Hi Patricia, Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Thank you for reaching out to us with your planning questions.
While a lot of off-property hotels advertise theme park dining incentives for booking a room at their location, the dining credits they offer are usually presented as a Disney Gift Card.
Disney Dining Plans are only available for purchase to those who stay at a
Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. But don't fret; a lot of people love the dining plans because they are often seen as a way to pre-pay for meals in advance of a Walt Disney World Resort vacation. Should you choose to stay off-site you could always buy your own
Disney Gift Cards from a grocery, big box, or drug store near your home in the months and weeks leading up to your vacation and use the gift cards to pay for park tickets, souvenirs, and even meals and snacks from almost every
dining location across the whole property.
Disney Springs: Disney offers
complimentary bus transportation for everyone from all Disney theme and water parks directly to Disney Springs starting at 4 p.m. daily until 11 p.m., or until 2 hours after each park closes, whichever is first. However, there is no direct transportation from Disney Springs back to the various theme parks. You can take a bus (
or boat!) from Disney Springs to a resort hotel, and then take a second bus from that hotel to the park of your choice.
I hope this helped with your planning, Patricia, and we'll see you real soon!
~Kristen