The value resorts (AllStarsSports/Music/Movies, POP Century, and AoA) will only have a food court. Your room could be anywhere, but if you book "preferred" you'll be in the buildings nearest the central lobby, where the food courts, shop, and bus stops are located. I didn't think preferred was worth the money until I got a free upgrade last week. It made a big difference to me, dragging in from a 12 hour park day, and not having to walk to the back of the resort to get to my room. Having said that, the AllStars resorts are fairly small so the walk isn't bad. At POP? Pretty big resort, could be a long-ish walk to the room, and you know about AoA.
My first choice (when I can afford it) is Animal Kingdom Lodge/Jambo House. I always ask for a partial savanna room and yes, we saw animals every time we were in the room- all 3 times we've stayed there. If money isn't a big issue, book the savanna room. The animals might not be as abundant as the pictures show, but they'll be there! The food court at AKL has "regular" food, as does Boma, their buffet restaurant (and our favorite restaurant, pretty much anywhere). Boma has an entire section of regular food: Mac-n-cheese, chicken tenders, pasta, mashed potatoes, stuff like that. Also a lot of their "african inspired" food can be pretty basic; not sure how selective your son is. (Edit to add... we never felt the bus travel was anything worse than any of the other resorts. You can be at Animal Kingdom in 5 minutes. NONE of the resorts have short, rapid transport to all of the parks, so don't let that deter you. I do agree, the walk to some of the rooms can be long at Jambo, but at least you are inside, out of the elements, in a well lit hotel corridor).
Caribbean Beach is huge; there is an internal bus system just for getting around. That's a "no" for me. Old Key West and Saratoga Springs are similarly large, with an internal bus system. We've stayed at SSR and OKW and if I were traveling with kids, going to the parks each day, they would NOT be my choice. We found them large and difficult to get around, although SSR was really great the time we did a "vacation only" trip, as we could walk/boat over to Disney Springs for dinner and adult bevs each night!
Coronado Springs has an internal bus system, but now that they put 3 Bridges in across the lake, there isn't as much walking, for as long of a distance, as their used to be (personally I think the walk to the 50s building at POP is worse). If you stay in the tower there are no issues, you are right there in the "main" building, but $$$. Coronado is our resort of choice if we can't afford AKL but want something nicer than the values. There is a food court, a couple of nicer restaurants, and a not QS/not full out sit down restaurant billed as a sports bar (but it's pretty decent, more like a restaurant with a lot of TV screens). Restaurants are Mexican themed but have a LOT of regular food. There are also a couple of very nice lounges.
Port Orleans/French Quarter is small, quiet, and the pool is pretty OK. There is only a food court, although you can walk (10 min?) to PO Riverside, their sister resort, where there is a restaurant. POR is pretty big, internal bus system, and DD/SIL did NOT enjoy their stay there last spring. DH and I will opt for POFQ if we are doing a parks trip, as we are tired at the end of the day and don't want a hike in front of us to get to our room... but it really matters as to what is more affordable, POFQ or CSR (we really do love CSR).
I can't comment on WIlderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, or Contemporary except to say that we find the Contemporary main building noisy and very stark/minimalist. DD and I stayed at the Polynesian last summer and it was a one-and-done for us. Having to go outside, walking between buildings to get to restaurants, bars, pools, and transportation, felt too much like a value resort at outrageous prices.
We like the Boardwalk, except there is no "internal" food (IIRC, it's been a few years); you have to go out onto the boardwalk itself to get to quick service or restaurants. The pool is great, and the building and location are wonderful. YOu can boat or walk to Disney Studios and Epcot, and at Epcot you can also hop onto the skyliner to get to the Studios. I don't get the hype for the Stormalong Bay pool at Beach/Yacht Clubs. We swam there once, it was packed with noisy, splashing kids, and the sand in the bottom of the pool made my feet break out in an itchy rash.
Also, if you are concerned about food offerings, the disney website has menus for all their food outlets, including quick service. I usually use the dining site on allears.net as I find it easier to navigate than Disney's webpage- but most things are!
