Benefits of Staying at a Disney World Resort Through 2025

Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel has its perks. Some apparent reasons make it sound appealing upfront, like complimentary transportation and early access to dining reservations. But there are numerous other benefits you might not have thought of or aren’t aware of at all.

You’ll want to consider these things when selecting a hotel. Below, we’ll discuss the benefits of staying at a Disney World Resort and how they apply to you as a guest. Additionally, we’ll review retired benefits and how they might affect your trip. If it’s been a couple of years or longer since you last planned a Walt Disney World vacation, you might be surprised at how things have changed.

Disney World Resort Hotel Benefits

Here is a list of the perks and benefits of staying at a Disney World Resort through 2025.

1. Complimentary Transportation
2. Early Theme Park Entry
3. Extended Evening Theme Park Hours (Select Resorts)
4. Early Access to Dining Reservations
5. Early Access to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass
6. Complimentary Parking at the Resorts and Theme Parks
7. Proximity from Room to Parks for Breaks
8. Staying at a Disney Resort Saves You Time
9. Many Standard Rooms Can Sleep up to 5 Guests
10. Fun-Themed Pools at the Resorts
11. Plenty of Dining Options
12. Resort Recreation Offerings
13. Discounted Magic Bands
14. Being in the Disney Bubble
15. The Disney Dining Plan
16. First Day Water Park Access (New! For 2025 only)

Below, we’ll examine each of these options in further detail. Then, we’ll discuss a few items that are no longer available.

#1 Complimentary Transportation

Disney offers resort guests free transportation to and from the hotels to its theme parks and other destinations. Depending on which resort you choose, you’ll have access to one or more of the following forms of transportation:

• Buses
• Monorail
• Watercraft
• Skyliner

While Disney transportation is available to anyone visiting Walt Disney World, resort guests have a considerable advantage. Hopping on a bus and traveling to and from the theme parks is a huge convenience and often a relief.

You won’t have to worry about where you are going, how you will get there, rely on GPS, or anything else that comes along when traveling. In most instances, you can locate the bus stop nearest your room and wait for the next bus to arrive.

Of course, you’ll want to consider which resorts offer various perks, like Skyliner or Monorail access. If you’re itching to stay at a hotel with these options, consider our guide to the Hotels on the Monorail at Disney World.

#2 Early Theme Park Entry 

In recent years, Disney World began offering early theme park entry for resort guests. This benefit has been extended through 2025. Early theme park entry allows guests to access the theme parks 30 minutes early. This benefit applies to all resort guests and is available daily at all four parks. 

So, no matter which park you visit, you can enter 30 minutes ahead of the crowd. Of course, you’ll want to get to the parks early enough to take advantage of this offering. We recommend getting to the park of your choice at least 30-45 minutes early with a plan to head straight to an available attraction during that time.

Related: Hotels Eligible for Early Theme Park Entry

#3 Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

Let me clarify that this benefit is NOT for every Walt Disney World Resort. It only applies to guests of Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts. This benefit has been extended through 2025.

Select parks offer extended theme park hours on select evenings after closing. These hours allow deluxe and deluxe villa resort guests to remain in the parks for up to two hours longer. Typically, we see these hours offered twice weekly. Most of the year, Magic Kingdom participates in extended evening hours on Wednesdays and Epcot on Monday evenings. However, these scheduled evenings often shift to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios during the holiday season.

We have taken advantage of evening hours many times now and have been able to ride the majority of attractions we desired during the time period. We have a schedule that lists the dates and attractions available during extended hours. As your vacation approaches, these extra hours will also be listed in the My Disney Experience app. We think it’s critical to check the park schedule and hours of operation ahead of time. You can do so by opening the app and selecting park hours from the home screen.

#4 Early Access to Dining Reservations

If you’ve ever visited Walt Disney World, you know getting those dining reservations booked well in advance is essential. Advanced reservations for meals can be booked up to 60 days in advance. (This is a significant change from the former 180-day mark you might have had on a previous trip.)

What’s the benefit here? Resort hotel guests can make reservations 60 days in advance for the entirety of their stay. Have a week-long trip planned? Then, you can make all your reservations at 60 days out. You’ll have a jump-start on every guest checking in a day later and a considerable time ahead of anyone visiting from off-site.

While this might not sound like a huge advantage, it is for those difficult-to-get reservations. So mark your calendar and don’t miss these extra few days! Reservations become more challenging to secure with each passing day. However, Disney has implemented some changes to the reservation system that have made it easier for guests to secure some of those hard-to-get reservations.

Bonus Tip: The same practice applies to Disney’s Enchanting Extras, such as cabana rentals and fireworks cruises. You might be surprised at how quickly some of these activities fill up! You can find the Enchanting Extra Collections on Disney.com.

