If this is your first time staying at a Walt Disney World hotel, then you are in for a real treat: Disney imagineers out-do themselves when it comes to designing the hotels. When booking accommodations at Walt Disney World, you have five options: the Walt Disney World Campground; Value Resorts; Moderate Resorts; Deluxe Villas and Deluxe Resorts. Prices increase as you move from one option to the next, the campground being the cheapest accommodation option and the deluxe resorts are (typically) the most expensive per night.
Disney Campground: The Fort Wilderness resort and campgrounds offer 4 types of facilities: tent or pop-up campsite; campsite with full hook-up; campsite-preferred and campsite-premium. I am not a camper and I have never stayed at the Disney campground but, I have seen the facilities. The grounds are beautiful and you have access to efficient and clean shower/bathroom facilities, as well as a pool, laundry and a full functioning restaurant. Bus and ferry service is provided for traveling to and from the theme parks and water parks. Some perks of this resort include nightly entertainment, horse and buggy rides around the resort, and hiking and horse riding trails. For those of you who want something rustic, but aren’t adventurous enough to rough it in the humid, sweaty campgrounds, Fort Wilderness also boasts beautiful hotel room style cabins that fall under the “moderate resort accommodations” category.
Value Resorts: These include Disney’s All-Star, Pop-Century and the brand new, under construction Art of Animation resorts (scheduled to open 2012). Disney’s value resorts are basically the equivalent of a 2 star hotel. The rooms are equipped with two double beds, a hair dryer, a safe, a telephone, cable TV (with Disney programming), an ironing board and iron, and pizza delivery service. A full service food court is accessible in these hotels. For an additional charge you can have a refrigerator and high speed internet access for your room. These hotels are located on the out skirts of the resort property with bus services available to all theme and water parks. These resorts are more about function than form, but they’re still themed to some degree. If you are on a strict budget, are not concerned with amenities or location and will not be spending much time in the room, the value resorts are definitely the way to go.
Moderate Resorts: These resorts include: Caribbean Beach; Coronado Springs; Port Orleans French Quarter; Port Orleans Riverside and the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. These resorts are Disney’s version of a 3 star hotel. Standard rooms are equipped with two queen beds, a privacy curtain between the vanity/bathroom area and the room, telephone, iron and ironing board, a mini-fridge, a safe, cable TV (with Disney programming) and a coffee maker. High speed internet access is also available for an additional charge. These resorts also have limited room service, full service restaurants and food courts, on-site recreation, self parking and bus or boat services to all the theme or water parks. These resorts are a bit frillier than the value resorts; basically, you are paying for more amenities.
Deluxe Resorts: Disney’s version of the 4 star hotel includes: Animal Kingdom Lodge; The Grand Floridian; The Polynesian; The Contemporary; The Wilderness Lodge; The Yacht and Beach Club; The Boardwalk and the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin*. Standard rooms are equipped with two queen beds (and usually a day bed as well), telephone, iron and ironing board, a mini-fridge, a safe, cable TV (with Disney programming) and a coffee maker These resorts also have full-service restaurants, room service, luggage service, valet parking, a fitness center, beach access and on-site recreation. Bus, monorail or boat transportation is available to the theme parks and water parks. Some of these resorts also have easily accessible walking paths to the nearby parks. These hotels are the absolute best accommodations Disney offers. They are luxurious, stylish and themed beyond compare; the décor is all-encompassing and you feel immersed into a whole different world the moment you step through the door.
* The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin are not Disney hotels. They are owned and operated by the hotel chain, Westin, who rents space on Disney’s property and markets the hotels as Disney resorts. You can not book a room for these hotels on the Disney website*
Disney also offers deluxe villas and Disney Vacation Club Resorts. Which have amenities almost identical to the deluxe resorts, and they can also include small kitchenettes. The Disney Vacation Club is a type of a time share. Check out the details online.
*All hotels come with child care services, concierge services, swimming pools and luggage services.*
Besides price and amenities, the differences between the three major accommodation options lie in two areas:
- Location- Deluxe hotels are located in the heart of the magic. They are centered around either the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT center. Most of these hotels are either a quick monorail ride or short walk (and I mean short, like 10 minutes tops) to the nearest theme park. Moderate resorts are a longer distance away, but still only a short bus ride to the theme parks. The value resorts are furthest away from the fun, but still close enough to the magic.
- Building Design: All Disney hotels, regardless of room price, are themed to a tee. However, the moderate and value resorts are styled more like a motel. Your hotel room door opens to the outside. There is no grand lobby. If you are looking for that mind blowing hotel feeling, stay at a deluxe resort.
Whether you are staying in a standard budget room or the Walter E Disney Suite, all the hotels are wonderfully themed and SUPER clean. Between all the members of my immediate family, we have stayed in almost every resort hotel and we have never been disappointed. The house keeping is always impeccable and the hotel staff is always friendly and accommodating. If you need anything, just ask nicely and the staff is more than willing to help you out to the best of their abilities. All hotels are equipped to accommodate special needs guests as well. Staying on Disney property definitely has its perks. Besides being smack dab center in the magic, being a Disney resort hotel guest gets you special theme park perks, free transportation to and from the theme parks, free parking, access to Extra Magic Hours (which is only open to resort guests) and more.
For those of you traveling with your four legged babies, the Walt Disney World resort is also equipped with a newly renovated pet kennel. To find more information about the new kennel, go to their website: http://wdw.bestfriendspetcare.com/
I will try and set some time aside this trip to go and tour the facility.
This time around, we are staying in Port Orleans-French Quarter. This is my second time staying in a moderate resort hotel (the first time was when I was 3, so I do not remember it). I promise to provide an extensive photo slide-show of the resort and a review of my experience with the resort when we get home.
You can find all this information on the Walt Disney World website:
For more hotel information, photos, prices and reviews I recommend:
I hope you will find these resources helpful. Have a magical day!
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