Perks of staying onsite

[rebornat33]

Hi everyone,

We are starting to look at planning our first trip to WDW. There is so much information out there, I'm starting to feel more confused than when I started looking. Can anyone breakdown for me what are the perks that come from staying onsite versus offsite? I know there is the transportation and extra hours, but what else is associated with staying at an onsite resort? We are a family of 5, youngest 17, so we are trying to look at all our options in regard to price and what special perks we might not want to pass up on.

Thank you for any insight you can provide

 

[alex9179]

You'd be able to do the dining plan, if that's an option that appeals to you.

Honestly, it was just how easy it made everything! We stayed on the monorail twice and felt it really added to our experience, but we have young kids. I liked having food options available, close, that I didn't have to prepare. Transportation taken care of, which is doubly nice if you want an adult beverage with dinner. I would not want to navigate the crazy traffic after playing all day AND with alcohol in my system! One of those is a turn-off, let alone all three Our bus experiences were easy, except for the EPCOT resort area. Waited about 45 min for a DTD one and it was so crowded I didn't think we'd fit (2 of us that trip). Kinda wished we hadn't squeezed in there, it was not a comfy ride. If we'd have been going to AK, it would have been great since those were the only buses arriving for quite a stretch.

 

[akfan513]

Staying on site is so worth it!!! The dining plans available are great. If you really love great food, my family does the deluxe dining plan and we eat at the fine dining places for dinner each night. Me and my husband love the food like the kids love the rides! Next, the resorts are amazing! We stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the pool, water slide, and flamingos poolside immerse my kids in the magical land, while seeing giraffes and zebras wander at our balcony is what I love the most. It's just about being surrounded by the magic every second. As you mentioned, convenience and transportation are the first reasons I looked at when I booked, but the food plan and resorts ended up being the things I ended up loving about staying on property.

 

[patty57]

You hit on two of the biggies. Transportation and EMH. Under transportation, along with buses to the parks, there is also Disney's Magical Express to and from the airport. Someone mentioned the dining plan, if that appeals to you. Another is the ability to use your MB to charge to your room. If staying onsite, you also get to book FP+ 60 days ahead of your visit, where offsite you book 30 days ahead. With your kids ages, the Epcot Resorts area might be a fun place for them (and you). You can walk to Epcot and DHS, and the Boardwalk area is fun in the evening. To save some money for an onsite stay, you could consider renting points for a DVC resort, or the Swan & Dolphin. S&D does not have DME to and from the airport, or MBs and the ability to charge to your room, except at the S&D. We love the S&D for the location, price, pool and pool bar and dining options.
The trade off is that I'm sure you could get something much larger offsite for less money.

 

[nkereina]

To sum it up, onsite perks include:

*Extra Magic Hours - select parks on select days open either 1 hour earlier or stay open 2 hours later for on-site guests only.

*Magical Express - complimentary motorcoach transportation to and from the airport.

*Dining Plan - option to book a package that includes both tickets and a meal plan for one price.

*Booking FP+ at 60 days out - versus booking FP+ at 30 days out for off-site guests.

*Resort Airline Check-in - ability to leave your bags with the resort on your check-out day and not see them again until arriving at your home airport.

*Charging privileges - add a credit card to your magic band and you can charge purchases or food to it for simplicity.

*Sending purchases back to your room - any time you purchase items in a park, at a resort, or at DTD, you can fill out a form and have your purchases sent back to your resort so you don't have to carry them around. They typically arrive in your resort gift shop the next day for you to pick up at your convenience.

*Parking - free for onsite guests, per day fee at the parks for offsite guests.

*Buses/boats/monorail - this is available for anyone, but it's much more convenient when on-site.

*Immersive experience - really transports you out of the real world and into that "Disney bubble".

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

To sum it up, onsite perks include:

*Extra Magic Hours - select parks on select days open either 1 hour earlier or stay open 2 hours later for on-site guests only.

*Magical Express - complimentary motorcoach transportation to and from the airport.

*Dining Plan - option to book a package that includes both tickets and a meal plan for one price.

*Booking FP+ at 60 days out - versus booking FP+ at 30 days out for off-site guests.

*Resort Airline Check-in - ability to leave your bags with the resort on your check-out day and not see them again until arriving at your home airport.

*Charging privileges - add a credit card to your magic band and you can charge purchases or food to it for simplicity.

*Sending purchases back to your room - any time you purchase items in a park, at a resort, or at DTD, you can fill out a form and have your purchases sent back to your resort so you don't have to carry them around. They typically arrive in your resort gift shop the next day for you to pick up at your convenience.

*Buses/boats/monorail - this is available for anyone, but it's much more convenient when on-site.

*Immersive experience - really transports you out of the real world and into that "Disney bubble".

This is what I was going to say lol !! Nicely done.

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

To sum it up, onsite perks include:

*Extra Magic Hours - select parks on select days open either 1 hour earlier or stay open 2 hours later for on-site guests only.

*Magical Express - complimentary motorcoach transportation to and from the airport.

