Deluxe resort goer needs to pick a moderate. Or will I miss deluxe too much? Help!

[kpm76]

The first part of your stay is available at OKW but leading into Thanksgiving week, there's little to no availability. Sorry!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Since no 2 bedroom villas aren't available for your stay per a previous poster, I'll offer you my perspective...

For reference, we've always stayed in 1 bedroom DVC villas (renting points) in the MK area. Our last stay was at BLT. We've stayed at VWL in the past.

In June, we stayed at POR with a friend who checked in several hours before us. When we arrived, I only had our room # via text from her. I asked Bell Services where the building was, telling them I'd never been to this resort and they gave me general directions. It was in Alligator Bayou in building 28 (I think?) which was FAR FAR away from the main building. It was 10:30 at night, and dark. My six year old daughter and I, lugging a huge suitcase plus carryons. We were dressed for the plane, so were in jeans and sweatshirts. We were exhausted and it was so late. The bellhop explained how to get to our room, which was literally going to take us 15 minutes to walk, and we had to take multiple turns. I later found out that they'll actually take you to your room in a little tram, but apparently only if you ask. I was so mad when I found that out, and it really soured me to the entire resort. There were two bellhops at Bell Services at the time, and neither one of them mentioned that it was possible for us to have a lift. Grrr. At the deluxes, service has always been top notch.

The rooms themselves were nice, and better than I expected. However, I hated not having a separate sink area with a door...it made getting ready in the morning a hassle because we wanted the kids to sleep in as late as possible.

I didn't think that the door opening directly to the outside would be that big of a deal, but it was because we were right by one of the "quiet" pools...which wasn't quiet at all. We were woken up multiple times each night by loud people screaming in the pools at all hours.

The grounds were lovely, and the feature pool at POR was really cool. The resort is VERY spread out and not at all convenient. I did not enjoy the reliance on the buses, but I've also been spoiled with a BLT vacation where we were only reliant on the buses to get to AK and DHS.

Since I was splitting the room with a friend and thus only paid $100/night for it, it was well worth it to me for a short trip. I think I would have been disappointed being in it for a week with only having prior Deluxe experience. I'd stay there again for a short stay because I think the lower price is worth the concessions to stay there.

 

[jimmysmom74]

Thanks for checking the DVC kpm. Lots of great advice. Plan to book by the end of the week. I'll let you know our choice.

 

[karriealex]

jimmysmom the buses at the moderates do make many stops within that resort so if your guy is impatient with the deluxe resort buses he will be impatient on the moderate buses also. We have stayed at a couple of moderates and we have stayed at deluxes. I prefer a deluxe over a moderate. Moderates are more spread out and the walking distance to the food court can be long depending on where they put you. You can request buildings close to the food courts but will pay a premium on top of your room rate. I found the moderate food courts to be extremely busy with much longer lines and waits than the deluxe and also we found the food courts to be very loud. Not relaxing while you are trying to eat. Just my two cents but I think you would be happier at a deluxe.

 

[bluejasmine]

I prefer deluxe BUT back in Dec my moms Christmas gift to us was a Christmas trip to WDW. We stayed at POR, DH & I were afraid we would miss Poly & we did a little (especially the monorail) but I must say that we enjoyed POR more than we thought we would, it is a beautiful moderate! I definitely will stay there again if we couldn't dial deluxe. Heck I'd stay value if that's the only way are able to go.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[firstwdw]

I am not an expert at all. We stayed WL woods bunk view in 2012 for our first visit and POR preferred May 2013. We loved both stays!I will answer your questions below based on my 2 stays-we had 2 adults and one 7year old child.

Need Help from those who have stayed at both moderate and deluxe resorts. We are planning our next trip to WDW and my parents want to come. To cut the cost of our usual resort choices-Poly (Favorite), GF, & AKL, we are thinking about a moderate resort. We have never stayed at any but deluxe. This would be more affordable for us when bringing my parents too.

1. What will I miss terribly at the moderate vs deluxe?
-we missed the boat to Magic Kingdom

2. Is the bus service good?
- Bus service was great! Honestly, the few extra stops within the POR resort was NO different than the WL bus having to pick up people at Fort Wilderness or another deluxe as WL DID share buses to go to Epcot, AK and HS.

