How to get the Disney World resort room you want

Disney World resort rooms have several views that you can choose when booking, and then there are lots of requests you can make to get a room that will be a good fit.

Today, I’ve got information on each resort and how to get a room that’s right for you.

Let’s get started…

Booking the right view

One of the first decisions you’ll encounter when booking your Disney World trip is which view to book at your resort. Some resorts have only 1 or 2 views to choose from; other resorts have more than 10.

A view is essentially a guaranteed type of room. Once you book it, you know that’s what you’ll have on your trip.

Some suggestions on booking views:

• At the Values and Moderates that offer it, I always recommend a Preferred Room to reduce the amount of walking you’ll have to do to get to the main building
• If there are things you absolutely must have and there’s a view for that, make sure you book it. Examples: king bed, bunk beds, etc.

Making room requests

After your room is booked, you can make room requests so that you can narrow down the location of the room you’ll have for your trip. Just make sure your requests don’t conflict and aren’t redundant with the room view you booked.

For example:

• If you book a Preferred Room at Caribbean Beach Resort and then request to be in Barbados Village, that doesn’t make sense because there are no Preferred Rooms in that section.
• If you book a water view room, there’s no need to also request a water view room since you know that’s what you’re getting.

There are 2 types of room requests: 1.) the ones you can make up to 60 days beforehand using Disney’s online check-in system and 2.) requests that you call in to have added to your reservation (people used to fax requests but I don’t recommend that as the effectiveness varies between resorts).

Some guidelines for making room requests:

• Don’t request a specific room number, but put in requests that emphasize what’s important to you.
• Keep your requests to a minimum – usually 2-3 at the most.

Online check-in
Online check-in is something you can do up to 60 days before your trip (I suggest doing it at least 10 days beforehand) and makes sense for anybody who wants to save some time at the resort since most/all of the info they’d ask you at the front desk can be entered online.

You access this by logging into your My Disney Experience account, going to the My Disney Experience menu and selecting “My Reservations and Tickets.” You should then be taken to the screen that shows your resort reservation and has a link you can click to check-in online.

Once you click that link, you’ll be prompted to enter some information on the next screens…

Part of the online check-in process is the option to make room requests for your trip. For each resort, Disney has provided a list of requests you can make online and from that list, you can choose 2. More on those options below, but you access those by clicking the button on this screen.

You will be shown a screen like this that you can use to make up to 2 requests.

Who shouldn’t use online check-in? People who want to ask for an upgrade and/or discuss room options at the front desk.

Another perk to online check-in: Disney is starting to implement a system where people who check-in online can bypass the front desk and go straight to their room (this will be fully rolled out by mid-March 2015, except for Ft. Wilderness). To use this system, people must have their MagicBands shipped to their house ahead of time, check-in online, and provide a way of being contacted (text or email).

If you use online check-in but don’t get to bypass the front desk during your trip, be sure to at least get into the online check-in line at your resort which should be shorter and quicker than the regular line.

Requests made by phone
If you want to make requests that aren’t available in the online check-in process, you can provide more specific requests by calling them in (note: if you’re using a travel agent, they will need to call them in).

The way that it works is that the reservations are sent to the resorts about 5 days beforehand when a room assigner goes through all of them and starts to assign rooms.

They will first assign groups who are linked. If you’re traveling as a group who has at least 2 rooms, be sure to get a “travel with” number so you will at least be placed together.

Then the room assigners will move on to the reservations that have requests. They’ll have the online requests you made + they will consider requests that were called in.

The number to call to add your room requests is 407-939-7630.

If you have special requests due to a disability, you can call 407-939-7807.

Which requests should you make?

Below, I’ve listed out the online check-in requests for each resort, which requests are valid for each type of room view, and other requests you might consider making by phone.

Everybody at every resort can request these things:

• Crib
• High chair
• Bed rails
• Handicap-accessible room
• Connecting rooms (these requests are often not granted, so you’re better off booking a suite if you must be together)
• Microwaves (limited availability)

VALUE RESORTS

All-Star Movies

There are 2 room views you can book at All-Star Movies – Standard and Preferred – and lots of online room request options.

Since so many rooms are considered Preferred Rooms here, requests become even more important to get the location that you want.

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• If you booked a Standard View room, the Mighty Ducks section is about as close to All-Star Music as it is the main building at All-Star Movies. If you end up in that section, you could just as easily use the buses and food court at either one.
• If you booked a Preferred Room and want to be as close to Cinema Hall as possible, I’d suggest combining requests to be near transportation with the section of your choice.

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All-Star Music

You can book 3 kinds of rooms at All-Star Music – Standard, Preferred, or a Family Suite.

