Pick One From Each Disney Hotel Category

Where you’ll stay qualifies as one of the most important decisions you’ll make about your Disney vacation.

Trust me. I’ve been there a lot. My wife and I agonize over this choice as we plan every vacation.

Even when only two people are involved in the discussion, it’s challenging since we both have our favorites.

That conversation grows even more difficult when you travel with multiple parties, as we often do.

So, let’s say that you can only pick one from each Walt Disney World hotel category. What should you choose?

The Value Tier            

Creating the Value Tier of Walt Disney World resorts was one of the best decisions Disney ever made.

Suddenly, an influx of new tourists could afford Disney since the rooms cost $99 a night.

Obviously, that pricing occurred during the early days of the All-Star Resorts, but the fact has remained.

When tourists contemplate the most affordable Disney resorts, they start in the Value Tier.

This category of Disney hotels includes the four All-Stars Resorts, plus a couple of outliers.

Those are Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort.

I feel a bit uncomfortable comparing the last two since they’re on a different level than the other three.

While Disney doesn’t construct cookie-cutter hotels per se, there’s a sameness to the All-Star properties.

Sure, each one features vastly different theming, and it’s all immersive and entertaining.

You’ll have your theming choice of movies, music, and sports, with each one offering charming Disney touches.

So, you should pick your favorite of the three. For me, the order is 1) Movies, 2) Sports, and 3) Music.

Others would list Disney’s All-Star Music Resort first, which I consider fighting words.

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort features BY FAR my favorite food court, World Premiere Food Court.

I consider this property to have tremendous value for hotel rooms that range from $133 to $352 a night.

Comparing any of these three to Pop Century or Art of Animation feels unfair in that these two properties are objectively better.

Disney knows this and prices them accordingly. Pop Century’s rooms cost anywhere from $183-$450.

Art of Animation can cost even more since it hosts many Family Suites, which are ideal for traveling parties of up to six guests.

Between them, I prefer Pop Century, although I suspect more tourists favor Art of Animation.

The Moderate Tier

Here’s where the conversation takes a turn, as the Moderate Tier resorts don’t share much in common.

Okay, the price range hovers in the same vicinity for each one, but the hotels differ mightily.

You’ll enjoy your choice of:

• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter
• Disney’s Port Orleans – Riverside

Rooms in this tier can cost anywhere from $260 to $537 per night, depending on myriad factors.

Some of these hotels offer Room Types such as Garden View, Pool View, and so forth.

You’ll pay a bit more for them, but the amenities in the Moderate Tier are about the same.

Most of these hotels offer a combination of Quick Service and Table Service dining experiences.

The pools feature immaculate themes, especially at Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach, and the lobbies are marvelous.

I could hang out at the French Quarter’s lobby and be happy all day. Honestly, I’ve done that a couple of times.

One of the resorts does offer a unique amenity, and it’s one I probably should have mentioned in the Value Tier.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, like Pop Century and Art of Animation, hosts a Disney Skyliner station.

So, you can more easily navigate around the Walt Disney World campus, including riding a gondola to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

These are the sorts of amenities that should entice you to spend a bit more for your Disney hotel.

In exchange for more money, you gain better logistics, thereby reducing your vacation stress.

I’ve ridden many Disney buses over the years, and I’m telling you that gondolas, monorails, and boats are all better.

Which One Is Best?

The fascinating thing about every Disney resort is the variance of opinion about which one is the best.

Historically, Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs didn’t have the best reputations among Disney resorts.

However, that changed with the introduction of the gondola station at Caribbean Beach.

Similarly, Coronado Springs added Gran Destino Tower, a decadent sky-rise hotel building.

When Disney hosted the NBA Bubble for the 2020 playoffs, players like LeBron James stayed at Gran Destino.

This is a luxurious facility that, if it were a standalone entity, would likely belong in the Deluxe Tier.

Still, I have a favorite, and I’ve made no secret of this fact over the years.

My preferred Moderate Tier resort is Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter.

While this hotel doesn’t feature logistics on a par with Caribbean Beach, its seclusion and theming warm my heart.

I love this place so much that I’ve spent a couple of birthdays here.

Truthfully, I prefer it over some Deluxe Tier resorts. Speaking of which…

The Deluxe Tier

Depending on how we count them, Walt Disney World owns and operates about 15 Deluxe Tier resorts.

There are variants at a couple of the resorts, which is why the total technically surpasses 15.

I’m obviously not going to discuss all of them individually, as that’s a multi-part column in and of itself. But here’s the list:

• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club

I’ve trimmed the list for convenience. But here’s what you need to know.

The Deluxe Tier resorts embody the finest in theme park vacation stays.

You’ll feel like royalty when you stay at one of these places. For that matter, Disney HOSTS royalty here.

MickeyTravels has even booked some of those trips. And this fact reinforces how plus Deluxe Tier resorts are.

Obviously, you’ll pay more for the experience, with these hotels starting in the $450 range.

On the higher end, a single hotel room/Studio can cost more than $1,000 a night.

So, you’re probably wondering what you get for that money. And the answer is a staggering amount.

One of the Deluxe Tier pools, Stormalong Bay, is basically a water park by a different name.

Meanwhile, one hotel restaurant, Victoria & Albert’s, has earned a Michelin Star!

The goodies available at Deluxe Tier resorts will blow your mind, with most hotels offering multiple fine dining experiences.

These hotel lobbies will blow you away with their immersion, and the hotel grounds are immaculate.

Which One Is Best?

To be clear, none of them is “best” per se, as they’re all incredible.

I’ve stayed at all of them by now, thanks to my DVC membership, and I’m consistently blown away by their quality.

My wife and I have several favorites each, but we agree that Disney’s Beach Club Resort is impeccable.

We also have a soft spot in our hearts for Disney’s Old Key West Resort and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Still, like many of you, we prefer the monorail resorts when we’re splurging at Disney.

That’s the trio of the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian.

And that’s where the divide occurs, as my wife prefers the Contemporary. I cannot really blame her, either.

Once you’ve stayed a ten-minute walk away from Magic Kingdom, there’s no going back. It’s addictive.

Even so, I am now and always will be an evangelist for the Polynesian, the One True Disney Hotel.

I loved this place as a child, and I still get stars in my eyes whenever I walk into the hotel lobby.

This place signifies the ultimate in Disney theming for me, and I’m just plain happy when I stay here.

But I must stress the obvious. Any time you choose a Deluxe Tier Disney resort, you’ll have the time of your life.

That’s why you should speak with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner at MickeyTravels.

These experts will guide you to the perfect hotel for your Disney vacation needs. Best of all, they’ll do so for free!

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