The Disney Resorts at Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: THE DISNEY RESORTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

At several points in this site’s instructions for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World I note that they should stay at Walt Disney World resort hotels—for example, in Where to Stay.

In other places, at times I refer to “official” Walt Disney World Resort hotels.

This page means to make clear which hotels count towards this instruction, and which don’t.

Where  I want people to stay is those Walt Disney World resort hotels that are owned and operated by Disney, and—and this is the important thing—that offer all of the key benefits available to guests staying at a such a resort.

These key benefits include:

• Disney’s Magical Express—free transportation from the airport to your hotel, and back again
• Extra Magic Hours: early openings, or late closings, of Walt Disney World theme parks, when only guests at Walt Disney World resorts can enjoy the rides and attractions
• The Disney Dining Plan, a prepaid meal plan. Visitors eating all of the meals in one of the itineraries on this site will save a lot of money from signing up for this plan
• The Disney transportation system, a fleet of buses, boats, and monorails that transports guest from the Walt Disney World resort hotels to the theme parks and Downtown Disney, and back again

Other benefits are also available to guests at Walt Disney World resort hotels—room charge privileges, package delivery, etc., but the  four above are the key perks that are the basis of the recommendation that first time family visitors stay in an “official” Walt Disney World resort—that is, in Disney owned and operated resorts.

WHAT ARE THE DISNEY OWNED AND OPERATED RESORT HOTELS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD?

Walt Disney World Disney owned and operated resorts which offer all of these key benefits are the following:

Value Resorts at Walt Disney World

Standard 4-person rooms:

1. Art of Animation
2. Pop Century
3. All-Star Movies
4. All-Star Sports
5. All-Star Music

Six-person “Family Suites”

1. The Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
2. The Family Suites at All-Star Music

Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World (not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)

1. Caribbean Beach
2. Coronado Springs
3. Port Orleans Riverside
4. Port Orleans French Quarter
5. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort

Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary Resort
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

Disney Vacation Club Resorts at Walt Disney World (not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)

1. The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
3. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
4. Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
5. Disney’s Beach Club Villas
6. Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
7. Disney’s Old Key West Resort
8. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
9. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, Treehouse Villas area

Campgrounds at Walt Disney World:

• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort  (Not recommended for first time visitors, see this for why)

(These hotels are grouped by price category.  See this for details on the features of the various resort price categories. Within price categories, they are in order of how well they suit typical first time family visitors.  See this for more on where to stay.)

OTHER RESORTS IN WALT DISNEY WORLD, AND WHAT THEY OFFER

Other hotels are on Walt Disney World property, but only a few offer any of these benefits, and none offers all of the key ones. Thus they are not recommended for first time family visitors.

Focusing solely on the key benefits,

• No hotels other than those listed above as Disney owned and operated participate in the Disney Dining Plan or in Disney’s Magical Express
• Guests at Shades of Green near the Magic Kingdom, the Swan and the Dolphin near Epcot, and the Hilton in the Downtown Disney Resort area near…Downtown Disney…get to participate in the Extra Magic Hours program.  No other hotels besides these four, and those listed above as Disney owned and operated, offer the Extra Magic Hours program
• Guests at the Swan and Dolphin can use the Disney hotel to theme park transportation system
• No other hotel offers any of these key perks

MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this

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RELATED STUFF

• d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
• s. FAQ and Glossary