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• People who want quieter rooms should request landscape view with a higher floor.
• Those who booked a Standard Room and want to be as close to Melody Hall as possible should consider requesting to be near transportation (available in the online check-in process) and in the Jazz Inn buildings (not available to request online so you’ll need to call).

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All-Star Sports

You can book two types of rooms at All-Star Sports – Standard and Preferred.

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• People who want quiet rooms should request a Landscape View on a higher floor
• Those who book Standard Rooms but want to be close can request building 10 with a view of the parking lot which will put you very close to Stadium Hall

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Art of Animation

At Art of Animation, you can book a Standard Room or Family Suite. When booking a Family Suite, you’ll get to specify which section at the time you book.

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Lake views or landscape views on a higher floor will be the quietest. Consider also asking for a corner room.
• Since there are no Preferred Rooms at Art of Animation, I’d highly suggest requesting to be near transportation to cut down on walking.

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Pop Century

At Pop Century, you have 4 choices of rooms:

• Standard
• Standard Pool View
• Preferred
• Preferred Pool View

Because the Preferred rooms are available in so many areas, I’d recommend booking the Preferred Pool View to guarantee you’ll be as close to the main building as possible.

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Buildings 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide the best view of Hourglass Lake
• The quietest rooms will be the ones away from the pools and on higher floors
• For a chance at seeing some of the Illuminations fireworks, you can try to get a lakeside room on an upper floor in buildings 2, 3, or 4

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MODERATE RESORTS

Caribbean Beach Resort

You have a few room choices at Caribbean Beach Resort:

• Standard View (rooms located in every village except Trinidad North and Trinidad South)
• King Bed (rooms located in every village except Trinidad South)
• Water or Pool View (rooms could be in any village)
• Preferred Room (all rooms are in Trinidad North and Martinique 24, 25, 26)
• Pirate Rooms (all rooms located in Trinidad South)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Buildings don’t have elevators so request ground floor if you don’t want to climb stairs.
• If you have a Standard Room but want to be as close to the main building as possible, you could request 1.) Martinique and near transportation, or 2.) buildings 45 or 51

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Coronado Springs Resort

You have several room choices at Coronado Springs Resort:

• Standard View (rooms throughout the resort except for Casitas 1, 2 and 3 and Cabanas 9B)
• Water View
• King Bed
• Preferred Rooms (rooms located in Casitas 1, 2, and 3)
• Preferred King (rooms located in Casitas 1, 2, and 3)
• Water View King (located in Casitas and Cabanas sections)
• Standard View Business Class (located in Cabanas 9B)
• King Bed Business Class (located in Cabanas 9B)
• Junior Suite (located in Casitas 1, 2, and 3 with 1 room in Cabanas 9B)
• Junior Suite King (located in Casitas 1, 2, and 3 with 1 room in Cabanas 9B)
• Casitas 1 Bedroom Suite
• 1 Bedroom Suite King (located in Casitas 1 and 3, and Cabanas 8B and 9B)
• VIP Suite (located in Casitas 1 and Cabanas 9B)
• Presidential/Executive Suite (located in Casitas 1 and Cabanas 9B)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• If you have a Standard Room but want to reduce walking as much as possible, you could request Cabanas 8A due its proximity to a bus stop, the main pool area, and a relatively short walk to the main building.
• Most resorts have the main pool and the main building together, but they are separate here. Decide which is more important to you and request a room accordingly.

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Port Orleans Riverside

You have a several room choices at Port Orleans Riverside:

• Standard View (rooms can be in any bldg except 14, 15, 18 and 27)
• Garden View (rooms can be in any bldg except 14, 15, 18 and 27)
• Preferred Room (all rooms are in Alligator Bayou section, bldgs 14,15,18 and 27)
• King Bed (can be located in any bldg except 90 and 95)
• Pool View (rooms in bldgs 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 35, 36, 39, 80, 85, 90, 95)
• River View (rooms in bldgs 14, 27, 38, 80, 85, 90, 95)
• Royal Guest Rooms – Standard, Garden, Pool and River View options available (all rooms located in bldgs 90 and 95)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Elevators only exist in buildings 80, 85, 90, 95 (the Magnolia Bend section) so if you don’t want to do stairs, either request ground floor in the Alligator Bayou buildings (which is all buildings except for 80, 85, 90 and 95) or request to be in Magnolia Bend.
• Don’t request second floor and highest floor together. Highest floor in buildings 80, 85, 90, and 95 is the 3rd floor. All other buildings are 2 stories.
• Corner rooms in the Alligator Bayou section often give you 2 windows instead of 1.

