Randy, Here's my 2 cents worth...and with the economy the way it is, it won't get you much.... We have stayed off site, value, moderate and deluxe. It just depends on what you need or what you can afford. Off site has it's advantages....we always stayed in a condo, which meant having a kitchen, 2 bedrooms, living room, big screen and a washer and dryer. This was nice for the less expensive trips since we could fix 2 meals a day and just eat one meal at the parks. Could take less clothes, since I could do wash in the evenings. As nice as it sounds, do I REALLY want to cook and do wash on MY vacation? No, not really, but it works. My Brother In Law, he always rents a house with a pool. He is a family of 4, but that's the type of vacation they like. As for value, we have only stayed at Pop Century, and we LOVED it! One of the great things about staying there is, the bus line is dedicated to Pop. It makes NO other stops along the way. If you stay at the All Stars Resorts, the bus will stop at all 3. Moderates are nice, just a bit bigger, and they have a fridge included. When we stayed at Pop, we got on a fridge sharing thread, so we had a fridge for free, so that was nice for breakfast items and water bottles. Then there's the deluxe, even more space and bigger beds, and a fridge as well. I feel, when we stay deluxe, we tend to use the hotel more then when we stayed at Pop. We try not to have a Go! Go! Go! vacation when we stay at a deluxe. We slow down and use the resort ammenities more. If I were going to do a commando vacation, go value, your only going to shower and sleep there. If you were going to go a liesurely pace, spending time at the resort, go moderate or deluxe. I think price wise, the mods aren't a whole lot more then a value. Keep in mind that some of the mods are also convention resorts and are HUGE and can be crowded at times. Meal plans....we enjoy and look forward to a sit down table service meal everyday. It's our time to relax, cool off and talk about what we've done and what we'll see. We have done the Magic Your Way Plus dining, which is the Counter, Table and Snack a day, and we have done the Deluxe dining which is 3 meals a day of your choice...counter or table and 2 snacks. For us, the deluxe is too much food. We are not big breakfast eaters, so the Plus dining plan is good for us. However, if you were planning on doing several of the meals that requires 2 table service credits, it might be worth doing the Deluxe plan. Of course, if you are the type that just like to "Grab It and Growl" then the new Quick Service plan might work better! We like being on the plan because it's all prepaid. There's no thinking about how much dinner is going to be or that little worry because Colton ordered something HUGE and isn't going to finish it. For some reason, it just makes meal time more "carefree". Of course, when tips were included, it was even MORE carefree!!
Okay, I have rambled!! LOL I am sure I probably told you more then you want to know and probably stuff you already know! Happy Planning!
