Benefits of Staying On Site

[have2getaway]

We have been to Disney before and stayed on site. We have a return trip in February and we were planning to go to Disney for a couple days but not stay at the resort specifically to see the new Star Wars attractions. I’m just wondering if there are any specific benefits for Star Wars for those staying on site at Disney? Will it matter to us if we stay offsite?

 

[Sue M]

You would miss the morning EMH for onsite resorts. So be careful not to go on a morning with it.

 

[have2getaway]

You would miss the morning EMH for onsite resorts. So be careful not to go on a morning with it.

Thank you! This helpful and a good point.

 

[maxiesmom]

If Fast Passes are a big deal, most off site resorts stays only let you book at 30 days out. Not the 60 Disney resort guests get.

 

[Ross Kratter]

60 day Fastpass window, Disney transportation, and Extra Magic Hours are my three biggest reasons for always staying on site.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

At this point, unless you are staying at a resort on the walking path to DHS, there really is no advantage to staying onsite to access the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge rides. They have eliminated morning extra magic hours at DHS, so all guests are let in at opening every morning (as of now) and there is no FP+ for either Star Wars ride. Particularly with RoTR, the early bird gets the worm no matter how you arrive - private car, bus, skyliner, walking. Things could certainly change in the New Year, but as of now, there is no particular advantage to staying onsite for Galaxy's Edge.

 

[Lewisc]

I'm confused. Are you going to visit Batuu, Star Wars Galaxies Edge? Neither attraction participates wit FP. EMH for DHS has been moved to the evening. ON SITE isn't a big advantage.

I didn't see PP when I posted, my bad.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Minor correction to some of the info above, DHS Sunday AM EMHs were recently changed to PM EMHs for December and January. February (when OP is going) still has DHS Sunday AM EMHs on the calendar. Feb could change to PM EMH too, but TBD (I suspect it will, but that’s just my guess).

OP, at the moment given park operations, there is not a benefit to staying on site when it comes to SWGE or either ride.

 

[have2getaway]

Minor correction to some of the info above, DHS Sunday AM EMHs were recently changed to PM EMHs for December and January. February (when OP is going) still has DHS Sunday AM EMHs on the calendar. Feb could change to PM EMH too, but TBD (I suspect it will, but that’s just my guess).

OP, at the moment given park operations, there is not a benefit to staying on site when it comes to SWGE or either ride.

Thank you! We have done the full Disney experience before. This trip, we used points and are staying at Portofino Bay Club Level and have Universal AP’s, but...our triplets are 10, and are boys. So, we just have to go to the new Star Wars attractions. DH was adamant about not doing a split stay, but if we need to get there at 5:00 am to get a boarding pass, that changes things. We are now considering using points to stay off site for our Disney days, but closer to Disney for the couple days we go. We are trying to find a decent, but reasonable room for 5 that is close to DHS and also trying to decide if we should go the Thursday/Friday before President’s Day or the Tuesday/Wednesday after President’s Day? We wanted to go at the end of our trip, but at this point, we just want to be able to see the 2 main attractions at Star Wars, so whichever days is best for that?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you! We have done the full Disney experience before. This trip, we used points and are staying at Portofino Bay Club Level and have Universal AP’s, but...our triplets are 10, and are boys. So, we just have to go to the new Star Wars attractions. DH was adamant about not doing a split stay, but if we need to get there at 5:00 am to get a boarding pass, that changes things. We are now considering using points to stay off site for our Disney days, but closer to Disney for the couple days we go. We are trying to find a decent, but reasonable room for 5 that is close to DHS and also trying to decide if we should go the Thursday/Friday before President’s Day or the Tuesday/Wednesday after President’s Day? We wanted to go at the end of our trip, but at this point, we just want to be able to see the 2 main attractions at Star Wars, so whichever days is best for that?

Tough decisions. My opinion - at the moment - is that so long as there is a Virtual Queue process in place for RotR, every day is going to have a mega rush of people first thing regardless of the day of the week, time of year, holiday, etc.

Given the choice, I’d probably opt for the Thursday before President’s Day weekend, but it’s probably splitting hairs. You have school systems like us that have a mini-winter break around that weekend (off Friday and Monday) and others that have a full week winter break that following week, and all sorts of other variations. But it’s hard to chase crowds, it’s always busy on some level.

Definitely stay up on RotR operations between now and then and follow the latest with park opening times, boarding groups, etc - things could be similar in Feb or they could have changed by then, so hard to say.

Good luck!

 

[Sue M]

The Disney Springs Doubletree has 1 bedroom Suites. And it’s part of the DIsney Springs Hotel group, which has the same Dining and FP+ booking window as onsite. They also have their own bus transportation to the parks that runs every 30 min continuously. Mousesavers.com website has discounts for this hotel.

 

[have2getaway]

The Disney Springs Doubletree has 1 bedroom Suites. And it’s part of the DIsney Springs Hotel group, which has the same Dining and FP+ booking window as onsite. They also have their own bus transportation to the parks that runs every 30 min continuously. Mousesavers.com website has discounts for this hotel.

