Disney’s deluxe hotels aren’t the right fit for every trip, but there’s no doubt that these resorts deserve their place on pretty much every Disney traveler’s bucket list. In this post, we discuss the deluxe resorts, including the basic things to know about them, reasons to stay at deluxe resorts, and, of course, the ranking of all eight of Disney World’s deluxe resorts!
We’ve got a lot of content covering the Disney hotels to help you learn as much as possible about which home away from home to book for your trip. Besides the reviews of every hotel (links are found later in this post), we have the following posts:
Complete Guide to Disney World Hotels — post to start picking your hotel and for understanding the key differences between the different hotels at Disney World
Benefits of Staying at a Disney Hotel — covers the perks associated with Disney hotels
Best Disney World Value Hotels — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the value resorts
Best Disney World Moderate Hotels — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the moderate resorts
Best Disney World Deluxe Hotels (this post) — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the deluxe resorts
Ranking of the Best Disney World Hotels — our subjective ranking of all the Disney hotels
If you’re looking for an introduction with quick, practical information about all the hotels, check out the guide post. If you’re looking for more detailed analysis, visit the different categorical rankings (like this one). And if you just want to know what two people who do this for a living think of every hotel, check out that last link.
Update: Lightning Lane Premier Pass Debut
Disney World will debut Lightning Lane Premier Pass, a new premium Lightning Lane bundle option, on October 30, 2024. As part of the initial “pilot” rollout, it will be available only to guests of deluxe Disney resorts, DVC resorts, and select other resorts (Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve, Shades of Green).
For now, since Disney is calling this a “pilot” rollout, we’re going to leave this as a separate blurb up here. We’re hopeful the product will get rolled out to all guests or all Disney hotel guests at some point (maybe early 2025), at which point we’ll update this post more completely, if necessary.
Disney World Deluxe Resort Basics
If want to skip this section and jump to the rankings, click here. The deluxe resorts are Disney’s most expensive (and thus theoretically “best”) resorts. There are eight deluxe hotels at Disney World. We won’t be ranking DVC properties, like Saratoga Springs, Riviera, and Old Key West. We also leave out the high-priced-but-technically-not-deluxe Cabins at Fort Wilderness.
Three deluxe resorts—Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary—sit on the monorail, which connects them to Magic Kingdom (and, with a transfer, Epcot). You can also walk from these hotels to Magic Kingdom.
Three deluxe resorts—BoardWalk Inn, Yacht Club, and Beach Club sit around the Boardwalk, between Hollywood Studios and Epcot, with boat and walking access to those two parks.
The two remaining deluxe resorts have more limited transportation. Wilderness Lodge is located near Magic Kingdom, but not on the monorail. A boat to Magic Kingdom is offered. Animal Kingdom Lodge is located next to Animal Kingdom (but has no special transportation to that park).
The standard rooms at the deluxe hotels range in post-tax nightly price from $506 to $1000+. Each also has suites and club level amenities. And each has at least one “sister” Disney Vacation Club property that it more or less shares amenities with.
This post also won’t take into account anything having to do with the DVC properties, except where the experience of an ordinary guest is impacted.
The rankings here aren’t impacted by club level accommodations. We have a post about Club Level (also called Concierge Level) at Disney World which also links to our individual club level reviews.
Every deluxe resort has (at least) a pool, fitness center, quick service restaurant, table service restaurant, bar, and activity schedule. With one exception (Extended Evening Hours, discussed more below) guests of all Disney resorts get the same set of perks. You should read that list particularly if your’e considering a non-Disney hotel so you understand what you’ll be missed out on.
The deluxe resorts are the best Disney has to offer. You should know, though, that if you’re a frequent “deluxe” traveler, these resorts won’t compare to, say, Four Seasons or The Ritz Carlton. The Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World is, for example, widely regarded as the best hotel at Walt Disney World.
That said, we’ve reviewed, for example, the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek and found the lack of “Disney” to be a bit noticeable, so I think it’s safe to say there’s something special going on at these deluxe Disney hotels.
