Are the values really that awful?

[DisneyGal24]

My family really enjoys the value resorts. We have stayed at POP and ASMo. This June we will be staying at ASp. The rooms are clean and comfortable. The theming is outstanding! My daughter still talks about the big Mickey phone outside our room at Pop last February!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I prefer the moderates over the values. The rooms are bigger, the grounds are more landscaped, the pools have slides and they feel less hurry, hurry, hurry.

But I have stayed at Pop and All Star Movies and they are ok but not my favorites.

I think alot of it is what a person is used to. I usually stay at a Marriott hotel or equivalent.

I'll be staying at All Star Music on my early May trip and I'm actually looking forward to trying a value resort again.

 

[txnana]

We had a "grand gathering" of 17 folks from 4 families, ranging in age from three to 72 and all with different expectations. We stayed at All Star Movies and everyone loved it - all our rooms were in a row next to each other, food was fine in the food court, lines were never a problem at the bus stop or in the food court and the rooms provided plenty of space for the 2 families of 4, with the rest of us spread out in rooms of 2 and 3. We are currently booked for 14 nights at ASMu and very excited about it, couldn't imagine paying upwards of 1000$ more for a mod with only marginally more space and basically the same amount of folks complaining about those rooms as well. You will have a great time in a value and actually I felt more "Disneyfied" at ASMo than I did when walking around both the coronado and POrleans resorts.

 

[MindyDean]

The Values are fine. When my boys were younger they loved values-pool activities, and over the top themes. The only thing I didn't like was double beds and no sit down restaurant. Loved the price and food court. The food courts are better than Roaring Forks at Wilderness Lodge. You get the complete Disney experience for a good price. I would stay on-site at a value any day over off-site. Did that once and never again.

 

[buckirj1]

I don't think the values are awful at all. They're perfect for WDW's many solo travelers. The food courts aren't that crowded--the worst are the folks who have to travel as a herd to the counter. I've always been able to find a table. ASMu in particular has a lovely little rose garden with benches, and hardly anybody uses the pool in the back of the resort. I'd rather stay at the AllStars than at Pop, but other opinions can prevail.

 

[spiceycat]

I like the values especially Pop - much more than the moderates.

Now Music is not my favorite of the values - it is probably my least favorite - but it is definitely nice.

Nothing in Orlando is going to be perfect - even the Disney hotels have some awfully reviews.

some people want the best but don't want to pay the money for the Ritz-Carlton or Waldorf Astoira (which you can stay at for cheaper than a moderate at times).

 

[pgianna]

We stay at the swan/ dolphin, thats a deluxe with the price of a mod, you may want to check into that. They have pretty good rates, you may be surprised. If you look into it, book through Starwood not Disney, you would get a better rate. If you are a AAA member you get 20 % off some of the onsite restaurants . Good Luck and have fun whatever you decide.

 

[Keegansmommy]

We love the value resorts. This trip and our last trip we "upgraded" to a moderate resort because we're not doing the waterpark tickets and we 4 year old wanted the water slide. Pop is my favorite value. I think the rooms are very nice...small yes, but nice. In fact my husband I both thought the front desk cm, mousekeeping, and food court was all better at the value than at the moderate.

While we have fallen in love with POFQ, I really want to try the Little Mermaid rooms at AoA next summer!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Over the years, we've stayed at values, mods, deluxe, deluxe club level, and offsite. Having tried all of those options I have to say there is nothing wrong with the values at all. For the past few years, we've chosen to stay club level at the Poly every trip as that is just our personal preference. If, for whatever reason, we couldn't stay there our second choice would be to go back to Pop. We actually prefer it to the other values and all the mods we've stayed at. The food court is always fairly busy but they have a lot of choices for food (I've never eaten anything there I didn't like) and we've never had trouble finding a table. There are just the two of us so the smaller rooms are not a big deal, however I wouldn't want to try fitting 5 or 6 people comfortably in a single room.

Lee

 

[kadesha]

We love Pop! I just posted about how I had a pin and it was only good at a mod or deluxe and I was upset because I didn't think I'd be able to stay at Pop. I don't think you'll have a problem at the Values at all, especially if you are used to staying at Super 8 or Days Inn. Values are nicer than both of those. The only issue is a small room. If you are going to be in the room a lot, then maybe a resort that offers larger rooms would be in order for you. We shower and sleep in the room, so it doesn't bother me a bit! I don't go to Disney to sit in the room!

 

[lauritagoddess]

Over the years, we've stayed at values, mods, deluxe, deluxe club level, and offsite. Having tried all of those options I have to say there is nothing wrong with the values at all.

