Hey everyone, it's Jacqueline for Pixie Dust PhD! When you're going to Walt
Disney World you absolutely don't have to stay at an on-property hotel, that is one
that's owned and operated by Disney. You can stay at an off-site hotel instead.
There are, however, a few drawbacks to doing that. So today let's go over the
differences between staying on-site and off-site during your Walt Disney World trip.
In my opinion the biggest difference between staying on-site and
off-site at Walt Disney World is the cost. You are often going to save
a ton of money if you choose to stay at an off-site hotel. For example, in my last
trip to Walt Disney World my party and I were comparing saying at a Value resort
on Walt Disney World property or a Disney Springs area hotel resort that is
technically off site. The All Star Value resorts were routinely over $140 a night,
and that was for two double beds. In contrast almost all the Disney Springs
areas hotels were much less than that per night, and guaranteed us two queen
beds. Additionally many of the off-site property hotels that are comparable in
price to Value resorts will feel more like a Moderate resort, so you're getting
nicer amenities for about the same cost as a lower level on property resort.
While Value resorts are the most cost efficient hotel[s] on Walt Disney World
property, they certainly aren't a steal. You're never gonna find them for sixty
or seventy dollars a night. The price of a room at a Value resort
varies; this of course tracks with occupancy, which also tracks with
season--so how high the crowds are at the parks. If you go at a lower season time
your hotel prices will likely also be lower. When you stay at an off property
resort though, you are giving up some of your perks. You really aren't in that
full immersive "Disney Bubble" anymore. For example, depending on where you're
staying you may not have free transportation to and from the parks.
Whereas at all Walt Disney World hotels you will have free transportation to and
from the theme parks. Furthermore if you're staying off-site you won't have access to
the Magical Express bus. This is that free transportation to and from MCO
Airport. Additionally you won't be provided Magic Bands for free. Of course,
you can purchase Magic Bands and link them to your My Disney Experience account, then use
those as your park tickets and entry to your FastPasses, but you won't be able
to charge things back to your hotel room with your Magic Band like you could if
you were staying on property. There are a few off-site hotels in the Disney Springs
area that are sort of a middle ground. You don't get all the benefits of
staying on site, but you do get some of them. You can check these out at
DisneySpringsHotels.com. For example, if you're saying at one of
these official Disney Springs Area hotels some of the perks you'll enjoy
are access to Extra Magic Hours, some free transportation to and from the
parks, your Fastpass window will be that 60 days in advance plus the first 10
days of your trip. In my opinion, these are some of the key perks of staying on
site at Walt Disney World, especially that 60-day FastPass window.
We talked about your eligible booking window in another video, so go ahead and
check that out if you have questions. Naturally, if you're staying off-site but not at
one of these official Disney Springs Area hotels, you won't get these
in-between perks. You won't have access to Extra Magic Hours, and you won't get
those critical booking windows for your FastPasses. If you're staying off-site
and you're planning on bringing your own car or renting a car and driving to the
parks you're going to have to pay for parking at the parks. Whether or not
you'll have to pay for parking at your hotel is up to the hotel's discretion,
and depending on your loyalty status that may or may not change. But you
definitely will have to pay for parking at the parks. If you're staying on
property at Walt Disney World and you have your car or a rental car and you're
driving to parks you do not have to pay for parking at the parks as a Walt
Disney World hotel guests. At an off-site hotel you won't be able to book a Magic
Your Way Package. This is a package offered to Walt Disney World hotel
guests where you can bundle your hotel room, your park tickets, as well as the
Disney Dining Plan. That means yes if you're staying off-site you won't be able
to access the Disney Dining Plan. Theming at offsite hotels of course varies, but
it's generally going to be much less Disney than at an on-site hotel. Now for
some people, that might be a perk. You may enjoy coming back to your hotel
and having a bit of a respite from the Disney overload. For others, especially
for families, it may take away from a bit of the magic of your experience. And
generally speaking off-site hotels are going to be further away from the action
than your on-site hotels. Disney was smart, of course, and uses the land
closest to their parks for their on-site properties. On the positive side of
staying off-site, if you have brand loyalty at a certain chain of hotels there
are a lot of great options nearby where you can earn points or redeem your points, And
depending on your status there may be extra perks like free breakfasts, or
waived resort fees, or waive parking fees at this off-site location. Notably, the
Swan hotel and the Dolphin hotel near EPCOT and Hollywood Studios are actually
Marriott hotels, so that's a very popular choice for folks with Marriott brand
loyalty. Another positive is that off-property locations are often a little
bit more flexible and can cater to your party's needs better. For example, if you
have a large party it may make sense for you just to rent a
vacation home instead of booking several rooms on-property. Many vacation rentals
also come with free access to a fully equipped kitchen and potentially free
laundry. These extra amenities may suit your party's need better than an on-
property hotel. On my last trip to Walt Disney World I went with three friends.
