Walt Disney World currently has eight Deluxe Resort hotels: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village, Wilderness Lodge and Yacht Club. The biggest reason I would pay more for one isn’t simply a nicer room. It’s usually the location, transportation and the way the resort changes how easily I can move through Disney World.
I’ve found that Deluxe makes the most sense when I can actually use those advantages. Walking back from a park, taking a boat instead of another bus, having better dining within the resort area, or returning for a midday break can matter a lot more to me than upgraded finishes inside the room.
If you’re trying to decide which Disney World Deluxe Resort is best, I keep that separate in my best Deluxe Resort at Disney World guide. This page is about understanding the entire Deluxe category and how the eight hotels differ.
The 8 Disney World Deluxe Resort Hotels
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
I find this list easier to understand when I stop thinking of all eight hotels as interchangeable luxury resorts and instead group them by where they sit in Walt Disney World.
Four Deluxe Resorts Put You Near Magic Kingdom
The Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village Resort and Wilderness Lodge are the Deluxe hotels I look at first when Magic Kingdom is going to dominate the trip.
The advantage isn’t identical at all four.
Contemporary Resort
The Contemporary is the one I choose when walking to Magic Kingdom matters more than elaborate resort theming.
It also sits on the Resort Monorail line, but the walking path is what makes the hotel unusual for me. Being able to leave Magic Kingdom and walk back to my room instead of getting into another transportation line is one of the strongest hotel-location advantages at Disney World.
The tradeoff is atmosphere. I don’t find the Contemporary as escapist as Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge, so I would book it because I intend to exploit the location.
Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Grand Floridian is the Magic Kingdom-area resort I would look at when I want the hotel to feel like a larger part of the vacation.
There is monorail service, water transportation and a pedestrian route between the resort and Magic Kingdom. The resort also has one of Disney World’s deeper collections of table-service restaurants and lounges.
If Club Level is part of the reason you’re considering it, I have a separate guide to the Royal Palm Club.
Polynesian Village Resort
The Polynesian is the one I’d consider when I want convenient Magic Kingdom transportation but don’t want the more traditional atmosphere of Grand Floridian.
The tropical landscaping, restaurants and Seven Seas Lagoon setting make the resort feel more like a vacation destination to me. It also has Resort Monorail and water transportation for Magic Kingdom.
This is a hotel where I would actually plan time to stay around the resort instead of leaving first thing every morning and returning only to sleep.
Wilderness Lodge
Wilderness Lodge doesn’t sit on the monorail, which immediately makes it different from the other three Magic Kingdom-area Deluxe hotels.
What it gives me instead is water transportation to Magic Kingdom and a resort atmosphere that feels far more removed from the parks than its location suggests.
I would choose Wilderness Lodge over a monorail hotel when the resort setting matters more to me than having the fastest possible transportation.
The EPCOT Resorts Work Differently
Beach Club, Yacht Club and BoardWalk Inn have the Deluxe Resort location I prefer for an EPCOT-heavy trip.
Instead of building the trip around the monorail, these hotels put me around Crescent Lake with walking and boat access to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
That’s particularly useful for park hopping. I can spend the morning elsewhere, return to the resort, and then walk into EPCOT’s International Gateway for dinner without treating that evening visit like another major transportation project.
Beach Club Resort
Beach Club is the EPCOT-area Deluxe Resort I would choose most often.
The International Gateway entrance is extremely close, and Beach Club shares Stormalong Bay with Yacht Club. That combination of park proximity and a pool complex I would genuinely use on a resort afternoon is difficult for me to beat.
If location is your main concern, I have a separate guide explaining why Beach Club is my answer to the closest hotel to EPCOT.
Yacht Club Resort
Yacht Club shares many of Beach Club’s biggest advantages, including the Crescent Lake location and Stormalong Bay.
I tend to think of Yacht Club as the slightly more restrained alternative. If the rates were meaningfully better than Beach Club for my dates, I wouldn’t pay a large premium solely to stay a little closer to International Gateway.
BoardWalk Inn
BoardWalk Inn is the one I’d choose if I wanted the Crescent Lake location with more activity immediately outside the hotel at night.
The BoardWalk itself gives me restaurants, lounges and entertainment without getting onto Disney transportation, and the hotel is within walking distance of both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
If I’m comparing these three hotels primarily for EPCOT access, I care more about the nightly price and atmosphere than a few extra minutes of walking.
Animal Kingdom Lodge Is the Outlier
Animal Kingdom Lodge doesn’t have the same transportation advantage as the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT-area Deluxe hotels.
I would book it for almost the opposite reason.
The savannas, animals, restaurants and architecture make Animal Kingdom Lodge one of the Disney hotels where I’m happiest spending significant time without going anywhere else.
That makes it much more attractive to me on a slower trip with resort time built in than on a short visit where I’m trying to bounce between parks as efficiently as possible.
If you’re deciding between Disney’s two lodge-style hotels, my Animal Kingdom Lodge vs Wilderness Lodge comparison looks more closely at those tradeoffs.
