Help me decide?! Value or Moderate??

[pkwoo84]

We are taking our first trip in May with a 5,2 and 1 year old. We have 2 reservations right now, one at the ASM Family Suite and one at the Riverside with the room that offers the trundle bed. We really like the riverside, it looks beautiful but are really concerned about us all sharing a room with the baby and how we could work that out with naps. The Riverside is also $450 cheaper than the All Star Music. The Family Suite at All Star would obviously provide us with 2 sleeping spaces but my husband feels like the resort looks kind of junky, just like a glorified hotel that they painted up pretty and put a giant boot on I want to give the Riverside a shot but am terrified that we will wind up with a 1 year old that will be up at night screaming her head off because she can see us all and then we will have a terrible week with no sleep, and it is not like we could switch resorts once we were there if there is a problem. At the same time I hate paying $450 more for a resort that does not look nearly as nice. I am so torn about what to do and I have to cancel one of the reservations within a few days so I have to make a decision. Any advice???
Kristy

 

[minnie61650]

Family Suites at All Star Music vs. POR

The Family Suites run about $30 more than a standard room at POR-AB.

Comparisons:


The Family Suites has 2 seperate sleeping areas.
POR has 1.

The Family Suites are 520 square feet.
POR is 314 square feet.

The Family Suites has 2 bathrooms.
POR has 1 bathroom.

The Family Suites have 2 dressing areas with a privacy curtain.
POR has 1 dressing area with a privacy area.

The Family Suites have 2 sinks( 1 each next to the bathrooms), 2 closets, 2 safes, & 2 hair dryers.
POR has 2 sinks ( a double) .1 closet,1 safe, and 1 hair dryer.

The Family Suites have a kitchette with a nice storage area,lots of counter space, a microwave , paper plates & bowls, plastic ware, can opener, Paper towels, fridge,& coffeee pot.
POR has a fridge &a coffee pot.

The Family Suites -Sleeps up to 6 (plus one child under age 3 in a Pak-n-Play crib)
POR-Sleeps up to 5 (plus one child under age 3 in a Pak-n-Play crib)

The Family Suites--Queen bed, full-size pullout sofa, convertible ottoman & chair sleepers (4 separate sleepers) & 2 TVs.
POR has 2 double beds and a trundle bed&1 TV.

The Family Suites -Studio amenities and separate sleeping areas giving more privacy than a standard room.
POR is a standard room.

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Here is the layout of POR:

POR room lay out

Family Suite layout
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Here are some photos of the POR room with the trundle bed from Allearsnet:

the trundle bed

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Here are some photos from the DIS resort website:

** NOTE there is a wall mounted hair dryer next to the bathroom sink.
Look at 8th and 10th phots down and you will see it.

For more info about the All Star Resorts Please visit the FAQ thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409





Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[spiceycat]

at POR you will get 2 double (full) beds - not queens and the trundle bed - smaller than a twin. Only one bathroom.

at All star music you will get one queen bed plus chair bed, sofa bed and ottman bed - which I can guaranteed the kids will love. and the main thing - 2 bathrooms.

tell your husband - the bed situation. He may change his mind.

otherwise I think your family will be fine at POR.

kept in mind since your youngest is under 2 - any of the rooms will work for you.

it is 4 plus one child under 2. So you can stay at any resort.

will your youngest sleep in the pic n' play (okay not the correct words)?

I think you can cover it with a towel or something.

 

[MinnieSummer]

I can't in good faith recommend any of the AS resorts as I have had so many bad experiences there. However, with three kids I really don't think one room will be large enough unless it is a studio at OKW or a delux at one of the deluxe resorts.

I stayed in a studio over Christmas and let me tell you, putting that bed back into a sofa everyday was a pain in the tush -- I can't imagine having to put 2 or 3 back as you will in a suite. And you really have to put them back as there is not a lot of room to navigate around when the beds are open. There are conveniences to the suites but there are some drawbacks as well. They share busses with the other AS resorts which, with 3 children can cause some major difficulties when busses are full. The rooms don't have ceiling fans (a big issue with my family). The pools don't have slides (another issue with my family). They just generally seem more noisy than the mods or deluxe resorts.

Sorry, I know my post didn't help much as it went against the other posters but I just wanted you to know what you faced.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good morning Kristy,

First of all, take a deep breath. It's all going to work out fine.

You know your kids better than anyone of us here on the boards. That being said, you posted that you were concerned that your child might be able to see you all and scream all night. Have you thought about the fact that she may also not like being in a separate (strange) room from you guys.

I have never stayed at any of the All Stars resorts so I can not comment on the buildings, rooms, service, etc.

The moderate resorts have a full service restaurant and a food court. This is a plus in our book.

If the money factor would put your mind to rest, I say go with the Port Orleans. If the size of the room factor would put your miind to rest, I would say go with the suite.

Me, personally, I would save the money and stay at Port Orleans or another moderate.

 

[mykidsrock76]

We actually just had the same problem. We decided to go with 2 rooms as ASMo instead of one at POR. With the AAA rate it was only $100 more total for the week. And to me that is worth it to have 4 beds and 2 bathrooms with 5 ppl. You might want to check that out. Also, you do not have to bother with the pullouts for the kids.

