How to do a Disney Vacation Without Staying at a Disney Resort

There are Disney hotels at all price points, ranging from $130/night for the value hotels to up to $1,000/night for fancier accommodations at the luxury resorts. But on the whole—apples to apples—you will pay less for a non-Disney hotel of the same tier. For example, the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek is a 4.5-star hotel with rooms starting at about $280/night, whereas the nightly rates at the 4-star Grand Floridian start at about $600/night. You will, of course, spend more on transportation if you’re staying off-property (there is no free airport shuttle and you may need to Uber around—more on that below), but all things considered, the savings are significant.

Maybe you want Goofy at your breakfast table. I personally do not, which is why I liked having a place to return to each day that isn’t affiliated with the Disney brand. The JW Marriott Bonnet Creek is an upscale (but still kid-friendly!) property offering both fine and casual dining (the cocktails at the rooftop Illume were *chef’s kiss*) and amenities, like a lovely pool and hot tub area. If you’re looking for crazy water slides and Zootopia pancakes, this is not the place—but there are plenty of things that appeal to young visitors, from the children’s climbing wall and mini-golf course to the family suites (where we stayed), which feature bunk beds, a chalkboard wall and plenty of kid amenities. We had long days at the parks, and I appreciated a respite at the end of them.

You have to hand it to Disney; they make everything so frictionless. Case in point: If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can often walk to the parks and, at the very least, rely on all-day shuttles and monorails to get you there quickly. Depending on where you stay off-property, your travel options will likely be more complicated, though not remotely insurmountable. Our hotel, for instance, offered an easy, complimentary shuttle service with limited pickups and drop-offs throughout the day, which we took in the mornings but not in the evenings, since we wanted to stay later than the final pickup time. And you can always call an Uber which, if you’re staying within 20 minutes of the parks, is quick and affordable. (Our rides took 10 to 15 minutes and cost less than $20.) Finally, you can drive to the parks, which will run you $35/day plus tax in parking.

Disney incentivizes staying on property by offering things like early park entry, charge-to-room functionality (by tapping your magic band at restaurants and stores) and early access to dining reservations. I didn’t really care about any of these things. But the one perk I would have liked was the ability to book Lightning Lane skip-the-line passes seven days in advance, as opposed to the three days on offer to off-site-hotel visitors. I didn’t really understand this discrepancy going in and was surprised when I logged on three days before my trip and found that most of our high-priority rides weren’t available. That said, my family was ultimately able to ride everything we wanted—we just ended up doing it later in the day as the Lightning Lane passes became available.

1,000-percent yes. For a five-night stay, the savings amount to literal thousands of dollars and, as I said, I really liked going back to a quiet, slightly more grownup venue at the end of a 12-hour Animal Kingdom adventure. Thanks to hotels like The JW Marriott Bonnet Creek that make it easy, you really can have it all.