Off property Disney World hotels with shuttle: what you need to know

Off property Disney World hotels with shuttle – here are some things to keep in mind if you’re going that route:

There are a lot of great Disney resorts and places to stay on property, but I know a lot of people look at staying off-property as well (at a non-Disney owned hotel). As a travel agent I’ve been asked more often lately about staying off property to save a little money. And while that can be a good option for some families, there are certain things you definitely want to consider if you’re staying off-site. A major one of these is transportation.

If you’re planning to drive to Disney or rent a car regardless and will be driving yourself to the theme parks, this might be much less of an issue. But if you’re hoping to get off the plane and not have to drive, you need to be aware of where you’re staying and how transportation will work. Many hotels in the area offer “free theme park shuttles,” but they are not all they’re cracked up to be. These off-site Disney World hotels with shuttle service might have a few things you haven’t considered.

I recently decided to test it out for myself by staying at one of the Disney Springs area hotels – the Wyndham Garden in Lake Buena Vista. This hotel is actually on Disney property, and walking distance to Disney Springs, but it doesn’t get the Disney bus transportation like the official resorts do.

I’ve mostly stayed at Disney resorts, so I have a very good understanding of their transportation system and how it works. I figured for this discussion it would make sense to look at how Disney’s transportation works first, then compare to the other options out there.

Disney transportation

If you stay at an official Disney resort, you will get theme park transportation included no matter which resort you are at. The method of travel may vary, but at the very least there will be buses running to/from the theme parks (other transportation methods also include the monorail, boats, and the Skyliner gondolas). These run from before the parks open until after they close continuously, usually about every 20 minutes.

With this you get a lot of flexibility – you can come and go pretty much any time you’d like whenever you decide you’re ready, and you can easily fit in an afternoon break if that’s something you do. The other shuttles in the area do not work like this.

Important points about nearby Disney World hotels with shuttle services

As I go through these, keep in mind that not all of these things apply to every hotel and every shuttle. That being said, many of them tend to follow a similar pattern or system. They are at least things you should investigate or ask about if they are important to you and your vacation!

They only run a few times a day

One of the biggest things that seems to be true of all these free hotel shuttles is the fact that they only run a few times a day. This means you lose the flexibility of staying on Disney property and being able to go back to your hotel at any time. They all work a little differently and may vary with the season, but when I stayed there were usually pick-up times every morning on the hour (so for Epcot you could get a bus at 8am, 9am, 10am, or 11am). Return times started a bit before park closing (like 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 10pm). So if you wanted to arrive at a park anytime after 11am, or leave it prior to 7pm, you’d have to find another way to get back. It also makes the “afternoon break” pretty much impossible, which is a big part of my personal touring strategy.

You have to make a reservation

I don’t know if this will always be the case, but at least right now most of the shuttles are requiring reservations ahead of time. It never filled to capacity while I was there but I suppose that could happen during very busy seasons. So I had to decide the night before what time I was leaving to make sure I had the reservation. They were easy enough to book though and the hotel gave clear instructions for doing it.

They may stop at multiple parks

Many of these shuttles stop in multiple locations (they may also pick up at multiple hotels nearby, not just yours). For example, I knew the shuttle from the Wyndham Garden would stop at both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom (I assume the other one stopped at Epcot and Magic Kingdom). The parks aren’t that far apart, but by the time you factor in driving there, getting to the very large parking lot, unloading people, etc., you’re definitely adding some time into your day if you’re the second stop.

There was also a day where it seemed the other shuttle may not be showing up, so mine announced that she was going to all 4 theme parks. I was very fortunate in that I was going to Epcot and that was actually the first stop, but if you were the last one you were probably going to be sitting on that bus for at least an hour.

Magic Kingdom shuttles drop off at the TTC

When you head to Magic Kingdom, keep in mind that with the way that park is designed you are not able to be dropped off at the front of the park unless you are using official Disney transportation. If you come any other way (whether it’s your own car, hotel shuttle, uber/lyft, etc.) you are dropped off at the Ticket and Transportation Center, or TTC.

Magic Kingdom is actually located across a lagoon, so once you are at the TTC you still have to board other transportation to get to the theme park. There is an option of a boat or a monorail, but if you arrive towards park opening both can get pretty busy. Disney is efficient at getting people there, but it’s just another thing that will add time to your transportation and into your day.

