Disney World resorts offer guests many benefits you won’t find staying at other hotels in Orlando. We’ve stayed at several Disney resorts and found that while each offers it’s own unique experience, there’s a resort to fit every family’s needs.

Our friends at Global Munchkins have all the inside info on Disney vacations. I found the cutest Disney family shirts for our last Disney trip.

Here is a list of reasons why you should choose a Disney resort when planning your Disney vacation:

Extra Magic Hours

When you stay at a Walt Disney World resort you get access to extra Magic Hours with your park ticket and resort ID. Extra Magic Hours mean you have either early access to the park before it opens to the public or after hours access to the park after it closes. Avoid the long lines, ride the most popular rides and enjoy Disney parks minus the crowds.

Guests staying at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels can also enjoy “Extra” Extra Magic Hours exclusively in Pandora – The World of Avatar from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM, May 27 to July 4, 2017.

See our sneak peek look at Pandora- The World of Avatar 

Early Access to FastPass+ and Planning Disney World Vacations.

Stay at a Disney Resort and you’ll have early access to reserve shows and attractions up to 60 days before arrival. Link your theme park tickets to your Disney reservation and you can start making reservations for FastPass+ selections, restaurants, shows and more through the My Disney Experience mobile app.

Save time and avoid waiting in lines by using FastPass+ to reserve a spot on rides you want to experience. Score a reservation at a popular character dining restaurant so your little one can meet Mickey and the gang. Early access means you’ll get to experience more magical moments and less frustration.

A few of our favorite Disney World rides you don’t want to miss:

• Seven Dwarf’s Mine roller coaster. This thrilling roller coaster ride takes you and down hills, around quick turns and into the dark as you get a glimpse of the dwarfs working away as they dig, dig, dig, dig and whistle away.  (Magic Kingdom)
• Haunted Mansion. I was four-years old when I rode this ride and I still remember the ghost that sat on top of my head at the end. This not-too-spooky ride is a classic that still delights all ages. (Magic Kingdom)
• Avatar Flight of Passage. I was lucky enough to get to experience this ride on a recent Disney media trip before it officially opens to the public May 27th. It’s amazing! Truly something you’ve never experienced before and absolutely must while you’re at Disney World. It’s pure virtual reality brought to life as you fly across Pandora on the back of a mountain banshee. (Animal Kingdom)
• Na’vi River Journey. Another soon to be open to the public part of Pandora, the Na’vi River ride takes you on a journey through a bioluminescent rainforest filled with glowing plant life and ending with a spiritual encounter with a sacred shaman. (Animal Kingdom)
• Frozen. We loved this ride! It’s a musical adventure filled with all your favorite Frozen characters and the latest technology and special effects. It’s impossible not to want to sing along and feel your heart soar when Elsa breaks into “Let it go!” (Epcot)
• Soaring. Take flight on a trip around the world! Feel the wind hit your face, smell the Sahara desert and the ocean tropics, watch the Eiffel tower light up the sky. (Epcot)
• Toy Story Midway Mania. We all had fun on this 4-D adventure through the world of Toy Story. This interactive ride let’s you take aim and fire away at carnival style targets featuring the characters from Toy Story. (Hollywood Studios)

Use FastPass+ to reserve a spot on popular rides like our favorite, the Seven Dwarf’s Mine 

Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom is another ride you’ll want to use FastPass+ for 

Complimentary Transportation and Parking

When you stay at a Disney World Resort your transportation needs are covered from the moment you arrive at the airport in Orlando. Arrange for transportation from the airport aboard Disney’s Magical Express service. Travel throughout Walt Disney World via motor coach, ferry boat or monorail.

We love riding the monorail! And getting to the parks from your resort is easy and convenient via the buses that are readily available to take you to and fro.

Parking is also free for guests of Disney resorts. Standard parking throughout the theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs and hotel areas is complimentary for resort guests.

Experience the Magic of Disney Right Where You Stay

Don’t let the Disney magic disappear when you leave the parks. When you stay at a Walt Disney World Resort you’ll experience the wonder and magic of Disney throughout your vacation. Every Disney resort offers uniquely themed accommodations with the same attention to detail and excellent service that is the Disney standard.

