2025 Walt Disney World vacation packages and resort reservations are now available. We’ve spent significant time on DisneyWorld.com comparing 2024 vs. 2025 hotel room rack rates to see what’s increased and decreased. This shares the pricing changes, plus commentary about the significance of the rates, discounts, best times to book, and more.
While we’ve been looking at a variety of hotels, our primary focus has been the most popular options at each tier–Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Resorts–among readers. Personally, I’m most interested in prices for the lower end of the spectrum; in particular, the cheapest resorts (All Stars) plus the other less-expensive options on the Skyliner (Pop Century and Caribbean Beach).
Walt Disney World is arguably well past the point that stated room rates on the Deluxe Resorts are reasonable; now, it’s almost like they’re priced in Monopoly money. Not in the literal sense (you’ll still need actual currency to pay for them), but rather, figuratively. What we mean is that guests willing to pay full price for Deluxe Resorts or Villas probably aren’t particularly price sensitive. People paying $700 and up per night for the Poly probably aren’t fixating on the price tag. Raising rates another $20 or $40 probably isn’t going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
In other words, Walt Disney World’s low-end resort prices are both more interesting and a better litmus test of vacation affordability than the high-end rates. You can’t really complain about Walt Disney World “pricing out the middle class” in one breath, and then say that your family can only afford one week in the Poly per year instead of the normal 2 weeks. That’s not how that works.
At least, that’s what I think. Since I’m the one who had to hassle with doing all of this, that’s why we’re going to focus most of our attention on Values and Moderate Resorts. With that in mind, let’s jump right in and start our analysis with the cheapest hotels at Walt Disney World, the All Star Resorts:
For 2024, rate rates for the All Stars during the two least expensive months of the year were $117 per night.
Rack rates have bounced around a lot at these motels. The All Star Resorts peaked at $123/night in 2022, which was also the height of pent-up demand (and resort closure-induced shortages) and there was a dearth of discounts.
For the release of 2020 vacation packages, Walt Disney World lowered rates to $99 per night in order to advertise a starting rate below $100. Our strong suspicion at the time was that Walt Disney World was trying to compete with the then-new Endless Summer Resort at Universal Orlando, which offered suites starting at under $100 per night.
Pretty much the same starting rates for 2025. Higher at the very beginning of the year during the spillover from New Year’s, but otherwise almost unchanged.
I’m actually somewhat surprised by this. There are a number of dates that resorts sold out in Winter 2024 and the All Stars are starting to become competitive with real world hotels. One of the reasons I stopped reviewing Flamingo Crossings and Disney Springs hotels is because it felt pointless. They’re typically not beating Disney on pricing by very much, and the gap is completely bridged when you account for rideshare, parking, lack of transportation or Early Entry, etc.
Off-site accommodations make sense at the high end of the spectrum or even the bargain basement (sub $50) side, but not the $100-150 range. At least, not unless you’re talking about staying at Universal. (Which does make sense!) Off-site prices for ‘real world’ hotels have just crept up too much for the math on them to work. At least, for us and what we’d consider recommending to the average Walt Disney World guests.
As a general matter, if you’re trying to find the Cheapest Times to Go to Walt Disney World, they are mostly in January and February 2025. From what we can tell, this is true across all hotel tiers, and the off-season weekday rates during these two months are better than even August and September 2025.
With that said, effective prices might end up being lowered in August and September than January and February depending upon the timing of price increases and degree of discounting. That’s especially true if Free Dining is offered in late summer or early fall of next year, which we would expect to happen since it’s already returned for 2024. Free Dining most likely won’t come back for winter dates, but a dining card or room-only rates are likely. (Those discounts work better for a lot of guests, too.)
For the remainder of the comparisons, we’ll be looking at September and October of this year versus Fall 2025, all in standard or regular rooms. We like this 2-month snapshot, as it shows a wide range of prices, from value season lows to holiday weekend highs.
Above are this year’s rack rates during those months at the All Star Resorts. As you can see, prices range from $135 to $231 per night.
As you can see, not many differences. Most of the dates are exactly the same price when adjusting for day of the week. Not bad!
While premium pricing for the Disney name and location is common at on-site resorts, you’d be hard-pressed to find a non-sketchy hotel room in Orlando for the low end of this price range–let alone one with refreshed rooms, plus perks like Early Entry and theme park transportation. All of this and more is covered in Are Walt Disney World’s Cheapest Hotels Actually Good?! Spoiler: the answer is yes.
As mentioned in other posts, I’ve stayed at All Star Sports more than any other hotel in the last year-plus. Part of the reason I’ve stayed there more than other hotels is because I often book last minute and the All Stars and Coronado Springs are commonly the options with best availability and at a discount. So a lack of demand is driving my decision, and probably also Disney’s to not raise prices on the All Stars.
Now let’s move over to a more popular Value Resort, Pop Century, and look at September and October 2024:
Pop Century’s standard room rates start at $182 and hit $289 per night this year.
Reasonableness of these prices is in the eye of the beholder. As someone who loves the Skyliner and having non-bus transportation to 2 parks, my limit for the “Pop Premium” is about $30 per night. It’s still around that many nights when comparing rack rates to the All Stars.
