Resorts Gal

About Us


Imagine… It’s 2:00 p.m., and the sun is beating down as you trudge toward Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. Suddenly, your child asks a simple question. “Can we go to the pool?” You stare in disbelief. After all, you worked hard to bring your family to Walt Disney World, and they just want to go to the pool? 

After a reality check, you realize you’ve been up since 6:30 a.m. and have spent the better part of the day standing in line. The pool sounds like an oasis.

But you have dinner reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table at 7:00 p.m. and plan to watch the fireworks afterward. If you leave now, will you even make it back in time?

You realize this is the first day of a week-long vacation—a week you’ve been stressing over for months. You’ve worked diligently to secure every single “must-do” dining reservation, and you’ve been practicing rope-dropping the grocery store every Friday for months! And after a couple of hours in the park, the only thing your kids want to do is cool off in the pool!

Sound Familiar? You might be surprised if I told you it doesn’t have to be this way.

We believe you can have an incredible time exploring the resorts at Walt Disney World without ever setting foot in a theme park. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. We love the theme parks and provide plenty of vacation planning resources for them. But the heart of what we do is to remind people that the resorts have so much to offer, and for many, these little details are often overlooked.

By taking advantage of the amenities offered at your resort (and others), you’ll find your vacation is just that—a vacation. A trip that’s properly balanced will leave you feeling less stressed (and more in the moment) without constantly having to be somewhere. 

Hi! I’m Amber, the owner and author of Resorts Gal. What started in the early 2000s as yearly vacations to Walt Disney World snowballed into moving 15 minutes away from the magic. We have stayed at every Walt Disney World Resort multiple times and continue to do so regularly. My favorite pastime is spending leisurely days at the resorts, accented by small visits to the parks, especially at night.

Here’s how we can help you plan an incredible Walt Disney World vacation that leaves you feeling refreshed:

Start with our Disney World Vacation Planning Guide. It teaches you 10 simple steps to plan your entire vacation. You’ll also likely want to account for expenses and have a realistic idea of how much a Disney World vacation costs. This number differs for everyone depending on many factors. Our guide to Creating a Budget for Disney World is an excellent place to start. Or, if you want to get things down to the penny, we would love for you to join the Resorts Gal Community. This is where you’ll find our budgeting spreadsheets, expense tracking spreadsheets, and our popular transportation times for each resort!

When it comes to choosing a resort, our resort quiz is not only fun but educational. If you sign up for our newsletter at the end of the quiz, you’ll get a short series of emails with some of our best tips for the resort you selected!

We would love to have you subscribe to our email list!

Join our Email List

When you join our email list, you’ll learn exclusive details about the Walt Disney World Resorts that encourage you to live in the moment during your vacation and have you looking forward to trying new resorts and experiences when you return.

How Resorts Gal Started

Almost ten years ago, I found myself exhausted at the end of a 10-day trip spent at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. This hotel stay was a splurge, but we hadn’t taken the time to enjoy it. So, I canceled our park plans and spent the entire day lounging at the resort’s pool.

As I relaxed by the pool, my mood began to improve. Every so often, I would look up and smile as the busy Friendship Boats shuffled guests to and from the theme parks in the distance. We loved the parks, but our vacations had become too busy trying to do everything! What we needed was right in front of us—leisurely days spent at the resort. So, I vowed to change the way we spent our time at Disney. 

Now, I live only a short drive from Walt Disney World and visit the resorts weekly. Many of my days are spent exploring what the resorts have to offer, so I can share those details with you.

Whether it’s helping you decide which hotel best suits your needs or filling you in on where to find a fabulous brunch for that morning you plan to sleep late, I’ve lived it. My hope is that by the end of your vacation, you’ll feel rested and refreshed and have a new resort on your list to try “next time.”

Here are a few of our most helpful resources:

Resorts are attractions, too! 

Our email subscribers get insider details that we don’t share on the website. I would love for you to join us. 

You’ll get practiced advice as we share some of the more intimate details of our visits—like what went wrong versus right. Our readers have often found that our detailed trip reports help provide them with an overview of what to expect upfront, so there will be no surprises! 

“There is just something to be said about not being bound by a massive agenda! We just meandered around and lived in the moment! Every morning, we had room service, and honestly, it was my favorite memory!—Reader.