A day in Disney World can feel like running a marathon.

You can quite literally walk 10, 15, or even more miles a day while you’re roaming around the parks. Even if you pause for breaks regularly, you’re whole body can begin to ache. If you’re doing two or more days of a Disney World trip, you’ll likely be ready for a week of sleep and a massage by the end of it. It’s important to wear good shoes, drink plenty of water, and eat plenty to help your body recover from all the exercise you’re bound to be getting on your “vacation.” But did you know that Disney offers a FREE amenity at many of its hotels at Disney World that can help your aching muscles feel better?

Disney World has three types of hotel options — Value Resorts, Moderate Resorts, and Deluxe Resorts. Each type of hotel offers several amenities including pools, dining locations, attractions of their own, and more. A few hotels also offer fitness rooms and spas, but that is only a select few. However, all the Disney Moderate and Deluxe hotels, the Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green hotels offer hot tubs!

Many of you might be thinking the same thing as our reader Loren, “Nothing about a hot tub in the Florida heat sounds like a good idea. ” But trust us, these amenities can be GREAT for your recovery from the long days in the parks. If you’ve ever played sports, injured yourself, or hurt your muscles in any way, you may have used heat in the form of heating pads to aid in your recovery. Heat therapy is a common treatment used by many people when they have sore, aching muscles.

According to the New York Times, heat can help ease pain and speed up recovery. Heat can help your body take natural steps to healing and rebuilding muscles. So after a long day of speed walking many miles in the parks, submerging yourself into a relaxing hot tub can not only help you release stress but also help your muscles feel better before heading back to the parks the next day!

Turns out that a lot of you, our readers, were already hopping into your Disney World hotel hot tubs! A few of you even seemed to be aware of the benefits this can do for your body by feeling the effects yourselves. Lydia shared that she goes in “As much as [she] can! At the end of a long day walking and standing in the parks, a dip in the hot tub (or even in just the pool) helps my joints and muscles relax (back and legs in particular) and feel better the next day for sure!” We totally agree!

A few readers mentioned that they avoid the hot tub in the summer months but will venture into them in the fall, winter, and spring. Others, like Mary, say that they prefer the pool as a way “to cool off and relax.” The pools can be a great way to loosen up those tight muscles as well, they just might not give you the healing aspect of a hot tub. 

Regardless of your preferences, we might all need to learn from our reader Thomas who shared that he jumps in the hot tub “to make the regular pool colder.” That’s the kind of positivity and pro tip we needed today!

If you plan on staying at a Moderate or Deluxe hotel on your next Disney World trip, consider taking a dip in the hot tub to help your sore, aching muscles, we all know they need it!

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The post The One Very Specific Reason You Go to the Hot Tub at Disney World Hotels first appeared on the disney food blog.