Deluxe Kind of Guy ----> Considering Value!

[sdlipton]

DIS'ers'

My DW (Pikaboo27) believes you know all that is disney resorts and WDW. So now i need your help! I am a deluxe resort kind of guy (Read this as, "when i travel stay at the Marriott Marquis NYC, Michigan Mile Marriott, Four Seasons in Half Moon Bay, Sonoma Valley Mission Inn By Fairmont in Napa Valley, and for our very DISNEYmoon in Oct. 2005, the CR").

This all being said, DW and I decided to give each other a trip to WDW as each other's holiday gift using my bonus at work and some of our savings! You read my DW's pre-trip report by clicking here.

Now we are looking at the almost obscene cost diff. between Value and Deluxe and thinking about all the cool things we could do with 900 bucks, like: V&A Chef's Table, Golf, Premium Dining, or just buying more stuff!

So, my question is, WHAT TO DO? Will I be even close to happy, or will the Value resorts make me miserable? Something to keep in mind, we are renting a car (I have to drive to Miami after this Vacation), and we have considered a Mod, but 400 savings isn't worth it, but depending on what you all say here, 900 might be.

Oh tremendous DIS'ers' can you help me? What to do.. What to do.....

 

[msteddom]

Honestly, considering the accomedations that you are used to, I think you would hate the values. I have stayed at Pop Century, and it met my needs, but I would not chose to stay there again if I had any other options. I would say consider a mod, but you already seemed to have ruled that out.

Melissa

 

[shellybaxter]

I stay at hotels like you do when I travel for work. I stayed at POP for one night at the beginning of one of my trips. It was okay for the one night, but the size of the beds (double) and the feeling of the beds (hardish), and the size of the tub (smaller than the deluxe) would have made me crazy for a longer amount of time. I just didn't find anything at POP that would allow me to "relax" in my room, which I need for a longer stay.

 

[figaromeetsmarie]

I prefer the Deluxe Resorts too but like you I have noticed a difference in the price between a Value and a Deluxe.
I have stayed in the Pop and loved it but it really does not compare to the deluxe hotels. But....If money is not a problem stay in a Deluxe!

 

[Colinsmom]

Have you looked at pics of the Value rooms? That might help you make up your mind - it helped me!!

 

[figaromeetsmarie]

Oh....If you need any Deluxe hotel suggestions...I love the Poly!!


Regardless of where you stay you will have a great trip!

 

[marivaid]

We've stayed at Values, Mod and a couple of Deluxes. Although the values were "fine", I wouldn't do a whole trip there again after getting a taste of the Deluxes.

JMO, but I'd stay put.

If all you want is a little extra $$ to dine at V&A, I guess you could spend the first night in a Value and then move on to WL.

 

[ldo]

I stay at deluxes all the time for work, and we stayed at POP last month. Here is my take. POP have fun pools, but no slide and no hottubs. Room was fine--granite or corian sink, no frill toilet and bathtub-shower combo. 2 DBL beds, little table and chairs--posh no, perfectly adequate, yes. My only complaint was paper thin walls--I could hear toilets flushing, showers going and someone's 4:30 AM wake-up call.

There is only a food court at values, and at peak times, it can be crowded. Except for the thin walls, I was 100% satisfied and thought it was a Great value for the buck! My kids LOVED it and did not want to move to the "Fancy" place later in the week, which was DVC SSR.

Some will love it, some will hate it--you decide. You can look at the rooms online and see. If the walls don't bother you and you are in a silly kind of mood, go value. If you want table service for meals and luxury, then values aren't it.

 

[MomPOM]

I really depends on what you put more value on - staying in a nice room for a few hours a day (awake that is) or doing all of those great things you mentioned. If you go into it knowing that it's just a room and you're not expecting the Four Seasons I think you should go for it. Use that money to enhance your experience at WDW and just use the room for what it's for... showering and sleeping. And that's not to say that POP isn't fun and has things of interest. I'm trying to convince my family to do POP this trip and I love, love, love AKL!

 

[minnie61650]

ASMu has newly refurbished rooms.
They stared reburbishing them in the summer of 2006 and finished this year in June 2007. There are photos posted on the following website.
The photos of the newly furnished rooms are in the Jazz section and there are also photos of a newly refurbished handicapped accessible room in the Calypso building.

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_asmu.htm

You can request a King bed but a king bed is not a seperate catagory in the values so it would only be a request.
All Star Music has more landscaping than the other values. It also tends to be the quietest of the values and more couples seem to stay at All Star Music than the other values.

Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[PrincessHeart]

If you are deluxe hotel person - you should stick with the deluxe. Both the mods & values have full beds. My Dh has ruled out mods/values based on this fact alone. If you are used to a queen or larger, a full will be squishy. Also the mods & values have outdoor entrances like a motel versus indoor hallway entrances like a hotel. AKL usually has the best rates for deluxes. We stayed there in Feb 06 for $130 with an AP discount.

 

[Miz Diz]

My DH is also a deluxe kind of guy. We stayed at Music for 3 nights, then moved over to Beach club for our trip this Sept. He did not want to stay there, but once we got in our room, he said it wasn't that bad. The room was just refurbished and this is the first value we've stayed at that we were not woken up by kids running and screaming outside our room. In the past, we've stayed at Movies and POP. Generally, we do feel it is worth paying more for a moderate or Deluxe.

How long are you staying? If it were only about 3 nights - I would go ahead and do the value, but any more than that, do moderate or deluxe. Do you have APs? If not, depending on how long you are staying, it might be worth purchasing 1 to get the room discount. Just a thought.

