I never want to go back to a value resort again.

[cbg1027]

I don't really like any of the value resorts. I know other people love them (especially POP), but they just don't do it for me. I find them cheesy and always feel like I'm a dressed up Motel 6.

Obviously, I'll take a Deluxe any day, and a moderate after that.

BUT... I'll take a Value any day over staying off property. I just don't enjoy it, no matter how nice the property. I like to "stay inside the magic," and don't want to have to deal with the outside hassles like traffic. I'd rather deal with the inside hassles like the bus system! LOL

DisCopper, you summed it perfectly for me! An on site value is better than anything offsite for me. If someone offered me a free stay at at a Value or something like the The Ritz-Carlton, I would take the Disney value resort every time, even though I'm not a fan of the theming.

 

[Harlemgirl720]

My first stay at a Disney resort was All Movies. I loved it and we were right next to the pool. The next stay was at POR. I really loved that one. It was so serene and beautiful. This past August we stayed at AK in a SV. OMG! Loved it so much, we bought in at Kidani.

I don't think you can go wrong at any Disney property.

 

[VAN]

I've stayed at Fort Wilderness in our own camper, at the Dolphin, at POR, ASMu, ASSp and POP. Yes, of course, I would love to stay at a Mod or Deluxe; however, we are a working family and when I look at the price difference for a visit of $300 or more ... I just can't justify the cost. I am one that likes to vacation and, by being thrifty we are able to go on 3-4 vacations a year.

It does come down to what you want in a hotel. At WDW, I want something that is on-site, clean, etc. We spend quite a bit of time at the pool and I find that at the values the pool is all but deserted during the day. The food courts are expansive and geared to handle large groups of people; so there is (generally) minimal hassle or wait. I've stayed at 4 and 5 star hotels before, and as long as things are safe, clean and convenient I'm happy. I don't need a bellman, I don't need a concierge, I don't need a plush/fancy lobby that serves $12 martinis.

Also find more parking at the Values ... we are finding that we are fine with the values; however, have made the decision to spend the extra $$ for a rental car so we don't have to deal with the buses.

So, it all comes down to personal preference and how you view/manage your $$ resources. We could afford the deluxes, but then we wouldn't be able to go on so many trips each year.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I bounced around form the CR to Pop and back no problems.

One thing that made a big difference for me is for the value trips my choice was stay home or value. So yeah I loved the values.

I do have to agree with all though that the Deluxe and Mod are nicer. But you get what you pay for and I do have great memories at the values. Would like to go back to POP just because of the good memories there.

 

[maxiesmom]

I bounced around form the CR to Pop and back no problems.

One thing that made a big difference for me is for the value trips my choice was stay home or value. So yeah I loved the values.

I do have to agree with all though that the Deluxe and Mod are nicer. But you get what you pay for and I do have great memories at the values.

I agree with this. I have stayed at all levels of Disney resorts, and they are all wonderful in their own way. I like the frantic, in your face fun of the Values. I like the peacefullness of the Mods. And I like the convenience of being at the Deluxe resorts.

If I had to choose between 2 stays at a Value or 1 at a Deluxe, you can bet I would choose 2 stays at a Value. And have with no regrets.

You just have to know what is important to your family. If you simply must have a sit down restaurant or spa treatments, then a Value will never make you happy. But if all you are looking for is a place to sleep, then they are awesome, and it would be silly to spend the money for a more expensive resort.

 

[kimsdreamvacation]

We just came back last week from Disney,we stayed at Fort Wilderness in tents and it rained nearly the whole time.While we were there we toured ASMusic to see what the rooms were like and I have to say that for our trip for next Dec. having 4 walls and a heater in the room is all I need to be happy.I definately will enjoy the values as opposed to a tent..even if the Pop Warner kids are thereit will be wonderful to sleep off the ground and dry and only worry about wearing our ponchos while we are in the parks....

 

[Louiepipbgeeco]

We have stayed at the POP a few times, CBR and POFQ for the mods and AKL for the Deluxe.
I have to agree with some of the OP--they all have something to offer. I do not think any one of them is "better" than the other. Rather, each is unique. I will say that I was happy with all of the resorts.( IMHO any Disney resort is better than none)
I have since bought into DVC and will be staying at the Beach Club in July. This will be a whole new game for me and my family. I know we will LOVE it . But, I think that we will probably still use the other resorts on Cash ressies until we gain more contracts. My DD actually likes the POP a lot.
I was blown away by AKL but then some things I liked better at the other levels...food court being the main one.
In any event, it depends on the group, the time of the vacation, purpose..etc. If I am going for a quick trip and plenty of park time, the value would be perfectly fine with me.

 

[puffkin]

I have stayed at pretty much all the resorts except All Star Music, Grand Floridian, Yacht Club and Boardwalk. Our plans, finances and travel party dictate where we stay. Now that we own DVC, I have become much more of a resort snob, but still stay at all categories of resorts.

Typically we fly in and stay at a resort Fri/Sat night before checking into our DVC villas on Sunday. I typically prefer the moderates for this purpose (POFQ is my favorite). This last trip we had 5 people though so we did 2 rooms at ASMo over 1 room at POR (with a trundle) which worked out to the same cost. I must admit is was really nice having two rooms to spread out in!

I went on a last minute trip with a girlfriend who was a first timer. We were there 4 nights and barely in the room. Got a $49 rate at Pop that we couldn't pass up. It was perfect for the amount of time we were in the room.

ASMo was our first onsite resort ever and it holds a special place in my heart as "starting" the Disney obsession for us. POR was the nicest we could afford the next 2 trips and that is the one resort that truely feels like home to me. We love our DVC and the deluxes (especially the Poly which is my dream resort) but we are happy anywhere on Disney property!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

OP, I'm glad you liked POR. My family has enjoyed stays at POR and POFQ. Regarding the values, I love them all like crazy, but given a choice I'll always choose a moderate -and gladly pay the extra money. I'm staying at a deluxe for the first time on my next trip and wonder if I'll become spoiled at that level.

