Is Disney World’s On-Site Advantage Disappearing or Reappearing?!
For years, there were big benefits to staying at Walt Disney World owned resorts: free transportation, better line-skipping options, extra hours, and more that justified the higher cost. In this post, we’ll take a new look at how perks have changed and whether on-site hotels are still worth the premium pricing. (Updated September 17, 2023.)
I’ll preface this by saying that we have been advocates of staying in the Walt Disney World “bubble” and are definitely biased towards that. In our On-Site v. Off-Site at Walt Disney World article we attempt to be balanced, but concede that we’re drawn to being inside the Walt Disney World “bubble,” which offers advantages in terms of location, convenience, and the feeling of an all-encompassing vacation destination.
However, that started to change even pre-closure. We still love a lot of Walt Disney World hotels and do on-site stays, but no longer strongly recommend them for everyone. Accordingly, what we are going to do is ask and attempt to answer an important question: what if the selling points of staying on-site are no longer as valuable as conventional WDW planning wisdom suggests?
This is a question we originally posed a few years ago as Walt Disney World hotel prices began to soar and the advantages offered by on-site perks were less noteworthy. Since reopening, we’ve revisited this topic a couple of times for different reasons. That started with the end of Extra Magic Hours and free FastPass, as well as the suspension of the Disney Dining Plan.
For our Late 2023 update that looks forward to planning your 2024 Walt Disney World vacation, we’re revisiting this from a positive perspective. There have been a few positive developments last year and this year, and we’re also granting greater weight to various considerations that we previously glossed over. This has us asking ourselves: is Walt Disney World’s on-site advantage starting to reappear?
Let’s start with the Disney Dining Plan as that is finally returning in early 2024. For many planners, being able to purchase the Disney Dining Plan is very important from a budgeting and convenience perspective. While we’ve been skeptical of this for years, but it’s nevertheless true that guests find themselves surprised by food costs more than anything else at Walt Disney World (see the fascinating survey data about halfway down this article).
So the Disney Dining Plan reappearing is definitely a big plus for a lot of Walt Disney World guests who stay on-site. In our view, that probably overstates the degree to which this is an actual advantage. The reality is that the overwhelming majority guests will come out ahead from a budgeting or convenience perspective by pre-purchasing discount Disney gift cards and using those to pay-as-they-go for food.
Even in the past, the Disney Dining Plan offered the illusion of convenience and budgeting. That’ll be doubly true with the 2024 Disney Dining Plan due to price increases–unless you have more than 2 children or do the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan. Of course, there are exceptions to this–families of big carnivores or those willing to “hack” the Disney Dining Plan did come out ahead. But for the most part, the house always wins. We look forward to the Disney Dining Plan returning, but it wasn’t the benefit that some cracked it up to be.
There’s also the Genie+ line-skipping system, which replaced the free FastPass ride reservation program. (See our Guide to Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World for full details, recommendations, and everything you need to know for making most of that line-skipping system.)
There are two components to this: Genie+ Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes. The latter offers on-site guests the “benefit” of being able to purchase Individual Lightning Lane access at 7 am instead of park opening time, which is when everyone else can buy access. Certain Individual Lightning Lanes do sell out prior to park opening time, so that window is beneficial for headliner attractions–but even that is seasonal. If you’re visiting during busy holiday travel dates, it matters. If you’re going in May or September, not so much.
It would be beneficial if on-site guests could book Genie+ ride selections early, but that is not how this works. Everyone is able to book Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations starting at 7 am. That could always change down the road, but for now, that’s how the system works.
There’s no sugar-coating this one. Losing free FastPass+ was a colossal blow to all visitors of Walt Disney World, but especially on-site guests. One of the very best on-site advantages at Walt Disney World was the expanded FastPass+ booking window; that was a significant headstart and allowed on-site guests to scoop up most of the best ride reservations before their trip.
However, that could change once again in 2024, with another much more significant shift in the off-site vs. on-site calculus as advance ride reservations are coming to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World in 2024. As compared to the return of the Disney Dining Plan, this has flown relatively under the radar, but we view this as a much bigger deal.
The reason advance booking of Genie+ Lightning Lanes has been “under-discussed” is because Walt Disney World hasn’t really said anything aside from “it’s happening.” There are absolutely no details about how it’ll work, whether it’ll cost more, or even if there will be an on-site advantage to Genie+ advance booking.
We’ve heard a range of rumors over the last few months, and honestly, none of those have done anything to reassure us. It sounds like this was a mandate from on high in response to negative guest feedback, and the announcement came before the details were worked out. If what we’ve heard is accurate, some specifics are still up in the air. (Suffice to say, you shouldn’t be surprised if Genie+ advance booking does not launch right away in January 2024.)
One thing that does seem reasonably likely is that there will be an on-site advantage with advance booking of Lightning Lanes. For one thing, because there was in the past with FastPass+ and what we’ve heard suggests this will replicate some of that system (except costing money). For another thing, because hotel occupancy is starting to decrease, so restoring this perk–even at a cost–would help resolve that. So consider this one a tentative on-site advantage that’ll arrive at some point in 2024.
