Deluxe resorts...are they truly worth it?

[bangzoom6877]

Okay we are staying at Pop Century this summer (5 nights in July) for our first family trip to WDW. I went to WDW as a kid, ages 8, 12, 14, and 16. DH went once in 1999, age 21.

Anyway, we are bringing our sons this summer. Our big one just turned 3 a few weeks ago, and our little one will be 1 on May 1st. We decided to stay at the Pop because it is in our budget and really the only way we can stay on property this vacation. Those of you with children will understand when I say that when you have a house and little ones, it is hard to budget a lot of money for a family vacation. So of course a deluxe resort is out of the question...this time.

For future vacations, a deluxe resort may be possible. However I am trying to figure out if it would be more worth it for us to do a deluxe resort or to stay more nights at a Value....

For those of you who stay at Deluxe resorts at WDW, what truly is so wonderful about them and sets them aside from the values? I know the rooms are bigger, the room door is in an interior corridor instead of exterior one, sit-down restaurant at a deluxe resort, and some are on the monorail route. All these things would be great and convenient, but are not all that important to us. What are some other things you all love about the deluxe resorts?

Again, we are not upgrading this vacation (even with the possible extra tax break from the gov't!), but I am curious about deluxes. We are dining at Poly, AKL, and Contemporary throughout our trip so I will get to see the public areas of these resorts.

I know I did not mention moderates, but as far as I know the only difference between these and values is that moderates have a table service restaurant and maybe rooms are slightly bigger but still with exterior corridors.

So, what's your opinion?

Thanks,
Bonnie

 

[stacy6552]

I will totally agree with you that (having done both) I do not find any extra value in the cost v. comfort difference between the value and the moderates.

However I do find that the deluxes are worth the extra expense. The rooms are more spacious and comfortable. The locations tend to be better. The pools are way better. And you have more elbow room. At the value (and mod) it felt crowded, even when it wasn't really. The deluxes have never felt that way to us.

If you have the budget, go ahead and indulge.

 

[Blessedx3]

I know you already mentioned it but for us it is the closeness. There is nothing worse then waiting in line forever to ride a packed bus forever with tired children. If we stay at CR we can walk back. Monorail is a short trip back to the Poly. We also do love the extra room. Even going from AKL to the Poly is such a bigger room. And the pools YC/BC SAB is awesome. We come back and nap and swim everyday no matter where we stay so this is also a big plus for us. We have stayed at them all, but what could be better then waking up to a giraffe out your window. Or watching the wishes fireworks from the balcony of your room. Maybe when are kids are older and we spend less time in the room/at the resort we will have a different feeling about the Deluxes but right now we are sold.

 

[TJA]

Well, I can tell you why we personally are hooked on deluxes. For us, it's all about the location and convenience. We stayed at AKL our first trip with our twins. They were age 7 months at the time. While we loved AKL, we felt a little stressed with all the baby supplies, double stroller, our babies, and loading buses. So next trip the babies were 13 months old and we stayed at a monorail resort and could not believe how totally easy everything was. We just rolled our stroller right on the monorail and rarely had to unload and fold our stroller the entire trip. Then we ventured over to the Epcot resorts and fell in love with that area. When you are in Disney in July, you should check it out. Back in the Epcot countries, walk through the International Gateway and stroll around the resort loop. You will walk on the boardwalk right past Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Inn. It is a truly beautiful area. Anyway, from those resorts, you can walk/boat to both Epcot and MGM. This is especially handy with young children and strollers. You can watch the night shows at both of those parks and then let the kids rest/fall asleep in the stroller for the walk back to your resort. If the kids fall asleep, then we stop along the boardwalk for a drink/snack. It's very comforting and relaxing. The extra money it costs us is well worth it because all of these luxuries make our trips that much better. However, I will say that we are annual passholders, which makes it possible for us to enjoy the deluxes as we've always received a good discount on our rooms.

