Budget Saving Tips for Accommodation in DisneyWorld
Guest Blogger Kristin Graham offers insight into how to tackle Walt Disney World with kids including where to stay and eat and money and time saving tips in this three part blog series. This is part 2 of 3. Also see: Fun & Sun and Budget Saving Tips for Meals in Disney World.
By Guest Blogger Kristin Graham
With such a huge array of place to stay in and around Disney parks, it can get overwhelming to decide the best option for your family vacation to Walt Disney World. We have stayed both offsite and onsite as we balanced our budget and allotted our time. There are lots of great offsite options that are typically more affordable. These are usually better options if you have a car or if the hotel has a shuttle or is near a bus line.
The benefit of staying onsite is time and convenience thanks to the shuttle buses and boats. For the last couple of visits, we stayed in the Beach Club and BoardWalk Inn. Both are located on a circular boardwalk area with restaurants, activities (e.g., four-person bike rentals; a sandy beach), and short walks to both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Walt Disney World Epcot.
Tip: Staying at a Disney hotel allows you to enjoy Extra Magic Hours early entry (or later hours) certain parks on certain days. Ask the hotel about this when booking.
We like to rent a one-bedroom villa as it has a full kitchen (table, chairs, fridge, dishwasher, stove, microwave) plus a washer and dryer. With two kids, both of these features have been worth the extra money and helped offset the cost of eating out.
Tip: A villa is usually several hundred dollars a night so we call Disney directly to ask about specials, room layouts, and tips. You can also get their mailing lists for sale alerts. We have even changed rooms during our stay to hop between deals.
Family Faves – Disney Hotels:
• Beach Walk, Yacht Club or BoardWalk Inn – Great beach-y style hotels that are in walking distance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, connect to shops and restaurants around a wooden walkway, and have access to a private hotel-guest-only entrance to Epcot (a huge plus!).
• DisneyWorld Animal Kingdom – While more out of the way than other hotels, this hotel has safari animals on property in a private savanna (think giraffes, zebras, and other friends).
o Tip: Request a room overlooking the savanna and watch as they roam, eat, and sleep.
DisneyWorld Animal Kingdom Park
We have also done a hybrid approach where we stay offsite hotel for part of the time and then go onsite for the days we plan to be at the nearby parks. We’ve stayed anywhere from 4 to 8 days in Orlando and we always leave wishing we had done a couple more things.
I’ve also learned that for every three solid park days, our family needs one “rest day” where we sleep in, hang at the pool, or relax away from the crowds. Going to the parks is high-intensity and even the most energetic Disney-lovers need to recharge batteries or tantrums are known to occur (or so my husband tells me).
Tip: Pack your best shoes. My trusty pedometer clocks anywhere from 5 to 15 miles based on our park hopping. I learned long ago to bring tennis shoes and leave the cute shoes for our dinners and hotel-only walking.
About the Author:
After eight years as an executive at online travel giant Expedia, Kristin Graham set off this summer for a travel sabbatical with her family. Kristin has been telling stories since she borrowed a typewriter in elementary school. After 20 years writing for companies, she took a sabbatical from corporate life to travel with her husband and their two boys. You can follow Kristin’s adventures on her My Year of Life blog or on Twitter at @kristingraham.
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