Next, let’s turn to Walt Disney World’s two replacements for Extra Magic Hours: Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours. Early Theme Park Entry allows all on-site resort guests and those staying at select third party hotels to enjoy 30-minute access to any Walt Disney World theme park, every day before normal operating hours begin.
Early Entry means that Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (for example) open daily at 8:30 am and 8 am, respectively, to resort guests, and 30 minutes later to off-site guests. The logical criticism here is that morning Extra Magic Hours was an hour long, so this is half the time, and thus, half as good.
We have done Early Entry over one-dozen times (literally), and that has not been our experience at 3 of the 4 parks. Crucially, Extra Magic Hours occurred on select days of the week and only at one park on each occasion. This mean consolidating all on-site guests at a single park. Early Entry occurs daily at all 4 parks, and better spreads out the crowd as a result.
In practice, we’ve found Early Entry to be far less busy than EMH. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom, it essentially offers a 2-3 ride headstart for on-site guests and is actually a pretty significant. (Most days, it is not as good at Magic Kingdom.)
We’ve used Early Entry to accomplish both Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash at DHS, all three headliners at EPCOT, and pretty much everything in Animal Kingdom. Early Entry is a huge perk, and it’s doubly beneficial to be able to use it every single day at whichever park you want. Do not underestimate its value and skip Early Entry because it’s “only” 30 minutes. (In case you can’t tell, we are huge fans of Early Entry–it’s bigger than many fans think.) Learn more strategy in our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World.
Next, there’s Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This benefit is exclusively for guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas (Disney Vacation Club units), or other select hotels (currently Swan & Dolphin and Shades of Green). Guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are not eligible for Extended Evening Hours.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours occur only two nights per week in total–typically Mondays at Epcot and Wednesdays at Magic Kingdom. This runs for two hours each night, but this is only a perk for those who book more expensive hotels (or the Swan & Dolphin, which are often priced on par with Value or Moderate Resorts). This makes Extended Evening Hours a double-edged sword, with its quality hinging on resort status.
For those who are eligible, Extended Evening Hours is huge. Crowds are virtually non-existent, as are lines for most attractions. It’s way better than Evening Extra Magic Hours, which had become overcrowded due to expanded eligibility during its last few years. (In fact, the crowds during Evening EMH are one of the reasons we first wrote this post, in the first place–Evening EMH had become almost useless due to overcrowding.)
Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of Value and Moderate Resort guests who, as noted above, cannot take advantage of Extended Evening Hours. So if you’re a Deluxe or DVC guest, this perk is fantastic. If you’re staying at a Moderate or below, it’s awful/nonexistent. See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for more rules, eligibility, strategy, etc.
Two of the most recent changes concern transportation. At the beginning of last year, the Disney’s Magical Express airport shuttle service ended. Now, visitors arriving to Orlando International Airport will need to rent a car, use Uber/Lyft, or arrange for an alternative shuttle service in order to get to their resort. This was a huge loss for many Walt Disney World visitors.
Disney’s Magical Express’ closest paid replacement is Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine. See our Guide to Airport Transportation for Walt Disney World for other options. There’s no one-size-fits-all perfect solution; it depends on your party size, budget, and other factors.
We’ve used Mears Connect many times, and have found it to be virtually identical to Disney’s Magical Express in speed, quality, and service. The biggest downside is that there’s a fee, and that since these are third parties, there’s not always seamless integration between the resorts and the shuttles in the event that an issue arises. (Some fans will cite the lack of luggage handling, but that disappeared from DME prior to this, so it’s hard to tie that to this particular change.)
At the start of this year, Walt Disney World brought back free overnight self-parking to guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels. Complimentary parking was an on-site perk until a few years ago, and it was another prompt for this post in the first place.
We hated the charge for parking, and thought it was a bad decision that diminished the differentiation between Disney and its real-world counterparts. We were not alone. At the time, the introduction of the parking fee was the most controversial change we had ever seen made by Walt Disney World.
Not only did our post garner over 300 angry comments, but Walt Disney World got hit hard by negative reviews on crowdsourced travel sites like TripAdvisor and Google. I had never seen fans so mad–although backlash to the subsequent elimination of free FastPass and Disney’s Magical Express did exceed that response.
In addition to this, Walt Disney World resort hotel guests also continue to receive complimentary standard parking at Walt Disney World theme parks, which is another plus. In tandem, these two things take some of the sting out of the elimination of Disney’s Magical Express–at least for the guests who opt to rent a car while staying on-site. (That number will only grow, as Universal Orlando continues to expand and turn itself into an equally-compelling theme park destination.)
Sticking with the topic of transportation, this is another on-site advantage offered by Walt Disney World…and one that has arguably improved by quite a bit. Let’s start with the neutral components: the monorails and boats are more or less the same.
