Value resorts offer the cheapest accommodations at Disney World. They are fun but not fancy, and are considered cute more than lovely. That said, these hotels have something that moderate and deluxe resorts don’t–the lowest prices. So, if you’re on a restricted budget or don’t feel like you’ll spend much time at your resort hotel, a value resort is worth your consideration.

The next question is which one is right for you? That’s a tough call that, ultimately, you’ll have to decide. We have stayed at each of these resorts many times. Furthermore, we’ve stayed at every value resort at Disney World within the last two years. Regarding ranking them, we know exactly where they fall for us.

The main distinction between the values is that they can be sorted into two groups. The first group is Disney’s All-Star Resorts. These three resorts all sit on the same property in the Animal Kingdom Resorts area. They are comprised of Music, Movies, and Sports. Other than the theming, the resorts are almost identical. So even though we have a favorite, our rankings shouldn’t necessarily dictate your choice. You can select whichever one appeals to you the most.

The second group consists of Pop Century and Art of Animation. We consider these resorts a step above the All-Star Resorts because of their location and the fact that they are considered Skyliner Resorts. Their location on the Skyliner also commands a slightly higher price point than the All-Star Resorts.

Below, we’ll start with our least favorite of the value resorts and work up to our top choice. We’ll provide an overview of each resort with a few pros and cons. Then, after our rankings, we’ve compared some of the major amenities at each resort, like the pools, transportation, dining, and the theme park benefit you’ll receive as a guest of a value resort.

All-Star Sports is last on our list of best value resorts at Disney World. We still, however, love it. Each section of the resort is themed to a sport. For example, the baseball area of the resort is called the Homerun Hotel. Other sports in their respective areas include football (Touchdown), basketball (Hoops Hotel), surfing (Surf’s Up), and tennis (Center Court).

Most of these areas feature favorite Disney characters throughout. For instance, you’ll find Donald in a tennis match against his nephews in Center Court. Goofy sits on a pitching mound in the middle of the quiet pool at the Homerun Hotel, and Mickey sits in the winner’s circle toward the center of the resort.

We ranked All-Star Sports last because it’s not uncommon for the resort to host large school groups traveling to Disney for various competitions. Of course, that can happen at any of the All-Star Resorts. But it is more common during the weeks leading up to Christmas and around Spring Break through the end of the school year. These times of the year will be busy, regardless of where you stay.

Rooms at Disney’s All-Star Sports have one queen-size bed and one queen-size pull-down bed. Each room can sleep up to four guests. All rooms at the All-Star Resorts have the same layout and furnishings. As mentioned above, you won’t find any major difference between these three resorts. If you would like to learn more about this resort, our Disney’s All-Star Sports Review provides an overview of our last stay.

All-Star Movies is next on our list of best value resorts. This resort’s footprint is a little different from Sports and Music. But other than that, everything else is the same. If you’re a movie fan, this is probably the All-Star Resort for you. Each section is based on a movie. Preferred rooms are in the Toy Story and Fantasia sections of the resorts. You might also end up in Love Bug, 101 Dalmatians, or Mighty Ducks.

Preferred rooms are available at each All-Star Resort. This room category is an upgrade because it’s closer to the lobby, dining, and transportation. However, you won’t find any upgrades inside the room. We stayed in a preferred location on our last stay and felt it was convenient. For more details, see our Disney’s All-Star Movies Review.

All-Star Music is our top choice of best value resorts among the All-Star Resorts. However, two other value resorts rank higher because they have one big perk that the All-Stars don’t. We’ll get to that next. We love the theming of All-Star Music. Resort sections include Calypso, Jazz Inn, Broadway Hotel, Country Fair, and Rock Inn. Each section is themed to a particular style of music.

Overall, All-Star Music is probably the least Disney-themed of the three. But you’ll find fun references to unique characters like The Three Caballeros at the resort’s feature pool, which is shaped like a guitar. All-Star Music also tends to have the best buses. Since it’s a music-themed resort, they play way better music than all the other resort buses! We love this endearing resort that sits in the center of the three All-Stars. We share more details in our Disney’s All-Star Music Review.

As mentioned above, we consider Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century to be a step above the All-Star Resorts because of their location on the Skyliner. Deciding which of these value resorts ranks the best is difficult. While we love the theming of Art of Animation. The rooms at Pop Century, however, are better. So, ultimately, we rank Art of Animation in second place.

Art of Animation is a unique resort because it has four themed sections: The Lion King, Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Little Mermaid. However, The Little Mermaid is the only resort section with value accommodations. The three other sections are comprised of family suites that cost significantly more. The Little Mermaid rooms are okay. But they are still in the old-fashioned style of a regular hotel room. Thankfully, the two full beds have been changed to queen-size beds in recent years, and solid surface flooring has been added.

Art of Animation and Pop Century have three pool areas, while the All-Stars only have two per resort. Additionally, these two resorts are located on the Skyliner, which is a huge perk to most guests. However, you’ll want to know that guests must take the Skyliner to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Bus transportation is not provided to these two parks unless the Skyliner is down. Buses are provided to the other theme parks and Disney Springs.

We love to visit Art of Animation to explore the grounds. If you’re a fan of any of the animated films featured at the resort, you’ll likely fall in love with its charm. See our Disney’s Art of Animation Review for more details.

