2026 Disney Resort Benefits: What’s New, What’s Staying

2026 Disney Resort Hotel Benefits

Disney has shared that the following new and existing benefits will be extended to their resort hotel guests in 2026:

• Free Dining Plan Offer (New for 2026): Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel will get a free dining plan for their kids (ages 3-9) when purchasing a dining plan with their package for others in their party (ages 10 and up).*

• Complimentary Water Park Admission on Select Dates (Changes for 2026): Disney Resort hotel guests can get free water park admission on their check-in day in the summer of 2026 (subject to availability). Additional details, including specific dates, will be shared at a later time.  

• Complimentary theme park transportation via monorail, boat, bus, and Disney Skyliner   

• Free standard parking at hotels, theme parks, and water parks   

• Early access to dining reservations and Lightning Lanes for your entire stay, as well as advanced access to purchase tickets to select special events.   

• Early Theme Park Entry: Guests can enjoy up to 30 minutes of early entry on every day of their vacation at every park.

• Extended Evening Hours: Guests of Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts can enjoy extended evenings in the theme parks on select evenings. (This is specific to select hotels.)

*The free dining plan for kids is a special offer. It requires that you book a Disney Resort Hotel and that everyone in the room, ages 10 and up, purchase a dining plan. The great part about this special and limited-time offer is that, per Disney, you may still be eligible to take advantage of other deals offered in 2026. The fine print of the offer reads: This offer can be combined with other select discounts and promotions.

Of course, that’s not all. Guests of Disney Resort Hotels can also consider these other perks:

• The proximity of your hotel room to the theme parks.
• Staying at a Disney Resort saves you time.
• Many standard rooms can sleep up to five guests.
• Fun-themed Resort Pools
• Resort Recreation Offerings
• Surprise Character Encounters at the Resorts

Below, we’ll discuss a few of these options in detail and why they matter. Note that these options are specific to 2026. We have a separate guide with every hotel offer released for 2026.

Complimentary Transportation

Disney offers resort guests free transportation to and from the hotels to its theme parks and other destinations. Depending on which resort you choose, you’ll have access to one or more of the following forms of transportation:

• Buses
• Monorail
• Watercraft
• Skyliner

See our guide to the Best Resorts for Transportation at Disney for more details.

Early Theme Park Entry 

Early theme park entry allows guests to access the theme parks 30 minutes early. This benefit applies to all resort guests and is available daily at all four parks. So, no matter which park you visit, you can enter 30 minutes ahead of the crowd.

Related: Hotels Eligible for Early Theme Park Entry

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

This benefit is only for guests of deluxe and deluxe villa resorts. (If you’re staying at a value or moderate resort, you do not get this perk.)

Select parks offer extended theme park hours on select evenings. These hours allow deluxe and deluxe villa resort guests to remain in the parks for up to two hours after the park officially closes to the public. Typically, we see these hours offered twice weekly. Most of the year, Magic Kingdom participates in extended evening hours on Wednesdays and Epcot on Monday evenings. However, these scheduled evenings often shift to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios during the holiday season.

If you’re eligible for these hours, you’ll want to include them in your itinerary. We have a separate article that discusses extended evening hours at Disney World in detail.

Proximity to Resort from the Parks for Breaks

A huge advantage of staying at a Disney Resort is that you can reasonably return to your resort. For instance, if you are visiting the Magic Kingdom, the bus stop is outside the park’s entrance. You can get back to your resort for a break and return later if desired.

If you were staying off-site, you would have to travel from the Magic Kingdom to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Then, you’d have to tackle the parking lot to find your car, or worse, wait for the off-property shuttle to pick you up. Meanwhile, if you stayed at a Disney resort, you’d probably be napping in your room—or maybe at the pool. Who knows if you’ll even return to the parks after a bit of relaxation time?

Staying at a Disney Resort Saves Time

If you don’t know your way around the Lake Buena Vista area like the back of your hand, staying on Disney property will save you time. Sure, there could be times when you feel like you waited forever for a bus or when you don’t know how to use complimentary transportation to get to Epcot from Magic Kingdom. But these times will probably be trivial in the overall scheme of things.

Many Standard Rooms Sleep Up to 5 Guests

Are you a party of five that includes at least one small child? Select Disney Resorts have rooms with an individual pull-down bed, accommodating a small child. For example, the bed in the photo below shows an option for a 5th guest at Disney’s Caribbean Beach. See our guide to Disney Resort rooms that sleep up to five guests.

The Pools at Disney Resorts Are Fun!

All of the resorts at Walt Disney World have incredible pool areas! You might pick one of the resorts with a waterslide or a splash pad for little ones.

Dining Options Galore

Most Disney Resort Hotels have numerous dining options. However, those staying at a value resort are limited to the food court, but even they offer a multitude of options. Furthermore, if you’re staying in a resort area like Magic Kingdom or Epcot Resorts, you’ll have even more options nearby. You can also hop on a bus to Disney Springs to enjoy a wide array of options.

Resort Recreation

Disney Resorts offer some of the best recreation activities around! Each resort has a full activity schedule with daily activities to take advantage of during your day. One of those things is the Movie Under the Stars program. Movies are held nightly at or near the resort’s feature pool. So, pull up a lounge chair, grab some popcorn, and settle down for a unique Disney movie experience.

MagicBands+

If you elect to purchase a MagicBand+, Disney offers a discounted “pre-arrival” price for Magic Bands to guests staying at their resorts.

Being in the Disney Bubble

Staying in the Disney bubble means you’ll have easy access to dining, transportation, pools, and many other things we’ve already discussed. You can expect touches of magic you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the one all-inclusive thing that sets a stay here apart from anywhere else.

2026 Water Parks Access For Summer Check-in Dates

Guests can enjoy complimentary access to a water park (based on availability) on their check-in day. As mentioned earlier, this perk will be limited to specific dates. We’ll update with those details when more information is released.

Resort Airline Check-In for Select Guests Flying Select Airlines

Disney implemented a resort airline check-in service at its value resorts in 2025. Right now, the service is only available at Disney’s Value Resorts to guests who are flying Southwest Airlines. You can read about the testing phase here.

Final Thoughts

Disney Resort benefits continue to be a major part of the value of staying on property, and 2026 brings a few extras that families may want to factor into their plans. With the return of popular perks like early theme park entry to limited-time offers like complimentary seasonal water park admission, resort guests will have even more reasons to stay in the magic.

If you’re deciding whether a Disney Resort is right for your family, be sure to see our complete guide to Disney Resort Benefits. There, we cover every perk in detail and explain how they can help make your vacation smoother, more stress-free, and, most importantly, more memorable.

Planning a Disney World vacation? These guides can help you compare hotels, pools, and even off-site options:

• Best Disney World Resorts: See how all the Disney hotels ranked from value to deluxe.
• Reviews of Every Hotel at Disney World: We offer a concise overview, including pros and cons of every resort on property, based on our personal experience.
• Best Disney Resorts for Toddlers: Discover the most kid-friendly Disney World resorts, perfect for little ones.
• Disney Resort Pools Ranked: Find out which Disney World resort has the best pool and why.
• Disney Visa Cardholder Perks for Disney World: If you have a Disney Visa Card, don’t miss these extra discounts during your vacation!

More Planning

Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.