We’re only a blog here, not a news site, so we don’t claim to be experts on the matter. But, we do go to the Disney parks and resorts a lot, often several days a week, so we’ve seen it all–enough that we can shed some light on the question of whether work from home is common at Disney World in 2024.
We don’t like to keep people waiting for our take so, in short, yes, we see plenty of people “working from home” at Disney World. However, it’s not as common as you might think.
In our opinion, Disney World can be an excellent place to get some work done. Sure, there are a lot of distractions, so maybe it’s not for those who struggle to stay focused, but for many a bustling atmosphere can get the juices flowing and increase productivity. Not to mention, there are a lot of gorgeous spots that are just so pleasant to be at. Why not write your reports with world famous icons like Cinderella Castle or the Epcot “ball” in the background? We bet lots of people would consider such a life as “living the dream”.
We used to see work from home folks a lot more during the pandemic. Based on the housing market at the time, it seemed like the whole country was moving from out of state to Orlando just to “work from home” at places like Disney World. In the past year, though, it’s been less common, but we still see it.
The place we see work-from-homers the most is probably Epcot. Epcot has quite a few spaces that are indoors, air conditioned, with comfortable seating, large table tops, and electrical outlets for charging. There are the obvious places, like the Starbucks in Connections, the Odyssey Center, and Communicore Hall. But we even see work-from-homers in outdoor spaces, especially the World Celebration Gardens smack dab in the middle of Epcot between Connections and Communicore. Even on hot, humid, summer days we’ll see a few folks from the laptop class typing away at the shaded tables there.
Other places at Disney World where we’ve seen guests getting work done on their devices are the eateries in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Locations that immediately come to mind are Tomorrowland Terrace and ABC Commissary, but really there are quite a few places with seats and tables that we find the random worker.
As you might expect, we also see a lot of people working in the common spaces at the resorts. The lobbies, coffee shops, and quick service places are the most common. Workers in these spots are most likely guests on vacation just trying to stay on top of their work, not true work-from-homers. But we know from personal experience that there are more than a few Orlando residents that are annual passholders who know how to navigate Disney and find the primo places at the resorts to work. In fact, if you’re a regular at Disney, you might even start to favor spending time at the resorts over the parks. We passholders develop particular affinities for certain resort locations.
Do the Jotters ever work from home at Disney? Not intentionally. While one of us has a flexible job that occasionally allows for working from home, we do not work at Disney. There have been instances where we’ve had to take an emergency Zoom meeting or phone call while on vacation, but that’s about it. The main reason is that when we’re at Disney, we go to relax. We don’t want to associate Disney World with the stress of work. Given the decreasing number of remote workers, it seems others might share our sentiments. Additionally, enduring Orlando traffic and Disney parking lots only to face a long day of work doesn’t sound appealing. Most of us would much rather stay in our PJs.
So there you have it. Our take on work from home at Disney World in 2024. Comments or questions? Let us know below!
Leave a Reply