Best moderate hotel, plus counter service dining plan questions?

[Li-sa]

Hi,

I've been looking at reviews of the moderate disney hotels for our Aug 2011 holiday ( 2 adults, 2 kids - aged 10 and 12) and I'm more confused now than I was before!
I was wondering which is the nicest one? I think the kids will enjoy cooling off in the pool/s, so a nice pool is a must.
Is a fridge included or do you have to hire one? Do they provide pool towels?

I'm trying to get my head round the counter service dining plan too! How does breakfast work? Does it count as a snack or a counter service meal?
TIA

 

[wayneg]

Not sure about best Moderate, never stayed in one.
Also consider OKW or SSR if they do the same offers next year as they have this year and last. Similar price to moderate but you get regular DDP included. Personally I could not eat 2+ weeks of counter service twice a day. We did it last year for 16 nights CS lunch TS evenings, a bit fed up with CS after the 16 nights. But others prefer it, we are all different.
For breakfast it depends what you want, we rarely eat it so odd day might have a muffin or a cinnamon roll at Main St. bakery, they are a snack credit, if you want something more then it will be a CS credit you need to use.

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi Lisa

We picked the Port Orleans French Quarter for our October trip. Main reason: DD7 loves the lookj of the pool with the dragon waterslide. Most if not all of the mods have waterslides and they have more than one pool (some like Carribean Beach have seven!)

All mods come with a fridge in the room. Not very big, but enough to keep some milk, juices and leftovers in there. The mod rooms are also slightly bigger than the values and it is noticeable, I think.

You can mix up and use your dining credits as you wish. They are pooled and you can use as many or as few as you want at any one time over the course of your stay.

In my opinion, the best use for breakfast is snack credit and getting a refillable mug. It is included in the QSDP and the Deluxe DDP but you have to buy it OOP if you have the basic DDP or none at all. Honestly, if you are there 5 or more days, you will easily pay off the mug and be quids in on it. That way you could use a couple of snack credits for breakfast food or maybe share with one or two counter service credits. Since your kids are considered adults for the purposes of the dining plan, you will find there is quite of lot of food and sharing for whatever your lighter meal of the day is may be ample food for you all. And then use your refillable mugs for drinks. We always topped our mugs up with water/soda on the way out after breakfast and decanted it into sports bottles which we took with us to the parks so we wouldn't have to wait in line to buy water at the very beginning of the day.

Over the last year or so, the QSDP has been included in the free dining for the moderate resorts - but you can pay the difference to upgrade to the regular if you want to do more TS on your trip.

 

[TCO]

We've never stayed moderate but this year we have decided to go to the CSR due to the refurbished rooms and we like the look of the themeing.

Both Port Orleans get good reviews but we found the theme wasn't 'holidayish' enough for our liking.

The Pepper Market at Coronado springs gets some very good reviews but some not so good ones.

All of the above was probably no help at all sorry

 

[wideeyes]

We have stayed at POR which was nice, the pool had a good slide and CS was good. You can get bakery items as a snack credit or a bigger breakfast as a quick service credit there.

I wouldn't pay for a mod anymore though after staying in a value & deluxe, I don't think there is enough difference between a value & mod. If you can get a good deal at ssr or okw I would go for that.

 

[gemmybear83]

We stayed at Coronado Springs last October and loved it! The rooms are definetly nicer than the other moderates (I have just put some room photos here if you want a look http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1894622&page=8 - Coronado photos are at the end.

Pepper Market is great value on the dining plan, lots of choice and, servers fetch your drinks , food is served on proper plates with cutlery etc so its a step up from other counter service restaurants!

I love the look of Port Orleans Riverside though, we really want to stay there in the future

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

We have stayed at Caribbean Beach, and French Quarter. I wouldn't go back to CBR unless it was the only option left. have been to FQ twice and adore it - would happily stay there every holiday! The only reason we're not staying there this year is because with the great offer on SSR we are getting it for the same price as FQ so its a great chance for us to try a deluxe!

Yes the fridge is included, and yes so are towels at the pool! You also get a boat from the Port Orleans hotels to take you to DTD, as well as the buses. Its a lovely journey!

 

[Elise79]

We like Coronado Springs an d after is refurb last year it now has queen beds (as opposed to the doubles at all the other mods) and this is a hugh plus as we have a 5ft bed at home and found spending 2 weeks in a double a nightmare!

The main pool is really nice with a great slide - I loved it!

Pepper Market is great if you are on the quick service dining as it had loads of options and some of them very close to a Table service meal.

It is a large resort but does have 4 bus stops. I faxed them a request 4 days before we stayed last time and they honored our requests and we got upgrade to lake view

 

[starrysky]

We stayed at POFQ and found it to be a great resort. No where too far to walk and the boats to DTD was a gret bonus.

As for the food we did the QS dinning plan and loved it. we could use snack credits for breakfast and then had lunch or dinner as QS. Also you can eat at the RS food court and the POFQ one easliy as they are close enough to walk to. Also at DTD you have wolf gang pucks which has a CS option and it has great plenty of choice and they bring the food to you so its like a Sit down meal for QS credit.

We did pay OP for some meals at places we really wanted to eat at. Next trip we are planning on the same again QS plan and pay for a few meals OP. That also means we are not having to be in a certain park at a certain time for an ADR every night and we could go with the flow.

 

[Ann B]

We love POFQ - we have been 4 times! It is on a much smaller scale to the other moderates. You can get to the food hall or bus stop from any of the rooms in less than 5 mins. The pool is lovely and not too busy. The walk along the river to rivereside is also very nice. We also love taking the boat to downtown disney in the evening - so relaxing!

 

[torsie24]

If I had to choose a Mod to to stay at I'd choose Coronado Springs.

That is the one we're suggesting to our wedding guests as it really looks lovely, especially since the refurb. :

I personally would much rather stay there than OKW or SSR, the themeing of those two, and sprawling layouts just don't appeal to me. Plus I don't like the location of SSR and the OKW rooms look really dated.

 

[fuse04]

We stayed at POR Riverside and thought it was a great resort, good food court, Boatwrights we thought was better than some guide book reviews, and the landscaoing was superb. The only reason we have not yet returned is the lure of the deluxe reosrts and the DVC sites. As several have mentioned some great deals at OKW and SSR.

PS we didn't have a fridge in our room at POR Riverside; Disney website seems to suggest they are available at no additional charge. Pool towels are provided at all resorts.