Which Moderate? or save money & go Value?

[Gibbygirl]

Planning trip #3 for next summer (dates TBD.) First trip was ALMu. Had no problems with it & would go back to a Value. Used discount code to upgrade to CBR last summer & loved it! Now trying to decide where to stay for our next trip. Would do Value again to save the money. We don't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. But, we really enjoyed CBR so thinking we might go Moderate again. Would like to try somewhere new though. We are a family of 4 (DS 13 & DD 8.) We liked the "feel" of CBR, the available options for activities (rented a boat,) the main pool & the option of the quiet pools. Looking for thoughts on CS, POR & POFQ--OR why we should stick to a Value (I know the AS's are all about the same but any opinions are welcome.) Have also considered POP since it seems so popular. Art will be open by next summer but afraid that might be chaos!...? I've looked at all the resort specific pages on here but still need help deciding. TIA!!!

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I don't see the ages of your children and I think that plays into it. We stayed at ASSp, POP and POR.

What we liked about the moderate the most is the slide in the pool. Hands down that is the ONLY reason we'd do a mod over a value. Seriously. But since we are a family of five, we are "stuck" at POR for the money.

Personally, we LIKE the gaudy decor at the values! My kids LOVED it and it felt totally Disney to us. It took us awhile to get used to POR and still feel we were at Disney without the mouse and his friends everywhere!

With that said, I stayed at POR August of 2010. The grounds are beautiful, but the buses were the worst of our three stays elsewhere and the food court was INSANE in the morning. My husband and I already said that we will take our car to the parks and bring breakfast next time to avoid both at POR!

 

[Gibbygirl]

Kids will be 13 & 8 when we go. Agreed, it was the pool of CBR that really won us over + we really felt like we were on vacation with the tropical theme. Our main problem with ASMu was the pool. Sooo crowded & noisy and it seemed to be every man for themselves to find a small area for the kids to swim in (too many people & not enough room!) We ended up at the smaller (piano) pool which was much better. We had great luck with the buses at CBR but always seemed to be standing with the shared AS buses...

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Kids will be 13 & 8 when we go. Agreed, it was the pool of CBR that really won us over + we really felt like we were on vacation with the tropical theme. Our main problem with ASMu was the pool. Sooo crowded & noisy and it seemed to be every man for themselves to find a small area for the kids to swim in (too many people & not enough room!) We ended up at the smaller (piano) pool which was much better. We had great luck with the buses at CBR but always seemed to be standing with the shared AS buses...

I am DYING to go to CBR for some reason! Most people want to go Deluxe LOL but CBR themeing speaks volumes to me. I love my islands LOL! But as a family of five, it isn't going to happen. Maybe on our next trip, I will book dinner there or something so I can at least SEE it LOL!

Anyway, admittedly at POP and ASsp we NEVER used the pool so it isn't fair to compare, but we also went in December and it wasn't really THAT warm when we were there. In August when we went to POR, the kids LOVED the water slides.

Personally at 13 and 8, I think they may be over the over the top Mickey theme of values and ready to move on to a mod. If money isn't an object, then I think I'd go mod for you. Especially since most of them (except CBR) will have queen beds!

 

[rkmassa]

Kids will be 13 & 8 when we go. Agreed, it was the pool of CBR that really won us over + we really felt like we were on vacation with the tropical theme. Our main problem with ASMu was the pool. Sooo crowded & noisy and it seemed to be every man for themselves to find a small area for the kids to swim in (too many people & not enough room!) We ended up at the smaller (piano) pool which was much better. We had great luck with the buses at CBR but always seemed to be standing with the shared AS buses...

This is the main reason we will not be going back to value. Our kids love to swim, and the slide at the main pool is a bonus for them. My kids were bored at the value resort pool; although the numerous clearings for the "brown" alerts did make them laugh. Two consecutive days for this. My son started calling the main pool the Happy Crappy pool. Yeah, I know this could happen at any pool, but just seemed to happen a lot at POP. We really fell in love with CBR. My kids are a little miffed that we are going to try SSR via an RCI trade next summer. I think if you can afford the moderate, I would stick with CBR.

 

[Sue M]

POR is our fav Moderate. Love the mansion section. We've stayed at POR 3x, and had no problem with busses 99% of the time. There's always a glitch sometimes at any resort. Mostly it runs well.
Love the food court, great options. Esp the make your own omelette bar, and Pasta bar.
Also love the evening entertainment. Beautiful grounds.

Can't say I'm a value fan. I find the moderates much more relaxing and resort like.

 

[SGMCO]

POR is our family favorite also!! We've stayed at POFQ, CSR and AKL and none have compared to POR. POR has the best food court, had to go over to eat at POR when we stayed at POFQ because it was so much better. We love the mansion section because I don't care for the rustic look of the AB section but some people do. We love being able to take to boat over to DTD. The landscaping at POR is beautiful. Hoping to stay at POR in the Spring in the in the newly renovated Royal Rooms.