 

[simonkodousek]

For us, room size and transportation are the #1 reasons for choosing deluxe resorts over moderates and values. This is also why we only go once every other year. We get out of the room by 7:45 AM each morning and are gone for the entire day. We return to the room at about 9:00 - 10:00 PM each night and stay up for an hour either inside watching television or on the balcony/patio reading or just taking in Disneyworld. Because of this, a bigger room is very important. Also important is transportation because we don't rent a car and don't want to have a hassle riding and waiting for buses all the time, etc. The Polynesian fits this perfectly because of the monorail, boat, and buses, and also the proximity to the TTC for direct monorails to Epcot.

 

[eliza61]

Hey Bonnie,
The problem with the proverbial "worth" question is that for each and every one of us, its different.
When my kids were little, i would have paid any price whatsoever if I never had to unfold my stroller for the bus, so I stayed on a monorail line.
Now for us, it's the balcony and the ability to walk to Epcot. I will pretty much eat toast and jam before I give up my balcony.
Now that my kids are teenagers and all over 6ft tall, we stay at one bedroom dvc villas exclusively, for us the extra space and a full kitchen is "worth" giving up a kidney for.
I'm a firm believer where ever you stay you'll have a great time.

 

[daisyduck123]

For us...well, the deluxes are so nice that we don't ever want to leave our resort to go into the parks. We just want to "stay & play" at our resort. We love just waking up, heading to the pool, & hanging out all day. (Of course, we go often enough, that we don't need to hit all the parks/attractions every trip).

We used to stay at POP...in no way did that ever make us feel like just hanging out at the resort all day. Staying at POP felt like we were in a crowded shopping mall. No more. Since then, we tried a moderate, & then bought DVC.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I would vote no...DH would say absolutely. Depends on taste. My belief is that at a place like Disney you spend very little time in your room or at the resort. However, DH spent all of 30 seconds at AKL last year and declared that we are never staying at a value again. I will say that we decided to take a longer trip (9 days!!!) this year and are planning to have a couple of "down" days just hanging at the resort. In this case, it may be worth the $$$. We'll see.

 

[bangzoom6877]

The buses are not an issue for us this trip. We are driving down (yes, all the way from NYC so we can visit people along the way and see some interesting things too!), so we will have our car with us and drive to the parks and our ADRs. We decided this will be easier with the stroller, and since from what people told me here it is not more than a 20-min. walk from the far parking spots at MK to the TTC, we have no problem walking instead of taking the tram. We anticipated a 30-min. walk which would have been fine, but recently learned it is less than that. So the kids can ride in the stroller while we walk to the TTC and catch the monorail or boat. So no tired or sleeping kids on a bus to worry about...they will probably fall asleep in the car on the way back to the room.

Wow, deluxes do sound great! Even though we are not worried because not using the buses, being on the monorail line must be awesome! Hopefully someday we will be able to afford it! Right now we are on a budget as I said above, so a clean room on Disney property makes us very happy! Just being there will make all of us so happy and it will be magical and lots of fun no matter where we stay on property. I do hope though that we will someday be able to indulge in a deluxe.

Now, what about renting from DVC members? Where is the best place on the internet to do that where it is legitimate? Anyone have experience with this? I saw some on ebay and though they were more than the value resorts, they were not that much more so it sparked my curiosity. Is this is more economical way of enjoying a deluxe resort? Or is it better to watch out and book the way I always do with my travel agent?

Thanks again,
Bonnie

PS--I really hope I do not sound cheap since I am staying at a Value, and asking questions about renting DVC points!

 

[Cruella 66]

Why deluxe ...let me count the reasons...

Larger rooms that fit 2 adults and children 12,7 and 5 with space to spare.

Kids' do the happy dance over the beautiful pools, lake views, sandy beach, and marina activities. Mom and Dad do the happy dance with having it all right THERE.

The convenience of the transportation options; monorail a few steps away, boat out the other other door, or bus...all are options. There's nothing that says 'value' more to us than NOT having to drive for an entire week and arriving at our hotel after a brief mass transit ride and short walk to the hotel room. Plus the hotels don't normally have large groups that take up the entire bus and then some, leaving you waiting for another.

Being able to roll out of bed, get dressed and brush your teeth and it's just a short elevator ride to your character breakfast!


Lack of 'groups'...if you've ever had to wiggle your way through about 200 high schoolers +other groups and families with three young hungry kids', juggling the trays, wondering where your spouse was and looking for a table to eat breakfast four days in a row; 'value' would also be in the convenience of not having to deal with that again.

