One of the things that can greatly affect your trip is your resort but with so many options, it can be hard to choose the right one. Depending on the size, age and budget you have, some resorts will work much better than other ones. Here are some of the things that we look at when we think about when we book our resort for our vacations.
Here are some of the top things to consider when booking your resort hotel
Price
Disney resorts are grouped into Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. Depending on the time of year, there might be a big difference in price between groups and sometimes there are discounts where might make sense to splurge. All resorts offer free transpiration, 30-minute early park entry and access to the Disney Dining Plan but offer more amenities the more you spend.
Room Size
Most Standard room sizes sleep 4 people so if you are looking for more than that, you will need to investigate a few different options. You can get two rooms, and you can usually have them adjacent with a connecting door and many resorts have an option for a 5th sleeper, which feature a pull-down bed that would be good for younger kids. Another option is suites, that feature two bedrooms that can be found at some value and deluxe resorts.
Theme and crowds
All Disney resorts will have some interesting theme and generally, the Value resorts are the ones that have the over-the-top theme with huge Characters and objects. These resorts also are the ones used for many sports and other competitions so there is always a lot of energy and excitement.
On the other hand, Moderate and Deluxe feature are more relaxed and are themed to different locations and are more laid back
Location and Transportation
If you are planning to take a mid-day park break at your resort each day, where you resort is located, and transportation options come into play. Some resorts have options to walk to a park or two, some have Monorail access or Skyliner access and some just have bus access. If you have an Electronic Scooter or a larger Stoller, having the skyliner can be huge rather than trying a cram into a bus.
Property Size
Disney resorts vary greatly when it comes to the size of the resorts even in the same price category. Port Orleans French Quarter and Caribbean Beach are usually around the same price but French Quarter is a much smaller resort so that could make a big difference depending on what you are looking for on your trip. In most resorts, you do have an option for a preferred room, which will bring you closer to the main building for an additional cost.
Restaurants
When it comes time to eat, where you are staying can affect how your trip goes. Value resorts will have a standard food court whereas other resorts have table service restaurants. Also, the restaurants are based on the resort theme so hopefully, you like that style of food, but there are also many typical food choices as well at every resort. Also depending on your transpiration options, it might be easy to check out a different resort as well
Conclusion
In the end, the best resort for your trip can be different for each trip. From our stays, when we had a short trip and we going to be at the parks most of the time we chose Pop Century. When we had a trip where we were going to do a lot of park-hopping, we went for Caribbean Beach and when we wanted a small resort when we took my mother-in-law, we choose French Quarter.
So, when you make your choice, think about what your needs are for your trip and check out the prices since with some discounts, there might not be as big of a difference as normal. If you are like most of us, after you trip, you will be thinking of going back so the good news is there is plenty of options so you can always try out someplace new down the road.