Deluxe to Value - Anyone?????

[tyco]

Hi Everyone!

My family did the AKL this past July and WE LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! I think we've been spoiled - Now we are planning an August trip (waiting for some new codes!) and I would love to try Pop Century - My girls saw so many pictures and heard such great things about it - My husband and I do not have to stay at a deluxe hotel (clean and good service is most important to us) a friend also mentioned Port Orleans (French Quarter) She said the renovation is suppose to be amazing - I'm just wondering if anyone has been to all three resorts - I must say it looks like my 9 and 6 year old will love POP - I appreciate any info - Thanks!

Sue - New to the forum

 

[hulabird]

I personally never do values, mainly because I don't have children and I would prefer not to stay where there are tons of kids. I have never stayed in a value, we started out at mods, but I would go back to a mod from a deluxe because CBR is a favorite of mine.

 

[Real Loser]

We have stayed at all three of the hotels you mentioned. Our last visit was Pop from feb 6 through 15. We are AP holders and took 2 guaranteed connecting rooms at Pop for 49.00 each. The rooms were quite similar to the rooms at the moderates. they were clean and attractive and we thought having 2 rooms could not be beat. We were very pleased when we first checked in.

We will not do a value again. The noise around the pool very late at night caused a few really rotten night's sleep. The food court was very crowded at breakfast and dinner and one time we could not get a table to eat the thirty dollars worth of food we stood on the line one half hour to get.

I love the moderates. We have never had a noise problem at a moderate or a deluxe. This was not a relaxing trip . In November it will be Wilderness Lodge for us.

If you do Pop, try to get a room or two away from the pools. Having 2 rooms, 2 televisions, 2 bathrooms is wonderful. Yet we came home really, really tired.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I LOVE deluxes and moderates (POR rocks!), but I HATE values and I will NEVER stay at one again! The main reason is the noise and the crowded food courts. The small rooms and not being able to make the air conditioner go past 70 degrees is also a big negative.

 

[tar heel]

After three straight trips at a deluxe, we did two rooms at a value last summer b/c it was more than $100 a night less than one room at yc. I thought it was okay as did ds9, but my dh and teens hated it. We really missed having a good pool and a hot tub at the end of the day, and dh thought there was a lot less attention to detail and that a lot of things just felt "cheap," such as thin towels, tiny ice bucket, the soap/shampoo dispenser. It also was noisy and the pools were really crowded. We moved to two rooms at cs at the end of that trip and, while we still prefer the deluxe, we all found it to be far superior to the value resort.

 

[sue1013]

I too have stayed at all level resorts and will never go back to the values. Gave them a try twice no more. We usually go at slower times but you couldn't tell it by the values. I found them to be very very noisy. Just seemed cheesy to me. Depending on deals available sometimes we'll stay at a deluxe sometimes a moderate.
I think going from deluxe to value will be too much of a difference.

 

[ead79]

I have never stayed at a moderate, but I have stayed at both value and deluxe resorts. As a matter of fact, my husband and I wanted to try Pop Century just after it opened during our honeymoon, so we added a night onto the end of our trip to try it out. This resulted in going from a suite at the BoardWalk Inn to a standard room at Pop Century.

We really enjoyed Pop Century. Of course, it does not have the same amenities as as deluxe, but we knew that ahead of time. We thought the theming was very well done, and the resort is brand, spanking new. Some of the issues that people seem to have with the All Stars have been taken care of at Pop Century (such as no soap/shampoo dispensers in the shower and drapes that are on two overlapping tracks so no light gets through). Our room did not overlook any of the pools, and we had no noise problems at all. We were on the 4th floor, so that might have helped as well. We thought the food at the food court was delicious (we ate both a late lunch and a breakfast there). The only negatives we encountered were the crowd at the food court for breakfast (we got our food quickly, but couldn't see a seat, so we took it back to our room to eat it) and the air conditioner setting not going below 68 (it seemed warmer than 68 in the room though). I have heard that maintenance can override that if need be.

My opinion is to give Pop a try--I thought it was a really neat resort. Just adjust your expectations ahead of time that it will not be as impressive as the AKL.

