Advantages of staying at a Disney property?

[wrldtravlr345]

Hello,

I've read tidbits of information on the advantages of booking on a Disney resort but in case I've missed something, can you please let me know?

Thanks.

 

[imthatgirl]

ummm...youre staying at disney!! it doesnt get any better than that.

 

[natnelliesmom]

Why would anyone want to stay anywhere else????

 

[tanyaandallie]

I've done both. The off property hotel we stayed at was still pretty close so not all that inconvenient. But, imo, you can and will pay a pretty penny for an off site hotel. You can usually find a hotel on site for the same price. On property you can use Disney transport to get to and from your hotel. You are usually closer to the parks, you can have purchases in the parks sent directly to your room rather than carrying them around with you, you can utilize the dining plan if you want, you can charge park purchases to your room.

 

[lisadr]

Sure!

The benefits:

Extra Magic Hours
Disneys' Magical Express(which can easily save you $100 in roundtrip airport to hotel trips)
Disney Transportation system-No car rental, taxis
Package delivery-purchases delivered to your resort
And my fav-TIME- depending on how far away your staying this can be very important especially if you have little ones. If you have to leave the park, go the the parking lot to get your car,drive back to your hotel-just to take a nap with the kids-you're losing a lot of time at the parks. A lot of people go to the parks early then take a midday break and let the kids nap, swim, eat and then go back later that evening.

Hope this helps!

 

[Sorsha]

Hello,

I've read tidbits of information on the advantages of booking on a Disney resort but in case I've missed something, can you please let me know?

Thanks.

Lots and lots of advantages! There, are, howerev, also some advantages to be found off-property too, IMHO. But here are some of the on-property advantages...

1) EMH. Or Extra-Magic hours. Just about every morning or evening, one of the Disney parks will be open an hour early, or stay open a few hours late, and the only people who can take advantage of this are the on-property guests. This is an awesome time to ride the big-ticket rides with very small lines.

2) Transportation. Some people may not like the Disney bus system, but it beats hands-down any "shuttle" system offered at off-property hotels. If you have a rental car, or your own car, this is not such a big deal, but we found it to be very convenient.

3) The dining plan. Again, only offered to on-property guests. Some don't like it, some love it. We were in the "love it" camp, it was awesome, and we can't wait to use it again.

4) Always immersed in the magic. I don't know if you have ever been to WDW or central Florida before, but to me, the I-4/192 highway corridors are NOT very magical. Kissimmee has a very tourist-trap feel to it, and traffic is always horrible. It is such a wonderful feeling to get checked into my resort and know that I don't ever have to exist in "the real world" for the rest of my vacation.

5) ME, or Magical Express. If you are flying to Orlando, and not renting a car, this is a wonderful perk of staying on-property. I don't have to worry about getting my bags and trying to get to my hotel. ME whizzes me off to my hotel, entertains me with a movie on the way, and *poof* a few hours later my luggage magically appears in my room.

6) Awesome theming at the resorts. No matter which one you pick, I guarantee you will be impressed by the theming. We chose Port Orleans last year, and we very much enjoyed pretending we were deep in the Bayous, listening to the frogs and the Dixieland jazz, and smelling the beignets cooking.

Those are the main highlights for me, I am sure there are more. Good luck on your resort choice!

 

[wrldtravlr345]

Thank u everyone for your input! Much appreciated!

 

[bradisgoofy]

We stayed once off site then discovered the package deals. Then....we discovered DVC and we were totally hooked. It's an addiction, a lot like this board, . Be careful, run away, before it's too late.