Finally, while we’re not the type to have problems or make strange requests, we’ve never felt like the service is generally better at the deluxe resorts than the other resorts. We’re much bigger believers that your level of service is more likely to significantly vary by cast member / specific issue than by hotel.
Reasons to Stay at a Disney Deluxe Resort
If you already are set on a deluxe hotel and just need to know how we rank them, click here to jump down to the rankings. Otherwise, here are a few reasons to consider a stay at a deluxe hotel.
We’re talking here about deluxe vs. moderate and value—not deluxe vs. the rest of the hotels in the Orlando area. Specifically, we’re not talking about perks like Early Entry that are available to all Disney hotel guests.
1. Location and Transportation
With the exception of Animal Kingdom Lodge, all the deluxe resorts have alternatives to bus transportation to at least one park:
Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian have monorail access to Magic Kingdom and (with one transfer) Epcot
Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian have walking access to Magic Kingdom
Yacht Club, Beach Club, and BoardWalk Inn have walking and boat access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios
Wilderness Lodge has boat access to Magic Kingdom (but see the counterpoint below)
Because the bus system is imperfect, and because the buses can be a little uncomfortable, having some other means to get to the parks can be a huge perk.
That said, there are three points of note. The monorail trip to Epcot, requiring a transfer at TTC, is not really advantageous over a bus. Second, the Wilderness Lodge boats aren’t always an improvement on buses, in our experience. Third, the deluxe resorts often share buses to the parks they require buses for. This means your bus back from Animal Kingdom might stop at Yacht Club and Beach Club before dropping your off at BoardWalk Inn. That’s not exactly “deluxe” treatment, in our opinion.
2. Extended Evening Hours
It’s relatively complicated just how much Extended Evening Hours should factor into your calculation, but this perk, which gives deluxe guests exclusive access to select parks on select nights after they close to other guests can be quite valuable.
As of this update it’s usually two nights a week, and exactly which park has it a given night varies (and isn’t announced too far in advance). This schedule won’t work out with many trips, and even if it does you might be at the park until, say, midnight, which could make for an exhausting day (in a good way, at least).
In any case, this is just about the only clearcut perk you get for staying at a deluxe resort vs. the moderate and value resorts, so it has to be considered.
3. Best Restaurants At Your Fingertips
Many of the best restaurants—including several character dining options—at Disney World are located in the deluxe hotels. Fan favorites include Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Storybook Dining at Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge, and Victoria & Albert’s at Grand Floridian.
Having these restaurants right at your hotel means you can schedule and early breakfast or late dinner and not have to deal with any extra transportation.
4. No Parks Days
You definitely can plan a no parks day from any Disney resort, but the deluxe resorts have the most to offer for these days. The deluxe resorts have superior pools, most notably Stormalong Bay at Yacht & Beach Club. The deluxe resorts also have better bars, access to better amenities and activities, and (mostly) better lobbies and lounging areas.
5. Club Level
Besides Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs, the deluxe resorts are the only resorts offering club level. While we mostly don’t find club level at Walt Disney World to be worth it, if you’re looking to have this bucket-list experience, your only choice is going to be a deluxe resort.
6. The Lobbies and Grounds Are Amazing
While there is some fun to walking around other resorts—particularly Art of Animation in the value group and Port Orleans Riverside in the moderate group—the deluxe resorts are just wonderful places to explore.
While nothing really beats the savanna at Animal Kingdom Lodge, the grandiose lobby of the Grand Floridian, the Boardwalk, and the wonderful indoor and outdoor spaces at Wilderness Lodge are some of Disney’s best spaces.
7. The Views Are Better
We have a separate post talking specifically about the theme park view rooms at the monorail resorts. Besides those views, you can get views of the Boardwalk at the hotels there, and savanna views at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
You’ll pay extra for the best views, to be clear, but there are also often common areas or restaurants where you can get something close to those amazing views without paying for them. If you’re interested, we have a post Comparing Theme Park Views at the Monorail Resorts.
8. There Are Ways To Save On Them
Besides most of the obvious ways (check out our guide on getting the best deal on your Disney hotel), one of the most popular, but still underrated, ways to save on a deluxe stay is to rent Disney Vacation Club points.
