Where to Stay for your Walt Disney World Vacation?
Walt Disney World is the size of a city and features over 20 resorts on property! Planning a Walt Disney World vacation can quickly become overwhelming because between deciding where to stay, learning about the 4 theme parks, understanding Lightning Lanes and so much more, but that is exactly why my job exists. And as someone who has personally been to Walt Disney World over 20 times and stayed at many of the resorts (or at least visited almost all of them), I specialize in Walt Disney World vacations and work hard to help my guests feel prepared to have their BEST WDW vacation.
But it all starts with where to stay.
Walt Disney World is located in the Orlando, Florida area and there are thousands of hotels in and around Orlando. But not all hotels are created equal. There are also options such as house rentals, timeshares and more. There are even hotels that are considered “Good neighbor hotels” where they might still offer some of the Disney perks like early entry without staying on property.
I’m going to be very frank that 99% of the time, your best price and best experience will come when you stay at an official Walt Disney World resort. Guests think that they will save money when they stay off-site but they don’t factor in travel time to and from the parks/Disney property, not having early entry, the added costs for parking and/or a rental car and more.
When you book your package at an official Walt Disney World resort, you have access to some amazing perks:
Closest to the magic- reduce wasted time having to travel back and forth (because Orlando traffic can be BRUTAL) PLUS every Disney resort offers complimentary transportation to and from all 4 theme parks. Different resorts will offer different transportation and you can even walk to select parks from certain resorts!
Early Entry to the parks- I understand getting up early on your vacation doesn’t always sound like a perk. However, for most guests, booking a Walt Disney World vacation is an investment and most of my clients say they “want to get the most/best experience” out of their trip. Early entry allows these guests to enter select areas and onto select attractions within any of the 4 theme parks, 30 minutes before all other guests. This means shorter wait times and more time to do the things you really want to do during your trip.
Amazing customer service- there truly is a Disney difference. Cast members want your visit to be magical and even with the many times I’ve visited, I can count on 1 hand the number of times that I’ve experienced a grumpy cast member (anywhere on Disney property). Being kind and polite to the cast members goes a long way as well.
Building an all-inclusive vacation package- guests who stay at an official WDW resort can book their stay as a package where they can book their hotel, tickets and even add things like Memory Maker and a dining plan to their visit (only guests staying on property at WDW can add the dining plan PLUS kids ages 3-9 get the dining plan for FREE in 2026 when you add for the adults in your party!!!). This includes Disney’s flexibility refund policy and the ability to make payments along the way until final payment is due 30 days prior to arrival.
It’s only $200 to secure your WDW package AND that deposit is refundable up until 30 days before you arrive! So you can lock in your preferred resort and the rates for just $200 but if something goes wrong and you need to cancel or change your dates, Disney offers amazing flexibility.
Bonus- Disney will occasionally offer promotions where we can get you an upgrade on your package or even save you money! This is something I monitor automatically for my clients. When Disney drops promotions, wait times to get these promotions applied can often go for hours. So instead of you wasting time on hold just to find out that your current room type doesn’t qualify, I am able to either sit on hold or check things in the travel agent system to see where to find you the BEST value for your vacation.
Guests staying off property won’t get these same perks and when you purchase tickets separately (required when you stay at many off site resorts especially when doing rentals), tickets have to be paid in full at the time you purchase and are non-refundable. Pricing can also change on tickets so waiting to purchase can be a downside. But when you purchase them in your package, you are locked into your pricing which is a great way to save money.
Want help choosing the best place to stay for your Walt Disney World vacation? Head over to my quote forms to get started!