Kids will love the themed pools and fun activities offered at Disney hotels. Character dining experiences and Disney themed rooms make your stay even more memorable and magical, something they will never forget.

Disney Art of Animation Resort 

With plenty of options from Value resorts to Deluxe, there’s a Disney Resort to fit every budget. With 25 different resorts there’s a property that’s a perfect fit for whatever your family’s needs may be.

Choosing a Disney World Resort to Fit Your Budget and Needs

Value Resorts

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’S Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort 

Moderate Resorts 

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort- French Quarter or Riverside
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort  

Deluxe Resorts

• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Resort
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge 
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Disney’s Boardwalk Inn 
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort 
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge 

Disney Dining

When you stay at a Disney resort you’ll have easy, convenient access to a whole list of Disney dining options. From quick service meals to fine dining and everything in between, Disney resort guests are always a short stroll away from enjoying incredible meals any time of day. Have breakfast with Mickey and Minnie, grab lunch on the boardwalk or dine with a princess and enjoy a royal feast.

Disney Themed Rooms

Only at a Disney resort can you sleep in a bed that’s fit for a princess with twinkling lights above your pillow or see giraffes roaming just outside your window overlooking a savanna. Cruise into Radiator Springs and check-in to a family suite with your favorite Cars characters or sleep “under the sea” with Ariel and friends. Disney resorts offer many magical themed rooms that will delight guests of all ages.Royal Guest Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort 

Magic Bands

Magic Bands make your family vacation more convenient and easy to enjoy all that Disney has to offer. Choose a color and customize your Magic Band, then use it to unlock your hotel room, enter theme parks and water parks linked to your admission, charge food and merchandise, connect to PhotoPass images and check in at FastPass+ attractions.

Location

You want to make the most of your Disney vacation, so why waste time traveling to and from the parks from far away destinations. Stay at a Walt Disney Resort and you’ll be right in the middle of all the magic.  See a map of Disney World 

Disney Kids Clubs and Kids Activities

Disney resorts offer several children’s programs to keep kids entertained. Potty-trained children ages 3–12 can have fun at one of the Disney “clubs” hosted by several Disney resorts while adults enjoy a few hours away.

Special Offers, Deals and Discounts

You can take advantage of some pretty sweet deals and offers featured throughout the year when you choose a Disney resort for your vacation. From dining plan deals and discounted packages to special rates on park admission, there’s always a way to make staying at a Disney World resort work for your budget. Check out Disney Vacation Deals and Specials to see the current list of offers.

The perks of staying at a Disney World resort are one of those things you do not fully appreciate until you have experienced them firsthand. I will be the first to admit that the price tag on a Disney resort made me hesitate the first time we booked one. We had always stayed off-property, figured a hotel was a hotel and assumed the money was better spent inside the parks. But after our first stay at a Disney resort, my family and I have never gone back to staying off-site. The convenience, the benefits and the overall experience changed how we do Disney World resorts entirely.

If you are planning a Walt Disney World trip and weighing whether an on-site resort is worth the investment, here are the ten perks that made believers out of our whole family.

Early Theme Park Entry

This is the single biggest perk of staying at a Disney World resort and the one that has the most impact on your actual park experience. Resort guests get access to the parks 30 minutes before the general public on select days. That might not sound like much on paper but in practice it is everything.

Those 30 minutes are when the parks are at their emptiest. We have walked onto rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Slinky Dog Dash during early entry that would have been 90-minute waits by mid-morning. If you are traveling with kids who have limited patience for long lines (so, all kids), early entry alone justifies the resort stay. You get more done before 9:30 a.m. than most families accomplish in a full afternoon.

The key is having a plan. Know which park offers early entry on which day, pick your top two or three rides and head straight there. A lightweight daily planner you can toss in your park bag makes a real difference when you are mapping out which mornings to prioritize.

Free Transportation Across the Entire Property

Walt Disney World is enormous. Like, 25,000-acres enormous. Staying on property means you never need a rental car, never pay for parking at the parks and never sit in traffic trying to navigate the roads around the resort area.

