Don’t Do a Double-Take: These Moderate Resort Room Categories Are Changing in 2026
If you’ve been perusing the Walt Disney World website for guest rooms in 2026, they are now available. You might, however, notice that some room categories have completely changed. Disney announced that they are changing the room categories at the moderate resorts to simplify things and improve the guests’ check-in experience.
Reading between the lines, this sounds like it will set better expectations, so you won’t be disappointed and request to be moved after you arrive. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the change. If I were booking a deluxe resort that offered a balcony view of a theme park or lake, I would be happy to pay the upgraded price. As for the moderates, we always go with the best-priced room or a preferred location when we see a reasonable price. At most moderate resorts, your room’s window faces an exterior walkway that other guests use to get to and from their rooms. It’s also important to note that moderate resort rooms do not have balconies.
Moving forward, Disney notes that the main room categories at Disney’s Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Port Orleans Riverside Resorts will be as follows:
- Standard Room
- Preferred Location
- A Room with a King Bed
*Disney also notes that some rooms (i.e., the Royal Guest Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside) will remain an upgraded category. We also don’t expect to see changes in the water view vs. resort view rooms at Gran Destino Tower, an interior hotel at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
As an example of the change, here is a screenshot of a few room options available at Port Orleans French Quarter in August of 2025. You can see the price difference between a garden view, a river view, and a room with a king-size bed.
Now we have a screenshot for the same resort in 2026 that shows a standard location, a preferred location, and a king bed. The king bed remains, but note how the standard location reflects a view of the garden, courtyard, riverfront, or parking area. The difference between the room view upgrades from 2025 is approximately $11.00 per night, which isn’t a huge deal, but for a 7-night stay, that’s almost $80.00 + tax.
Overall, if you already pay for upgraded room views at any of these moderate resorts, this news might be disappointing. Room views will now be a roll of the dice. The trade-off is that you won’t be paying a premium for the upgrade. Those of you who always book the lowest-priced available room might be surprised to have what some consider an upgraded view. I will let you be the judge. We always leave our curtains closed when we’re staying at a moderate or value resort.
For more recent updates, you might like the following:
- Victoria and Albert’s Retains a Michelin Star in 2025
- Annual Passholder V.I.Passholder Days Return to Disney World in 2025
- The Disney Skyliner Closing Dates for 2026 (Annual Refurbishment)
- Bourbon Steak Coming to Disney’s Dolphin Later This Summer
We’ve also started a new timeline where we’ll update all hotel offers and discounts released for 2026.
More Planning
Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.
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