Renting DVC points usually won’t put your in a standard room—it’ll put you in a DVC room at the “sister” property—but in most cases you’ll be sharing the key amenities of the standard hotels.
Best Disney World Deluxe Resorts (Complete Ranking)
The first thing to know about this list is that we really don’t consider any of the deluxe resorts to be bad. Even the #8 slot is a good hotel.
While we call it a “ranking,” this is more of a “flow chart” for what hotels to consider. The first three all come from different locations because we think location is the most important factor you need to consider. Then the list sort of proceeds with “well if the first option at this location didn’t work for you, maybe the second option will…”
For example, we put Boardwalk Inn at #3 and Beach Club all the way down at #7. To us, if you’re not sold by the pitch for BoardWalk Inn, you don’t need to think about Beach Club until you’ve considered some other options. This is despite there being minimal differences between the two.
And as with all things, context is important. If you’re not visiting Magic Kingdom for some reason, then the monorail resorts probably won’t make sense for you.
Finally, as with most of our ranking posts, we have more to say at the top of the list than the bottom. This is simply because we spend a lot of time justifying the top of the list over the bottom of the list. By the time you get to the bottom, you’ve already heard a lot about those resorts.
The room rates given below are for standard rooms (or whatever the lowest-priced tier is), including tax, rounded to the nearest dollar. If you’d like a full rate table, visit Mouse Savers. The parenthetical after the prices compares lowest priced rooms, so Animal Kingdom Lodge is (8/8) because it has the lowest priced room among the eight deluxe resorts.
And as with our moderate and value rankings, we try and keep this somewhat objective. Even though we might prefer some small touches here and there, this list focuses mostly on the things that will most significantly impact your vacation.
1. Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $734 (2/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
In the last couple years, both Polynesian and Contemporary have received extensive room refurbishments. Polynesian got Moana rooms, and Contemporary got Incredibles rooms. We’ve stayed in both and consider them to be of equal quality.
The reason I start there is because this update to the list has Polynesian newly in the top slot, taking that spot (which basically by default goes to “best monorail resort”) from Contemporary. We liked the old Contemporary rooms, we really didn’t like the old Polynesian rooms, so the Poly upgrades have a lot more impact.
Poly basically now offers the complete package—great rooms, great dining, walking / boat / monorail access to Magic Kingdom, a great pool, Disney World’s best bar, Dole Whip, and beautiful theming throughout.
At roughly $100 more per night than Contemporary (which makes it the second most expensive Disney resort at Walt Disney World), you are paying significantly more to be farther (but not far) from Magic Kingdom. But Polynesian just does everything so well, it’s hard to say that if you’re in the $400+ per night range that you shouldn’t seriously consider this resort.
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $506 (8/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Now, let’s swing from the 2nd most expensive hotel (Polynesian) all the way to the least expensive deluxe option—Animal Kingdom Lodge.
With its relatively low price, Animal Kingdom Lodge is a big draw for people thinking about making the “leap” to the deluxe tier. But before we talk about how much we love this hotel, let’s discuss the elephant in the room (nice animal joke there)—why is Animal Kingdom Lodge cheaper than almost all the other deluxe hotels?
Location—Animal Kingdom Lodge’s location is awful. You need to bus or rideshare to every other location on property. There’s no getting around this, but this is also why Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge are priced where they are.
If you’re bringing a car to Disney World, this may impact you very little. If you’re relying on Disney transportation, prepare for some bus waits. Or Uber, which is a pretty good option (besides at Magic Kingdom), which adds a bit to the cost of your stay here.
But if you can get over the location problem, Animal Kingdom Lodge is a fantastic option. Its restaurant lineup—Jiko, Boma, and the incomparable Sanaa—is great. It has one of the most stunning lobbies on property, filled with African art and artifacts.
And of course, animals! Animal Kingdom Lodge has a savanna filled with real animals. There’s just nothing like this anywhere else in Disney World. There’s very little like this anywhere in the world.
