Choosing Our Walt Disney World Hotel

Can you believe that I wrote this post over a year ago and never published it? I kind of gave up on the world of blogging thinking I wasn't good enough or didn't fit in. But you know what? WHO CARES!

When I was first writing this it was exactly the 365 day countdown! It feels like forever ago, and over a year has passed since then and our holiday has been and gone. It was like a whirlwind. A crazy, amazing, Mickey shaped whirlwind. I wish I could go back in time and experience it all over again.

When we were looking for a hotel to stay in there was no question that it was going to be on site at Disney World. I knew 1000% that I wanted to stay on site and there was no stopping me. Although there are undoubtedly cheaper places to stay they were all ruled out immediately, and after doing some research on Disney Resorts I soon found that you get a lot of perks staying on site at Disney.

There are 3 different levels of resorts: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. As much as I would LOVE to stay at a deluxe resort there is no way we were going to be able to afford one. That left two options: Value or Moderate. Value resorts are the cheapest option so if you want to save some dollar I would definitely recommend these, however, they are also the most child friendly. So, we decided we wanted to stay in a moderate resort.

There is one huge pro to staying on site and booking at the right time: free Disney dining plans. Is there anything better than free food? Value Resorts get one free meal credit, Moderate get the Quick Service Dining Plan, and Deluxe get the Disney Dining Plan. As we were staying in a moderate resort we got the QS plan for free which includes: 2 x Meals 2 x Snacks and 1 x Free Cup & Refillable Drink every day. It was the best decision we made as we didn't have to worry about not having enough money for food - which means more money for souvenirs! We even had loads of meal credits left over, and top tip: 1 meal credit can be exchanged for 3 snacks!

When we were deciding which moderate resort to stay at I had my heart set on Port Orleans Riverside but it was just too expensive. After researching almost everyday for months we somehow found a deal on TUI to stay at Coronado Springs for an amazing price (it was around £1000 cheaper than anything we'd seen). So we booked it. I was SO excited until we received an email around 2 weeks later telling us about construction at the hotel. I knew we wouldn't be at the hotel a lot so it wouldn't be a huge deal but after watching several vlogs we found that there was A LOT of work going on, and it wasn't fair that TUI hadn't told us about it before we'd booked. We asked to move and after months of back and forth emails and phone calls they finally agreed to move us to Port Orleans French Quarter for no extra cost!

Staying on site was the best decision we made. The personalised magic bands (for free), the memory maker, the dining plan, the extra magic hours, the early access to fast passes, the free transport (that drops you right outside the door!), and of course the Disney magic!

Let me know what your favourite resort is, I'd love to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge or The Grand Floridian. I just need to win that lottery...