MouseSavers Preferred Hotels in the Walt Disney World area offer outstanding value and excellent quality. You can learn more about how I picked these hotels below.

All of the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels are very close to the Walt Disney World theme parks. In addition, each MouseSavers Preferred Hotel offers special discounts and/or extras for MouseSavers readers.

Click on the links below to read much more extensive reviews, see photographs, and find out about current rate specials, package offers and other discounts at the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels in Orlando and vicinity!

How I Pick MouseSavers Preferred Hotels

In selecting MouseSavers Preferred Hotels, my goal is to to be your hotel "concierge" by doing all of the footwork for you and picking the best of the best in various hotel categories. I have been investigating hotels in the Walt Disney World area since summer 2001. First I reviewed many sources (including unofficial Disney discussion boards and published guidebooks) to see which hotels got a lot of positive reviews. Then I started visiting hotels in person.

I have looked at dozens of hotels that are close to Walt Disney World and done in-depth site inspections of most of them. I have also performed site inspections at all of Disney's official resorts, the "gold standard" by which other hotels in the area must be judged. That allows me to give you an accurate comparison of quality.

I have used the following criteria in determining whether a hotel qualifies for MouseSavers Preferred Hotels status:

1. It has to be a good value for the money.

2. It has to be distinctive in some way that enhances your enjoyment of a Walt Disney World vacation (that means no cookie-cutter hotels that could be located anywhere).

3. It has to be a place I would stay personally -- in fact, I've stayed at all of my MouseSavers Preferred Hotels, usually multiple times.

4. It has to be very close to Walt Disney World. Several of the Preferred Hotels are actually located on Disney property (but not operated by Disney), while the rest are within a very short drive.

After touring many hotels I chose a select few that met all my criteria and stood out above the rest. Once I had identified those hotels, I approached the management about offering special deals for readers of MouseSavers.com. The MouseSavers Preferred Hotels are supposed to offer my readers at least their lowest refundable/changeable rate (also known as the "Best Available Rate" in the hospitality industry). But in the vast majority of cases, they go far beyond that basic requirement, offering MouseSavers.com readers exclusive deals that are not available anywhere else.

I have turned down many offers from hotels that were willing to pay me to recommend them, but didn't meet my standards. I re-inspect the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels regularly, usually once or twice a year. If they don't continue to meet my standards, I stop working with them.

Why I Don't List Any Really "Cheap" Hotels

I am not currently recommending any specific hotels in the super-low-budget category because I feel there is a good chance my readers will be disappointed by what they get for their money. A couple of my Preferred Hotels have offered rates as low as $59 a night plus tax, which is an amazing deal for the quality you are getting.

So far I have found that hotels charging much below that price level are hugely less appealing -- for a little less money, you get a lot fewer amenities. If you just want basic, cheap accommodation, there are lots of choices in Kissimmee (one town over from Orlando/Lake Buena Vista) in the $39 - $59 a night range, for which you can expect about a "2-star" hotel with a fairly clean room, no restaurant or room service, an ordinary pool, basic decor and landscaping, very limited or no transportation to the parks, and usually a fairly inconvenient location.

		If you really need to keep expenses low, a much better option than picking a random "cheap" motel is to use Priceline, which is a service that allows you to bid on hotel rooms. There are some amazing bargains to be had through Priceline and I use it myself to bid on hotels all the time! I always choose hotels in the 3-star or higher category, and I've never been disappointed. (Note: Priceline is making it harder and harder to find the bidding area of its site: be sure to click on "Name Your Own Price" to get the real deals.) Click here to read some helpful tips about bidding on Priceline.

If you don't want to try Priceline, see the Other Hotels Near Disney World page.

Another alternative: try to get a discounted room at one of Disney's Value resorts (the All Stars or Pop Century), which have a rack rate of $79 per room per night in the off-season. With a discount from AAA, you might be able to get an even lower rate, and if there are discount codes running during the time of your visit, or you are an Annual Passholder or Florida resident, these rooms are sometimes as low as $49 or $59 a night in the off-season. You get a lot of "magic" at Disney's Value resorts, as well as the convenience of Disney's transportation system. To see current discounts at the Disney resorts, click here.

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