Best Budget-Friendly WDW Hotels?

MaddieB223

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Hi, everyone!
I'm trying to figure out what the best budget-friendly WDW resort is for my needs! It doesn't necessarily need to be on WDW property, but what hotels would you say are wallet friendly, but offer
- transportation to/from parks
- early FastPass & Dining Reservation planning

Thanks!
Maddie
 
60 day Fast Pass access is only at onsite hotel, Swan & Dolphin and the Disney Springs hotels that made deals with Disney for 60 day FP and EMH privileges. You can make dining Reservations at 6 months out without a hotel reservation

The All Stars hotels- Sports, Music, Movies are the cheapest onsite hotel that will give you 60 FP, airport transfers and access to WDW transportation system

You also want to look into Disney Springs hotels for whatever deals they might be having. The transportation to the parks are going to be different from a onsite Disney hotel.
 
60 day Fast Pass access is only at onsite hotel, Swan & Dolphin and the Disney Springs hotels that made deals with Disney for 60 day FP and EMH privileges. You can make dining Reservations at 6 months out without a hotel reservation

The All Stars hotels- Sports, Music, Movies are the cheapest onsite hotel that will give you 60 FP, airport transfers and access to WDW transportation system

You also want to look into Disney Springs hotels for whatever deals they might be having. The transportation to the parks are going to be different from a onsite Disney hotel.
Thank you!
 
Disney Springs hotel transportation is ok.
Each bus is shared by a few of the hotels on the street and then goes to 2 parks.
Usually, AK & MK share (with the MK bus stopping at the TTC) then Epcot and DHS share.
It's on a schedule, but I think they do add buses based on demand sometimes.
The walk from Disney Springs isn't very far, and they have added in transportation FROM the parks to DS starting at 4PM every day. You cannot go directly to a park from DS, and the transportation to/from the resorts doesn't start until later in the day.
 


Disney Springs hotel transportation is ok.
Each bus is shared by a few of the hotels on the street and then goes to 2 parks.
Usually, AK & MK share (with the MK bus stopping at the TTC) then Epcot and DHS share.
It's on a schedule, but I think they do add buses based on demand sometimes.
The walk from Disney Springs isn't very far, and they have added in transportation FROM the parks to DS starting at 4PM every day. You cannot go directly to a park from DS, and the transportation to/from the resorts doesn't start until later in the day.
Awesome info! Thanks :)
 
I’ve stayed at the swan & dolphin - prefer the swan. The price point is a steal in comparison to the other Epcot area resorts. We stayed in December for $220/night
 


We’ve stay at all Values except Sports and all Moderates. ( and 2 DVC resorts)
My personal favorite for saving is All Star Movies preferred room. I love the theming. We are booked there for December and January.
 
Sometimes the money you save on off site hotels will pay your uber/lyft. Our off site hotel had a shuttle of its own We just did not use it to get there cause it picks up at multiple hotels but going back was ok. Looking forward not sure how the new FPs will work once they bring them back
 
You don’t mention airport shuttle, but only WDW hotels offer free transportation to and from MCO, so factor about $40 each way for an Uber/Lyft if you stay offsite.

For parks transportation, are you planning on a lot of coming and going or do you need something to get you there in the morning and back to your hotel at night?

If you’re looking at a lot of back and forth (pool time, naps, etc.), the DS hotels will probably be your best bet off site because they run on a set schedule throughout the day. As PP noted, any offsite shuttle will take you to the TTC rather than entrance for MK, so factor that into your transportation time, though your drop off will be directly at the other 3 parks.

The Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria also get the 60-day FP window, and have regular park transportation. Their rack rates are not budget friendly, and watch out for the hefty ($45) resort fee. However, I’ve seen some very reasonable prices on third party sites, especially if you are willing to do a non-refundable booking once you are sure of your dates. Last year, I saw HBC for $79 or $89 on Hotwire as an opaque listing for my November dates, which is a steal, even with the resort fee. Plus, their facilities are gorgeous and it’s truly a an upscale experience, so you get much more than at a value resort.

If you are okay with giving up the 60-day FP window, your options expand significantly. There are lots of clean, solid hotels and resorts you can easily book for well under $100/ night that even offer breakfast. Many will have very limited shuttles that will get you there in the morning and back at night, but you’re on your own for anything in between. Still, when you figure most of them are only about a $10 Uber ride, you can still save a lot staying offsite without included parks transportation.
 
So I can say in the past we were more worried about money, and stayed at Art of Animation for a family of 5, it was great, but buses were every 20-30 mins. If you were not out there first you would miss a bus, and fo us booking dining at park open, we missed a couple. It's alot of waiting for transportation, and its a really long line in traffic. AK took 30 minutes sometimes, MK was well over 30.

Last time we stayed at Boardwalk. Walking distance to Epcot and HS. and a 10 minute buss ride to AK, 12 mins to Magic Kingdom. We have never looked back. To us, and the time we save it's worth every penny.
 
I'm considering staying off property for the first time and looking at estimated Uber Prices. For a group of 4, it could be anywhere from $512 to $730 for a 1-week trip! That's just one round trip to the transportation center per day and travel to and from the airport. I'm not sure if there are extra fees for airport pickups, this is all just the baseline.
 
If you're willing to give up the 60 days you'll have a lot more options. Sign up for the mousesavers newsletter and use their link to look into their recommended offsite hotels. If you book through their link, you will get some type of discount either off the room itself or in the form of free parking or breakfast. Most of the time there are actually multiple discounts. I highly recommend the Buena Vista Suites. Beautiful just renovated rooms, free hot breakfast, a simple but nice pool, free parking and free shuttles to the parks with the last mousesavers offer although not sure what they have right now. It's also very close to disney property. We were back and forth to Epcot in maybe 10 minutes including parking. I would still rent a car since rentals are cheap enough in the area but I heard the shuttle was decent if you really want to go that route.
 
I'm considering staying off property for the first time and looking at estimated Uber Prices. For a group of 4, it could be anywhere from $512 to $730 for a 1-week trip! That's just one round trip to the transportation center per day and travel to and from the airport. I'm not sure if there are extra fees for airport pickups, this is all just the baseline.
Where are you getting those numbers? Uber to or from MCO is going to be around $40-50 each way, so figure $100. When I’ve looked at fare estimates for relatively close cheap offsite hotels (192 area), they’re usually in the $10-15 range, sometimes less, each way. So figure $30 per day times 7 days, and that’s $210. Are you looking really far from WDW? Because I can’t see how you got to $700 for a week of Uber.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top