Opinions Please...BC or POFQ?

[TeacherDL]

The last time we went to Disneyworld we stayed at Beach Club, and we absolutely loved it. We enjoyed the pool and proximity to Epcot. We have just decided to go again in June. I am checking prices, and we would love to stay at BC again, but POFQ is about $1000 cheaper. I have never stayed at Port Orleans. So, I wondered if anyone could offer me advice. Stick with BC and spend more money, or is POFQ a better alternative?
Thanks in advance!
Dana

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Have not stayed at BC, have stayed at POFQ and that is where we are staying in June. For us $1,000 is way to big of a price difference...!

 

[tinkerbella16]

I have not stayed at BC, but I have stayed at both POFQ & Riverside and they are my absolute favorite. To me, they are like mini-deluxe resorts without spending a ton of money. The grounds are beautiful, the rooms have been refurbished, the theme is fun. POFQ is so small, so no matter where your room is, you are just a short walk away from the pool, main building and bus stop. Even when the resort is "crowded" it is so quiet and relaxing. If you are saving that much money, I'd definitely go for POFQ. One of my favorite things is the boat to DTD.. it is a relaxing ride and great to get away from the buses. Yes, Beach Club is a great location and has the better pool, but that money you save could go towards something else.

The amenities like bike and boat rentals and horse carriage rides are available at POR, so you'd have to go over there which is right next door.

 

[wide receiver]

For me it would depend on how much you can afford at this time. We try to stay at Deluxe hotels but there have been times we could only afford the Moderates. To me Deluxe is nicer then the Mod's and we have stayed at POFQ. POFQ is very nice and is the best Mod in my opinion but its still a mod….the rooms aren't as nice, the restaurants and common areas aren't either. But again I would stay at either depending on my budget. If I could stretch and stay one less day at a deluxe than a mod I probably would. Good luck with your choice. You really can't go wrong!

 

[mommyrosa2]

I feel your pain....BC is our absolute favorite and as much as it killed me, I just couldn't justify the extra $1,000+ that it was going to cost us over CSR for our August trip and i seriously went back & forth for months. But once i made up my mind & booked the moderate, i knew I made the right decision. Now, I will admit that thanks to Southwest offering their crazy $59 sale last month, and getting an excellent RO discount, I ended up booking another trip for just DH & I for F&W, and we will be returning to the BC in October. IMHO, if you can spend that extra $1,000 without ever thinking about it, then book BC, but if you have any hesitation or doubts, then I'd say book the moderate and use that extra $$ someplace else.

 

[karly05]

I've stayed at BC twice and love it. If money were no object, I don't know if I ever would have tried another resort. But in the interest of making more frequent trips, I decided to go moderate this year and chose POFQ. Let me tell you, I loved POFQ, it's pretty and charming, compact and easy to get around. Bus service was fine for me, even when we picked up at POR as well. I liked having the food court for multiple quick breakfast choices. I understand they've expanded the BC Marketplace since I was last there, but the limited CS breakfast options were my one negative about the BC. The biggest thing I missed by not staying at BC this time was the lovely stroll to Epcot and the boats to DHS.

$1000 is a lot of money. Check out the threads and pics of POFQ and if it appeals at all, I would certainly encourage you to give it a try.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We've stayed at the BC and LOVE the close proximity to EPCOT and SAB. What I do not like about staying at the BC is sharing the buses with so many other resorts along the way -- totally grated on my nerves.

We've also stayed at POR-Riverside and loved it there for the theming, all the different pools some of which we had all to ourselves!, food court AND that lovely boat ride to DTD. LOVE that boat ride. I did not like having to take a bus to every single park while staying at POR and it would be that way for you at POFQ. In June, POFQ may have its own bus, I'm not sure, but when we were there it always stopped at POFQ first, then at four stops at POR (I think). That is a long time to be a on a bus before you even leave the property!

Do you have kids? How old? Do you like to eat at the countries in the WS? How many nights?

We would love to return to POR or POFq for all the reasons I mentioned above -- and the price! -- but when I think of going round and round on the buses, I'm not so sure. After you have had the experience of being able to easily walk over to a park, it is hard to go back to buses only.

I really feel for you on this decision as I know it is not an easy one to make. Good luck! I think you will have an amazing vacation whichever you choose!

 

[Sue M]

We go back and forth between the deluxe and moderates all the time. We stayed 10 nights at POFQ in January and enjoyed it very much. I think it would be a good choice if you can't stay at BC this time. It will still be there for another trip.

 

[jpeppers]

I stayed at Port Orleans once and really enjoyed it but stayed at the Beach Club last year and had access to Stormalong Bay the year before because the slide was closed while we were at the BWV (what a break) and I know we will struggle with staying anywhere else again. Have you looked into renting DVC points? We stayed at the Beach Club for $160 a night by renting points and that was the total cost (sunday-Thursday). Port Orleans is a great resort but just thought I would throw out another suggestion for getting you to the beach Club.

