Which Moderate should I choose?

[Tonberry]

The kids talked me into going to Disney in 2017 (they didn't have to try hard ).
We will be going around the end of August for 4 or 5 nights. It will be me, WW, DD9 and DS6.

I want to stay at a moderate resort for 3 reasons:
1) I want to keep the cost down because we are doing a bigger trip in 2018. Under 3k with park passes is my goal. I don't want to spend any more than that.
2) The kids want to go to any resort that has a pool slide.
3) I've never stayed at a moderate before.

So our choices are POR, POFQ, CSR, and CBR.
We plan on using busses for transportation and won't be renting any cars. We're not going to do any dining plan, so it will be mostly quick service, but we will try and do a couple dinners here and there, most likely Hoop Dee Do and CRT or BOG.

Must have's for the kids are a pool with a slide. My kids love swimming almost more than the parks.
Wife and I want a room with queen beds. We just don't like full beds, and me being 6'5" doesn't help.

Any resort recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Personally I don't think you can go wrong at any of them. Pools all have slides...CBR pool is pirate themed so might be fun. Personally like like the POR pool because it is surrounded by trees so has more shade than the others (and in August that is nice).

I think all the moderates now have upgraded to Queen beds (expect the CBR pirate themed rooms).

The best one for buses is POFQ, it is smaller, so has the one stop...sometimes shares with POR...if so, then POFQ is the first stop.

 

[Hopefully]

My favorite MOD is PORQ I like the theme and I like the size. It only has one bus stop and if it does share with PORS it is the first stop in both directions. And the boat to DS is a nice plus

 

[shannonstar]

We have stayed at POFQ and POR. We preferred POFQ for the size and quaintness of the resort. The pool has a slide, but it is not the best of the moderate pools, so if that is your biggest want, I would look at pictures of the pool at Carribean Beach.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The pools at CBR and CSR are really leaps and bounds better than the POR and POFQ pools/slides. Neither PO slide is all that.

 

[adisneyaunt]

POFQ is quaint in size, has included boat transport to Disney springs ( and sister resort POR) u can use either pool ( a nice 10 minute walk on lighted pathway or boat) good amenities cute pool, especially for your younger one, all the bells n whistles ( movies on grass, bikes, etc etc).
I personally think POR has a better food court but it's good here as well.
I would say POR as a first choice but ONLY if I were doing a preferred room location and I'm Not positive if they have ur bedding choice.
Have a wonderful visit wherever you choose!

 

[bamaliving]

The slide at CSR is amazing.

 

[Tonberry]

Aside from POFQ, which of the other 3 resorts have the best bus service? Both walking distance to the bus stops and how quick the busses can get you to the parks.

 

[tinka-belle]

Best pool and slide is at Coronado. We have always had great bus service here too except for the occasional service hiccup now and then that all resorts can get. They have 4 stops around the resort and share with no other resorts. No area is very far from a bus stop. At the parks we have found the CSR bus stops to be very convenient compared to other moderates pick up/drop off locations, but those can vary when they re-do the bus areas at the parks so it can change.

The Pepper Market has more made to order food than the other counter service places we have tried, a tad more expensive though. Rix grab-n-go has decent a.m. and p.m. selections and snacks, even the Siesta pool bar has decent, but limited, food choices. Two table service restaurants here also, Maya Grill is perfect for upscale Tex-Mex, though again it's a little pricey. Their "for two" platters would be enough for most families of four though. The second one, Las Venetas, seems more geared to the convention center people.

CSR is starting a hard goods rehab this month, but will close one building at a time for the work, it will not impact other buildings or areas. All rooms have queen beds. You might see conventioneers around the resort at times, but they tend to be in meetings all day so don't impact the pool or park busses much. Can see them mostly in the restaurants and bars in the evenings. CSR is our favorite resort!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I have stayed at all of those.

By FAR, my favorite was Coronado. No contest. We LOVED it! Stayed in late June with me, Dh, and our two sons who were 9 and 11 at the time. The pool was amazing. The quick service food was great. We did not use the table service restaurants. Bus service was excellent.

Distant second, Port Orleans Riverside I stayed there alone in October 2014 (I was running a Disney race) The grounds were beautiful. I didn't use the table service restaurant. Quick service was fine. I didn't use the pool. Bus service was great.

Even FURTHER distant was Caribbean Beach. I stayed their with my 16 year old son in April 2016 (we were running a Disney race.) The table service restaurant was EXCELLENT We did not use the pool. The quick service was TERRIBLE. Bus service was ok. The resort was huge and FELT huge.

Port Orleans French Quarter is slightly behind CB. I stayed their with a friend (we were both women in our late 30's at the time) in November 2014. I was running a Disney race, my friend was just along for the trip. It felt very "motel" like. The food court (quick service) had a creepy vibe (I understand it's been renovated since I went.) The pool is geared towards young kids, though you can walk over and use the pool at Riverside.