Given that the monorails continue to age and one boat route has been cut, the argument could be made that these have gotten slightly worse. Anecdotally, I’m not sure I agree–monorail maintenance has decreased downtime and the one boat route is used by a small minority of guests. Speaking of things used by a small minority of guests, we are fans of the Grand Floridian walkway to Magic Kingdom–our favorite form of transportation is “feet” and we wish Walt Disney World made itself more walkable. (Which would ease the burden on existing transportation.)
As a whole, we view Walt Disney World transportation as better today than it was 5 years ago. The big thing here is the Skyliner, which we view as the best transportation option at Walt Disney World. When there is a line, it’s constantly moving and usually a short wait. Since the opening couple of months, the Skyliner gondola system has been incredibly reliable.
We’re huge fans and strongly favor the Skyliner resorts now. It’s especially a game-changer for Pop Century; given all of the perks and transportation advantages of that one resort, we can easily justify the premium pricing there.
Also helping with past transportation woes is bus wait times, which show up both on digital boards at the bus stops and in the My Disney Experience app. There’s still room for improvement here, and there have been hotel stays when we’ve noticed overcrowded and inconsistent bus service. (In particular, Coronado Springs is a big offender.)
Walt Disney World has also addressed its bus driver shortage, which actually predated the closure, by bringing in a third party to assist with routes. All things considered, we’ve been more pleased by bus service and found it to be more efficient last year and in 2023 than it was in 2017-2019. With that said, few things are as hit-or-miss as WDW bus service. Someone could have a superlative experience, and someone else an awful one–despite staying at the same resort during the same dates–simply by virtue of luck and timing.
I won’t include Minnie Vans as a transportation “improvement” since there’s a pricey surcharge for those, and we don’t generally recommend them. Plus, if you’re willing to use Disney’s Minnie Vans, you might as well be willing to use Lyft or Uber, which have become ubiquitous in Central Florida. The ease of Lyft and Uber is definitely an improvement for guests, but it’s neither here nor there from an “advantage” perspective since it isn’t a change made by Disney.
Turning back to dining, there is an on-site advantage when it comes to booking Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). Currently, everyone can book table service restaurants 60 days prior to the date on which they’d like to eat. In addition, Walt Disney World resort hotel guests can make Advance Dining Reservations for their length of stay (up to a 10-day stay) up to 60 days in advance of their check-in date.
As discussed in our Top 10 Tips for Booking Difficult Advance Dining Reservations, this “60+10” window can be incredibly advantageous for popular table service restaurants or larger parties, especially during busier travel dates. If character dining or highly themed restaurants are important to you, this is huge. Even at the 60 day mark, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Topolino’s Terrace, ‘Ohana, and others can be scarce.
The good news is that ADRs have gotten easier over the course of this year, to the point that the 60+10 window is not really necessary for most parties or travel dates. (We’ve done very well 1-2 days ahead of time throughout 2023, but we’re also a party of 2 and are flexible.) The bad news is that the return of the Disney Dining Plan means ADRs will almost certainly become much more competitive in 2024, making this a bona fide on-site advantage once more.
We view dining as a big component of the Walt Disney World experience, so this is a big deal to us. However, it doesn’t matter to everyone, so your mileage may vary. Also, there are tricks (see that tips post) for scoring last minute availability–but they don’t work as well as booking during the 60+10 window.
Then there’s the biggest consideration, which is cost. This has always been the primary selling point for staying off-site. It’s worth reiterating here because the cost difference between off-site and on-site accommodations has become much more pronounced in the last few years.
As discussed in How Much Does a Walt Disney World Vacation Cost in 2023?, the average total price of a trip this year versus a comparable vacation in 2019 is up by thousands of dollars. On a positive note, that has already improved since publication, as over a dozen different discounts have been released for 2023 and 2024.
As a result of the special offers–which include room discounts of up to 35% off and free dining gift cards of up to $200 per night–the effective price of accommodations at Walt Disney World is actually down considerably in 2023. That’s because many of the same dates in 2021-2022 had no discounts whatsoever for the general public. As pent-up demand continues to exhaust itself, we anticipate even better deals in 2024 as compared to this year.
In other words, this one comes down to your frame of reference. If you visited in 2019 or earlier, a 2024 Walt Disney World vacation is still going to cost a lot more and you’re going to get less. However, the same is true pretty of much everything and everywhere–inflation, shrinkflation, and skimpflation have hit American consumers hard. By contrast, if you visited Walt Disney World in the last two years and are planning a trip in 2024, things are starting to look much better. As with so much, it’s all relative!
If you can afford on-site hotels at Walt Disney World, it’s definitely still nice to stay in a resort with an immersive design, attention to details, and various Disney touches. It’s also nice to be able to walk to the parks, or be part of the Disney bubble.
For many people, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of this. There’s a certain x-factor that the Disney resorts offer that elevates the overall experience into something more special. This is true for us, and even with all of the complaints here, we still prefer staying on-site in Disney-owned properties.
To their credit, Walt Disney World’s resorts are still meticulously themed, with a ton of charm, detail, and transportive environments you mostly won’t find off-site. This has long been a big selling point, as your resort stay feels like an extension of the theme parks.
