So, recently I've talked to a lot of people who stay off property when they visit Orlando and while I can understand the lure of cheaper room rates and free continental breakfasts there a lot of things that are tacked on to your hotel stay when you stay off property. There are hotel and theme park parking fees, resort fees, the cost of gas to travel back and forth, if you fly there's the cost of transportation from the airport to your hotel or the cost of a rental car to get around to the parks, and then of course there's the risk of an unknown hotel brand with sub par service.
If you rely on sites like Priceline or Travelocity then you never really know what you're getting. You're relying on the reviews of others and guest ratings.
However, if you book a Disney resort you know you'll get excellent service from extremely helpful cast members. You'll also get free transportation from the airport to your resort, extended park hours, free parking at any Disney World park, and there are NO additional resort or parking fees tacked on to your resort stay. You also get free transportation to and from the parks that comes so often that you'll never wait too long for a shuttle, monorail, or boat as opposed to off property resort shuttles that come once every forty-five minutes if you're very lucky.
The value in a Disney Resort lies in these added perks that other places simply can't offer. They attempt to make up for it by offering you free continental breakfast or free wi-fi (which Disney also offers by the way) or sometimes even special prices on park tickets for time share open house weekends or conventions. But the other fees and the time you lose traveling back and forth often negate these attempts to compensate for things off property hotels can't offer.
A Disney resort is too expensive, you say? I understand why you would think so. Deluxe and Moderate resorts are certainly on the pricier side but the added luxury is what you're paying for. If you're staying off property you're typically not doing it for the luxury. You're doing it because you're a family on the go and a hotel is basically just a place to sleep, maybe swim, and come back to for a break when the park is just too much.
Well, there's a category of Disney Resorts that's made for your family. The Value Resorts. Personally, they're my favorite category. They're well organized, kid-friendly, and extremely convenient. And, I did the math for my upcoming trip, the price of staying at the Residence Inn at Sea World versus Disney's All Star Music resort in September is a mere $25.
For that $25 you get transportation to and from the parks whenever you need it or free parking if you prefer to drive yourself, superior service, extended hours at select Disney Parks, advance access to dining and Fastpass+ reservations, free transportation and baggage service from Orlando International airport to your Disney Resort, and NO resort fees. The added conveniences are well worth $25.
For example, let's say you have a family of four with two adults and two children and you decided to stay off property. You have a three year old and ten year old. Your family takes your van to the park that morning and you pay $17 for parking. In the afternoon you decide your three year old needs a nap. If you were staying off property you'd have to get in your van (with your entire family of four) and drive the five or more miles back to your hotel only to drive that same five miles back later and park further away (you shouldn't have to pay for parking again since you're given a day pass when you paid that morning.) Or you could go back to your van and let your little one nap in the back seat which may be uncomfortable or overwhelmingly hot in the Florida heat, but would allow the other adult and your ten your old to continue to have fun in the park.
Now let's see what this same scenario would like if you stayed at a Disney Resort. Even though you have access to free bus transportation you decide to drive your van to the parks that morning. Your parking is free due to your resort parking pass that is sitting on your dash and you're sent straight through (without paying $17). In the afternoon you decide your three year old needs a nap, but your older child wants to stay in the park. You leave the other adult in the park with the ten year old and take the three year old out of the park. Instead of heading back to your van you head to the nearest Disney bus stop for your Disney Resort. Ten to fifteen minutes later a bus for your resort pulls up and you're on your way back to your room. The little one gets a nap and then you hop back on a bus to meet up with the other adult and older child for more Disney park fun.
Need a swim in the middle of the day instead of a nap? No problem. Just take that same Disney bus back to your resort for a mid-day break at your excellently themed pool. No need to use any gas or get stuck in traffic on I-drive. Convenience is a key bonus to staying on Disney property.
Once again, I totally understand the appeal of what off property hotels are offering, but there's more value to a Disney Resort stay than most people realize. It's unbelievably convenient for families especially. And don't forget for those families of a five or more Disney has family suites at two Disney Value Resorts (All Star Music and Art of Animation). They have accommodations for every size family!
