Walt Disney World Hotel Overview

Okay, I’m so happy to be writing this post! My favorite part of planning is researching and selecting a Disney World hotel. In fact, I’m almost as excited about visiting the hotel as I am to be at the parks. As you will see in this post, the Disney hotels aren’t simply places to sleep at night. They are sprawling resorts, each with their own expansive theme.

For example, if you want to stay at a luxury, tropical resort, then the Polynesian Resort might be for you:

If you would prefer something more modern and futuristic, then check out the Comtemporary Resort:

Or if you're traveling with kids and want to be reminded of your favorite Disney movies, the Art of Animation Resort is themed after Finding Nemo, the Little Mermaid, Cars, and the Lion King.

 Although I would highly recommend staying at a Disney hotel, you have a variety of options when deciding where you want to stay:

• You can stay off-property (outside of Disney World) in a non-Disney owned or operated hotel or timeshare
• You can stay on-property (within Disney World) in either:
• a non-Disney owned or operated hotel OR
• a Disney hotel

The most important thing for me when choosing my hotel is location. I want a hotel where I can get to the parks quickly and also one where there are other things close-by (recreation activities, restaurants, etc...). Disney hotels are spread out throughout Disney World and are located by the following areas: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Downtown Disney. One way to pick your hotel is to think about which park you'll be visiting the most. Days at the parks can be very long. Staying on property will give you the option of going to the park early, taking a mid-day break back at the hotel and then returning to the park and staying late. We have done this and it's a chance to take a nap or refresh yourself with a dip in the pool.

Other things to consider when selecting your hotel:

• Your budget
• How much time are you planning to spend at your hotel
• Food Options
• How much do you want to be immersed in Disney? (If you think Disney theming 24x7 is overwhelming, an off-property hotel might be better for you).

Here are some pros and cons to consider when staying off-property:

• (pro) Price – You can typically get accommodations at a lower price 
• (pro) Location to other Orlando Attractions – If you’re planning on spending a good amount of time at other attractions (i.e., Universal Studios), off-property hotels will be more centrally located
• (con) Location to Disney World – If you’re planning on spending the majority of your time at Disney World, off-property hotels are farther away. (It will be more time consuming if you plan to go back to your hotel for afternoon rests).
• (con) Transportation – Not all off-property hotels offer free shuttle service to the parks and even if they do, the shuttle service may be very slow. If you’re staying off-property I would recommend renting a car, which adds to the cost of your trip. In addition, you must pay for parking at the theme parks if you’re staying off-property.

If location is important for you, but you really don’t want to stay at a Disney hotel, there are a few non-Disney owned / operated hotels that are on Disney property. The majority of these hotels are located in the Downtown Disney area and often offer great discounts. 

There are two non-Disney hotels that are located in the Epcot theme park area: Walt Disney World Swan (operated by Westin) and Dolphin (operated by Sheraton).

Although these hotels are not owned / operated by Disney, they are the only non-Disney resorts that offer many of the Disney Resort benefits. These are also located (in my opinion) in the best location at Disney World and have a great pool! Be sure to add these to your list of potential hotels to consider on your next trip.

If you’re like me and you want to get the full Disney experience, I would recommend staying in a Disney Resort (or the Swan / Dolphin). There are dozens of Disney Resorts, varying from less expensive motel-like to super deluxe resorts. Disney classifies their hotels into the following categories:

• Value – food courts, motel-like
• Moderate – includes full service restaurants and better pools
• Deluxe – best restaurants, great pools and/or beaches, more recreation activities
• Vacation Club Villa’s – located within certain Deluxe hotels and varies from studios to 3 bedrooms. Anyone can book a villa; you do not have to be a part of the vacation club.

The difference between the categories is cost, recreation activities on-site, food options on-site, and overall luxury of the hotel. No matter what category the hotel is in, it has its own unique, expansive theme.

If you want to stay in a deluxe hotel, but want to pay less, (in addition to looking for hotel discounts) check out the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge. These hotels are still classified as deluxe, but are priced cheaper than the other deluxe hotels. I've stayed at Wilderness Lodge and visited Animal Kingdom Lodge and I can tell you these are amazing hotels that don't skimp on luxuries. One cool thing about the Animal Kingdom Lodge is that its located next to an "African Savannas " with actual exotic animals roaming around. If you pay slightly more, you can even get a Savanna room and sit on your balcony and watch giraffes, zebras, gazelles, and ostriches.
 

 Regardless of what Disney Resort you pick, you will receive the following benefits:

• Guaranteed theme park admission (with ticket purchase)
• Access to extra magic hours (depending on the day, certain parks either open 1 hour earlier or stay open 3 hours later for Disney Resort guests)
• Ability to use your room key to charge for purchases throughout Disney World
• Free merchandise delivery to your hotel (we used this all the time so that we didn’t have to carry around our purchases!)
• Unlimited use of Disney World transportation (i.e., buses, monorail, boats, etc...)
• Free parking throughout Disney World
• Free transportation to/from airport
• Priority tee times at golf courses

 As an adult, I’ve stayed at the Yacht Club Resort, Wilderness Lodge, and off-property in a time share. On the time share trip, we weren’t even planning to go to Disney World that year. We had gone the prior 2 years and I wasn’t going to even bring up going a third year in a row (for fear of my husband’s wrath ). However, a friend of my husband offered us her time share in Orlando for FREE. We stayed at the Marriott Grande Vista, which is a beautiful hotel about 10 minutes away from Disney World. 

Although this was a great hotel that I would recommend, I really didn’t like being off-property. It felt like we were outsiders visiting Disney World each day versus "a guest of Disney". That’s really the only way I can describe it. Even my husband, who isn’t really into Disney, missed staying on-site. The only way I’d ever stay off-site again is if the hotel was free.

In my next post, I’m going to discuss my experiences staying at the Yacht Club Resort and Wilderness Lodge.