Undoubtedly you know how much magic there is at Disney World‘s theme parks by now!

But we bet you didn’t realize your Disney World resort hotel can be just as MAGICAL!

No matter which Disney World hotel you choose, you’re entitled to receive the FULL royal treatment! (Those rooms are EXPENSIVE, and you should take advantage of all the perks!) After all, you’re on vacation, so kick back and let your resort do all the heavy-lifting for you! 🙂

Here are 13 things you may not have known your resort hotel can do for you!

Have The Stuff You Bought at The Parks Delivered for You

Note: This service has not yet returned to the parks. 

Don’t want to carry that souvenir mug or fragile ornament around with you for the rest of the day? Just have it sent back to your Disney World resort after you purchase!

When you purchase your item at almost any gift shop located throughout Walt Disney World, tell the Cast Member you want to have it sent back to your hotel. You’ll have to fill out a little slip of paper and voila! Your item will magically appear at your resort’s main gift shop the very next day!

There are a few restrictions! You can’t do this neat trick if it’s the last day of your trip. You can, however, have the item sent to a pick-up location at the front of the park so you can grab it on your way out!

Click here to learn about other tough situations Disney can help you with!

Mail Your Stuff Home For You

All shops at Disney World, including whichever resort hotel you’re staying at, can also mail your Disney purchases home for you! You have to pay for the cost of shipping, of course, but say you ended up buying waaaay more beach towels, plush toys, and sweatshirts than you ever thought humanly possible! Now you have a way to get them home!

Hotels that have conference centers (like Disney’s Coronado Springs, Yacht & Beach Club, Grand Floridian, Contemporary Resort, etc.)  can even ship packages that aren’t Disney-purchased for you. If you’re NOT at a resort with a convention center, you can still ship packages home if you have a prepaid, preprinted mailing label and your own supplies. 

Click here to learn more about shipping packages home!

Furnish Items You Forgot to Pack

Don’t you just hate it when you forget to pack your toothbrush? Or maybe you need some over-the-counter medication or a band-aid because your little one just fell down and scraped their knee.

Go to the front desk of your resort and you’ll find all manner of things you forgot you needed. If the front desk doesn’t have exactly what you’re looking for and it’s late at night, they might be able to sell you what you need from the hotel’s gift shop, even if it’s closed for the evening!

Accept Deliveries and Hold Them for You

In addition mailing stuff out, your Disney World resort can also receive packages or items for you. This is the perfect solution if you don’t want to place bulkier items in your suitcase such as diapers and formula. There’s a service fee of $6 PER package, regardless of size, which will be charged to your room — so keep that in mind!

This is also a handy service for having essential items delivered to you! Say you want to order groceries for breakfast or you only like to drink Pepsi products (Disney World is exclusively Coca-Cola beverages only!). You can order your items using a service like Instacart and have them brought to your room for you for no extra cost (you should be nice and give bell service a good tip, though!).

What’s even cooler is if you have perishables in your bags, your hotel’s bell services team has a refrigerator and a freezer to keep your items nice and cold! That means when your groceries get dropped off, Cast Members will take care of items that obviously need to be refrigerated or frozen until they’re able to drop them off at your door!

And instead of charging you $6 per grocery bag, it’s just a flat, one-time $6 fee no matter how many bags your groceries come in. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to us! Of course, if you don’t want bell services to bring them up to your room for you, you can march down there and get them yourself — but we think it’s well worth cost of a tip to not have to lift a finger!

Find out how easy it is to have stuff delivered to your Disney World resort here!

Note Your Room Preference

If you book your trip on My Disney Experience, certain resorts will allow you to request a higher floor, bigger balcony, etc. online. Not every resort has this drop-down feature, so if the resort you choose doesn’t, you can call and place a request for which building or room feature you would like over the phone.

We recommend calling your resort 5 days before your trip because that’s typically when Disney starts allocating rooms to guests. Let them know specific requests from highest priority to lowest priority — certain building, upper or lower floor, close to the lobby, close to a pool, etc — and they’ll do their best to honor as many as they can. 

If you’re not that familiar with the property you’re staying at, you can request a quiet room. These are generally further away from common areas such as elevators and the lobby. Or you can ask for a room that’s closer to the restaurants, shopping, bus stops, or pools.