Don't miss out on Disney's current special offers of free dining with full price room and resort stay OR up to 30% of your resort stay for late summer and fall 2014 check in dates! Contact me for a FREE quote today!
Showing posts with label Resorts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resorts. Show all posts
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Free Dining Plan Promotion Rumors!
So the buzz around Disney Vacation circles online is that Disney Travel Co will release the Disney Dining Plan Promotion to Visa Reward Cardholders on May 1st and then the general public 3-4 days later. The promotion is rumored to include late August and all of September arrival dates. Again, this is just a rumor that's going around online on various blogs and message boards. We'll see how true that is this week.
In the past the offer has included free dining plans to all guests staying at select Disney Resorts. If you stay at a Value Resort you get free Quick Service dining. However, you can upgrade to the full Dining Plan and simply pay the difference between the two plans. Guests at Moderate and Deluxe Resorts automatically receive the full Dining Plan. The only catch with this offer is that you must pay full price for your tickets and hotel room.
However, most of the time the value of the dining plan makes up for paying full price. I think the only exceptions would be if you were staying at a Deluxe Villa or one of the cabins at Fort Wilderness since you'd have your own kitchen where you could prepare your meals and store groceries.
The minute I hear anything Official I will let you all know! Free Dining is very popular! So if you'd like to book for this promotion you'd better jump on it fast! There's only a select number of rooms available for this promotion!
Have a magical day!
In the past the offer has included free dining plans to all guests staying at select Disney Resorts. If you stay at a Value Resort you get free Quick Service dining. However, you can upgrade to the full Dining Plan and simply pay the difference between the two plans. Guests at Moderate and Deluxe Resorts automatically receive the full Dining Plan. The only catch with this offer is that you must pay full price for your tickets and hotel room.
However, most of the time the value of the dining plan makes up for paying full price. I think the only exceptions would be if you were staying at a Deluxe Villa or one of the cabins at Fort Wilderness since you'd have your own kitchen where you could prepare your meals and store groceries.
The minute I hear anything Official I will let you all know! Free Dining is very popular! So if you'd like to book for this promotion you'd better jump on it fast! There's only a select number of rooms available for this promotion!
Have a magical day!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
[INFOPOST] Reasons to Stay On Property
I know so many people who have gone to Disney World and stayed at an outside hotel, and that's totally fine (I've done this before too.) Off property hotels work really well for large parties (the vacation homes in Orlando are surprisingly affordable to rent) or guests who plan to visit Seaworld or Universal more than Disney. But if you want to Disney World, I mean really do Disney World, and you have a party of 6 or less then the on property hotels and resorts are really the best way to go. You're close to the magic, you have complimentary travel to and from the parks, free parking at theme parks, extra time inside the actual parks before offsite guests, and amazing staff to make your stay so much easier.
The quality of the Cast Members Disney hires and trains never fails to amaze me (even after being a Cast Member myself). Everyone is extremely helpful and they want nothing more than to make your trip as worry free as they can. Plus, they're always up for more than a little fun. I've stayed at one resort at every level except for Deluxe. Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Villa. All three experience were extremely pleasant. The first Disney Resort I ever stayed in was Old Key West in a one bedroom villa. We arrived early for check in, but we were able to check in anyway and leave our bags with Cast Members and then head out to the parks right away. When we arrived back at the resort that night our luggage and our purchases from that day were waiting on us in our room.
That was my first exposure to Disney service. I didn't have to lug my bags anywhere and while shopping inside the park I didn't have to carry around my plastic bags filled with purchases. I could just have them shipped to my room and by the next day they would be there waiting on me. It was wonderful.
And then there was Extra Magic Hours. One of the best perks to have ever been thought up. Every day, one park has EMH. Sometimes it's one hour in the morning and sometimes it's up to three hours at night. At the end of this year, that extra three hours after closing is officially changing to two (which I'm sure is a great relief to Magic Kingdom CMs, who often had to work until 4 in the morning to restock and clean the park.) But those extra hours allow you to get a lot done that the crowded general guest hours may prevent you from doing. Plus, there's nothing like experiencing the Magic Kingdom at 2 AM. It's just a whole different kind of magic.