They may not be reliable

The really unfortunate thing is that these outside hotel shuttles may not be completely reliable. The hotels contract with an outside company, and if there’s an issue there’s not much the hotel itself can do about it. I learned this first hand when I booked the shuttle for Animal Kingdom at 7am. Myself and at least 15 other people were waiting around at 6:55, and the shuttle didn’t arrive at 7am. By 7:20 when there was still no shuttle I gave up and called a Lyft. At the time of getting into my Lyft at 7:30 the shuttle was nowhere in sight and everyone else was still standing around waiting. 

The next morning when I got on the Epcot shuttle she announced they would be stopping at all 4 parks due to some issues. So even if typically they advertise the shuttle only stopping at one or two parks, that may not always be the case.

Disney Springs transportation

There’s also really no good way around this issue. Some people suggest they could walk to Disney Springs and take the transportation from there to the parks. Believe me, Disney knows people think about this so they don’t have buses running directly from Disney Springs to the theme parks! You’d have to take a bus to a resort and then transfer to a theme park bus or other transportation. Even coming back now Disney did not have transportation running from the parks to Disney Springs, so I couldn’t return that way either. Depending on how early you want to get to the parks the Disney Springs buses may not even be running that early.

My Experience

I spent 3 nights at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista without a car. This is technically on property and partnered with Disney but not owned by them, so it’s one of the Disney World hotels with shuttle that you might be considering (in the Disney Springs area). Here is what my experience looked like:

Sunday, October 24th

Scheduled 8am shuttle to Hollywood Studios

8am – arrived and boarded 8am shuttle (everything went smoothly)
8:02am – left Wyndham
8:23am – arrived at Hollywood Studios
(This bus also went to Animal Kingdom after Hollywood Studios, so if you were headed there you’d be arriving at some point after that from the 8am shuttle).
3:30pm – park hopped from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom using Disney bus

**There used to be buses running from the parks to Disney Springs so I thought I would take that back. That’s when I discovered this is not currently happening.

8:16pm – left Magic Kingdom and walked over to the Contemporary to wait for a Disney Springs bus
8:45pm – boarded Disney Springs bus
9:09pm – arrived in Disney Springs
9:25pm – walked back and arrived at my hotel

Monday, October 25th

Scheduld 7am shuttle to Animal Kingdom

7am – arrived for shuttle at Wyndham which wasn’t there yet
7:18am – gave up and called a Lyft
7:28am – got into my Lyft, still no shuttle at the hotel
7:42am – dropped off at Animal Kingdom
2pm – I was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel for a nap. My only free choice at that point would be to get on a resort bus, transfer to a Disney Springs bus, and then walk the 1-ish mile to my hotel. I was exhausted so I opted to use Lyft again.

(In the evening I had dinner reservations at Steakhouse71 but my friend I was dining with was kind enough to pick up and drop me off. Otherwise I would have walked to Disney Springs for a Contemporary bus and then done the same going back, also adding another almost 2 miles to my walking for the day).

Tueday, October 26

Scheduled 10am shuttle to Epcot

10:02am – shuttle left Wyndham Garden
10:18am – arrived at Epcot
(Epcot was the first stop – this shuttle was actaully going to all 4 parks)
4:30pm – took a Lyft from Epcot to the airport (was able to add in a stop at my hotel to pick up my luggage!)

Saving money

Of course the main incentive for staying off-site is to save money. Disney resorts can definitely be expensive, so many of these off property locations look very appealing. However, it’s important to compare apples to apples and to know what you’re getting for your dollar. If you’re staying at a Disney resort the entire time and you’re flying to Orlando, you really only need to worry about paying for transportation to/from the airport – once you get there it’s easy to get around and all that transportation is included.

For off-site I’d recommend one of two options. The first is to either have a vehicle with you or rent a car. If you’ll have your car anyway, you’ll want to factor in parking at the Disney theme parks ($25 per vehicle per day) as well as whether or not your hotel charges parking (many of them do, typically around $15-25 per night). If you’re renting a car you’ll have those same parking fees as well as the cost of the rental, which can vary a lot depending on when you book, time of year, and what type of car you get. If you have a large family you’ll have to pay more for a van or even multiple cars.

