Your Favorite Moderate and Why, Please

[LoriZH]

Well...I just got back from 9 nights at the world (8 CR and 1 ASMu Suite) and stated that I didn't think I'd be back for a while. Well guess who was fibbing...me, yes me...

I take my children on a trip by themselves for a one on one mommy/child trip. I did it with my daughter and she chose Disney World, it's my son's turn next year and he chooses.....Disney World lol. So who am I to complain, right?

Although he'd love to stay at another deluxe, I'm shooting for a moderate, they're just a little bigger than the values. The only Moderate we've ever stayed at has been Coronado Springs and it was before the refurb, that's how long ago it was but we loved it, except the bus service however I have heard they've completely changed that.

Here are some things that may help, our favorite parks are Epcot, HS and of course MK, we don't do water parks, pools are not a huge factor because all the resort pools are nice, comfy beds are a must, transportation is a huge must (the more choices the better, but I know that moderates are limited so I would say length of time the buses arrive is a priority), cleanliness of the resort and rooms is a priority also.

So...if anyone would love to boast about their favorite moderate I would love to hear it!!!!

Oh one other thing, we also stayed at The Swan a while back and loved it there. I'm really thinking of staying there, anyone been there lately? What are your thoughts? Thanks all!!!!

 

[jcieutat]

We have stayed at all of the moderates and we like POFQ the best. We like it because it is very small. There is only one bus stop location and you can still take the boat to DTD.

 

[DizDaD7]

Well Since you've already gone to CSR, (even b4 the reno) You've already been to our favorite....I'll tell why in a minute....

Our 2nd is POR.

3rd. is POFQ

Distant 4th CBR

CSR b4 the renovations I'm sure was good, but Since with the queen size beds new decor, and all, I'm sure that puts it over the top..

To me they have the best bus system & this includes all the deluxes too. Also one of the best main pool, with an awesome slide. The Pepper Market IMHO is better than any food court atmosphere. And I love the theming here.

If you didn't want to revisit, & you wanted to try something new , than I would say try POR...It's a close 2nd, to CSR...Has a real nice main pool w/ slide very nice food court , & TS. Grounds are beautiful, boat ride to DTD is a nice plus. The only thing I couldn't stand was the bus situation here....very bad IMHO..every day was blagh... Especially coming back from Fantasmic....We had to wait at least 10 buses...We ended up hopping onto a POFQ bus then walking back.. OhI forgot, Yeehaw Bobs, in the lounge was AWESOME Can't miss this

POFQ , while I do love French Quarter / mardi gras theming, it's just tooo claustraphobic for me here.. Only 1 pool, no TS restaurant, Pool & slide seems a lil on the kiddie side.... Same boat to DTD which is nice...Only 1 bus stop as opposed to 4 stops at POR.

CBR....UHm Hmmm...This just isn't my cup of tea for a WDW vacation.. Nice but. Seems the largest out of all mods.. Also just waaay too spread out...No queen size beds ( at least I dont think the upgraded yet ) Bus service is not that great here as well... Only stayed here 2 days, but that was long enough for me to gather my opinion. Obviously to each his own.....

Either route remember this you're in Disney...How bad can it actually be "? right..LoL Enjoy in whichever you choose..

 

[Tiggr924]

We love CBR It's our favorite moderate and are only considering CSR because CBR is being refurbed soon, which I'm super excited about.

We love the theming. It's very relaxing. We love walking around the resort. I know people complain about how spread out it is, but thats one of the things we love about it.

 

[Tink0812]

Pofq is my fav! I love the atmosphere of the resort some of which may stem from the small size. We have never had a problem with buses and really enjoy the short, relaxing boat ride to DTD. The rooms seem spacious to us (we even used a couple air mattresses on the floor. The food court is nice too although I do prefer the values in this arena

 

[LoriZH]

Thanks for the replys so far!!!

So I've looked up the ones that have been mentioned.

POR, that looks very big plus the whole "we waited 10 buses" scare the baneezeses out of me lol but the decour looks beautiful as well as the resort...ugh..but no, the transportation situation is a must can anyone chime in on this one?

POFQ, this is one I've always wanted to try, didn't realize you could take a boat to and from DTD, that is a HUGE plus for us! Taking a bus to DTD from CR was a nightmare If I had an hour I'd tell you about it I also liked the looks of the rooms. I also love the location of this resort. I need to see a little more on this resort, this one is in the running!

CBR, are these pirate ship beds? I don't think we'd be able to do pirate ship beds? Is that the refurb or are they going to be refurbed? I'm a little confused about this resort, plus if it's the biggest, I may just cross it off the list if there is going to be construction going on.

CSR, oh how I loved it then...and it looks like I would love it even more now. To hear that it has an even better bus system than all the other moderates is music to my ears. I happened to have loved the pepper market, I don't get why people complain about it. I actually heard people complaining about it when we were in Disney a few weeks ago, I don't get it, the food was fantastic. The one thing about the Contempo Cafe was that the food was limited choices, good but limited, the Pepper Market has so many choices! Definitely in the running!

Thank you so much to those who have replied. I'm going to look for people's recent vacation photos of these resorts because the one thing I've learned is those stock photos from Disney is they do the resorts no justice. For instance, anyone looking to stay at an ASMu suite going by what Disney has on their website may just pass it up because they're not that appealing. We absolutely LOVED our suite at the ASMu, it was much nicer than it appears on their website.