However, that’s not always the case–and the gap can grow larger when the All Stars offer a higher percentage savings or standard rooms aren’t available at Pop Century. That’s exactly how I’ve found myself staying at All Star Sports so many times in the last year, and none at Pop Century (probably should remedy that soon).
Above are Pop Century’s standard room rates for September and October 2025.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but I see literally no differences. That’s great year-over-year, but the asterisk I’d add is that Pop Century has seen major price increases for the last several years, with a massive jump when the Skyliner debuted. If you compare today to 5 years ago, the difference is pronounced–Pop Century has seen one of the largest percentage increases during that time. So perhaps Walt Disney World was due to pump the brakes on these prices.
Moving to Moderates, we have Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort rates for September and October 2024:
For Fall 2024, rack rates range from $288 to $373 per night at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
The line above indicates that Pop Century has seen “one of” the largest percentage increases for a reason. That reason is Caribbean Beach Resort. I still remember when we booked discounted rooms here for a little over $100 per night, which may seem like ancient history, but was not that long ago. Just pre-Skyliner, Sebastian’s Bistro, and Disney’s Riviera Resort.
If you’ve noticed that we’ve done far fewer stays at Caribbean Beach Resort in the last 3 years, that’s why. It went from being our ‘home resort’ for several years to a place we stay fairly infrequently. An extra $100+ per night will do that!
Once again, no changes. Perhaps Walt Disney World had a similar sentiment towards CBR as it Pop? That prices increased too much, too fast from 2019 to 2023, and it was time to slow down?
The current rates are comparable to Deluxe Resort pricing in the not-too-distant past, so there is that. In fact, there are still times of year when 30% off discounts are offered that some of the Deluxes are in the $300 ballpark. Again, we love it, but Caribbean Beach is no Deluxe Resort.
For what it’s worth, the 2024 screenshots here were all taken in May 2023 when this year’s vacation packages were released. I mention this to avoid questions about whether Walt Disney World quietly raised this year’s prices when releasing 2025 dates. They did not. To the best of my knowledge, once rack rates are released–that’s it. Base prices do not increase–just tickets, available room categories, or other add-ons.
There are some misconceptions about Disney raising prices before releasing discounts, but I’ve never seen this happen first-hand. To be sure, Disney does ‘play games’ with discounting by changing the parameters to qualify or limiting inventory to certain room types, but they’re not inflating prices to create the illusion of discounts. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, and have never seen that.
Finally, we move from the off-brand Poly with CBR to the real deal with Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort…
Above is the Poly in September and October 2024, with prices ranging from $627 to $907.
Polynesian is an interesting resort because it was excluded from discounts for the peak of pent-up demand, and then still didn’t have much for the beginning of last year. Discounts have since returned, but so too has major construction. Even so, demand has remained strong for the Poly. Anecdotally, I’d say it’s one of the toughest Walt Disney World resorts to book. That’s not to say it’s actually difficult–just that dates do sell out, and often months in advance.
The new range is $656 to $953 for the Polynesian in Fall 2025.
Those are some notable increases on certain nights. My guess is that this is a byproduct of current demand plus construction ending. The Polynesian is going to be even more desirable in 2025, especially if that new tower adds amenities that guests of the existing hotel can use.
Personally, my concern is that it’s going to add strain on the existing resort infrastructure to the point of unpleasant crowding on the beach, lobby, and for the monorail. I wouldn’t be surprised if Walt Disney World cracks down even further on visitors entering the Poly, as there’s no great way to alleviate this.
This comparison usually ends with the Polynesian, but since it’s literally the only material change we’ve spotted thus far, it’s probably worth doing a couple more resorts. Kind’ve an anticlimactic post–albeit in a good way–otherwise.
Bouncing over to BoardWalk, above is Fall 2024 rates, which range from $584 to $822 per night.
Those increase very modestly next year: $591 to $830.
Honestly, I picked BoardWalk because I expected it to be one of the bigger increases. The room overhaul is now finished, the resort reimagining is seemingly complete, and by the time 2025 rolls around, hopefully the Cake Bake Shop will be open. Judging by the current pace of construction, that’s still a bold bet, but I think it’s likely.
And who knows what else will happen. I’d bet on character dining returning and something superior to Big River Grille (low bar) filling that space. Point being–the BoardWalk of Fall 2025 should be better than the version of the resort that existed in May 2023 when this year’s prices were set.
These comparisons aren’t particularly exciting, so I’m going to quickly run through a few more, sans screenshots. All of these are for September/October 2024 vs. 2025:
- Coronado Springs Resort: $276-$360 vs. $273-$353 (slight decrease for 2025)
- Port Orleans Riverside: $282-$365 vs. $279-$358 (slight decrease for 2025)
- Wilderness Lodge: $480-$661 vs. $486-$667 (slight increase for 2025)
- Grand Floridian: $734-$931 vs. $725-$913 (slight decrease for 2025)
Even though my favorite resort on this list, Wilderness Lodge, is seeing a price increase for 2025, I’d consider it a win that the other three resorts on this are decreasing.
