Vacation Rental vs. Hotel for Your Disney Trip: Which Option is Better?

As you start the initial stages of planning your next Disney World vacation, there are a large number of factors you need to plan out. After all, the one-week vacation cost for a single person alone costs over $1,500, going to show how importance budgeting is, especially when visiting a theme park as expensive as Disney. When you start to think about areas where you can save money, most people write off their accommodations as being one of their biggest expenses. However, rather than staying in a traditional hotel, you may find that vacation rentals offer you more amenities for a lower cost. 

What is a Vacation Rental?

To those unfamiliar with the term, a vacation rental is simply a home, apartment, or condo that another person owns and chooses to rent out to short-term visitors to an area. Sites like Airbnb popularized the idea of vacation rentals, but there are a number of ways to find these accommodations. Typically, a person rents out their home for anywhere between a couple of days to as long as a couple of months, in some cases, with the person staying there paying a fee per night. 

Who Are Vacation Rentals Best For?

Generally, a vacation rental gives you access to an entire home and the surrounding property. This means you get access to a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, a living room, and potentially a backyard and front yard if the property is a home. Therefore, vacation rentals can be perfect for anyone, but they are particularly well-suited for larger families who may need to purchase multiple hotel rooms to house all their family members. 

Benefits of a Vacation Rental Near Disney

As your Disney trip nears and you need to make a decision regarding the accommodations you will be staying in, there are a few primary benefits to staying in a vacation rental near Disney World to consider:

• Access to more space than a traditional hotel room would provide
• The ability to stay amidst locals provides a more immersive experience with your trip
• You tend to get more privacy in a vacation rental than you do in a hotel
• Vacation rentals are typically more pet-friendly
• You can cook your own food in a kitchen rather than eating expensive theme park food
• The ability to stay a little longer is far more practical

Drawbacks of a Vacation Rental Near Disney

For all of the above benefits, however, there are a few drawbacks to staying in a vacation rental for your next Disney World trip. Most importantly: 

• You’re responsible for cleaning up a reasonable amount of your own mess
• You won’t find support staff on-site like you will in a hotel
• Prices are still subject to increases during popular times, just as they are with hotels
• You’ll probably need a car since there won’t be shuttles taking you to the park from your vacation rental
• You will be subject to any local curfews or noise reduction hours

Factors to Consider When Deciding Whether a Rental or Hotel is Right for You

Given all of the above, most people determine that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. So much so, in fact, that the vacation rental market is expected to grow at 5.3% through 2030 with more options entering the market. To determine whether or not a vacation rental is better for your family, or yourself, on your next Disney World trip, ask yourself some of the following questions:

1. How many people will be joining you on your trip and would it require multiple rooms?
2. Do you plan on bringing any pets with you?
3. Does your budget leave enough money to be eating out every day as opposed to cooking?
4. Would you like to stay on a resort, or would you like a more “neighborhood” feel on your trip?
5. Do you have any means of transportation for getting to and from the park?

The Bottom Line

Regardless of whether you choose to stay in a vacation rental or a hotel for your Disney trip, it’s important to budget for your vacation ahead of time, rather than while on vacation. This will allow you to ensure you don’t accidentally fall into debt while on a trip with your family. Consider what options are best for you for accommodations along with what you’re hoping to do while on vacation to get a general idea of what your cost will look like.