What You Should Expect in Each WDW Hotel Tier
The days of $99 rooms in Orlando are long gone.
Disney fans know this better than everyone.
Photo: Washington Post
We’re always trying to stretch our Walt Disney World budget, as allocating money properly is vital to having the most magical vacation.
When you book a Disney World hotel room, you’ll want to know exactly what you’re getting for your money. Here’s what you should expect in each Disney hotel tier.
Choosing the Right Disney Hotel
Photo: skillastics.com
The maxim that you get what you pay for definitely applies at Disney resorts.
However, you’ll also discover a corollary.
You shouldn’t overpay when you don’t intend to spend much time in the room.
Coincidentally, my wife and I just made this mistake at the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. My wife and I stayed in a gorgeous, newly refurbished Treehouse Villa.
It’s one of the best hotel rooms I’ve ever booked.
Photo: Disney
Unfortunately, I’m not sure I spent 10 waking hours in that room during my Disney vacation.
We were very park-centric, which made a Treehouse Villa feel incredibly wasteful.
Photo: Disney
Our situation was different in that we had Disney Vacation Club points we had to spend.
Conversely, if we had spent plenty of time in the villa, this would have been the vacation of a lifetime.
Photo: Disney
My wife and I have enjoyed several resort-focused Disney vacations, and I can say with all sincerity that there were times my wife begged me to leave Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
When a Disney hotel feels like home, you develop an almost spiritual connection to it. In my personal experience, that’s easier to do at Disney’s finest resorts than the least expensive ones.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
I’m saying this out of honesty but also to be transparent about my bias.
As long as you book any official Disney World hotel room, you gain the only amenity that matters: Early Theme Park Entry.
Everything else is a splitting of hairs, albeit a luxurious one.
Value Tier Resorts
Disney lists five hotels in the Value Tier. They are not the same at all, though.
Two of them, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort, are much nicer.
They’re also substantially pricier than the other resorts in this category, although as a value proposition, the debate is closer than you’d think.
Art of Animation and Pop Century share a Disney Skyliner station, enabling guests with direct access to two theme parks.
When you stay at one of these hotels, you can ride a gondola to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and/or EPCOT.
Then, we have the All-Star Resorts. Disney owns and operates three of them. They are:
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
At each property, you’ll find a Quick Service restaurant and a general store.
The restaurants are akin to mall food courts in terms of size, seating, and dining options.
Meanwhile, the general stores feature a combination of sundries and toiletries, plus a large volume of Disney merchandise. All these resorts host multiple pools as well, giving you an opportunity to relax and unwind when you’re not at the parks.
The downside of the All-Star Resorts is the transportation.
You’ll spend substantially more time waiting for buses, and the trips to most theme parks are longer, too.
Long story short, you’re paying for a good room and some nice amenities, but these are the least exciting hotel room options. Note that All-Star Music and Art of Animation also offer Family Suites.
These rooms cost two to three times as much, but they’re capable of sleeping up to six guests.
Moderate Tier Resorts
Caribbean Beach Resort
When you stay at a Moderate Tier Disney resort, you should expect more because you will get more.
Disney offers four different Moderate Tier resorts, plus another that’s loosely in this category.
The main quartet consists of:
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter
- Disney’s Port Orleans – Riverside
Then, we have the honorary case of the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, aka Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
You can book a campsite or a cabin here, which means rates vary wildly depending upon your needs.
Photo: Disney
For now, let’s focus on the core four, as they all share a few common traits.
To begin with, the restaurants are nicer, with some serving exclusive delicacies such as beignets. Several of these resorts also host Table Service dining options, which cost more but deliver fine dining experiences.
The most unique of them is the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.
Photo: Disney
This is the proverbial “dinner and a show” experience, one that’s been running for more than 50 years now.
Other examples include Sebastian’s Bistro, Boatwright’s Dining Hall, and Toledo – Tapas, Steak & Seafood.
Realistically, the dining isn’t the reason you’ll book your hotel room, though.
The reason you should give Moderate Tier resorts a long look is because of the transportation.
Caribbean Beach hosts the main Disney Skyliner station, the hub connecting all other hotels and two theme parks.
Meanwhile, the two Port Orleans resorts offer boat transportation to and from Disney Springs. I’m a firm believer that logistics positively or negatively impact a Disney vacation, so the convenience of Disney transportation in the Moderate Tier matters greatly to me.
Deluxe Tier Resorts
Finally, we have the ultimate in Disney hotel accommodations.
Deluxe Tier Resorts have set the standard for Disney World vacations since Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort and the Polynesian opened alongside the park, so fans learned the joys of staying in a Monorail Resort from day one.
In 1998, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa joined them as the pinnacle of Disney hotels. You’ll find more than ten resorts in the Deluxe Tier, all of which are the gold standard.
I won’t list them all, other than to say that each one has its own unique theming and amenities. Each of these hotels hosts a main pool and a “quiet pool,” the latter of which is ideal for Disney adults.
Each resort hosts at least one and often several Table Service restaurants, plus you’ll find several excellent Quick Service Dining options.
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Then, we have the logistics-based amenities.
At Disney’s Fort Wilderness Lodge, you can ride a boat straight to Magic Kingdom’s front gate. Disney’s Riviera Resort also has a private Disney Skyliner station close to Hollywood Studios.
Disney also upgrades each hotel to keep them fresh and new.
Perhaps the best example is the completion of the Island Tower at the Polynesian.
This expansion tower added hundreds of new rooms as well as modern amenities on the Polynesian campus. Frankly, all other things being equal, you should always stay at a Deluxe Tier resort.
The problem is that all things are NOT equal, as these resorts obviously cost the most.
Disney
So, you must make your own determination about which resort best fits your needs and budget.
Thankfully, I can report that you’ll love every official Disney hotel.
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Feature Photo: Disney
