These 9 Disney World Hotels Are the Best for a Resort-Only Stay

Believe it or not, Disney World has a long list of hotels that are perfect for a resort-only stay. Disney World is well-known for its theme parks and water parks, with endless amounts of rides, shows, and dining options to satisfy any family.

And while you can certainly spend all day in the theme parks, you’d be missing out if you didn’t look to your Disney World hotel for activities that you and your family and experience. In fact, Disney World has several hotels where you can spend several days at and not even set foot into a theme park. Here’s our list of top Disney World hotels to do a resort-only stay.

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Here’s Why These Resorts Made Our List

More than just the movie screenings, campfire activities, and arcades, there’s a good reason why the hotels on this list are worth doing a resort-only stay.

Here’s how the following Disney World hotels made our list:

• Restaurant choices: More than just having a lot of options available, these hotels have a variety of options from quick-service to table-service to signature and character dining restaurants. And if their options are limited, they’re located really close to Disney Springs, where there’s a lot more to choose from!
• Pools: All Disney World hotels have pools, but some of the hotels on this list have fantastic pool options for you and your kiddos. Some of them even have more pool options than you can imagine!
• Activities: The Disney World hotels on this list have an endless list of activities for you to enjoy, making them great options for resort-only stays
• Location: Some of the hotels on this list are great for viewing the fireworks, while others are great because they allow you to feel like you’re escaping the rest of the world

9. Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Starting off our list is a Moderate resort that really gives off Deluxe resort vibes. At Coronado Springs, you’ve got one of the best pools on Disney World property, great quick-service and table-service restaurants, one of my all-time favorite lounges that features a sangria-making class, two fitness centers, and a great running trail. At Coronado Springs, what more could you ask for?

8. Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort

Wilderness Lodge‘s secluded location and recreation make it a great option for a resort-only stay at Disney World. Here, you’ll find two great pool areas, access to fishing excursions, a fitness center and small jogging trail, great dining and lounge choices (including one of my favorite Disney World hotel lounges), and one of the best hidden spots at a Disney World hotel. And with its secluded location along Bay Lake, you’ll get a good view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant.

7. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort

Saratoga Springs is a very underrated resort, which is why it made our list. Saratoga Springs boasts two interactive pools for the kiddos, three leisure pools, a fitness center and scenic running trail, bike rentals, fishing excursions, and its own award-winning golf course. And we can’t forget to mention how easy it is to get from Saratoga Springs to Disney Springs, where you have access to a plethora of dining, lounge, and shopping options for everybody in your group.

6. Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside

It’s hard to believe that a Moderate resort made this list, but Port Orleans Riverside comfortably fits the bill for a great resort-only stay. Port Orleans Riverside features one of the most underrated Disney World hotel pools on property, bike rentals, fishing excursions, a playground for the kiddos, one of the most popular entertainment acts on property, and one of my favorite jogging trails. And while Port Orleans is also very close to Disney Springs, one of the best activities to do here is to relax on a horse-drawn carriage as you travel along the banks of the Sassagoula River.

5. Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

There’s a good reason why the Grand Floridian is Disney World’s flagship resort. It offers something for everyone in the family, from renting watercraft, great pool areas, a full-service salon and spa, some of the best restaurant and lounge options around Disney World, a fitness center and running trail around Seven Seas Lagoon, and a golf course just next door. Oh, and how could I forget the perfect view of Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant at night?

4. Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

The Yacht Club is known for its proximity to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, but as a stand alone resort, it holds its own very well. It has two great table-service restaurant options, one of the most overlooked lounges at any Disney World hotel, a miniature golf course within walking distance, boat rentals and fishing excursions, a fitness center, and one of my favorite running trails at Disney World. It also shares the same pool with the Beach Club – arguably the best hotel pool in all of Disney World.

3. Disney’s BoardWalk Inn

A short walk away from the Yacht Club sits the BoardWalk, which to many can be described as a “mini-Disney Springs.” The BoardWalk has so many activities to offer, including several great lounge and restaurant options, a miniature golf course within walking distance, fishing excursions, and a fitness center and running trail. But what makes the BoardWalk truly shine is its nighttime entertainment, giving you the feeling like you’re really exploring an Atlantic City-style boardwalk in the 1930s.

2. Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

Fort Wilderness has some truly unique activities, putting it close to our top spot on this list of the best Disney World hotels to do a resort-only stay. Here, you can sing along with Chip ‘n’ Dale around a campfire, learn how to handle a bow and arrow, visit the horses that trot up and down Magic Kingdom, go on a horse-drawn carriage ride or wagon ride along the scenic wilderness trails, rent a bike, rent a canoe or kayak, go fishing, or run around the scenic trails.

1. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

Topping off our list of the best Disney World hotels for a resort-only stay is Animal Kingdom Lodge. To this day, Animal Kingdom Lodge is easily the most unique hotel at Disney World, with spectacular views of African animals grazing on the savanna, great restaurant and lounge choices, the largest collection of African artwork outside of Africa, and enough activities to keep you and your kiddos busy for days. And with its location being secluded from the rest of Disney World, you’ll truly feel like you’re escaping from the world.

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