*Dining Plan - option to book a package that includes both tickets and a meal plan for one price.

*Booking FP+ at 60 days out - versus booking FP+ at 30 days out for off-site guests.

*Resort Airline Check-in - ability to leave your bags with the resort on your check-out day and not see them again until arriving at your home airport.

*Charging privileges - add a credit card to your magic band and you can charge purchases or food to it for simplicity.

*Sending purchases back to your room - any time you purchase items in a park, at a resort, or at DTD, you can fill out a form and have your purchases sent back to your resort so you don't have to carry them around. They typically arrive in your resort gift shop the next day for you to pick up at your convenience.

*Buses/boats/monorail - this is available for anyone, but it's much more convenient when on-site.

*Immersive experience - really transports you out of the real world and into that "Disney bubble".

Very well put, the last one is actually the kicker for us, the intangible of being inside "the bubble"

I would add one more perk with regards to transportation. If you are staying on property and either have your own vehicle or rent one, parking for resort guests at the parks is free. Despite flying in and using ME to/from PORs, we still decided to rent a car for convenience on property. Getting free parking at the 4 parks was a huge plus, otherwise we wouldn't have rented.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

You forgot the best perk...smores fireside with outdoor movies!

 

[rebornat33]

Thank you all so much! This is exactly what I was looking for, a simple straightforward breakdown. I really appreciate your help.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Great list!

 

[nkereina]

Very well put, the last one is actually the kicker for us, the intangible of being inside "the bubble"

I would add one more perk with regards to transportation. If you are staying on property and either have your own vehicle or rent one, parking for resort guests at the parks is free. Despite flying in and using ME to/from PORs, we still decided to rent a car for convenience on property. Getting free parking at the 4 parks was a huge plus, otherwise we wouldn't have rented.

Good call! I'm going to edit my post and add this. We never have a car on site, so these kind of perks slip my mind

 

[IamJBo]

Make sure to check with the different resorts on what activities they all offer as well as many have their own unique activities.

 

[DanInMN]

With 5 adults you will need 2 rooms or a suite, which can be very expensive. Staying offsite in a big condo or house would work well, for a fraction of the price. We like Bahama Bay Resort. The 15 minute drive is no worse than waiting for a bus to an on site resort.

 

[jfeasel]

We've been going since my youngest was 18 months and she is now 19 years old and we are going next week. We've done both on and off site and on site wins. We've even stayed in a house. The biggest plus with onsite is that if someone gets tired, they can go back to the hotel. Especially now that the kids are older we come and go to the parks at different times and meet up off and on and the onsite transportation makes it worth it. The times we've stayed off site I've felt like we spent a lot of time in the car or on a shuttle coming and going from the car. Also since the kids are older, we stay until the parks close so taking the bus back to the resort is a huge plus as we just fall asleep and don't worry about driving.

There are resorts that will fit 5 and even consider the cabins at Ft. Wilderness or adjoining rooms at one of the All Stars. We've done adjoining rooms at All Stars and that gives us 2 bathrooms. We've also had a room at the Beach Club and it had a pullout bed.

 

[karen1987]

I'll pretty much echo what everyone else has said! Staying off-site can prove cheaper, but you wouldn't get:

- Complimentary Magical Express Transportation from MCO to your resort

- Extra Magic Hours, which are only for WDW on-site guests

- Coach transportation to anywhere on the resort, and generally we've never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus

- The hotel theming in general tends to be Disney orientated and really gets you in the mood for the holiday

- Booking FP+ 60 days prior to departure

- Disney Dining Plan (we've never done it so can't comment!)

 

[izzylovesmickey]

We stayed at the Beach Club for our first onsite stay and loved how easy it was to get around to the other parks. We really liked having packages delivered to the room. We didn't buy a ton but it was nice to be on Main Street early in the day and have a purchase delivered to the room. No need to haul it all day or worry that we would leave it somewhere. We stayed Club level and the packages were either in our room the next night after the turn down service or delivered to us directly if we were in the room.

 

[nkereina]

With 5 adults you will need 2 rooms or a suite, which can be very expensive. Staying offsite in a big condo or house would work well, for a fraction of the price. We like Bahama Bay Resort. The 15 minute drive is no worse than waiting for a bus to an on site resort.

With 5 adults, you could also rent DVC points to stay in a villa. There are many brokers who will facilitate the point rental process so it's pretty easy and seamless for a first timer. This allows you to stay in a 1 or 2 bedroom villa for close to moderate resort prices, and also gives you in-room laundry, a kitchen, and more than one bathroom. The only negatives to this are that you do not receive daily housekeeping (Vacation Club is a kin to a timeshare, so it's supposed to be "home away from home"), and if you want the dining plan it would have to be paid in full to the broker at the time of booking. And lastly, you usually need to book several months in advance and there is usually a no refund/change policy in place due to the nature of the point bookings. Other than this, all on-site perks previously mentioned are the same.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

There's always the All Star Music family suite which isn't that expensive.