The Best Building at Every WDW Value and Moderate Resort

We all have reasons for picking the WDW resorts that we stay at. It could be cost or theme or proximity to a particular park. But no matter where you choose to stay, wouldn’t it be nice to know which building at that resort had the highest overall satisfaction? That way you could submit a room request to increase your chances of being very happy with your room. Today we’ll look at the “best” buildings at each Value and Moderate resort, followed by Deluxe and DVC resorts later today. (Updated April 23, 2024)

Explain the Math!

Easy math today! And if you’ve read any of our resort satisfaction posts, you know the drill. After every WDW stay, you can submit a post-visit survey. And if you submit a room number with that survey, then I can tell which building or section that you stayed in.

For each building (or section), I calculated the overall average satisfaction. Then I compared it to other buildings at the same resort to see which average was highest.

One other note – resort maps in this post are going to be tiny. But if you click on them, they should expand.

Best Buildings at Value Resorts

All-Star Sports

All-Star Sports is an absolutely huge complex, and after its room refreshes, it rates really highly overall. It’s still often packed with competitions teams or squads, and it’s also regularly the cheapest resort on property at WDW. If you find yourself planning a stay at All-Star Sports, the building with the highest satisfaction in the past two years is in the Surfs Up section. The average rating for Building 6 is a downright impressive 4.88. This building is as close as you can get to the main building, feature pool, and transportation. If you’d rather not pay for a preferred room, Building 3 in the Hoops Hotel section is your best bet, with its overall rating of 4.67.

All-Star Movies

Moving on up (as far as price is concerned) in the world of the All-Stars, we come to All-Star Movies. Another large resort with relatively cheap prices. In the past three years, the best-rated building at All-Star Movies has shifted three times. First it was in the Toy Story Section, then 101 Dalmations, and now our best building is Building 5 in the Fantasia section, with an average rating of 4.8. Just like Building 6 at All-Star Sports, Building 5 at this resort gets you the best access to the main building, feature pool, and transportation. If you don’t want to pay for a preferred room or to be bothered by main pool noise, head to Building 6 instead, with an average rating of 4.56.

All-Star Music

All-Star Music is the first resort that I distinctly remember visiting as a kid. I remember thinking that the Calypso pool was the coolest thing ever … and that’s about it. Before this update, the Calypso section was also the highest rated. But during the past two years, the highest-rated building is Building 3 in the Rock Inn section, with a crazy-high 4.94 average rating. Building 3 is interesting because you don’t have any family suites, and you’re decently far away from the main building and transportation. But it’s quiet, has good access to parking … and is almost as close to the amenities at All-Star Sports as it is to the ones at Music.

Pop Century

We’ve discovered that Pop Century is a place that gets a lot of repeat visitors. It’s nicer than the All-Stars, and less expensive than Art of Animation. And now it has access to the Skyliner too. So which area gets the highest satisfaction ratings? The spread here is much lower than any of the other value resorts. The area with the lowest average is only 0.23 points lower than the area with the highest average. So you’re probably going to be okay no matter where you stay. But the winner here over the past two years is the building that probably makes most sense – Building 4 in the 1960s. You can get standard or preferred rooms here, and be within close walking distance to both the Skyliner and the main building and bus transportation. You can be by the pool, or away from it in a quieter location.

Art of Animation

Now we’re to our most expensive “value” resort. Art of Animation is a tale of two resorts – with the standard rooms and then the family suites. Unsurprisingly, the Little Mermaid area with its standard rooms has the lowest satisfaction at the resort. Also unsurprising is the top-rated building, which is Building 1 in the Cars section of family suites. This building has quick access to the main building and all transportation other than the Skyliner – plus an average rating of 4.86. If you are looking for a Little Mermaid room, aim for Building 8. It has better scores than the other two buildings in that section – by far.

Best Buildings at Moderate Resorts

Port Orleans – French Quarter

In general, POFQ is a resort with pretty high satisfaction. In fact, all of its buildings score over 4.5, and all of them are within 0.35 of each other. The one building that manages to pull slightly ahead of the pack in satisfaction is Building 7, with an overall satisfaction score of 4.83. Building 7 is further away from the action than any of the other buildings. Some rooms offer river views, and it’s also the closest building to Port Orleans Riverside with its table-service restaurant and other amenities.

Port Orleans – Riverside

Compared to POFQ’s seven buildings, its sister resort has 20. Yikes. The buildings at Riverside all vary widely in walk times, themes, and size. In the past two years, one building outscores all of the others. Across all of WDW. Building 39 averages a perfect 5.0 rating. If you prefer the smaller buildings of Alligator Bayou, 39 will get you quick access to transportation and a pool, as well as a mild walk to the main building. If you prefer the bigger buildings of Magnolia Bend, Building 80 is the place to be instead with its rating of 4.56. It has slightly worse access to the main building, but slightly better access to transportation. But 6 different Alligator Bayou building score better than Building 80.

Caribbean Beach

Caribbean Beach used to regularly score the lowest out of any of the moderate resorts. But the past couple of years, things have been shaking up a bit. The introduction of the Skyliner has certainly helped. And the building-by-building results are just … all over the place. No one section is remarkably better-rated than others, but Trinidad buildings reliably score lower than other areas. The one building that rises above the chaos is Jamaica Building 41, with an average rating of 4.86. It’s not particularly walkable to the main building or the main pool. But it has the best access to the Skyliner, and I think that’s all that really matters here.

Coronado Springs

Coronado Springs is another sprawling resort with many buildings to choose from. And the average satisfaction scores for each building exhibit some of the widest ranges of any resort. The difference between the top and bottom building is 1.2. Last year, I immediately assumed that Gran Destino Tower was going to have the highest satisfaction here. It’s shiny and new. But I quickly learned that wasn’t true, although it’s moving up the list (in second place, in fact). The real winner here is Cabanas 8C, with average satisfaction at a perfect 5 since reopening. It’s right by the main tower, and a quick bridge away from the main pool, with another pool right outside the building.

What Does This Mean For You?

1. No matter where you stay, there are buildings that end up earning better satisfactions scores, and those that tend to average lower. At some resorts this difference is negligible (like Pop Century), while at others it make a really big difference (like Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs).
2. Buildings with the best scores are generally closer to transportation and/or the main building at the resort. There are some exceptions to that rule, but it’s a good place to start.
3. If you use the Room Finder, no matter what the overall satisfaction is at that resort, you can find and request something that meets your needs. It has information about view, walking distances, and reviews from other users if any have been submitted.

 

Did your favorite building make the list? Like me, were you surprised by any of the results? Do you have any predictions for what we might see at Deluxe and DVC resorts? Let us know in the comments!