Disney Word resorts provides complimentary buses, monorails, ferryboats and the Skyliner gondola system to get you between your resort and all four theme parks, Disney Springs and the water parks. The buses run continuously from early morning through well past park closing. The Skyliner connects several resorts directly to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios and honestly might be the most fun transportation I have ever used with my boys. They treated every ride like an attraction.

Not dealing with a car changes the energy of the whole trip. You are not stressed about where to park or how long the walk is from a parking garage. You just walk outside your resort, hop on and go. It is one of those invisible perks that reduces friction you did not even realize was there.

The Theming and Immersion Start at Check-In

There is a reason Disney fans are fiercely loyal to specific resorts and it has everything to do with how completely immersive the experience is from the moment you arrive. The theming at Disney resorts is not surface-level wallpaper and a few character photos in the lobby. It is architecture, landscaping, music, scent and storytelling woven into every detail.

Art of Animation feels like walking into a Pixar film. Wilderness Lodge feels like a national park lodge in the Pacific Northwest. The Polynesian smells like tropical flowers the second you step through the doors and I am not exaggerating when I say it shifts your entire mood.

For kids especially, the magic does not start when you scan into a park. It starts when they see their resort for the first time. That sense of being fully inside the Disney world (lowercase w) from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave is something off-site hotels simply cannot replicate.

The Pool Situation Is an Attraction in Itself

Disney resort pools are not your standard hotel rectangle with a couple of lounge chairs. They are themed, landscaped, slide-equipped mini water parks. Most resorts have at least one feature pool with a waterslide and a separate quiet pool for adults who want to decompress after a park day.

We have spent entire afternoons at the resort pool on our mid-trip rest day and the kids never once complained about not being in a park. The Stormalong Bay pool at Beach Club has a sandy-bottom entry and a lazy river that rivals actual water parks. Even the value resorts like Pop Century have pools with fun theming that kids love.

Pack a waterproof phone pouch and a quick-dry family beach towel set because you will use them more than you expect. A pool afternoon is one of the best ways to recharge without leaving the property.

MagicBand+ and Room Key Convenience

When you stay at a Disney resort, your MagicBand+ or room key card becomes your everything. It is your park ticket, your room key, your Lightning Lane tap, your PhotoPass link and your optional payment method all in one. Tap your wrist and you are through the gate. Tap it again and your purchase is charged directly to your room.

This sounds like a small thing until you are juggling a stroller, two snack cups and a toddler who has just spotted Mickey Mouse across the walkway. Not having to dig through a bag for a wallet or a separate ticket card is a genuine quality-of-life improvement when you are managing a family in the parks.

A MagicBand+ carrying case is worth grabbing if you are bringing multiple bands for the family. It keeps everything organized between park days and protects them in your luggage.

Complimentary Parking at the Theme Parks

This is a perk that saves real money. Theme park parking at Walt Disney World costs $25 per day for standard and $50 for preferred. Over a five-day trip that adds up to $125-250 just to park your car.

Disney resort guests park free at all four theme parks. If you do bring a car (we sometimes drive to Florida rather than fly), this perk alone offsets a meaningful chunk of the resort premium. Combined with the free transportation that means you rarely need the car anyway, it is one of the most straightforward financial benefits of staying on property.

Package Delivery to Your Resort

This is one of those perks that does not seem important until you are standing in a gift shop at Magic Kingdom holding three bags of souvenirs, two lightsabers and a stuffed Stitch that is the size of your five-year-old.

When you stay at a Disney resort, any purchase you make inside the parks or at Disney Springs can be delivered directly to your resort. You shop, they deliver, you pick it up at the resort gift shop the next day. No carrying bags through the parks, no trying to fit everything in a locker, no wrestling oversized plush toys onto a bus.

It makes shopping so much more relaxed because you are not doing the mental math of “can I carry this for six more hours.” You just buy what you want and it appears at your resort like magic.

Dining Perks and Resort-Exclusive Restaurants

Every Disney resort has its own dining options ranging from quick-service food courts at the value resorts to some of the best sit-down restaurants on Walt Disney World property at the deluxe resorts. Several of these restaurants are resort-exclusive, meaning you have access to dining experiences that off-site guests would need to specifically travel to and may not even know about.

