2025 Awards: Best Resorts at Disney World

2025 is wrapping up, and that means that we have lots of data to review, and lots of recommendations to make for those of you considering 2026 Walt Disney World vacations. Over the course of this week, I’m reviewing results from our post-visit surveys that we received this year, and helping you interpret what they should mean for your next vacation. Today we’re going over all of the satisfaction data from our resort surveys. Which resorts got the best overall scores? Which have the best food? Or the rooms with the least noise?

This serves as your obligatory reminder that the accuracy of these results fully depends on the number of people that are willing to fill out post-visit surveys after their Walt Disney World vacations. Make sure to submit your thoughts after your WDW vacations so that we can continue providing meaningful insights!

Overall Satisfaction

We received almost 3000 unique resort surveys so far in 2025. That gives us a lot of information to slice and dice, but the number that we most frequently pay attention to is overall satisfaction. Each survey respondent is asked to rate their resort stay as “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “neither,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” or “very dissatisfied.” I take each of these responses and convert them to a 5-point scale. Very Satisfied = 5 points, Very Dissatisfied = 1 point, and so on. Then I can average the responses to get an approximation for the overall satisfaction at each resort.

First, let’s talk about the graph here. Each color corresponds to a specific resort tier:

• Blue = DVC Resort
• Green = Deluxe Resort
• Yellow = Moderate Resort
• Red = Value Resort

The colored box shows the average overall satisfaction for each resort, and the lines to each side represent the 95% confidence interval. Even though we get a lot of surveys, we’re obviously not surveying the entire population of people that stayed at these resorts. So based on the number of surveys we get, and how different they are from one another, the “real” satisfaction at each resort could actually be anywhere along these lines. At least we’re statistically 95% confident the “real” satisfaction is along that line.

So who are the big winners here?

Best Overall DVC Resort: Fort Wilderness Cabins

Best Overall Deluxe Resort: Swan Reserve

Best Overall Moderate Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter

Best Overall Value Resort: Fort Wilderness Campsites (or Art of Animation)

*Keep in mind that these “bests” are somewhat misleading. Those 95% lines overlap A LOT, which means that although Swan Reserve, for example, edged out other Disney-owned deluxe resorts, its confidence lines overlap with two other deluxe resorts too. It has the highest average, but the real winner could technically be Shade of Green or Yacht Club. Things we can say for certain are along the lines of “Port Orleans French Quarter is definitely better than any othe moderate resort” because none of those lines overlap.

Another note – every single resort has an average satisfaction that is over 4.0 on a scale of 5. And approximately half are above 4.5. That means more people respond “Very Satisfied” than “Somewhat Satisfied”. The bar is set really really high for WDW resorts.

Overall Repeatability

For a slightly different look at similar data, we ask how likely each respondent stay again at this resort during a future stay.

This chart looks different than the one from 2024 (found here). Shades of Green is still near the top, but Boulder Ridge Villas and Swan Reserve join it with 100% “would stay again” stores. Pop Century and French Quarter retain their wins in their category, but Fort Wilderness Campsites plummeted from the top to below average.

Most Repeatable DVC Resort: Boulder Ridge Villas

Most Repeatable Deluxe Resort: Tie, Shades of Green and Swan Reserve

Most Repeatable Moderate Resort: Port Orleans – French Quarter

Most Repeatable Value Resort: Pop Century

Best Resort Food

We looked at awards for all dining locations yesterday, but for now let’s look at which resorts are rated most highly for their dining options.

Quick Service/Food Court

1. Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
2. Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
3. Riviera Resort
4. Boulder Ridge Villas
5. Copper Creek Villas

Our top three are the same as last year, although slightly shuffled compared to last year. At French Quarter, you can order from Sassagoula … or head over to Scat Cat’s Cafe. Beignets are the secret to high satisfaction. Jambo House has convenient access to Mara and to the Uzima Springs Pool Bar. Primo Piatto and Bar Riva at Riviera Resort are right next door to each other, and both provide truly stellar dining experiences. Bar Riva can be table service or counter service based on how and where you choose to eat.  Boulder Ridge and Copper Creek are more interesting. Roaring Fork (the only true counter service at Wilderness Lodge) scores below average, but if you count Geyser Point as counter service, that definitely gives reason for Wilderness Lodge to have a high rating. You can treat is as counter service if you use mobile order. But you can also sit and relax and enjoy.

Table Service Dining

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo)
2. Grand Floridian Resort
3. Wilderness Lodge (plus its DVC wings)
4. Riviera Resort
5. Animal Kingdom Lodge (Kidani)

Both portions of Animal Kingdom make the list, and you all know I’m biased on that front. Here we have Jambo coming out on the very top! Jiko + Boma + Sanaa is a formidable foodie line-up. I could do a long weekend at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and never set foot at any dining location outside of the lodge and be a perfectly happy camper. Next up is Grand Floridian and its impressive slate of options (hello Grand Floridian Cafe and Citricos and Narcoosees and Victoria & Alberts). A lot of fancy. A lot of expensive. A lot of great. Wilderness Lodge comes in third, wiith a one-two punch from Whispering Canyon Cafe and Storybook Dining at Artist Point. It’s very worthy of a spot near the top. And table-service dining is pretty much a slam dunk at Riviera, with Topolino’s Terrace. It’s one of the hardest reservations to get on-property for a reason – but increasing prices have led to a slight decrease in satisfaction (Riviera had the top spot two years ago, and was in 3rd place last year.).

Best Resort Rooms

Is the most important part of a resort the rooms themselves? Do you need a lot of space, or quiet rooms for resting? These will be the important categories for you to pay attention to.