The transportation to and from the parks is an excellent perk as well. It saves a lot of gas and a lot of money. Not to mention you no longer have to worry about finding your car at the end of every night. The only drawback is waiting on the bus after park closing. Sometimes it takes forever to finally get on one due to the sheer number of people wanting to ride them.
The next time I stayed at a resort was during my College Program when my parents came to visit. We stayed at Coronado Springs. It's a lovely quiet resort with lots of beautiful theming. This resort is home to a lot of business conferences so you'll find there aren't many families staying here. But I really enjoyed the design of the lobby. It was gorgeous. This was the trip I discovered the free parking for resort guests. As a CM I received free parking anyway but to do so I had to show my CM ID. So my parents decided to drive instead of wait for the bus and I had my ID all ready to show the Cast Member's who take the money for parking, but he didn't need it. He saw the Resort parking pass and just waved us on through. It was the best surprise of the day for me because leaning forward from the back seat to the front driver side window was very uncomfortable and awkward. So from then on we had no fear of driving and no need to follow bus schedules. It was very liberating.
The last time I stayed on property was last October. I stayed at the Pop Century resort and enjoyed every minute of it. This time I was able to enjoy Magical Express, a flawless service, and the services of the CM's who greet at the front desks in the resort lobby. These two services absolutely made my trip. Michelle and I came from two seperate states but managed to end up on the same flight thanks to the genius of Southwest Airlines (who I highly recommend by the way. Their one way flights are more affordable than connecting flights most of the time.) Because of this we were able to use Magical Express, the bus service that picks you up at the airport and takes you to your resort.
Now, keep in mind that this is not a direct trip to your resort. The bus stops at other resorts in the area too. But when you sign up for Magical Express you're sent a booklet that contains your passes for the bus and directions to the terminal where you will be picked up. Essentially Disney has had a section of the baggage claim area sectioned off for bus queues. You show the CMs that are waiting your passes and then wait in the very first Disney queue of the trip for your bus. You do not have to stop and collected your bags unless you're being picked up super early in the morning or super late at night. Otherwise, lovely cast members will pick up your bags and transport them to the resort for you. You're sent special luggage tags to mark your bags.
The wait for the bus can be lengthy, but it mostly feels that way because you know you're just so close to the Disney magic. The cast members that are there to supervise this service try to make it go by as quickly as they can. They joke and entertain and try to keep you busy. There are buses that are decorated especially for the service, but there are also average yellow Mears transportation buses that pick up as well. While on the bus you're shown a video that highlights the advantages you'll be enjoying while staying on property (all illustrated with various Disney characters).
When you reach your resort you're told to head straight to check out because your bags will be brought to your room when they arrive. Check out was a very quick process, there was basically no wait when Michelle and I arrived at the Pop. We checked in and then headed to our room to take a break and settle in as much as we could. Not even a half hour after we arrived my bag was brought to our door. Michelle's arrived a little later and we were both a little worried about that, but Disney had it all under control.
Departing is just as easy as arriving. The day before you depart your boarding passes are sent to your room (provided you're flying with an airline that partners with Disney, Southwest does.) Your bags will be checked in for you and all you have to do is take your luggage to luggage services by the drop off entrance to the resort. You don't even have to check out of your hotel. You can just leave. Michelle and I took them our bags earlier that morning and then headed off to Downtown Disney until the scheduled pick up time we were given. This service saves guests so much time and effort and it really makes things worry free. I enjoyed every bit of it.
The other part of the trip that I found to be amazing was check in. The Cast Member that was helping us really paid attention and knew what we needed before we did. All I did was mention briefly to Michelle that we needed to go to the Ticket and Transportation Center and pick up the tickets we had a will call and he immediately had a suggestion for us.
