Walt Disney World Resort Perks & Advantages

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Advantages – staying at a Disney Hotel

 

Walt Disney World has many different resorts at all different price levels. I often get asked “which Disney Resort is the best?” I have to say they are all nice and wonderful resorts, it’s really about what you want in the way of resort amenities and your vacation budget.  I will cover all the Walt Disney Resorts in a later piece.  For here I would like to go over the perks you get when you stay at a Walt Disney World Resort.

 

Advantages of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort

Staying on Disney Property offers several advantages and cost / time savings. It does not matter which Disney hotel you choose, all come with these nice extras.

Magical Express – This is a BIG advantage over staying on 192 at an off property hotel. When you check your bags in at your home airport they will arrive in your Disney hotel room. You do not have to go to baggage claim. Just put the Magical Express luggage tag wrappers on your luggage when you check it at your home airport. Not having to lug your bags is very nice and saves you at least an hour waiting for them to appear at baggage claim. You also get to ride Disney’s Magical Express to your Disney hotel. This is a bus service that is FREE as part of your Disney Vacation Package. So the savings alone for not having to rent a car, or having to get bus transfer for each person in your party or a cab is at least $100. Plus you get this free service back to the ORL airport.

When you check out of your Disney hotel, you can check in your bags and get your boarding pass right at your hotel. This way you again don’t have to carry your luggage and it will appear at your home airport baggage claim. Also you can get your boarding pass at your Disney hotel and avoid the check in lines at the ORL airport. When the Magical Express drops you off at the airport you can walk right to security.

My Magic Plus – Disney World has something special that comes with your Disney Vacation Package when you stay at an onsite Walt Disney World Resort. It is called My Magic Plus and it bundles a bunch of Disney features for you as a Walt Disney World Resort guest.

  • My Disney Experience – This is a website and app that allows you to pre-book your Disney World Rides, Attractions and Parades. You can also book your Disney Dining here, link other members of your party together so you can all share information, get park hours and other Disney information. You need to register for My Disney Experience to order your MagicBands. More on MagicBands below.You also will be booking your rides and attractions in My Disney Experience. As a resort guest you can book these 60 days before your vacation. Offsite guests get to pre-book their fastpasses just 30 days before their vacation. So as a Disney Resort guest you have first choice for the rides you want to skip the line for. The popular (e-ticket) attractions pre-book up quickly. A detailed itinerary helps. This way you know what days you are in which parks so you can plan your Disney dining reservations and ride times.
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  • Disney MagicBands – After you sign up for My Disney Experience you will be able to pick MagicBands for each person on your Disney reservation. You can create a name for each MagicBand (which is helpful so you know which one has which park admission on it). You can also pick a color for each MagicBand. The bands are RFID bracelets that are one size fits all.See The Real Life Griswold’s MagicBands video here.
  • Your Disney MagicBand is the key to your hotel room, your credit card for charging in the resorts and parks, and your FastPass+ ride and attraction reservations. It also is your park admission to the Disney theme parks. You will assign a PIN number for charging at check in. You will also scan your finger at the theme park entrance each time you enter. So it’s important that each person have the correct MagicBand when you are at Walt Disney World.If you are staying off site you will get a regular ticket instead of a MagicBand. You can use this plastic card to enter the park and for FastPass+ access to the ride you pre-booked on My Disney Experience. If you want a MagicBand instead, you can purchase a MagicBand at the park or at a Disney Resort.

    TIP: Book Your FastPass+     ride reservations at the 60 day window. This is a major advantage for being a Disney Resort Guest. Pick rides with long wait times so you can avoid waiting hours in those ques.  Time is money at Walt Disney World and FastPass+ will save you time when you use it 60 days out to book your attractions.
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Disney Resort Transportation – Transportation at Disney World is a time saver. Just like the FastPass+ system that will save you hours of time waiting in lines, Disney transportation will save you hours over your vacation when you stay at a Walt Disney World Resort. Very often people do not think about getting from an offsite hotel to Walt Disney World when they book a cheap room rate. Many times a hotel that says it is close to Walt Disney World is 30 minutes or more away, just to get onto the outside of Disney property. Also off site hotels sometimes share buses, so you may find yourself stopping at one or more hotels before you even start heading toward Walt Disney World. These off site shuttles can also charge a per person fee which adds up fast with a large family going to and from Walt Disney World on a week long vacation.  If you are looking to take a nap with your little ones, it’s back to the bus terminal to wait for your off-site bus to come and then a long ride back.  Again, time is money and staying at a Disney Resort gets you closer to at least one Disney Theme Park, and maybe close to event two.  Some resort are so close you can walk to the park from them.

When you stay onsite you can take the Disney buses, monorail and boats all over property. These run very frequently and are easy to use. Also Disney buses run about every 20 minutes to all 4 Disney theme parks. Offsite shuttles may run only every hour and the first and last shuttle maybe limiting too.

Being able to get up and get to and from the Disney Parks easy is a key benefit. You can easily save an hour or two a day by staying on Disney property and just jumping on the monorail vs staying off site and having to take their bus to Disney World.

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Being In the Magic – This advantage is hard to quantify, but I have to say when you stay at Walt Disney World it’s a full vacation experience where you are immersed in a fantasy world. You can go to a Victorian resort with nightly performances from the big band in the lobby, watch the Wishes Fireworks from you room at the Contemporary Resort, or be in Hawaii with a drink in your hand and enjoying a hammock at the Polynesian Village Resort. Disney creates stories and they do this with their resorts and hotels too.   So when you come back to your resort you never leave that environment. You are also close to the Disney Parks so if you wanted to take a nap in the afternoon, or spend some time at your resort pool and then head over to EPCOT for dinner, that’s very easily accomplished when you are right there at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Other Disney World Perks and Extras:

There are other extras too. Extra Magic Hours – Beat the crowds and go to the park when only other Disney Resort Guests can get in. This is a nice perk. You can get in early or stay late depending on what park and Extra Magic Hours are happening that day. Contact your Authorized Disney Vacation Planner or Disney World for a schedule of Extra Magic Hours when you are planning your trip.

Package Delivery – You do not have to carry the massive sombrero all day on the rides that you bought at the Mexico pavilion. You can have your packages sent back to your Disney resort. This is a nice small added convenience.

Photo Pass+ – You can add this to your Disney Resort Package for an extra cost and then you just touch your MagicBand when you get a photo taken in the parks. When you get home they are all online waiting for you.

Free Theme Park Parking – If you drove down to Walt Disney World and want to drive to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kigdom Park or Hollywood Studios, you get to park for free.  Also self parking at all Disney World Resorts is Free.  Many offsite resorts charge $20 – $40 a day to self park your car.