Welcome back ladies and gents for this week’s installment in the
In Case You Missed it
Here’s a look back on the Vacation Planing Series so far! And be sure to check out the Main Page for the Disney Vacation Planning Series Here.
Pt 4 – Resort Areas and Pricing Tiers
Consideration Factors
Cost Range
For a lot of people, myself included, cost is a HUGE consideration when booking your vacation. If you missed last week’s post you can read all about the different pricing tiers HERE. I won’t go over it in too much detail here, but the price tiers are included in this week’s FREE PRINTABLE.
Resort Area Importance
The resort area, to me, is the second most important factor. As they say in real estate, location, location, location. Here’s that link again to last week’s post, where we looked at all of the different areas in detail. Again, I won’t beat a dead horse but the info is included in the HOTEL COMPARISON CHART.
Maximum Room Capacity
Room capacity will be an important piece of the decision, especially if you are traveling with a large group. Most of the resorts accommodate a minimum of (5) people, assuming (2) persons will share each Queen size mattress. But, what if you’re group doesn’t want to share beds or if there are (9) people in your party? There are still plenty of options! I’ve included the number of beds in each room on the hotel chart.
Transportation Options
Disney World is HUGE!! And one of the best perks to staying on site is the free transportation

Walking
Tried but true. While both the parks and resorts are well spread out across the world, there are some resorts close enough to walk to at least (1) theme park. Sure, you are going to be doing a ton of walking inside the parks – but adding a few more steps to your day is totally worth it! There are other ways to get around, but they require you to relay on an established schedule and can get really crowded.
Bus
Every resort offers free bus transportation to and from the parks all day. Buses generally pick-up about every 15 minutes, but this can vary based on crowd density. (Grab your FREE Crowd Index Calendar HERE). This is the easiest way to get around the parks, there are tons of buses and there are clear signs denoting which bus is going where. However, keep in mind that everyone in your resort is there for the same reason. There are several parks, so that breaks up the crowd a bit – but the buses get very crowded.
Monorail
I always think of the monorail as the first ride of the day, and it’s available at a few select resorts. One great perk to staying at a monorail resort is that you can easily hop over and tour other monorail resorts. (and resort hopping is a fun day just by itself!) Again though, you’ve got to think about how many people will be trying to cram themselves into the monorail each morning. Also, the monorail doesn’t go to all of the parks.
Water Way
By far my favorite (though personally most terrifying) mode of transportation to the parks. A few of the resorts have boat shuttles to one or more of the parks, and it’s basically a first ride of the day as well. I’m totally freaked out by the idea of being in a boat, but it’s a short ride so it’s not too bad. The boats are large and I haven’t experienced the same kind of crowding as there is on the buses.
Skyway Gondolas
Sadly, this is still being built – but I am SO excited!!! I think it’s such a neat call back to the Skyway that used to be in Disneyland, I can’t wait for this project to be completed.
Dining Options
Let’s be real. Half the fun of
Pools
Hello! This is a vacation after all and not all pools were created equal! Now – if you’re planning a short trip, the pool may have no bearing on your decision. But you may find yourself taking breaks by the pool during the day, even if you didn’t plan on it – so why not have an awesome pool to take a break by?