We ended up staying at the DoubleTree in Disney Springs. Now this is an official
Disney Springs Area Hotel, so we did get the extra perks like the extended Fast
Pass booking window, free transportation to the parks, and access to Extra Magic
Hours. Because I have brand loyalty with Hilton, including one of their premier
credit cards, I have a $250 resort credit that counted at this DoubleTree. Our
hotel stay was five nights. The total for this was around $1,100. When you subtract
out my $250 resort credit, and then divide the remainder by four people we
each only ended up paying around $215 for our
hotel accommodation. We were really happy with the DoubleTree as a nice middle
ground, especially because as for adults all of the rooms at DoubleTrees are
suites. So it was 540 square feet with a living
room and a separate bedroom that had two queen beds. We were tracking prices for
the Value resorts, including all the All Stars, and they all hovered around 170 to
210 dollars a night. This would have come out to about $250 per person, so not
significantly more by any means, but definitely more and it was a
consideration. The main factor for us though was the space. Having 540 square
feet was huge, and also two queen beds rather than potentially getting two
double beds. Now once the All Stars are done with
their refurbishment and everything will be two queen beds that will be less of a
concern. But it still is going to be two queen beds in a relatively small room, on
average you're talking about 260 square feet, which can start to feel a little
cramped over time. Having the space for all four of us to sprawl out was really
great after a long day at the parks. And after this five nights day I was
credited with 60,000 points to my Hilton account, which I can use for our next
Walt Disney World vacation. Another perk of brand loyalty, and especially with
Hilton, is there are sometimes deals when you book on points.
So at Hilton if you stay for five nights on points you only owe the amount of
four nights worth of points, essentially getting your fifth night free. While we
didn't do that this trip, it's definitely a valuable option. You could end up
staying six or seven nights at Walt Disney World and having five of those
covered by points that you've previously earned. This can be a huge cost savings
if you're able to pay for your hotel primarily with
points. Overall, off-property hotels really just lack a convenience that the
on-property hotels boast. You are not encapsulated in that "Disney Bubble".
The main attraction though is bang for your buck, and given how expensive a
vacation to Walt Disney World is this may be a serious consideration for you. I
thought that staying at a Disney Springs Area Hotel was a great compromise
between staying on-property and staying off-property. Yes, it is off-property but
you do enjoy some of the most crucial perks, in my opinion, such as access to
Extra Magic Hours and that extended FastPass booking window. You do still save a
significant amount of money though by staying off-site. Have you ever stayed
off property during your Walt Disney World vacation, and would you recommend
it to folks? Let people know in the comments down below. If you found this
discussion helpful, I hope you like the video and subscribe to the channel. Be
sure to ring the bell icon to get notifications whenever new videos are
posted. Let me know what you decide for your next Walt Disney World trip! Are you
going to stay on-site or off-site? Until then, see you real soon at Pixie Dust PhD!