Want to go to Disney World but the Disney-owned hotels are a smidge too pricey? There’s a solution!
There are multiple non-Disney hotels that offer Disney packages (room + tickets) or that you can book through Disney. These third-party hotels can often be booked for cheaper than even some of the Disney-owned value resorts…but there may be a catch!
If you’re looking to book a Disney World package but not stay at a Disney-owned hotel, you have a couple of options. You could book at one of the on-site non-Disney hotels (like the Swan and Dolphin or the hotels in Disney Springs), or you could venture off-site and book at one of Disney’s “Good Neighbor” hotels. That’s the option we’re here to discuss!
There are a number of Good Neighbor hotels listed on Disney World’s website. In fact, there are currently 45 listed on the website. But in order to qualify as a Good Neighbor hotel, the accommodation in question has to meet the following criteria:
- It must be AAA-approved.
- It must offer a choice of standard rooms, suites and villa-style accommodations.
- It must feature a Guest Services desk to help you plan your Disney vacation and purchase park tickets.
- It must provide transportation to Disney theme parks. (A fee may apply.)
This may seem like a great deal — cheap accommodations, Disney tickets along with your booking, and transportation to the parks! But if you’re planning on using that park transportation, there are some things you should know.
First of all, the transportation options are not free at all of the resorts. Only 40 of the 45 hotels offer complimentary transportation to Disney World. The transportation to the parks usually takes the form of some kind of bus or shuttle.
Policies vary from hotel to hotel, but some require advance reservations for shuttle usage, and the times that the shuttle runs are not usually as frequent as Disney bus transportation.
For example, you may be staying at a hotel where your only option for a bus to the Magic Kingdom is a departure time of 11AM and a return time of 10PM — with that, you’d completely miss the first few hours that the park is open. (And usually, outside transportation options are required to drop Magic Kingdom visitors at the TTC instead of the park entrance.)
Then there are additional problems to contend with. If you need to get to a Disney World resort for a dining reservation or you’re planning a trip to Disney Springs or one of the water parks, you may end up having to take the shuttle from your hotel, and then multiple forms of transportation once you arrive on Disney World property to get to your location. That would be a pain!
Essentially, using the complimentary transportation (if it’s available) at Good Neighbor hotels can be nice, but only if it fits with your plans. Make sure to check out your hotel’s shuttle schedule online or by calling in before you visit so that you’re prepared. You’d hate to save money on parking, but then waste money by getting to the parks too late or leaving too early!
Stay tuned to AllEars for more tips on how to navigate your upcoming Disney World hotel stay. We’ve got you covered with all the vacation tips!
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Have you ever stayed at a Good Neighbor hotel? Tell us in the comments!
I did stay at a Good Neighbor hotel more than 25 years ago over on International Drive. The hotel was fine, but as you said the transportation was awful. It was not complimentary and the times were very infrequent. About 3 shuttles early morning up until about 10am, then late evening around park closing time. On the day of arrival, after taking Mears to the hotel from the airport, I ended up having to take a cab as there were no more shuttles that day. They also didn’t really understand park hopping. I actually had to pay more to book one way shuttles to and from a different park, or to stay after the parks closed and go to Pleasure Island. On my last day, I had to take a taxi again with my luggage, so that I could take Mears to the airport directly from a Disney resort as there was no way to get back to the hotel in time to get Mears from there. So from then on, I vowed to never stay off property again. We now mostly stay at the campground, but, since COVID, if we are taking a short trip and not pulling the camper, we stay on Hotel Plaza Boulevard using Priceline, which is in walking distance to Saratoga Springs, so we just simply walk over there and take their resort transportation to the parks.
We stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek and the transportation was pretty good. However, we had to leave Epcot earlier than we preferred because of the timing of the last shuttle back. The shuttle got us to all the parks before rope drop. At Magic Kingdom, all the good neighbor hotels left guests off at TTC rather than near the front gate line Disney buses do.
Stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek too a few years back, the bus is shared with Waldorf so it was not too bad crowd wise. No problem for rope drop for Epcot but we did have to figure out our plan on getting home in terms of times the bus could take us back (like Julie mentioned)
Some of the hotels also require a boarding ticket and you have to book a pass to ride the shuttle and you can only book it both ways, they do not allow for one way booking.
Lyft or Uber are useful. Get enough people and it’s not expensive. Make a reservation the night before if you want to leave at a busy time.