$2000 more? Worth it?

[kaytieeldr]

$2,000 is a pretty hefty down payment on an additional trip. I say it's not worth that much to upgrade.

[mickeynut1]

Our first stay onsite was at a mod (CBR) and while we had a great trip and loved the resort, once we tried a deluxe, we haven't stayed anything else since. Worth is subjective as it's different for everyone and $2000 is alot of money, but for us it's worth it for a deluxe (and we love both WL and AKL). But as others have said, only you can decide whether or not the upgrade is worth the extra cost for you. We spend alot of time at the resort and enjoy the amenities that the deluxe resorts offer so the extra cost is always worth it to us. Good luck.

[Dis703]

We are making the jump to deluxe with our next trip and I never thought we would do it. It was going to be about $1,000 more to do the BC over POR. At first we were going to do a split stay and bring that difference down, but then we got a big tax return and decided to stay deluxe the whole time. I'm still considering whether or not to spend even more for a special view or upgrade to club level, but I'm holding off for now and just planning on spending more money on experiences and dining, souvenirs, etc.

$2,000 for me would be too much just to upgrade to deluxe. If it was an upgrade to deluxe plus club level then maybe.

But I agree which deluxe would make a difference. BC appealed to us because of the convenience factor. I would say the same maybe for a monorail resort, but for any that weren't walking distance or monorail connected to the parks, no I wouldn't find it worthwhile.

[JennyDrake]

I was strictly a values and moderates person until December 2010 when I did a split stay at AKL. Since then, I have gone as a traveling companion to a senior with mobility issues and have stayed at CR, SSR, and AKL (Kidani).

In my world the price jump is in no way worth it. Closest would be CR for me.

In the deluxes the buses run just the same, the food courts are WAY out of the way and with much smaller selections, and I did not experience any better customer service (in fact AKL was worse both times) than at a value or moderate. Yes, the rooms are larger and the towels are softer, but that is about it.

As PPers have said, I would rather have another trip, stay longer and/or eat better food. The suggestion for a split stay is also a good one.

[dminnie]

The suggestion to stay at the mod resort and then go with deluxe just for 2=3 nights sounds good to me. It would cost you a lot less than $2000, leaving some money for the other things you mentioned.

I haven't done it yet, but it seems like a lot of people like split stays like that. They seem to do the first few days at a less expensive resort and really hit the parks then. Their last few days they spend more time at the deluxe resort they move to.

[disneybliss2]

When we booked our last trip, we really struggled with deciding to upgrade to deluxe or not. In the past, we had stayed at the values and mods and contemplated staying at AKL for the first time. We saw a HUGE difference when we upgraded from values to mods (fell in love with mods) and wondered if we'd find the same difference when upgrading to deluxe. Our oldest daughter is obsessed with animals, and I knew the experience at AKL would add so much to our vacation for her.

To upgrade from POFQ to AKL for a 10 day trip was going to be $1,200 more. Not bad, but still hard for me to swallow. We could easily afford it, so that wasn't the problem. The problem is that I'm very frugal (which is why I could afford the upgrade) and had trouble justifying the leap. In the end, we went with it. Luckily, a room discount later came out that we were able to apply to our reservation which only made it around $600 difference. For that length of stay, I thought that amount was very well justified. I would pay the $1,000-1,200 fee to upgrade, but that's my limit.

We LOVED AKL, and I wouldn't trade that experience in the world. I'm so glad we did it. It was like a WDW vacation and a mini vacation to Africa all in one. The African theme and the animals really was a draw for us. It wasn't merely the idea of the deluxe. Other than the Poly or AKL, the other deluxes have no appeal to me, so for me it wouldn't be worth the additional fee to upgrade to just any deluxe just to be at a deluxe resort. I think you have to think of what is drawing you to a particular resort. Otherwise, I don't think the extra amenities (for me) are worth the extra fee. For us, AKL offered a unique stay that other deluxes don't offer; we weren't looking for the extra amenities per say, but the experience of the animals/setting.

All in all, I would definitely stay at AKL again. I would be hard to get me to pay $2,000 more though. As much as we loved it, I don't think it was worth that much additional money. For that amount of money, I'd happily stay at a mod and lengthen my stay, apply to dining, apply to another trip, etc. It's hard to determine if a resort or an experience is "worth it" to someone else, though. As other posters have stated, they have done deluxe and won't go back now. It's all a matter of opinion.

If nothing else, if you do decide to stay at at a mod or value, you could make a trip over to AKL or WL for a meal (Boma at AKL is wonderful). After eating, you could stroll the grounds, see the animals (if going to AKL) and get an idea if it would be worth it to you for a future trip.

