What are value hotels at Disney World?
- planmydisneyholiday
- Sep 22, 2019
- 9 min read
Disney hotels have different level of hotels with different price ranges.
They are:
Value Resorts, Moderate Resorts, and Deluxe Resorts.
First what is the difference between the different prince ranges?
1) Location, Location Location - If you want to look at your window and see Cinderella's castle you will pay more for that. The closer the hotel is to a park the more expensive it is.
2) Food - If you stay at a value hotel the food available is counter service (under $15) restaurants (Continue reading for more details). A moderate resort has a table service restaurant ($15 - $35) and a counter service restaurant. And deluxe hotels usually have a counter service restaurant, a casual table service restaurant, and a fine dining or signature dining restaurant ($35 -$60) plus a lounge area as well.
3) Pools - the more you pay the bigger the pool. Value resorts have a selection of pools with one big one and a couple of smaller ones but no slides any where. Moderate and Deluxe resorts have larger pool areas as well as smaller pool around the resorts but there is water slides.
4) Theme - The Value resorts are aimed for families so have larger than life themes with characters and item statutes around for example All Star Sports have giant American footballs as part of the architecture and at Art of Animation there is giant character statues relating to the area. The Moderate and Deluxe themes are more low key but still have their own unique theme and Disney magic, but there is not a giant pirate statues at the Caribbean Beach resort.
5) Transport - The most expensive hotels have got a range of transports to the parks, for example at Disney's Contemporary Resort there is a monorail to Magic Kingdom or a 5 minute walk. There is a slight change with Disney installing the Skyliner linking two Value resorts and 1 moderate resort to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
There is a loads more differences (room sizes, amenities) but I have listed the main points.
I'm going to write about the Value hotels in this blog and the other levels in future blogs.
I'm going to explain which hotels are value, where they are based in Disney World, and what they offer.
There are 5 different hotels which are Value:
All-Star Music
All-Star Sports
All-Star Movies
Pop Century
Art of Animation
Prices for 2020 start at £99 per room per night (for the All Star Music and Sport resorts from 5th September to 17th October) and the most expensive is £218 per room per night (1st to 4th January and 20th December to 4th January 2021)
The All Star Resorts
The three All Star Resort hotels are located in the Animal Kingdom area, because the closet hotel is Animal Kingdom.
The three hotels are part of one big resort and it is possible to walk from one to the other quite easily.
On the map at the start of the blog the three hotels are 18,19, and 20, so they are on the opposite side of Walt Disney World to Magic Kingdom. On a good day, with little traffic, the journey was around 20 minutes to Magic Kingdom.
Times to the other parts of Walt Disney World on bus are about:
Animal Kingdom - about 15 minutes
Hollywood Studios - about 10 minutes
Epcot - about 10 minutes
Disney Springs - about 25 minutes
*according to https://magicguides.com/disney-world-transportation-map/
All Star Music
The resort is made up of 5 different areas each with two buildings. The areas, starting from the front of the resort, are Calypso, Jazz, Rock, Country, and Broadway.
Each area has it's own style and decor to fit in with the music style, for example the Jazz part feels quite New Orleans with metal fences and gates and a little fountain, where are the country area was Southern USA with quite a lot of wood fences.
There are two pools the larger one is in between the Calypso buildings and is shaped like a guitar this one is very popular because games and quizzes would be held at this pool.
The smaller pool is in the area in between Rock and Broadway. It is themed with small Little Mermaid statues and is shaped like a piano.
There is clothes washing facilities next to both pool areas (E and B on the map).
The food court, Intermission Food Court, is in the main building of the resort and offers a range of different foods throughout the day.
For breakfast the bakery has a selection of pastries (Danish, croissants), different breads (banana and Honey), doughnuts, and muffins. The kitchen cooks omelets, pancakes, and waffles with a choice of different sides such as fruit or meats. There is also cereal pots, milk, juice, and fruit for sale.
For lunch there is burgers and chicken from the kitchen as well as pizzas, a couple of pasta options, a few salads, and ice cream for dessert or something sweet from the bakery such as cupcakes, cookie dough, or brownies.
Dinner offers the same with some extra additional choices such as noddles or sea food.
The menu keeps guests up to date just outside always keep an eye out for something different.
Pizza is also available for room delivery and there is also a bar selling a range of cocktails.
There is also an arcade in the main building with a slight extra cost to play on the games.
At the front of the resort, next to the bus station is the shop selling a wide range of items from food and snacks, medical needs, towels and Disney souvenirs.
All Star Sports
This resort is also made up of 5 different areas each with two buildings. The areas, starting from the front of the resort, are Surfing, Basketball, Tennis, American Football, and Baseball.
There is some amazing statues in this resort, my personal favourite in this resort is outside the tennis building where Huey, Luey and Duey are messing with Donald Duck.
There are 2 pools the larger pool is located outside the surfing buildings, like the All Star music, a lot of activities takes place in this area with music, quizzes and competitions.
The other pool is smaller and is outside the baseball buildings.
There is clothes washing facilities next to both pool areas (E and B on the map), I know the same as All Star music.
Just like All Star music the food court (End Zone Food Court), shop and arcade are all in the main building. The food court has a good selection of different food. The shop sells pretty much the same items as All Star music but with some individual sport themed items.
End Zone Food Court offers the same type of food as Intermission Food Court at All Star Music.
For breakfast there is omelets, pancakes and waffles with different sides, the bakery offers a reduced option either muffins, croissants, or cinnamon roll.