This applies mostly to the exterior grounds and interior common areas. With certain recent room refurbishments, the sense of theme inside Walt Disney World’s hotel rooms has been diminished. We’ve been highly critical of this because themed environments are what defines Disney, and are in the wheelhouse of Imagineers.
Many of the new rooms seem to be striving more towards crowd-pleasing styles, with generic modern designs, clean and crisp aesthetics, and generally elegant luxury (the last one only applies to Deluxe Resorts). In general, the rooms are less fun and have traded unique and colorful designs for more bland and basic ones.
On a positive note, Disney seems to be turning the corner on this. The new rooms at the Grand Floridian are an unequivocal upgrade over their predecessor in both theme and luxury, and just one recent example of a shift in this regard. It would seem that the worst of this occurred between 2016 and 2019, with the rooms in the last 2-3 years striking the balance much better. Hopefully this is the start of a positive trend and shifts into the ‘on-site advantage’ column over time.
The problem with the previous move towards modern and nondescript rooms is that Disney went from a realm with almost no real competition (ornately themed designs) to placing itself in direct competition with real-world hotel brands by mimicking their style.
This not only makes for an easier head-to-head comparison in terms of guest rooms, but it’s also a comparison that’s often not favorable to Disney. I love a lot of things about Walt Disney World, but do not view it as one of the world’s great operators of hotels.
Actual luxury hoteliers such as Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, Waldorf Astoria, and Four Seasons have high end properties near Walt Disney World, and they generally surpass even Walt Disney World’s flagship hotel on a luxury front. It’s arguable that even the Marriott, Hilton, and Wyndham hotels give Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World a run for their money–and those are often priced below Moderate levels!
When it comes to alternatives to staying on-site, we think that the real sweet spot is on-site third party hotels 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 these have locations that are as good or better than Disney-owned and operated hotels, and are less expensive. Many also offer the same perks as Disney hotels. Swan & Dolphin, for example, offer Extended Evening Hours whereas Disney Value and Moderate Resorts won’t have access to those.
You also might consider renting a vacation home, both for the sake of privacy and isolation. (See our Best Vacation Home Rentals Near Walt Disney World.) These are especially great for larger parties, and you can literally rent an entire house for the cost of a mid-tier Walt Disney World hotel room. Some of these contain themed kids rooms, in-home theaters, game rooms, private pools, plus everything else you’d expect from a house.
Another great option right now is staying at Universal Orlando, which still does offer most of its on-site advantages and its own sense of immersion and being inside of a “Universal bubble” (albeit to a lesser extent).
If you want to go all-out with Universal’s nicest hotels that are in walking distance of the parks and include unlimited line-skipping at attractions via Express Pass, see our Hard Rock Hotel Review and Portofino Bay Hotel Review. Even though these are Universal Orlando’s more expensive hotels, they’re still priced about on par with Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World.
Our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews covers the pros & cons of all those resorts, many of which we love for their locations, theme, on-site perks, and value for money. Additionally, refer to Universal Orlando v. Walt Disney World Resorts for a comparison between Disney’s and Universal’s hotels to see what each does better.
Ultimately, that describes our dilemma with accommodations at and around Walt Disney World. The rational side of my mind knows that staying off-site provides significantly better value for money and that the some of the perks we receive from Walt Disney World hotels aren’t as valuable as they once were.
We do now have a lower price ceiling for most Walt Disney World resorts (except Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, and All Star Movies, which are all a bit higher for us now), which can be a challenge given that room rates have been increasing. However, there are still ways to find good discounts, and failing that we can either use or rent DVC points or look at the on-site third party options like Swan & Dolphin, Disney Springs, and Bonnet Creek.
There’s also Universal Orlando, and we absolutely love several of those hotels. Universal can hold its own with many of Walt Disney World’s hotels from a thematic perspective, and many of the amenities at Universal are actually superior to Disney. Plus, the perks of staying on-site are far superior and nightly room rates are far lower.
Beyond that, there’s a burgeoning vacation home rental industry, cheap Airbnbs, and robust slate of new off-site hotels near the parks. We should be further investigating all of that, as some great deals abound. The Central Florida accommodations market is incredibly competitive outside the Disney bubble, and that’s reflected in pricing and amenities.
With all of that said, there’s the emotional side. We have nostalgic attachments to certain resorts at Walt Disney World, and enjoy their lush grounds, dining, and amenities. We love being able to stay late in the parks, even if they’re crowded and all we’re doing is wandering around. We enjoy the seamless experience of going from the parks to our resort, feeling a temporary reprieve from the real world.
