Are Value Resorts TOO Big?

[gypsydoodlebug]

DH and I reserved a non-smoking room (I am deathly allergic to cigarette smoke). We arrived @ POP CENTURY on 4/16 @ about 11 p.m. and we told the resort was 100 percent filled to capacity, so we would have to spend 1 nite in a smoking/optional room. It smelled terribly, I slept about 4 hrs. The next morning we were switched to a non-smoking room and it was better, but we transferred to the Gaylord Palms as part of DH's conference for the remainder of our trip.

Here's our problem: do ya'll think On-Property hotels are TOO big for their own good? We walked a TON during our two nights at Pop Century -- we were exhausted before we even got to the parks -- and had a hard time finding a table at the cafeteria during breakfast.

If you rented a car, would you still stay on site?

Just a question -- don't flame (LOL). We won't stay on-property again. The Gaylord Palms was much quieter, more our style.

 

[seashoreCM]

If it's filled to capacity on many nights, that would suggest it is too small.

The cafeteria could probably be better off bigger.

I often both rent a car and stay on site.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Last trip November 2003 at All Star Music.
Next trip tentatively August 2004 at Pop Century.

 

[disneyjunkie]

We were there April 2-11. Our room was in the 70s building, very close to everything; pool, bus stop, main building. We never had a problem finding tables in the foodcourt because we ate at odd times.

I'd still stay on site if we rented a car.

 

[Schmeck]

Quoted from OP:

"DH and I reserved a non-smoking room (I am deathly allergic to cigarette smoke). We arrived @ POP CENTURY on 4/16 @ about 11 p.m. and we told the resort was 100 percent filled to capacity, so we would have to spend 1 nite in a smoking/optional room. It smelled terribly, I slept about 4 hrs."

I'm assuming that you're not really "deathly allergic", since you actually stayed in the room, slept (and woke up...) and survived. If you had such a serious allergy, you should have explained that there wasn't any way you could have stayed in a smoking-optional room, and requested a move to another resort with a suitable room. I know you checked in late at night, but you still should have been given the option of a smoke-free room if you needed one.

 

[dmonroe]

I wouldn't not stay on property. I just wouldn't stay in a value resort again. Actually, we did try one night in a value before, didn't like it, and won't be doing that again. The deluxes and the moderates don't seem quite so big. Especially POFQ and BWI--those 2 are quite manageable.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Originally posted by Schmeck
Quoted from OP:

"DH and I reserved a non-smoking room (I am deathly allergic to cigarette smoke). We arrived @ POP CENTURY on 4/16 @ about 11 p.m. and we told the resort was 100 percent filled to capacity, so we would have to spend 1 nite in a smoking/optional room. It smelled terribly, I slept about 4 hrs."

I'm assuming that you're not really "deathly allergic", since you actually stayed in the room, slept (and woke up...) and survived. If you had such a serious allergy, you should have explained that there wasn't any way you could have stayed in a smoking-optional room, and requested a move to another resort with a suitable room. I know you checked in late at night, but you still should have been given the option of a smoke-free room if you needed one.

Actually, I stayed in the car while DH checked in. He didn't know I had reserved a non-smoking room (although he should have). And we actually got a "smoking optional" room, and the previous occupants obviously opted to smoke. If I hadn't been so tired, and if it wasn't midnight already, I probably would have complained, but DH was told there WASN'T anything else on site. The second room was much better, but we felt like we were staying in a Holiday Inn. I think the moderate-priced resorts are probably a bit more low key.

And yes, "deathly allergic" might be a bit of an overstatement, but my asthma was bothering me all night long.

 

[disneydiz]

We stayed one night (April 9) at Pop-Century before we checked into Boardwalk. I will never, never stay in a value again. It was too big and too crowded. The walls were paper thin. I paid $1.98 for a banana for DS, and the next day went to BW and only paid 40-cents.

 

[wannabee princess]

We drive (no need to rent a car), stayed off-site years ago, and we definitely will only stay onsite now.

I think that value resorts are just that - value. It is staying onsite with the conveniences of EMH, buses, etc. But you are not expecting a 5* hotel.

Also, how "aggressively" did your dh pursue a nonsmoking room? If you had reserved non-smoking and they didn't have one, I can't imagine them refusing to assist you if you were adamant about the smoking being a problem - even if that meant going to a different hotel.

