Hello friends! I hope you are well! Today we are jumping back into the post series all about Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, today focusing on the Moderate resorts! I’ll be sharing the different resorts in the moderate level, sharing the starting price, room configurations, dining options, and more! If you missed the post all about the Value Resorts, you can find it here! Okay, let’s get started!

All prices are as of June 24th, 2018.

what is a moderate?

A moderate resort is the middle level of resort at Walt Disney World. They have more subtle Disney theming, tend to be a bit more relaxed, and have more amenities than the value resorts. They have multiple bus stops, as well as both a quick service and table service restaurant. For a little more money than a Value resort, you get a bit of a better location and a more relaxed feeling resort. I think it is well worth the money, especially if a room discount is available.

Caribbean Beach

Located on the Epcot resort area- you can actually see Illuminations from the main pool! Bus transportation is available to all parks, and in 2019 the gondola system will take you to Hollywood Studios and Epcot!

*CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION*- Rivera Resort (right next to Caribbean Beach), as well as the relocation of the check in building, and food court all is happening. I would not recommend staying here until the construction is completed! The different sections of the resort are named after Caribbean countries (Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, Aruba, ect.). Each country has different colour buildings,  which make getting around easy!

Rates starting at $172/night and the following room configurations are available: standard view, standard view with 5th sleeper, water view, pool view, king bed, water view with 5th sleeper, pool view with 5th sleeper, preferred room. Pirate rooms are available with preferred location or water view. The pirate rooms have a pirate theme, and look really cool!

Food: Centretown Food truck for Quick Service while under construction, and Shutters is the Table Service Restaurant is closed during renovations.

I’ve stayed at Caribbean Beach 4 times, and it’s my favourite moderate resort!

Coronado Springs

Coronado Springs is located in the Animal Kingdom resort area, and bus transportation is available.

*ALSO UNDER CONSTRUCTION*- but not as disruptive as Caribbean Beach (doesn’t impact the food options, and is just a new tower being built.

Rooms starting at $185/night. The following view and room configurations are available: standard view, water view, preferred view, king bed, preferred view king bed, water view king bed, Junior Suite (2 queen, 1 queen sofa), Junior Suite king (1 king, 1 queen sofa), preferred 1 bedroom suite, 1 bedroom suite with king (garden or lake view), executive suite (2 queen, 1 king).

Food: Pepper Market (Quick Service), Las Ventanas (Table Service Breakfast or Lunch), Maya Grill (Table Service Dinner).

I’ve never stayed here, but I think it would be really nice! It has a convention centre attached, so lots of business people tend to stay here.

Port Orleans Riverside

Port Orleans Riverside is located in the Disney Springs Resort Area. Bus transportation is available to all of the parks, and boat transportation is available to Disney Springs.

Rooms start at $206/night and are available in the following views and configurations: standard view, garden view, standard view with 5th sleeper, pool view, garden view (with 5th sleeper), king bed, river view, preferred room (2 queen, 1 child pull-down), and Royal Room (river view, standard view, garden view, pool view). Royal Rooms are themed to the princesses and have really neat theming! They have headboards featuring the Bayou from Princess and the Frog, and have fibre optic fireworks!

There are two sections of the resort: Magnolia Mansions (themed to Southern Plantations) and Alligator Bayou (more rustic in nature). You can request a section when making a reservation.

Food- Riverside Mill (Quick Service), Boatwright’s Dining Hall (Table Service)

Ethan and I stayed here in 2013, and we really liked it! It’s a beautiful resort, but we found it confusing! The Alligator Bayou rooms look  the same, so finding the correct building was confusing. We walked to the main building to get coffee in the morning and walked straight to the main bus stop.

Port orleans french quarter

Attached to Port Orleans Riverside, it’s also located in the Disney Springs area. Bus transportation is available to all parks (only 1 bus stop at the resort), and boat to Disney Springs. Sometimes shares a bus with Riverside.

Rooms starting at $206/night, and are available in the following views and room configurations: standard view, garden view, river view, pool view, and king bed.

Food: Sassagoula Floatworks (Quick Service), shared Table Service with Riverside.

French Quarter is the smallest moderate resort, and is very nice if you don’t want to walk far between your room and the main building. I’ve never stayed there, but it looked nice from what I saw when the bus stopped there on the way to the parks!

the cabins at fort wilderness

Fort Wilderness is located in the Magic kingdom area, and you can take a boat to Magic Kingdom and bus everywhere else,

All cabins come with 1 queen bed, 1 bunk bed, and 1 double sleeper sofa. The rooms come with more amenities, like a full size fridge, dishwasher, microwave oven and stove.

These cabins are a great option if you want to do more cooking in the room, and sleep more in the room than the other moderate resorts. Plus, it has more dining options, and is the closest moderate resort to Magic Kingdom!

Food: Trails End (Table Service), The Chuck Wagon (food truck), P & J’s Southern Takeout (Quick Service), Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (Dinner show and 2 meal credits on the dining plan), Mickey’s Backyard BBQ (Table Service Character Meal).