We could pick up the tickets at the front desk as long as we had our confirmation numbers. I had mine so he was able to add my park tickets to my room key and then use a separate hard plastic key-card for my Halloween Party ticket. This made my life so much easier. We still had to go to the TTC for Michelle's tickets but it eased my mind to have mine in my hand when we left to check out our room. Plus having the tickets I purchased separately added to my room key left me with less to keep up with. I was really impressed with that Cast Member and how closely he was paying attention to the guests in front of him. It was truly excellent service.
And all of the above is why I encourage people to stay on property. You will not find any company more accommodating than the Walt Disney Company. They try their hardest to make things as convenient as possible for their guests because they know people really don't want to worry or think while on vacation. Isn't lovely to have someone do all the work for you, for once? I think so. And I haven't mentioned my favorite part...
Cast Members at the resort cannot accept tips unless they are servers in one of the restaurants. There's no risk of a bellman being rude to you because he thinks you tipped him too little. Or being rushed to your room because you're not expected to be a good tipper. No one to awkwardly stand around until they've received whatever tip they deem appropriate.
Not to say that some people do not truly deserve tips because some do, but in my experience, hotels with staff that expect to be tipped do not have good guest service. Yet another reason why, if possible, I try to work out a way to stay on property on my trips to Disney World. Disney cast members are so much nicer and work so much harder and yet they don't expect a tip. Now, that's a staff that deserves to be tipped and appreciated. Don't you think?
The quality of the Cast Members Disney hires and trains never fails to amaze me (even after being a Cast Member myself). Everyone is extremely helpful and they want nothing more than to make your trip as worry free as they can. Plus, they're always up for more than a little fun. I've stayed at one resort at every level except for Deluxe. Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Villa. All three experience were extremely pleasant. The first Disney Resort I ever stayed in was Old Key West in a one bedroom villa. We arrived early for check in, but we were able to check in anyway and leave our bags with Cast Members and then head out to the parks right away. When we arrived back at the resort that night our luggage and our purchases from that day were waiting on us in our room.
That was my first exposure to Disney service. I didn't have to lug my bags anywhere and while shopping inside the park I didn't have to carry around my plastic bags filled with purchases. I could just have them shipped to my room and by the next day they would be there waiting on me. It was wonderful.
And then there was Extra Magic Hours. One of the best perks to have ever been thought up. Every day, one park has EMH. Sometimes it's one hour in the morning and sometimes it's up to three hours at night. At the end of this year, that extra three hours after closing is officially changing to two (which I'm sure is a great relief to Magic Kingdom CMs, who often had to work until 4 in the morning to restock and clean the park.) But those extra hours allow you to get a lot done that the crowded general guest hours may prevent you from doing. Plus, there's nothing like experiencing the Magic Kingdom at 2 AM. It's just a whole different kind of magic.
The transportation to and from the parks is an excellent perk as well. It saves a lot of gas and a lot of money. Not to mention you no longer have to worry about finding your car at the end of every night. The only drawback is waiting on the bus after park closing. Sometimes it takes forever to finally get on one due to the sheer number of people wanting to ride them.
The next time I stayed at a resort was during my College Program when my parents came to visit. We stayed at Coronado Springs. It's a lovely quiet resort with lots of beautiful theming. This resort is home to a lot of business conferences so you'll find there aren't many families staying here. But I really enjoyed the design of the lobby. It was gorgeous. This was the trip I discovered the free parking for resort guests. As a CM I received free parking anyway but to do so I had to show my CM ID. So my parents decided to drive instead of wait for the bus and I had my ID all ready to show the Cast Member's who take the money for parking, but he didn't need it. He saw the Resort parking pass and just waved us on through. It was the best surprise of the day for me because leaning forward from the back seat to the front driver side window was very uncomfortable and awkward. So from then on we had no fear of driving and no need to follow bus schedules. It was very liberating.