The quiet peace and harmony...a more 'sedate' crowd

All that being said, I'm not implying young adults or crowds are bad or that the deluxe cater or serve only folks over 40. These are just MY reasons for the 'value' of $100+ more a night over one hotel room than anther. WDW is great and offers many different options for many different budgets. I've done all the different levels, traveled with children of my own from 3 months to 17 years, and with a group of young people; I'm just at a place now where I can enjoy the deluxe and don't mind paying the extra. Enjoy your trip! Cindy

 

[CEDmom]

For me personally I won't stay anywhere but a deluxe. I'm sure if my DD8 saw the All Stars or Pop she'd love them and want to stay there but our vacation isn't just about what she wants. DH and I work hard and want a little pampering and luxury while on vacation. I don't see that happening anywhere but the deluxes. Since we're paying we choose where to stay. Don't worry though, DD gets a chance to make a lot of decisions about what we do. I've said numerous times I'd rather have a short stay in a deluxe than a longer one in a mod or value.

 

[Esmerelda]

Wow....my answer would be 'absolutely'!

To us...the hotel is part of our vacation. There is nothing more wonderful to me than waking up early in the morning...before 7am...making some fresh coffee...and having a beautiful view to take in while sipping fresh coffee (just my little special treat to myself while on vacation)

We are huge fans of WL (which we are staying at in June again) and our home resort is SSR which is our ABSOLUTE favorite DVC resort. It is so quiet there in the morning. The whole property is just beautiful! A morning walk is so refreshing at SSR. Its so removed from any noise and the whole resort is gorgeous and the rooms are soundproof.

I have stayed at values..moderates...and most of the deluxes and all DVC resorts over the years. My favorites are Port Orleans/FQ....Wilderness Lodge....The Poly...and SSR.

have fun no matter where you stay

 

[deej696]

For us, it is mainly a matter of convenience. We usually stay at BC, BW, or on the monorail, because of the convenience to the parks. In addition to that, however, we usually end up in deluxes because I am a hotel snob. I used to manage the front office at a luxury property, and therefore got spoiled not only by where I worked, but also by our sister properties that I would stay at all the time. I have no problem staying at a value or mod, but I usually find a way to justify the added cost.

 

[CarolA]

IMHO the biggest rip off at Disney is "Deluxe" Resorts.

The ONLY thing they have going for them is location and even that can be a problem. (For example, the Poly shares buses with the CR and GF to go to the Studios and AK so it can be PACKED on those buses)

WHen I compare Disney "deluxe" services/rooms/features to other deluxe hotels in the industry, the only thing I find "deluxe" about Disney is the price. I have to hand it to them, they have folks convinced that it's worth it, but I think that if you ever compared them line by line to other hotels the location alone is HARD to justify for that price.

(Just a hint, one of the TOP hotels in the US was recently written up in USAToday. Right on Michigan Ave in Chicago which is a great location, for a shopper it far exceeds Disney LOL. Rack rate $345!)

And the lack of groups things cracked me up. Every time I stay at the BCV there's a convention in the YC/BC. One feather that I think will be added with the tower at CR. More convention meeting rooms!


If you want deluxe in Orlando, I suggest the Ritz, the JW Marriott or waiting until the Four Seasons opens.

 

[Micca]

We grab a deluxe when we can. If not, CSR works great for us.

 

[ElizabethB]

We generally stay deluxe, but we tried All Star Sports recently for a couple of nights in order to knock a bit off the trip price (we then moved over to Grand Floridian Royal Palm Club). We thought All Star Sports was just fine -- the pools were nice, the food court was handy, and our boys liked the arcade better, actually, than the one at GF.

GF, of course, has many wonderful things that we love -- but All Star Sports was fine, we thought.

I think if you are not staying at a monorail resort, using the car is a great idea. One thing we really like about the values and moderates is you can park close to your room. With kids, strollers, etc., that really helps with convenience. We gave up on the buses years ago and never take them anywhere. We either take the monorail or we drive.

We stayed once at CSR and thought it was great. Our car was very near our room, and we drove everywhere.