The second option would be to Lyft/Uber. This might be a better choice for couples and families but it will still add up quickly – especially if you want that afternoon break. In that case you’re paying for 4 Lyft rides in one day, so even if it’s $15 each way you’re still looking at $60 in transportation for the day. Larger families would need to pay more for a bigger Lyft/Uber vehicle or take multiple ones.

I’m a numbers person, so the chart below is for family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids), staying from a Sunday-Saturday with 5 days in the theme parks. For on property, pricing is at a value resort. To be generous in this situation I didn’t include a fee for parking at a hotel if you’re staying off property, with the assumption that you decide to book one that doesn’t have a parking fee.

For ride shares I’ve used Lyft and estimated for a family of 4 it would be about $25 one way (this depends on location off property and assuming you tip – as you should!, and for a family of 4 they would need a Lyft XL since a regular Lyft only fits 3 people right now). If you were only relying on Lyft the pricing is for using it twice a day to get to the park and back – obviously it would be more if you took an afternoon break. For relying on the hotel shuttle you’d still need to factor in transportation from/from the airport (I’ve used Mears Connect pricing just for comparison’s sake), and using the free shuttle I’ve also factored in “emergencies” like I faced where you needed to leave at a time that’s not scheduled, or a bus doesn’t show up and you don’t want to lose more time so you take Lyft.

Again, lots of variables, but for a really rough comparison we can take a look at this:

I personally think the only real way to stay off property is to have a car. If you’re driving to Orlando you’d only potentially pay for parking at the theme parks. If you rent a car you’d factor that in, but it gives you so much flexibility. You’re still looking at paying for a hotel with a free shuttle because you’d have to pay to get to and from the airport, but you’re paying much more in your time (more on that below).

Time is Money

The other thing that I’ve learned through all of my traveling is that your time is valuable too. Especially if you’ve worked hard to take a vacation like this, and you have limited time off. I don’t want to spend a ton of my vacation time on transportation and trying to get around.

If you’re staying off-site, say at a hotel 10 miles away from Disney, and you have a car, your trip to Magic Kingdom could potentially look like this:

8am – leave off-site hotel to drive to Magic Kingdom
8:30am – after the drive in traffic, wait to park your car at the TTC
8:45am – finally get directed to parking
8:50am – wait for/board the tram from the parking lot
8:55am – arrive at the main section of the TTC
9:00am – wait for/board the boat or monorail to take you to Magic Kingdom
9:15am – Get to Magic Kingdom, through security, through the ticket gates, and into the park
9:30am – get in line for your first ride of the day!

This is not an unrealistic schedule for an off-site trip – it very well may take you an hour and a half from when you leave to when you’re in the parks. When I’ve stayed on property it’s usually taken at most 45 minutes (though often it’s even quicker). 

If you’re staying at that same hotel but looking at using their free shuttle, it could also look like this:

7:50am – get to lobby to wait for shuttle
8:05am – shuttle leaves
8:35am – after drive in traffic, shuttle drops off at Epcot
8:40am – leaves Epcot
8:50am – shuttle arrives at TTC
9:00am – wait for/board the boat or monorail to take you to Magic Kingdom
8am – leave off-site hotel to drive to Magic Kingdom
8:30am – after the drive in traffic, wait to park your car at the TTC
8:45am – finally get directed to parking
8:50am – wait for/board the tram from the parking lot
8:55am – arrive at the main section of the TTC
9:00am – wait for/board the boat or monorail to take you to Magic Kingdom
9:15am – Get to Magic Kingdom, through security, through the ticket gates, and into the park
9:30am – get in line for your first ride of the day!

My conclusions

• If you have a car or are planning to rent one regardless, staying off-site is much easier
• If time matters to you, you’ll lose a lot of time trying to work out off-site transportation
• For bigger groups, staying on Disney property makes it much easier to transport everyone in your group to/from the theme parks
• Rideshares can add up really quickly
• Price out everything to see if it really makes sense and will save you money
• Don’t pick off property Disney World hotels with shuttle just because their advertise their transportation and location
• If you are off-site, use another method besides the “free shuttle”

Overall, everyone has their preferences when it comes to traveling and vacation. If you want or need to save money by staying off-property that’s totally okay. I just personally find the convenience of flexibility of transportation on property to be so important to my trips and makes them much less stressful. If people still opt to use other transportation that’s great, but it’s good to be aware of everything that you’re getting into when it comes to something like this!

Have you ever tried staying at non Disney World hotels with shuttle transportation? How was your experience?