Does it really matter where you stay?

[married2mm]

The resort is probably the most important part of the trip for us. We're not park commandos and really enjoy hanging out at the resort.


I'll never stay Value again. Not because I have anything against the Values--and in fact AoA looks very pretty in the pictures I've seen--but because the one time I stayed at a Value (ASMu), the noise from the next room and from the hallway outside the door was so intrusive that I wasn't able to sleep. I've never had even a minor noise problem at a WDW Mod or Deluxe. So even if we were just at WDW for a park-heavy visit, we'd probably stay Deluxe or, if the budget didn't permit, at POR.

I've only stayed in suites at AOA -so I can't comment on the regular rooms-but I was blown away by the theming and the attention to detail in the suites (and size) everything was fabulous.
The resort itself was incredible and we never found it noisy...
I've stated before the only time we've been disturbed During hotel stays was indoors-with noise inside the corridors.

I really haven't found a great difference between values and mods~ only really felt the difference moving up to deluxe. I agree with many posters who've stated the prices are rather high these days (oh, I sound old!)
Therefore- if there were substantial price reductions I'd consider a full deluxe trip; otherwise deluxes will be few and far between for us.

Incidentally: Im curious; if your neighbors were upsetting you-did you complain to the front desk?
If so-was anything resolved?

 

[MonaMN]

Does it matter? Yes. Do I agree with most of the PP? No.

I have for many years at many different vacation locations gotten very good at finding the best location for the best price. I am willing to pay for location, but I like to save money on the motel whenever possible. For example, on a beach trip, I will pay extra to stay ON the beach, but try to find the least expensive place to stay that IS on the beach.

At Disney, I WILL stay on property. I have been to Disney and stayed off property when I didn't know any better. The perks of staying on property are well worth it IMO. However, I strongly prefer the value resorts for the price point.

My favorite value resort is Pop Century. I stay there whenever possible. I would be perfectly willing to stay at any of the All Stars if Pop were unavailable. I believe my preference would be Music, Movies, Sports in that order, just due to my preference of theme. But I would not hesitate to stay at any of them. I was considering a trip in May and didn't look into it until January. According to Disney, the only "value" available was AOA at $319/night. That was more expensive than ANY of the moderates. I seriously considered a moderate, but would have had to cut the trip short because of the extra money. So I chose to go in November and stay at my favorite Pop.

I have enjoyed dining at all of the deluxe resorts over the years and plan to continue to do so.

One other thing that always made DW and I laugh--the insistance that a married couple couldn't sleep together in a double bed. While we did enjoy queen and king at times on vacation, DW and I slept together in a double bed in our home for our entire married life. Both of us were over 250 lbs, so no petite people here. In fact, when we visited my parents, we slept together in an antique 3/4 bed. For those who don't know what that is, it is halfway between a twin and a full/double in size. So we always thought it was funny when a married couple who were likely not as large as we were couldn't sleep together in a double bed for a few nights. I don't mean to be offensive here, just remembering something that the two of us used to laugh about.

I just sleep really poorly without a little space. For a night or two, probably ok. For a week, not OK with me. I don't deal well without appropriate sleep... it would severely impact the vacation!

 

[married2mm]

I just sleep really poorly without a little space. For a night or two, probably ok. For a week, not OK with me. I don't deal well without appropriate sleep... it would severely impact the vacation!

As an insomniac-I can relate with the lack of sleep

However, I've never stayed in a hotel room for more than 3 nights
I truly feel my biggest peeve would be lack of extra bathrooms-space would closely follow though

 

[mchowell73]

Yes!!! It matters where you stay. We started out staying in Value resorts due to budget reasons. Every one of them... And they were all great, except for having to wait forever for bus transportation. We are the family that stays until the park closes and we take our time going to the exit. So... it's always a wait to go back to the resort. We've never had an issue with loud neighbors or outside noise. Moderate resorts were just that. Moderate. Faster buses but still a lot of wait time to get to the parks. Now that we are older, wiser, and have a vacation membership, we stay at deluxe resorts. I love that you can get a bus close to your room, such as at Old Key West. We don't need all the perks, just a few, and one of those is faster bus service.

 

[twoplustwins]

Depends on who I'm traveling with.
For DH and me, it absolutely matters. We don't spend all day in the parks. We enjoy resort time.
If I take the kids by myself, we can easily stay in a value. They want to be in the parks as much as possible. We really only sleep and shower in the room.

 

[disneydreamer781]

I've only stayed in suites at AOA -so I can't comment on the regular rooms-but I was blown away by the theming and the attention to detail in the suites (and size) everything was fabulous.
The resort itself was incredible and we never found it noisy...
I've stated before the only time we've been disturbed During hotel stays was indoors-with noise inside the corridors.