It’s difficult to put a price on all of that. While we “value” it below the cost difference between comparable third party hotels, we often jump through hoops to find ways to justify staying at Walt Disney World hotels. I’m not suggesting this is the right (or wrong) approach. I know part of this is Disney’s emotional power, and we fall for it hook, line, and sinker a lot. I’m not making a judgment either way–it simply is what it is. However, we find it happening less and less with Walt Disney World continuing to raise prices and cut offerings–that makes staying off-site a much easier decision!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think…are the perks of staying on-site as valuable to you as they once were, or are you getting less value for your money staying at Walt Disney World hotels? Will you continue to stay on-site despite this all? Have you already moved off-site? Other thoughts on this? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
The parking cost is ridiculous. Those with a car are not using the free airport shuttle or taking up room on the Disney transportation, they should be giving us a big discount not charging us more!! It’s so maddening! And I agree the the advantage of offsite hotels is growing and growing, we stay offsite more now than ever before.
thanks to crazy-cheap airfare my daughter and i made a pair of 2-night stays last year and stayed on site both times. traveling alone with a 4-year old makes me value (probably overvalue) the convenience of staying on-site, especially magical express.
I personally will not take a family vacation at a hotel with full-size beds (versus queen). I am surprised All Stars still has them. It’s crazy. If I am on vacation, I want to share a bed with my wife! Comfortably! Surely everyone does?
But we also have a child who, until just now, needed a full child seat which made uber and lyft more difficult (not impossible – but you have to order the right uber car and wait for it). And, making rideshare nearly impossible, we also need to travel with a full electric scooter, which takes up a lot of space even though it does come apart a bit.
Our preferred strategy is to simply drive to Disney and pay to park at the parks each day, rather than renting a car or using rideshare. But I think for unencumbered adults, rideshare is the best option.
The only real on-site advantage for us is the ability to charge via MagicBand to the room. It prevents us from having to carry a wallet around, which means no bag for the regular parks (faster security), no need for locker rental at the waterparks, and makes it easy to graze around Epcot’s festivals without fishing around for a wallet! That to me is the beauty of the MagicBand and I was surprised when Aulani hadn’t adopted it yet as it would have been a real benefit there to not have to carry the room key around, especially when swimming in the oceans/pools around the resort. Having said that, we typically stay offsite and just carry a credit card around, hoping we don’t lose it!
That’s a really good point! I love using the magic band as my wallet! Although…there was the time it fell off on a ride, and the time I needed a quarter…
I found Disneyland to be just as easy without the magicband last week. Tickets and fastpasses were loaded into the app. You just scan your phone, which – let’s face it – everyone already has in hand. Parks on both coasts allow you to pay with “contactless” (RDIF enabled) credit card. While you do have to pull the card out, it’s just one tap, no pin entry, to pay.
We’ve become rather disillusioned with Disney hotels. We visit three or four times a year, and the added costs to stay on site just aren’t worth it. We typically use the room to sleep and shower, and spend the rest of the time in the parks or otherwise running around. We own several weeks in the Sheraton Vistana system, and have points we can use in their hotels (Marriott) or even pay cash, and get better rooms or villas for a fraction of the Disney cost. Going forward, we might stay on site once a year, probably in December, but otherwise off site is just as good for us.
Hello—have you ever evaluated Shades of Green, the military hotel? We enjoyed our stay there and will be returning soon.
Thank you,
Eileen Sullivan
We just returned from a week-long stay at Disney World, Old Key West Resort. Our rooms were nice and very clean. The problem was that the buses are unreliable and do not follow the times on the screen posted in the waiting stop area. One day we waited 50 minutes for a bus and missed one of our fast pass times. We were able to go to City Hall at Magic Kingdom and they granted us our missed fast passes for our group of 8. Also note that the busses were also late to Disney Springs and we waited over 45 minutes for one bus. It finally came, only after I complained to the cast member there. The buses are one of the important perks of staying on site, and Disney needs to work on the timing and reliability.
We are at DW now and bus service seems to have worsened considerably since our last visit 1 year ago. Just waited an hour for our bus from HS to AK Kidani. I have noticed that the buses are not “running like clockwork” as they used to.
While we love Disney they suffer from the same issues society does. They are attempting to make equality the norm and in turn, puts everyone in the same boat with not really anyone benefiting. The main issue we have is the changes adversely affect our family because we have a child and other family members with disabilities we travel with (disabled Vet and Down Syndrome). The newer rides which they want to ride put us in the same boat as anyone else. We cannot get up that early and hurry everyone to the gate just to pick up ride passes or we’re screwed? When I called Disney they said we can get put on a list when we arrive at guest services because of our disability circumstances but if the list is full we are screwed. So Disney expects us to act as if we have normal people in our party for specific rides otherwise we won’t be able to experience them? We go to Disney because of the experience, however, lately, it’s becoming less and less fun because of the restrictions rather than the perks we get. It’s sort like the famous saying those who want equality over liberty will have neither.
It’s safety, not equality, that’s in that quote
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
Question! I will be booking fast passes next month for my trip in May. We are considering going to Hollywood Studios on a day that they have extra magic hours in the morning. You mention that Rise of the Resistance does not operate during the extra magic hours, but if we are there early are we able to get a boarding pass for it? Or I guess we will be there and once the time changes we are already in the park and will be ahead of the game to get a boarding pass? That’s assuming they still do boarding passes when we go at the end of May and it hasn’t switched to fast pass.
Thank you!
