If I were choosing the best Disney World resort for a family with kids, I would start with Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. The Family Suites give families something most standard Disney hotel rooms don’t: two bathrooms, separate sleeping areas and enough room for up to six people, while the Disney Skyliner makes EPCOT and Hollywood Studios much easier to reach.
That isn’t the right resort for every family, though. If Magic Kingdom is the center of the trip, I would spend more for the Contemporary. If the pool matters almost as much as the parks, Beach Club jumps near the top. Caribbean Beach is my middle-ground choice for families who want Skyliner transportation without Deluxe pricing.
So rather than ranking every Disney hotel from 1 to 25, these are the resorts I would actually put on a family’s shortlist and the type of trip where each one makes sense.
Art of Animation Is My Best Overall Disney Resort for Families
For families with younger kids, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort solves several problems at once.
The biggest reason is the Family Suites. The Cars, Finding Nemo and Lion King sections have suites that sleep up to six people with a queen bed, a double-size pull-down bed and a double-size sleeper sofa.
More important to me than simply fitting six people into the room is that the suites have two full bathrooms and a kitchenette.
Two bathrooms make mornings much easier once several people are trying to get dressed and leave for a park at the same time. The kitchenette also gives me a place for simple breakfasts, drinks and snacks without starting every morning in a food court.
The theming is also probably the easiest sell to younger kids. Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid are built into the resort on a scale that makes the hotel itself feel like part of Disney World.
If you’re considering the suites, my Art of Animation Family Suite floor plan guide shows how the sleeping areas fit together.
The Skyliner Is a Big Part of Why I Pick Art of Animation
Art of Animation connects to the Disney Skyliner, which carries guests toward EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
That matters more to me with kids than another elaborate lobby or restaurant.
If I’m visiting those two parks several times during the trip, having a transportation system right at the resort can remove a surprising amount of friction from the week.
I still use buses for destinations that aren’t on the Skyliner route, so I wouldn’t choose Art of Animation expecting gondola transportation everywhere.
I have more detail on the rooms, pools and transportation in my Art of Animation Resort review.
For Magic Kingdom Families, I’d Pay More for the Contemporary
My answer changes when the trip revolves around Magic Kingdom.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort is within walking distance of Magic Kingdom, and it also has Resort Monorail service.
With younger kids, that location is the real luxury.
After fireworks, I don’t necessarily want another transportation line between the park and a tired child. Being able to walk back to the resort gives the Contemporary an advantage that has nothing to do with how fancy the room is.
Chef Mickey’s is also inside the resort, so a character meal can happen without traveling anywhere else.
The tradeoff is price. I wouldn’t pay Contemporary rates if Magic Kingdom were only one small part of my vacation. But for a family planning several Magic Kingdom days, I think location can justify spending more.
You can compare it with the Polynesian and Grand Floridian in my guide to the Disney World monorail resorts.
Beach Club Is the Resort I’d Pick for a Family That Loves the Pool
Some families use the hotel almost exclusively for sleeping. Others deliberately build pool afternoons into the vacation.
If I’m in that second group, Disney’s Beach Club Resort becomes much easier to justify.
Beach Club shares Stormalong Bay with Yacht Club, a three-acre pool complex with a sand-bottom pool, lazy river and large waterslide.
This is one of the few Disney hotel pools that could make me intentionally return to the resort in the middle of the afternoon instead of viewing pool time as something we do only if we happen to have an hour free.
The location is just as important. Beach Club is within walking distance of EPCOT’s International Gateway, which is particularly useful if EPCOT is going to be a major part of the trip.
Some Beach Club rooms currently sleep up to five, and larger families can also look at nearby Beach Club Villas if a villa layout makes more sense.
I would choose Beach Club over Art of Animation when I have the Deluxe budget, expect to spend real time at the resort and want EPCOT convenience.
Caribbean Beach Is My Middle-Ground Family Resort
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is where I look when Art of Animation feels too Value-oriented but the EPCOT-area Deluxe Resorts cost more than I want to spend.
Its biggest advantage is transportation. Caribbean Beach is the central hub of the Disney Skyliner system, which makes it particularly useful for EPCOT and Hollywood Studios days.
I also like Fuentes del Morro Pool for families because the main pool has a fortress theme and waterslides, giving us somewhere substantial to spend a resort afternoon without paying Deluxe prices.
There is an important tradeoff: Caribbean Beach is large.
I care more about room location here than I do at a compact resort. Being close to the Skyliner station or the facilities I expect to use can matter more than getting a particular view.
The old pirate rooms are also no longer something I would use to choose Caribbean Beach. I would focus on the current room inventory, Skyliner access, pool and location instead.
I go into those tradeoffs in my Caribbean Beach Resort review.