Room Cleanliness

1. Swan Reserve
2. Yacht Club
3. Beach Club
4. Coronado Springs Resort
5. Grand Floridian Resort

Nice new shiny rooms is what people prioritize when they think about “clean”. This makes sense. Mousekeeping is awesome and works hard at every resort. So the difference really comes down to refurbishments and having less of a run-down feel.

Best for Room Size

1. Yacht Club
2. Old Key West
3. Fort Wilderness Cabins
4. The Villas at Grand Floridian Resort
5. Riviera Resort

Interestingly, Yacht Club didn’t show up on this list last year. And spoiler alert – the room size didn’t change. But a refurbishment of the rooms did change how the rooms are used and perceived. And apparently it made a really big difference! Old Key West does have statistically large rooms, and they’re laid out well, so you notice how roomy they feel. Fort Wilderness Cabins have plenty of space, and they’re new, so they’re well-appointed and well-arranged (but that single bathroom for up to 6 people might be a deal-breaker). The Villas at Grand Floridian are large AND relatively new, and Riviera has the second-largest studios in all of WDW, so its inclusion on this list isn’t a surprise either. Still, if there’s one thing that we can learn from this list, it’s that perception of space is at least as important as actual measurable space.

Best for Quiet Rooms

1. Fort Wilderness Cabins
2. Treehouse Villas
3. Boulder Ridge Villas
4. Riviera Resort
5. Swan Reserve

This is eerily similar to last year! First and second place swapped spots, and third and fourth place swapped spots, and Saratoga Springs got replaced by Swan Reserve in fifth place. So our takeaway is the same as last year too: rooms that are more spread out (or in totally separate buildings) are quieter. Obviously the Cabins and Treehouse Villas prove this point perfectly. They each have their own building for each “room”. Your room is as quiet as you make it. Riviera isn’t like that at all, but does benefit from some newer soundproofing attempts. And the Boulder Ridge Villas are pretty spread out with lots of rooms far away from any type of lobby. Lots of peace and quiet. Then we wrap up with Swan Reserve, which is a single large building, but has good soundproofing and where guests tend to skew toward business people or couples rather than large families with a lot of kids. I love kids, but fewer of them does mean less noise.

Best Pools

Do your kids just want to play in a pool all day? Or do you enjoy taking a midday break with lounging and swimming? This is the section for you!

1. Polynesian Village Resort
2. Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village
3. Boulder Ridge Villas
4. Wilderness Lodge
5. Art of Animation Resort

This is the first year that we have an overall pool rating (not just pool size or pool crowds). The very first thing that you should notice about this list is the one pool that ISN’T on it. And that’s Stormalong Bay, widely regarded as the “best” pool at Walt Disney World. It’s certainly the most popular and most talked-about. But it was also closed for most of 2025, and so pool scores at Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Beach Club Villas took HUGE hits while it wasn’t available. Those scores couldn’t recover in time for it to make this list. But expect it to be here next year!

What we do see is a list full of some really excellent pools that sometimes get overlooked because Stormalong Bay looms so large. And, I would argue that at least the top two options here are much better for families with small children than Stormalong Bay. The Lava pool at the Polynesian has excellent theming, and a bunch of things to do, but is also fully contained so that kids can’t wander off or get lost as easily. The pool over at Kidani Village is small, but does have a little slide and a really impressive splash pad that will keep kids entertained for hours! Boulder Ridge and Wilderness Lodge both have immersive pools. The pool at Boulder Ridge is even decorated with large props from the old Backlot Tour at Hollywood Studios. And Art of Animation has the Big Blue Pool, which is a clear value-level winner.

Best for Wayfinding

Is just stumbling back to your room at the end of a long park day without getting lost your top priority? Here are the resorts for you:

1. Port Orleans – French Quarter
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Swan Reserve
4. Boulder Ridge Villas
5. Copper Creek Villas

No big surprises here, as these are all small locations with relatively straight-forward layouts. In fact, only French Quarter even has multiple buildings. But there are so few of them, and they are so close together that it doesn’t matter much.

Best Staff

Do you want to be well cared for by the best cast members? You really can’t go wrong with any on-property resorts, but let’s find the best of the best for the sake of rounding out our 2025 awards.

1. Wilderness Lodge
2. Boulder Ridge Villas
3. The Villas at Grand Floridian
4. Fort Wilderness Cabins
5. Beach Club

I’m going to go on record and say that all Disney resorts have wonderful cast members. But it looks like the Wilderness Lodge complex takes the top spot this year. Boulder Ridge shares its check-in, dining, and guest services areas with Wilderness Lodge, so the folks there are definitely doing something right!

What Does This Mean For You?

1. 2024 was the year of Animal Kingdom Lodge, but 2025 is clearly the year of Wilderness Lodge (and its DVC counterparts). Specifically, Boulder Ridge Villas scores in the top four for overall satisfaction and repeatability. And some portion of Wilderness Lodge shows up on almost every top five list here.
2. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the “best of” lists are filled with Deluxe and DVC entries. But that doesn’t mean that you have to pay a lot of money to find something that will suit your needs. French Quarter has decent scores overall, and has high repeatability.
3. Every WDW resort has high satisfaction by any sort of real-world measure. Other than the Treehouse Villas, no resort has a repeatability score of less than 82%, and no resort has overall satisfaction lower than 4.0. These are all really high scores, and anything above that is almost just nitpicking. Find the aspects that are important to you, and make your decisions based on those.

Did any of the 2025 winners surprise you? Would you have ranked anything differently? Is there somewhere you’re looking forward to staying in 2026? Let me know in the comments!