So, while the deluxes are lovely, they certainly are not, IMO, required for a fun trip to WDW. We were pleasantly surprised by All Star Sports and would not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[dbarker]

Just my 2 cents:

The deluxes have:

better pool w/ slides
hot tubs (very important to DH)
spas w/ excersize equip, saunas (free if you are staying deluxe, or you can pay)
AKL & WL have bunkbeds (nice w/ 2 boys)

However, the values have the best food courts.

We have stayed at both value and deluxe. This next trip we are staying at POP.

BTW, if you can take the time, take the boys over to AKL and see the animals. There are lots of activities going on also. (free to everyone)

 

[fla4fun]

I stay at all levels of Disney resorts. It depends on a lot of things - how long is the trip, will I be spending much time at the resort, am I solo or with friends/family, etc.

I find for the longer trips (1-2 weeks) I prefer either deluxe or DVC. I find that on the longer trips I spend a lot more time in the room than I do on the shorter trips. On the longer trips I also spend more time around the resort, so the resort amenities are more important. I tend to order room service and want table service meals on the longer trips. I want to have recreational facilities, like boat or bike rentals, available. On the longer trips, I must have a refrigerator, and having a microwave is nice too.

If I'm just going for a long weekend or a special event (and can't get a really good discount) then I'll stay mod or value, especially if I'm going solo. I don't spend as much time in the room on the shorter trips. I don't mind the transportation so much on the solo trips, so if I have to wait for more than one bus, it's OK. I'm usually on a tighter budget on the short trips, so I prefer a food court to a table service restaurant.

But it really is a personal decision your family has to make. There are some people who think two weeks in a value is great (and it has nothing to do with being cheap - many of these people can afford deluxe and choose not to) and there are some people who wouldn't be caught anywhere but a deluxe, even for one night. You have to look at what you want from a resort (whether it is a Disney one or not) and then pick the resort that best meets your needs. Out of dozens of Disney trips, I've only had one bad resort experience, and that was many years ago at a deluxe.

 

[septbaby]

I will totally agree with you that (having done both) I do not find any extra value in the cost v. comfort difference between the value and the moderates.

An in room fridge, hot tub and extra space in a moderate made it a no brainer for us. As an adult a value wouldn't be the right choice for me. The mods probably offer quieter room configurations. We were right near the quiet pool and parking lot at CBR, but never heard any noise once inside the room. The pools at the Mods are also more elaborate and all have a theme and pool slide which our 5yo loved. You might also get some kids activities at a Mod.

A deluxe will give you all those things vs a value plus: more space, queen beds, interior corridors, elevators, elaborate theming and some location perks (monorail, boat options, dedicated buses, etc.). The pools can be really amazing and well themed. Their are kids clubs and activities. They'll also have health clubs on site.

Certainly at $82 a night the Values are just that. At $145 a night you have to decide if the Mod offers you enough value. At $225 nightly for the least expensive (not on the monorail) the Deluxes are quite a "treat" for most families and even adult travelers.

The Value should be just fine for the little ones this trip. You'll have to decide if you want something different next trip. I would take time to visit some other places (including a Moderate or two) so you have a better sense for your next trip.

One thing's for sure, the Values and Mods have much better CS locations than the Deluxes. They are bigger, better menu choices and run pretty well as they are used to handling much bigger crowds.

We are upgrading to AKL for our next trip and are very excited to do so. Not sure my Mod days are over, but I'll appreciate this treat.

 

[eliza61]

Now, what about renting from DVC members? Where is the best place on the internet to do that where it is legitimate? Anyone have experience with this? I saw some on ebay and though they were more than the value resorts, they were not that much more so it sparked my curiosity. Is this is more economical way of enjoying a deluxe resort? Or is it better to watch out and book the way I always do with my travel agent?

Thanks again,
Bonnie

PS--I really hope I do not sound cheap since I am staying at a Value, and asking questions about renting DVC points!

No your are not cheap at all. Your a grown up who wants to have a nice vacation in your budget. Believe me, there are times when I've told my family that we will be tightening the money belt to afford a vacation.
Renting points from a dvc member is an economical option to do deluxe but it involves a level of trust, since you are in essence renting from a perfect stranger and Disney does not ever get involved. Check out the DVC rent forum. they will explain the entire process.