We have the objective of going to Disney as often as possible. Therefore, we often stay offsite at Walt Disney World to make our trips more affordable.

My husband, Daniel, travels a lot for work. And with that work travel, comes countless hotel stays. 

Sometimes this allows us to stay on Disney World property at a non Disney owned hotel with most, if not all, of our nights covered by points. Because of these savings, it obviously makes a lot of sense for us to consider staying at a non Disney owned hotel. 

If staying at non Disney owned hotel on property there are often some if not all the same benefits as staying at a Disney World hotel. Namely those located in the Disney Springs, Bonnet Creek, and Flamingo Crossings areas. Additionally, the Swan and Dolphin located near Epcot.

Sometimes we don’t have enough points. So we need to pick a hotel farther outside the Disney World gates for less points per night. Or, when traveling with extended family we have stayed in AirBnbs forcing us to stay offsite at Walt Disney World.

Here’s some things you should consider before planning to stay offsite on your next Walt Disney World Vacation:

Transportation 

Once you are on Disney World property there are many forms of transportation available at no extra cost. At minimum there will be a bus. But there may also be the boat, the monorail, or the skyliner as well.

If staying off property, a rental car (your own if you drive), or a ride share like Uber or Lyft would be needed to get onto property.

Some of the non Disney hotels on Disney World property will offer transportation, but not all are complimentary. If they do so, these buses are usually on a schedule and not as convenient as the Disney World ones. 

A rental car, or a ride share to and from Disney World Property could cost about $30/day. (Estimates based on mini van rentals and personal experience). 

Many hotels do not include parking in their fees. So that would be another expense to consider if you had a car or a rental car. In our experience we have paid $25/night for parking our rental car.

Standard parking at Walt Disney World is $25/day. 

All of these things considered it could add another $30-$80/night.

Size of Travel Party

In 2021 we had a group of 10 people – 7 adults and 3 kids. At minimum, we would have needed three hotel rooms. We were able to get a 5 bedroom 4 bathroom house with a pool for less than $250/night.

Even with the need for two rental cars it was still more cost effective for our group to stay in a rental house together. In addition, it provided common living space for the adults to spend time together once the kids went to sleep. And the full kitchen allowed for us to make meals to save money that way. 

Whereas, offsite at Walt Disney World accommodations aren’t always less expensive for standard hotel rooms they really begin to provide savings for larger groups.

Space

For our vacation style, we like to have one bedroom hotel rooms. This helps to avoid tip toeing around once the kids go to bed. Especially when they were really little. 

We have stayed many places that have a separate living space. Including the DoubleTree at Disney Springs in a one bedroom suite and an AirBnb townhouse. 

And while Disney World resorts do have one bedroom suites, most are deluxe and therefore $$$$$. 

Offsite one bedrooms give us the space we desire to ensure our kids have more restful sleep to better tackle busy park days and at a more affordable cost. 

Distance from Parks

In popular AirBnb listings there is a lot of information about distance from the parks. Often times they will advertise being less than 10 minutes or miles from Walt Disney World Property.

This may be the case. But it still takes another 5-10 minutes once you are inside the gates to get to the parking lots. If you are going to Magic Kingdom, add another 20 minutes to take into account for parking, security and getting to the gates via the monorail or ferry. 

Such a commute causes earlier wake up times or missing rope drop.

Longer commutes also impact mid day breaks. Staying farther away from the parks cuts into a larger portion of your day to accommodate taking a break. 

We’ve always been very fortunate that our kids are great stroller nappers and so many times don’t find the need to go back during the day. But this also means, sometimes we don’t make it to fireworks.

Before booking our offsite stay, I always map search the directions to the Ticketing and Transportation Center at the Magic Kingdom. This is usually the farthest distance from everything and the park we spend the most time at. If it takes longer than 20 minutes to get to, I usually will try to book something closer. 

Theming

It is no secret Disney thinks of everything. So when it comes to hotel rooms, the theming is like no other. This is a large reason many people suggest you stay onsite for your Disney World Vacation. 

Staying offsite, the hotel rooms lack theming in many ways. But for us, we just need somewhere to rest our head. We typically are park open to park close people therefore this makes little difference to us. 

However, if Disney is a one and done vacation for you, paying the extra cost for the little extra doses of magic might be worth the added expense. 

Room Rates and Promotions 

We are very fortunate that all of Daniel’s work travel makes our Disney trips more affordable because we have free or very low cost lodging compared to most. Being so, it almost always saves us money to stay at a non Disney World owned hotel. 

I am headed to Walt Disney World in February for runDisney’s Princess Marathon Weekend. Therefore, I decided to price out what the cost of the cash rate, at the Hilton Double Tree at Disney Springs is compared to a Walt Disney World Hotel for the dates February 22-26, 2024.

For this example I chose the Double Tree because we have stayed there three times in the last four years on points. It also is within the Disney World gates and gets us access to Early Entry. Even with the Hilton Honors Discount, the cash rate is on average $251/night bringing the total cost to $1264.68. This is not using any points.

Because Disney is running a 25% off promotion for stays in Early 2024 its actually less expensive to stay at a Disney World hotel if we were paying the cash rate. The All Stars hotels would cost $917.75, and Pop Century would cost $1126.24. 

That is just based on cash rates alone. It doesn’t take into account the savings on a rental car or parking.

Promotions and time of year impact the cost of staying at a value level Disney World hotel. And may not be much more than non Disney owned accommodations. Taking into account the extra expenses associated with it. Onsite may actually be the more affordable option.

To ensure staying offiste are truly more cost effective than onsite stays, our rule of thumb is to ensure the cost per night is $150/night or less.

These are just a few things to consider when determining if staying offsite on your next Disney World vacation is right for you. 

In our experience an offsite stay can be just as magical as staying onsite. Especially because our goal is to make our Walt Disney World vacations the most affordable to that we can go more often. 

xo,

CoCo