which moderate resort??

mickeynewbie

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
We're booking our first Disneyworld trip/cruise for next July. We need to pick a moderate level resort. It's a large family trip with ages ranging from 2 years old to the grandparents.

Our travel agent suggested Caribbean Beach, but some reviews say the shuttle service makes for LONG waits and that renting a car is necessary.

Any suggestions?
 
If you are concerned about things being too spread out for the older members of your group I would go with Port Orleans French Quarter. It is by far the smallest of the four moderates. Everything is very close together and it is quite charming!

Melissa
 
Our family went in May, and we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort and LOVED IT!!!! :thumbsup2 It is a wonderful resort with a great atmosphere. We did not have a rental car, and had no problem at all with bus transportation. Buses are coming around all the time to the bus stops. We never waited a very long time. We used the bus transportation to take us to all the parks, and Blizzard Beach. We were very pleased with CBR and would highly reccomend it. I would get a preferred room or a water view room. We were in Jamaica Bldg.#44, right across the bridge from Old Port Royale. It was a great location, right by the pool and the playground on the beach, and right across the parking lot from the bus stop.
Good Luck and I hope you have a wonderful vacation. :banana:
 
I agree the French Quarter is smaller, no long walk to the food court. Best of all most of the buses stop there first before heading to Riverside. Very elegant and quiet.
 
My favorite is CSR but based on your info, I'd agree those who recommend w/ POFQ.
 
:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Just as KCS said CBR for me also , just returned stayed at Jamaica 45 loved it!
 
We stayed at CBR in 2005 with friends and loved it! So much, in fact, that we're headed back there in 2007!!! Stick with CBR!
 
Well, we loved CSR. There is an internal shuttle (golf carts) that you can flag down to get you to your room if it is far away, but there are also 4 bus stops that can take you to each area. The bus service stops at the main building last, so you can use it as an internal shuttle. We were there in Sept., the hotel was busy with a convention, but the buses were empty (conventioners don't get to visit the parks often). The stops at the parks are usually very close to the entrance, with the exception of AK. The resort does not share buses with any other resort, so it never took us more than 15 minutes to get to a park, usually less than 10. The grounds are spectacular, especially at night, and the pool is awsome. We wouldn't hesitate to stay there again! :goodvibes
 
CSR is a large resort that doesn't share services with other resorts and offers some deluxe amenities because it's a convention resort.

CSR offers a salon, spa, workout facility, full menu room service, a courtesy coach to assist in getting to and from the main building, and is the only moderate to offer suites.

If you're on the dining plan, you won't find a better CS spot than the Pepper Market. Huge portions, great choices and tasty food. Lunch/Dinner Menu

CSR is situated around a 15 acre lake and CBR is situated around a 45 acre lake. Great place for a romantic walk around the Lago Dorado, across the lighted bridge to the hammocks on the white sandy beach.

CSR has terrific transportation. It doesn't share with any other resort (like POR / POFQ) and it only has 4 bus stops within the resort (vs 7 at CBR). And since CSR is centrally located, you'll have a quick ride to all the parks.

And being a convention resort, the buses seem less crowded because guests are busy with their conventions.

CSR is the most central to the 3 parks. See the map below.

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Photo by Ducky4Disney

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CSR has the best pool of the mods and probably the second best on WDW property.

Best mod pool. It offers a great slide (123 ft long), an arcade, a sand volleyball court, and a playground at the main pool area.

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Review from mousesavers.com!!

Coronado Springs is my Best Value choice in the Moderate category. It has several advantages compared with the other Moderate resorts. It is newer, so there has been less wear-and-tear on everything. Also, Coronado Springs is a convention hotel, so it has a few extra amenities not offered at the other Moderates, including a salon, a health club and a more upscale food court.

The theming is radically different in the three areas of Coronado Springs. You can request a specific area when booking but there is no guarantee you'll get your request.

  • The Spanish-style Casitas at Coronado Springs are very peaceful, with courtyards featuring tiled fountains. Casitas Buildings 1, 3 and 2 (in that order) are the closest to the restaurants and services. Casitas Building 4 contains the salon and health club, if those are important to you.
  • The Cabanas at Coronado Springs have a beachy Caribbean feeling. Cabanas Building 8A is very close to the feature pool, which may be a blessing (convenience) or a curse (noise, light). Cabanas Building 9B is closest to the marina and relatively convenient to the restaurants and services.
  • The Ranchos at Coronado Springs feel quiet and secluded -- some would say isolated -- and feature desert landscaping and pueblo-style architecture. They look closest to the main pool on a map, but in actuality they are separated from the rest of the property by a swamp, so it can be a fairly long walk from these buildings to the pool, and a very long walk to the restaurants.

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I think POFQ is great because of its size and since it is picked up and dropped off first on the buses, before POR, that helps in the bus department. However, you might want to have everyone check out the slide shows and information on allearsnet.com That way the grandparents can help decide. Walking in a more spread out location may not be a concern since some grandparents are in better shape than their kids! Each of the moderates has lovely theming, pools, grounds and foodcourts in a different way. With a big group you might need to have a democracy, with the most votes making the choice. Good luck!
 
You can't go wrong with either the CBR and CSR! Both are very nice. CBR we felt has a better food court, but CSR has a nicer pool.

Good Luck!
 
In the moderate category actually stayed at POR and CSR and only visited POFQ and CBR.

I think a some of your choice may depend on which theme you prefer - american southwest/mexican or new orleans or american south or caribbean. The rooms I was in were almost identical with the exception of the theming. They layout of all seemed similar - clusters of buildings situated around a main building housing check-in and restaurant/food court (with exception of CBR which has a separte check-in area). They also seemed to have one large pool, then smaller poolers within the clusters of buildings.

Beyond the theme - I think the other main thing I would consider is the buses. I liked how CSR had its own bus (and how due to the conventioneers - it was often not crowded). I didn't use the bus when I was at POR - but I believe it shares with POFQ and is the second stop. However, not sure if that is a problem or not.
 
mickeynewbie said:
We're booking our first Disneyworld trip/cruise for next July. We need to pick a moderate level resort. It's a large family trip with ages ranging from 2 years old to the grandparents.

Our travel agent suggested Caribbean Beach, but some reviews say the shuttle service makes for LONG waits and that renting a car is necessary.

Any suggestions?

I always rent a car - can't be without one! However, if you are primarily eating at your resort or at the parks you probably don't need one. I like the car for the convenience of eating at restaurant at different resorts. With a car - you can just drive there. Without a car it becomes a little more time consuming (but not terrible!). For example, you'd have to take a bus from your resort to a theme park, then transfer to your destination resorts bus (or monorail or boat).
 
vanyel said:
My favorite is CSR but based on your info, I'd agree those who recommend w/ POFQ.

I have to agree. As much as I love CSR, I think in this instance POFQ would be better.
 

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