The Best Hotels at Disney

Best Hotels at Disney

A few weeks ago, I made a best hotels at Universal where I basically ranked all of the hotels at Universal Orlando Resort. There are well over 20 hotels at Walt Disney World so I will be ranking the best 5-10.

Art of Animation—My favorite value resort, I have strong nostalgia for the all-stars but this hotel is just an improvement in every way. I have stayed here several times, mostly in the Finding Nemo family suites but have stayed in the Little Mermaid regular rooms as well. The Finding Nemo pool is full of theming. The whole resort is full of theming as you can see characters all around this hotel. When I took my Universal girlfriend, this was the first hotel that she felt was Disney. The bright colors and in your face theming wasn’t as noticeable at the Wilderness Lodge or the Grand Floridian. The addition of the Skyliner improves this hotel even more as it provides access to one of the best modes of transportation at Disney World. One of my most memorable moments is when we took my dog while h was young and he decided to take a poop in the middle of a sidewalk…. The price you pay to try and force socialization on a young dog.

Beach Club/Yacht Club—These hotels have similar theming to me, maybe the Yacht club is slightly elevated due to the pickleball court on the end of the hotel. These two hotels are elevated by proximity. Being right beside Epcot is such a selling point for me but the price point is a bit steep. The rooms are solid, nothing incredible but the location is what you are paying for. I love Beaches and Cream, it is a cute restaurant, and the ice cream is great. Stormalong Bay… The best hotel pool that I have been to in Orlando so far. It has a small lazy river, a water slide, a couple of pools, a couple of hot tubs, and it is a sand bottom pool. This whole experience is another huge selling point for the hotel. I love sitting in the lazy river and watching the Epcot fireworks right from the pool. Night swims at Stormalong Bay are the best. It isn’t insanely busy with kids running all around. It is calm and quiet. Add that to the fireworks and it is a lovely experience.

Wilderness Lodge—Not quite on the monorail loop, but close enough to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks, but far enough away to feel a little bit disconnected from the Disney bubble. This was the first deluxe hotel I broke out the wallet for to stay. I love that this is just a short boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. When you step out to the lake front, it feels so disconnected from Disney, with a few views of the contemporary and the boat launch of Fort Wilderness. It has some good restaurants like the always fun, Whispering Canyon Café. Geyser Point is also a good quick service with incredible views out on the lake. Two good pools, a basketball court, and an amazing lobby. This is a well-rounded resort and one of my all time favorites.

Animal Kingdom Lodge—In most of these entries, location is a huge factor for me when I rank these. This hotel rises above this criteria and delivers such a good experience that it makes it to the list. Due to the location, this can be one of the cheapest deluxe hotels on property. The location can be a hassle, but there is a zoo in the backyard of this hotel. You can look at giraffes and zebra all around this hotel, you can send on your balcony, you can go to the public balconies, you can go to the lookout section right by the lobby. There is a basketball court, tennis courts, a couple of pools that are just okay. The food here is great. Boma is one of my favorite buffets on property, The Mara is one of the best food courts on property, it has plenty of options. The lobby is arguably the best on property, I love all of the artifacts.

Contemporary—Location is what drives this price point. The rooms can be hit or miss. The restaurants can be hit or miss. The walkway to the Magic Kingdom…. Priceless. Getting to the Magic Kingdom is the biggest headache of a Disney vacation. You park, walk a half mile to the ticket and transportation center, get through security wait for the mode of transportation, get on the ferry or monorail and zip on over to the Magic Kingdom. This hassle is magnified after the fireworks going home for the night as you don’t have the same excitement as you do while arriving. A nice walkway back to the hotel at the end of the night is just well worth the price if you can find it in the budget. Steakhouse 71 used to be extremely good for a decent price but now it is decent for a worse price. California Grill is just too overpriced for me, especially when I got the surcharge of $50 for a tomahawk steak. The view from the top of the fireworks was great. Chef Mickey’s is iconic, the monorail going through the hotel is iconic.

Caribbean Beach—I had to put one moderate on this list and one of the biggest selling points? LOCATION. This is the main hub for the Skyliner. You can fly to Hollywood Studios or Epcot without any transfers. The main pool is very cool, the surrounding smaller pools are much quieter if you want that experience. I love the sandy beaches surrounding the lake with hammocks all around. Riviera is walking distance from this hotel, and their nice little library they have, one of my favorite places at that hotel. It is surrounded on both sides by Skyliner stations  so no matter what building you are in, you are able to find the easiest one for you. Sebastian’s Bistro is my favorite restaurant on property at the moment. It has consistently been strong. Family style chicken, fish, steak, pork, and several different sides like cilantro lime rice. The dessert is a coconut pineapple bread putting with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. It comes as a huge portion but I could eat three or four of these by myself. It is that good.

Disney hotels are a great way to maintain the magic throughout your Disney vacation. The best of the Disney hotels have great different transportation options, great locations, great pools, or great restaurants.