 

[ppony]

I've seen it mentioned too on the DVC forums that for some of us, as we get older and want to slow our vacations down (which I am SO excited about doing...I'm tired of commando touring), we will LOVE spending more and more time at our resorts. I know I will! I think the post has been deleted, but somoene had said that they were there for the parks so a value worked well. That is true, for them. But it doesn't mean that those staying at a mod or deluxe aren't there for the parks too. For us, it's the whole package despite, to this date, we have not remotely utilized facilities and activities. Where we stay matters, to others, it doesn't. Or not as much. Each and every way is cool.

 

[pooh4evr]

Just got back from a stay th ASMu FS - while the room was perfect for us, plenty of beds, 2 bathrooms, "kitchenette" our own room- I don't know if we'll go back there, the bus service was not great, there was alot of noise from neighboring rooms - the staff was great , room was clean and the pool was OK- I can't quite say why but it just was a weird stay overall actually.

 

[pixarmom]

Phew! I'm happy to see all these new posts today. I posted on the Deluxe Girl Goes Value thread about this same topic. We have stayed in all 3 categories of resorts several times each (Poly, BC, WL, CBR, CSR, and All Star Sports). For the past 10 years, with our kids, we've been staying Deluxe. We spend little time in the resort, but the older boys swim at the end of the evening, and we like the convenience of the deluxe resort transportation. But this spring, we're adding 4 nights at All Star Movies to our Clearwater Beach vacation (couldn't stay away!) We're planning other Disney trips in 2010 and 2011 (both DL and WDW) so a value seemed like a perfect way to get a few days in this spring. And our youngest is a huge Toy Story fan, so it seemed like a great idea. Then I saw this thread and was really second-guessing our decision. We're surprising our kids with this for Christmas - so I hope we made the right decision.

 

[DisCopper]

I second everything DisCopper stated.

I feel the value resorts are cheesy and tacky.
^but with that said, i would choose to stay on property (no matter what resort on disney) over any outside property. It does take away the "magic"

YAY! After 396 posts, this is the first time I've been officially "seconded!" LOL

 

[3_disprincesses]

My 1st 3 visits were mods and the last two were at POP - I will choose POP before mods from now own. Moderates were way too big and I hated the busses there. The rooms at the mods were not that much bigger than what we had at POP. The food court at POP was much better than any of the mods I have stayed at and Everything POP is a great shop. Now my dream vacation would be CR MK View with no kids...but I would rather be with my family at cheesy POP!

 

[Hardy]

If it's a choice between staying value and staying home, I'd choose value! I thought Pop was cute, but I don't think I could handle the size of the rooms with the whole family, it was just my DH and I and that was cozy enough! However, I could hear way too much noise from neighboring rooms, I don't like hearing other people's "bathroom" noises I also can't picture myself booking at one of the All Stars ever again unless it was some incredible rate or something, walls just as thin, kind of shabby looking, tiny rooms, and so on, and honestly it is worth the money to not bake in the sun when waiting for the bus, I think values really should have some cover. And not to be rude to anyone, but there is a difference in the guests from value to deluxe, overall....not saying everyone at Pop is a belligerent hick and everyone at a deluxe is a college professor, but I know I can't be the only one that has observed such things.
I've really enjoyed moderate and up, I POR, I just find it so pretty and relaxing there. Now we probably will mostly be staying at DVC, which is great, but I would be happy to fill in with a mod if I needed an extra day here or there.

Oh and, I also would rather stay value onsite than deluxe off-site! there is just no replacing the magic of Disney!

 

[momofrrr]

I did not think that was anything particularly wroing with the value resort, we stayed at ASMu. It was clean and had a bed. Our issue was with transportation. We where there at Thanksgiving the year we stayed there and it took forever to catch a bus. Not because there were too many people in line but because they never came. We felt very isolated. We are a mod family....

 

[lllGurulll]

We have to really budget to get to Disney so I have no interest in spending additional money on what is roughly just a room with a bed. I would love to try a Mod someday but the Values are perfectly fine for us. Plus, I would rather have that money for the parks and such anyway. There is nothing worse than always saying no because you spent too much getting there.

 

[mom2princessj]

We stayed deluxe in January at GF for our first visit (we did have 5 people so deluxe was our only option). My husband didn't like it all that much so when we went for Pop Warner just a few weeks ago we needed a place to stay for a few days before meeting up with the team...we chose CR. Loved the MK view but not worth the $$. We then stayed with our team at ASMu. I was surprised by how much it didn't bother me to not stay deluxe. I liked the food court...more options than I had thought there would be. The pool was big and the kids really enjoyed it. I had issues the first night with kids next door (another team) being up until 430a but aside from that our room was extremely clean, anytime we called for towels they were there immediately, we had cute towel animals that my kids enjoyed, and overall the room fit the four of us (my kids are 6 and 4) just fine. We spent very little time in our room so for the value of it, it makes alot of sense. I do want to try a mod next time just to see the difference. We always rent a car and don't use the buses so for us that's not an issue. I love the convenience the monorail has to offer so for that reason I love the deluxes but we didn't go to MK this time but the first night so it wasn't really an issue for transportation from that side.

 

[maxiesmom]

And not to be rude to anyone, but there is a difference in the guests from value to deluxe, overall....not saying everyone at Pop is a belligerent hick and everyone at a deluxe is a college professor, but I know I can't be the only one that has observed such things.

 

[lllGurulll]

Wow. I sure wish you hadn't bumped that post. Some people just plain have no respect for others. Too much elitism going on these days.