Saratoga Springs vs. Art of Animation Disney World Resort Guide 2023

Planning a trip to Walt Disney World can be complicated — especially when you’re trying to choose between 25 resort hotels. If you’ve narrowed down your choices to these hotels, how do you make your final selection?

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort

Well, we’re here to walk you through the differences between Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

We want to help stretch your vacation dollars because trips to Disney World can be costly. Not surprisingly, hotel expenses can take up a big portion of your travel budget. How do you make the right decision for your family? We give you all the details, so you can choose wisely between Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

Art of Animation

Whether room size, location, pools, and/or restaurants are most important to you, we share the information that you’ll need to make an informed decision. After all, we want you stay at the hotel that is best for your family!

Let’s get started and look at all the details so that you can plan your Disney trip with confidence.

What a view from Saratoga Springs!

The best way to tackle such a massive decision like this is with as much logic as possible, so we broke down this comparison into five categories: Common Ground, Theme/Rooms, Pools, Food, and Transportation. Let’s get started on your vacation research.

COMMON GROUND

Before we mention their differences, let’s take a look at what Saratoga Springs and Art of Animation have in common.

First, both resorts offer bus transportation as well as one other mode of Disney transport.

Disney bus

Both resorts offer a quick service restaurant, several pools, and various room options.

But what about their nightly rates?

For Saratoga Springs, that means that for the cheapest room at the cheapest time to visit, you can expect to pay around $451 per night (not accounting for any tax or current discounts), and it goes up to $3,477 per night (not accounting for any tax or current discounts) for the most expensive rooms at the most expensive time to visit. (Based on 2023 rates)

For Art of Animation, Little Mermaid Standard Rooms start at $201 per night in value season, and a Finding Nemo Family Suite will cost about $912 per night during the December holiday season. Family suites sleep a whopping six guests comfortably!

Hey Disney! at Art of Animation Resort!

Let’s dig a little deeper to see what you can get for the money at these resorts!

Extra Theme Park Hours Benefits for Disney World Resort Hotel Guests

THEME/ROOMS

Saratoga Springs

This resort offers villa-type accommodations with studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, or 3-bedroom layouts.

Speaking of spacious accommodations, the 3 Bedroom Grand Villas at various Disney Vacation Club properties can sleep up to 12 people! These rooms typically come with 3 bedrooms, 3 (or more) bathrooms, a (very large) full-sized kitchen, living area, dining area, and a balcony. These rooms are available first for DVC members to book, so they’re pretty difficult to score and pricing is not readily available to the public (unless you call Disney to book for a specific date).

Studios have a kitchenette. The one-to-three-bedroom villas have a full kitchen, as well as washer and dryer.

The Murphy bed at Saratoga Springs

If you’re looking for convenience, these amenities might make your trip a whole lot easier!

Here, you’ll escape to a 19th century equestrian resort, although there aren’t any horses! Opened in May 2004, the quaint gardens add to the peaceful atmosphere. The large resort layout consists of a central lobby building with outer buildings housings the actual hotel rooms. Saratoga Springs is a huge resort and thus, rooms are often available!

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort Studio

Studios at this resort provide a queen bed and pull-down bed; these rooms sleep four. Two bedrooms sleep up to 8 people. (Remember that a child under three does not count toward maximum occupancy.) As of 2020/2021, rooms have been renovated.

Treehouse Villa

However, the unique but very remote treehouse villas can accommodate up to nine guests.

Art of Animation

Celebrate the characters, colors, and creativity of Disney animated films at Art of Animation Resort!

©Disney

Many of our readers tell us that Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is the BEST value resort on Disney World property. It’s a great hotel for families, particularly if you’re needing some more space and you’re willing to pay for it.

Guests may reserve a Lion King Family Suite, a Cars Family Suite, a Finding Nemo Family Suite, or a Little Mermaid Standard Room (277 sq. ft.) for their Art of Animation stay.

The Little Mermaid Standard Room at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

The theme feels well done and intricate, so it’s at least a bit nicer than the other values.

PHOTOS! Tour a Lion King FAMILY SUITE at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

Results

What location and price point do you prefer? If your focus is spending time at Disney Springs, Saratoga Springs might be the best pick for you. If you need a cheaper starting rate, Art of Animation fits the bill. However, we prefer the more deluxe accommodations at Saratoga Springs.

If you are traveling with small kids, they’ll love the Disney icons situated around the resort at Art of Animation.

NEWS! MAJOR HOTEL CHANGE Announced for Disney World

POOLS

When the weather is HOT or you just need a break from park queues, head to your resort pool! After all, the pools have their own unique features and special theming. Feature pools at Walt Disney World hotels usually have at least one slide and also offer poolside activities. Look at the hotel’s recreation schedule for more information. Some Disney resorts are so spread out that they also offer leisure pools. These swimming spots are family-friendly with at least one whirlpool spa. Leisure pools are quieter than the more crowded and active feature pools.

Pool Area

Note that poolside towels are always complimentary.