We've also stayed at all levels, and have stayed at each of the values, and I think they're perfectly fine. With kids, the theming, the food courts, the arcades, and the pools are nice. The only real downside to me are the buses since there's no covering over them and you're stuck out in the sun, and also at the parks you're usually the farthest distance. We're doing our next stay at CSR, but if not we would have stayed at Pop and would have been very happy with it.

 

[disneymomjcs]

We have stayed at Pop, Asmo, Asmu, Polynesian, AKL, AKV, WL, WLV, and SSR and OKW

Bugs yuck but we had a light filled with bugs at OKW. Dust galore at AKV and stuff in between. All were fixed. Bugs do get into rooms no matter how inexpensive or expensive .

Value nice and on the small side but can make a vacation a dream come true for a family. With little ones there are small pools or sprinklers, no slides. Food courts

Mods A little bigger and a fridge for milk is a bonus with little ones or for milk bottles. Slides if your kiddos like that. Nicer landscaping bigger lobbies. More themeing. Food Courts and sit down dining.

Deluexe Very nice decor , Quick Serve areas, Sit down restaurants, Very themed pools and great playgrouds and Spas too.


A trip is what you make of it. You can make any of the choices work with a good attitude!

 

[NancyIL]

My favorite resort is the Swan, and that's where I almost always stay. I have also stayed at All Star Movies and Sports, and when I was at WDW at the end of January, I stayed at All Star Music due to a great annual passholder rate. The resort was undergoing refurbishment, and my room in the Broadway section had recently been redone - so it was nice and fresh. Even though I love being able to walk from Epcot to the Swan at the end of the day, the buses to the All Stars were pretty efficient. I would definitely stay at All Star Music again.

 

[ktsmama]

We have stayed at the ASMusic twice. We were very happy with it, and really reccomend it! Yes, it is a "no frills" hotel. But we found it to be just right for us. Staff was as friendly & helpful as the deluxe resorts (we have also stayed at the Poly & WL), and the grounds were clean & well maintained. No complaints at all!

 

[katibosch]

Thank you to everyone for all of your input and making me feel much better about our decision to stay at a Value!

 

[fairestoneofall]

we've stayed in Values, Mods and Deluxes. honestly, i have no complaints about ANY of them! i have ones that i prefer more than others. there is one Mod that i don't love, but it isn't because of any negative experience.

DD10 and DS7 both LOVE Pop. and they're really wanting to try to new Art of Animation resort once it opens as well. and the food court at Pop is wonderful--the best on property IMO.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We love the value resorts. We've stayed at them all, except for Sports. We don't like sports so much.
We've also done all of the mods, except for cabins and 3 of the deluxe, and I still don't mind the value at all.
They are smaller, but they are value.

I see you have a 5yo. You might really like to try the ASMovies. The theme is great for that age, and they just finished refurbishing the resort. So everything is nice and shiny.

 

[marybeth200]

I stayed at POP in 2007 and LOVED IT! This time I wanted to "step up" to a mod and stayed at POR. Altho POR was lovely and we enjoyed some of the onsite ammedities (rented a Water Mouse, ate at Boatwrights) that POP didn't have I would have rather saved the money and just stayed at POP and spent an afternoon at POR to enjoy those things. I hated sharing the bus (POP just has one stop and you don't share it with any other resorts) and after a day of park hopping it really didn't matter where we slept. I did like having a fridge in the room, which I think was the only real advantage. In the future I don't think I will stay any where other than POP. Just my humble input...

 

[mel&me]

Been a while since we stayed at a value, but enjoyed our stay when we were there.

 

[pigletto]

I keep wanting to like the values more because I sure like the price tag more.. but they aren't for us. I don't mind them for a night or two, but not the whole trip.
However.. I don't think they are awful. The rooms are basic but cute, and the values have cute decorations and are themed well.
The issue for us is two things. The rooms are a tight squeeze and that gets old after a week or more, and two..like someone else mentioned they can be BUSY.
People everywhere. So it gets loud, and it's more lining up for food and more people in the pools etc.

Now, I have seen this described as fun and festive and I can totally see that being enjoyable.
When we get back from a day at the park we want quiet and serene. So we love the mods because they are spread out and generally not so packed with people.
Other people find the mods to be way too much walking and kind of boring. So really, it's all about your vacation preferences and style. No right or wrong answer.

If someone could guarantee me that I'd be tucked into a far off corner where there was no noise and that the food court wouldn't be a zoo then I would have no problem staying at the values. As it is, I can only handle it for a night.