Since it’s a common question, you can find the rate calendar I used for these comparisons by searching for availability on DisneyWorld.com. Start by navigating to one of the resort pages that shows the rates for different rooms, like below:
Make sure to select “room only” (rather than a vacation package or discounted rate) on the far left, then click the “Rate Details” button on the resort/room combination that interests you. (See above.)
From there you’ll see a weekly breakdown. For the calendar view, click “View Rate Calendar.” (See below.) Hope that helps!
If you want to see pricing for the entirety of 2025 and choose your travel dates on that basis (not a terrible idea given the strong correlation between lower prices and lower crowds), you can do that via the rate calendar.
With that said, Walt Disney World often misses the mark with its resort rates, which is precisely what special offers seek to address. We’ve seen that this year with room-only discounts of up to 35% off as well as Free Dining, the dining card deal, and other more novel discounts.
The true test for 2025 is going to be in terms of what discounts end up being released–or not released. As we like to point out, Walt Disney World long ago adopted the “Kohl’s Model” to pricing, where the sticker prices are almost meaningless due to discounts. Kohl’s learned ages ago that if the base price is higher, it makes the discounted rate look like even more of a bargain!
In other words, discounts have become so ubiquitous that no one is paying full price–rendering rack racks far less important. Nevertheless, 25% off a room that costs $200 per night is still better than 25% off a room that costs $250 per night. Obviously. So the rack rates do matter, it’s just that the broader context also matters.
This is precisely why Walt Disney World has bumped the brakes on price increases at the resorts for 2025 with more rack rates remaining unchanged or even decreasing rather than increasing. It may not seen like much, but this is a big change from the 3-7% increases that are normal on rack rates.
This strongly suggests to me that Walt Disney World is seeing guests get sticker shock on room pricing, and even discounts aren’t doing enough to compensate. That Disney is hitting a price ceiling on its resorts. That’s especially true since special offers are not always available and the average guest doesn’t know that they’re released throughout the year. There’s a certain percentage who visit DisneyWorld.com once to price out a vacation, and what they see is what they get–and either book or bounce.
Ultimately, the resort rack rate prices for most dates in 2025 at Walt Disney World caught me a bit by surprise, honestly. Although I’m well aware that room occupancy and attendance are trending downward (as compared to the pent-up demand period when things were bonkers), I assumed the company would pull from the same playbook it has used since the Great Recession, which is to increase room rates 3-7% per year without regard for demand, and discount as necessary to fill those rooms.
To be sure, these prices are still higher than 2019 and that’s doubly true when you factor in the on-site perks that have been taken away since then. But if you compare 2025 pricing to 2022–after those perks had already been lost–it’s actually lower. In some cases, it’s significantly lower once accounting for discounts that will (presumably) be offered next year that weren’t in 2022. Even considering pent-up demand and less room inventory back then, it’s still surprising given the inflation and higher labor costs since.
This is obviously good news when it comes to resort rack rates, many of which have literally stayed the same or even decreased for 2025. I’d probably go a step further and say the same is true for both ticket prices and the Disney Dining Plan. For the first time since December 2022, ticket prices did increase…but by fairly modest amounts that, annualized, are lower than inflation. Same story for the Disney Dining Plan and its price increase for 2025. (The relatively low number of comments on both posts seems to reflect this–not much fan outrage over 2025 pricing.)
Sticker shock among prospective guests and hitting a price ceiling are two possible explanations for Walt Disney World not raising rates more aggressively, as is already decreasing occupancy. However, those are not really new. Bookings are still stronger than 2018/2019, and that was a time when WDW had its foot on the gas on price increases.
If I had to offer one final guess as to the reason for more measured pricing for 2025, it’d be forward-looking: Universal’s Epic Universe.
There are undoubtedly internal fears or concerns about what that’s going to do to room occupancy, and a desire to get out ahead of that. That’s probably why 2025 vacation packages and rooms are being released a few months early, why prices aren’t up much (or at all), why Walt Disney World is offering the free water park day on arrival…and also why there’s probably much more to come.
Walt Disney World won’t have a new land or attraction to “counter” Epic Universe, but they’re going to need to do something to entice guests to stay on-site at Disney-owned hotels instead of Universal ones. This is simply the opening salvo in that effort. It’ll be fun to watch what comes next!
As always, we’d recommend booking sooner rather than later. If you’re definitely visiting Walt Disney World in 2025 irrespective of discount status or a new theme park a Universal Orlando, lock something in now. Booking early is essentially hedging your bets against the resort/room tier you want selling out, while still having the flexibility of applying future discounts as they’re released.
If you want someone to monitor your reservation and apply discounts as they’re released, we recommend booking via Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. Those travel agents will book your vacation and help take the stress out of planning.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the 2025 Walt Disney World hotel room and package prices? Surprised by the lack of increases and, in some cases, price decreases? If you’ve already booked, are you paying noticeably more or less for your trip next year as compared to 2022-2024? What about relative to 2019 or earlier? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments here? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
