Disney World has MANY hotel options for your trip.
Choosing one that is right for you can be one of the biggest challenges while planning your Disney vacation. Disney offers several categories of hotels: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. We’ve noticed that many people don’t completely understand the differences between these and have come to believe a few things that aren’t necessarily true about Value resorts.
So we’re here today to crack these four myths about Disney’s cheapest hotels, the Value Resorts.
Disney has five Value resorts — which are Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, and Disney’s Pop Century Resort. These are considered Value resorts because typically they’ll have the lowest-priced rooms. But many people have started believing these 4 lies about them because they are considered “cheap” hotels.
Before we get into the lies people believe about Value resorts, we know that planning a Disney trip can be challenging. If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!
Okay, back to the four lies everyone believes about Disney World’s least expensive hotels.
1. They’re Cheap
Don’t get us wrong, we are fans of Disney’s Value Resorts. But we have to be honest -– just because they’re called “value” resorts does not necessarily mean they’re cheap.
In the past, we have found rooms at Moderate resorts for comparable prices to the Value resorts, especially Art of Animation. If you want to stay at one of these hotels, you’ll need to be prepared to spend roughly $150 or more a night. But Disney does run deals from time to time, so if you keep your eyes out you may be able to get a room at a discounted price!
2. You Don’t Get The Same Benefits
This is an unfortunate common misconception. By staying at any Disney World hotel, even the Value resorts, you have access to (almost) all the same benefits. We say almost because there is one benefit you do not have access to at a Value resort, currently.
At the Value Resorts, you still have access to vacation packages, the Disney Dining Plan when it returns in 2024, and extra time in the park with Early Theme Park Entry. The only benefit that is not included for Value Resorts is Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.
At Value Resorts you can still find many resort extras like movies under the stars, multiple pools, and fun play areas for kids. Since they are still Disney World Resort hotels, you still get to be part of the magic!
3. They Aren’t Nice
Sadly, we’ve heard this myth many times. Oftentimes people think that since these are the “cheap” hotels they aren’t nice. But this is certainly not true. We particularly love the Art of Animation and will visit it even if we’re not staying there. The rooms at each of them are also nice with Art of Animation being one of the few Disney hotels with family suites.
These hotels are honestly nice, and it’s too bad they’ve gotten the reputation of not being that way. They may be less expensive than many other resorts on property (which is certainly a perk!), but they are still Disney hotels and have the Disney level of detail and expectations.
4. They Have The Worst Transportation
Of course, these hotels have lower prices for certain reasons. One thing we know is that they are located kind of off the beaten path. They’re not right next to any park and certainly not within walking distance of any of the entertainment. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t accessible by Disney transportation.
Each of the hotels has buses that run to and from them to the parks. Pop Century and Art of Animation have their own Skyliner station so you can get right to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. They may not be right beside any of the parks, but getting to them is not difficult from these Value resorts.
So, they may not be as “cheap” as people expect them to be, but Disney’s Value resorts are great options when you don’t want to spend $500 a night at a Deluxe hotel. They still offer great accommodations and all the perks of staying at a Disney World hotel.
We hope this helps clear the air! In the meantime, check back to All Ears for more Disney updates.
The Best and WORST Disney World Value Resorts
Join the AllEars.net Newsletter to stay on top of ALL the breaking Disney News! You'll also get access to AllEars tips, reviews, trivia, and MORE! Click here to Subscribe!
Do you like staying at the Value Resorts in Disney World? Let us know in the comments!
Pop Century and Art of Animation are fantastic and I usually stay there but I’ve rediscovered the All Stars lately. I’m often working when I’m at WDW and All Stars are quiet and helpful and genuinely less expensive than Pop, sometimes 20 – 30%.
The buildings are also 1 story less tall so stairs are fewer if elevators are occupied. The grounds of all All Stars are connected so like Pop there are a large number of options for pools and a variety of dining halls with different themes. The buildings are also beautifully decorated and there are genuinely use-able sports areas for kids to burn off steam.
I still love Pop and the fun and convenience of the Skyliner and community feel of the place is darling. Even so, I don’t feel that I’m missing out by staying at All Stars.
I loooove Pop, it is my favorite resort of them all! Pop has the best food court, the most fun vibe, the rooms make better use of space & storage than any room Ive stayed at,not to mention the Skyliner is the best. I’ve stayed at almost every resort, value to deluxe (with the exception of GF), and imo Pop has the best bus system of all the resorts, it’s actually not the furthest stop at MK, I’ve walked further for POFQ & RS; & yes that line of a million people waiting @ the Pop stop can be daunting, but I’ve stood waiting for the AKL bus while watching numerous pop busses roll up one after another. The pop bus crew are prepared for the crowds & are so efficient at getting peeps loaded up fast with another bus waiting. Also, I love when you get back to pop, it’s one stop, I hate the numerous stops at CB & PO, not to mention most deluxe resorts sometimes share a bus, so there are multiple stops with those. Don’t get me wrong if given the choice of a free room, I’d prob pick The Beach Club, but I would hesitate before making the choice of Pop first!
I fully agree. We just got back from WDW and stayed at Pop. Can’t beat the skyliner. When we rope dropped for EPCOT or Hollywood studios the line for the skyliner was unbelievable but it moved quickly then you would think and the cast members at the ride are very good and efficient.
We use to stay at POFQ but are now hooked on the skyliner at Pop.
In the morning when we would get the bus to MK the lines were long but the busses kept coming and again the cat members moved it right along.
Our preferred resort is Pop Century, especially now with the Skyliner station! The complaints about the transportation are partly true – first of all, the bus stops are all the furthest from the parks themselves, so it’s a little extra walking at the end of the night, also at park’s closing the three All Star Resorts start sharing and cramming the buses full – I’m not sure Art of Animation can be considered a Value Resort, the rooms there are always double Pop Century and the suites are as expensive as the Deluxe Resorts!