Who should stay at a hotel inside Disney World? Good question. Not everyone needs to stay with the Mouse. In fact some of you definitely shouldn’t stay in a Disney hotel.

Choosing a hotel for your magical vacation is the most important choice you’ll make. It’s the place where you’ll spend the most time. There are lots of choices when it comes to Orlando hotels. The first decision is whether to stay onsite (at a hotel inside Disney World) or offsite (somewhere else).

The best hotel inside Disney World is …

the waterfall inside the Polynesian Resort

Photy by Dan Padavona

Staying Onsite

We love staying at Disney Resorts. Our favorite is the Polynesian Resort. Dad thinks the Polynesian is just about as close to heaven as you can get. We stay there on any Disney World vacation where we can afford it.

When Disney opened the All Star Resorts it became affordable for almost anyone to stay in one of the hotels inside Disney World. Disney even runs specials during the year where rooms are priced as low as $49.00 per night. You can’t beat that.

Some of the pros for staying onsite

Here are some of the pros for staying in a hotel inside Disney World:

Mickey Mouse wake-up calls
Disney 24 hours per day
Free Disney Transportation
Beautifully themed resorts
Disney labeled soap and shampoo
Short commutes to the parks
Package delivery to your room
Charging privileges to your room
Extra Magic Hour
Entry to the parks

Some cons of staying onsite

Not everything is perfect staying in a Disney Resort. Here are some of the “cons” for staying at a hotel inside Disney World:

Disney 24 hours a day – All Disney all the time can get annoying
Food cost – Disney’s food is a little pricey
Lack of restaurant choice – There are some great restaurants just outside of The World.
Price – Disney Resorts cost more than comparable hotels
Limited availability – sometimes choices have to be made
Lack of discounts – Disney offers discounts only at certain times of the year
Room – The rooms in the Disney Resorts are sometime a little smaller than comparable rooms at other hotels.

Staying at a hotel near Disney World

I did a search for a hotel close to Disney World today and came up with 438 choices. That’s incredible. That doesn’t even count rental houses, small mom-and-pop hotels, and non-participating hotels like Motel 6. It’s absolutely amazing how many accommodation choices you have in the Orlando area.

There are some real advantages to staying outside “The World”. You have greater access to restaurant choices, entertainment options (other than Disney), and you a wider variety of hotels to choose from. But with those advantages come some disadvantages. The commute from you hotel to the parks can be annoying.

There are some non-Disney hotels on Disney Property

Here are some of the pros of staying offsite

Here are some of the reasons to stay at a hotel not inside Disney World:

More choices/options – 23 vs. 438
Easier access to more restaurants and more affordable restaurants – McDonalds on every corner
Closer to shopping
Not overwhelmed by all Disney all the time
Better TV options (Disney hotels tend to put a lot of Disney owned channels on)
Can be cheaper
More discounts available
Frequent flyer mileage

There are other reasons, but these are a good start.

Some of the cons of staying offsite

I-4 (traffic)
You don’t have access to Disney’s amenities (Extra Magic Hour, free parking, etc.)
Not real sure of the quality of the hotel
Long commute to and from the parks, not easy to slip out for a nap or emergency
On very busy days, Disney closes the parks to outside guests

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Dad’s Bottom Line

Given a choice Dad will stay in Disney hotels. The ambience, the cleanliness, the convenience, and everything else Disney does so well, makes us want to come back. (We’ve even stayed in the Pop Century twice.) When we stayed outside “The World” (before the Moderate and Value Resorts) we were jealous of the people that stayed in “those rich hotels”.