 

[susy]

We just did it and it didn't go very well. Went from the WL to Pop. We loved Pop, but it rained the whole time and our DS was sick. Not the resorts fault, right? To true, but we would have been more comfortable in a deluxe where we didn't have to get soaked to leave our room. DH had to put on a poncho and go into the cold rain to bring us back dinner. I felt so trapped. At least at the WL, we could have all gone down to Roaring forks or Wc or AP or the Mercantile or just walk around. Lots more options and comfort at a deluxe!

 

[tink44]

Hi Sue,

Welcome to the DIS!


I'm usually a deluxe gal all the way, but in 2002 we took a quick side trip to WDW from a wedding we attended in south Ga. We stayed at All Stars Music for 3 nights. The room was clean and the mousekeeping was very good. We even had towel animals waiting for us when we returned to the room in the evening.

Did it compare to the 5 nights we spent at the Boardwalk Inn a few months prior (with no towel animals)? Not by a long shot.
Did we have fun? Absolutely. We were in a room facing a rarely used playground surronded by shrubbery. It was fairly quiet at night. No water slide at the pools but my DD found some friends to play with at the quiet pool at night after the park and it was a nice relaxing time. Totally ignored the dispenser as I bring my own supplies and cosmetics anyway (also had plenty of Mickey soap souveniers from the BWI). Food court, no thanks. We purchased milk for DD's cereal, a couple of pieces of fruit, had snacks and had a good lunch at the parks. DH had a sandwich and said he was pleasantly surprised.

I think it's all in your attitude. Would I return to a value? Not if I could help it but WDW is about so much more than your hotel. If I have deluxe accomodations I hang around the hotel more, if not, the parks have plenty to keep me busy until I can only shower and go to bed. Pop Century should be fun. Also the newness should add to your enjoyment.

I had to redo my budget for my upcoming trip so I'll try a moderate for part of the trip (POR) and the Dophin for the end. I'm going to my happy place so I'm looking forward to a positive experience regardless.

Enjoy whichever you decide.

 

[Armadillo4]

We stayed at POP for 4 nights in January, and stayed at AKL last year. We enjoyed BOTH resorts and have many wonderful memories from each. Yes, I think we had some more fun with the various amenities at AKL, but one of the reasons we were even able to go in January was because of the $49/night rate at POP. I think a couple posters above said it best when they say you just have to manage your expectations and attitude.

I had no problems with noise with a POP 4th floor room. I think a few posters on the POP FAQ thread have mentioned that the 4th floor tends to be the quietest at POP if that's a concern. I thought the food court was pretty good and had no problem finding a table during our stay. However, my fave resort restaurant is Boma. We would not hesitate to stay at POP again if our budget dicatated it. Although we certainly would not say "no" to AKL if we could afford it.

 

[Aisling]

Having stayed value and deluxe, I think I'm in the minority that loves the value resorts. Someone on the boards recently wrote that the values scream Disney magic, and I agree. I felt the enegry of all those excited kids, and there was so much more Disney theming at the values, which I loved.
The noise didn't bother us at all, since it was just families and people laughing and having the time of thier lives. We had a room right by the pool, and even late at night when kids were playing in their, it was never loud enough to bother us, only enough to hear.
Maybe my family has a higher tolerance, but we enjoyed the value resort very much, and I'd love to try Pop.

 

[ktglads]

Last year, I stayed at the Dolphin, Polynesian, Animal Kingdom, and All-Star Sports. I loved them all in their own separate ways. Personally, I love the food courts at the values. You get much more of a selection and can get in and out of there quickly if you wish. I have really never had a problem with noise since it is still quieter than what I fall asleep to at home.

Maybe you should think about splitting your stay - do a night or 2 at POP and then the rest at POFQ?

Also, when you are planning multiple trips a year, cost is also brought into consideration. For the AP rates, sometimes you just can't go wrong staying at a value resort.

 

[kaygela]

I've never stayed at a values, but a very good friend of mine had a terrible stay at one. He said the noise level at night was awful and that people were walking around carrying beers and many people were rowdy. He did not enjoy the atmosphere at all and thought it was a terrible environment for his little girl. Again, I'm just reporting what he told me, not anything I've experienced myself.