 

[lake queen]

We have stayed at Deluxe, Mod. and Value.

The last time we stayed at a Deluxe, we really liked it, but we are in the Parks literally from open to close, and have decided not to spend that much on our rooms anymore.

We tour so long and hard that when we fall into bed we sleep like rocks!!

I do like the Deluxe better, but we get lots more entertainment money when we stay at value.

 

[TandT]

I would stick to the Deluxe Resorts. We made that mistake this September. The Value Resorts just do not compare. Remember, you get what you pay for!!

 

[StrwLady]

What is it about Deluxe Resorts that you like? Do you like the option of room service? What about needing house keeping after 10pm? Do you like having real glasses and a nicer ice bucket? How about a bigger bed or bigger room, is that important? Inside corridors instead of your room door opening to the outside? And during your stay at the CR did you like monorail transportation over bus?

Look at my trip history in my signature. You can see I'm generally a deluxe type of gal, but I also have stayed at the values. While I love my deluxes I was equally happy with the values. I think its important if staying at a value to know the differences and be mentally prepared for them. So you expatiations equal the resort.

Have you thought about a split stay. Do your first few days at a Value and then end the trip feeling pampered by a Deluxe!

Whatever you decision I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[JennyDrake]

I think PP has it right, "What do you like about deluxes?"

If you are primarily going to use the room to shower and sleep and don't plan to eat in the food court often, you MAY be OK with a value.

The pools are crowded and have no deep end, so you can't swim away from anyone annoying you. You will schlepp your own luggage (or wait forever for bell services.) There is no room service. The food court food is passable, but not much more and there will almost always be a crowded and noisy.

If you are mainly showering and sleeping in the room, it might be worth a try, but they aren't much as far as a place to hang out and relax.

With that said, I stay in values almost all the time, because I'd rather eat on the high end! The rooms are clean and very colorful.

 

[Fishin' Mike]

I too am a traveller and I have been in the nice places but I just do not see it at Disney. We have been at Disney at least twice a year for the last 5 years and a few times three in a year period. We have stayed in quite a few places and all on property, that is a given IMO.

I would say my favorite Deluxe is the WL but that is only due to the scenery, not the room. I do like the "indoor" hotel a little better but for the price, I can't justify the extra cash. We will use the AP to stay at a Deluxe once in a while. Our favorite place is POP, mainly for price, like you said, you can spend the extra $900 on a lot of cool things while at Disney.

We rarely eat at the Food Court, maybe breakfast or a late dessert. I do like the variety at the POP for food choices which the Deluxes seem to lack, IMO.

To each his own but I would go Value and spend the money on upgraded food choices and save the rest for another trip.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I say consider a 'split' stay.

I stay at the Deluxes (2x stays at the Poly and an upcoming one at the AKL) but I have done a split stay. This is usually at the beginning of the trip when I tend to do 'commando' touring for a few days. Next summer I'm planning a trip to stay at POP for a few days then head on over to the Poly for a few days.

POP is nice, clean and you get what you pay for. But if you're used to deluxes, after about two days you'll really 'feel' the difference.

 

[antmaril]

I am an admitted hotel snob. We usually stay at the Boardwalk Inn at WDW and I really like a nice hotel. In Vegas, I like the Bellagio. I've stayed at the Sonnenalp in Vail, Colorado, The Ritz Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, Colorado, etc. You get the idea. The hotel choice is the most important part of the vacation for me.

That being said, we stayed at Pop Century three weeks ago to take advantage of Free Dining. It was our first time in a Value resort and I was very sceptical about staying there. However, we were only staying four nights, we needed two rooms and it was our second trip this year. I decided to economize by staying in a Value Resort.

It was fine. We knew what to expect going in. There was no grand lobby and no amenities to speak of, but it was clean and the room was functional (albeit small). The resort was cute and we thought it was a good value considering the food was free. We were pleasantly surprised.

I think you can do it, if you keep your expectations in line.

 

[rdevine10]

Well, as stated before it all depends on what you want for the vacation. We usually always stay 4 star anywhere else we travel besides Disney. Why??? Well, at Disney, we spend a LOT of time at the parks. I dont need the hot tub (which Im not a huge fan of public ones anyways), my kids are too small/dont like waterslides, so Im not going to pay for them. They had a blast in the Goofy Pop up jets and kiddie pool, and not to mention the regular pool too. (They are 4 and 2 though). They liked the bunnies we kept seeing, our room was somewhat remote in the 80s this time, but VERY quiet, and we ALWYAS bring a fan with us to help block out noise from other rooms. Ive heard more noise at some 4 star hotels than I did at this stay at Pop!.

Also, we prefer to eat breakfast and sometimes lunch in our rooms (bring the food from the food court back to the room). Becuase, my 2 year old can run around the room and not be stuck in her chair when we are still eating.

Pop has a HUGE food court (yes sometimes quite busy). We visited the Contempory and DH didnt like the options they had for the very small food court.

Last point, before this trip, or at least the 1st 2 days I was trying to talk DH into a monorail resort for convience next trip (close to MK with 2 little kids), well, low and behold, the 2 times we rode the monorail on the trip, once from the Contemp to the MK, it took 25 minutes as we kept having to wait for the train in front of us to move. Our bus from Pop was quicker, and had we known it was going to take so long, we would of walked! The 2nd time, a whole monorail train was stuck and they were bringing in some kind of crane in, after we waited 15 min for the monorail, we ended up taking the ferry to the TTC. So, monorails are not always faster.

In a trip for the 2 of you, Ive heard Coronodo is romantic in a king room. Or Id try Wilderness maybe???? Im not sure Id want a room with 2 double beds.