If mobility issues are a concern (especially at resorts like Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort where some of the buildings ONLY have stair access to upper floors!) be sure to request a first-floor room. It’s not always possible to land exactly where you want (you may have to upgrade to a pool or preferred level room to get especially close), but it’s definitely worth a shot!

Click here to see the current room discount available at Disney World!

Let You Bypass the Front Desk When You Arrive

If you’ve already checked into your Disney World resort online, you’re all set! Your resort will text you your room number and you can use your My Disney Experience app or  MagicBand to unlock your door without having to stop by the front desk and speak to a Cast Member!

That way, you can either go directly to your room as soon as you arrive, or you can hop right on a bus and go straight to the parks! When you return to your room later that day, you can still go to your guest room straight away without stopping by the Front Desk!

Of course, if you wanna swing by the front desk to pick up any free “I’m Celebrating” buttons or maps to save time at the parks later, you can always stop by and get them before you go! They have all the buttons and maps and you can pick them up without waiting in the often long lines at Guest Relations in the parks!

Have Your Bags Moved for You

Have you ever thought about doing a split-stay at 2 different resorts, but didn’t want to move your bags from one resort to the next? Call bell services and they’ll do it for you!

All of the Disney World resorts including Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort work together and they can save you the hassle of getting an Uber or Minnie Van to shuttle your stuff over to your other hotel. That way, if you want to, you can get a taste of multiple resorts on the same stay!

Maybe pick a Value resort like Art of Animation for the first half of your trip and end with a splurge at a Deluxe like the Polynesian! It can take a few hours to have your luggage brought over, so make sure you have any personal items you might need with you before you hand over your bags!

Not sure which resort is right for you? Click here!

Hold Your Items While You Go to the Parks

Your resort’s bell services will also be happy to hold onto your bags so you can sneak in one last look at Cinderella Castle or a quick ride on Soarin’ before you soar home! Or maybe while you enjoy a quick unencumbered drink at the hotel bar before you say goodbye to Disney World.

Before leaving your room, just dial them up and they’ll come get your stuff for you — no need to bring it down to their desk. Then you can check-out of your room and hit the parks! When you head back to your resort, you can pick up your stuff before you leave.

The same is true for your arrival day! Did your flight get you to Disney WAY before your room is ready? Leave your bags at Bell Services and hit the parks! When you get to your room later, call Bell Services and they’ll run your stuff up to you!

Planning your first trip to Disney World?! Click here for our top FAQ!

Deliver Signature Meals to Your Door

Each Disney World resort offers its own unique food, and one of our favorite meals to get at Disney World is ‘Ohana’s feast at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort! If you’ve chowed down at this long-time Disney World institution, you know what we’re talkin’ about!

But while any guest can get a reservation to dine at ‘Ohana, only guests staying at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort can order the Twilight Feast Room Service Meal! The meal is currently unavailable, but when it returns, it’s the EXACT same food you would normally enjoy at ‘Ohana (pineapple bread, salad, roasted meats, noodles, bread pudding, potstickers, stir-fried veggies, oak-fired shrimp, and POG juice), only it’s brought to your room, no reservation required!

The Twilight Room Service Meal costs $60 per person, but it’s truly a gift from the gods.  Seriously, one serving is plenty to feed at least 2 people! One of our favorite things to do is enjoy this family-style feast in our pjs while we watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. It doesn’t get much more magical than that!

Of course, those NOT staying at the Poly can also get some of these ‘Ohana goodies as secret eats at Tambu Lounge, the bar adjacent to ‘Ohana. Most of them aren’t found on Tambu Lounge’s menu, but we’ve often been able to ask our bartender for a few of these things!

Read our review of Disney’s Polynesian Twilight Feast here!

Check You Into Your Flight and Check Your Bags

Did you know every Disney World hotel has an airline check-in desk? It’s just like the ones you’ll find at any airport, but it’s right at your resort and you can do almost everything you need to do for your flight before ever leaving your hotel!

You can print your boarding pass and check-in your luggage for your flight just like you would do normally at the airport. Resort Airline Check-In is open daily from 5:00 AM to 12:00 noon and you must check-in no later than 3 hours before your flight departs. Then all you need to do is get through security once you arrive at the airport and you’re on your way home!

