No idea where to stay. Not familiar

[Minuet888]

So in 2021 we stayed at Art of animation. Room was far from main lobby and only one restaurant.
In 2026 we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary and want to go back. I’m not familiar with the other hotels.
We were looking at contemporary? I want a room that isn’t far away from the main part of hotel.
We were also looking at animal kingdom hotels? Are the animals really as common around the rooms like in the pictures?
We want a hotel that serves American food though because our son is autistic and very food picky.
Recommendations?
I heart the resorts close to skyliner no longer have busses available?

 

[SeanW]

First off congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!

If you are staying at Riviera, Art of Animation, Disney's Pop Century, or Caribbean Beach, then the busses don't run to Hollywood Studios or Epcot as long as the Skyliner is up and running. The busses still run to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Disney Springs and the water parks.

If you are going to stay at any of the resorts, then the Quick Service locations will have typical American fare, like burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers and other things as well. Is your son into pools or water parks? I would think about staying at one of the crescent lake resorts, either the Boardwalk, Beach Club or Yacht Club. If your son likes pools, then Storm Along Bay is going to be great for him, and if not, then The Boardwalk is a great place for you guys to stay with a Boardwalk view room since it is your 25th Anniversary.

The food options at one of these resorts are going to be a good thing for your family from the sounds of it. For your son, you can go to Beaches and Cream, which has typical American Diner style food, the Boardwalk has their own pizza window available, and Trattoria Al Forno has classic Italian-American food (chicken parm, lasagna, pasta etc.). For you guys, you can go to Flying Fish or Yachtsman Steakhouse for your Anniversary, even Trattoria Al Forno has some good food. They are centrally located so generally wherever you stay you are going to be somewhat close to the main building without having to walk through a big resort.

I don't know if sound or crowded places are an issue with your son, but if they are and you are looking to stay at one of the monorail resorts, then Polynesian is going to be the loudest and most busy, followed by Contemporary and then Grand Floridian so that might be something to keep in mind. I found Contemporary to be slightly less loud than Poly whenever I was in it. One other option I would consider would be Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek (Wilderness Lodge Resorts), as the food options there are a bit more American style with Geyser Point having a great burger, and Whispering Canyon having classic American BBQ (it can be a bit loud at times, and is one of those restaurants where the waiters cnan be a bit much, but you can ask them to tone it down), and there is also Storybook Dining at Artists Point, plus it is a quietish resort. Copper Creek is located directly in the main building as well so you aren't going to be walking around a whole bunch.

Seeing the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge can sometimes be a hit or miss obviously, but you are more likely to see animals from your room at Jambo House as, IIRC, all of those rooms face the Savanna. One thing I would recommend is to book through DVCrentalstore.com or davids vacation club and save some money compared to booking direct through Disney if you choose AKL, Contemporary, Boardwalk , Beach Club or the two Wilderness Lodge Resorts (any of the DVC resorts really).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Stay away from AK. Those can be long walks to the room and transport to MK is like 20 mins because it’s so far out…

What is your budget? Price stuff out using 2025 dates if your dates aren’t available to get an idea and click all the way through so you see taxes and fees. Don’t want to fall in love with a $1000/nt hotel that wasn’t in the budget to begin with.

 

[leebee]

The value resorts (AllStarsSports/Music/Movies, POP Century, and AoA) will only have a food court. Your room could be anywhere, but if you book "preferred" you'll be in the buildings nearest the central lobby, where the food courts, shop, and bus stops are located. I didn't think preferred was worth the money until I got a free upgrade last week. It made a big difference to me, dragging in from a 12 hour park day, and not having to walk to the back of the resort to get to my room. Having said that, the AllStars resorts are fairly small so the walk isn't bad. At POP? Pretty big resort, could be a long-ish walk to the room, and you know about AoA.

My first choice (when I can afford it) is Animal Kingdom Lodge/Jambo House. I always ask for a partial savanna room and yes, we saw animals every time we were in the room- all 3 times we've stayed there. If money isn't a big issue, book the savanna room. The animals might not be as abundant as the pictures show, but they'll be there! The food court at AKL has "regular" food, as does Boma, their buffet restaurant (and our favorite restaurant, pretty much anywhere). Boma has an entire section of regular food: Mac-n-cheese, chicken tenders, pasta, mashed potatoes, stuff like that. Also a lot of their "african inspired" food can be pretty basic; not sure how selective your son is. (Edit to add... we never felt the bus travel was anything worse than any of the other resorts. You can be at Animal Kingdom in 5 minutes. NONE of the resorts have short, rapid transport to all of the parks, so don't let that deter you. I do agree, the walk to some of the rooms can be long at Jambo, but at least you are inside, out of the elements, in a well lit hotel corridor).