 

[Q-man]

Going off your priorities list POFQ would be the top choice.

As for Disney food, if you're from a major metropolitan area, with a good food scene, Disney food isn't going to excite you in anyway but if you from somewhere that major chains are your best options then Disney food is pretty darn good.

 

[Princess Katherine]

I like CSR. It's centrally located and it only goes to the resort. It's theme is really cool and although you would think the rooms would be so over the top they are actually really stylish. The pool is so creative and it's a really close walk from our favorite section, Cabanas. The food is great because I like Mexican and we can deal with the strange tipping or just get it to go. The rooms are what does it for us though, having a door and queen beds is just so cool! It really is the deluxe lite! I have seen the other moderates and they look very kitchy and outdated. Since it is a convention resort most people would steer clear. I say full throttle! More people taking up room space means less on the buses.

Katie

 

[SGMCO]

Stayed at CRS, POR and POFQ and of all of them I would definatly return to POR. It had the best food court, landscaping. POR gave me personally the most Disney magic feel. 2nd would be POFQ, (only if I requested a room closer to POR, because of the food court) the food court at POFQ was very lacking. We have never had any problems with the busses, usually stay during Sept./Oct FDining time. Love the boat ride to DTD, (both POR and POFQ) offer this. Plus staying at either of those, you can use the main pools of the other. Plus all of the rooms at POR have resently been redecorated beautifully. They also have 2 Queen sized beds now. What I didn't care for at CRS resort was the conventioniers, we would have to pass a large group of them everytime we would head to the food court, they would be on a break and line up against the walls of the hallway, which made the magic go away.

 

[wdwnut61]

POFQ

Like the PP's have said love the compact size. DD loves the pool and boat to DD, the queen beds are comfy. We have never had an issue with the buses but we also utilize cabs for early morning ADR's or if it's raining and we can't use the boat to Downtown Disney.

 

[Pinkerella]

POR gets my vote! We stayed here in May on our first trip in the Royal Rooms and they were close to the main building if you didn't get the royal rooms I would get a preferred room so if would be closer to the main building. As for the buses the longest bus we had to wait for was MK at night time after Wishes which was 25-30 min. The other times we didn't wait long. My daughter LOVED the boat to DTD , that was a plus of staying there for sure.
My best friend stayed at the CBR in the pirate rooms and she loved the rooms but hated the location of the rooms. She said they had to pretty much drive to the main lobby because it was a hike to get to there. But they also really enjoyed it , she said they had a great kids pool. Hope that helps you a little.

 

[DizDaD7]

Oh yes I did forget about the main bldg. Being so far away from everything and also those pirate rooms are very far from it. The pool is nice though.

I didn't want to scare you with the ten bus thing , it was only that 1 time after fantasmic but all the other bus rides to n from the parks, I don't think I ever sat once. Even if I had a seat it made so many stops and was ways crowded. CSR on the contrary ( like a pp stated) has conventioneers so most of the time the buses to n from are medium to light at most.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

For me it is still CBR...just got back from CSR and had a less than magical experience with their customer service. It was a short ride to all the parks and doesn't share buses, but I think the same is true at CBR...plus at CBR you can see some of EPCOT fireworks above the trees.

 

[dminnie]

Everyone has different priorities, so it really depends on what you want an dlike. For our family, I rank them in this order:
1. CSR Pretty resort, especially at night. most deluxe feel with duvet covers on beds, health club, really great quiet pools, etc. IMHO best bus service, only drawbacks for us were the tipping at Pepper Market and distance between main pool and food court. Nicest pool with longest slide and largest hot tub.
2. POR Pretty resort, but like mansions better than AB, good food court, boat to DTD is a nice option. nice pool and nice quiet pools
3. CBR Nice grounds. Rooms need to be renovated. Still only has full sized beds. Food court not as good. nice pool, especially for little kids(separate area for them that looks like fun)
4. POFQ We just don't like the theme and I guess we don't get why it's so popular. The pool is pretty lame(smallish and the slide is VERY tame...not very exciting at all). No quiet pools. No TS restaurant. We like how the other resorts ARE more spread out...the others have more grassy areas, pretty plants and shrubs and just a more relaxing feel for us. Also, POFQ never has as good discounts as the other mod. resorts (when the others offer 25-30% off, POFQ typically only has 5% off). Not worth it to us just to have a little less walking.

 

[Haygar2]

POR has my vote. Loved it. The grounds are beautiful. We didn't wait long, at all, for the busses. I liked it si much, that is where my mom and her husband are staying when they go.

 

[averill94]

POFQ!!!!!!
We love it because of its size and quaintness! The buses have always been great. The food is fine (we only ate maybe one meal a day there). If you want different food you can always hop on the boat to DTD and be there pretty fast.

 

[MotoWifey185]

Hmm my DH and I are in this same boat! I was pretty set on the POR but now I am considering the CSR. I like the idea of the buses being not so crowded, although we are going in January so the ones to POR may not have been crowded either! But what PP's have said about the CSR being a lot like a deluxe is a plus since I kinda feel like we're missing out by not being able to justify the money for a deluxe. Subscribing to here more thoughts