Disney Resorts

On my recent trip to Disney World, I stayed at Disney’s Yacht Club, and it was great. Click here for a full review of my experience. While there, I had the chance to check out 11 other resorts, and this is what I learned.

The Beach Club is connected to the Yacht Club, so it had all of the same restaurants, pools, and amenities, as well as convenience to the parks, and my guess is the rooms were pretty similar too. However, we chose the Yacht Club over Beach Club because Beach Club is known to be more family friendly and Yacht Club more adult oriented. Walking into the Beach Club for our character breakfast one day, I definitely felt this vibe as the lobby had brighter, more fun decorations.

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The character meal for both hotels is located in the Beach Club, not the Yacht Club, probably because that’s where the families are.

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However, these hotels are sister hotels with minimal differences, so you really can’t go wrong with either. Beach Club is a couple of minutes closer to Epcot, and Yacht Club is a couple of minutes closer to Hollywood Studios, but the difference is minuscule because again, they’re connected. 

The Deluxe Resorts are broken into three categories based on their location. The Beach and Yacht Clubs are in the Epcot (and Hollywood Studios) resort area. In the same area, I also saw the Boardwalk Inn right on the other side of the bridge. I didn’t get much time to explore the hotel or see the pool, but this resort was right on par with Beach Club and Yacht Club. It’s almost like their “third sister” in a way. The biggest difference from my observation was that Boardwalk is on the Boardwalk (obviously). Therefore, the nightlife was a little bit more exciting. There is a dueling piano bar (21+), ESPN Club, some more restaurants, and some street performers that we saw walking by. However, this was all just a five minute walk for us from the Yacht Club, so this shouldn’t make or break your decision.

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The other Deluxe resorts that I made sure to see was the Magic Kingdom resorts. There are four resorts in this area – Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Wilderness Lodge. I saw all of the first three, the monorail resorts. These are the most expensive because of their easy access to both Magic Kingdom and Epcot on, you guessed it, the monorail. You can even walk to Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary. All three of them had really nice lobbies and felt like the highest level of luxury that Disney has to offer. I didn’t see the pool at the Contemporary, but the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian both have great pools with awesome splash pad areas for those of us with non swimming toddlers. It’s also worth noting that the Grand Floridian is the only five star hotel on Disney property, so I imagine the rooms also feel more luxurious, and the level of service is probably the best you’ll get (although Disney cast members are the gold standard for service in this world, so it’s not bad anywhere). I did not make it to Wilderness Lodge, and they’re not on the monorail, but they do have a quick boat ride to Magic Kingdom which is nice. 

The Grand Floridian at Christmas time:

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Not the best lighting, but here’s the Polynesian:

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And the contemporary, where I did not take actual lobby or grounds pictures, is home to Chef Mickeys, and also this cool little gingerbread house. And of course, this fireworks view.

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The last Deluxe resort that I was able to see was Animal Kingdom Lodge, obviously in the Animal Kingdom resort area. This was the coolest hotel I saw while there. The lobby was absolutely incredible and the view of the Savannah and the animals roaming right outside the resort was amazing.

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To be honest, google claims this is a 4 star hotel like all of the others (besides Grand Floridian), but this lobby definitely felt like 5 stars to me. We ate at one of the restaurants, and it was beyond delicious. I’ve heard that the other two restaurants there are also great, and that Animal Kingdom Lodge in general has some of the best food at Disney. However, and this is a big one, Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of the only deluxe hotels without any transportation options other than buses, and it is the furthest from all of the parks (besides Animal Kingdom). To stay here, the resort has to be more important to you than convenience to the parks, but if it is, or you don’t mind taking buses, ubering around, or renting a car, this is an amazing spot. It’s also a great spot to spend a few days if you have a longer trip planned and you want to do a split stay at a couple of different hotels.

Disney’s Deluxe resorts are the most expensive on property because of their room size, restaurants, pools, amenities, and locations. However, there are two other categories available: Moderate and Value.