California Grill at the Contemporary with its fireworks views, Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge with its African-inspired buffet and Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge are all experiences unto themselves. Having a great restaurant a short walk from your room after a long park day is a perk my husband and I especially appreciate. No driving, no parking, no figuring out logistics when everyone is tired and hungry.

A portable phone charger is essential for these long days that stretch from early entry through a late resort dinner. Your phone will not make it otherwise. Trust me on this one.

Extended Evening Hours at Select Parks

This is a perk specifically for guests staying at Disney deluxe resorts and it is a significant one. On select nights, deluxe resort guests get access to extended evening hours, which means two additional hours in the park after regular closing. The park is dramatically less crowded during these windows.

We rode Space Mountain three times in a row during extended evening hours with virtually no wait. It felt like having a private party. If you are debating between a moderate and a deluxe resort, this perk alone can tip the scale because the amount of riding you get done in those two quiet hours rivals what you would accomplish in a full afternoon during peak times.

The Mid-Trip Rest Day Is Actually Restful

Here is the perk that ties everything together: when you stay at a Disney resort, your rest day is not just sitting in a generic hotel room watching cable. It is a pool day with waterslides, a walk to Disney Springs for shopping and dining, a character meal at your resort restaurant or a lazy morning watching boats go by from your balcony.

The resort itself becomes part of the vacation rather than just the place where you sleep. That changes the pace of the whole trip. You do not feel guilty about skipping a park day because the resort offers enough to make it feel worthwhile. Your kids are happy, you are recharged and the next park day feels exciting instead of exhausting.

A resort day essentials bag packed with sunscreen, a reusable water bottle with a handle and a good book makes these days some of the best of the whole trip.

FAQ: Staying at Disney World Resorts

Is it really worth the extra cost to stay at a Disney World resort? For most families, yes. When you factor in free parking (up to $50/day savings), free transportation (no rental car needed), early theme park entry and the convenience of being fully on property, the price gap narrows more than people expect. The value and moderate resorts are surprisingly affordable, especially during off-peak seasons.

What is the cheapest Disney World resort to stay at? The value resorts are the most budget-friendly options. Pop Century, Art of Animation (standard rooms) and the All-Star resorts (Movies, Music and Sports) offer the full range of Disney resort perks at the lowest price points. They are clean, well-themed and perfectly functional for families who plan to spend most of their time in the parks.

Do all Disney World resort guests get early theme park entry? Yes. Every guest staying at any Disney-owned resort on Walt Disney World property, from the value resorts to the deluxe resorts, receives early theme park entry. This benefit is not limited to higher-tier resorts.

Can you walk to the parks from a Disney resort? Some resorts are within walking distance of specific parks. The Contemporary, Grand Floridian and Polynesian are walkable to Magic Kingdom. The BoardWalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club and Swan and Dolphin are walkable to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Most other resorts rely on Disney’s free bus or Skyliner transportation.

What should I pack for a Disney World resorts stay? Beyond your usual park essentials, bring swimsuits and a waterproof phone pouch for the pools, a portable charger for long days, comfortable walking shoes that can handle 20,000+ steps and a small day pack that fits under your stroller. A set of glow sticks or small toys for the bus rides back to the resort will save your sanity with tired kids at the end of the night.

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Staying at a Disney World resort turned our family trips from “fun but exhausting logistics puzzles” into vacations that actually feel like vacations. The perks are real, they compound on each other and they make the experience smoother in ways that are hard to quantify until you have lived them. If you are planning your next Disney trip and want to make the travel part easier too, my high-end travel must-haves guide at frostedevents.com covers everything I pack to keep our family comfortable from door to door.

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Shop This Post

• Lightweight Daily Travel Planner
• Waterproof Phone Pouch
• Quick-Dry Family Travel Towel Set
• MagicBand+ Carrying Case
• Portable Phone Charger Compact
• Clear Pool and Beach Day Tote Bag
• Insulated Water Bottle with Handle

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Thank you Disney for allowing us to “be your guest” and enjoy the benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World resort. I received complimentary accommodations for the purpose of writing this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own.