Deluxe Resort Hotels and Deluxe Villas Are Not the Same Category
This is worth clearing up because Disney’s resort list can get confusing.
The eight hotels above are Disney’s Deluxe Resort Hotels.
Disney also has a separate Deluxe Villa Resort category that includes properties such as Disney’s Riviera Resort, Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, Old Key West Resort and villa accommodations attached to several Deluxe hotels.
Villas can include Deluxe Studios along with one-, two- and three-bedroom accommodations. Larger villas can add features such as a full kitchen, separate living space and in-room washer and dryer.
I wouldn’t mix every Deluxe Villa into a simple list of the eight Deluxe Resort hotels because someone looking for a traditional hotel room is making a different decision from someone looking for a two-bedroom villa with a kitchen.
Extended Evening Hours Are One of the Real Deluxe Perks
This is one of the Deluxe benefits I would actually factor into the price.
Guests staying at eligible Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts currently qualify for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours on select nights at select parks.
Disney has said this benefit will continue through 2027.
That’s separate from Early Theme Park Entry. Early Entry is currently available to Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels across the Value, Moderate and Deluxe categories, while Extended Evening Hours are limited to eligible Deluxe accommodations and certain other select hotels.
If the Extended Evening Hours schedule lines up well with my trip, that can make paying for Deluxe more useful than simply comparing room sizes.
What I Would Actually Expect From a Deluxe Room
I wouldn’t book Deluxe expecting every room to be dramatically larger, every bathroom to have the same layout, or every room to have a balcony.
The room inventories vary too much from resort to resort for that.
Instead, I look at the specific room I’m booking. Some resorts offer theme park views, water views, Club Level rooms and suites. Others may have room configurations that work better for a family or couple.
The broader advantage is that Disney describes Deluxe accommodations as typically offering more spacious rooms than its other hotel categories, along with concierge services, extensive dining and recreation.
But I wouldn’t pay Deluxe prices solely because I assume the bed or bathroom will automatically transform the vacation.
Dining Is Better When You Actually Use It
Deluxe Resorts generally give me far more on-site dining choices than I expect from a Value Resort, including table-service restaurants, lounges and some of Disney’s Signature Dining.
That matters most when I’m planning resort time.
Animal Kingdom Lodge is a good example because Boma and Jiko give me reasons to stay around the hotel in the evening. Grand Floridian has several destination restaurants. Contemporary has California Grill. BoardWalk’s Crescent Lake location puts even more restaurants within walking distance.
But if I’m spending every day from opening until closing inside the parks, I wouldn’t let a hotel’s restaurant list convince me to spend hundreds more per night.
I Wouldn’t Use a Fixed Deluxe Resort Price Range
Disney hotel pricing varies too much by resort, room type, date and promotion for me to think a fixed “Deluxe Resorts cost $X to $Y” range stays useful for very long.
Instead, I compare the actual Deluxe Resort rate for my dates with the Moderate and Value hotels I’m seriously considering.
Sometimes the jump is enormous. Other times a Disney room promotion closes the gap enough that moving up becomes much easier to justify.
I also compare Deluxe Villa rentals when I need a different room configuration, but I treat that as a separate accommodation decision rather than assuming renting Disney Vacation Club points is always cheaper.
When I Think a Disney Deluxe Resort Is Worth the Money
I think Deluxe works best when the resort solves something specific about my trip.
If I’m visiting Magic Kingdom repeatedly, the Contemporary’s walking path or a monorail resort can save me time every day.
If EPCOT is the center of the trip, Beach Club, Yacht Club or BoardWalk can turn the park into somewhere I simply walk into and out of.
If I’m deliberately planning a resort day, Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge gives me an environment I actually want to spend time exploring.
And if Extended Evening Hours fall on nights I can use them, that becomes another tangible benefit of paying for Deluxe.
When I’d Save the Money
If I’m leaving the room before breakfast and coming back exhausted after park close every night, I have a much harder time justifying Deluxe pricing.
For that kind of trip, I would compare the Disney World Value Resorts and Disney World Moderate Resorts first.
A Moderate or Value hotel can still give me Disney transportation and Early Theme Park Entry. What I’m mainly giving up is the Deluxe location, deeper resort amenities and eligible Extended Evening Hours.
That’s why I wouldn’t describe Deluxe as simply “better.” It’s better when I actually use what I’m paying for.
How I Narrow the 8 Resorts Down
I start with the park I’ll visit most rather than the resort lobby I like best.
Magic Kingdom-heavy trip: Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge.
EPCOT and Hollywood Studios-heavy trip: Beach Club, Yacht Club or BoardWalk Inn.
Resort-focused trip where atmosphere matters most: Animal Kingdom Lodge immediately becomes much more interesting to me.
After that, I compare the rates for my actual dates, room configurations, restaurants and whatever transportation I’ll realistically use.
If you’d rather see the resorts placed in a strict order, use my Disney World Deluxe Resorts ranked guide. For my single overall favorite, I also keep a separate guide to the best Deluxe Resort at Disney World.
