Value Resorts – How to Choose a Walt Disney World Hotel

As we discussed last week you can see that there are several steps in getting your Walt Disney World vacation off the ground. The next step (or in conjunction with the first step of deciding on dates and how long to stay) in planning your Walt Disney World vacation is choosing a hotel. First up the Value Resorts!

For this blog I’m only going to focus on the Walt Disney World resort hotels and not on the good neighbor/ offsite hotels. Because there’s so much to see and do at the Walt Disney World hotels, you’re going to want to stay on-site in one of the Disney owned and operated resorts.

There are four categories of hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort- Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Deluxe Villa.  A good rule of thumb is the more expensive the resort, the more there is at that resort. A Deluxe Resort has much larger rooms than a Value Resort, and many more amenities and activities there as well.

Value Resorts

There are five Value Resorts at Walt Disney World. Disney’s All Star Movies Resort, All Star Music Resort, All Star Sports Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. While most of the rooms at the Value Resorts will accommodate up to four guests, the Family Suites at All Star Music or at Art of Animation will accommodate up to six guests.

While the Value resorts are the least expensive of all the Disney resorts, you will still have some great amenities there! Each Value Resort has at least one swimming pool, however there is not a hot tub or waterslide at any of them. Each Value resort has a food court style restaurant, but no sit down (table service) restaurant.

Pop Century

Disney’s Pop Century is my favorite Value Resort! And it’s not just because the rooms have been updated to have queen beds instead of the full beds. Because I love all things pop culture, I find it fun to walk around the resort and enjoy the theming, from the Rubik’s Cube stairwells to the computer pool.

This resort is also in a great location, very close to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Access to theme parks from Pop Century is easy via Disney bus or Skyliner (coming soon). Each resort room has one queen bed and one Inovabed (a Murphy bed that’s a table too). There are a few king bed rooms that are mostly reserved for those who need accessible rooms.

Pro- Inexpensive, great location, cute, mini-fridge, queen beds, parking fee is less than the Moderate/Deluxe Resorts, Skyliner
Con- Small rooms, less amenities

All Star Resorts

Disney’s All Star Resorts are divided into 3 separate hotels- Movies, Music, and Sports. There are Standard and Preferred rooms. The Preferred rooms are closest to the food court, main pool, and lobby area. Each resort room has two double beds. There are a few king bed rooms that are mostly reserved for those who need accessible rooms. Disney is in the process of updating All Star Movies to have queen beds instead of double (full) beds. It is likely the other two resorts will follow suit in the next few years.

All Star Music has Family Suites as well as the Standard and Preferred rooms. These suites can accommodate up to six guests and have a mini-kitchen and two full bathrooms. One thing to note about these suites is that they are in a separate building than the regular-sized rooms, so if you have family or friends traveling with you in a standard room you will not be located in rooms next to each other.

Pro- Inexpensive, cute, mini-fridge, parking fee is less than the Moderate/Deluxe Resorts
Con- Sharing bus between all 3 resorts, small rooms, less amenities, smaller beds, farther away from the Theme Parks

Art of Animation

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is a really fun resort because it has a lot of great theming, from Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid and The Lion King to new yet beloved movies Finding Nemo and Cars. The Standard Rooms are all Little Mermaid themed, with double size beds and a mini-fridge.

Art of Animation has Family Suites as well as the Standard rooms. These suites can accommodate up to six guests and have a mini-kitchen and two full bathrooms. Like at All Star Music, these suites are in separate buildings than the regular-sized rooms, so if you have family or friends traveling with you in a standard room you will not be located in rooms next to each other.

The Family Suites are in the other areas of Lion King and Cars, and the Nemo rooms are “preferred” or closer to the big pool and lobby/food court area. You can also book “Themed Family Suite” if you’d like a surprise room!

Pro- Standard rooms are inexpensive, cute, mini-fridge, parking fee is less than the Moderate/Deluxe Resorts
Con- small rooms, less amenities, family suites are expensive

Next week I’ll tackle the Moderate resorts at Walt Disney World to continue the series.