The rooms have been updated recently, and I must admit…I find them a mixed bag. I miss some of the older, fun details. These rooms are good—Animal Kingdom Lodge has been brought into the upper echelon of Disney rooms (which, to be fair, is most Disney hotels by this point)—they just aren’t standout to us in the same way the new rooms at Contemporary or Polynesian are.
3. Boardwalk Inn
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $665 (3/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Boardwalk Inn
Next up is the Boardwalk area. Before we get to BoardWalk Inn specifically, we need to talk about this area as a whole.
The Boardwalk area has three Disney hotels—BoardWalk Inn, Yacht Club, and Beach Club. These sit around Crescent Lake and are walking distance from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. There’s also a boat service connecting these hotels to those two parks.
While the monorail resorts have a big transportation advantage getting to Magic Kingdom, these three resorts have a big advantage getting to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. This location advantage, along with the ease of access to the bars and restaurants around the Boardwalk itself, is what you’re getting when you book these hotels.
One lap around Crescent Lake is 0.8 miles, which means none of these hotels is too far from the others. Beach Club and Yacht Club are essentially one large building, even sharing a feature pool, albeit with two separate lobbies.
Choosing between these three is mostly a matter of taste. BoardWalk is the most expensive, but it makes up for this with slightly better location, being closer to all the great things on the Boardwalk and a few minutes closer to Hollywood Studios (it’s a bit tedious to go into why this matters more than being a few minutes farther from Epcot, but it does).
BoardWalk also has great rooms with a good amount of whimsy. But as with Animal Kingdom Lodge, I think these rooms lost a lot of charm in their modernization. The pool isn’t as famous a Stormalong Bay at Yacht & Beach Club, but it’s a fine pool nonetheless.
To add one last aside—I’m finding that as my toddler gets a bit older, we’re preferring the Boardwalk area to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Of course the animals still have a “wow” factor, but we’re spending more time at Hollywood Studios and Epcot than in the early years, which makes a Boardwalk area hotel ideal.
4. Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $546 (7/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Like Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge is a “low”-priced deluxe option without the location perks of the other deluxe resorts. Some people tell us we’re wrong about thinking the boats are a bad option for getting to Magic Kingdom, but either way we don’t think they’re a clear “perk” of the resort.
Animal Kingdom Lodge has a short bus ride to Animal Kingdom. Wilderness Lodge has a boat ride to Magic Kingdom. Fine, these are about equivalent as far as value over the standard bus rides to the parks.
Like Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge does everything other than location right. The lobby is a place of legend and easily among the most beautiful spaces in Disney World, particularly at Christmas time.
The dining options also impress. Even before Storybook Dining came to Artist Point, the resort had a great dining lineup. Now it has one of the best character meals on property, to boot.
The grounds at Wilderness Lodge are probably my favorite place to walk at any hotel in Disney World, with the possible exception of Port Orleans Riverside. There’s a fantastic flow to them, and the indoor fireplace, indoor / outdoor stream, and rock features are exceedingly pleasant.
With the addition of two DVC properties—Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge—the resort has gotten a lot of attention from Disney over the years, with a second feature pool, a great outdoor bar/restaurant (Geyser Point) and new hotel rooms in recent years.
5. Disney’s Contemporary Resort
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $609 (6/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Having now stayed in the Incredibles rooms, we’re comfortable saying this is the second best option around the monorail.
Contemporary used to have the top spot for basically two reasons—it had the best rooms on the monorail and it had the only walking path to Magic Kingdom. Polynesian and Grand Floridian now have walking access to Magic Kingdom so (distance aside) there’s no big edge there anymore.
Contemporary might still have the best rooms on the monorail, but they’re at least matched and—depending on your tastes—maybe beaten by the rooms at Polynesian, which is overall a better hotel for all the reasons we already mentioned.
One thing to note is that even though it only ranks fourth on the price ranking, Contemporary’s lowest-priced rooms can sell out quickly. If you can get these rooms—and don’t mind being a short walk from the main tower—then you’ve got a great balance of price, walking access to Magic Kingdom, and walking / monorail access to the other monorail resorts.