 

[myramsy]

We loved Port orleans...stayed at FQ and Riverside and liked riverside better because there was more to do. we did value on a couple trips but with the better pools and the slides as an added bonus we will be trying to go moderate every time...well worth the extra $$ in our opinion.

 

[juliebug1997]

We loved POR as well but there were some bus issues our trip this past June/July. I waited 45 minutes at 3 PM for a bus to MK. We waited 30+minutes for a bus to POR from TL and BB. We did get some pixie dust a couple of times too but waiting that long was ridiculous!

 

[teacher31]

Have you thought about the Dolphin? If you have AAA or are eligible for the teacher/nurse/govt. worker discount, it is often cheaper than a moderate. We used to love POR, but our kids got older and the Dolphin is now our favorite. Just a suggestion. And before you think it's out of your price range, check it out. You might be pleasantly surprised. Last summer I got a prepaid rate of 129 a night. Love it!

 

[steviec71]

We just got back from Coronado last night, stayed at All Star Movies when we last went. I can't sat enough good about CS- service was fantastic, beautiful room and grounds, and fun main theme pool for big and little kids. The difference between there and ASM was, for us, night and day. MUCH more peaceful at CS; having four bus stops set equally around the property made transportation a snap; return bus service was up front at all parks and the staff extremely helpful and accommodating. Biggest complaint I heard was that the resort was very large and confusing. We used the lake as a reference point and had no problems and, like I said, the four bus stops helped considerably (plus we don't mind walking). We were in a junior suite; two queen beds and a pullout sleeper sofa, all very comfortable with two full baths. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

 

[Day-Day]

Will you have a car?

POR if you can get a room in Alligator Bayou and take advantage of the trundle bed (or whatever the extra bed is). When we did this, we were told that we would be charged extra if we used the trundle bed but I don't think we ever were charged.

 

[The 4 "Quay"balleros]

Book a Value(POP) and use the savings to take the family to breakfast at CRT! What an amazing feeling to be in the Castle!

 

[vettegirl]

Our alltime favorite is the CSR. The rooms are very nice with modern touches and I love the beautiful doors going into the bathroom area. Also the dig site pool is wonderful with a really great slide. The bus service has always been excellent the 3 times I have stayed there.

 

[KatMark]

We stayed at a value once and I will never do it again (I've skipped a trip rather than stay at a value). We have stayed at the Coronado nine times and love everything about it and the pool is a kid favorite with the longest slide of all the moderates; there are also three quiet pools, a sand volleyball court, etc.

We've not stayed at any of the other moderates (this trip we did two DVC resorts), but if we could not get CSR, the only other moderate we would pick is the POR-Riverside for the great food court and the theme of the resort.

 

[maryj11]

We loved Port orleans...stayed at FQ and Riverside and liked riverside better because there was more to do. we did value on a couple trips but with the better pools and the slides as an added bonus we will be trying to go moderate every time...well worth the extra $$ in our opinion.

Dont forget the queen beds well except CBR

 

[Bnearing]

We also got back from Coronado Springs yesterday and it is a wonderful place! Very peaceful and quiet. If you want OTT Disney this is not a resort for you. If you want wonderful Disney service, little Disney touches, a peaceful picturesque place to stay, this is your place. The pool area is awesome and the bus service is spectacular. My kids are 10 and 6 and they loved it.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Im staying POR for the first time in Dec and we have a family trip planned next Nov to stay in the Royal rooms (worth a splurge even once ) I say go for POR! The grounds look amazing! I like the look of this resort compared to the values. The Mods just seem more resort-like than values. I agree with a PP Id rather skip a trip than stay value!

 

[Stan Solo]

I'll put my in my two cents for POR! We have only been to Disney World once and it was at POR. We were planing at staying at a value then the free dining came out and we did not want a whole week of CS so we went with a mod. We were there the last week of AUG of this year and had no issues with the busses at all. Yee Haa Bob alone was worth the price.

My only regret was that while we stayed at POR we didn't really "stay" at POR we left first in morning and came back after the parks were closed. It's a good thing TL, BB and AKL closes early or we would have not even saw POR at all. Mind you even on those three days we we went to DTD for the evening.

This year we are going for two weeks one week at POP so we can do our "out all day week", and one week at POR so we can enjoy and relax at the resort with some trips to BB, TL, DQ and the odd trip to a park.

 

[nklooz]

Just another vote for POR. Kids your age will love the boat to DTD, the feel of POR is great, has the quiet pools you liked about CBR plus two themed pools because you can use the one at POFQ also. Not sure when all of the queen beds will be in at POR but with kids your age sharing a bed, that would be a moderate over value vote for me, for sure. Plus, there's the trundle bed option so they wouldn't have to share. And, the curtain closing off a changing aree outside the bathroom is great! Good luck!