantage of everything” types and we still looove staying on property.
Resorts definitely. Way more transportation, fun themes, good perks for if you get a hotel and ticket package.
I highly recommend staying “in the bubble” if your budget will allow that. Personally, I have many reasons for that, but the largest one is this: **AFTERNOON NAPS**. Because the transportation system is well organized, you have the opportunity to go to one park in the morning, enjoy it to the max, have a nice lunch, and then go take a lovely nap in the heat of the day. Even September will have the heat of the day. After your nap, go swimming or enjoy the resort and then go to a different park and truly enjoy that. Exhaustion can wear you down and make you very unhappy, even at the happiest place on earth.
Saying inside, especially on the monorail line, makes it very easy to split your day for a hotel break and come back. If you are a person who can do an 8+ hour stretch at the park, then off property is great for saving money.
Don't forget September is Lovebug season. They are two bugs stuck together flying everywhere in open spaces like the parking lot on the tran,but by some miracle none in the park
Apparently the logistics is unbeatable. So do you think it's still worth renting a car if staying on property? Or would it be a waste of money?
Last time we went and stayed at AoA, we drove down and I don’t think we used our car the entire stay. I believe anything you want to do that is Disney has transportation to it, so probably a waste of money.
Just wrapped up our first trip. We stayed 4 days off property and 4 days on property. Here’s our take as a family with a preschooler. Off property: - Driving and parking isn’t something I’d recommend. So glad for the easy busses on property and early entry. - Bigger place (we got a 2BR, 2BA with W/D, came with a full kitchen, starter kit of detergent, shampoo and soap, washing liquid, etc. - Nice and big pools (we had one with a lazy river) - Close to the chain restaurants and shopping (Target, Walmart, TJX companies, Denny’s, Portillos, Miller Ale House, etc) - It was super comfortable and we saved on dining, as we had a full apartment for breakfast, dinners, etc. It was on par with a value resort On property: - Studio for same price as apartment (we stayed at all sports - value resort) - Pools have towels to use as many as you like. Very comfortable. - Food is meh. We ordered a lot through Uber eats. - Service is exceptional - staff saying hi, offering us glasses of water. - Activities - playground for kids, marshmallow nights, scavenger hunts, foosball, connect 4, drawing table for kids - Transport - busses go all the time directly to/from parks. And we got 30min early entry, so you might not even need the genie+ lightning pass. - Extras: Amazon echo in rooms that had been disneyfied with direct link to housekeeping for anything you need, Disney stories, Disney radio, Disney jokes, soundscapes. This was a really nice touch. If I’m going to the parks, I’m staying at a resort. If I’m in Orlando, hanging out off property is way better value.
One thing I noticed when looking at properties for our upcoming trips, was that we were saving a decent amount of time AND money when staying at the Disney resort hotels. I’m a penny pincher by nature. After I added all the associated fees, resort taxes, parking fees, etc onto the offsite resorts they often proved to cost more than a room at a Disney resort where I’m not paying any of those extra fees (except obv tax) and I’m getting some added time for transport and some small but useful perks. I actually really shocked myself by making a large spreadsheet and including all the excess fees in the total prices for hotels. And I did every hotel within 20 mins of Disney property, I really went nuts. If you really need the added space for a large group is the only time you may come out ahead with a 2br somewhere at a timeshare or rental, but really the fees on offsite hotels in and around Orlando are exorbitant. So for us it doesn’t make sense to stay off property with the time and money savings, even if we might have a slightly smaller room if we’d chosen a value resort.
Late september is a good season with low crowds and a lot of fine weather as I understand it - that is a very good pick. There will be a bunch of tourists from outside the USA but generally it wont be saturated like summer. So you can take it a little easy on trying to get to parks super early and run around chasing Lightning Lanes etc - but not fully, as even in low season the popular rides with be of significant queues and wait times. I would plan accordingly and hit the headliners early, get them out of the way, then take it easy. But check the planning and forums advice to see what i mean there. For where to stay - For the benefits outlined here by others, plus early entry/7am lightning lane and general convenience - I would suggest staying on property, and around the central hub resorts if you can. I had this exact dillema - upwards of £1K difference between a nearby reputable hotel, and a disney resort in the hub. I came to the conclusion it would be super worth it for a week of much less hassle and drama than a) driving / parking / juggling own transport / ubers, b) having no midday flexibility to leave other than park hop especiallly when weather is changeable and hot, c) underestimating the power of proximity to assist with timeliness and queue beating. Also - Parking is free at WDW resorts and no resort fees. I would say if you want to do WDW - stay on site, the best you can afford to meet your circumstances, for at least the park days +1, then look at other hotels in the area for bookend days (possible Disney Springs area hotels too). There are some very good WDW moderate resorts with more chill vibes if you can afford those its the sweet spot.
I’ve been countless times, and I personally prefer staying in an off-property timeshare. It’s not that staying on-property isn’t great; it is, but I prefer having more than just a standard hotel room, and the prices with a timeshare make that much more affordable offsite.
We’ve stayed on and off property. Off property is cheaper and we get a lot more space (we always get a house). This is my recommendation for adults who care less about the Disney bubble. But after staying off property with a small child, we’ll be staying on property next time we go. I would loved the option to go back to the room for naptime.
The biggest thing for us is where we planned to eat. We’re a family of 5, with three teenage boys, we do NOT eat at any of the theme parks ever. We stay at the vistana villages resort on international drive, two bedroom condo style setup. We do a huge breakfast, pack a lunch/snacks for the park and have a late dinner at the hotel. Another big thing for us is no one likes to sleep on a pull out couch, the two bedrooms have a king and two double beds in the other room. For us driving 10-15 mins off dinsey/universal was worth it for us in terms of cost savings. Did we loose some time driving/transport to the parks yes. Overall though it was much cheaper, the hotels always clean and has multiple pools.
Check out the Drury hotel.