Disney World offer accomodations in all price ranges, including Disney fans on a budget.

Simple Rooms: The themeparks' best value hotels are comparable to an Orlando budget motel, but with more Disney design flair, fun pools and food courts, and the advantage of being on Disney property (albeit farthest from the theme parks). Standard value rooms facing an exterior walkway are grouped in three-story blocks and accommodate up to four, usually in two double beds.

Trying to save by cooking meals? The only units with kitchen facilities are the family suites at Disney's All Star Music resort and the cabins at the Fort Wilderness Campground; both sleep up to six. If having a kitchen is important to you, look at which Orlando vacation home rental properties are available, as many are very close to the park. All value priced resorts are popular with groups, especially youth groups competing at the nearby Wide World of Sports stadium.

Top Benefits? Price -- double rooms under $85 per night, with frequent specials and theme park pass promotions. Laundry rooms, some kitchenettes, cheap food courts, nice neighbors, lots of exterior lawns to play on, parking so you can leave the car and shuttle around.

Downsides? Guest complaints include poor soundproofing between rooms, cramped quarters, and very long lines to board theme park buses during the busy season.

Disney's All-Star Resorts

At 5,700 rooms, the All-Star Resort (407/939-6000) is currently the largest hotel in the world. By separating it into three zones, each with its own check-in, and masking all the exterior stairwells with huge iconic sculptures of megaphones, Coca-Cola cups, a tennis ball can and more, WDW succeeds in making these hotels seem more like fun and less like a convention center. There's an outdoor play ground area for climbing, swings and slides and indoor games arcades.

At Disney's All-Star Resort Music there are wings dedicated to every tune from Calypso to Country Fair, with big bongos and other music props, containing 1,604 spotless but basic rooms with minimal services.  Big with families are the 214 one-bedroom family suites sleeping 6 that are WDW's best value. These new units were created from two old standard rooms; they are bright, and comfortably furnished. The bedroom has a queen bed, TV, chest of drawers, and ensuite bathroom. The living room has a leatherette couch that opens into a double sofa bed, an armchair that opens into a single bed, and a matching ottoman that pulls up and out into another single bed. There's a second bathroom, a second TV set, and a cheerful kitchenette with microwave, fridge, sink and coffeemaker. The Music resort carries its music theme to the max with a guitar-shaped swimming pool.

Disney's All-Star Resort Sports is in the same ballpark, both in thematic emphasis and price-wise. Guests checking in will feel like they are entering a basketball gymnasium. Stairs are tucked into footballs and hockey sticks. This resort is said to be most popular with young boys, so it gets quite crowded over school breaks.

Disney's All-Star Resorts Movies has 1,920 rooms clustered into wings based on hit movies like "Fantasia," "101 Dalmatians" and "The Love Bug," whose wing has the Herbie car poking through the wall. These buildings have accouterments such as a 38-foot-tall Buzz Lightyear sign, a "Mighty Ducks" hockey-themed pool and a large character playground. A family favorite with what's considered the best marquee food court.

Disney's Pop Century Resort

This 2,880-room resort marked by huge bowling pins celebrates American popular culture from the 1950s to the 1990s. Located near the ESPN Wide World of Sports Area, it is outfitted with bright, bold, larger-than-life icons such as a Play-Doh can and the Rubik's Cube. Room blocks are divided by decade, with rooms around themed courtyards and stairs hidden by huge cellphones, bowling pins, Yo-Yos and more. Though accommodations are small, these rooms will accommodate a rollaway in addition to the standard, two double beds, if kids don't want to share a bed. The three pools (one larger, two small) are graced with peace signs, slogans, and Warholesque flowers; other pop culture clichés are on display in the lively food court. For more information 407/938-4040.

Disney's Art of Animation Resort

Opening on May 31, 2012 "Finding Nemo," is the first phase of the newest Disney World Resort hotel property (it's 25th), also in the Value category.  Disney's Art of Animation Resort is located near the Pop Century and offers nearly 2,000 family rooms and suites themed to some of the most beloved Walt Disney and Disney Pixar movies.  Families can immerse themselves and feel like characters from "Little Mermaid" in 864 themed rooms that accommodate four, or in 1,120 "Finding Nemo," "Cars" or "Lion King" suites that accommodate six in a master bedroom, three sleeping areas, two bathrooms and a kitchenette.  Animated scenes will carry throughout building exteriors and room interiors and feature larger-than-life icons from the animated films in courtyard areas. "Landscape of Flavors," the on-site dining option is an animation-themed food court, and there are four themed courtyard play areas, three pools, and a video arcade. "Cars" suites will open June 18 and "The Lion King" suites will open August 10. The value rooms at "The Little Mermaid" wings will open on September 15, so you can start making your plans and reservations now.

Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

With 784 campsites and/or trailer spaces, Fort Wilderness is prized by Disney cognoscenti for its authentic place in Disney World history. Just 40 years ago, this "wilderness" playground and ranch near Magic Kingdom (with the South Seas-styled Polynesian Resort and the ultra-modern Contemporary Resort), gave proof to Walt Disney's vision of a magical world where Americans could play at being anything they liked. The tranquil 740-acre property, including the historic Tri-circle-D Ranch and a fishing lake, has, since 1971, housed all the horses employed by WDW. Don't miss the Walt Disney and Horses Museum display on the property or the farm animals located nearby. Today, the very popular "Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue" (said to be the longest running musical in America!) is held nightly near the corral and trail rides, and there's a logpole store and restaurant housing Mickey's Backyard Barbecue.

An expanded Fort Wilderness has a marina with canoe and powerboat rentals, a small sand beach for sunbathing, tennis, rental golf carts and bicycles, and several playgrounds. There are free nightly film screenings out of doors following Chip n' Dale's Campfire Sing-a-Long, the time when guitars, denim, square dancing and marshmallows take over. This is a free and fun night out for families staying at any property. From Fort Wilderness, there are myriad buses and free boat launch service from the north end, on Bay Lake, to Magic Kingdom. (For information on the Wilderness Lodge, see the Deluxe Resorts category).

Sleeping facilities are extensive. The campground is divided into four sections with their own bathhouses and showers. The newest is the most private with fewer campers per lot and more landscaping; the next two have the usual campground amenities of water, sewage and electricity, plus hi-speed Internet access. The northernmost Settlement, where once 10 Airstream trailers were available for rental, is packed with RVs in the million-dollar-plus range. Die-hard fans with tricked out golf carts and piles of Mickey plush in their windows spend months here, and it's the only WDW property that accepts pets. The Meadows area in the middle has smaller RV units, pop-ups, and tent sites for intrepid campers. This is closest to the main pool, arcade, snack bar and equipment rentals. The more wooded and undeveloped Outpost, location of 409 furnished cabins, is in the south. These 500-square-foot cabins have a big front porch with picnic table and grill, a small bedroom with a queen and two bunk beds, and a compact living room with small kitchen and a pull-down double Murphy bed. There's space, some wood paneling, lots of carpet, and tepid styling, but with two TVs and room to sleep 6, these are good value. Disney provides daily maid service at rates from $249-$$329/night depending on season. For more information call 407/824-2900.

Book Early for Disney World On-Site Budget Hotels

As soon as you make some choices, work with a travel agent to secure reservations; many resorts sell out six to eight months in advance. However, there will always be room at the inn when you realize that 25,000 rooms are now available at Disney World. You can call Disney at 407/934-7639 or visit the Disney World site to get more information and brochures.