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Port Orleans French Quarter

You have a few room choices at Port Orleans French Quarter:

• Standard View (rooms located throughout the resort)
• Garden View (rooms located throughout the resort)
• King Bed (rooms located throughout the resort)
• Pool View (buildings 2 and 5)
• River View (buildings 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• The resort is small so none of the rooms are very far from everything, but request building 3 or 4 if you booked a Standard View room and want to be closest to the main building and bus stop.
• Corner rooms have two windows so request that if you’re interested in having that option.

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DELUXE RESORTS AND VILLAS

Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas

The information below is for Animal Kingdom Lodge, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

You have several room options at Animal Kingdom Lodge:

• Standard View (on floors 1-4)
• Arusha View
• Savanna View
• Pool View
• Pool View – bunk bed
• Arusha View – bunk bed
• Savanna View – bunk bed
• Standard View-1 BR Suite-Club Level Access
• 1 Bedroom Suite – Club Level Access (floors 5 and 6)
• 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level Access (floors 5 and 6)
• Standard Room – Club Level Access (floors 5 and 6)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Ground floor rooms don’t have balconies, but all others do. Request an upper floor if that’s important to you.
• Each savanna has different animals so you might want to choose based on that. Ostriches can only be found on the Sunset Savannah, zebras are only located on the Arusha Savannah, and kudu are only found on the Uzima Savannah. Giraffes are the only animal that you can see on all three savannahs.
• Relatively speaking, very few rooms fall into the “standard” category so there’s a good chance that people who book a Standard View room will be upgraded (especially if traveling during a less busy time). Of course, you should book a view if you really want it, but people looking to save a bit of money might want to take the chance.

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Beach Club Resort and Villas

The information below is for the Beach Club Resort, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

Here are your room choices at the Beach Club:

• Standard View
• Garden View
• Water or Pool View
• Standard View – Club Level (rooms on the 5th floor)
• Garden View – Club Level (rooms on the 5th floor)
• Lagoon or Pool View – Club Level (rooms on the 5th floor)
• Deluxe Room – Club Level (not on 5th floor)
• 1 Bedroom Suites – Club Level (not on 5th floor)
• 2 Bedroom Suites – Club Level (not on 5th floor)
• Nantucket Vice Presidential Suite
• Newport Presidential Suite

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• About half of the rooms have full balconies and the rest have tiny Juliet balconies. I’d highly recommend requesting a full balcony in the online check-in.
• Stormalong Bay is a large, popular pool area and it can be loud. If quiet is important, consider requesting a Garden View.
• Although Illuminations can’t really be viewed well outside of Epcot, you can catch glimpses from some Garden View rooms on higher floors.

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Boardwalk Inn and Villas

The information below is for Boardwalk Inn, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

Here are your room choices at the Boardwalk:

• Standard View
• Water View
• Standard Room – Club Level (most rooms on 4th floor)
• Deluxe Room – Club Level (located on 3rd and 4th floors)
• Outer Building – Garden Room – Club Level

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

FYI – almost all rooms have a daybed and balcony.

Tips:

• For a chance to see Illuminations, you might want to request the highest floor with an Epcot view
• People who book Standard Rooms should consider requesting to be near an elevator due to the length of the hallways

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Contemporary Resort and Bay Lake Tower

The information below is for the Contemporary, not Bay Lake Tower. I’ll add the Bay Lake Tower info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

Here are your room choices at the Contemporary:

• Tower – Bay Lake View (all rooms have a balcony)
• Tower – Theme Park View (all rooms have a balcony)
• Garden Wing – Standard View (none have balconies; first floor has patio)
• Garden Wing – Garden View (none have balconies; first floor has patio)
• Garden Wing – Deluxe Room (none have balconies; first floor has patio)
• Standard Room – Atrium Club Level (rooms are on 12th floor)
• Theme Park View – Atrium Club Level (rooms are on 12th floor)
• Garden Wing – 1 Bedroom Suite Access
• Garden Wing – Hospitality Suite Access
• Bay Lake View – 1 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms located on 14th floor)
• Bay Lake View – 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms located on 14th floor)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

FYI – all rooms have a daybed.

Tips:

• Odd-numbered Tower room beds on the Bay Lake side face toward Wilderness Lodge. Odd-numbered Magic Kingdom View beds face toward the Magic Kingdom.
• Some corner Garden View rooms are larger than the regular rooms.
• Since all Tower Rooms have a balcony, consider requesting a higher floor so you can have a better view from your balcony.

