Disney Value Resorts 101- What They Offer and How To Choose Between Them

For a budget-friendly Walt Disney World vacation, choosing to stay at a Value Resort is the best option. With rooms available starting as low as $85/night, there are five Disney Resort Hotels to choose from, each with their own unique personality. To help you decide which hotel is right for you, we’ll take a closer look at what each has to offer.

5. All-Star Sports

The All-Star Sports Resort is located near the Animal Kingdom park and offers guests a selection of standard hotel rooms in one of five building categories. Each one focuses on a different sport like Football, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, and Surfing. The buildings have larger than life displays of the featured sports that blend into the buildings and the surrounding areas. For example, you enter a large football helmet to get to a staircase. The food court is called the End Zone and the lobby displays pictures of different athletes.

Only standard rooms are offered with two double beds or one king-size bed, but connecting rooms are available upon request. Guests can also ask for a preferred room which is located closest to the food court and main pool. The hotel overall has two pools on property that are in the shape of a surfboard and a baseball diamond.

4. All-Star Movies

The All-Star Movies Resort is also near Animal Kingdom with the same standard room options available. These rooms, however, are themed to Disney films that include 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, Toy Story, the Mighty Ducks, and Herbie: The Love Bug. Like the Sports resort, Movies also has enormous statues representing each film. In the Toy Story area, a large Woody and Buzz Lightyear face each other while other characters like Rex and Bo Peep are in between them on a slightly smaller scale.

The lobby displays pictures of famous actors and includes a photograph of Shirley Temple presenting the famous Seven Dwarfs Oscar to Walt Disney. Dining is found in the World Premiere food court with each food station being a different marquee. Two pools are also at this resort, near the Fantasia and Mighty Ducks areas.

3. All-Star Music

The All-Star Music Resort wraps up the three All-Stars and is also near Animal Kingdom. However, this resort offers both standard room sizes and family suites that can accommodate up to six people instead of four. These rooms include a double sleeper-sofa and small kitchenette. The themed buildings are centered on different styles of music and include Calypso, Jazz, Broadway, Country, and Rock. Items like jukeboxes, guitars and maracas are alongside their buildings while Disney characters from the Three Caballeros can be found in the Calypso section.

The Intermission food court is styled similarly to the Sports and Movies resorts and the two pools here are in the shape of a guitar and a piano.

2. Pop Century

The Pop Century is a Value Resort that is near the Wide World of Sports complex. The buildings are themed after different decades that include the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Like other Value resorts, preferred rooms can be requested that would be in the 60s area right near the Hippy Dippy pool and Everything Pop food court. Unlike the All-Stars, Pop has three pools in total. Besides the 60s pool, there’s also a bowling pin pool and a computer-shaped pool.

The lobby here has a wall covered with pictures, toys, and other memorabilia from the decades featured throughout the resort and every so often, the Cast Members come out and teach guests how to do the hustle. Throughout the resort, trivia facts about each decade can be found along with Disney characters from films that came out during those decades.

1. Art of Animation

The Art of Animation Resort is not only the newest Value Resort, but the newest resort on WDW property. What separates this resort is that it consists of mostly family suites. Divided into four areas, guests can choose a suite in the Cars, Finding Nemo, or Lion King areas. Those looking for a standard room can book a Little Mermaid room, which is the furthest away from the food court and bus stops. Art of Animation also includes the largest pool on Disney property in the Finding Nemo section. Two smaller pools can be found in the Little Mermaid and Cars sections. Guests get to walk through scenes recreated from the featured films from the Cozy Cones to the African jungle.

The lobby features sketches of characters from the four movies ranging from original concept art to the final versions. A special chandelier hangs in between the concierge desk and the gift shop that is made up of panels with character sketches. If you look closely, you can see some of them have been signed by their voice actors.

Each value resort offers bus transportation, WiFi, an arcade, delivery service, jogging trails, and other amenities found on the WDW website. When choosing a Value Resort, consider what theme most appeals to you and how immersed in Disney characters you want to be. Pop, Music, and Sports feature more icons than characters where Movies and Art of Animation are more based in the Disney films. Also consider your party size as family suites can only be found in Music and Art of Animation. The resorts are also close together so you can stay at one and still visit the rest.