I also think that some people are expecting a lot out of the value resorts - they are nice, but not a place to just hang out with a family of 4 or more. I know some people who return every year to the value resorts and are quite happy. If I had no plans to spend much time in the room, or if there was no other option of staying onsite, I would stay value. But for me, even the few dollars difference at moderate is a good difference.

 

[jobanana]

I stayed at Pop april 10 - 16 and I have no complaints. I never heard my neighbors once. I did hear people walk by. Part of that is because of my location. It wasn't facing the pools or parking lot. We were on the 3rd floor of the 50s. The food court did get crazy at times and dead quite at others. I have stayed at 5 star hotels before and though I enjoyed them I have no problem w/ the value. I guess maybe I'm getting more cheap in my old age!! ha ha. But I can't/won't justify spending more to stay at different hotel. Everyone is different. I also did not have far to walk at all to the food court. I talked to a friend at work just yesterday about her stay at the caribaen. She said they walked forever to everything cause it's so spread out. So to each their own. BUt we got everything we asked for at check in and it was crazy at check in.

 

[dznyntnh]

The values exist to make an on-site wdw vacation more affordable for those who might not be able to stay onsite. Since more people tend to want the cheaper accomodations, they are going to be the bigger of the hotels.

I haven't stayed at one so far, cuz they are just too loud, big, busy for my tastes, but if it was between a value and staying off-site, I would stay in the values.

 

[SAntonelli]

We stayed at the Pop on 4/17 & 4/18, before transferring to the AKL. We requested a preferred room at Pop. The location was great! We were on the 1st floor, opposite the main pool in the 70's. Our room at AKL was a farther walk than at Pop! The other nice thing about Pop was that the dining area was centrally located (great for drink refills) while the Mara at AKL (quick dining) was on a different floor than main & buses.

I would definitely stay on-site, even if we rented a car.

 

[outstandinfarmer]

Everytime I've stayed at the Value Resorts, I've enjoyed it and yes, I would pick it over staying offsite any day, but the walk is DEFINETLY a long one. I think we were the room exactly opposite the resort from the buses and cafeteria. We chose not to take the EXTREMELY long, time consuming walk to get breakfast and instead just eat in the park. Long, long walk!

 

[Gator Kate]

We stayed at the All Star Music once and that was more then enough. We dubbed it the "Barbie Hotel" because everything about the room was doll sized. It reminded me of my dormitory stay at U. of F. Fortunately we're Fl residents and can take advantage of the resort discounts which allows us to stay at the other on-site hotels. For my dollar the Swan is the best deal, great location and lovely rooms.

 

[clkelley]

Personally, I love the value resorts!

Most of the moderates (except for POFQ) are these sprawling clusters of buildings around lakes where you have to in most cases, take a bus to get to the food court in the morning. at most of the deluxes, there is no food court.

We are early breakfast people. We are at the food court each morning as soon as they start serving cooked food, and have a good breakfast, then straight to the bus stop and to the parks.

Now yes, after 8am in the morning the Value food courts are a ZOO, but then we avoid those times. We use our value room to shower and sleep.

Then by having that good inexpensive breakfast, we have a really good sit down meal about 3pm at a Deluxe resort away from the parks and that is our meals for the day.

I also like to be able to stop by the desk every other evening and grab my bill. It seems more difficult to do that at the moderates or deluxe.

We will be staying at POFQ in JUST THREE WEEKS, but the layout of that resort is similar to the values, and a bit smaller in size, so we may become converts!!

Carol

 

[saymama]

We stayed at All star music the first year it opened. So all the others weren't even being built yet. It was nice and quiet then, but we stayed mostly in the parks. We tried to book a return trip a year later (surprise by hubby) and they were full. So we stayed off-site. NEVER AGAIN. It took us 40 mins to get a tram to the parking lot. Kids were crying and tired and hot. Once we got to the car, it took another hour to get out of the the traffic and our hotel was right outside the gate. We went years later and brought the kids. We stayed at the Poly and let me just say that for the convience of the monorail, it was so worth it. I think I'm hooked.

