The Cost Of Staying At Disney vs Off Property
If you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World, there’s a good chance that you’ve found yourself stumbling upon the age old question of whether or not staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel is worth the cost. It’s a good question and one that people have found themselves asking a lot these days. With the discontinuation of Disney’s Magical Express, Extra Magic Hours and other perks for staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, there are a lot of people out there claiming that it’s no longer worth the price. . . . but what exactly is that based on?
Today, we’re going to take some time to find out. . . . . but not based on personal opinions or preferences. We’re basing this one on the numbers!
Truth be told, here at 2 Foolish Mortals we’ve been having an ongoing conversation about this very topic since we returned from our trip to Walt Disney World in Summer 2021. Wanting a new experience, we booked an affordable “off property” hotel and rented a car for our long weekend away. When we got home, we were curious about how much money we’d spent and so we broke everything down to find it was nearly $400.00 per night. That figure made us even more curious and so we eventually decided to go the route of planning a vacation for the sake of crunching numbers. . . . which exactly where the numbers we’re discussing here come from.
The main goal here, for this number crunching thing we were about to undertake, was to make sure we were working with real numbers. While it’s very easy to do basic searches and present those results on their own, we wanted to make sure we were including everything that would factor into the price of a hotel, like taxes and fees. We also wanted to look for real dates that were in the future so that we could get an idea of what it would look like to plan an actual vacation, rather than seeing what we could get a room for “tonight”. Last, but certainly not least, we wanted to make sure that we were factoring in transportation. One of the biggest perks of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel is the complementary transportation to the theme parks. This transportation from your hotel to the theme parks also happens to be one of the biggest expenses that people often forget to calculate when staying “off property”.
[NOTE: For a more in depth discussion about this topic, we’d like to invite you to materialize on over to the 2 Foolish Mortals YouTube Channel. There, you’ll find our original LIVE Broadcast where we talk about all of this information and the futures that we’ll be discussing here. We’d also like to encourage you to hit the “subscribe” button so that you won’t miss any of the future Number Crunching videos we put out. Thanks in advance!]
Aside from the basics that we briefly outlined above, we also wanted to make sure that there would be enough room for a family. For the sake of this particular situation, we decided to include 2 adults and 1 teenager. This means that all of our calculations, to include hotel rooms and car rentals, would need to accommodate 2 adults and 1 teenager. [NOTE: We know that families come in many different shapes and sizes. In the future, we’ll be sure to change things up from time to time in order to crunch numbers for larger families as well. However, what we didn’t include in our calculations are any extras or add-ons. This means that we’re not factoring in the price of insurance or gas for your rental car. We’re also only allotting for 1 round trip via rideshare to each of the Walt Disney World theme parks. While we recognize that this isn’t going to be the most ideal scenario for every family, we wanted to make sure that we were factoring in the bare minimums while also keeping things as affordable as possible.
With all that having been said, we pulled up a date [May 13 through 16, which happens to be during the Flower & Garden Festival] and started to see what numbers we could come up with. Though we had an idea of what to expect, we were honestly a little surprised by the way things worked themselves out! Let’s take a look. . . .
Taking into consideration that the topic of staying “off property” usually goes hand in hand with saving money, we wanted to start our search by trying to find the absolute cheapest hotel that we could. What we found was the Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando which comes in at $33 per night.
By the numbers, the Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando seems to be exactly the type of place that people are talking about when they say staying “off property” can save you lots of money. Even with the $13.62 per night resort fee, the price for the Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando, coupled with the fact that it’s about 10 minutes from each of the Walt Disney World theme parks, makes it seemingly hard to beat. However, there is more to take into consideration than the price of the hotel. . . . and we are not talking about the other expenses that need to be factored in. A quick look at reviews of Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando show that it is, what we would describe, as less than acceptable. Not only is the hotel in disrepair, but it is very much unclean and arguably unsafe.
[IMPORTANT NOTE: While we are bringing up Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando for the sake of today’s discussion, we want to make it abundantly clear that we do not recommend this hotel as an option. We know that there are a lot of you who’ve materialized here today because you’re looking to find affordable alternatives to staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel and we want to help you do that. . . . but not if it means staying at a hotel like this. Quite frankly, the state of Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando is that of a hotel that we wouldn’t consider touring, let alone staying for a night. With wallpaper falling off the walls, visible mold, stains on almost every surface, trash everywhere and lots of bugs. . . . . we barely want to include it in today’s discussion. It’s important that we do though, because we want to give the most honest set of numbers we can.]