Lunch there is the same type of items available with burgers, chicken and pizzas from the kitchen, or salads, but they do offer panini or quesadillas.
For dinner there is more specialty choices such as steak, grilled chicken, salmon or crab cakes on particular days. Again keep an eye on the menu for the days and any special items they are selling.
For a quick drink or a cocktail there is also a bar just outside the food court.
All Sport Movies
This resort is also made up of 5 different areas based on different movies each with two buildings. The areas are Fantasia, Love Bug, 101 Dalmatians, The Mighty Ducks, and Toy Story.
This resort, out the three, is the best for photos they have character statues from the film and they are breathtaking.
There are 2 pools the larger pool is located outside the Fantasia buildings, like the All Star music, a lot of activities takes place in this area with music, quizzes and competitions. There is even a Sorcerer Mickey statue over looking the pool.
The smaller pool and is outside the Mighty Ducks buildings.
There is clothes washing facilities next to both pool areas (E and B on the map), I know the All Star resorts have very similar layouts.
Just like All Star music the food court (World Premiere Food Court), shop and arcade are all in the main building. The food court has a good selection of different food. The shop sells pretty much the same items as the other All Star resorts but with some individual movie themed items.
The food Court also offers breakfast, lunch and dinner at certain points during the day.
Breakfast contains the same items omelets, pancakes, and waffles but there is some extra items such as a breakfast sandwich and a Chipotle scramble.
Lunch is pretty much the same burgers, chicken, and pizza, and dinner has special items for certain days such steak + shrimp, ribs, chicken and create your own salad.
Something that All Star Movies does offer that the others don't is Late night dining offering the burgers, chicken and pizzas, check the menu for times and special items.
The bar is near the pool and offers it own unique cocktails like the other resorts.
Pop Century and Art of Animation
Both resorts are connected by a bridge which is where the Disney Skyliner station has been built.
A big change to these two resorts is the inclusion of the Skyliner at the end of September.
These are a cable car that will run from these resorts to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
At this moment the time it will take to get from these resorts to the theme parks are just estimates.
Hollywood Studios - around 15 minutes
Epcot - around 18 minutes
Buses are also available the times are:
Pop Century:
Animal Kingdom - around 25 minutes
Hollywood Studios - around 20 minutes
Epcot - around 20 minutes
Magic Kingdom - around 25 minutes
Disney Springs - around 15 minutes
Art of Animation:
Animal Kingdom - around 15 minutes
Hollywood Studios - around 10 minutes
Epcot - around 10 minutes
Magic Kingdom - around 20 minutes
Disney Springs - around 10 minutes
*according to https://magicguides.com/disney-world-transportation-map/
Pop Century Resort
Pop Century celebrates the late 1900's there are 4 different cluster of buildings: the 50's, 60's, 70's, and the 80's + 90's.
Like the All Star resorts they are decorated with statues from that time period some examples include a giant Jungle Book in the 1960's, a statue of Roger Rabbit in the 80's area and Lady and the Tramp in the 50's.
There is 4 different pools. The main one is in the 60's area with all the activities happening there, also in this area is a child's paddling pool. The third pool is outside the 90's building and is based on a laptop, and the final pool is shaped like a bowling pin outside the 50's.
Again there is laundry services available to guest near each pool area.
The counter service restaurant at this resort is called Everything POP shopping and dining.
Again breakfast, lunch and dinner are served.
Breakfast has the same options as above, pancakes, waffles, and omelets, and again you can have a range of sides such as eggs, meat or fruit. The Bakery offers cookies, doughnuts and doughnut holes, muffins and pastries.
Lunch offers the same items burgers, chicken, pizza, pasta, but there is an all day breakfast and sandwich choices at Pop Century.
Like before Dinner offers the items available for lunch as well some extras. These extras include meatloaf, turkey, salmon, and pot roast.
The Petals pool bar is between the main building and the main pool offering a range of drinks including cocktails.
In the main building there is also an arcade, and, as mentioned above, there is also the shopping area next to the food court, but does have some unique Disney themed Pop Century souvenirs.
Art of Animation
The layout is like Pop Century with 4 areas made up of either 2 or 3 buildings. The 4 areas are The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars.
The statues as this resort is a must see they are amazing with Simba looking over the Lion King area from pride rock and Mister Ray outside the Finding Nemo buildings.
At the time of writing Art of Animation is home to the largest resort pool at Disney World. It is situated outside the Finding Nemo buildings and even has a interactive water play area for younger children. Like the other resorts a lot of activities happen in the pool area.
There are two smaller pools at the two ends of the resort, one is outside the Cars buildings and the other is outside The Little Mermaid buildings.
The Landscape of flavours offers a range of food throughout the day but has a menu similar to Pop Century.
Breakfast does have some unique items such as french toast but the rest of the items is what I have listed in Pop Century.
The lunch situation is very similar as well. There is burgers, chicken, pizza, pasta and sandwiches available.
Finally dinner, again like the other resorts the lunch items are still a choice but there is more special items at this time. There is Mongolian grilled fish, jumbo stuffed meatball, Tandoori boneless chicken, Asain chicken bowls, and quesadilla. Check the menu to see which days the items are on sale.
The resort offers laundry service in the pool areas, and in the main building there is the arcade.
This resort does have it's own playground just beyond the main pool.
The shop has unique Art of Animation merchandise as well as the snacks, medical and other general Disney items the other resorts sell.
So that is a list of all the Value resorts that is available at Disney World.
If you are interested in going on a Disney holiday fill in the questionnaire and email me and I will support you with booking your holiday for a small fee.
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