Welcome Foolish Mortals.
I’m Shantel and I will be your Ghost Host for today, Hilary. Staying at a
Disney Resort Hotel is one of my favorite parts of a
Walt Disney World Resort vacation. As you’ve mentioned, there are even “select hotels” that will allow you to make your park reservations. Keep in mind that no matter what, you must have a ticket to make a park reservation. I recommend checking the
Disney Park Pass availability calendar prior to booking your trip. I was bouncing back and forth between the availability for “Theme Park Tickets Guests” and “Disney Resort Guests” and the availability is very similar. No matter which you book your reservations under, you will need a park ticket first.
I did check with the Master, and was told that most hotels listed under the “
more great accommodations” tab qualify as the “other select hotels”. Keep in mind that, Gateway hotels and Good Neighbor hotels do not qualify. I recommend checking with the resort prior to confirming your booking. Another fun tip is, if the resort is linkable to your
My Disney Experience account, it qualifies!
I’ll also share what I did for my upcoming visit. I first made my reservation, at one of Disney’s Value Resorts, then ordered my tickets from my local military ticketing office. I received those tickets about a week later and then made my park reservations. So no matter which resort you choose, you will need tickets before being able to make your park reservations using the
Disney Park Pass system. I hope this helps you plan for your visit, Hilary. Please be sure to visit us again if you find that you have any more questions.
Happy Haunts!
-Shantel