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After our search for the cheapest hotel near Walt Disney World, it was time to find something that we felt comfortable describing as affordable and also reasonable. This is when we found Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites. Coming in at an average of about $137 per night, Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites falls into a price point that we have had a decent amount of success with in our travels. On top of what we’d consider to be a reasonable price, the hotel also has good ratings and reviews across platforms.
While neither of us have stayed at Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites in the past, it is a place we would consider staying at in the future. The price is reasonable and combined with the good reviews across platforms, it seems like a stay at Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites would be a positive experience.
Of course, we can’t talk about staying “off property” without factoring in the additional expenses that come with those “off property” savings. More specifically, the cost of transportation.
The cost of transportation, or getting to and from your hotel to the Walt Disney World theme parks, is often overlooked when people bring up the savings you could enjoy when staying “off property”. However, focusing on the nightly rate of staying “off property” alone doesn’t paint a full picture of what it would cost in comparison to staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, where transportation to and from the theme parks is complementary and abundant. [NOTE: Some hotels in the Orlando area offer free shuttles to and from the theme parks, but they are often very limited and need to be scheduled in advance. We’ve also noticed that the number of hotels that offer shuttles and the number of trips that are made each day have been limited or eliminated due to the pandemic. For this reason, we’re not considering these shuttles as an option.]
To complete this picture we were painting, of the actual cost to stay at an “off property” hotel, we decided to factor in the cost of using rideshares to get around as well as renting a car. Currently, these are the 2 options that people tend to gravitate towards when choosing to stay “off property”. They are also options that have seen dramatic changes in price over the past couple of years.
When looking at rideshare services, we decided to keep things as affordable as possible and calculate 1 round trip to each of the Walt Disney World theme parks with a 15% tip. Based on our past experiences using rideshares at Walt Disney World and staying “off property” this is what we consider to be a bare minimum. However, it’s also important to keep in mind that pricing and availability of rideshare services varies greatly depending on the time of day and location of your hotel. In our experience, what can be a $15 ride can easily jump to $60 depending on the time of day, assuming there is a car in your area willing to accept your request. This is an important detail to keep in mind if you’re seriously considering relying on rideshare services to get around.
The alternative to getting around via rideshare is to rent a car. While it is not as affordable as sticking with rideshare services, renting a car is the more reliable and self-sufficient option for people staying “off property”. . . which is likely why so many people tend to go that route. There are a number of rent-a-car companies to choose from, but we decided to go with Budget Rent-A-Car for the sake of today’s number crunching. The reason for this is somewhat simple; Budget Rent-A-Car had the most affordable pricing for the timeframe that wasn’t an estimate. While other third party sites we looked at came in at around $20 to $40 less than Budget Rent-A-Car, they also were clear that the actual cost would be calculated when picking up your car. That was not going to work for us. We also opted not to get any add-ons to the rental car that would have driven up the price like insurance, navigation or gas packages.
Aside from the cost of renting a car itself [and the cost of gas, which we haven’t included in our calculation], there are some additional expense that come with renting a car for your Walt Disney World vacation. More specifically, we’re talking about the price to park at the Walt Disney World theme parks. If you’ll be driving into the Walt Disney World theme parks and parking in the lot, you’ll need to pay in order to park. The parking fee varies depending on the type of vehicle you have and where you would like to park. You can check the Walt Disney World website for more specifics, but for most people who choose “Standard Parking” you’re looking at $25.00 per day.
[NOTE: Like many other things, the price of renting a car has been heavily impacted since the start of the pandemic. In fact, prices for rental cars skyrocketed in 2021. While there are some companies who have started to lower their prices since then, prices still remain significantly higher than they would have been pre-pandemic.]
Finally, having covered the cost of “off property” hotels, it’s time to talk about staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel.
There are a lot of hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort to choose from and they all come at different price points. To help Guests determine which will be right for them, Walt Disney World Resort Hotels are divided up into categories. These categories include:
Value Resorts - Walt Disney World Value Resorts are the most affordable places to stay on Walt Disney World property. Rooms at these resorts tend to be smaller than others, have just the basic in-room amenities and theming. These resorts also tend to be a bit further away from the theme parks. That having been said, Value Resorts have some of the best and most over-the-top theming of all the Walt Disney World Resorts. This makes them the perfect place for young families or those who really enjoy heavy handed theming.
