Best Disney World Resorts for 2023

Heading to Disney World? You’ll need a place to stay.

With more than 30 different onsite Disney World resorts to choose from, not to mention the countless offsite options within a short drive to the parks, it may all seem a bit overwhelming.

When it comes time to book, how do you know what the best Disney World resorts are?

Let us help.

What to expect in this guide

Over the past several years, we’ve made it our mission to collect as much information as we can about all your different Walt Disney World resort hotel options.

We’ve not only stayed in all the resorts (most multiple times), but we’ve also spent a lot of time putting together videos and beefing up all of our resort-specific pages with our personal pics and reviews.

This is the first part of our Disney World Resort Guide. From here, you’ll find links to more info on both onsite AND offsite options.

After covering the basics, we’ll go a bit further and give you a list of some of the BEST Disney World Resorts with all our reasons why we love (and recommend) them.

This page has lots of links to more information. Start here, but don’t forget to click through to check out our additional resources, too!

Onsite or offsite?

First thing we recommend you do is learn a bit more about your 2 (or more like 2 1/2) options for Disney World hotels.

When visiting WDW, you’ll have the choice to stay:

onsite with all benefits
offsite with some benefits
and offsite with no benefits.

Just what are those benefits, you ask?

Lots of things, like being able to make your Individual Lightning Lane Selections at 7 a.m. (instead of waiting until the park opens) and being able to make all of your dining reservations at once, instead of making them one day at a time.

It is important to understand all of those benefits before you start making any more decisions, so that’s the first task: read (and understand) about the benefits of staying onsite.

Get the full list of perks of staying in an onsite Disney World resort

Once you are familiar with the perks you can find at some resorts, you’re ready to narrow down your resort choices.

Keep in mind that typically when securing a reservation, at most you can expect to have the *best* of any 2 of these 3 things:

location (distance to the parks, with the closest of the resorts having those benefits we talked about above)
price (the total cost for your reservation, including fees & costs associated with each resort)
space (total square footage of your room or rooms)

Unfortunately, you just aren’t going to get the best location AND the most amount of space AND the lowest price, all together.

You’ll have to decide what is important for your trip: your location, the total cost, or the amount of square footage or space you’ll have.

Knowing which one of those to focus on will make it easier for you to decide if you need to be looking primarily at either onsite OR offsite.

Onsite

Disney’s on-site resort hotels are often thought of as a destination themselves.

Heavily-themed and catering to a variety of budgets, you’ll want to select one of these resorts for the most all-inclusive feel.

Onsite resorts are typically going to be best for location (although there are some offsite options that are as close as most onsite resorts). Plus, they have the best transportation options for getting you to the parks.

If you want just a quick overview of all the resorts, check out this post for the pros and cons of each:

Check out the pros and cons of all Disney World resorts

Who do we recommend stay onsite:

First-time visitors
People looking for convenience
People who want to stay in the Disney bubble
Guests without cars (you can’t beat Disney’s onsite transportation options)

Value Resorts

Value Resorts are your least expensive option, and that is reflected in them also having the least number of amenities and the smallest rooms.

But Value Resorts are also some of the most fun and in-your-face Disney of any of the Disney World resorts. With over-the-top theming and giant icons that flank their grounds, plus family-friendly Quick Service dining options, this is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a budget-friendly on-site option that will wow kids.

Read more about Disney World Value Resorts

Disney World has 5 resorts at their “Value” level:

Moderate Resorts

A step up from the Value resorts, Moderate Resorts cost a bit more but have slightly larger rooms and more perks like pools with slides.

Read more about Disney World Moderate Resorts

Disney World has 4 main resorts at the Moderate level:

Disney also includes the Cabins at Ft. Wilderness in the Moderate category, though those rooms are very different from the other resorts and are really kind of their own unique thing. There are also Campsites at Fort Wilderness that do not fall into a traditional category.

Deluxe Resorts

Deluxe Resorts are the closest to the parks, and that comes along with a price tag to match. These are also the most luxurious of the resort options, with typically multiple Table Service dining options, transportation options, and things like spas or salons on site.

Read more about Disney World Deluxe Resorts

Disney World has 9 resorts at the Deluxe level:

Deluxe Villa Resorts

These are your home-away-from-home option. Built for Disney’s Vacation Club (their version of a timeshare), Deluxe Villas offer the most space and amenities like full kitchens and villas with multiple bedrooms – perfect for large families.

The best part is that you don’t have to be a member of Disney’s Vacation Club to book one.

Read more about Disney World Villa Resorts

Disney World has 12 Deluxe Villa Resorts:

Offsite Resorts at Disney World

Generally, offsite typically means lower prices and in some cases, more space. The trade-off? Location.

Although you can save big on your hotel cost by staying offsite, keep in mind that you’ll have additional costs you may not have had if you chose to stay onsite (for example – for things like parking at the parks).

Who do we recommend stay offsite:

Repeat visitors
People looking to save money
Guests who have points or travel rewards to use at participating hotels
Guests with cars

Get more info on off-site Disney World resorts

Offsite resorts with benefits

There are several resorts and hotels located near Disney World that offer some (but not all) of the same benefits you’ll find if you stay onsite.

Get more info on offsite resorts with some onsite perks

Offsite resorts without benefits

Most offsite resorts don’t provide any Disney World benefits, but if you can work around that you’ll find lots that can be quite easy on the budget.

Get more info on offsite resorts without benefits