Good luck with your decision!

[mum2four]

Originally Posted by kkmauch

We are headed to wdw in late August. We've stayed at all the mods and most DVCs. This time around we will have two standard rooms for 7 nights. Question is, are WL or AKL worth $2000 more just to stay at a deluxe? We've never stayed at a deluxe before. We have eaten at them and toured all but never stayed. We could use that $2K for plenty of other fun on the trip or even upgrade our flights to non-stop on the way home.

Will we see a big enough difference to feel like it was worth it? We have fairly simple easy going tastes, we do like the resort feel of CBR and we only use disney transportation.

I feel like we should stick with the moderate and feel like we dont need to hold back on special dining or purchases, possibly even have a good amount of cash on hand to take advantage of a decent bounceback offer (if they still do those).

Anyone have experience making the leap for the first time? Thoughts? Would you do it again? Why or why not?

$2000? Nope, definitely not worth it IMO. I think you answered your own question above in the bolded parts. If that $2000 means holding back on special dining, purchases, and other fun, then it's not worth it.

[kkmauch]

You have all been really helpful! We have talked about it as a family and are going to stuck with CBR. In the next year, the adults will make long weekend trip and stay deluxe to give it a try. That should not be nearly as costly and will give us a good taste of the deluxe style.

Thank you!!!!

[disneybliss2]

Originally Posted by kkmauch

You have all been really helpful! We have talked about it as a family and are going to stuck with CBR. In the next year, the adults will make long weekend trip and stay deluxe to give it a try. That should not be nearly as costly and will give us a good taste of the deluxe style.

Thank you!!!!

I think you made a great decision! If paying the extra money (which was a lot) would hold you back on dining/purchases, etc., it's not worth it for sure. You have a great plan of trying it out for a shorter stay later.

[buzznina]

For our family it would be a very easy decision, pocket the $2k Heck for us $2k is another trip. We have been deluxe and we did not get the "once you go deluxe, you can't go back" feeling. We had a great stay, but we had great stays at Mods too. We just never felt like the difference was that great, but that is just our opinion. Weill we do a deluxe again, most likely for a short trip with a good discount or renting DVC points. So it is not like we do not like themYou are really the only one that can decide, you will get posts for and against.

To bad you are going before they install queen beds into CBR, I think queen beds are a big plus and CBR is the last Mod to get them.

[Mynamewastaken]

For 2,000 more no way. I would save that for a future trip for 500.00 more I would consider it but not more than that.

[davedmaine]

Originally Posted by kkmauch

We are headed to wdw in late August. We've stayed at all the mods and most DVCs. This time around we will have two standard rooms for 7 nights. Question is, are WL or AKL worth $2000 more just to stay at a deluxe? We've never stayed at a deluxe before. We have eaten at them and toured all but never stayed. We could use that $2K for plenty of other fun on the trip or even upgrade our flights to non-stop on the way home.

Will we see a big enough difference to feel like it was worth it? We have fairly simple easy going tastes, we do like the resort feel of CBR and we only use disney transportation.

I feel like we should stick with the moderate and feel like we dont need to hold back on special dining or purchases, possibly even have a good amount of cash on hand to take advantage of a decent bounceback offer (if they still do those).

Anyone have experience making the leap for the first time? Thoughts? Would you do it again? Why or why not?

Nobody can really answer that than you. We don't know how much cash you have, debt, etc. it would be irresponsible for anyone here to offer an opinion

[dminnie]

Nobody can really answer that than you. We don't know how much cash you have, debt, etc. it would be irresponsible for anyone here to offer an opinion

If someone asks for an opinion and doesn't mention their overall financial health, we can assume that it is within their means to do it. They just want to know if others would do if they had the money too. The person with the responsibility is the person doing the actual spending.

OP: I think the decision you made to stay at CBR is great. You may want to do a few meals at some of the deluxe resorts. It's fun to to dine at them and check out what they're like. Then you have a better feel for which one you might want to stay at some other time.

[Robbi]

Originally Posted by kkmauch

You have all been really helpful! We have talked about it as a family and are going to stuck with CBR. In the next year, the adults will make long weekend trip and stay deluxe to give it a try. That should not be nearly as costly and will give us a good taste of the deluxe style.

Thank you!!!!

Great decision, in my opinion
Most kids are happy whatever the resort. Enjoy your deluxe trip! Deluxe is nice but I think you might find, "What's the big deal?" We've stayed deluxe or DVC most of the time and honestly, we love mods just as much. Deluxe is basically a convenience thing. The rooms are a little larger, there are a couple more restaurants but the counter service stinks and for those who love food courts, you're out of luck.