Disney’s Pop Century is our top choice for the best value resort at Walt Disney World. We enjoy staying here and think the rooms are stylish and functional. Of course, since the All-Stars have been refurbished to the same design, you’ll see some similarities.

Pop Century has sections influenced by “pop” references throughout the decades of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Staying here is like going way back in a time machine. The resort has loads of nostalgia.

Since Pop Century sits across the lake from Art of Animation, you get the best of both worlds. You can walk to Art of Animation, explore the grounds, shop, or have a meal there anytime. You can also hop on the Skyliner and explore nearby resorts like Caribbean Beach, the Riviera Resort, and the Epcot Resorts area. To learn more, see our Disney’s Pop Century Resort Review.

We hope you enjoyed our rankings of the best value resorts at Disney World. In addition to the things we’ve already discussed, here are a few other things you’ll want to know about this category of resorts. We’ll start with the benefit of early theme park entry.

Guests of Disney’s Value Resorts can participate in early theme park entry, a perk extended to all Walt Disney World Resort guests. Here are a few details and tips about this benefit.

Early Theme Park Entry: This perk allows resort guests to enter any Walt Disney World theme park 30 minutes before officially opening to the general public. This early entry provides several advantages:

1. Lower Crowds: Being among the first to enter the park allows you to experience popular attractions with shorter wait times. This will help you to check off must-see rides and experiences ahead of the crowd.
2. Photography Opportunities: If you love capturing the magic of Disney, the early hours provide a fantastic opportunity for photos in front of iconic landmarks with fewer people in the background.
3. Cooler Temperatures: Morning hours are often cooler, making outdoor activities more comfortable. But if you visit during cooler weather, don’t forget a jacket!

If you decide to take advantage of this benefit, you’ll want to get to the park at least 30 minutes before the early opening time. If you arrive “on time,” you’ll likely be too late to take advantage of the benefit. You’ll also have to make your way through the crowds waiting for the regular park opening.

The pools at the value resorts are different from those at the deluxe and moderate resorts. Each value resort has a feature pool toward the front center of the resort, close to the lobby. However, the All-Star Resorts only have one additional leisure pool, while Pop Century and Art of Animation have two additional leisure pools.

None of the value resort pools have a water slide or hot tubs. We have a list of Disney Resorts with water slides. However, value resorts have the same poolside activities and Movies Under the Stars program as the rest of the resorts.

All of the pools at the value resorts have the same operating hours and usually have lifeguard attendants. (At the moderate and deluxe resorts, you’ll find quiet pools with longer hours that are not attended by a lifeguard.)Each pool at the value resorts has a nearby laundry room. If you want to learn more, we have an article dedicated to each value resort’s pool.

• Disney’s All-Star Music Pools
• Disney’s All-Star Movies Pools
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Pools
• Disney’s Pop Century Pools
• Disney’s Art of Animation Pools

Here are a few photos of the value resort pools. You can select them to make them larger.

Unfortunately, dining options are somewhat limited at the value resorts. Each value has a food court that serves as the resort’s counter-service dining location and a poolside bar at the resort’s feature pool.

Value resorts do not have lounges, table service dining, signature dining, or character dining. The food courts offer multiple stations with unique cuisines, so there’s a decent variety of options. Each one accepts mobile orders.

Since Pop Century and Art of Animation have access to the Skyliner. Guests can quickly travel to the surrounding resorts for a meal. You might preview our list of the best quick services at the Disney Resort Hotels to get a few ideas of our favorite options.

Value resorts offer basic room accommodations. This category will provide the smallest rooms, square footage-wise, at Disney World. Value rooms average 260 square feet. Each room has a guest bath with a vanity and one sink. Most rooms have a tub with a shower combination. A few rooms have a king bed option, but most will have two queen-size beds.

Preferred rooms are an upgrade we mentioned earlier. You might consider this option if you would like to be within close walking distance of transportation and the resort’s major amenities. Value resorts are similar to motels, where you enter the room from the outside. None of these resorts has interior hallways, except for the family suites at Art of Animation. So if it’s raining when you return to the resort, you could have a long walk in the rain to return to your room.

Thankfully, all the value resorts have elevators. The center of each building has an elevator. Stairwells are available on the outer edges of each building.

As we’ve already touched on, Disney’s All-Star Resorts only have one form of transportation. Buses travel from the All-Star Resorts to the following:

• Magic Kindom
• Epcot
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom
• Disney Springs
• Blizzard Beach
• Typhoon Lagoon

Pop Century and Art of Animation Resorts have buses and access to the Skyliner. If you stay at either of these resorts, you’ll have the advantage of traveling via the Skyliner to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. From there, you’ll board another Skyliner to either Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

We have transportation guides for each of the value resorts that offer specific details on how to get to and from popular destinations:

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Transportation Options
• Disney’s All-Star Music Transportation Options
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Transportation Options
• Disney’s Pop Century Transportation Options
• Disney’s Art of Animation Transportation Options

Hopefully, this article helped you decide which Disney’s Value Resort is best for your next vacation. While they don’t have all of the upgrades you’ll get at a deluxe or moderate, you’ll still have a great time. We believe that all of the Disney World Resorts equally offer the opportunity to have an incredible vacation.

If you want to learn more about staying at Disney World, we have a complete list of Disney World Resort Reviews. If price is still a concern, you might consider a few off-property hotels: The Best Off-Site Disney World Hotel.