 

[esdras]

Here are a few other issues that might help - or perhaps make the decision more complex - that are in addition, but related, to what others have mentioned.

Either way (Family Suite or two rooms at a Value), this will cost a little more than a single room at a moderate - BUT, this can be offset if you plan carefully. This is what you do (depending on how you are planning out your vacation).

1. IF you are doing one of the Package vacations with tickets (and perhaps dining), make sure that you do two reservations - especially if you are going the two rooms at a value route. On a package (even if there is a package discount like free dining or ticket upgrades), you will likely have to pay rack rate for the room on the ressie. For the SECOND room, this ISN'T required. Book it as a room only, getting ANY discount possible (if you have AAA and you are going during value season, this will save you 20% off the room rate on the second room). One preferred room at the Riverside during value season is $175/night (before tax) - TWO rooms (one rack, one at 20% off) preferred at an All-Star comes out to $169.30 (before tax). Actually a little cheaper!
2. Next, whether you do two rooms OR the Family Suite, IF you are getting Free Dining, and you have "Travel Days" where you will spend little to no time on site (if you leave before lunch on the last day for example), make sure you book your main room ressie for only enough nights that you get Dining credits for each FULL DAY you are at Disney. You get the dining credits for each night of your stay, so if you are there for 5 FULL Days, only pay 5 nights accomodation on the package reservation. If you are there the sixth night before leaving, make that a room only ressie at any discount you can get. Not only will you save money by not paying for dining credits you probably can't use, you will save money on the room - both of these will likely save you far more than what it will cost to pay for breakfast out of pocket. There will be some inconvenience of having to "check out" then "check in" on your last day there, but this shouldn't take too much time - and the savings can make it worth your while.

Another issue mentioned was about the All-Stars sharing busses - I have experience with this, and yes, it can be a hassle. Although I have not stayed at Pop Century, my understanding is that they have their OWN busses, so if you want to do two rooms at a Value, I might suggest staying there rather than the All-Stars. Unless someone can say that the bus service at Pop is bad, you might want to consider this.

So, (and sorry for this being long), I would say that you have three options:

1. PO Riverside with one room
2. All-Star Music in the Family Suite (and try to lower the cost - but since only one night at most could get a room only discount, it will be the most expensive option).
3. Pop Century with two rooms - which might be the cheapest option of them all, IF you follow my suggestions.

Finally, only you can decide whether the slides at the pools are something your kids will really want - if that is a big issue, it may offset the desire for two rooms. For us, neither of our children (8 and 4) are great swimmers, so the regular pools at values are fine - we're hoping to go in August '08, and will be doing either the Family Suite or Pop Century, depending on what discounts come out.

I hope this helped - Good luck!

 

[Buzz2001]

Check out my CSR (moderate) website below for pics and info.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

WE are sort of in the same dilemma. My dad wanted a deluxe room - but not over $200 in peak season. My mom wants an All-Star suite - now that she's learned about them. I'm so sorry I had her call Disney...I'm not thrilled about the idea of sleeping on a sleeper sofa while we're there, but my dad may insist that he gets a queen sized bed. Though if we went with two value rooms, my parents could each have their own full sized bed.

On the flip side, I've tried both ASMu (stan. room) and Pop (preferred loc.). WE wnet to AMSu in May, and Pop in Sept. (free dining).

The busing at ASMu was better. Yes, you made one stop at sports coming, and one stop at ASMo going - but the buses were still less full. They also sometimes run dedicated buses during peak times (ones that don't stop at the other resorts).

At Pop - the buses run very frequently, but they need to run frequently. Just about every bus we were on was full to capacity. I expect this at peak times, but it grew tiresome to have it EVERY time we took a bus. Also, getting back from Epcot after the fireworks took a long time. Even though the bues came frequently, there were a LOT of poeple trying to get back to Pop, which made the wait the longest I've ever waited.
I will add though that if you time it wrong - at the deluxe resorts you can absolutely encounter a 30 minute wait for a bus to show up. At Pop, we never waited more than a few minutes for abus to show up and just about every time we LEFT Pop in the morning we were able to get on the first bus that showed up - so long as we were willing to stand. Sometimes you'll have to stand on buses at every resort, it just seemed to happen more often at Pop.

So the difference is more about your touring style. If you plan on taking mid-day breaks - Pop would probably be preferable. If you plan to come and go at park opening and park close - then the All Stars busing is preferable.

AS for POR - that was also one of my least favorite for buses. (Topped only be CB). The trouble at POR is that unlike the values, there is no queue. the bus stops are a covered area witha few benchs. When the bus shows up though - there is often no line. Since it's a big resort, there is often a number of folks waiting and it can be a mob scene trying to get on the bus. And, if you wait at anything but the main stop - forget getting on the bus. It will already be full by the time it gets around the resort. POR is a BIG resort, and our roo0m was on the far side of the resort. POR (On the trundle bed side) als has NO ELEVATORS! If you've got a room on the first floor, no problem. If you've got a room on the third floor and a stroller to lug, it can be a real pain. My MIL had a sore hip while we were there, and those stairs were killer for her. (THe Magnolia side of the resort has elevators, and better theming, IMO - but no trundles.)