But what are the amenities?

What do you get for that money? Let’s ignore Swan and Dolphin for now and focus on Disney amenities. Disney offers hotel guests Extra Magic Hours access to the theme parks. That’s an hour each day, either before opening or after closing, where the only people in the parks are Disney resort guests. You can ride four or five attractions during this timeframe, as only the most popular ones have long waits.

Disney hotel guests also get to schedule FastPasses 60 days prior to the visit. Everyone else can select them 30 days prior to arrival. That extra 30 days is often the difference between getting a FastPass for Avatar Flight of Passage or Frozen Ever After or missing out completely. When you don’t have a FastPass, you have to wait in line, and both of these attractions regularly have waits of 90 minutes or more. That’s a huge block of time that you’re spending on a single ride. With a FastPass, you can cut that time to 30 minutes or less. The larger FastPass window gives you more control over your vacation.

The transportation system is a work-in-progress, but the hints are there that it’s about to become so much better. The Skyliner will allow guests at multiple hotels to go directly to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios without ever riding a bus. What’s the financial value of that to a theme park tourist? Everyone’s mileage will vary on it, but here’s the critical point. The Skyliner will have a stop in the area of the All-Star Resorts. Its specific purpose is to alleviate traffic in that area.

These hotels are also the cheapest onsite. While they’re not monorail resorts with the statue and history of the Polynesian or Contemporary, they’re a terrific value. For less than what you would have paid to stay onsite at Walt Disney World in 1971, you can stay at a place that provides all the amenities of a Disney resort visit. You also don’t have to break the bank to do so.

The addition of the Skyliner is a brilliant way for Disney to negate anyone’s need to stay offsite. Competitors in the hotel industry simply cannot match the combination of prices and amenities at Disney’s least expensive resorts. Meanwhile, anyone with a larger budget can stay at an even better Disney locale. That’s why a Disney resort stay makes even more sense today than it did when the park opened.

From day one of Walt Disney World, staying onsite has included a bit of prestige plus some incredible amenities. That hasn’t changed over the years, and the situation will only get better from now until the park’s 50th anniversary celebration. It’s a wonderful deal for the money.