Our Top Four Reasons to Stay Onsite at Walt Disney World

Five of the last six times we’ve gone to Walt Disney World we’ve stayed on-site.  And please don’t count the first time against us, we didn’t know what FastPass+’s or Advanced Dining Reservations were!  And as they say…. when you know better, you do better!  So now no matter where we are in the world, trust that at 5am (CST) 180 days before our trip, we are on every tablet, phone, and laptop in our possession booking ADR’s.   Well, it’s just as sure of a bet that if the Hudson clan is heading to Walt Disney World, we are staying on property. Keep reading to find out our top four reasons to stay onsite at  Walt Disney World!

4. Proximity

– If you’ve ever been to Orlando, you know how downright torturous traffic can be at times.  Getting stuck in an Orlando attraction area traffic jam is like paying penance for being at the happiest place on earth while everyone else toils away in the drudgery of their monotonous everyday lives. 

Within a very few miles of each other you’ve got Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove,  and Legoland along with all their water parks, springs, outlets and city walks.  What that equals is a whole lot of people trying to get somewhere at the same time! 

Staying on property means that we are never more than a few minutes away from our park of choice for the day.  Rush hour is a non-factor when staying onsite.  While we usually drive a rental car, if we don’t feel like driving to the parks that day we can leave our car in the resort parking lot and hop on a Disney bus, jump on the monorail or call up a Minnie Van.  Whether you fly in (thanks to Disney’s Magical Express) or drive down, when you stay on-site at Walt Disney World you literally never have to sit behind a steering wheel during your entire stay!

3. Theming

– From 65-foot tall bowling pins to having more than 30 different species of African wildlife right outside your window, Walt Disney World does theming like no other resort on the planet!  Each of the hotels has an undeniable stamp of Disney written all over it.  Some are done up more whimsically than others but no matter what your budget, you still feel like you’re inside of Walt Disney World when you stay onsite. 

Our resort of choice is Pop Century!  We love all the memorabilia from the different decades, the bright colors, the ginormous cellphones and big wheels, and the overall throwbackness of the resort.  Whatever your taste and budget Disney has got you covered! One last thing… name one other hotel where searching for hidden mice and finding one is something to get excited about, ha!

2. Perks, Perks, and More Perks

– Whoever said favor ain’t fair was definitely talking about Walt Disney World!  The amount of perks Disney throws at their onsite guests makes it dern near impossible for us to think about vacationing any other way.  Now if you’ve never stayed onsite and don’t want to feel like the black red-headed step-child then I suggest you stop reading now so you won’t get your feelings hurt.  Here are a few of the perks offered to onsite guests:

–              Extra Magic Hours– Before the park opens and after the park closes to the general public, you and yours can keep partying like some rock stars!  Extra magic hours are offered at different parks each day only to those staying at one of Walt Disney World’s onsite hotels. (For a limited time Walt Disney World is offering Extra-Extra Magic Hours to all onsite guests!!! Click here to find out more details.)

–              Early FastPass+ Reservations– Y’all I’ve got another sure bet for ya!  No matter where we are in the world or what we are doing, at 6am (CST) 60 days before our next Walt Disney World Trip we are, once again, on every piece of technology we own snatching up our Fastpass+ reservations.  When you stay off property you have to wait until 30 days before your trip.  If you’ve gone to Walt Disney World any time in the past few years, I’m sure you’ve noticed how difficult it is to get those popular hard-to-get FastPasses.   Not to mention that’s with booking 60 days out, I can’t imagine 30!

–              Disney Dining Plan– I’m not sure if your family is like mine, but WE EAT!  Food is a major part of our existence and vacation amps that up by about ten thousand!  Couple our Hudson family love for food with our tight wad tendencies and BAM you’ve got the perfect candidate for the Disney Dining Plan. 

I want to eat all of the food! Yes all of it! But what I absolutely do not want to do is think about how much I’m paying for it.  A snack credit Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar seems to taste a little bit sweeter and melt a little bit slower than one I pay for with cash!  The Dining Plan allows you to prepay for your meals during your stay and not give it a second thought.  And whew chile, if you can manage to score Disney’s Free Dining Promotion then trust me when I say your whole life is about to change!!!    

The only thing better than a vacation, is an all-inclusive vacation!  Booking the Dining Plan makes any Walt Disney World vacation an all-inclusive one.  The only catch is dining plans are only available to those staying onsite! So onsite it is for the Hudson’s!!!

1. We Must Protect this Bubble

– In our article, Our Top Five Reasons You Should Go to Walt Disney World, we briefly touched on the importance of our bubble.  Let me reiterate the magnitude of how hugely vital this bubble is to the Hudson clan.  Inside of bubble… magicalness!  Outside of bubble… the struggle’s still real!  Inside of bubble… Mickey the mouse! Outside of bubble… Florida’s toll system! 

Once we enter that bubble almost nothing is important enough to bring us up out of that sucker!  Driving onto Disney property for us is equivalent to stepping into the magic wardrobe and coming out on the other side covered in snow!  There’s a whole magical world on the other side of the Walt Disney World welcome sign, and once I’m in I don’t want to come out until I absolutely have to. (By absolutely have to I mean they’re going to foreclose on our house if we don’t get back to work and pay some bills).  What’s more is Walt Disney World has done an unbelievable job making sure that I don’t have to come out!  They’ve got everything I need in the magical metropolis that is Walt Disney World.

So there ya go folks, our top four reasons to stay onsite at Walt Disney World.  Are you an onsite non-negotiable Disney goer?  If so, what’s your favorite resort?  Or does staying off property float your boat more?  Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by!