The last time I stayed on property was last October. I stayed at the Pop Century resort and enjoyed every minute of it. This time I was able to enjoy Magical Express, a flawless service, and the services of the CM's who greet at the front desks in the resort lobby. These two services absolutely made my trip. Michelle and I came from two seperate states but managed to end up on the same flight thanks to the genius of Southwest Airlines (who I highly recommend by the way. Their one way flights are more affordable than connecting flights most of the time.) Because of this we were able to use Magical Express, the bus service that picks you up at the airport and takes you to your resort.
Now, keep in mind that this is not a direct trip to your resort. The bus stops at other resorts in the area too. But when you sign up for Magical Express you're sent a booklet that contains your passes for the bus and directions to the terminal where you will be picked up. Essentially Disney has had a section of the baggage claim area sectioned off for bus queues. You show the CMs that are waiting your passes and then wait in the very first Disney queue of the trip for your bus. You do not have to stop and collected your bags unless you're being picked up super early in the morning or super late at night. Otherwise, lovely cast members will pick up your bags and transport them to the resort for you. You're sent special luggage tags to mark your bags.
The wait for the bus can be lengthy, but it mostly feels that way because you know you're just so close to the Disney magic. The cast members that are there to supervise this service try to make it go by as quickly as they can. They joke and entertain and try to keep you busy. There are buses that are decorated especially for the service, but there are also average yellow Mears transportation buses that pick up as well. While on the bus you're shown a video that highlights the advantages you'll be enjoying while staying on property (all illustrated with various Disney characters).
When you reach your resort you're told to head straight to check out because your bags will be brought to your room when they arrive. Check out was a very quick process, there was basically no wait when Michelle and I arrived at the Pop. We checked in and then headed to our room to take a break and settle in as much as we could. Not even a half hour after we arrived my bag was brought to our door. Michelle's arrived a little later and we were both a little worried about that, but Disney had it all under control.
Departing is just as easy as arriving. The day before you depart your boarding passes are sent to your room (provided you're flying with an airline that partners with Disney, Southwest does.) Your bags will be checked in for you and all you have to do is take your luggage to luggage services by the drop off entrance to the resort. You don't even have to check out of your hotel. You can just leave. Michelle and I took them our bags earlier that morning and then headed off to Downtown Disney until the scheduled pick up time we were given. This service saves guests so much time and effort and it really makes things worry free. I enjoyed every bit of it.
The other part of the trip that I found to be amazing was check in. The Cast Member that was helping us really paid attention and knew what we needed before we did. All I did was mention briefly to Michelle that we needed to go to the Ticket and Transportation Center and pick up the tickets we had a will call and he immediately had a suggestion for us.
We could pick up the tickets at the front desk as long as we had our confirmation numbers. I had mine so he was able to add my park tickets to my room key and then use a separate hard plastic key-card for my Halloween Party ticket. This made my life so much easier. We still had to go to the TTC for Michelle's tickets but it eased my mind to have mine in my hand when we left to check out our room. Plus having the tickets I purchased separately added to my room key left me with less to keep up with. I was really impressed with that Cast Member and how closely he was paying attention to the guests in front of him. It was truly excellent service.
And all of the above is why I encourage people to stay on property. You will not find any company more accommodating than the Walt Disney Company. They try their hardest to make things as convenient as possible for their guests because they know people really don't want to worry or think while on vacation. Isn't lovely to have someone do all the work for you, for once? I think so. And I haven't mentioned my favorite part...
Cast Members at the resort cannot accept tips unless they are servers in one of the restaurants. There's no risk of a bellman being rude to you because he thinks you tipped him too little. Or being rushed to your room because you're not expected to be a good tipper. No one to awkwardly stand around until they've received whatever tip they deem appropriate.
Not to say that some people do not truly deserve tips because some do, but in my experience, hotels with staff that expect to be tipped do not have good guest service. Yet another reason why, if possible, I try to work out a way to stay on property on my trips to Disney World. Disney cast members are so much nicer and work so much harder and yet they don't expect a tip. Now, that's a staff that deserves to be tipped and appreciated. Don't you think?
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