 

[gzmtlock]

DD and I did a mother-daughter trip when she was 9, stayed at CSR. She LOVED the pool and slide, still talks about it. She's 19 now.

DH and I stayed at CSR for my birthday trip this past summer, his first time there. He loved it - great ambiance, beautiful grounds, good buses.

At this point, we'd have to find a MUCH cheaper rate to consider another moderate over CSR.

 

[LindySpirit]

What about Fort Wilderness?

 

[Tonberry]

What about Fort Wilderness?

I would love to stay at the cabins, but my wife has no interest in it. It's also $100 dollars more a night than the other mods.

 

[Hockeyfan17]

We have stayed at POR and CBR and found CBR to be better. We really liked the pool area at CBR, and if you get a good location (Jamaica Building), your walk to the bus stop is very short as well, you are just over the bridge to the pool and the main building. We also found that the transportation was much better to CBR, however, that could have just been the weeks that we were there. You will have a fabulous time at any of the resorts you choose.

 

[HopperFan]

Best pools are CSR and CBR. They will probably like either.
CSR has one of longest slides on property.
CBR has water play area, but probably not of interest to your guys.
CSR has the best bus service, 4 stops, all close to rooms.
CBR has the bus that folks complain about the most (we drive to parks from there).
CSR will begin a room rehab soon, hopefully.
CBR just had it's rooms rehabbed.
CSR is third largest in footprint.
CBR is largest in footprint.

 

[mickeymom22]

We have stayed at all of them except CBR. We loved our stay at POFQ. We liked the smallness, theming, QS, and one bus stop. All the rooms are close enough to the main area...so no long hikes back to the room after a long park day.

We have stayed several times at POR. Since we are family of five, we were always in the Alligator Bayou section. I was beginning to not like that section. We seemed to never be close to anything. I just felt disconnected...but the last time we stayed there our oldest wasn't with us so we were a family of four. My youngest daughter was nine at the time and she really wanted to stay in one of the royal rooms...so we gave it a try! I am so glad we did! I love the manor section of the resort! I really liked the royal rooms...how can you not when you have your very own fireworks over your bed every night!

We also enjoyed our one night at CS. The resort was beautiful. The main pool looked great. It was too cold for us to enjoy it though!

All of this to say, I think you will like any of the moderates. We always rely totally on the buses to get where we are going and we have only had good experiences with them at these resorts.

Happy Planning!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Aside from POFQ, which of the other 3 resorts have the best bus service? Both walking distance to the bus stops and how quick the busses can get you to the parks.

I can't speak about buses at CSR as we haven't stayed there. But for the others, CBR is large, but each "village" has its own bus stop...this means a short walk tot he bus stop no matter where you stay...but also means lots of stops. Now often the buses will be double teaming the resort so will only pick up from three stops then off to the parks...but on returning, they of course hit each stop. We would cross our fingers each night that we would enter the direction that our stop would be first and not fourth.

POR only has two stops, so it is possible that you would have a longer walk to and from stops...and sometimes it shares a bus with POFQ making it stop two and three of the trip. if you get a preferred room you will be close to the first POR stop...and food court.

As for travel to the parks, I think CBR and POR are pretty similar in travel times to places, with CBR having an edge for HS and EPCOT...but POR has the boat to DTD...sorry Disney Springs.

 

[dansdad]

POR only has two stops, so it is possible that you would have a longer walk to and from stops...and sometimes it shares a bus with POFQ making it stop two and three of the trip.

Actually POR has 4 bus stops. There's a North, South, East and West depot.

 

[HopperFan]

I can't speak about buses at CSR as we haven't stayed there. But for the others, CBR is large, but each "village" has its own bus stop...this means a short walk tot he bus stop no matter where you stay...but also means lots of stops. Now often the buses will be double teaming the resort so will only pick up from three stops then off to the parks...but on returning, they of course hit each stop. We would cross our fingers each night that we would enter the direction that our stop would be first and not fourth.

POR only has two stops, so it is possible that you would have a longer walk to and from stops...and sometimes it shares a bus with POFQ making it stop two and three of the trip. if you get a preferred room you will be close to the first POR stop...and food court.

As for travel to the parks, I think CBR and POR are pretty similar in travel times to places, with CBR having an edge for HS and EPCOT...but POR has the boat to DTD...sorry Disney Springs.

POR has 4 stops.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My family sounds a lot like yours. We must have queen beds and the kids must have an amazing pool. They also like pool time just as much as the parks and sometimes even more.

We've done CBR twice. We loved it both times. We never had an issue with transportation. We never waited more than 5 minutes except for once when the wait was about 15 minutes. The kids LOVED the pool. We did midday breaks by the pool and even one rest day by the pool. We were in Jamaica both times with a very short 3 minute walk to OPR. We enjoyed the QS options.

I will say I want to try CSR. I think my kids would also love that pool.