If they’re still doing boarding groups in May, which they probably will be, I’d expect them to do EMH in the evening – they’ve been switching it a couple months at a time, so right now, through March is evening. That’s to allow everyone the ability to be in the park at official opening, when they allow boarding groups to be claimed.
It would be interesting if they did do the EMH in the morning and still did BG’s. Offsite guests wouldn’t be able to enter HS until official park opening, so that would actually be an onsite guest advantage, but I really wouldn’t count on it right now. We’re going in May as well, but I didn’t schedule HS for the Sunday EMH day.
Hi – I think this sums up exactly how I’ve been feeling the last couple years. Itfeels like they really want to push people to those ticketed events, as you said, but also DVC. Overcrowded parks, hard-to-get FPs – all that is reducing my enjoyment level. I also have a Disney Visa and feel like the perks do not create enough separation with other cards, and I thought the Q1 discount was lousy. I don’t know how pass holders feel, but I just feel as though Disney isn’t doing enough to make people who embrace staying on-site or are regulars users of their products special enough. My upcoming 5-day trip cost more than the 8-day trip did a couple years ago at comparable resorts. I hate the idea of not having the on-site transportation option, but for the cost and quality of off-site lodging, the added cost of a ride share is a penny in the bucket next to an overall on-site stay.
Honestly, I would encourage you to start staying off site. For all the warm fuzzies Disney gives people they are a business and as long as their hotels are full at the current prices, they aren’t likely to change course. If their hotels start having more unfilled inventory, they will either lower prices or increase benefits (or maybe both!) to lure people back.
Totally agree. We have been to Disney 70+ times. This amount of loyalty buys us free weeks with Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt Loyalty is not rewarded at Disney unless you use your Disney Visa. Even the, my Hyatt and American Express Cards warm more more perks then Disney does. I don’t know about you, but if I am paying $600 plus at a hotel I do not expect to walk in the rain to have dinner. Even Disney’s flagship Deluxe hotels are not what I call full service.
We are considering an off-site stay this year just to save a little money on a quick trip. We have multiple stays both on and off-site and there are definitely pros and cons to each. This would be our first off-site stay with a little one. I am having trouble finding solid answers about Lyft/Uber and car seats. Does anyone know if you can request a Lyft/Uber with a car seat in the WDW surrounding areas? I know Minnie vans provide car seats, but they do not service outside WDW properties from what I understand.
Yes we traveled via Uber/Lyft a couple of years ago and were able to request a car with a car seat (and it was readily available Early in the morning). I wouldn’t count on being able to find a ride share with multiple car seats, however. We brought an inflatable booster seat for our oldest and then used the car seat included with the requested ride share for our youngest (and it worked out great for us).
Hello we stayed off site (Disney Springs) and my grand daughter needed a car seat. There is a place when requesting a car on the Uber app where you can request a car seat. I’m not sure if it is mandatory. They charge extra for a car seat ride 🙁 We stay at the grand cypress who has a coach bus as their shuttle to the ticket and transportation center. 🙂
Hello we stayed off site (Disney Springs) and my grand daughter needed a car seat. There is a place when requesting a car on the Uber app where you can request a car seat. I’m not sure if it is mandatory. They charge extra for a car seat ride 🙁
We stayed off-site for the first time in 2018 and wouldn’t do it again, mostly because driving a car (my own or rental) and parking in a giant parking lot totally pops the bubble for me. That said we loved the flexibility and timeliness of having our own car. Thankfully we hit on the perfect balance for us during our two trips last fall. We made good use of Uber/Lyft. Any rope drop or end of day trips were 100% on Uber/Lyft. Not having to wait for a bus was easily worth the additional $10-$15 for the trip, especially at the early morning or post-fireworks times.
I agree with everything you’ve pointed out about third party hotels but I am a sucker for the themed properties. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge the last 2 times and will be staying at Wilderness Lodge in the first half of December for our honeymoon. I can’t get past the Christmas decor and little Easter eggs hidden in wood carvings, carpet print and halls. I will be considering which transport option to take for rope drop since the boat only goes to Magic Kingdom,
Any word on extra extra magic hours happening again ?
my guess is highly unlikely. i think disney jumped the gun on those and probably regrets doing them.
There are still extra magic hours according to Disney’s website.
Terrific article. We usually stay at an Epcot Resort. I agree that resort theming has pretty much disappeared with newer resort renovations. But there is a lot to like too. Many of the new renovations are very, very user-friendly. The convenience of walking to Epcot and/or MGM or taking the Skyliner weighs heavy in our decision. I think that FP+ disparities will disappear a bit with the coming pay to play Fastpass system. I know it hasn’t been announced, but the writing is on the wall. EMH both am and pm have become such a zoo, we purposely stay away from them. We just don’t see the advantage anymore. One item I would love to see changed is transportation to and from the Springs from just about any of the Disney resorts. It seems to take forever!!! We are also seeing fewer advantages of room booking as an Annual Pass member. I can remember when you could rely on an AP room discount. Not anymore. There are lots of gaps in availability. And while AP room discounts end 7/9, a 25% general room discount is available until 9/12.. Go figure. Also, we recently tried to cut the last day off of an AP room reservation for this coming summer. Just wanted to shorten it by one day. Seems easy enough, but Disney wanted to make us redo the entire reservation at a higher price point saying the room we wanted was taken… it fell on deaf ears when I tried to bring forth the case that “I” had that room and just wanted to shorten the length of the vacation. Fortunately for me, I found the length and price and room by starting the entire stay one day past my original arrival. “I” found that by searching MDE. The CM on the phone never even offered to check. Anyway, it all worked out and I canceled the entire original stay. One last issue is the parking charge. Really Disney!!!!
