On or off property question

[provencio]

Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some guidance. I am about to begin planning my families Disney World trip for May ( mid month) and am trying to justify the expense of staying on property. I understand the magical express and fast pass perks are no longer available, but we do love being immersed in the Disney experience while we are there. What are the benefits now offered for guests on property. Please know I understand these change daily but if someone could let me know what they are now and if you feel its worth it.

Thank you in advance as always for the help/guidance!!

 

[dez1978]

So after 4 trips on property I stayed at the hilton in DS bc points=free. Never again. Mostly bc I was too cheap to uber everywhere maybe. But there is something to be said for the bus system and being able to purchase the ILL at 7 vs park open (if you should choose to do so)

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

If dining at any hard to get restaurants is very important to you, stay on property.

 

[Miffy]

The current perks of staying onsite--and who knows what they'll be by next May?--are:

(1) Early Theme Park Entry. Entry to all 4 parks 1/2 hour before official opening time. Very helpful for rope-droppers.

(2) Ability to purchase ILL$ at 7 a.m. Off-site guests must wait until official park opening to purchase these. If you want to ride RotR and are willing to pay for it, there are often zero ILL$ available for this after 7:01 a.m., much less being available at park opening. It does happen, but it can't be counted on. And by the time you'd get to the park for RD from off-site, the standby line for RotR would already be pretty long since onsite guests get there 1/2 hour earlier.

(3) The usual perks of onsite, the main one being the WDW transportation system. At MK, the bus from your resort drops you close to the entrance. Off-site you'd be at the TTC and have to ferry or monorail to MK. It takes a while. Also nice to have bus transportation for the ride back to your resort in the evening. And if you like to take a midday break, being onsite is very helpful.

(4) This is just my personal perk: I love the theming of most of the WDW resorts. It's part of the fun of vacationing there.

AFAIK, there's no difference between onsite and off-site for making ADRs. It's the same 60 days in advance.

 

[EmilyGahr]

AFAIK, there's no difference between onsite and off-site for making ADRs. It's the same 60 days in advance.

On-site guests get the 60+10 (length of stay) advantage - so OP, if you have hard ADRs you're trying to get (Space 220, Oga's, etc.) staying on-site increases your chances!

 

[MICKIMINI]

I'm biased. On property for sure! Any time we've spent an extra night or so off property it's always been a disappointment...heck, we can't go anywhere anymore without comparing to one of the Disney properties. We started staying on property in 1996 and never looked back.

Find another way to make up the difference such as Disney Visa, discounted DGC's or cash back offers and any other tricks you can come up with. We gave up cable last year and saved $100/month and we rarely eat out. Our cell phones are tracfone for about $100/yr each. It all counts!

It helps to "see" the $$, so buy a pretty box at the $ store and start putting your stash in there LOL!

Happy planning!

 

[Miffy]

On-site guests get the 60+10 (length of stay) advantage - so OP, if you have hard ADRs you're trying to get (Space 220, Oga's, etc.) staying on-site increases your chances!

Oh, so true, @Emily! Thank you for correcting me. I'd forgotten about that.

 

[a1tinkfans]

There is No comparison of off site to on. It’s Disney Immersion or Not.

 

[jimmymc]

Transportation and theming are still top notch at Disney. Busses run every 20 minutes and take you directly to every park, not making multiple stops or just going to the TTC. The Skyliner is my new favorite transportation mode if your resort has it. For the most part, I think the Disney pools, common areas, and in-resort dining are better than what you'll find off-site. I usually fly in and Uber/Lyft to the resort, so I don't spend too much time off property. Having everything you need at the resort is very nice.

On-property resorts get 30 minutes early entry and deluxe/DVC resorts get an hour after closing. Parking tends to be cheaper at Disney than the surrounding resorts and you get free parking at the parks if you stay on-site. Plus no resort fees, so keep that in mind when comparing costs.

I'm a DVC owner so I'm very biased towards staying on site. What I have done in the past is spent a few days staying at Universal and doing non-Disney things in the area, then transferring to a Disney resort and only doing the Disney parks while I'm here, just to take advantage of the on-site perks.