Thank you! I’ll definitely check this out. A 1 bedroom would be heavenly, especially after sharing one room for the 5 of us!

 

[Monykalyn]

Thank you! I’ll definitely check this out. A 1 bedroom would be heavenly, especially after sharing one room for the 5 of us!

We’ve stayed there and the one bedrooms have either a king or two queens, plus sofa sleeper in the living area, kitchenette area with seating. It’s really a lot of space! It does have resort and parking fees, but check and follow both mousesavers and the Dis (those ads to the side-Dreams Unlimited) as both will have specials where fees are waived, and check rates through Disneyspringshotels as occasionally that site waives fees.
Also check Priceline and Orbitz as sometimes an off-site Resort like Sheraton Vistana Resort will have some good deals (condos with space!)

 

[Sue M]

We’ve stayed there and the one bedrooms have either a king or two queens, plus sofa sleeper in the living area, kitchenette area with seating. It’s really a lot of space! It does have resort and parking fees, but check and follow both mousesavers and the Dis (those ads to the side-Dreams Unlimited) as both will have specials where fees are waived, and check rates through Disneyspringshotels as occasionally that site waives fees.
Also check Priceline and Orbitz as sometimes an off-site Resort like Sheraton Vistana Resort will have some good deals (condos with space!)

We had a 2 queen room! We stayed pre last Reno’s, so I’m sure it’s even nicer now. I was impressed even with the old rooms. The kitchenette area was very nice, loads of counter space and cabinets. We got free breakfast and no resort fee thru Mousesavers. Did they always have a resort fee or is it new?

 

[have2getaway]

We had a 2 queen room! We stayed pre last Reno’s, so I’m sure it’s even nicer now. I was impressed even with the old rooms. The kitchenette area was very nice, loads of counter space and cabinets. We got free breakfast and no resort fee thru Mousesavers. Did they always have a resort fee or is it new?

Can you use Magical Express at the Disney Springs resorts?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Can you use Magical Express at the Disney Springs resorts?

Disney's Magical Express to and from the airport is not available at the Disney Springs resorts. If you are referring to park transportation from the resorts, hopefully someone who has stayed at these resorts will chime in with specifics. I'm pretty sure most if not all DS resorts offers some type of transportation to and from the theme parks.

 

[have2getaway]

DH was very firm about not wanting to switch hotels for just a couple days, but...the best time for us to experience SWGE is at the end of our trip. We are currently staying off site for 8 nights at USO Club Level on points, but are now considering staying at Disney our last 2 nights and using ME to get home. We would literally be going back to Portofino just to check out the next day. The cash value of the points is $715. It seems crazy to me to spend that amount of money PLUS transport home when we can find something at Disney and use ME. Anyway, I found Caribbean Beach for $246 for one night Tuesday, 2/18, but not the Weds. 2/19. We fly out on the 20th.

 

[Sue M]

DH was very firm about not wanting to switch hotels for just a couple days, but...the best time for us to experience SWGE is at the end of our trip. We are currently staying off site for 8 nights at USO Club Level on points, but are now considering staying at Disney our last 2 nights and using ME to get home. We would literally be going back to Portofino just to check out the next day. The cash value of the points is $715. It seems crazy to me to spend that amount of money PLUS transport home when we can find something at Disney and use ME. Anyway, I found Caribbean Beach for $246 for one night Tuesday, 2/18, but not the Weds. 2/19. We fly out on the 20th.

No DME for Disney Springs hotels, only the Disney Owned hotels have DME. Too bad you can only get CBR for one night. What about Port Orleans? They can accommodate 5.
It will be hard leaving Portofino Bay for a Disney moderate. Portofino is amazing.

 

[have2getaway]

We logged in and we were going to change our reservation to POR, but CBR was now showing available for both nights! Cost is $277 per night and even DH agreed that, since the best time to go to SWGE was at the end of our trip, we would be wasting money to not check out at stay at Disney. We actually would have liked to stay Monday night as well, but it’s all booked and, at this point, I’m just grateful we could get the 2 days and use DME for transport home. I’m not loving the idea of us all in a small room, but we will have had plenty of relax time at Portofino Bay and we don’t expect to be in the room much anyway. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! The boys saw a video of the Skyliner and are incredibly excited.

 

[Pamela M]

Here's my experience with boarding groups. I went this past Friday 13th. Parked opened at 7am and we scanned in at 7:47am (there were long lines at security check - we probably waited 15 minutes) and got boarding group 104 - we got called for our boarding group at 6:30pm and it took about 1/2 hour in line then about 20 minutes to experience the ride. I heard all boarding groups were gone by 8am.
This is a family freindly ride so I expect to have a virtual line for a while.

If you are going on a weekend you may need to get there really early but if it's a weekday you might be ok showing up close to park open.