 

[HANDYMOM]

Originally posted by Schmeck
Quoted from OP:

"DH and I reserved a non-smoking room (I am deathly allergic to cigarette smoke). We arrived @ POP CENTURY on 4/16 @ about 11 p.m. and we told the resort was 100 percent filled to capacity, so we would have to spend 1 nite in a smoking/optional room. It smelled terribly, I slept about 4 hrs."

I'm assuming that you're not really "deathly allergic", since you actually stayed in the room, slept (and woke up...) and survived. If you had such a serious allergy, you should have explained that there wasn't any way you could have stayed in a smoking-optional room, and requested a move to another resort with a suitable room. I know you checked in late at night, but you still should have been given the option of a smoke-free room if you needed one.

This is a very rude way to suggest to someone that they put their foot down regarding their reservation and request a room at another resort. You made a great suggestion of how to handle it, but you chose an ugly, sarcastic way to do it.

A little more patience would be nice, we're all supposed to be friends united in the love of all things Disney here!

 

[MJames41]

So far we've been lucky and gotten rooms close to everything (Football at Sports, Dalmation at Movies). If you think the values are spread out, you definately don't want the moderates, especially CBR. Those resorts are huge. Granted, they are very nice, a little quieter, but much more walking involved. For very little walking you want a deluxe.

 

[HANDYMOM]

Even though the moderates are very spread out, they are also much smaller than the values in terms of total rooms. This equates to a lot more people in a comparable area.

It seems that the values are just that- a bargain (???? doesn't feel that way when the bill comes does it?) compared to a resort where you don't feel so surrounded by people and visual stimulation. They definately serve their purpose well. I personally stay at the moderates because I like the upgraded, quieter feel of them.

 

[Winka]

I've done Pop once and ASM once....POP felt GI-NORMOUS!

The scale of that resort is not to be believed ESPECIALLY on a rainy night when you walk all they way to your 80s/90s room only to discover your key doesn't work. You try to call the front desk on your cell-no answer. You're forced to trudge all the way back to get the situation rectified then trudge all the way home again(asked if their golf cart wasn't available-it was out with other guests-we decided to walk it).

Actually for our winter trips we really like a nice spread out resort bc we get to do so little walking in our chilly corner of the world but that evening at the Pop....yikes!

If we ever choose to do a value again it WON'T be Pop...it's a little too spread out for me.

 

[firefawnkimmy]

hrm, i think its really a matter of preference. I have been to Disnety 11 times though this is the first time I am booking the trip myself, and have basically been to every old resort (not the Animal Kingdom, All Star Sports, Saratoga Springs, the Contemporary, or to the camp grounds though.). And after even staying in the Polynesian and the Carribean, or the Yacht Club I actually PREFER the All Stars. We went in their prime season last time, at the end of June! And there was hardly anyone there it seemed to us. We wound up in the farthest hotel room from the dining area, as far away as you could get, and the walk only took 5 minutes. Not bad at all if you reallly have ambitions of walking around the parks all day.

Also, the room we stayed in was really nice. A room is just that, a room. WHo really spends all THAT much time in their room? We certainly don't and thought that our room was perfect and fun. Of course if someone is going souly for the resort experience, they would prefer a Deluxe to the All Star.

The food court was awesome. We have been to both the All Star Music, and the All Star Movies, and honestly even when it was crowded, it never really bothered me at all. It was never really filled to capacity, there was always a good seat available, and the cashiers work very fast so our line wait, even if the line was longer, was like 2 minutes, we even timed it a few times just for fun.

So basically, a value resort is relative to the person. I enjoy luxury as much as the next, but could care less about the "pomp" of saying I stayed at the Floridian. Truthfully while the Floridian is quite nice and the service was great, I felt like I was in a museum where one needed to whisper and tiptoe at all times. No one talked really there, and if my fiance and I were in there cracking up at something funny (and not loudly just regular laughing together) the lovely workers and other guests sort of glared at us. Maybe it was just our experience there that turned me off from it but I would recommend an All Star to anyone who wants to stay on site. I just felt more comfortable there I think and everyone was always happy and in a good "Disney" mood there.

Only thing I would say that COULD be bad about it is obnoxious groups that book large blocks of rooms. Those groups get on some peoples nerves, but not on mine really. Theres always the chance that you will get a room next to a large group of cheerleaders or a band, and if thats not your cup of tea, Id steer away for that reason. We have not encountered that at all though.