#5 Early Access to Lightning Lane Single Pass and Multi Pass

This new benefit is for guests of Disney Resort Hotels, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, the Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green Resort. Guests of these resorts can purchase passes up to seven days before their stay. Lightning Lane passes will be available for the days that you have valid theme park admission, beginning at 7:00 a.m. (Eastern).

Therefore, seven days before your trip, you can select your first three (3) Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions for each day of your trip. You can also purchase up to two (2) Lightning Lane Single Passes per day where applicable.

We have compiled a one-stop Disney World Lightning Lane Guide covering the entire process. We highly recommend reading that guide and familiarizing yourself with the process well beforehand. Having a plan and selecting these experiences before your trip will be a huge advantage when touring. A Disney World vacation is an investment for your family, and if you plan ahead, you’ll reap the benefits.

#6 Complimentary Parking at the Resorts and Theme Parks

Until this last year, parking was one of those catch-22 things at Disney. Formerly, if you were staying at a Disney Resort with a car, you had to pay to park at the resort. However, parking charges for resort guests were dropped! Resort guests with a car no longer incur nightly parking charges at their resort.

This is a huge deal because parking charges formerly ranged between $15.00 and $25.00 per night, depending on the resort category. This benefit will also encourage more guests to stay on-property rather than off-property.

Resort guests driving to the parks also receive complimentary parking. Show your Keys to the World card or MagicBand at the gate, and cast members will let you continue to the parking lot. This advantage is significant because if you stay off-site, you’ll likely pay for parking at your resort hotel and have to pay to park at the parks! You could easily incur parking charges of $60.00 a day when staying off-site!

#7 Proximity to Resort from the Parks for Breaks

Spending the morning in the hot Florida sun might make you want to return to your resort mid-afternoon for a break. And who can blame you? Especially if you’re going to return in the evening for fireworks.

A huge advantage of staying at a Disney Resort is that you can reasonably return to your resort. For instance, if you are visiting Magic Kingdom, the bus stop is outside the park’s entrance.

However, if you were staying off-site, you would have to travel back to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Then, you’d have to tackle the parking lot to find your car or wait for the off-property shuttle to pick you up. Meanwhile, if you stayed at a Disney resort, you’d probably be napping in your room—or maybe at the pool. Who knows if you’ll even return to the parks after a bit of relaxation time?

#8 Staying at a Disney Resort Saves Time

If you don’t know your way around the Lake Buena Vista area like the back of your hand, staying on Disney property will save you time. It’s true.

Sure, there could be times when you feel like you waited forever for a bus or when you don’t know how to use complimentary transportation to get to Epcot from Magic Kingdom. But these times will probably be trivial in the overall scheme of things.

You also won’t get stuck in traffic like the people waiting to pay at the park entrance. Disney buses have their own entrance lane for accessing the parks. If you’re headed to Disney Springs, a separate bus lane begins as you approach the venue. It’s a massive time-saver for the bus routes on crowded evenings.

Plus, you’re on Disney property, which means minimal traffic lights and large open roads with multiple lanes. Traffic tightens when you leave the property, and those long Florida traffic lights are everywhere. Not to mention, with so many tourists, Orlando traffic has become a bit of a nightmare. Thankfully, you’ll never experience it when you stay on the property.

#9 Many Standard Rooms Sleep Up to 5 Guests

Are you a party of five that includes at least one small child? Many Disney Resort rooms have options with an individual pulldown bed accommodating a small child. For example, the bed in the photo below is an option for a 5th guest at Disney’s Caribbean Beach.

Unfortunately, this benefit isn’t available at every single resort. We recommend checking with your travel agent to see which resort works best for you! Our friends at Firefly Travels would be happy to help if you’re not already working with someone.

#10 The Pools at Disney World Are Awesome

All of the resorts at Walt Disney World have incredible pool areas! You might pick one of the resorts with a waterslide or keep it casual at a value resort. Don’t get me started on Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club. It’s more of a water park than an actual pool.

Disney also has you covered if you don’t like the crowds and fuss of a larger pool. All the resorts have quiet pools in addition to the feature pool, except for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. But we’ll let them slide because their extra acreage is home to savannas with African animals. How cool is that? 

Related: List of the Best Pools at Disney World

#11 You’ll Have Plenty of Dining Options Nearby

You will have plenty of dining options at a Disney Resort Hotel. However, those staying at a value resort are limited to the food court when dining at the hotel. But even they offer a multitude of options. If you were to stay at a moderate resort like Disney’s Coronado Springs, you’d have plenty of options. For example, Coronado Springs has eleven restaurants.

