The Pixie Dust Pals Plan...Resorts!

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Welcome to The Pixie Dust Pals Plan, a series where we help you plan your Walt Disney World vacation with short, easily digestible information. While we are in no way the most knowledgeable of all the Disney sites, we have some tips and tricks we love to share.

FAQ: Do I want to stay on Disney property?

The short answer? Yes. However, it is important to share that there are a variety of hotels that are not on Disney property that are probably very nice. In our experience we have found that it is worth the money to stay on Disney Property since you can take advantage of

  1. Free transportation to and from the airport

  2. Free transportation around Disney property

  3. Early Fast Pass options.

How To Choose the Disney Resort that’s Right for You

When deciding where to stay there are a few factors you should consider. They are:

  1. Price point

  2. Location

  3. Resort Amenities

Your answers to all of these will help you decide the best fit for your trip. These three things also might vary from trip to trip based upon what time of year you are traveling and the length of your stay.

Price Point

Disney Resorts are broken into five different price points, all of which can be explored here. These range from campgrounds to deluxe villas. Here are our top picks for each of the main price points:

  1. Value: Art of Animation

  2. Moderate: Port Orleans French Quarter

  3. Deluxe Resort: The Grand Floridian or the Polynesian (honestly a toss up they are both lovely)

Location

Each of the resorts is spread around the Walt Disney World property. Location is important to consider if you are going for a specific event or know you want to spend most of your time at a specific park. For example, if you are going with small children and know you will be spending every day at the Magic Kingdom, we recommend staying at a resort near to the Magic Kingdom in order to cut down on transportation time. If you are going for a runDisney event we suggest staying at a hotel on the Monorail line or near EPCOT in order to cut down on morning travel time so you can catch some more zzzz’s before running. And if you are planning to go to an EPCOT Festival might we suggest a hotel on the Boardwalk? This allows you to walk straight into the International Gateway, cutting down your travel time and increasing your food and wine time.

Resort Amenities

Each Disney resort is unique, however some have more amenities than others. It is important to think about how much time you’ll actually be spending at your hotel over the course of your trip. If the answer is barely any, you might not want to spring for the deluxe resort. However if you do want to take advantage of the pools and other resort amenities, it might be worth it to pay a bit more. Additionally it is important to consider that bed quality does go up as the price goes up. If you have any aches and pains that would prevent you from enjoying your time in the parks, we suggest going with a moderate resort that won’t break the bank but will allow you to have a pleasant night’s sleep. Some resorts also have access to special transportation (the monorail, boats, the sky liner) that might influence your decision as well. Each resort features different dining options, and as the price goes up, so does the quality and quantity of food options available to you.

Final Thoughts

All in all, it is important to consider all three things in tandem when booking your Disney Resort. It will be up to you which of these three things is the most important at the end of the day: price, location, or resort amenities. We have found that this has shifted a lot for us depending on the trip we were taking. When we were younger we would always stay at a value resort since our focus was on staying at the parks from open to close. When I travel with my family we tend to stay at a deluxe resort since we so rarely go together and it makes us nostalgic for our childhoods. Lately we have been trending toward staying at a moderate resort as we have enjoyed coming back for a mid day nap.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments; what is your favorite Walt Disney World resort?