Benefits of Staying at Walt Disney World Hotels in 2024-Pt. 1
One of the most important and expensive decisions to make when planning a vacation to Walt Disney World is figuring out where to stay. After all, deciding what resort to stay at will set the tone for your entire trip, as well as how much money you are going to spend. From budget-focused value, to ultra-luxurious resorts, there truly is a resort for everyone, and every price point, on-property at Walt Disney World.
I am breaking this up into two parts as to not overwhelm anyone with my list of advantages to staying on property. With that said, let's get started and take a look at the perks and benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort...
1. Transportation
Disney offers a variety of free transportation to and around its property. Depending on which resort you choose, you’ll have access to one or more of the following forms of transportation:
Buses
Monorail
Watercraft
Skyliner
While Disney transportation is available to anyone visiting Walt Disney World, it offers an advantage for resort guests. Being able to hop on a bus, at the very least, on your way to the parks is a huge convenience. You won’t have to worry about where you're going, how you'll get there, or rely on Google Maps.
2. Early Theme Park Entry
Walt Disney World offers guests staying on-property 30-minutes early theme park entry and recently announced that the perk would continue through the end of 2024. Early theme park benefits apply to all resort guests and are available daily at all four parks. So no matter which park you visit on any day, you can enter 30 minutes ahead of the general public. The best advice I can give anyone is to fully take advantage of early entry. You would be amazed how much you can get down in 30 minutes before the crowds!
3. Extended Evening Theme Park Hours
This benefit is exclusive to guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Resort Villas. It has been announced that this benefit will extend through the end of 2024.
After closing to the public, select parks offer extended theme park hours on specific evenings. Extended hours allow these guests to stay at certain parks for an extra time after the park closes. Which, if you are thinking of planning a swim break during your stay, booking a Deluxe resort that has the best pools on-property might be for you. You can schedule your swim break on a day where you will receive Extended Evening hours and head back to the park at night! So far, these evenings are offered twice a week. One night Magic Kingdom is open later, and the other evening Epcot is open late. Throughout the year, a limited number of evenings have been offered at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
4. Early Access to Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane Attractions
Disney Genie+ is a service that all Walt Disney World guests can purchase on the morning of their park day. Resort guests can purchase two Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) attractions starting at 7am EST on the day of their park visit.
Guests that are not staying at a Disney Resort have to wait until the park opens to purchase Genie+ Lightning Lane return times and Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) attractions.
Depending on the crowds, this perk could save you a lot of disappointment. I have personally witnessed guests of the parks voicing their frustrations that they were not able to score a return time for Star Wars: Rise of The Resistance (they were off property guests. I know this because they made it known that the on-property people took their spot). Tempers can flare, even in the morning!
5. Proximity to Resort from the Parks
A big advantage of staying at a Disney resort is that you can easily return to your resort. For instance, if you are staying at Magic Kingdom, the bus stop is right outside the park’s entrance. If you're staying off-site, you would have to make your way back to the Transportation and Ticket Center, then you’d have to find where your off-property shuttle picked up and wait for it. Or you’d have to find your car in the mammoth parking lot. I don't know about you, but after I've been at a park rope drop to close, the last thing I want to do is walk more than I have to. I want to get back to my room as quickly as possible, without having to worry about driving, to shower, go to bed, and get ready to do it all over again the next day.
Which brings me to...
6. Staying On-Property Saves Time
Of course there are going to be times where it feels like you're waiting hours for a bus (hello, All Stars), but, you won’t get stuck in traffic like the people waiting to pay at the park entrance. Disney buses have their dedicated lanes for accessing the parks. Plus, you’re on Disney property, which means less traffic lights and open roads with multiple lanes. Traffic increases when you leave the property, and those long Florida traffic lights are everywhere.