Additionally, the deluxe resorts have excellent dining options. Those who want something different can take a bus to Disney Springs. However, it might be hard to choose with so many options. Consult our list of the best restaurants at Disney Springs to learn more.

#12 Resort Recreation

Another perk of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort is having many things to do! Each resort offers free recreational activities to take advantage of during your stay.

One of those things is the Movie Under the Stars program. Movies are held nightly at or near the resort’s feature pool. So, pull up a lounge chair, grab some popcorn, and settle down for a unique Disney movie experience. Maybe they’ll play Star Wars or one of your family’s favorites.

#13 Discounted Magic Bands

Magic Bands were formerly provided to resort guests. Unfortunately, that perk ended some time ago. However, Disney offers a discounted “pre-arrival” price for Magic Bands to guests staying at their resorts. You can select colors and character designs or add your name.

Do you need a Magic Band? With so many people using My Magic Plus on their phones these days, a Magic Band is not a necessity. However, it is excellent for scanning photos, charging purchases to the room, accessing the parks, and opening the room door. I still use mine and enjoy the convenience.

#14 Being in the Disney Bubble

While it’s not some mysterious, foreign planet as it sounds, staying in the Disney bubble has perks. From the moment you step on the property, you feel like you’ve entered a self-sufficient city that does things a little differently than everywhere else.

You’ll have easy access to dining, transportation, pools, and many other things we’ve already discussed. In addition, Disney is well-manicured, and you can expect touches of magic you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the one all-inclusive thing that sets a stay here apart from anywhere else.

#15 The Disney Dining Plan

A huge change for this year is the return of the Disney Dining Plan. It’s been years since guests could purchase a dining plan as part of their package. We are also beginning to see the return of the famous free dining plan promotion! However, you’ll want to do the math to see if a dining plan is right for you. Speaking of math, our Resorts Gal Vacation Budgeter will help you figure it out!

Learn More>>Understanding the Disney Dining Plan

Before we wrap things up, I wanted to discuss a few critical changes to the resort benefits you’ll need to be aware of when planning.

#16 First Day Water Park Access (2025 Only)

In 2025, guests can enjoy complimentary access to a water park (based on availability) on their check-in day. Per Disney, this new benefit is only for registered guests on the resort reservation. It is only good for guests who arrive early enough to use it on their check-in day.

Related: Disney’s Water Park Perk for Eligible Resort Guests

What Resort Benefits Are Out

All of the items listed below ended over a year ago or so. But we’ll leave them here in the meantime for guests who might have used them in the past.

• First and foremost, FastPass+ is long gone. Its replacement, Genie+, is gone now, too! Talk about things getting confusing! These items are now known as Lighting Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, which allow guests options to pay to skip the standby queue.
  
• Guests can still access standby lines and virtual queues (where applicable) for attractions. However, now you have to pay to enjoy shorter lines. So, you’ll want to get familiar with how this system works moving forward.

• Secondly, Disney’s Magical Express ended some time ago. Disney formerly offered complimentary transportation from the airport to your Disney Resort hotel and back again. Some guests now use MearsConnect to travel to and from the airport to the resorts.

• Lastly, Extra Magic Hours, as we knew them, are no more. Instead, Disney implemented the early theme park benefit we discussed earlier and has announced the benefit will be extended at least through 2025.

Resort Perks (That Are No More)

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the return of being able to purchase an item in the parks and have it delivered to your room. This huge perk made it convenient to purchase an item and then pick it up later at the hotel. You didn’t have to worry about carrying it around all day or remember to go back and buy it at the end of the night.

If you don’t want to carry your park purchases, my suggestion is to have Disney ship them to your home. They will likely arrive about the same time you do! Several people have mentioned doing this with their lightsabers instead of dealing with them on a plane. Sometimes, spending a few extra bucks is worth the convenience.

Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Staying at a Disney World Resort

As you can see, staying at a Disney World Resort offers many benefits, even with all the changes we’ve recently seen. From complimentary on-site transportation to the early theme park benefit, you’ll want to take advantage of these perks.

That said, you’ll want to consider what’s no longer available. Were these things big deals to your family? Did you always stay at a Disney Resort on prior trips because of the convenience of Magical Express?

For some, this might be a good time to weigh your options. Our guide to off-site hotels near Disney World article might give you a few suggestions.

Related: Best Off-Site Hotels Near Disney World

For more planning, check out a few of our related articles:

• Start Here to Plan Your Disney World Vacation
• How to Create a Budget for Disney World
• An Overview of Disney World Hotel Reviews
• The Ultimate Disney World Character Guide
• The Disney World Dining Handbook

In the Comments

What do you think about the benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort? Do these pros outweigh some of the cons? Is there anything else you consider a perk of staying at a Disney Resort?