Caribbean Beach is huge; there is an internal bus system just for getting around. That's a "no" for me. Old Key West and Saratoga Springs are similarly large, with an internal bus system. We've stayed at SSR and OKW and if I were traveling with kids, going to the parks each day, they would NOT be my choice. We found them large and difficult to get around, although SSR was really great the time we did a "vacation only" trip, as we could walk/boat over to Disney Springs for dinner and adult bevs each night!

Coronado Springs has an internal bus system, but now that they put 3 Bridges in across the lake, there isn't as much walking, for as long of a distance, as their used to be (personally I think the walk to the 50s building at POP is worse). If you stay in the tower there are no issues, you are right there in the "main" building, but $$$. Coronado is our resort of choice if we can't afford AKL but want something nicer than the values. There is a food court, a couple of nicer restaurants, and a not QS/not full out sit down restaurant billed as a sports bar (but it's pretty decent, more like a restaurant with a lot of TV screens). Restaurants are Mexican themed but have a LOT of regular food. There are also a couple of very nice lounges.

Port Orleans/French Quarter is small, quiet, and the pool is pretty OK. There is only a food court, although you can walk (10 min?) to PO Riverside, their sister resort, where there is a restaurant. POR is pretty big, internal bus system, and DD/SIL did NOT enjoy their stay there last spring. DH and I will opt for POFQ if we are doing a parks trip, as we are tired at the end of the day and don't want a hike in front of us to get to our room... but it really matters as to what is more affordable, POFQ or CSR (we really do love CSR).

I can't comment on WIlderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, or Contemporary except to say that we find the Contemporary main building noisy and very stark/minimalist. DD and I stayed at the Polynesian last summer and it was a one-and-done for us. Having to go outside, walking between buildings to get to restaurants, bars, pools, and transportation, felt too much like a value resort at outrageous prices.

We like the Boardwalk, except there is no "internal" food (IIRC, it's been a few years); you have to go out onto the boardwalk itself to get to quick service or restaurants. The pool is great, and the building and location are wonderful. YOu can boat or walk to Disney Studios and Epcot, and at Epcot you can also hop onto the skyliner to get to the Studios. I don't get the hype for the Stormalong Bay pool at Beach/Yacht Clubs. We swam there once, it was packed with noisy, splashing kids, and the sand in the bottom of the pool made my feet break out in an itchy rash.

Also, if you are concerned about food offerings, the disney website has menus for all their food outlets, including quick service. I usually use the dining site on allears.net as I find it easier to navigate than Disney's webpage- but most things are!

 

[Dug720]

room at Jambo House as, IIRC, all of those rooms face the Savanna.

No. Only rooms designated as Savanna View are guaranteed to see the savanna (the animals are free roaming there so no 100% guarantees). Some of the Resort View rooms have partial savanna view and could be requested...but most people have caught onto that and make that request, so it's not guaranteed you'd get one if you booked resort view and requested partial savanna.

 

[loves to dive]

Lots of suggestions and answers already so it really depends on your needs as far as your son and your budget. If you want more than one place to eat, a moderate or a deluxe is going to be your option. The deluxe resorts almost all have long hallways and you could be pretty far from the lobby. I joke and call the BW hallways the redrum hallways. As far as American food, you will find the usual at all the resorts but some do sort of specialize in a little more exotic. AKL is going to do that and so is FQ to some part. I'm not a fan of CR, it's just too stark for me and you are going to have to ride a bus to HS and AK from there and the monorail to Epcot. There are no resorts (that I can think of) that you aren't going to have to bus to at least one or two parks.

My go tos are the All Stars in value (I'm not a fan of the sky liner), CS in the moderate and the Epcot resorts in the deluxe. I tend to stay at Swan/Dolphin more than any where else. Not Disney owned but you get all the perks of the Disney deluxe resorts and are within walking/boating distance to two parks. Mostly American foods there but the Dolphin is not small.

 

[hertamaniac]

I think there are good recommendations above, but will throw in that the resorts with boat transportation to Disney Springs certainly fits the criteria of American food requirement(s), but not necessarily at the resort itself. There are a wide variety of eateries (i.e. Chicken Guy, Splitsville, Earl's, Planet Hollywood, T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe, etc.) all within walking distance from the boat dock.

The issue may be the location of the room in proximity to the lobby at some of those resorts (certainly OKW and SSR). POR and POFQ aren't exactly long walks to the lobbies even from the furthest room(s).

 

[elvispursley]

Look at YouTube videos on resorts you’re interest d in. A lot of videos give a tour of the resort as well as the room.

