There are many guides that recommend staying off Disney property in order to save money. I disagree for a couple reasons (1) I don’t think the amount of money you may save is worth the stress that is added and (2) when you stay on Disney property you get the Disney magic 24 hours a day for your entire vacation and that is priceless! There is no doubt about it, you WILL find better deals on hotel rooms just off Disney property-that’s how they compete! You will need to take in to account more than just the dollar signs when making a decision on where to stay on your trip to Walt Disney World.
I think the biggest advantage of staying at a resort on WDW property is the Disney transportation! At most WDW resorts, you can practically step right out the door of your room and onto a bus, monorail or ferry that will take you anywhere you want to go on the WDW property! When you want to come back to your resort for a mid-day nap break, just hop on your bus and you’re back! Compare that with having to rely on your hotel shuttle that is often shared with all the guests of several hotels. If you’ve got a crabby toddler, it is simply torture to have to wait a half hour for your crowded shuttle to show up and then take the half hour ride back to your hotel room with a screaming child. And what if the shuttle shows up and it’s full!?! You’ll have to wait for the next shuttle!
All the Disney resorts have some type of restaurant or food court so you don’t even have to leave your resort to eat. Many of these options are very affordable and in the last few years Disney has made giant leaps in the effort to provide more nutritious food choices in their parks and resorts. From the most affordable food court to the pricier sit down restaurants, you can always find something to tempt your palate (and more importantly, that of your toddler) very close to “home.”
Disney also offers a few family-friendly perks that you can’t find anywhere else. When you schedule a wakeup call, a random Disney character will call your room at the appointed time (think Mickey, Goofy, Stitch, etc.) The service is free and it’s absolutely magical watching your child’s face light up when they answer the phone and Mickey is on the other line. One unofficial perk is the Disney cleaning staff that has been known to arrange your child’s toys into funny little scenes, write a sweet note on a Magnadoodle, and various other little surprises you might return to after a day in the parks.
Having said all that, I recommend families with toddlers stay at one of Disney’s All-Star resorts. They are some of the cheapest that Disney offers at less than $100/night and they are big on Disney magic! Our favorite is the All-Star Movies resort; how can you go wrong with giant Dalmatians (Hint: there are exactly 101!), a Fantasia themed pool, and huge Buzz and Woody dolls on the buildings? A close runner up is the Pop Century resort which celebrates pop culture with larger than life replicas of things that will take you back to your childhood-whichever decade that may be in! There are huge bowling pins, giant foosball players, an enormous laptop and so much more! They even have humungous Disney characters that coordinate with the decade that their movies were released! Okay, I’m getting excited just thinking about it.
Whichever resort you choose, though, you can be sure that it’s packed to the brim with Disney magic 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year!
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