Best Moderate resort

[bubblie]

My family will be traveling to Disney World in October 2004.
We have 2 small children ( 6 and 1). Does anyone have a preference as to which moderate resort to stay at? Please compare this to the Swan resort as far as convience. Thanks

 

[safetymom]

If you do a search you will find many topics that discuss this. We have stayed at all the moderates and didn't find it hard to get to any of the parks. I haven't stayed at the Swan so I can't compare it to that.

Our favorite is CBR. You can see Illumindations at night from the beach.

 

[Buzz2001]

CSR is our favorite. Depends on what you like. Check out my CSR website below for pics and info

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Is there any reason you wouldn't want to return to the Swan? I think the Swan and Dolphin are much more conveniently located than the Disney moderates. They are also deluxe hotels so after staying at the Swan (with that heavenly bed!) a moderate may be anti climatic. At least that's what I experienced. I had heard nice things about POR, and it was fine, except I missed all the amenities at the deluxes (wasn't sure if I would notice so much, and I sure did), particularly the more central location and more convenient transportation options that the deluxe resorts offered.

Beyond that, out of the moderates I have only stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. We didn't try the restaurant, but we found the food court to be more expensive and less tasty than the fast food options at AKL or GF. I would say it was comparable to the food at Tubby's in the Dolphin, and we got the refillable mugs. My son LOVED the pool. We had a great time in Ole Man Island and met lots of nice people in the jacuzzi. The boat cruise back from Downtown Disney was fun in the dark--we had quite a wait on the way over for a boat, though. It took a long time to get back and forth between parks and resort. We did like the view of the Sassagoula river and the lobby area. We stayed in Magnolia Terrace which was in much need of renovation, and we found that right after our stay, they did, indeed, begin renovations. It might look much prettier now. At the time (last November) the common areas were showing some definite wear and tear and the beds were not very comfortable. There was a half full wine glass left on the bench in front of the garden area that remained there during our whole stay, as well as a full ashtray. I didn't know why the common areas weren't kept up better. Maybe after renovations the mousekeeping will be more apt to keep the common areas clean....or else, we just happened to stay right after some careless guests.

I think if I were to try a moderate again, I'd try with the newly renovated Port Orleans French Quarter. But again, I'd definitely go w/ the Swan or Dolphin for a deluxe stay for the transportation and convenience of locale.

Have fun deciding!!!