 

[kwwdw]

If budget is a concern, you are planning very far in advance so if you can decide on a resort 11+ months out, you could look at renting DVC points. It's a great option for staying deluxe, but at moderate prices. It does depending on the time of year you are going and what kind of room you want, but we did it once and LOVED it.

 

[Minuet888]

Wow so many great options and info.
We are saving big time for this trip so we wanted a deluxe hotel. I was looking at the boardwalk as well because it looks open and my son really loves games (carnival and arcade). I heard there was a water electric parade can you see that from the boardwalk hotel?
We are doing half disneyworld and half universal. (Because epic would have been open a year at that time). And will be staying the second half of our trip at adventurra hotel.
We were also looking at signia bonnet creek as it looks beautiful and has amazing reviews.
So many options!
In contemporary my son loves character dining like chef mickeys but it looks like right in the middle of…..everything and while loud noises aren’t a huge problem for him it just seems……echo-y in that area. He can handle loud noises in open areas like the theme parks but closed in areas like Indiana jones (we live in LA and have been to Disneyland). And lines like that can be an issue.
So for our Disney world stay we are looking at:
Contemporary
Animal kingdom lodge
Boardwalk
Signia bonnet creek

I have been looking at videos and TikTok’s and everything which is how we were able to narrow it down to that.
I thank everyone and welcome any other suggestions!
(My biggest fear is we haven’t been to a Disney park since the DAS system overhaul. I have all the documentation in the world but if he doesn’t get a pass we just couldn’t manage the parks and we wouldn’t know until closer to our trip and there is no refunds. It’s a big worry for us)
We also thought about Hawaii. But it’s an entirely different type of trip and I think it would be boring part of the time.

 

[Dug720]

If budget is a concern, you are planning very far in advance so if you can decide on a resort 11+ months out, you could look at renting DVC points. It's a great option for staying deluxe, but at moderate prices. It does depending on the time of year you are going and what kind of room you want, but we did it once and LOVED it.

Just be aware that many of the rental companies do not allow cancellations. So if you go that route, be VERY sure you're coming and you're booking where you want to stay. Because you're stuck without losing money.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are saving big time for this trip so we wanted a deluxe hotel. I was looking at the boardwalk as well because it looks open and my son really loves games (carnival and arcade). I heard there was a water electric parade can you see that from the boardwalk hotel?

The electric water parade is visible from the MK area resorts, like the Contemporary, not the Epcot resorts like the Boardwalk.

Boardwalk is a nice resort with boats to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. There is the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios nearby, too. It is a short walk to Epcot from Boardwalk and a little bit longer walk to Hollywood Studios from there.

 

[SeanW]

No. Only rooms designated as Savanna View are guaranteed to see the savanna (the animals are free roaming there so no 100% guarantees). Some of the Resort View rooms have partial savanna view and could be requested...but most people have caught onto that and make that request, so it's not guaranteed you'd get one if you booked resort view and requested partial savanna.

My bad, I thought that was implied that if you wanted to see the Savanna from your room, you would be in a Savanna view room. Correct me if I'm wrong though, the recommendation for AKL is that if you would like to see the Savanna and the animals, than Jambo House is usually recommended of the two.

 

[SeanW]

I am not very familiar with Signia Bonnet Creek so I am not of much help to you there, unfortunately.

To me, it sounds like Boardwalk might be the better option for you then. The Boardwalk has Side Show Games (admittedly, AKL has Pumbaa’s Fun and Games Arcade, and the Contemporary has The Game Station) so your son can play at the arcade, and IIRC they also have massage chairs there as well for you to relax in for a bit. While Contemporary has Character Dining in the resort, which is a plus, Cape May Cafe in Beach Club does character breakfast and is across the way from the Boardwalk (about a 10-minute walk from the DVC building, or you can ride the friendship boats). As you said, though, Chef Mickey's can be a bit loud, and with my tinnitus, I can feel noise for lack of a better term and it can bother me at times so it might not be the best fit. In fairness though, if I am going to talk about Cape May Cafe, you could go to 1900 Park Fare at the GF, but that can also be quite noisy from what I have heard, then there is Ohana at the Poly, but unless you are big Lilo & Stitch fans, I would skip it, plus the food might not be the best for your son which leads me to think Cape May Cafe would be the better option. From my understanding, Garden Grill in Epcot is a bit more of a quiet character dining experience. It does rotate slowly, so keep that in mind, but it might be an idea for character dining that isn't so busy.

There is a thread here about the DAS pass, what they were claiming on the DAS pass, and how many people were accepted. Autism was one of the things that most people seemed to get approved for. Would travel insurance cover something like this if you did have to cancel, as dug said, most places don't have cancelation policies.

