With over 30 resort options at Walt Disney World, how do you begin to choose the perfect resort? Finding a resort with the location, amenities, and dining options you desire can be hard! When you’re picking one and have food allergies, you want to make sure you can get a safe meal at any time. Every Disney resort has great chefs, but some resorts have limited quick service options and sit-down restaurants can add up in cost plus the time it takes to eat a meal, so you want to make sure to pick the resort that works for your schedule. I will break down the dining options available by category.
Value Resorts are the least expensive option but also have the fewest on-site amenities. They are great resorts for those on a budget or those who are never in their room and just want someplace to sleep. These are some of my favorite resorts because of the food courts they have! The kids love the decorations and we love the price. Value Resorts have chefs there that deal with allergies every day. They are great and have a big variety of options they can make for each meal. There are no sit-down options available at Value Resorts. They offer buses to the parks and Disney Springs; Pop Century and Art of Animation also offer the Skyliner for transportation to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. All Disney resorts have pools, most value resorts have 2-3 per resort. My favorite Value Resort is Disney’s All-Star Music Resort. They have a great standard and family suite rooms available and great chefs for cooking your meals! For those who want to stay in the Skyliner resorts, Pop Century is my favorite for the standard rooms. I personally love staying in the ’50s or ’70s! If you are looking for a sit-down restaurant to end your day, moderate or deluxe resorts may be the way to go!
If a resort with a water slide, a food court, a sit-down restaurant, and a little more subtle Disney-theming sounds more your speed, then the Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World Moderate may be better for you! These resorts still have a food court where chefs can come take your order, and most also have a sit-down restaurant for a leisurely meal at the end of your day. Most moderate resorts offer an additional mode of transportation such as a boat to Disney Springs or the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios or Epcot. My favorite moderate resort is Caribbean Beach Resort. I love the colors, the decorations, and the dining options available here. The Centertown Market has a wide variety of options and every chef I have encountered there has been amazing. Sebastian’s Bistro is a hidden gem in the sit-down restaurants available at Walt Disney World. Riviera Resort, Disney’s newest Deluxe Resort, is a short walk from Caribbean Beach Resort and has my favorite character breakfast, Topolino’s Terrace. You will not have a hard time finding something for everyone here!
For those looking to be as close to a park as possible, Disney’s Deluxe Resort category is going to be for you. Deluxe Resorts are located close to parks, some even within walking distance of a park or two, and have the best sit-down restaurants. These resorts generally have the biggest rooms on the property as well. For the location, I love Beach Club Resort because it’s located between both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. You can walk or take a friendship boat to the parks. The food court area is not very big and you generally have to wait for a chef to come from Cape May Cafe so it can take a little longer to get a quick meal. It’s always been good but the wait time is longer than normal. My favorite Deluxe Resort for food is the Contemporary. It is super close to Magic Kingdom so if you are planning on being there a lot, it is a great place to stay! Chef Mickey’s is a character dining experience at the Contemporary and Contempo Cafe is the quick service restaurant. Both have always had great chefs who make your meal quickly!
Once you have decided where you are staying and made your dining reservations, it’s time to contact special diets. When you book with me, I not only make your dining reservations for you, but I also help you contact special diets to let them know about your allergies. If you have allergies that are not in the top 8, the chefs may contact you to ask questions and go over options for your meal. I have had chefs make me a special dessert or rolls that I could eat before I arrived! You never know what you may receive when you take the extra step to let them know you’re coming!
Kelly VanEerden
Lead Travel Planner & Certified Autism Travel Professional™
Kelly is a lead Travel Planner & Certified Autism Travel Professional from Jenison, Michigan. She lives three with her husband, daughter, and son.
We love to travel and one of our favorite destinations is Walt Disney World. I grew up visiting Walt Disney World with my family and continued the tradition with my children. From the first time they saw Cinderella’s Castle at the age of 4 and 7, they were hooked and still are 13 years later! As the kids have grown up, we have continued to explore new destinations as well.