I’ve never stayed here, but my family has looked at the cabins before. It would be fun to “glamp” and stay in Walt Disney World!

If you’d like to hear more about the Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World, check out the video below!

Have you ever stayed at a moderate resort? Tell me about it in the comments below!

For more information on the Walt Disney World moderate resorts, check out the WDW website here.

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Hello everyone! I hope you are well! In today’s Disney post, we are talking all about the Value Resorts at Walt Disney World! I’m going to take you through all of the different resorts at this level, give a brief breakdown of types of rooms available (and the pricing as of June 2018), and a little bit about each resort. I will be going through all Walt Disney World Resorts in the coming weeks. If you’d like to stay on site at Walt Disney World, this post series is for you! Okay, let’s get started!

What is a Value Resort?

The Value Resorts are the lowest level of resorts at Walt Disney World, therefore they are the least expensive! The themes are more “in your face Disney” and are generally very popular with families. School groups tend to stay at the Values as well. Value Resorts have larger than life statues of characters from Disney films, and each resort has a different theme. Within the resorts there are different sections, and each section has a pool, with the largest pool being closest to the main building! All resorts have a food court, arcade, shop, and basic hotel amenities. Okay, let’s get to the resorts!

The All Stars!

There are 3 All Star Resorts, all close to each other in the Animal Kingdom resort section of Walt Disney World. Prices start at $110/night (as of June 8th, 2018.)

All Star Music– This resort opened 1994, and I stayed here in 1997 on my 1st trip to Walt Disney World! Sections of the resort are different genres of music, and I remember staying in the Country section! They have two types of room configurations: 2 Double beds, or a family suite that includes 1 queen bed, 1 twin sleeper chair, 1 double size sleeper sofa. Standard location or preferred location (close to the main building) is available. Intermissions is the name of the food court.

All Star Movies– This resort opened in 1999! It has different sections themed to different movies like Fantasia, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians and more! All rooms have 2 double beds, and standard or preferred rooms are available. The food court is called World Premier! Look at the film reel railings! It’s all in the details.

All Star Sports– All Star Sports opened in 1994! Each section is themed to different sports, like football, tennis, and more! All rooms have 2 double beds, and standard and preferred rooms are available. End Zone is the name of the food court. Most sports groups (like cheerleaders) stay here when they visit Walt Disney World for tournaments.

Notes about the All Stars

• school groups tend to stay here because they are the least expesive
• cheerleading and sports groups are the same
• They are fairly far away from Magic Kingdom
• Your room (if you don’t go for preferred location) can be far away from the bus stop (10 minute walk or more)
• In the lower seasons, the All Star Resorts sometimes share buses

pop century

Rooms starting at $120/night (as of June 8th, 2018). Resort is in the Wide World of Sports Resort area.

Pop Century Resort opened in 2003! Each section is themed to a decade, from the 50’s to the 90’s. The rooms have either 2 double beds, 1 king bed, or 1 queen bed and 1 queen table bed. The entire resort is undergoing renovations (one section at a time), and the rooms are really nice! The views are standard, standard pool view, preferred, or preferred pool view. The food court is called Everything Pop! I’ve stayed here 3 times and as of right now it’s my favourite Value Resort! This was the first resort we stayed in an accessible room, and it was in a preferred location which was nice! I also find that the resort area is more central, and it’s a bit faster to get to each of the parks.

art of animation

Starting at $155/night, $342/night for suites (as of June 8th, 2018). Also in the Wide World of Sports area. Pop Century and Art of Animation are connected by a bridge! The gondola system will be coming to these resorts as well! (Estimated completion mid 2019).

Art of Animation is the newest Value resort, and it opened May 2012. It’s a little different than the other Values!  I would call it Moderate-lite (next level up of resorts), or value-plus. There are 4 sections, 3 are made up of family suites (Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and Cars) and 1 section is standard rooms (Little Mermaid). For the family suites, all rooms have 1 queen bed, 1 double table bed and 1 double size sleeper sofa. For the standard rooms, you get either 2 double beds or 1 king. These rooms are HEAVILY themed to the section, and they look awesome. I hope to stay here someday! Little Mermaid section would be my first choice. (Ethan and I actually considered staying there on our trip in 2013, but with the room discount available we stayed at a Moderate resort for close to the same price). The food court is called Landscape of Flavors, and is supposed to be one of the best food courts of the Value Resorts!

Random Tips!

• stay in a preferred room if you can, it’s worth the time saved walking back to the rooms!
• if you are going to be in the parks all day, save some money and stay at a value
• because lots of families stay here, there tend to be a lot of buses at the end of the night at the parks!

If you’d like to listen to me talk about the different resorts instead of reading about them, check out the video below!

If you’d like to learn more about these resorts, visit the Walt Disney World website here.

Thank you so much for joining me today! Have you ever stayed at a Value Resort? Let me know in the comments below!