Other than that, you certainly could make a case for the hotel—California Grill is a famed dining option, and Steakhouse 71 is a newer option. Chef Mickey’s is…a character meal.
But overall when we look at the theming around Walt Disney World, we’re left feeling like Contemporary has fallen a bit behind. Recent grounds refurbishments have helped, but while we’re 100% the aesthetic can garner hardcore fans, we just don’t think it’s going to appeal to most guests.
6. Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (Tie)
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $622 (4/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
Important Note: Disney has announced that from January 2025 through June 2025, Stormalong Bay, the feature pool at Yacht Club and Beach Club will be closed. We do not recommend staying at these hotels during this time, and recommend you instead consider Boardwalk Inn.
Back to the Boardwalk area. Yacht Club was among the first of the deluxe resorts to get the modern room refurbishments, which means it now has among the oldest rooms. These don’t show too much age yet, but they don’t have the functionality advantage they had for many years.
Now, picking your favorite rooms in the deluxe resorts is mostly a matter of taste, and the Yacht Club rooms—with their dark browns and blues—might not appeal to you as much as the brighter rooms at Beach Club are the cheerier rooms at Boardwalk.
On the plus side, Yacht Club and Beach Club share the best pool on property—Stormalong Bay, with a sand-bottom, water slide, and (small) lazy river. They’re also both priced lower than BoardWalk, and while we don’t find this to be a significant factor you could easily conclude these are all more or less the same and you might as well save money (about $60 per night).
The hotel isn’t without its flaws, and if you read our review you’ll see our personal experiences have been relatively negative. In particular, the heavy business / convention crowd and limited quick service options are the most consistent issues for us.
When you’re talking about three hotels that are hard to draw big lines between, we do look at our personal experiences and say that overall we’d pick BoardWalk as our go-to in this area, which is why Yacht and Beach find themselves down here.
7. Disney’s Beach Club Resort (Tie)
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $613 (5/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Important Note: Disney has announced that from January 2025 through June 2025, Stormalong Bay, the feature pool at Yacht Club and Beach Club will be closed. We do not recommend staying at these hotels during this time, and recommend you instead consider Boardwalk Inn.
Because it is part of a larger complex with Yacht Club, covered a ton above, we don’t have much more to say about Beach Club. The theming is different from Yacht Club, but for the most part you should look at the rooms and make your pick based on that.
While the Beach Club rooms have some nice touches—like the Donald Duck art in the above photo—the refurbishment wasn’t as thorough as the Yacht Club refurbishment completed years ago. See, for example, the old TV stand in the photo above. That said, your aesthetic preferences—along with price / room category availability—are likely to be decisive when it comes to picking between Yacht and Beach.
8. Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
2025 Standard Room Rates Start At: $816 (1/8)
Click here to read our full review of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
Okay, I love the new Mary Poppins rooms at Grand Floridian. Staying in these rooms was hard for me because I’d really gotten used to not having anything nice to say about Grand Floridian for a while. I think these are probably competitive with the Polynesian rooms when it comes to the best deluxe rooms.
But our problem with the Grand Floridian is pretty simple—the hotel in no way justifies its high price. It’s over $100 more than Polynesian most nights. $200 more than Contemporary. I’m at the point where I can say, yea, I enjoy staying at the hotel. But c’mon, it still has to justify that premium.
It’s not as if we think that price is unjustifiable for any hotel—we’ve paid more for hotel rooms, even for some Disney rooms—than we paid for our last Grand Floridian stay. Some are worth it, some aren’t.
We’ve never had a problem in the hotel per se, but we did take serious issue with the level of service in their club lounge. While that issue is more somewhat properly fit for our club level content specifically, it does reflect on the hotel. I’ve seen plenty of other reports of problems at Grand Floridian that just shouldn’t occur at its price point, like Magic Bands repeatedly not working.
Beyond all that, the hotel isn’t higher quality than the other traditionally “fancy” hotels, like Contemporary and Yacht Club. In short, it’s an average deluxe hotel with way too high a price tag.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.