Our best planning decision was to stay off property at Disney. I can tell you why.
Staying Off Property at Disney
Here is what I learned about staying off property at Disney World. We had to allow for an extra 30 minutes to get onto the property. This also changed based on the amount of traffic we expected to encounter once we got to the property. We stayed in Windsor Hills. This put us about ten minutes from Disney World property.
On the days we wanted to make it to the park by rope drop, or official opening hours, we had to leave earlier than normal. On one of the park days, we wanted to rope drop EPCOT. EPCOT opened at 9AM this particular morning. Our timeline was-
- 6am wake up, breakfast, get ready for the day
- 7am in the car and on our way
- 7:45ish we parked the car (remember, we were only 10 minutes from Disney Property)
- 8:15ish we had parked, set up the stroller, and started walking to the gate
We were not too far back in line after stopping to take pictures. I feel like this was a successful rope drop morning. We took more pictures and went to our first Lightning Lane.
Perks of Staying On Disney Property
There are, however, perks of staying on Disney Property. Let’s go through some of them, and I will tell you our workaround.
- Earlier access to Lightning Lanes
- Easy access to transportation
- Early entry into the parks
- Extended evening hours for Deluxe resorts
- Closer proximity to the parks
When staying off-site, you don’t have the advantage of Early Entry, early access to Lightning Lanes, or extended evening hours. However, each of these barriers has a workaround.
Free Disney transportation is available to guests in Disney hotels. This allows them to avoid the parking lots and gets them to the parks faster. We figured the time it would take to get from the parking lot to the park entrance into our travel time. Getting across Seven Seas Lagoon to get to Magic Kingdom adds about 30 minutes to the travel time. For every other park, we added the amount of time it took us to park the car, get out, get our stuff together, and walk up to the gate. Simply put, the workaround for this is to leave the hotel or Airbnb earlier than you think you need to.
I have found that on days when there are Extended Evening Hours, the park with those evening hours is slower in the morning. People start their day in other parks, knowing they will have more time in the parks later in the day. For example, if Magic Kingdom has extended evening hours on Monday, many guests will go to other parks on Monday morning. So, I rope-dropped Magic Kingdom on Monday morning. I was able to get several rides done that morning because the lines were slower.
The way we worked around being further away from the parks when we needed to take a break was to schedule them in. We planned to do less in the parks, making sure we scheduled our Lightning Lanes when we would actually be at that attraction. We left the park, knowing we would be back in the early evening to take advantage of the Lightning Lanes we had scheduled for then. After a rest and a dip in the pool, we went back to the parks and took advantage of our pre-planning.
Unexpected Expenses in a Short-Term Rental
When you stay in an Airbnb, there are some expenses you may not have planned for. Here are some of the things we spend money on that might not have been spent if we stayed on property-
- Food for every meal we didn’t eat in the parks
- Trash bags
- Laundry soap
- Specific cooking utensils
- Paper towels
- Paper plates
- Dish soap
- Sponges for cleaning
- Scouring pads
- Bathroom cleaner
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Drier sheets
We fell into the trap of wanting to buy things to make life easier at the house when we were there. Things like chip clips, towel clips for the pool, toys for the pool.
Additional Cost of Having a Car at Disney World
- Car rental fees
- Tolls
- Insurance
- Cost of parking on Disney property
- Some rental properties charge for you to park there
- Gas for the car
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of what we bought.
Additionally, if you are flying, you won’t have the room in your luggage for much. Part of our party flew and part drove. We were able to take things with us that we wouldn’t have otherwise. Of course, we fell into the trap of overpacking. We ended up having to transport a lot back with the person driving.
The point is to make a list of what you will need to buy to stay in the rental home and see if you are still saving money staying off property.
Staying Off Property and Rope Drop
On-site hotel guests have access to early entry, giving them early access to most park attractions before off-site guests. Yes, this can be a huge advantage. However, the rest of us will use timing and lightning lanes to ensure we have a great park day.
The trick here is going to be getting to the parks earlier and going to your must-do ride that you were not able to get a Lightning Lane for. Go straight to your must-do attraction. The rest of the day will be spent getting into lines when other people are doing other things.
Most people eat breakfast first thing in the morning, lunch around noon, and dinner around 6 PM. You, however, will do the opposite. While everyone else is eating, you will be riding rides and seeing shows. Breakfast will be at 9AM, lunch at 2PM, and dinner at 8PM.
If you have already seen the fireworks at the park you are in, you will be doing other things while people are watching fireworks. You will become very good at outsmarting the crowds.
Staying Off Property and Lightning Lanes
Normally, I would not suggest buying Lighning Lanes for every park. My advice is still going to be that it depends on your situation. Lightning Lanes are more of a necissity on days that crowds are medium to high.
If you look at a crowd calendar, like this one at WDW Prep School, and the color for your date is red, you will certainly need Lightning Lanes. I would also purchase them for orange days. On yellow days, I would only buy them for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.
What To Know About Lightning Lanes
Lightning Lanes are made available at 6 AM Eastern Time, 3 days before your visit, for everyone not staying in a Disney World hotel. We logged into the My Disney Experience app as soon as LLs went live and got the best times we could for our Must Do rides. Then, we modified them to optimize our time in the park.
3-2-1 Rule
Let me share with you the 3-2-1 rule. This is a plan for making sure the things you REALLY want to do at Disney World get done. What do you want to do that will make you feel like you have been to Disney? Think about the things you daydream about doing? Dream now… what makes your heart speed up when you think about doing it?
- 3 Must do rides
- 2 Experiences (shows, character interactions, etc)
- 1 place to eat or snack
If I were going to Disney World tomorrow, my 3-2-1 would be
- 3 rides- Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Escape From Everest (yes, I love roller coasters)
- 2 experiences- Meet Asha in EPCOT, any show I haven’t already seen
- 1 food item- Festival Food in EPCOT
Why Would Anyone Stay Off Property?
Even though staying on Disney World property has many advantages, there are times when staying off property is best for families. We decided to stay at an AirBnB for the extra space. Let’s discuss how we made this decision.
- Each family wanted to have their own bedroom to sleep in for privacy and to quietly unwind.
- Some of the family members snore, which would disturb the other family members.
- Some of the family members sleep sporadically at night, which would wake up the other family members.
- We were on a budget.
Taking into account these four issues, we chose a rental home over staying on property. We also wanted to stay as close to the Disney property as possible. After many days of searching for the perfect property, we decided on one in particular. It met our needs, and the price was reasonable.
Each family had their own space to retreat to at the end of the day.
Is AirBnb Better Than Staying in a Hotel
Each person has to decide for themselves if staying off property or on property is better. When I go to Disney with my family, renting a vacation home is definitely the way to go. However, when I go on solo trips, I stay on property.
One final planning tip… my ace in the hole.
When I started my Disney World journey, I needed a way to keep all the fine details organized. There were plenty of vacation organizers on the market, but none that really had what I needed in them. After searching for a while, I decided to create my own. As each detail was brought up or figured out, I added it into the planner.
This notebook became a huge part of my life. It went everywhere with me. When someone in the family had a question, I referred to the planner. It saved me many moments of stress. I am offering it to you because I know you are someone who cares about the details and needs a plan. You will have less stress because all the answers you need will be right at your fingertips.
I used the Disney Vacation Planner you have seen in my sign up opportunity to help me decide where to stay, when to go, what to pack, and keep up with every vacation detail during the planning process. It helped me so much! I need to be able to refer back to details quickly when planning. Having everything in writing saved me so much time and stress! I decided to make it available to you, believing it would help you as well.
Sign up for the Dreams Come True Disney Vacation Planner today!