 

[Dug720]

My bad, I thought that was implied that if you wanted to see the Savanna from your room, you would be in a Savanna view room. Correct me if I'm wrong though, the recommendation for AKL is that if you would like to see the Savanna and the animals, than Jambo House is usually recommended of the two.

Pretty sure Kidani has savanna view studios and villas too.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Honestly, depending on where your room is, you can have a long walk from A lot of the deluxe resorts. we called it the never ending hallway at some. LOL Kidani has standard and savanna view rooms.

 

[Babsy]

Contemporary:
If you want a short walk to your room at a deluxe resort, the Contemporary tower has centrally located elevators so that no tower rooms are very far from them and access to the hotel amenities. Garden wing rooms can be a bit further away, but even the furthest of these are not as far away as rooms can be at many of the other deluxe resorts. You can also walk from the CR very quickly to the MK, or you can take the monorail. Going to the MK you will stop at the TTC and the Poly and the GF on your way. Returning from the MK to the CR you are the first stop. Boats from the CR will take you to the Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness., starting from mid afternoon. A bus will take you to the Animal Kingdom or to Disney Springs. The monorail goes to Epcot, but you have to change monorails at the TTc from the resort monorail to the Epcot monorail line.

Primarily American food at Contempo cafe and the various restaurants at the CR. Also easy to access restaurants at the other monorail or MK area resorts via monorail or boat.

Chef Mickey's is loud and echo-y, the food is mediocre, but it is fun. There is the Hoop dee doo at Fort Wilderness which has a fun dinner show, also a campfire offered at Fort Wilderness with Chip and Dale, offering smores ($) or roasted marshmallows (free). The Crystal Palace in the MK has Winnie the Pooh and friends character meals is nice, but is also a large venue, and is fairly loud.

You can watch the MK fireworks from your room if you book a Theme park view room ($$$), or you can watch them from a 4th floor viewing area if you stay in Lake view or the garden wing. The Electric water pageant can be seen from many area around the resort, or from your room balcony in the tower or some water view rooms in the garden wing.

Animal Kingdom Lodge:
This hotel is the least expensive of the Disney Deluxe category hotels and it is beautiful. However, it is the very furthest away from the Magic Kingdom and only has bus transportation. The rooms are quite small and the food may be a bit exotic if your tastes run to American fare only. It is African/Indian for the most part, although some more usual items can be found. The animals really are quite close to the savannah view rooms and it is a very nice experience staying here. The hallways are very long and can feel endless if you are at a room at the far end. If you decide to stay here and want a room close to everything, I suggest a pool view room. these are located around the pool so the length of hall to the furthest room is not nearly as long as to the other room categories. You will not see animals from your balcony from a pool view room. However, there are many public viewing areas around the resort where you can watch the animals. In my experience these viewing areas are great and I have almost always had them to myself.
The only theme park near the AKL is the AK. So, the bus rides can be long.

Boardwalk:
This resort is walking distance to Epcot and to Disney Hollywood studios. there are also boats running, if you don't want to walk. It is located on a lake along with the Yacht and beach Club and the Swan and Dolphin resorts. You can easily walk to any of the other resorts to eat at any of the restaurants there. or you can go into Epcot's world showcase to eat in there. However, places to eat at the Boardwalk itself seem to be scarce, IMO, especially quick service. The hallways can be long here depending upon where your room is located. If you have a room facing the Boardwalk, it can be noisy if there is much happening on the boardwalk near your room. If you plan to spend a lot of time in Epcot or the DHS, then this place is very convenient.
You will need to take a bus to the Mk or AK or Disney Springs.
This resort does have access to the Skyliner, which could bring you from Epcot to DHS or the other Skyliner resorts.


Bonnet Creek Resorts:
I have never stayed here, so I can't comment from personal experience. I have looked into the area and it does sound nice. It is not owned by Disney, however, so it has been my opinion that it would not be as convenient as staying within the Disney 'bubble'.

 

[Babsy]

(My biggest fear is we haven’t been to a Disney park since the DAS system overhaul. I have all the documentation in the world but if he doesn’t get a pass we just couldn’t manage the parks and we wouldn’t know until closer to our trip and there is no refunds. It’s a big worry for us)
We also thought about Hawaii. But it’s an entirely different type of trip and I think it would be boring part of the time.

You can arrange the DAS prior to your trip. PLUS It sounds like you have a good chance to qualify for DAS, so I don't think that you need to worry. If you do not get it, you can purchase the equivalent with the Lightening Lane premier pass. Expensive, but it would work.

 

[Skippyboo]

If you want some YouTube videos, Molly & Alan of Mammoth Club have a series of videos where they stay at the each resort and cover the food, pools, room. They are working their way through all the resorts. I know there is an AKL one.