Moderate Resorts - Walt Disney World Moderate Resorts are the middle of the road as far as price and theming is concerned. Rooms at these resorts are not what you’d likely describe as spacious, but they do tend to be larger than what you’ll find at a Value Resort and have just the basic in-room amenities. One of the big differences you’ll find at the Moderate Resorts is the theming. Inside the rooms and out, theming at Moderate Resorts is most definitely a step up from what you’ll find at a Value Resort. Rather than haphazard and heavy handed theming, Moderate Resorts are places where Disney makes an effort to transport you to a different place and/or time. This combined with a bit of Disney Magic makes these resorts a great place to stay for everyone from young families to a weekend away with some friends. Moderate Resorts also tend to be closer to the theme parks and will often have multiple forms of transportation to choose from.
Deluxe Resorts - Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts are the most expensive places to stay on Walt Disney World property. Best described as the luxury option, Deluxe Resorts offer the largest rooms, the most amenities, the most theming and the closest proximity to the theme parks. In fact, a number of the Deluxe Resorts are close enough to the theme parks that you can walk. Price point and proximity to the parks aside, the thing that really stands out about Deluxe Resorts is the theming. Deluxe Resorts go all in on the theming, but not in a way that will be ideal for all families. Unlike the Value or Moderate Resorts, Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts tend to focus much more on transporting you to a different place than making you feel like you’re at a Disney Resort. This means less distinctly Disney theming and more that makes you feel like you’re on the African Savanna or an island in the South Seas.
Of course, prices for different hotels vary as do the price for different rooms within those hotels. For the sake of this particular trip that we’re pricing out, we decided to go with the most affordable room we could get at each of the 3 above-mentioned categories. This turned out to be Disney’s All-Star Movies [Value], Disney’s Port Orleans - French Quarter [Moderate] and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge [Deluxe]. Once again, we kept things basic and looked at the most affordable rooms we could get in each category regardless of their location in the hotel.
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So what exactly did the numbers look like once we crunched ‘em together?
Based on what we found, the most affordable option available would be to stay at Maingate Lakeside Resort | Orlando and use rideshare services to get around. While we would not recommend going this route [for reasons we outlined above], it did come in at the lowest overall total of $305 for the long weekend. The price would then jump to $660 if you’re going the route of getting a rental car, technically making it the second most affordable option by $5.
The next most affordable option, coming in at a total of $665 was Disney’s All-Star Movies followed by Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites using rideshare services to get around. While there is only a $23 difference between them, we think that Disney’s All-Star Movies turns out to be the better deal. This is because staying at Disney’s All-Star Movies not only gives you early access to the theme parks, but also gives you unlimited free transportation to and from the theme parks.
Making the next jump in price we have Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites with a rental car. The total for this option comes in at $1030 for the duration of the trip followed by staying at Disney’s Port Orleans - French Quarter which is $1104. While there is a $74 difference in price between the 2 hotel options, we think that they’re an important illustration of how price per night isn’t the only number you should be looking at when trying to find the best value in terms of a hotel. Just looking at these 2 hotels alone, we’re comparing a $137 per night hotel with a $327 per night hotel and arriving at essentially the same final price despite one being $190 more per night than the other.
Last, but certainly not least, we have Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. This Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort comes in at a total of $1845, which is $741 more than Disney’s Port Orleans - French Quarter and $815 more than staying at Staybridge Suites Orlando Royale Parc Suites with a car rental. Based on the other options we’ve taken a look at today, staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is the biggest price jump that we’ve seen. That said, there are some additional benefits that you can enjoy staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge because it falls into the Deluxe Resort category. That benefit we’re referring to is Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This benefit allows guests staying at Deluxe Resorts to enjoy extra hours in select theme parks on select days. Whether or not Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is worth the additional price of staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is up for debate. Frankly, that’s a separate set of numbers that we’ll have to crunch some other time.
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At the end of the day, like with everything else, the decision of where to stay when visiting Walt Disney World is your own. There are a number of factors that go into the decision of where to stay and that can make the right decision look a little different for everyone. That being the case, if there’s one thing that we hope you’ll take away from today’s discussion it’s this: there is more to the price of a hotel than the nightly rate.
We hope that those of you who have materialized here today have found this discussion helpful and maybe even a little bit thought provoking. Our goal here is always to help you make the most out of your next Walt Disney World vacation, but helping you figure out how to save a little bit of money is always nice too!
Of course, as with all of the topics we discuss, we’d love to hear what you have to say! Join the Jamboree and share some of your thoughts, crunch some numbers of your own and socialize with other Foolish Mortals and Happy Haunts like yourself. We’ll see you there!