Welcome back, panelists.
I'm so glad that you're back.
We have so much more to talk about, I think.
And you know what?
We've helped first timers with a lot of things so far.
We talked a lot about theme parks and dining.
Let's talk more about Disney Resort hotels.
Can you give us kind of an overview of what first timers can expect when booking that?
Awesome. So I love the Disney Resort hotels.
I love this topic. - Yes.
We always stay in a Disney Resort hotel because there are some great benefits.
Yes.
First of all, you have all the complimentary transportation
throughout the parks because Walt Disney World Resort is pretty big,
but from the resorts you have busses, monorails, boats,
even the Disney Skyliner that can take you to all four parks.
Disney Springs, which is a great shopping district down here.
They'll just take you anywhere and it's all free.
So that's amazing.
Also, you can book your dining early, which or not early,
but you can book your dining for longer if you're staying at a Disney Resort hotel.
You can also take advantage of Bell Services if you arrive
a little early and maybe your room isn’t ready, you can drop off all your luggage
and then go about your day, hit the park, go to the pool, whatever you'd like to do.
So lots of advantages to staying on property.
Oh, my goodness. I love that. I love the Bell Services tip.
That's a good one. That's a really good one.
What else can we expect when booking a resort hotel as a first timer?
So I'm excited to share with a lot of first time guests that one of my family
favorite perks of staying in a Disney Resort hotel is extra time in the parks.
Oh, yes. - Yes!
Every day
because if your stay at a Disney Resort hotel,
in the morning, there's early entry hours
and those are saved for Disney guests resorts.
And you can come into the park 30 minutes before a park opening.
And you'll be amazed at what you can experience in 30 extra minutes
of being here in the theme parks and getting those
attractions in and having the park here to yourselves.
- Checking them off.
Yep, absolutely.
So early theme park entry is great.
And then for guests who are staying in Deluxe Resort hotels,
or Deluxe Resort villas, on select nights throughout the year,
there's extra hours.
So a great perk of staying at Disney Resort hotels, - Oh, my gosh.
extra hours in the parks.
And who doesn’t love extra hours in the parks? - Yes.
Oh, my gosh. I think everybody would love that. - Yes.
Now, there’s something else that I feel like we're forgetting, a little
a little dazzle. - Yeah, a little bling.
So these are our MagicBands.
And MagicBands are kind of like the key to everything
when you're staying at a Walt Disney Resort vacation.
So first it can be used as your Disney Resort hotel key to your room.
You can also use it when getting PhotoPasses.
So when you're posing for photographs, you can just
tap your MagicBand to the PhotoPass and your photo is going to be downloaded
to your account. - So cool.
The same thing on attractions.
When you're done riding an attraction, you can touch your MagicBand
to the Mickey icon and your photo from the attraction is going to be downloaded.
I love that.
and I love that, - You can use it for charging privileges.
yes. - In the resort hotels,
during dining, when you're in the gift shops.
It's all right here. You don't have to carry your purse with you.
You don't have to carry your wallet with you.
It's all right on here. - Yep.
And I love that so much. - So many designs.
There's a design for everyone too, - Yes.
it’s so fun to pick them out
because there's all kinds of new designs all the time.
And one of the nice things about being a Disney Resort guest
is that there are some exclusive designs for Disney Resort guests online
and that you can also sometimes get those
at a discounted price - Yes.
being a Disney Resort guest.
That's so awesome. I love that
that's a little extra that they can get
if they stay at a resort hotel. - Yep.
Now, I know one of your favorite tips, Elaine, is to kind of like,
discover your resort hotel when you first arrive.
Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do
when you first arrive to your resort hotel? - Yes.
Yes, I like to, it's really fun,
especially if it's a new resort, which it will be for first time guests,
but kind of scout out
where the swimming pool is, scout out where the transportation options are
and what times they run. - Smart.
And you can ask, you know, at the desk
or you can just do it on your own and explore on your own.
But there's usually a lot of
free activities that go on, especially for children at the resorts.
You can see movies by the pool, or sometimes they'll do
campfires with s'mores.
And there is an activity board usually in the lobby,
or maybe near the pool, and my tip is to snap a photo of that
so that you have it on your phone at any given time, you can say,
oh what's going on at the resort? And take advantage of some of those fun activities.
And there's nothing like staying in the magic.
You don't have to leave - Yes.
the property when you’re staying in a Disney Resort hotel.
You're all day at the parks and then you come home and you're still in that Disney
bubble, yes. - You're immersed in the magic of Disney.
In the Disney story, you don't have to leave the story.
So that’s, I can't stress enough - Exactly.
I think that's a really great thing to do.
Stay at a Disney Resort hotel. - Absolutely.
And they really hit the mark with the theming
of every resort hotel, yes. - Absolutely.
One of my favorite aspects of Disney Resort hotels is that
they've really thought through a Disney Resort hotel
for every interest and every family and every guest and every budget.