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Grand Floridian Resort and Villas

The information below is for the Grand Floridian, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

You have several room options at the Grand Floridian:

• Outer Building – Lagoon View (rooms located in all buildings except Sugar Loaf)
• Outer Building – Deluxe Room – Garden View (rooms located in all buildings except Sugar Loaf)
• Outer Building – Theme Park View (rooms located in all buildings except Sugar Loaf)
• Outer Building – Garden View (rooms located in all buildings except Sugar Loaf)
• Main Building – Standard Room – Club Level (rooms located on 3rd, 4th and 5th floors)
• Main Building – Deluxe King Room – Club Level (rooms located on 3rd, 4th and 5th floors)
• Main Building – Theme Park View – Club Level (rooms located on 3rd, 4th and 5th floors)
• Outer Building – Standard Room – Club Level Access (rooms located in Sugar Loaf building)
• Outer Building – 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level Access (rooms located in Sugar Loaf building)
• Outer Building – 1 Bedroom Suite – Club Level Access (rooms located in Sugar Loaf building)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

FYI: most rooms have a daybed and many have a private balcony.

Tips:

• Dormer rooms all have a private balcony, so if you want a private balcony, put in a request for a dormer room to increase your chances
• Upper floors have a better chance of being able to view fireworks from the room so request one of those if you’d like to see fireworks from there

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Old Key West

You have several room choices at Old Key West. These are available to people booking through Disney directly. People using DVC points will have different options.

• Deluxe Studio
• 1 Bedroom Villa
• 2 Bedroom Villa
• Grand Villa (located in buildings 15, 16, 19, 22, 25, 29, 43, 48, 49, 51, 53, and 63)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• Only buildings 62, 63, and 64 have elevators.
• Buildings 29 and under have 1 bathroom entrance and it’s through the master bedroom. Request dual bathroom entrances if you’d like two. The downside is that these buildings can be a bit further away from some amenities.

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Polynesian

The information below is for the Polynesian, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

You have these room options at the Polynesian:

• Theme Park View (rooms in Tuvalu and Aotearoa buildings)
• Standard View (rooms in Fiji, Samoa, Rarotonga and Niue buildings)
• Lagoon View (rooms in Tuvalu and Aotearoa buildings)
• Garden View – Club Level (rooms in Hawaii and Tonga buildings)
• Lagoon View – Club Level (rooms in Hawaii and Tonga buildings)
• Theme Park View – Club Level (rooms in Hawaii and Tonga buildings)
• 1 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (roooms in Hawaii and Tonga buildings)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tip:

• Second floor rooms in Aotearoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Niue, Rarotonga, Samoa and Tuvalu don’t have balconies so request a different floor if you want a balcony

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Saratoga Springs Resort

You have a few room options at Saratoga Springs:

• Deluxe Studio
• 1 Bedroom Villa
• 2 Bedroom Villa
• Treehouse Villa

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• The Grandstand section is the first to get on buses in the morning and the first to get off buses when coming back from the theme parks, so it’s probably the best section in terms of transportation. For things you need to do at Carriage House, it’s not too far of a walk to get there.
• Congress Park has easy access to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs, and all of the buildings there are close to the bus stop.
• The Carousel Section has a lot of things that are not convenient about it, but if you have a car, you might like it since it’s the closest to the main entrance and you can drive to other areas of the resort as needed.

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Wilderness Lodge and Villas

The information below is for Wilderness Lodge, not the Villas. I’ll add the Villas info when I have a complete list of the online check-in options available there.

You have these room options at Wilderness Lodge:

• Woods View – Bunk Bed
• Courtyard View – Bunk Bed
• Courtyard View
• Woods View
• Standard View (rooms only located on second floor and above)
• Deluxe Room – Club Level (rooms located on floors 1-6)
• Standard Room – Club Level (rooms located on 7th floor)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

Tips:

• The 5th floor is the highest one with an open balcony (closed balconies have walls instead of railings so you have to stand on the balcony to see anything).
• Ground floor rooms have patios.
• Courtyard view rooms have a view of the Electrical Water Pageant.

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Yacht Club

You have several room options at Yacht Club:

• Standard View
• Garden View
• Lagoon or Pool View
• Standard View – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Garden/Courtyard View – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Lagoon View – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Deluxe Room – Club Level (located on 3rd or 4th floor)
• 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Commodore Vice Presidential Suite – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Presidential 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Admiral 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)
• Captain’s Deck 2 Bedroom Suite – Club Level (rooms are on the 5th floor)

(You can click the map to view a larger version.)

FYI – most rooms have a full balcony.

Tip:

• Upper floors have a better chance of seeing fireworks.

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Have more tips or questions? Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments.