All Star or Moderate?

[irishone1979]

I am trying to plan a trip for me, my DH, my DD (Will be 5), my In-Laws, my SIL and her DD. We want to go next December and I have a quote of $85/night for All Star. What I want to know is how much more is it to stay at a moderate and is it worth it. I stayed at WL this past November in Concierge (for my honeymoon) and stayed at the All Star Sports the year before. I just want to get people's opinions on which they think is better. My MIL had tripple bypass surgery less than a year ago and isn't quite recovered yet. Hopefully by next December she will be better so that won't be an issue.
Any help is wonderful right now!
Thanks!!

Heather S

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by irishone1979
I am trying to plan a trip for me, my DH, my DD (Will be 5), my In-Laws, my SIL and her DD. We want to go next December and I have a quote of $85/night for All Star. What I want to know is how much more is it to stay at a moderate and is it worth it. I stayed at WL this past November in Concierge (for my honeymoon) and stayed at the All Star Sports the year before. I just want to get people's opinions on which they think is better. My MIL had tripple bypass surgery less than a year ago and isn't quite recovered yet. Hopefully by next December she will be better so that won't be an issue.
Any help is wonderful right now!
Thanks!!

Heather S

The $85 rate you were quoted for Dec 03 is rack rate. Based on past history you will probaly be able to get a moderate for less then $100 a night. If the choice is only between the All Star and a Moderate I would go with POFQ. It is the smallest of the moderates.

Also, depending on your budget if you could swing a standard view room at the AKL or WL I would go with one of these resorts over a moderate. I believe both of these resorts had their standard view rooms going for $109 to $119 a night depending on what codes you were eligiable for.

 

[irishone1979]

I know that none of us want to spend over $100 a night because we will be there for 5 days and my DH and I are trying to pay off our honeymoon (man, that was expensive!! WL concierge wasn't what I expected at all- not too happy with it)
As far as rates, I don't know what I would be eligible for. We need 3 rooms so that we can all be comfortable.
Thanks for letting me know about POFQ. I have always wanted to see what that one was like. It sounded neat when one of my friends stayed there and they told me about it.

Thanks for the info.

Heather

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by irishone1979
I know that none of us want to spend over $100 a night because we will be there for 5 days and my DH and I are trying to pay off our honeymoon (man, that was expensive!! WL concierge wasn't what I expected at all- not too happy with it)
As far as rates, I don't know what I would be eligible for. We need 3 rooms so that we can all be comfortable.
Thanks for letting me know about POFQ. I have always wanted to see what that one was like. It sounded neat when one of my friends stayed there and they told me about it.

Thanks for the info.

Heather

Thanks Heather.

If you are firm about your dates I would book what you can afford now at rack rate(All Stars) and then keep an eye out for codes as you get closer to your trip dates.

Right now general public codes for the value season of Jan through Feb of 03 is $85 plus tax a night for the moderates and the All Stars are $55 plus tax a night.

Check out mousesavers.com for all kinds of info on how to save money on your Disney trip.

 

[jiminyfan]

We have stayed in all levels of resorts at WDW just recently trying the ASMovies. And what we look at for each trip is what are we planning on doing and how much we want to spend.

We are going once again in January and are staying at the ASMusic (Movies wasn't part of the AP discount), but for $49 a night ($54 including tax), we decided this was the place for us this trip. Money played a part of it, we wanted to go extra days on this trip (10 nights), so dropping to a value was a good choice.

Moderates offer a little more space, a sliding board at the pool, but are - in our opinion - not all that different fromt he value resorts. We absolutely love Coronado Springs, but rather save the extra $10-15 a night to use for other things.

We are also planning of doing athe parks from open to close or close to that each day, the amount of time at the resort will be minimal. In July, we stayed at the AKL as we knew we do a lot more resort time crowds, heat, etc. So, the resort meant a lot more to us than on this trip.

Talk it over with your family and decide how much resort vs park time you will be doing. This helps make a wise choice.

Also, lookout for discount codes, Disney is desparate for guests - general code now has value resort at $55 before tax.

Good luck, you should enjoy your trip no matter where you stay.

 

[CamColt]

Ive stayed at all 3 levels, and to be honest I dont see much of an advantage in the moderates to the values. The few things that POR had that ASMO doesnt, werent important to us and we never utilized them(pool slide, sit down restaurant, etc..). I didnt see much of a difference in room size. In fact we comfortabley fit 5 people(1 infant in a crib) in ASMO. My kids much prefer the giant Buzz & hockey rink pool to nice landscaping and a river. The only thing I preferred at POR over ASMO was Bob the piano player in the lounge. And on a Disney trip with small kids, thats not priority for us.
So, IMO, I would definitely choose a value over a moderate, even if it werent cheaper.

