Moderate over POP?

[brighteyes]

I am considering doing a split stay at A MOD for a week the POP for a week. We have only stayed at POP and really love it because it is not a hike to the bus/food court and the bed size is not an issue as DS and I get a bed to ourselves. WE also love the food court at POP.

I am curious to try a mod but have never stayed anywhere else and am worried we may not like it as much as POP. I have no clue which one to choose...

I was thinking CBR but it was suggested to me that it may be busy/noisy due to families of 5 staying in the suites.

Could you share your favourite mod or least fav and reasons why?

Thanks!

 

[ToddyLu]

I would say yes, definitely try a mod. We love Pop as well...however after a week there you may want a little "adult" themeing or maybe a nice more quiet stroll to the bus. It is just a different vibe all together. We are now DVC but prior too, always stayed at a value resort. The thing about a staying at a slightly more upscale place is the amenities the resort may provide. We could stay all day at AKV, we have before....no parks....just a drink in hand watching people swim or the animals from the balcony. For me staying at POFQ/RS would be fun because you can take the boat to DTD and see YeHaa Bob Wed-Sat nights at PORS ( check his schedule on his website). Great show. At CBR it would be the stroll around the water, a different lobby, pool, etc. If your son is young I would do Pop for him and a mod for you. Best of both worlds for the same vacation. I would also do it after Pop as a wind down and break from activity.

 

[brighteyes]

I would say yes, defiI itely try a mod. We love Pop as well...however after a week there you may want a little "adult" themeing or maybe a nice more quiet stroll to the bus. It is just a different vibe all together. We are now DVC but prior too, always stayed at a value resort. The thing about a staying at a slightly more upscale place is the amenities the resort may provide. We could stay all day at AKV, we have before....no parks....just a drink in hand watching people swim or the animals from the balcony. For me staying at POFQ/RS would be fun because you can take the boat to DTD and see YeHaa Bob Wed-Sat nights at PORS ( check his schedule on his website). Great show. At CBR it would be the stroll around the water, a different lobby, pool, etc. If your son is young I would do Pop for him and a mod for you. Best of both worlds for the same vacation. I would also do it after Pop as a wind down and break from activity.

Thanks for your response! Well my son is 19!! Lol But we do love POP. I was considering a week first at the mod with the 25% summer offer then the following week beginning Aug 15th at POP for the start of Canadian free dining.
However, I am also pricing the whole two weeks at 25% off at a mod and pay for dining from Aug 4-20.
My only worry is the walk at the mods to/from dining and bus. After a long day at the parks I can have difficulty walking.
I hope those two scenarios made sense.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

We have only stayed at POFQ and Riverside so far, POFQ is my favourite. I love how small and compact it is, no building is far from the food court and bus stops. We paid for a preferred room at Riverside, and I felt that it was still quite a hike to the main building. I think I got spoiled at POFQ!

 

[maxiesmom]

Most of the moderates have a preferred room category that you can book in order to be pretty close to the food court and main bus stop. Those rooms are more expensive, but if you have problems walking well worth the added cost.

 

[threeboyzdad]

We returned last week from a stay at CBR after being a POP family for the past two trips. Love POP but now love CBR! I definitely don't think it is loud. Not at all! Very quiet. Much quieter than Pop. I can't remember one time hearing another family (I am not sure if the rooms adjacent to us were in use). The property is so large and spread out and this gives it the peaceful feel. You will enjoy the pool here more than at POP with the fun slide. The food court we also thought was better. Food choices with a Caribbean flare. I would suggest getting a preferred room to minimize walking to the main pool/food court. To us, this was key and well worth the small price difference.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

You might enjoy POFQ for a more compact resort. I'd also suggest CSR in the Cabanas section (in between the food court and main pool, and close to a bus stop).

 

[maxiesmom]

We returned last week from a stay at CBR after being a POP family for the past two trips. Love POP but now love CBR! I definitely don't think it is loud. Not at all! Very quiet. Much quieter than Pop. I can't remember one time hearing another family (I am not sure if the rooms adjacent to us were in use). The property is so large and spread out and this gives it the peaceful feel. You will enjoy the pool here more than at POP with the fun slide. The food court we also thought was better. Food choices with a Caribbean flare. I would suggest getting a preferred room to minimize walking to the main pool/food court. To us, this was key and well worth the small price difference.

Just to be clear, the cost is around $50 a night for a preferred room over a standard room. It used to be closer to $20 a night, but the cost has gone up over the last year or so.

 

[JennyDrake]

IF you are concerned about distance, the POFQ is your best option OR a preferred room (more expensive) at another moderate. If you plan to utilize the food court/ refillable mugs much a preferred room is almost a necessity at CBR and CSR. Yeah, you can ride the internal shuttle, but for me it was a hassle when all I wanted was a drink refill.

Don't worry about noise at CBR--it is a lovely, quiet resort.

If you plan to swim often, the moderates (except) POFQ have multiple "quiet" pools.