If you need a little MORE Disney while at the Orlando Airport, click here!

Tell You When Your Laundry is Ready

You’re probably not too keen on the idea of doing laundry on vacation (neither are we!), but it’s actually not as bad as it seems and it can save you a lot of space in your suitcase!

Each resort at Disney World is equipped with laundry facilities for guests, and all of the machines use a free app called LaundryView. This handy piece of technology will tell you how many washers and dryers are open at any given time and you can even set the app to notify you when it’s time to move your clothes over or take them out of the dryer!

LaundryView can’t actually wash your clothes for you, but it does take a lot of the headache away!

Learn more about Disney World’s LaundryView app here!

Add More Magic to Your Stay

Whichever Disney World resort you end up choosing, there’s almost always something special happening there. You’ll usually see different activities being promoted with a big signboard in the lobby near the front desk or on a printed calendar of events — just ask!

Family-Friendly Fun

These special events can range from painting activities, drawing classes and even crafts for the whole family. Below, you’ll see a recent list of Movies Under the Stars we saw posted at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Nearby, we also spied a sign telling us we could make our own Mickey Tie-Dye for a small additional cost!

Wanna have a glass of wine AND paint a beautiful Disney masterpiece to take home with you? Disney’s BoardWalk Inn regularly hosts Paint Your Own Wine Glasses classes at Abracadabar! We’ve also seen a create-your-own Minnie Ears at some of the resorts — and the results we saw were impressive!

Go Exploring

You can even take a self-guided tour of your Disney World resort. Many properties such as Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Old Key West Resort have some really cool art collections and history you can learn about for FREE. In the past, Old Key West Resort had a free 1-hour walking tour called “The Legend of Conch Flats” available most Wednesdays and Saturdays, which you can inquire about at the front desk.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge previously offered a free culinary tour of their three table-service restaurants Jiko, Boma, and Sanaa and even has cultural days where you can learn more about Africa from visiting ambassadors! You can also take a walk around and learn about the African Art displayed in the resort!

Click here to see our review of “Celebrate Africa Day” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Disney’s Pop Century Resort has some interesting collections of vintage Disney stuff in the lobby plus we love walking through the courtyards and pool areas. You’ll see a lot of larger-than-life Disney characters scattered around Disney World’s Value resorts, making them especially kid-friendly.

In-Room Entertainment

Thought you discovered everything your resort has to offer? There’s even more magical stuff awaiting you back at your room. Every night, you can tune into a bedtime story featuring Mickey Mouse and Duffy the Disney Bear. 

Stay in a Themed Room

Instead of a standard guest room, you can choose to stay in a fun themed room instead! Select Disney World resorts offer these specially-decorated rooms for little princes and princesses. Don’t worry– they’re all very tastefully done so even adults won’t mind sleeping in a bed shaped like a pirate ship at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort!

You can even watch your own personal nightly fireworks show on your headboard if you stay in one of the royal-themed royal rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside!

Do Even More with Club Level

Of course, the magic doesn’t have to stop there! Everything we’ve discussed so far is eligible to all guests, but what if you want MORE? Then you might want to consider taking your Disney World trip to the next level.

Not every Disney World resort offers a Club Level, but you will find it available at most Deluxe Disney resorts. On top of access to a private Club Level Lounge with complimentary breakfast, snacks throughout the day, and evening beer, wine, dessert, and cordials, you’ll have access to a Concierge! Concierge Cast Members can basically do anything for you in terms of making reservations, scoping out merchandise…you name it!

Club Level can cost a pretty penny more than your standard room, but for a special occasion like a Honeymoon or Anniversary, it can take that trip to the next level.

Part of why we love going to Disney World so much is how special our resorts make us feel. Having all of these unique and helpful amenities adds A LOT of enjoyment while being at Disney World, and we’re so happy to get to pass all of this stuff we’ve learned over to you! For more tips and advice planning your trip, make sure you’ve signed up to receive our newsletter where we share all the latest news with you, directly to your mailbox!

What’s your favorite Disney World resort to stay at? Tell us which one and why in the comments below!