What is the benefit of keeping my reservation if EMH are not available and I can get online now and tickets for the days we're going?

[leeserw]

We have a trip planned for later this month but I'm wondering if we shouldn't just get a hotel offsite. It would save a ton of money and if we don't get the perk of early magic hour and the dining plan I don't see how it benefits us to stay onsite. What are your thoughts? I checked ticket availability for the dates we're coming and there are tickets available for every day. Am I missing something?

 

[JM23457]

We have a trip planned for later this month but I'm wondering if we shouldn't just get a hotel offsite. It would save a ton of money and if we don't get the perk of early magic hour and the dining plan I don't see how it benefits us to stay onsite. What are your thoughts? I checked ticket availability for the dates we're coming and there are tickets available for every day. Am I missing something?

Location, immersion & theming are three other reasons people book Disney resorts. Many people enjoy the Disney resorts for their own sake, not just as a means to get park-related perks. If you don't, then I agree that you should stay offsite.

 

[randumb0]

You're not missing anything. I don't see a benefit

 

[YawningDodo]

Location, immersion & theming are three main reasons people book Disney resorts. Many people enjoy the Disney resorts for their own sake, not just as a means to get park-related perks. If you don't, then I agree that you should stay offsite.

Add transportation to the list, but if you're already planning to rent a car that's a moot point. For me, that all adds up to be worth it; I find the onsite resorts much more convenient as well as liking them for their own sake. But if EMH and the Dining Plan were the big things you valued and the primary drivers for booking an onsite stay, as far as I can tell there's really no "catch" for you if you decide to stay offsite instead.

Edit: I will note that if anyone in your party has an annual pass, staying either onsite or at a Disney Springs hotel would still confer a benefit to that person--without a resort booking, AP holders can only book 3 days of park passes at once, but if an AP holder has a resort reservation they can book passes for length of stay. That doesn't sound like it applies in OP's case, but thought I'd mention in case others are considering their options.

 

[ClapYourHands]

If you’ll save a lot by staying offsite, then go ahead. Most of the on-site perks are temporarily gone.

That said, if you have a family that can be accommodated in a single value room, staying onsite can be competitive with offsite. Once I started adding in the costs of parking and a rental car, most of my savings evaporated compared to staying at an All Star with my kids. However, if I go with my whole family of 5, offsite will always be cheaper, even with the rental and parking thrown in.

Or if we drove and could knock off the price of the rental and would have to pay to park at a Disney resort anyway, the balance would probably shift back to offsite.

Totally depends on you situation, though, and people just like being onsite. Lots of people will pay for the convenience of walking to a park or for the novelty of having a zoo outside the window. Not all value is about saving money.

 

[sharonabe]

We have a trip planned for later this month but I'm wondering if we shouldn't just get a hotel offsite. It would save a ton of money and if we don't get the perk of early magic hour and the dining plan I don't see how it benefits us to stay onsite. What are your thoughts? I checked ticket availability for the dates we're coming and there are tickets available for every day. Am I missing something?

Transportation to/from the parks and not needing to drive are still perks for us along with not having to pay the $25/day parking fee at the parks.

 

[MomOTwins]

I don’t like to drive on vacation. So being able to ride a boat or monorail or even bus back to the resort when I am tired from a hot day in the parks (and maybe had a couple of drinks at the Epcot booths) is a big benefit. Plus car rentals when you need three carseats are a nightmare. But mostly, I love the resort themes and design—can’t wait for a swim in the Volcano pool at the Poly with the castle lit up across the lagoon.

 

[tlmadden73]

I was going to post the same thing:

"What's the reason to book a resort now ... with no Fast Passes or EMH or even luggage service by ME, limited transportation?"

Are there any Disney resort perks right now besides ... "theming and immersion" .. even the "bubble" seems like it could be not worth it -- due to the limits in transportation.

I was hoping to go to WDW for my 10th anniversary, and maybe do a resort stay, but I don't see the point now for that cost --- But my wife and I have Hilton vacation package (one of those timeshare deals .. listen to the spiel and get the 3-night stay for free). We had that planned for June, but that was cancelled, so we now have that package available to re-book. So, I am thinking, of just staying at Hilton Parc Soleil in November instead of staying at a Disney resort because it will be significantly cheaper and with limited hotel selection, no discounts, no perks, and probably way more self-service --- I just don't see the point right now.

Which is fine .. Disney definitely wants to dis-incentivize people from coming for the near future.

 

[MomOTwins]

Are there any Disney resort perks right now besides ... "theming and immersion" .. even the "bubble" seems like it could be not worth it -- due to the limits in transportation.

What do you mean by "limits in transportation"? From the sound of it, the only transportation that Disney has cut has been the Epcot monorail, but resort monorail, boat launches, buses, and walking paths seem to be open.

 

[tlmadden73]

What do you mean by "limits in transportation"? From the sound of it, the only transportation that Disney has cut has been the Epcot monorail, but resort monorail, boat launches, buses, and walking paths seem to be open.

Capacity of things like buses and boats and monorails .. is severely cut ... (like only 5 "groups" allowed on the buses). It may increase wait times .. (or it may not .. capacity may be limited enough that wait times for those transportation options may not change). I'd have to see reports on that as capacity at resorts go up as time goes on. Probably only a factor at the beginning and end of day.

Another "perk" that is lost for a while --with no park hopping, staying at a Disney Resort is less desirable, because the resorts gave you easy access (via transportation/walking) to park hop.

 

[fla4fun]

Yeah, for me it’s definitely the no driving thing. Or rather, with the trams not running, the not having to walk across the hot parking lot before taking my temperature thing. But I agree that everyone has to consider it individually and there’s no one size fits all answer.