 

[txdznydude]

I've stayed at the All Stars for years and always found them to be adequate. After experiencing POR this past Feb I don't think I would ever go back to the All Stars(unless I was tight on money). But I'm a 40ish adult with no kids. I'm sure kids would prefer the All Stars but I found POR to be more laid back, less crowded, more of a true resort. I plan on staying at POFQ in may. I hear it's even more cozy. The moderates are not that much more expensive that the values. Keep an eye out for discount codes. Mousesavers.com is a great place to look. You're planning your trip far enough in advance that you should be able to get a great rate on a moderate, maybe even a deluxe. It all comes down to an individual choice and everyone is going to have a different opinion. I say gather info on any resort you might like to stay at, share that info with everyone that is going then put it to a vote.

Just for the record- I vote moderate

 

[JoBP117]

and we really loved it. We have 3 kids under the age of 5 and we found the room just great. AND - it just seemd so 'fun' for kids.

We moved on to the Wildernes Lodge Concierge - and absolutely LOVED it too. But the WLC suited our needs with such small kids. Having the drinks and food handy made it SO much easier. Then, we only went to 2 parks (AK & MK).

If we go back in a couple of years, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the All Star Sports in order to spend more $ going to the parks and doing other things! Plus getting 2 attached rooms - depending on the rate you get - would work out great at the All Stars!

Good luck deciding!!!

 

[WDWorBUST]

I have stayed at the All-Star Movies twice and the All-Star Sports twice....then I have also stayed at Coronado Springs. I went with a friend to Coronado Springs who was a CM so we got the 50% CM discount PLUS it was split between 3 of us girls so it was dirt cheap. I would not stay at Coronado over an All-Stars - now that doesn't mean I wouldn't stay at Port Orleans....I have never stayed there. But the "extra" room and stuff you hear about the moderates was not even noticeable. But a lot of your decision is based on how you vacation. My husband and I sleep and shower in the room.....that's it. For a clean shower and bed a moderate (much less a deluxe) just isn't worth the money to us. Not that I haven't ever wanted to try POR and WL - it just doesn't make financial sense for US....everyone is different.

 

[eeyore0062]

The $85 rate you were quoted for Dec 03 is rack rate. Based on past history you will probaly be able to get a moderate for less then $100 a night. If the choice is only between the All Star and a Moderate I would go with POFQ. It is the smallest of the moderates.

I quite agree! PO-FQ is fantastic, will appeal to everyone, and is smaller, so it requires less walking than most of the other resorts. The grounds are very nicely landscaped, and the theming is nice, but still appeals to kids... ie: Serpent slide, dancing alligators and the food court and its decor--- think Mardi Gras jesters and the like.

We stayed at PO-Fq this past October for the 1st time, and let me tell you it WON'T be the last! We fell in love with it! We had connecting rooms with my parents, had plenty of room, loved the pool, the grounds, the boat to PO-R. The bus transportation was great, as was the food court (gotta try those Beignets!) The pool was quite attractive both to my DD as well as to the adults, and there was a hot tub, and a nice playground. No building was more than a 5 minute walk from the main building.

The staff was very accomodating, and friendly.

As you can see, I cannot say enough wonderful things about PO-FQ. I don't think you would be disappointed!

 

[irishone1979]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I still don't know what we will do. I like the idea of staying at a moderate because I know we will be spending time at the hotel since there are children who take naps and a mil who takes naps also. I just don't know how we can afford it because me and my DH just spent 10 days in WLC. We weren't that impressed with concierge, but I think that was because we had a bad experince with other things that had nothing to do with the Concierge staff. I just can't justify the money to stay at a resort like that again though.
Anyway, I will do some more research, talk to my travel agent and see what happens!

Thanks again for all the advice!!

Heather S

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Pure and simple, if money is your issue then the Allstars should be your choice. You may have to get two rooms so everyone can be comfortable, but you should consider a couple of factors that will save you on the two rooms, are you a FL resident...rooms as low as $49 a night at the ASMu and ASSp, and what kind of codes are available for the time you are going. Consider that and make your trip stress free. If you're already worried about how you're going to be able to afford a moderate resort, then you're already adding uneeded worries to what should be a worry free trip. Best to you and keep us posted.