 

[n2mm]

We do both ALL of the time. We go a minimum 4 times a year. Two times we stay at a Delux and two times we stay at a value. We stay at the Delux during value season. We stay at a value during spring and fall--during these times we spend little time at the resort so for a room, we get what we pay for. During the cooler and hotter times (Feb & July) we prefer a delux. Both are usually having value season so the rates are lower. In Feb, while it's cooler in the evening, we like have the lobbies, same goes for July. But in July the values and moderates are so packed with kids and groups we prefer to pay more and stay at the delux. So each level of resort fits our needs when the needs are there. We too would rather pay for a delux than a moderate. We find not a lot of difference between the moderates and values. Since we always have a car, we zip over to the resorts we like to eat at--esp. boatwrights for breakfast. We were just at the WL for the first week of Feb and look forward to staying at Pop Century on our next trip April 29-May8, then back to the WL for July 14-24, following by Pop Century Oct. 20-29

 

[Disneylvr]

My very first onsite stay was at Caribbean Beach Resort and I fell in love with it. It will always be my favorite Disney Resort. However, since then we have stayed at both Deluxe and Value resorts and in our opinion there is good and bad about both. I am proof that some guests can go from staying in a Deluxe to a Value and still have a wonderful vacation. But not everyone can.

If our family could afford without sacrifices to stay in Deluxe or Moderates every trip, we probably would. We like the room size, amenities, transportation and recreation options.... But for us they are a splurge on special occassions AND we have found a fantastic code rate. Our REAL budget/salaries will more often put us in the Value Resorts, especially with the recent addition of our dd to our family. I think we will be a Value Resort Family for awhile simply because they are more affordable to people who are on a budget like us and like to visit WDW more frequently. We don't have a problem with the room size at the values but keep in mind we live in a tiny 2-bedroom home so we are used to close quarters with each other. We are just so happy that someone else is making the beds and cleaning the room for once!! As for noise, we always request a room that is away from the main traffic areas and haven't had major problems. We had alot more noise problems at the Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian and Contemporary than we have ever had at All Stars.

I look at it this way. The cost of the Values is ALOT less than the Deluxes and sometimes even the Moderates. We have had bad things happen at the Deluxes including dirty rooms, noisy neighbors at $200+ a night. For now, I think I would rather spend less on a resort room and take my chances at a Value. There is less $$$ to lose if something goes wrong. Just my opinion for what it is worth.

 

[goofy4tink]

We stayed at POR our first two trips. Then last summer we stayed at the Polynesian. It was fine. The pool was terrific but crowded. Found we really used the quiet pool more. Were there kids? Oh yeah. Tons. My dd and I returned for a quick last minute trip in Dec and stayed at AllStarMu and loved it!! It wasn't that noisy. We were on the outside of a bldg tho, away from the pool area and main walkways. We got to the foodcourt at off-times and never had a problem with waits or seating. We bought into DVC this fall and will be going back to the values when we're not in BWV. We just love the AllSTars!!

 

[Harambe]

We've stayed at both, and liked both. I remember coming home from the Poly and asking DH if he felt it was worth the extra 200 a night to stay there - and altho we loved it, we were hard-pressed to admit it was really worth the money.

We loved AKL also, but felt it was huge and required a lot of walking. So I think every family is different - we don't use all the perks of the deluxes, but being on the monorail is nice. But having two bathrooms at a value (having connecting rooms, I mean) is also awesome!

And for breakfast, we tend to grab a muffin, or package of Pop-Tarts from the "grab and go" and eat them at the busstop - so finding a seat in a crowded food court for breakfast doesn't impact us.

And we sleep like dead people from all our park touring, so can't say we've been kept awake anywhere - even New Year's Eve at ASSp.

 

[leighe]

I have planned this extravagant spring break at AKL and DH is most excited about staying at ASSp the first night we check in! I'm afraid he will totally love it and as he hates to spend money anyway we'll staying nothing but values for the rest of our lives! Don't get me wrong, I think the values are great places to stay but I want to try every hotel on property at least once. The only thing that might save me is that I told him that ASSp is a favorite place for cheerleaders to stay and since I am a cheerleading coach he is wary of, annoyed by, terrified of (take your pick) cheerleaders (and especially their mothers ). I'm praying there will be cheerleaders ALL OVER THE PLACE when we stay there. I'm pretty sure there a few competitions going on during our dates.

But after all that - no, I don't think it's hard to go from deluxe to value. There is something so "Disney" about the values that you don't find anywhere else.

 

[tiggersmom2]

If you were a child of the 70s or 80s, you would understand that there is not as much disney magic in the values as there is in the deluxe and moderates! Let me edit this to say , that if you were a child that STAYED in one of these resorts, that the values would fall very far short!