 

[Missyrose]

I stayed at Port Orleans once and really enjoyed it but stayed at the Beach Club last year and had access to Stormalong Bay the year before because the slide was closed while we were at the BWV (what a break) and I know we will struggle with staying anywhere else again. Have you looked into renting DVC points? We stayed at the Beach Club for $160 a night by renting points and that was the total cost (sunday-Thursday). Port Orleans is a great resort but just thought I would throw out another suggestion for getting you to the beach Club.

It is waaaaaaaaay too late for OP to rent points for June 2013. BC is one of the smallest DVC resorts and it gets booked solid pretty quickly during the summer months because of Stormalong Bay. Last-minute DVC bookings are typically four or five months out. So if OP tried to rent points now, it would likely be at SSR or maybe OKW or AKV.

 

[1971DBday]

It all depends on what you can afford. I would rather go to WDW and stay moderate then not go at all. This will be our 5th year in a row going deluxe and we work hard to save for this for the whole year. DD16 is close to college and if we need to go moderate or value to still go I will. We have stayed mod before and enjoyed ourselves just as much as a deluxe. You make your vacation! However, I am willing to spend the difference right now to be closer to EP, have more options for transportation, and for the SAB!!!

 

[gilsan]

I was not a fan of POFQ, so I would recommend staying with BC. You could however, look at WL/AKL there are probably a few hundred less than BC. WL relatively close to MK and you would have similar amenities, well themed pools, multiple restaurants on site.

IMO if you want to save money I would skip the moderate and go for a value like AOA or POP. The moderates amenities over a value are not worth the price they charge.

As far as renting points it is definitely to late, we tried for BC or BWI for september a few weeks ago and none were available, but we did get AKL

 

[thisismyusername]

If you're going for at least a week or more, and I think if you're having reservations and are concerned about liking a resort, it's not a bad idea to consider a split stay. If you stayed half at POFQ and half at BC, it would still save you $500, and it would allow you to still stay at the resort that you really want to stay at while also trying out the moderate level.

 

[TeacherDL]

Thanks everyone... It's just a difficult choice! I can swing BC but of course, the $1000 is sure tempting.... I really dread the buses at the moderate too. Gilsan, if you don't mind sharing, what do you dislike so much about pofq? Thanks again!

 

[Davis2902]

Split stay is the way to go!

We are going in June also and splitting between CR and POR.

You get the best of both worlds and still save$

 

[ciera321]

I have to say, $1,000 is too big a difference for us, as we are in the room so little. We've stayed at almost all the resorts (except the values), and we just tried POFQ in January. We absolutely LOVED it! So quaint and small, buses were great and you can walk over to POR to see Bob. I found I was kicking myself for not staying at POFQ a lot sooner! In case you couldn't tell, I'd choose FQ in a heartbeat!!!

 

[cmh314]

If you're going for at least a week or more, and I think if you're having reservations and are concerned about liking a resort, it's not a bad idea to consider a split stay. If you stayed half at POFQ and half at BC, it would still save you $500, and it would allow you to still stay at the resort that you really want to stay at while also trying out the moderate level.

This is exactly what we are doing next week. We're staying 4 nights at POFQ followed by four nights at the BCV (on rented points). We'll do MK and AK while at POFQ and HS and Epcot and lots of pool time while at the BCV. We love POFQ and have stayed there before. We're excited about trying the Beach Club mainly for SAB and proximity to Epcot, so by splitting our stay it allows us to give it a try while also saving some money over staying there the entire week.

 

[ThreeKMom]

I think alot depends on your touring style. If you are like us and like to take a break mid-day, spend time at the pool and then head back to another park later - staying at a moderate will be difficult. If you get up in the morning and spend the entire day at a park then a moderate will be fine.

We usually stay at one of the Epcot resorts and love to come back for lunch and a swim then take a quick shower and head back out for dinner and the fireworks. This helps us to RELAX - it is a vacation!!

That being said we just stayed at POR in February and had a great time. We did however have to adjust our touring style. We tried to do our usual on one day and it just didn't work - it took a long time to take a bus back to the resort, then change to our swim suits, find a spot at the pool and just when we were starting to relax it was time to head back to the park for dinner. The next day we got a later start and stayed in the park the entire day, we were exhausted! The next day we started early and came back to the resort just after dinner and called it a day. Our best day was the day we stayed at the pool till after lunch and then hit the parks till closing.

So think about how you like to do Disney and choose your resort based on that.

 

[scottmel]

We absolutely love YC due to the pool and everything about that hotel. Stayed at BC last summer and did not enjoy it as much as YC....Having said that though, I did a split stay last summer POR and BC. I was pretty anxious to get over to BC and felt that I rushed my POR time b/c of this. I am not a fan of mod/deluxe split stay for this reason for me. What I am doing this summer is renting 3 nights at OKW and then 5 nights at YC. Deluxe to Deluxe I prefer. I like a balcony and both resorts offer that etc. The two summers I did mod/deluxe split stay were difficult for me b/c of missing a balcony and wanting to hurry it along to get to YC. But honestly if it IS in your budget, I would say the whole week BC especially in the summer - great pool, easy walking to Epcot. I would hesitate more in the winter but summer for sure for me...