 

[MomOTwins]

Capacity of things like buses and boats and monorails .. is severely cut ... (like only 5 "groups" allowed on the buses). It may increase wait times .. (or it may not .. capacity may be limited enough that wait times for those transportation options may not change). I'd have to see reports on that as capacity at resorts go up as time goes on. Probably only a factor at the beginning and end of day.

Another "perk" that is lost for a while --with no park hopping, staying at a Disney Resort is less desirable, because the resorts gave you easy access (via transportation/walking) to park hop.

Only reports I've heard so far are that there are plenty of buses, but agree that may change as the weeks go by and also as more resorts open, since right now there are so many close resorts whose buses can be redirected. The staggered park start and end times should help though.

 

[sharonabe]

with the trams not running

I hadn't thought of this one. No way do I want to walk across the parking lots at any of the parks to get to/from the parks and my car.

 

[garris3404]

We are only a party of 2 scheduled for a 7-night stay at Pop Century in November. But with the loss of some many Disney perks, it makes me consider moving to an off-site timeshare and purchasing tickets from UC Tourist? We will have a car. So doing the parking math of (parking fees for off-site guests) minus (parking fees for staying at PC) [(7*25) - (7*15) = 70] results in us paying $70 more. For a 7-night stay, I'll be saving $590 just on lodging, tickets, and Disney parking with the off-site option. Add in eating outside the Disney bubble, and the savings jumps drastically. I probably will wait until my 60 day mark, and see how park reservations are for off-site ticket holders. We love staying on-site within the Disney bubble, but "money talks".

 

[SL6827]

Wonder if this will be the final nail in the coffin of EMH, never to return?

 

[subtchr]

As long as you truly will "save a ton of money," and EMH and dining plans are what you value most, then yes, choose offsite.

Just be sure you are adding up ALL the costs. Many offsite hotels charge a resort fee as well as parking. Add the $25 per day to park at the parks, if you are driving yourself, or Uber or taxi costs if you are not. Yes, many offsite locations offer some type of shuttle, but they are typically limited times and destinations. Rental car and gas if applicable.

We fly in, use Magical Express, and Disney transportation throughout the stay. We are eligible for military and AP discounts, so we can almost always stay at a value resort cheaper than anything we would find acceptable offsite, especially once transportation costs are added into the equation. We often splurge a bit on a moderate or even deluxe resort, if it's in the budget and we can find a good deal. We are definitely people who just plain enjoy the experience of the Disney resorts. We rarely use EMH, and never buy a dining plan, because we save more eating where, when, and what we want, and paying as we go.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Wonder if this will be the final nail in the coffin of EMH, never to return?

Doubt it. Disney has lots of rooms to fill. If there aren’t tangible benefits to onsite stays, many will go elsewhere. Right now capacity is limited, but when circumstances change to where they want to fill the parks and rooms, they’ll dangle this relatively simple incentive to get people to book onsite.

 

[MomOTwins]

We are only a party of 2 scheduled for a 7-night stay at Pop Century in November. But with the loss of some many Disney perks, it makes me consider moving to an off-site timeshare and purchasing tickets from UC Tourist? We will have a car. So doing the parking math of (parking fees for off-site guests) minus (parking fees for staying at PC) [(7*25) - (7*15) = 70] results in us paying $70 more. For a 7-night stay, I'll be saving $590 just on lodging, tickets, and Disney parking with the off-site option. Add in eating outside the Disney bubble, and the savings jumps drastically. I probably will wait until my 60 day mark, and see how park reservations are for off-site ticket holders. We love staying on-site within the Disney bubble, but "money talks".

It's always been substantially cheaper to stay off site. I'd happily pay much more than a $520 differential to not have to drive when I'm exhausted at the end of a hot day in the sun.

I also would add, one of the reasons we feel comfortable going to Disney next month is they are really emphasizing mask, temperature checks for staff, compliance, sanitation, one party per elevator etc. so we would feel much safer sleeping and dining in the Disney "bubble" than staying and dining offsite where policies (and more importantly, enforcement/compliance of those policies) may be more lax. For example, I had to go shopping yesterday at a Macy's and even though the sign on the door said masks were required at all times, in reality, probably 2/3 of people were wearing their masks pulled down under their chins or dangling off one ear with staff standing right next to them and not saying anything, and even the checkout lady actually lowered her mask under her chin to talk to me and then pulled it back up after talking (seriously!?!?! ugh). I also recently looked into renting a stay at a timeshare-type condo that my in-laws were staying at, but the reviews made clear that none of the promised Covid-protection measures were being followed through on. So if staying offsite, I would have to read a LOT of reports that confirmed there was follow-through on their promised safety measures before I'd be willing to take a chance and stay there. It sounds like Disney is doing its best to comply, but others might not be.

 

[doleddanielle]

It's always been substantially cheaper to stay off site. I'd happily pay much more than a $520 differential to not have to drive when I'm exhausted at the end of a hot day in the sun.

I also would add, one of the reasons we feel comfortable going to Disney next month is they are really emphasizing mask, temperature checks for staff, compliance, sanitation, one party per elevator etc. so we would feel much safer sleeping and dining in the Disney "bubble" than staying and dining offsite where policies (and more importantly, enforcement/compliance of those policies) may be more lax.

Totally agreed! We love the ease and convenience of an onsite resort - just hopping on a bus/monorail/boat/skyliner in the AM/PM and knowing we'll always have transportation when we need it. We don't mind if there is "Total Disney Immersion" or not, theming or not, because there's a Disney resort that suits everyone's preferences. I know to call it the Disney "bubble" has gotten backlash, but I do know that the very last thing that Disney wants is for a case to arise from its parks or resorts so I trust them to take and follow all of the possible precautions. This is why, for the foreseeable future, I'll probably only be trusting Disney resorts.