Will my kids be disappointed with POR instead of ASM?

[GoofyGirl75]

Hello all! I'm happily planning our 6th trip to the world, but I'm having a dilemma. In the past, we've always stayed at values, and my kids have been happy with all of them. My dd9 says ASMo is her favorite, and I think my ds5 is too young to care. I've been fine with the values, too, and we were considering trying ASMu this year. Then I thought, why not try something a little nicer? So, we're thinking POR. Then, I saw that we can get the royal rooms for $135 more than standard, so why not try that? So that's what I'm planning. But, do you think the kids will miss the over-the-top giant in-your-face Disney theming of the values?

It will be costing us about $450 more for a Royal room at POR than a standard room at ASMu + water parks. (We won't add water parks if we do POR, since they have a nicer pool, and we only go once per trip anyway.) I'm okay with this "splurge" if the kids really enjoy the resort (it looks like there's so much more cool stuff to do there), plus I think my DH will like it better, but I'm not okay with the kids longing to be back at a value while we're there.

So, what do you think?

[eemaxx]

I would think the kids would enjoy PO very much. I've stayed at both French Quarter and Riverside, and I actually prefer FQ. As for the Disney theming, I think you would have a little more of that at FQ with the Mardi Gras theme, especially at the pools. Either way, you can't go wrong with any Disney resort! Both of my kids, ages 10 and 5, have been to AS resorts and moderate resorts and don't care which it is, as long as its Disney!

[Mynamewastaken]

I personally think they will be ok! The Royal Rooms are amazing and your daughter will love them. We will be staying there for the first time in April and both my kids (one girl 6 and one boy 4) are psyched. They wanted that over AOA! They love to swim and the pool there is fun. I would do it if I were in your shoes. The room alone is much bigger and nicer than what the values offer. Plus the ferry is cool too

[Sue M]

What's not to like . We love POR, and for sure you and DH will enjoy it more, queen beds, 2 sinks, more room. It's a beautiful resort. The kids will like it too.

[DizDaD7]

POR is a very nice resort, just very different then AS...A lot bigger, but very lush, and nice restaurant and feature pool...Drawback is the Bus system , which I think is the worst or at least even with BWV.

[Rosanne]

I have not stayed at POR. It doesn't appeal to my girls (6,11) at all. However, the Royal Rooms would definitely appeal to my 6 year old.

We mostly have stayed at Movies, which is probably our favorite except maybe the Dolphin (but they are such different experiences). We have stayed also at Music, Pop, YC and Caribbean.

We are in the process of making some decisions about Disney for various reasons but if we do go to WDW we are going to stay at ASMusic. Movies wasn't included in the special (my 6 year old's favorite) but both girls were excited to stay at Music, esp. since they could walk to Movies to enjoy the icons if they wanted. If I were you, I would ask them. If they would prefer Music you would save some money anyway. If they prefer the Royal Rooms you can feel secure that they will be thrilled. Anytime I ask my girls' something like that I preface it with something like. "I will be making the final decision but I wanted your input on this."

[Rosanne]

Oh, also my 11 year old is excited about the "quiet" Ariel pool at Music, LOL.

[Amy&Dan]

Back in 2005, this was our same dilemma! My kids were 8 & 10, and we had always done values and enjoyed them. But a deal came out and I was itching to upgrade to a mod. I chose POR, and like you was worried. Dd in particular loved the theming of a value.

Once at POR, we all four were in love with the whole resort! The boat to DTD, main pool with the slide and waterfall feature, food court, quiet pools, grounds, fishing and room were all huge hits.

That was our fourth trip and since then we have stayed value several more times, all the mods, some several times, the Poly, and even were DVC members for awhile. But the mods, POR in particular are our favorites. For us they are the perfect combo of value with a resort type experience.

Your kids will really enjoy all the areas to explore and the larger room with queen beds and larger/two sink bathroom is very nice.

I am not opposed to values but do way prefer the moderates. The different vibe and less hectic nature are great, but they still are a lot of fun with great theming.

I find Disney able to wow kids with all their resorts, because regardless of theme and level, they are able to immerse the guest in the specific theme of the resort.

