Hello Eric! That is such a great planning question! Choosing your Disney home is such an important part of vacation planning!
Choosing the best
Walt Disney World Resort hotel is a matter of personal preference and your family’s interests. For your five-year-old son, you can’t go wrong with
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort! This resort hotel has four sections that are themed around some of Disney and Pixar’s most treasured films - The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars! Not only are the resort rooms themed to these movies, but the pools are as well! My favorite part of this resort is the fun character statues throughout the grounds of the resort hotel, as well as the “animation pages” that decorate the resort buildings! The other great benefit of this resort is access to the Disney Skyliner which conveniently carries Guests to and from EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Eric, another really important consideration is to consider planning your resort hotel based upon the park (or parks) that you’ll visit most during your vacation. For example, if you plan on visiting Magic Kingdom Park most during your vacation, you might find the resort hotels along the Monorail loop to be most convenient. These include Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa! Out of these resorts, my kids loved (and still love) Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa! This resort feels like our Disney home away from home!
Finally, with my sons in proximity, I asked for their advice to answer your question. All three agreed that
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort should be added to your list. Their favorite feature is the resort pool, known as
Stormalong Bay, which feels very much like a water park! It is amazingly fun for kids of all ages!
I hope these recommendations are helpful as you continue your planning!
Hakuna Matata! Jonathan