3. How about pools? Do they compare?
While the pool at WL is nice with the lake right there and the big impressive lodge-we absolutely LOVED the main pool at POR! Slide was much better, more games for the kids, cool spray water features and also lots of pretty quiet pools to choose from. Plus we could have used the pool over at French Quarter-BONUS!


4. Should I rent a car?
We didn't feel the need to. But we didn't mind the busing at all.

5. Who has better quick service?
We thought the quick service at POR was MUCH better-more options for certain! Both POR and WL quick service handled allergies great. Again, you can also walk or take a short bus ride over to POFQ and eat at their food court or take the boat to Downtown Disney and there are lots of food options there!

6. Is the room a lot smaller? We have room 1: 2 adults and 6y/o room 2: 2 adults

We had two adults and a 7year old. We felt the room was plenty big at POR! The AB rooms were well themed and fun for our son. He loved the room at WL too-I didn't feel like the room at POR was a whole lot smaller but then again I think WL has smaller rooms for deluxe. I liked the privacy curtain in the sink area at POR.

7. Which moderate is your favorite and why?
-LOVED POR and felt for the money we got a good value.

Answer any or all questions.
Thanks in advance!
Tina

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

Obviously this is a matter of opinion and personal taste. In 2011 we stayed at Poly. When we were booking for 2012, we decided to stay at Coronado because in my opinion (At the time), the only thing we were paying for at Poly was the location. In fact, Coronado even had some amenities that Poly didn't have such as a Hot Tub and preferred rooms connected to the main lobby/shops/restaurants! And before I really start in about my changed viewpoint, let me offer that Coronado was beautiful and had a great pool. However.....my opinion or "just paying for location" quickly changed. I noticed a lot of small things that I had taken for granted at Poly including ample places to store stuff/clothes/luggage, nicer mattress, bathroom that didn't smell like mildew, and above average places to eat. Coronado also had skimped on the toilet paper---it was nicer in the parks than in our room. And, upon eating at Kona Cafe and using the public facilities in Poly, the Poly TP was definitely nicer than both Coronado and the parks. But above all, the location was worth every penny. The monorail to MK and Epcot can't be beat. On our Poly trip, we'd head over to MK every evening for just a ride or two and maybe catch the MSEP. We'd watch Wishes from the Poly Beach. We'd take advantage of quick transportation to all of the MK and MK resorts for dining and attractions. On our Coronado trip, we spent hours of our week waiting for the darn bus, and even if the buses weren't slow, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. We liked feeling like we were part of the action. So, if I had to do a moderate again, I'd probably rent a car so that I could get to the action quickly. And let me end by saying that I would definitely pick a moderate if the choice was Moderate or no Disney World this year. Have a great trip, even if at a moderate!

 

[jimmysmom74]

We pulled the trigger!!!! We booked CSR, 2 preferred rooms, hopefully adjoining, for 7 nights. Friday, nov. 22-friday, nov. 29. And I also had a free dining pin on my name, so bonus!! We were hoping for POFQ, but it was booked with the pin # and POR only had princess rooms. Don't think DS will appreciate the theming. + an extraa $500. Seemed like CSR had a great theme and pretty centrally located. I did reserve a car, we will decide if we want it closer to the date.
Thanks again for all the help! Having my parents with us will be much more worth it then staying in a deluxe.

 

[kpm76]

We pulled the trigger!!!! We booked CSR, 2 preferred rooms, hopefully adjoining, for 7 nights. Friday, nov. 22-friday, nov. 29. And I also had a free dining pin on my name, so bonus!! We were hoping for POFQ, but it was booked with the pin # and POR only had princess rooms. Don't think DS will appreciate the theming. + an extraa $500. Seemed like CSR had a great theme and pretty centrally located. I did reserve a car, we will decide if we want it closer to the date.
Thanks again for all the help! Having my parents with us will be much more worth it then staying in a deluxe.

So true!!

Have a great vacation. CSR looks amazing

 

[4RJN]

you cant beat just hopping on the rail!