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The Pros and Cons of Staying On-Site

1. Cost: You should expect to pay $150–$175 per night (including taxes and fees), depending on time of year, for a clean, safe, well-maintained hotel room near Disney World. In or near this price range, on-site hotels come out ahead. Rooms at Pop Century Resort, for example, cost $183– $450 (before discounts) throughout the year. For even less, you could stay at the All-Star Resorts, all of which have been refurbished to look and feel almost exactly like the rooms at Pop Century. Still, for Skyliner access, we prefer Pop Century even with its slightly higher cost.

Off-site hotels and homes are often better deals for families looking for more space, or high-end lodging and service, for the same money. For instance, Disney’s cheapest family suite, at the All-Star Music Resort, sleeps six and costs $350–$716 per night. A comparable room at the Sonesta ES Suites Lake Buena Vista costs around $189–$304 per night, depending on the time of year. Renting a three-bedroom condo in Kissimmee is even cheaper: around $160–$260 per night. In 2024, my (Becky’s) family spent four nights at a two-bedroom condo in Oakwater Resort for less than $100 a night. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two walk-in closets, laundry machines, a full kitchen, and a living room. And we were less than 15 minutes from any of the theme parks! You can afford a longer trip with those savings—a fact that more than offsets the on-site perks.

Similarly, the cheapest room at Disney’s flagship Grand Floridian Resort & Spa costs about $780–$1,280. The cheapest room at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando (near the Magic Kingdom) is $70 above the upper end of that range. But the Four Seasons room is larger and better in every way, with restaurants generally as good as the Grand Floridian’s, along with superior customer service. And the pools are like their own water park.

While we think Disney’s least expensive hotels are worth the extra cost versus staying off-site, we receive plenty of negative reader comments. The vast majority are about the lack of value found at Disney’s more expensive hotels. A reader from Illinois is an example:

Before the pandemic, we stayed on-site at Disney resorts every time. I’m planning our first trip back, and I just don’t think paying onsite prices makes sense anymore. No Magical Express from the airport, no more free Fastpass+ selections. And we’re not early risers, so Early Entry won’t help us either.

Quite frankly, we agree that Disney’s Deluxe hotels—the Grand Floridian and Contemporary in particular—are overpriced. At both of these locations, what you’re paying for is the ability to walk to the Magic Kingdom.

The Hotel Information Table on pages 194–199 includes the cost range for both on-site and select off-site hotels at a glance.

2. Ease of Access: Even if you stay in the Walt Disney World bubble, you’re dependent on some mode of transportation. It may be less stressful to use the Disney transportation system, but, with the exception of getting to the Magic Kingdom, the fastest, most efficient, most flexible way to get around is usually by car. If you’re in EPCOT, for example, and you want to take your cranky kids back to the Contemporary Resort for a nap, forget the monorail; you’ll get back much faster by car.

The Disney transportation system is like most public transportation with its pros and cons, and users must expect inconveniences, including vehicles that arrive and depart on their schedule, not yours; the occasional need to transfer; multiple stops; time lost loading and unloading passengers; and other people just as desperate to catch a ride as you are.

If you plan to have a car, traffic on I-4 is the largest potential problem with staying at an off-site hotel, especially if you’re coming or going during rush hours. The closer your off-site hotel is to Disney property, the less risk there is in being stuck in I-4 traffic. Secondary roads, such as Turkey Lake Road, Palm Parkway, International Drive, and Universal Boulevard, can help get you around that traffic. A Kentucky dad was pleasantly surprised by the short commute:

My wife read in another guidebook that it can take 2 hours to commute to the parks if you stay outside Walt Disney World. I guess it could take 2 hours if you stayed in Tampa, but from our hotel on US 192, we could commute to any of the parks except the Magic Kingdom and have at least one ride under our belt in about an hour.

For commuting times from our recommended off-site hotels, see our Hotel Information Table on pages 194–199.

3. Food Costs: A few off-site hotels’ prices include some sort of free breakfast, ranging from fruit and pastries to pancakes, microwavable waffles, bacon, and eggs. The Disney hotels don’t. Depending on how hungry your family is in the morning, eating breakfast at your off-site hotel can save you a minimum of $6–$16 per person, per day versus breakfast in the parks. Or you can get groceries delivered to wherever you’re staying. My family does grocery delivery to our room whether we’re staying off-site or on-site, and it saves us a significant amount of money, especially on breakfast foods.

4. Young Children: Although the hassle of commuting to most offsite hotels is only slightly (if at all) greater than that of commuting to Disney hotels, a definite peace of mind results from staying in the World. Disney resorts are used to catering to kids, much more so than any hotels in the “real world.”

5. Splitting Up: If you’re in a party that will probably split up to tour (as frequently happens in families with teens or children of widely varying ages), staying in the World offers more transportation options and, thus, more independence. Mom and Dad can take the car and return to the hotel for a relaxed dinner and early bedtime while the teens remain in the park for extra rides.

6. Visiting Other Orlando-Area Attractions: If you also plan to visit Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, the Kennedy Space Center, or other area attractions, it may be more convenient to stay off-site or to split your stay.