glad i’m not alone in seeing the pay fastpass system on the horizon. my gut tells me it’s going to somehow be incorporated into that Genie app they announced. they can see a slice of the pie they aren’t getting with people willing to subscribe to things like touringplans, and they want in. my guess? Genie is not a free service, or for free you get a basic app that does nothing, but the more you’re willing to pay, the more available to you. probably tiered fastpasses and the like (the higher your subscription, the more guaranteed fastpasses to popular attractions). it will all but ensure fastpasses for free will be all but worthless. i’d rather they do a maxpass in florida but i have a feeling that Genie app is going to play into things heavily, and not for free. do i like it? no, but i can see where this is headed.
This! I think it is insane that you can’t just remove one day from a room you have already reserved. What do you mean that you don’t have it? Where did it go? It was mine! It still is mine! This is the no common sense, just trying to screw you out of more money crap that is turning me away from my love of Disney.
For what it’s worth, this is becoming a common practice for hotels across the country, not just at Disney. Silly dynamic hotel pricing!
Looks like the 7am start time at Hollywood studios is ending today? This will make it harder to squeeze in a few rides before Epcot rope drop.
While there is no question that staying on site is “Magical”, the lure of “Magic” isn’t what it used to be. The dollars have become the driving points of any decisions made by Disney, and yes, it shows in the cleanliness of the parks and resorts. Years ago, it was spotless grounds, clean restrooms, and magic everywhere. Restrooms are filthy at times and you can spot waste in the bushes at times. On our last trip from 1- 19 to 1-25, my wife and I watched countless cast members walk by bottles and paper in bushes. The refuse was there for 5 days before it was removed. I get the job descrpitions and union participation, but as employees everyone is on the same team. And yes, we do pick up here and there. Overall, the stays on property are great even for the fewer and fewer benefits. In the future we may consider an off property stay. Adding more hotels isn’t good for anyone, especially those who have been loyal for so long.
Wow, and it goes to 9am in March.
Is FP+ coming to RotR???
Great points.
I didn’t realize the extent to which they now have “expanded” on-site benefits to lots of Disney Springs hotels. It really makes true on-site left appealing.
But I will comment on one advantage, you didn’t really mention explicitly. Of course, it only applies to a few deluxe hotels.
Yes, lyft/uber evens out the transportation playing field compared to buses.
But you still can’t beat walking (Epcot resorts, Contemporary, and soon Grand Floridian), and monorail (including viewing Magic Kingdom fireworks from your resort).
Watching fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian and then returning right to your room…
Enjoying food and wine at the World Showcase, and then a 5 minute casual stroll to the Beach Club..
Waking up extra early to take a 12 minute walk from the Boardwalk to DHS for that boarding pass, not relying on waiting for any transportation..
Except for Swan/Dolphin, no other off-site can really offer any of that.
Of course, none of the value/moderate really offers any of that either. And several deluxe don’t even offer that advantage.
Oh, I totally agree with you. Any hotel that offers non-bus transportation has a huge advantage in my book (and I sort of suggested as much with the Skyliner comments).
It’s sort of hard to properly tackle that in an article like this one since so many official Disney resorts don’t have this advantage, and then the Swan & Dolphin Resorts do.
The ability to walk to Hollywood Studios and Epcot was a big reason for us choosing Disney Yacht Club Resort this time. As last time we stayed in Animal Kingdom Lodge in 2017 which was a great Hotel and great for getting to Animal Kingdom i liked the fact that when going from there all the parks were direct stops no stopping at other hotels. Although hopefully if i need to go to Magic Kingdom for breakfast early before park officially open i will use monorail or if needed get a Uber or Lyft. what times do the monorail start are they useable to get you to magic kingdom for park opening?
I agree with everything you’ve written. I’m especially dismayed by the way rooms have become more generic in their decor. I remember the first times I stayed in the Alligator Bayou rooms in POR and in the Wilderness Lodge in the 90s and how enchanted and transported I felt by the rooms’ whimsy. I also dislike the degrading mousekeeping and Customer Service. I try to overlook things on vacation. But seeing copious mold in the bathroom at OKW, toothpaste smeared in the tub area at POR, years of dust and dander impregnated in the wicker bathroom mirror frame at AKL, etc….it makes me wonder why I bother. I remember when all of WDW was spotlessly clean in both the parks and rooms. That is no longer the case. I recently ate in the POR QS area and every table wobbled. I also saw trash in the waterways for several days…something that would have been unthinkable in years past.
