Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
What You Get at Disney World Resort Hotels By Price
WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE CLASSES
Walt Disney World has a ton of hotels, and it groups most of them into three price classes:
- Deluxe resorts, with the nicest rooms and grounds, best dining, best service, and highest prices
- Value resorts, with tiny rooms, limited dining and service, but the lowest prices, and
- Moderate resorts, in between the values and the deluxes, but a little closer to deluxes.
The image below gives you more specifics on what you can expect to find in each price class.
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
- 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
- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
- Military/DOD families should look at this
- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
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March 1, 2012 9 Comments
The Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World
DISNEY WORLD’S DELUXE RESORTS
Note: guests at Disney World’s deluxe resorts are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and have the ability to pre-book as early as seven days before check-in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides. They are also eligible for its Extended Evening Hours.
Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having
- the most amenities
- nicest views
- best dining options
- best transport
- largest rooms
- best service, and
- highest prices.
There are eight deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World, and you really can’t go wrong booking any of them. Whichever you stay at on your first visit will likely become your favorite.
However, for first time visitors who may never return, some are better than others. There are fundamental differences among them in their kid appeal, and major differences in their convenience in carrying out this site’s itineraries.
Based on these criteria, the ranking of these resorts for first time family visitors who may never return is as follows:
Most of these deluxe resorts also offer on their grounds Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, which are deluxe-class and for rent to the general public.
Stand-alone deluxe-class DVC resorts–that is, not associated with another deluxe hotel–include Disney’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Old Key West Resort, and Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa main resort and Treehouse Villas. The DVC resorts are ranked separately here. If these standalone DVC resorts were listed in the above rankings, they would come in at the bottom of the list. [Read more →]
February 27, 2012 11 Comments
Review: Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Continued
This is the second page of this review of Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. For the first page, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort is one of 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.
In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are
Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts. The Yacht Club does not have a DVC offering.
ROOMS AT DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
February 19, 2012 No Comments
The Epcot 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.)
DISNEY WORLD’S EPCOT RESORTS
The Epcot resorts are deluxe resorts grouped around Crescent Lake within easy walking distance of Epcot, and a moderately longer walk away from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Boats take guests to both parks as well.
As I count them, there’s seven Epcot resorts:
But most people, when they think of the Epcot resorts, are thinking of the Beach Club, the Yacht Club, and the BoardWalk Inn.
I’m not keen on these resorts for first time family visitors–they hold up the bottom end of the list of Disney World deluxe resorts ranked in order.
But for returning visitors, they are wonderful choices and the favorites of many. [Read more →]
February 16, 2012 8 Comments
Review: Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, one of the Epcot resorts, is the seventh best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.
You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.
However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.
(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)
Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.
Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort has a lot of positives.
It stands out for sharing with the Beach Club the best pool on property, sharing with the Beach Club and the BoardWalk Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also sharing with these resorts a short walk to dozens of interesting table service dining options located in these resorts, at the Swan and Dolphin, on the BoardWalk, and in Epcot.
(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.) [Read more →]
February 13, 2012 No Comments
Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, p4
This is the fourth page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
The BoardWalk Villas opened in July 1996 as the second of the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resorts. Its floor plans set the basic pattern for all those that would follow.
Much smaller than the spaces at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, its floor plans are still larger than most of the next wave of DVC resorts.
The BoardWalk Villas share the lobby, shops, and services of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn; you can find more about the BoardWalk Inn here.
PHOTO TOUR OF A ONE BEDROOM VILLA AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS
You enter to find an entrance area with a closet to one side and walls on the other.
As you proceed into the villa, a kitchen opens on one side.
On the other side, you’ll find a hallway that leads to the door to the washer-dryer closet, a door to the split bath, and a door to the master bedroom.
The kitchen includes all necessary appliances and a good selection of plates, cups, pots and pans, and other kitchenware.
Counter space is at a premium, and the attached breakfast bar is small and comes with only two chairs.
Opposite the kitchen is a very small dining table and two more chairs.
Note the wall behind the dining table–this is a mirror, which increases the sense of spaciousness of the room.
Further back you’ll find the living area. A TV and dresser are on one side, and a fold-out couch on the other.
In rooms with connecting doors (they connect to a studio, so that the collection can be sold as a studio and a one bedroom, or as a two-bedroom), an armchair is next to the couch.
In the room we stayed in, without a connecting door, the armchair was back where the connecting door would be.
This led to a feeling of spaciousness so extreme the room felt empty.
The master bedroom is accessed through a small hall near the entry to the room.
This hall passes a closet containing a stacked washer and dryer, and has an entry to the bath.
The bath is divided into two areas. One, accessible from both the hall and the master bedroom, has a toilet, sink, and large shower.
The second part of the bath is accessible from both this space, and from the master bedroom.
It includes a large whirlpool tub, with a shutter-able opening to the master bedroom itself, a nice vanity and sink, and a large closet.
(The shutter is on the left side of the image, above the tub.)
The master bedroom contains a king bed, upholstered chair, and a TV and dresser.
There’s a balcony here as well–the main living area also has a balcony.
Other than the flaw in the placement of the connecting doors in Two-Bedroom Villas (see the discussion here), the BoardWalk Villas are the most livable DVC spaces in the generation of DVC resorts built after Disney’s Old Key West Resort and before Kidani Village and Bay Lake Tower.
Compare the One Bedroom at Saratoga Springs–pretty much the nadir of DVC design.
The entry closet in the Saratoga Springs floor plan is missing entirely–there’s only one small closet, in the shrunken master bath.
Each Saratoga Springs space is narrower–the living room space so much so that it’s unusable when the fold-out couch is open.
And of course there’s just one balcony in the Saratoga Springs floor plan, rather than the two at the BoardWalk.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas strengths for first time visitors are this livability (which carries over into all of its room types), and its convenience to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas principal negative is the absence of any real kid appeal compared to alternatives like The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House.
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS:
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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 thedeluxe 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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- Military/DOD families should look at this
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- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
February 5, 2012 No Comments
