Value Hotels: Which is the best?

Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
lazyboy97o said:
Since you are going to have a car, I would really recommend keeping offsite accommodations in mind. You can stay in a better room for less, even after paying to park.
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Oh, okay. What about distance and the Fastpass+ option? Are the offsite hotels close like the ones in Anaheim are? In regards to Fastpass+, will we even have the option? If we do, I'm guessing we won't have priority, am I correct?
 
Pooh'sBuddy

Pooh'sBuddy

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Thank you for your input! First timers, as in first time going to WDW and booking one of the hotels. My friend went once when she was little, but she doesn't remember, so she doesn't count it. We're from and live in California, so, as you can guess, we're Disneyland folk.
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Do you get a discount?
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Oh, okay. What about distance and the Fastpass+ option? Are the offsite hotels close like the ones in Anaheim are? In regards to Fastpass+, will we even have the option? If we do, I'm guessing we won't have priority, am I correct?
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You're right that as of now off site guests are not able to do the advanced FastPass+ reservations. If it is important to you to guarantee certain attractions, then do stay on site.

Exceptig maybe the EPCOT Resort Area, which are all Deluxes, nothing is close like at the Disneyland Resort. You're going to be spending time traveling to the parks no matter where you stay. The Value Resorts are some of the largest at Walt Disney World and the All Stars even often share buses.
 
SAV

SAV

Well-Known Member
If you aren't adamant about staying in the bubble, then off-site will be cheaper.

As for distance, WDW is set up much differently than DL. Even the Disney resorts(except the deluxes on the monorail loop) are a few minute drive to the parks. Time to each is dependent upon what park you are going to. That said, if you have your own car, then the time it would take you to get in line and shuttle to a park could be longer than it would be for you to stay quite a distance off-site and have your own vehicle.

Pop and the all-stars(Hey, that's a great name for a band) are furthest from MK. Close to AK and DHS. And Epcot is off to the side of all.

If you stay at some of the places along route 535, they may very well be closer to MK, but further from AK.

There are several beautiful resorts along International Drive that will have a larger room than on-site for less cost, but you will then have a 15 minute or more drive.

Does that matter to you? Do you want the full Disney experience and never leave the property? Do you want to drive to the parks or want to park the car and let Disney drive for you?

It's really all about what you want out of your first trip.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If the offsite hotels are that far away, staying on site would definitely be preferred. Getting to the parks is already going to take time, as stated already. I don't think we want to spend extra time just getting to the resort. Thanks for the input, everyone!
 
SAV

SAV

Well-Known Member
Keep in mind that on-site will also take you 5 -10 minutes to get to the park, depending on traffic and whatnot. So it may only be an additional 5 -10 minutes to save quite a bit of cash.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
Pop isn't near the All-Stars. They're in entirely different locations.

Some offsite places are closer to some parks than onsite places. Disney World is a big place.

Staying in Disney hotels is paying more money to stay in a Disney hotel, but you already know that. :) I assumed you'd already known that and made the decision to stay there, anyway. If you want to do that, you should!

If you have a car, onsite vs. offsite is much less of a deal. But there can be a decent amount of traffic in the summer, so you'd want to stay close to Disney if you stayed offsite. :)

That's a long drive!! I've thought about it, but...it's such a long drive. Let us know how it goes.
 
Tinkerfan4ever

Tinkerfan4ever

Well-Known Member
@raven24 I know you helped me a ton when we planned our DL trip last year. Hopefully you can get the same amount of help from all of us DW vets!

I really think you should stay on site if you can. The 'bubble' is very different at DW than at DL. Plus the extra magic hours are a great benefit for on site guests. It is similar to DL, except that it can be evening hours and sometimes the parks stay open till 2am for on site guests only. It can be a lot of fun walking around the parks at that time in the morning!

Between All Stars and Pop - I preferred All Stars. All Star Movies was my favorite. I liked the food court better (well... besides missing the tie dye cheesecake from Pop) and I had better experiences with the buses at Movies as well. But really, either choice is a great one!

I don't know what your dining plans are.... but one thing that is very different at DW vs DL is dining. I loved how at DL you could walk into a table service restaurant and just be seated. No reservation required. You can definitely get into some table service restaurants without reservations at DW, but it is going to be much harder to do. If you plan on doing TS, you will probably want to make reservations and if you stay onsite you can do that 180 days in advance. (and at 180 days - you can make reservations for the next 10 days of your trip... so 180+10 that we often talk about here!)

Have fun planning and ask lots of questions!
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tinkerfan4ever said:
@raven24 I know you helped me a ton when we planned our DL trip last year. Hopefully you can get the same amount of help from all of us DW vets!

I really think you should stay on site if you can. The 'bubble' is very different at DW than at DL. Plus the extra magic hours are a great benefit for on site guests. It is similar to DL, except that it can be evening hours and sometimes the parks stay open till 2am for on site guests only. It can be a lot of fun walking around the parks at that time in the morning!

Between All Stars and Pop - I preferred All Stars. All Star Movies was my favorite. I liked the food court better (well... besides missing the tie dye cheesecake from Pop) and I had better experiences with the buses at Movies as well. But really, either choice is a great one!

I don't know what your dining plans are.... but one thing that is very different at DW vs DL is dining. I loved how at DL you could walk into a table service restaurant and just be seated. No reservation required. You can definitely get into some table service restaurants without reservations at DW, but it is going to be much harder to do. If you plan on doing TS, you will probably want to make reservations and if you stay onsite you can do that 180 days in advance. (and at 180 days - you can make reservations for the next 10 days of your trip... so 180+10 that we often talk about here!)

Have fun planning and ask lots of questions!
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Thank you! We aren't planning on eating at any table service restaurants, so far. We may do one, but I'm not sure. We don't have the money for table service everyday.
 
coachwnh

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
raven24 said:
If the offsite hotels are that far away, staying on site would definitely be preferred. Getting to the parks is already going to take time, as stated already. I don't think we want to spend extra time just getting to the resort. Thanks for the input, everyone!
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We'd be more then happy to talk about this when we visit your park this summer!!!! I can return the favor after all the help you have given me the past two summers. Im happy you have the chance to make that drive and visit WDW!
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
coachwnh said:
We'd be more then happy to talk about this when we visit your park this summer!!!! I can return the favor after all the help you have given me the past two summers. Im happy you have the chance to make that drive and visit WDW!
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Aaawww, thanks, coach! I'm really looking forward to this trip. I remember when I was about eight or nine years old, I made my mom buy me a book about WDW. I read every page. Hopefully a visit is finally happening!
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I have only stayed at the All Stars so I can't really give an honest comparison. The All Stars are huge resorts. Almost 2,000 rooms each so a total of nearly 6,000 rooms. The bus service can get a bit crowded especially at busy times like park closing (after illuminations or wishes). Pop has its own bus line but has about 3,000 rooms so you have half as many people sharing a bus line. I think AOA is about the size of 1 All Star so it's probably the best choice from a transportation perspective.

Off property is cheaper, but it can be a bit of a drag getting to the parks (especially MK). To get from Intl Drive to MK parking lot may take about 15 minutes, but to get from your parking spot to the front gates can take an additional 20 to 30 minutes. The lot is not particularly close to MK. You have to take a tram from your car to the TTC. From there it is either a ferry boat across the lake or the monorail. If you get the express monorail that goes directly to MK that is probably the quickest. The other parks have just the parking tram to the front gate which really only adds another 5 to 10 minutes tops.

The value resorts all have food courts and if you have a car you can venture off property too for some cheaper eats.
 

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