Disney and WDW make copious amounts of cash. There should be no reason enough quality staff cannot be hired to remedy this. They keep raising costs to control crowds and people just keep coming and paying.
1. The PARKING costs add-ons are a huge, enormous disincentive to staying onsite. NOTHING was added except the cost. You still park on the same, flat, hot parking lot. We pay more for nothing.
2. Just stayed at Coronado Springs (Jan 30th). I know Tom says the rooms are nice…but the Gran Destino lobby area has all the charm of a shopping center during a refugee crises. We waited 30 minutes for check-in in a line that stretched all the way past the front doors. (And this happened to us 2 months ago as well, so it’s not unusual). Large groups of people were standing all over the place – families trying to find each other slouched across every couch. High school teams sitting in circles on the floor. I got a headache from the noise bouncing off the loud surfaces, and the glaring light fixtures on the wall. That lobby is a badly designed mess. The check-in at El Centro was 100% better, and more set off from the crowd.
When we finally got to the counter, the front desk person said we were “upgraded” to a room in the Gran Destino. Having developing a splitting headache from the noise and confusion, I asked to be downgraded to a regular room where I could park my car close to the room and not have to go back outside, move my car farther away, and then come back into the miserable lobby. The room change took forever.
I know Tom says the rooms are amazing, but I prefer being able to get in and out of the room easily over being trapped in a high-rise tower with no balcony and having to ride crowded elevators.
Check-in took over an hour. We skipped dinner and went to bed. Room in the casitas was great – quiet and comfortable. The Gran Destino lobby is sensory overkill.
Also – the front desk employee’s outfits look like pajamas. I don’t care – but it’s an odd choice for such an overly intense spot.
1. Agreed.
2. I’ve never experienced the long check-in line firsthand (and have been to Gran Destino several times), but have heard this complaint from enough people to know it’s a regular thing.
As for the Gran Destino rooms, I’m definitely not a huge fan. They’re bland, oddly utilize space, and don’t have a balcony. I think conventioneers looking for a low-key room might like them, but they’re not to my tastes. (Maybe you’re thinking of Riviera?)
I’ll agree that there’s a lot going on with the Gran Destino lobby, but I still generally like it. For a Vegas-style tower hotel, I think it works.
I’m surprised you agreed with 1, Tom.
If you stay onsite With a car, you pay resort parking fee of 15-25/night and that includes parking at the theme parks.
If you stay offsite, you pay 25 to any theme park/day. Therefore the perk for onsite guests in value/moderate hotels is still there.
But the real value comes in not having a car. You can use Disney transportation for free your entire trip when you stay onsite. Staying offsite requires a rental or uber/Lyft everywhere. Your rental car will need parking pass at the theme parks.
Still seems as though onsite carries the advantage, even if its less than before.
Great article – this on-site vs. off-site decision is always the hardest one I make. I love being in the Disney bubble, but the paper-thin walls, long walks from the rooms to transportation,and mostly the bus experience (both the long waits, and how people behave in them) has been the big deterrents for me. The two on-site benefits that I really miss is the ability to use your magic band for purchases, and to have park purchases sent back to your hotel so you don’t have to carry anything. These are also two benefits that the Disney Springs resort hotels also don’t provide.
Question for Tom and the broader group: Do you know if WDW’s equipment accepts “contactless“ credit cards? I didn’t have any during my last trip in August 2018, but all my cards have been updated this year. I feel pretty darn close to using a magicband when I tap my Visa card at Starbucks, Walgreen’s, grocery stores, etc… I’ll also point out, Silver, that you can have any purchases sent to the front of the park and pick them up as you exit. My experience last year was that although the lines are longer for in-park pick up, the counters are staffed with 3x as many people. It’s taken me a good 20 minutes to pick up park purchases at the resorts during my last stays at AKL, the Poly and Pop. It only took 10-minutes, tops,, at the parks. There is also an upside in that you get your purchases on the same day, rather than having to wait until the next day at your resort.
Silver, we were actually just there last week and I bought something in Germany at EPCOT and they asked about sending it back to the hotel. We were staying in Bonnet Creek this trip (sister in law works for Wyndham) and the guy handed me the list of hotels they send packages to and while we weren’t on there all of the Disney Springs affiliated hotels were. In short the perk of having packages delivered to your room isn’t quite as favorable as it once was.
The addition of onsite parking fees IMO is a huge mistake on Disney’s part. Most places do it due to high state or local taxes that they need to make up for in some way or they just don’t have the room to park. WDW doesn’t suffer from room issues and I doubt it’s a tax issue. They just discovered a new way to milk $$$ out of patrons.
While people complain about the bus service. We have NEVER had an experience that was so horrific we thought twice about using it. As long as you don’t leave a park when closing the bus service is rarely a nightmare. You’re waiting all day for EVERYTHING so why is waiting 10-15 mins for a bus an issue to some people?