One of the largest expenses of visiting Walt Disney World is where you will stay. Will we stay on-site or off-site? Do we need a larger room to accommodate more than 3-4 people? Will we need 2 rooms rather than 1? How close to the parks do I want to be? Will we be in the room enough to warrant a moderate or deluxe hotel or will the value hotel be enough? We have all asked ourselves these questions every time we visit the most Magical Place on Earth! So let’s start at the beginning………
On-site or off site? Staying off site the hotels can be less expensive. BUT, think about the cost to park each day at either the Transportation Center or a park. You cannot take a bus from Disney Springs to a park, you will have to take a bus to a hotel and then to a park. Think about the return trip also in the evening. You have just lost roughly 1-1/2 to 2 hours from your time in the park just getting back to your off site hotel.
If you are staying off-site and are close to Walt Disney World, some hotels do provide shuttles, but these shuttles do not run as often as Disney buses and their parking places are out in the parking lot far from the Disney buses, so walking to them is further.
In other words, instead of on-site or off-site – what is your time worth? Even spending an additional hour each day x the number of people in your party x let’s say minimum wage + the cost to park = probably will off-set the additional cost to stay on-site.
Larger room? This of course depends on how many people are in your party. Even the value-hotels have enough room for up to 4 adults. Two of the value hotels also have family suites available that can accommodate up to 6 adults and have a small kitchenette with a microwave and frig with counter space for quick meals. They also have 2 bathrooms. I have friends that have stayed in these several times and they love them. I have found when traveling with 2 couples, 2 rooms worked well so each had their privacy. You can find the family suites in All-Star Music Resort or Art of Animation. Art of Animation is almost completely family suites, except the Little Mermaid area. Which leads me to………..
Will we be in the room enough to warrant a moderate or deluxe hotel or will the value hotel be enough? If you are only planning to be in the room to sleep, how much room do you need? Or will you be back to the room mid-day for naps, down-time or swimming. Keep in mind, like most hotels you may not have enough drawers for everyone to have space, but there is a shelf above the hanging clothes area. I found this to be too high so we took a hanging 6 shelf hanger that folded flat to travel. This gave us plenty of room to unpack. Are you used to having slightly more room to get ready in the mornings or for bed at night? All the value-hotels do have a curtain to block off the bathroom area from the beds, so letting those kiddos sleep a little longer is possible. And of course, you will find a more space in the moderate and deluxe standard rooms, so more room to spread out.
Where do you like to stay when visiting Walt Disney World?
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Debbie and her husband live in Collegedale, TN where her youngest son is going to college. She is a huge Disney fan who dreams of someday retiring and working as a tour guide at Walt Disney World. She has enjoyed many trips to WDW with children, grandchildren and sometimes adults only. It is her ultimate goal to make sure everyone who visits WDW has the same magical time that she enjoys every time she visits.
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