 

[KELLY]

I say you never know til you try. I have done the moderates and deluxe and right now we stick with value. I'm not sure I would go back to a moderate but could see us doing deluxe again. I have a hard time parting with a extra 1200.00 that a moderate would cost us for our stay. Plu we add the Wp option to our tickets so we don't miss the slides or anything. We go for 17 days so we do spend sometime at the resort and pop suits are needs just fine.

 

[michellelovesthemous]

We are happy POP'ers have stayed there since they opened it is home. We have done AKL, CBR and POR for short stays and they are all beautiful in their own rights but I truthfully missed the hustle and bustle of Pop as we stay for over two weeks it is home.

 

[Sue M]

Our fav moderate is POR Riverside. It's a beautiful resort, with amazing landscaping. Love the mansion section. Both Acadian House & Magnolia Terrace are close to main pool, and with a quiet pool between them. I ask for a location close to Old Man a Island foot bridge which is very convienent to all amenities. And there are bus stops behind both buildings, either the North or East Depot. I like them better then the crowded Main Depot.
POR (& Pofq) have done extras that the other resorts don't, like a boat to DTD, Carriage rides, and a great entertainer, Yeeha Bob, in the lounge most evenings (but not all).

I would do Pop first, then move to the moderate. If you're looking at free dining, at a moderate you get the regular plan, at values just QS. For my daughter & I, we prefer the room only discount. Free dining isn't really free, your paying rack rate, and we started going without the DDP a few years ago, and save money. Always come in less than what DDP would cost. And we eat well.

 

[broncobill]

We have always stayed at POP also. The theme and bright colors was awesome. It was very up beat.
Next month I was going to book CBR to try something different. Out of all the mods, this one looked the best for us, me-51, my wife-55 and two teenagers 15 & 16.
It was kind of a tough decision because we were very happy at POP. But you never know until you try something different.

 

[baldy6060]

Our favorite is POFQ. Can't wait to go back there. We've visited POR and it was great too. We've never been to CBR. I had a stay booked at Pop but I "upgraded" to CSR a couple of years ago and the whole family was disappointed. We tried Pop the next year and loved it.

 

[brighteyes]

I was all for CBR to do a split stay. One week at a MOD before Free Dining, the next week at POP for free dining but it it would have added almost 1,000 to the trip to pay for food alone. The room change wouldn't have added anything to the trip but the food will, and I have no idea how much to budget for out of pocket if I were to go that route.

I was reading threads and although I like the landscaping at CBR, CS looks so inviting too and I have read it is the one that is the most deluxe of the mods.

But due to budget, I kept the free dining trip as it was because going a week earlier was just too much $$. If I could make it not much more than my original trip cost I would change the dates.

And since free dining portion of the trip would be second, POP would have been after the week at a MOD and I was trying to get it to be the other way around so I could relax at the resort a bit before I go home.

 

[loves to dive]

You might want to run the numbers on the free dining vs room only discount. It really depends on how big of eaters you are as to whether free dining is really a savings. We used to do it, and used to buy the dining plan but have found we don't like being tied down to having to eat TS every day (some days we just like to do QS and snack around the work at Epcot). I know you mentioned your son was 19 and having a son myself I know they can eat more than 4 women combined but if you aren't a big eater yourself it might be overkill to having the dining plan. I would suggest looking at the menus from some of the places you might want to eat, run the numbers and see where you would come out best. That split stay may just be within your grasp.

 

[brighteyes]

You might want to run the numbers on the free dining vs room only discount. It really depends on how big of eaters you are as to whether free dining is really a savings. We used to do it, and used to buy the dining plan but have found we don't like being tied down to having to eat TS every day (some days we just like to do QS and snack around the work at Epcot). I know you mentioned your son was 19 and having a son myself I know they can eat more than 4 women combined but if you aren't a big eater yourself it might be overkill to having the dining plan. I would suggest looking at the menus from some of the places you might want to eat, run the numbers and see where you would come out best. That split stay may just be within your grasp.

I would get my money's worth from free dining. My son, not so much...Although he is 19 he is a very licky eater and only eats salads chicken fingers rice and pizza. He also likes rhings like nachos and potatoe skins..which are rare at Disney. Not the healthiest of eaters lol He eats few things but can eat large portions of it.

So I had to pay for my free dining package or lose it. If i can run the numbers and decide to change it, would they have to refund my money or transfer the money to the new reservation? Because then I might lose money on the exchange rate again.

 

[loves to dive]

Not sure about changing the package as I've never done that. I know Disney has changed their policies but I'm sure someone here on the boards would know.

 

[brighteyes]

Not sure about changing the package as I've never done that. I know Disney has changed their policies but I'm sure someone here on the boards would know.

I can just call and ask Disney. The dining plan would have been for budgeting since I have no idea how my son eats at the world now with his eating habits

 

[Apopper74]

I have stayed at both CBR and CSR during free dining and neither of the resorts ever felt crowded. I don't think I saw anyone in any of the rooms around us.