Staying Onsite at WDW - The Pros and Cons

One of the first things to consider when planning your trip to Orlando is where to stay and oh my goodness the choices are endless! Working out where to stay is a complete plan on it's own so we felt that we should break this down into a few blog posts for you. One of the main choices, and sometimes the only choice people think they have, is staying on Disney property. This it absolutely not the only choice but it may be best for you and your party.

Hopefully this post will help make that choice a little simpler with our Tips and Bobs on how we find staying on property at Walt Disney World.

Who doesn't love a photo op at The Contemporary?!

The Pros

A huge draw to staying on Disney property is the amazing theming at the resorts. These hotels are almost all incredibly themed - you have only got to Google 'Art of Animation', one of Disney's 'value' resorts, to see how immersive these hotels can be. The value hotels tend to be brighter and more out there, with the 'moderate' and 'deluxe' resorts being a little more adult and subtle in their styling. This is, of course, amazing for children; they can be completely immersed in the Disney experience and swim in a pool that is styled around Finding Nemo, a giant piano, or a Mexican pyramid just to name a few.

Speaking of being immersed, staying on site you will truly feel sucked into the 'Disney Bubble', you will feel as though anything other than Disney World and Mickey is just a land far away not to be considered. There will be characters in your resort in certain character spots, Disney movies shown at night - for free! Mickey waffles served at breakfast and actually, probably a Mickey Mouse on everything you see. They really do make it into a whole experience, they being the staff which leads me into my next point...

Disney staff are called Disney Cast Members, anything on Disney property which is accessible to the general public is 'Onstage' to Cast members which means they are part of the immersive experience, almost putting on a show for you. To achieve this, they have a great deal of training in 'Disney Service' (stay with me here), not just service you receive in any old retail shop, resort or entertainment venue - this is Disney service and cast members will go above and beyond to make your time with them memorable and enjoyable. Staying on site you get this 24/7 which is a great bonus.

Another perk of staying on site, would be the transport and proximity to the parks. Obviously staying on Disney property you are pretty close to the parks. You will still need to travel to them by bus, taxi, boat or skyliner (unless you are in one of the very few deluxe resorts which are within walking distance to the parks), but you are closer than any off site accommodation. The transport provided by Disney when you are on site is free, this includes boats, buses and the skyliner. Note that you do not have to be staying onsite to access this free service but if you are, you will get guaranteed buses to the parks right from your hotel which not all off site resorts will offer, potentially saving you a lot of money in taxis/transport.

Evening strolls round The Boardwalk Inn

Early park entry is something which has recently evolved since Extra Magic Hours ended during Covid19. Extra Magic Hours were hours in the morning or evening where the park would stay open purely for resort guests, this was great as lines were shorter and the park was quieter in general. Now each morning some of the Disney parks will open half an hour early to resort guests. This may not seem very long but if you get there just before this early entry and make the most of that half an hour it may make a huge difference to your day. For Deluxe resort guests, Disney are also extending park hours on some evenings for a couple of hours where only Deluxe guests will be allowed in the park.

A huge pro which was again from pre-Covid times was the Dining plan, this has not been ruled out by Disney and we still hope this may come back soon which is why I'm including this here. If the Disney Dining Plan returns to the hotels then this is a bit of a game changer as to whether staying on property is worth the price. I won't go into huge detail here but this allowed you in general 2 meals a day and some snacks as well - bare in mind here that American snacks and food around the parks is always in rather large portions! This would save a huge amount of $$$ if this came as part of your holiday price. On a similar note to this, we love a resort mug! You can buy a resort mug from your Disney hotel for around $20 and refill this unlimited times with soft drinks throughout your stay. Considering that a bottle of water at Disney is around $4 this is a great deal, however it is a resort only mug and cannot be refilled in the parks.


The Cons

Let's begin with the main one and the one which has veered us away from staying on site many times - the price! These hotels are very expensive and you really need to keep your eye out for a good deal if you want to stay on site. Weigh up your other options carefully - we will help you do this in the posts to come! We do Disney on a budget, we work normal 9-5 jobs and love going as often as we can so we take price very seriously to make sure what we book is reasonable for us.

Our Bucket List Resort, The Polynesian (if we can ever afford it!)

Another price related consideration is that if you are on Disney property things are generally more expensive; this includes restaurants and shopping. We found in the past venturing off site even when you are staying on site is a worth it for a cheaper meal.

If you're anything like us we love a balcony - especially Lou! Not many of the Disney resorts have balconies in their rooms, this is usually only the Deluxe resorts or private villas or the pricier rooms. If a coffee on the balcony is something you enjoy in the morning then bare in mind that this may not be something you will get with a Disney resort unless you want to spend more money. That isn't to say that there aren't nice places to sit outside however, just something to consider as it is a big consideration for us.

Back to the theming. Although this is completely incredible and immersive, some resorts may a bit too much for some - they can be very bright, bold and out there which is not for everyone and if you haven't got kids with you this may be something to look at.

The last point is the crowds in these resorts. Disney does a great job of spreading the resorts out and making open spaces for food and dining however some of these places can get very busy and very loud, much more so than an offsite resort. If slow and steady is your pace on holiday it may be worth weighing up your options as Disney resorts do tend to be more fast paced with lots going on.

Now, we know we have gone on a bit here and I'm sure there will be more to add to this at some point, but we felt these Pros and Cons are hugely important to think about whilst planning your holiday; they certainly were for us.

Thanks for reading this extra long post,

Cathy and Lou x