Staying at a Disney World hotel comes with some pretty good perks!
Disney’s Riviera Resort
You can use Disney’s free transportation system. You can get extra time in the parks with Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours. You can also get a free water park ticket this year and sometimes, you can even snag free dining! There are also several ways to upgrade your vacation through your Disney hotel, but some Disney fans just do not think it’s always worth the price to upgrade!
1. Upgraded Views
Many of our readers did not think that paying extra to upgrade your view of your hotel room. When booking your Disney World hotel reservation, you can upgrade your room to have a better view or even a better room location. While it can be fun to splurge on a room upgrade, it can almost be pointless if you plan to spend a lot of time in the parks.
View from Art of Animation Resort
View upgrades may not be exactly what you think. The description, like water, woods, savannah, theme park, or standard view, is very vague. A water view may be a fountain or a pool instead of a lake or lagoon.
Polynesian Island Tower
Our reader Amanda wrote, “Any extra cost for a special view… Paying for an upgraded view isn’t worth it.” If you aren’t going on vacation to spend a lot of time in your resort room, you don’t necessarily need a great view. It might be worth it if you are going to go sit on your resort balcony and gaze out often, but most Disney visitors are looking to rope drop and hit those rides!
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Katie wrote, “The Savannah View rooms at AKL are amazing but not worth it if you can get a partial view for free!” We actually experienced this ourselves. At Animal Kingdom Lodge, we have opted for a standard view and could still see the savannah.
Savanna view
2. Deluxe Resorts
Many of our readers also said Deluxe Resorts aren’t worth the hefty price they come with! Steve shared “Unless you spend a lot, I MEAN A LOT of time back in your resort Deluxe isn’t worth the money”. Deluxe resorts have more amenities that they offer, making them more expensive, but if you aren’t at your resort often, you might not use them.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
Erin agreed “We aren’t in our room enough to care about the amenities“. If you are looking to lounge around by fancier pools like Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Beach Club, then that is probably worth staying there. However, if your party is strictly parks only, there isn’t a huge need for you to stay at a Deluxe Resort.
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
What is worth it to one family, might be not worth it to others. That’s why we’re here to help you decide what is best for you! For more Disney World tips, be sure to follow us at DFB!
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We haven’t been to the parks since our passes expired in Oct 2020. Last Sept we got a theme park view at the Contemporary and loved it. We left to go have supper at Yachtsman steakhouse. We got back to the room in time to watch the fireworks from our balcony. I haven’t really seen the fireworks in the parks so it was a treat. We were booking it again for this coming Sept but the room rate disappeared when the cast memeber went to book it so we decided to try Animal Kingdom Lodge with a savanna view.
As a “boomer” who has been to WDW more times than I can count, my husband and I have been on every ride, multiple times. So we do, indeed, spend a great deal of time at our resort. Forget rope drop! We sleep in, have a nice lunch at a great table service restaurant, go to a park later in the day, stay until close. That’s what we love about Disney – it’s amazing for first time visitors and it’s even more magical for frequent visitors. The growth of Disney Vacation Club tells me that we aren’t the only ones who vacation this way.
We’ve spent more than one wedding anniversary leaving Epcot well after the park closes (because of a late ADR), taking the Skyliner back to the Riviera, then sitting on the our balcony drinking champagne until the wee hours. A friend of mine thought this was nuts, until she’d been to WDW a couple of times. Now she gets it.