Pop Century Is the Budget Resort I’d Consider First for a Family of Four
If the Family Suite at Art of Animation costs more than I want to spend and four people fit comfortably in one standard room, I would price Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
Standard rooms currently sleep up to four, usually with one queen bed and one queen-size pull-down bed.
What makes Pop Century particularly useful is that I still get Disney Skyliner transportation to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios while staying in the Value category.
I don’t get the two bathrooms or extra living area of an Art of Animation Family Suite. I also wouldn’t choose Pop Century because I expected a Deluxe-level hotel experience.
I would choose it because I want to spend most of the day in the parks and would rather put more of the vacation budget toward tickets, food and experiences.
For Six People Who Want a Kitchen, I’d Look at Fort Wilderness
Not every family wants another traditional hotel room.
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort sleep up to six and include a kitchen, dining space and patio.
I like that setup for a longer trip where eating every breakfast and dinner in a restaurant starts becoming expensive and exhausting.
The sleeping arrangement includes a queen bed, bunk bed and double-size sleeper sofa. That gives the cabin a very different feel from putting the same number of people into one hotel suite.
Fort Wilderness also has its own recreation, including pools and the campground environment, so I would consider it more seriously on a trip with resort days.
The tradeoff is transportation and scale. Fort Wilderness is large, and moving around the resort is different from walking out of an elevator at the Contemporary and heading toward Magic Kingdom.
What About the Polynesian?
I think Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is one of the easiest Disney hotels to love as a family, but it becomes harder for me to recommend as a default because of the price.
Many standard rooms sleep up to five, and the resort has both Monorail transportation and watercraft to Magic Kingdom.
The Polynesian Villas & Bungalows now give families considerably more options too. Disney currently offers villas sleeping up to nine, while larger villas include full kitchens, multiple bathrooms and in-room laundry.
If I have the budget and Magic Kingdom is central to the trip, Polynesian absolutely belongs on my shortlist.
For most families, though, I would first ask whether that money buys something I’m really going to use. I would rather stay at Caribbean Beach or Pop Century and extend the vacation than pay substantially more simply because I prefer the Polynesian theme.
The Best Resort Changes With the Age of the Kids
I don’t choose the same Disney hotel for a 2-year-old that I would necessarily choose with teenagers.
With toddlers and preschoolers, I put transportation, naps, room layout and easy meals near the top of the list. Art of Animation and Contemporary become especially attractive.
With elementary-age kids, pools and resort theming start carrying more weight. Art of Animation, Beach Club and Caribbean Beach are all strong for different budgets.
With teenagers, I care more about easy access to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, having some independence around the resort, and not paying extra purely for child-focused theming. Beach Club, BoardWalk, Riviera and the Skyliner resorts become more interesting.
That’s why I don’t think there is one Disney World hotel that can objectively be called the best for every family.
Family Suites Are Useful, but I Wouldn’t Make This a Large-Family Guide
Family Suites are an important reason Art of Animation ranks so highly for me, but once I get into groups of six, eight or ten people, the resort decision becomes a different problem.
At that point I start comparing Family Suites, multiple rooms, cabins and Disney Deluxe Villas with kitchens and multiple bedrooms.
If that’s your situation, my guide to the best Disney World resorts for large families is more useful than trying to solve it inside this general family-resort ranking.
The Resort Perks Are Mostly the Same Until You Reach Deluxe
One reason I don’t automatically tell families to upgrade from Value to Moderate is that the main Disney Resort hotel planning benefits aren’t restricted to expensive hotels.
Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels currently receive benefits including 30-minute Early Theme Park Entry and the ability to purchase Lightning Lane passes up to seven days before the stay.
Deluxe Resort and Deluxe Villa guests can have an additional advantage with Extended Evening Theme Park Hours on select nights.
That means a family at Pop Century still receives many of the core on-property planning benefits without paying Deluxe rates.
I cover those separately in my guide to the benefits of staying at a Disney World Resort.
My Shortlist for a Family Disney World Trip
If someone asked me to narrow the entire Disney World resort lineup down before they started comparing prices, this is where I would begin:
- Art of Animation: my overall pick for younger families and anyone who wants a Family Suite.
- Contemporary: the one I’d pay more for when Magic Kingdom convenience is the priority.
- Beach Club: my pick when the family actually plans to use the resort pool and spend substantial time around EPCOT.
- Caribbean Beach: the Moderate Resort I’d choose for Skyliner access and a strong balance of resort amenities and price.
- Pop Century: my budget choice for a family of four that will spend most of the trip in the parks.
- Fort Wilderness Cabin: the alternative I’d consider when six people want a kitchen and more of a home-style setup.
I would price those options against each other before getting distracted by every Disney hotel on the map.
If you’re still trying to work out your priorities before choosing a specific property, my guide to choosing a Disney World Resort approaches the decision from transportation, park location, budget and room needs instead.
You can also check Disney’s official Walt Disney World Resort hotel directory for current room availability and resort information.