I was only able to see one Moderate hotel – Caribbean Beach Resort. And honestly, due to its size, I didn’t really get to see too much of it. This resort is broken up into five sections based on five different Caribbean Islands. It’s big, but it’s also newly renovated and one of the stops on the new Disney Skyliner. This makes it a great choice in the Moderate Category because it allows you to save a little money avoiding a deluxe hotel while still having easy park access. The skyliner gets Caribbean Beach guests to Epcot and Hollywood Studios in just a few minutes. Seriously, I timed my own ride from Epcot to Hollywood Studios, and it was about 17 minutes with a transfer at Caribbean Beach right in the middle, so it’s definitely under 10 minutes in each direction. And like I mentioned in my Yacht Club post, you can also hop on the monorail to Magic Kingdom from Epcot, making Caribbean Beach the only moderate resort that gets you to three parks without a bus (read: without folding a stroller). 

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Due to the size of this resort, the bus makes stops at each “island”. Also, the resort is actually so big that it spans the entire length of the skyliner, meaning that some buildings are actually closer to a different stop. Just make sure you ask your travel agent to book you a room in a building convenient to whatever interests you most (skyliner, buses, food, pools). Speaking of the pools, I didn’t see the big one, but flying over on the Skyliner I saw all of the little ones. Each island has their own smaller, more relaxing pool. The resort’s main pool is a pirate themed fortress with fun for the whole family. I’ve heard some great things about it’s 2 big water slides, smaller slides, and shipwreck play area.

I didn’t get to see any other Moderate resorts due to my limited time this trip, and I’m sad about that because I think this mid level price range is perfect for many families who want to really enjoy themselves and be comfortable but don’t need the highest level of luxury. I’ll just have to book another trip soon to see some of the rest.

The third and final hotel category is the Value Resorts. These are the most affordable, and the ones with the most over the top theming. They are also the biggest resorts, furthest from the parks, and have the smallest rooms. Most rooms only have full sized beds in these resorts. They are also the only resorts without water slides or any table service restaurants, but with young kids or if you’re planning on spending most of your time at the parks, this shouldn’t matter too much. 

There are five value resorts, and I saw two of them: Pop Century and Art of Animation. These are the two resorts that are on the Skyliner, making them the most convenient resorts in this category. If you are going to go with a Value resort but are able to spend a little bit more than the lowest priced resorts on property, these are the two that I would consider. And not only for the skyliner transportation, but for the rooms as well. Pop Century rooms were recently renovated, and are some of the only Value rooms that have queen instead of full sized beds. Pop is also not that much more expensive than the three All Star resorts, the cheapest on property, so it’s worth it. Art of Animation actually has the biggest rooms of all of the value resorts, and their family suites are perfect for larger families. They even have two full bathrooms! They are also the most expensive value resort, and in some cases it could cost even more than staying at a moderate, bur worth it for families of five or six that don’t want to splurge for more than one room.

Here’s Art of Animation, which has four sections: Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.

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And here’s Pop Century, where the different buildings highlight the different decades of the 20th century.

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And here’s their greatest new addition, the Disney Skyliner, right in the middle.

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Other than the Deluxe, Moderate, and Value resorts, there are also three hotels that are not Disney owned. The Four Seasons, and Marriott’s Swan and Dolphin Hotels all get many of the same perks as staying on site (not all though!) and are very conveniently located. I did not see the Four Seasons this time (although I think maybe we stayed there 9 years ago for my moms 50th birthday – Bettina??), but it is the only AAA 5 Diamond resort in all of central Florida, so if luxury is important this is the place to stay.

Swan and Dolphin are actually in the Epcot resort area, right next to the Yacht Club, so I took a quick look at each of these hotels. Both hotels were really nice, and as sister hotels very similar. If they were “on site”, they would definitely be considered Deluxe Resorts, and you can’t go wrong with either. They have great lobbies, pools, and a bunch of awesome restaurant choices. Also, being so close to Epcot and the Epcot resorts, there are even more great restaurants in walking distance. These are both really good options for a nice hotel if you’re okay with missing out on a few of the on site perks. 

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Next time I go, I’d like to stay at either the Contemporary for the convenience to Magic Kingdom, or the Grand Floridian to see what the “nicest” Disney hotel is really like. We had dinner at the Contemporary, and the ability to walk outside and see the fireworks without dealing with the Magic Kingdom crowds was really great (especially if you’re into fireworks, which we are actually not). I absolutely loved being able to walk to Epcot, especially since we were there during the Food and Wine Festival (more on that coming soon!), but I imagine my next trip will be with my kids, in which case I’ll definitely want Magic Kingdom to be my most convenient park.