Why You Should Always Stay at an Official Disney Resort
You should always stay at an official Disney resort. Period. Full stop.
I’m devout in this belief, and I’d like to explain why.
Here are several reasons why staying at an official Disney resort is the only option that makes sense.
Early Theme Park Entry
Each week, MickeyBlog tracks the average attraction wait times at various Disney theme parks.
What you’ll quickly learn about this topic is that some of Disney’s most popular attractions average hourlong waits, if not much more.
Your Disney vacation won’t be quite the same unless you check off all the E-ticket attractions during your visit.
You don’t want to spend most of your time standing in lines, though.
By staying at an official Disney resort, you unlock an amenity that can solve this dilemma.
Disney offers Early Theme Park Entry to guests staying on-site.
With this amenity, you’ll gain entrance to any Walt Disney World theme park 30 minutes before it opens to the general public.
In other words, you sneak into the park early and can target your most desired attraction for that day.
Thanks to this amenity, you can start your Disney day the right way.
Exceptional Logistics
Disney owns tens of thousands of acres of land at Walt Disney World.
When the company builds new hotels, it can position them close to Disney theme parks.
For this reason, official Disney resorts claim some of the best logistics imaginable.
Guests at two of the Value tier resorts, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, share the same logistics as pricier hotels.
They share the same Disney Skyliner system with Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Riviera Resort.
When you stay at any of these properties, you can ride the Disney Skyliner directly to two Disney theme parks, EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Of course, some hotels possess even better logistics. At Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, you can walk to EPCOT.
I don’t mean a long walk, either. It’s like ten minutes to the International Gateway entrance!
Somehow, you can even beat that. Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort resides so close to Magic Kingdom that a signal light matters.
When you don’t have to wait at this crosswalk, you can walk from the hotel lobby to the park entrance in five minutes. I’ve done it in one iPhone song before.
If you don’t catch the light, it’ll add two or three more minutes, but you get the point.
Disney’s official resorts reside so close to the parks that you’ll spend almost all your time on the rides rather than riding transportation to/from the parks!
Exclusive Lightning Lane Booking Window
Lightning Lane comes in two forms at Walt Disney World.
One kind of Lightning Lane stems from the Disney Genie+ service.
When you book a Disney Genie+ attraction, you’re scheduling a Lightning Lane.
The other form of Lightning Lane involves the top E-ticket attractions at the parks.
For a one-time fee, Disney allows you to skip most of the line on these rides.
Both versions of Lightning Lane can and do sell out. In fact, Disney Genie+ reservations for popular rides book quickly.
You’ll want to prioritize your favorites and then try to schedule a Lightning Lane as soon as the booking window opens.
That’s why you should stay at an official Disney resort. You’ll get to book Lightning Lane earlier!
Here’s the description from the official Disney site:
“Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel or other select hotels* may begin booking à la carte Lightning Lane arrival windows at 7:00 AM on the day of their park visit.
All other Guests with valid admission and a park reservation for the park they are visiting are eligible to purchase individual Lightning Lane entry when parks open.”
So, when you stay at an official Disney resort, your odds of booking a Lightning Lane for Tron Lightcycle / Run are MUCH higher.
Free Transportation and Scheduling Information
Disney operates four different forms of free transportation. You can take boats, buses, the monorail, or the Disney Skyliner to reach your destination.
At most Walt Disney World resorts, you’ll use the bus system, and management leans into that idea.
You can find bus schedule information on My Disney Experience.
Specifically, the app will show the expected arrival time of the next bus to each theme park. So, you’ll know how much time you have to catch a ride.
Once you arrive at Walt Disney World, all forms of Disney transportation are free to all guests.
Disney has integrated the system with much more detailed information for guests staying at official Disney resorts, though.
The Pools
You may think you’ve hung out at a swimming pool. Then, you visit a Disney resort, and you learn otherwise.
No other swimming pool could compare to the stunning detail, theming, and sheer size of what Disney hotels offer.
During your breaks from the Disney parks, you can grab a beach towel and head to the resort pool.
What you’ll quickly realize is that Imagineers have had a hand in designing architectural feats.
You’ll recognize this fact the moment you lay eyes on the Lost City of Cibola pool at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
Disney built fake temple ruins for no other reason than to provide a majestic backdrop for the hotel pool!
You’ll discover that sort of meticulous theming at many Disney resort pools. Oh, and the pool bars are great, too…
The Restaurants
Fine dining is a thing at Walt Disney World!
I know that sounds unbelievable, as you’ve probably eaten your fair share of disappointing theme park food over the years.
You’re not grabbing a corn dog at Six Flags. Instead, Disney hires some of the finest chefs in the world to helm its restaurants.
We’re talking about people who have competed on Top Chef, Iron Chef, and the like…and some of them are champions!
There’s a running joke that one of the quickest ways to get a Disney gig is by winning a Michelin Star.
These chefs set the menus at Disney resort restaurants. You’ll find places like Steakhouse 71, ‘Ohana, and Olivia’s Café near their hotel lobbies.
Each one serves some of the tastiest cuisines you’ll ever eat, and those are merely three examples among dozens!
You can leave the parks during/after a magical day and then dine at one of these places…at your hotel! I promise you it’s addictive.
The Theming
I’ve intentionally saved the best reason for last here.
When you stay at a non-Disney resort, the magic ends the moment you exit the park.
Neither ruins the illusion of Disney more than going back to an ordinary hotel room in an ordinary hotel.
Disney solves this problem by extending the Disney Bubble to all the official resorts.
When you stay at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, you’ll believe you’ve traveled back to the days of Ernest Hemingway’s Key West.
At Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter, you’ll celebrate Mardi Gras during your entire visit.
My favorite hotel, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, somehow recreates the vibe of a visit to the South Seas.
One minute, you’ll walk these beaches and feel the sand beneath your toes.
Soon afterward, you’ll board a monorail that will take you straight to Magic Kingdom or EPCOT.
At every Disney resort, you’ll experience something different and new thanks to the immersive theming.
That’s in addition to the amenities, logistics, and convenience all the properties offer.
Obviously, you should always stay at an official Disney resort.
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Feature Photo: How To Disney