[MrRomance]

I can definitely see your dilemma here. We've never stayed at a value because we don't like the OTT in your face Disney themes. We have visited them though to eat and stuff.

We have stayed at POR and our family stayed at POFQ during that trip so we spent a lot of time at FQ. If you're hoping it will be anything like the values then I can certainly say they're not. They are nice resorts. POR is more to our taste than FQ which I would say is slightly more "Disney" than POR.

You'll find that PO is much quieter, better equipped and "prettier" to look at. Very green and lush and not very Disney at all. That said, I think most kids are just happy to be at Disney and don't worry too much about the look of the resort. They'll enjoy the better standard of room and facilities much more.

My family really seek out non "Disney" resorts, our favourite is Saratoga Springs, but I would say that on balance, POR would make for a nicer time for you all because the pools are better, the facilities are better, the rooms are nicer.

[calngavinsmom]

Hello there! We are a family of four and have been lucky enough to try out a couple of values and a couple of moderates and my boys favourite is hands down POR!

They were 9 and 6 on our last trip and it was a repeat stay at POR at their request. We had previously stayed at POFQ, POP, ASMu and ASMU family suite as well.

To them there was just so much more to do at POR that the over the top theme of the values didn't matter as much.

POR has a great feature pool with a slide (it's fun I tried it.....a few times ) cool arcade, fishing hole (we didn't catch much but still fun), boat to DTD, fun boats at the marina (watermice), the boys LOVED the YeeHaw Bob show in the lounge, very interactive!

To add, for the adults, I personally really enjoyed the feeling of relaxation at POR. After the hustle and bustle of a day at the parks, I really enjoyed having a place that I could just relax.....and POR definitely promotes that feeling. It is so lush and beautiful I just love it.

It's a small thing but by the pool, there are a lot of sunny and shaded areas to lounge, which I appreciated being able to get out of the sun when it got too hot.

The foodcourt was also great with the design your own pasta and salad....very yummy

The boat to dtd also opened up a lot of dining options that were an easy, fun ride away.

My dh loved POR so much after staying at values, he went from wanting to take a break from DIsney to booking the bounceback before we even left the resort

I have no idea if your kids will love it or not but I just wanted to share the experience of a family with children of similar ages who have btdt.

Good luck to you!

[Gorechick]

We took our 7 yr old boy/ girl twins on their first trip this past August and stayed in a RR at POR. They absolutely loved the resort. They loved the setting, pools, room, store, and food court. This was their first big trip staying at a fancy hotel. They continue to talk about it and we just might stay again on our next trip.

[mum2four]

Originally Posted by GoofyGirl75

Hello all! I'm happily planning our 6th trip to the world, but I'm having a dilemma. In the past, we've always stayed at values, and my kids have been happy with all of them. My dd9 says ASMo is her favorite, and I think my ds5 is too young to care. I've been fine with the values, too, and we were considering trying ASMu this year. Then I thought, why not try something a little nicer? So, we're thinking POR. Then, I saw that we can get the royal rooms for $135 more than standard, so why not try that? So that's what I'm planning. But, do you think the kids will miss the over-the-top giant in-your-face Disney theming of the values?

It will be costing us about $450 more for a Royal room at POR than a standard room at ASMu + water parks. (We won't add water parks if we do POR, since they have a nicer pool, and we only go once per trip anyway.) I'm okay with this "splurge" if the kids really enjoy the resort (it looks like there's so much more cool stuff to do there), plus I think my DH will like it better, but I'm not okay with the kids longing to be back at a value while we're there.

So, what do you think?

I completely understand your dilemma! We debated back and forth between POR room and AOA suite for our upcoming May trip (we need a room for 5). Kids LOVE the pics of AOA, but the cost is almost $1000 more than POR, so we are booked at POR instead. Personally, I'm thrilled - the pics of POR are gorgeous!! I am a little concerned that the kids might be disappointed, BUT, they are at Disney World! There is no reason for them to complain about anything!! Besides, they've never been anywhere like POR before so it will all be new and exciting. We will probably make a trip over to AOA some evening just to walk around and check it out - maybe you could do that if your kids are missing the ambience of the values! I bet your kids will love POR