I really haven't found a great difference between values and mods~ only really felt the difference moving up to deluxe. I agree with many posters who've stated the prices are rather high these days (oh, I sound old!)
Therefore- if there were substantial price reductions I'd consider a full deluxe trip; otherwise deluxes will be few and far between for us.

Incidentally: Im curious; if your neighbors were upsetting you-did you complain to the front desk?
If so-was anything resolved?

The suites look really nice and if I were to stay at a value I would definitely stay in one of them. I don't consider the suites a value though unless you have 3-4 adults to split. I agree with the noise. We stayed deluxe at the WL and our room was right where the elevators were. What a racket! My husband had to go out and tell people to keep it down in the evening. I was not happy and will make sure I don't get that room again. The lesson is you can get a crappy room no matter what you pay!

 

[pjhootch]

We enjoy the resorts for relaxing out of the park. Sometimes like to hang out at a bar or the hot tub. We usually travel when it is a little cool for swimming but if we are there in the heat, we like to go in the pool.

But despite all those things- no it doesn't really matter where we stay. First I pick my dates, then I pick a resort that fits my budget and state of mind for any particular trip. I keep starting out with a value room and switching out to a deluxe the last few trips. We used to really like the mods, back when Coronado Springs was fairly new.

 

[cruisingtwins]

We spend time in the room and hate to be on top of each other so unless we can afford a 2 bedroom villa we stay offsite. I also cannot tolerate Disney food for every single meal so a kitchen is a must.

 

[MonaMN]

We enjoy the resorts for relaxing out of the park. Sometimes like to hang out at a bar or the hot tub. We usually travel when it is a little cool for swimming but if we are there in the heat, we like to go in the pool.

But despite all those things- no it doesn't really matter where we stay. First I pick my dates, then I pick a resort that fits my budget and state of mind for any particular trip. I keep starting out with a value room and switching out to a deluxe the last few trips. We used to really like the mods, back when Coronado Springs was fairly new.

I do this too - pick a resort I can afford and be ok with, then hope for an upgrade when discounts come out.

 

[Regan117]

Does it matter? Yes. Do I agree with most of the PP? No.

I have for many years at many different vacation locations gotten very good at finding the best location for the best price. I am willing to pay for location, but I like to save money on the motel whenever possible. For example, on a beach trip, I will pay extra to stay ON the beach, but try to find the least expensive place to stay that IS on the beach.

At Disney, I WILL stay on property. I have been to Disney and stayed off property when I didn't know any better. The perks of staying on property are well worth it IMO. However, I strongly prefer the value resorts for the price point.

My favorite value resort is Pop Century. I stay there whenever possible. I would be perfectly willing to stay at any of the All Stars if Pop were unavailable. I believe my preference would be Music, Movies, Sports in that order, just due to my preference of theme. But I would not hesitate to stay at any of them. I was considering a trip in May and didn't look into it until January. According to Disney, the only "value" available was AOA at $319/night. That was more expensive than ANY of the moderates. I seriously considered a moderate, but would have had to cut the trip short because of the extra money. So I chose to go in November and stay at my favorite Pop.

I have enjoyed dining at all of the deluxe resorts over the years and plan to continue to do so.

One other thing that always made DW and I laugh--the insistance that a married couple couldn't sleep together in a double bed. While we did enjoy queen and king at times on vacation, DW and I slept together in a double bed in our home for our entire married life. Both of us were over 250 lbs, so no petite people here. In fact, when we visited my parents, we slept together in an antique 3/4 bed. For those who don't know what that is, it is halfway between a twin and a full/double in size. So we always thought it was funny when a married couple who were likely not as large as we were couldn't sleep together in a double bed for a few nights. I don't mean to be offensive here, just remembering something that the two of us used to laugh about.

CAN I sleep in a double bed with my husband? Sure. Do I CHOOSE to on vacation? No. We have a king bed at home. Why would I ever want to be less comfortable on vacation than I am at home, if I can afford not to be? You can have your opinion, but you shouldn't laugh at people who enjoy their space.

 

[Spacecow]

I think it depends on what kind of touring style you have. We stayed at POR this past trip and while I loved it, I sort of wish I had saved the money and just stayed at a value. We're rope drop to close type people so we really weren't in the room much. I think I would always choose to stay on property, the perks are definitely worth it for me, but for the next trip (whenever that may be....) I'll probably choose a value resort.

 

[married2mm]

I think it depends on what kind of touring style you have. We stayed at POR this past trip and while I loved it, I sort of wish I had saved the money and just stayed at a value. We're rope drop to close type people so we really weren't in the room much. I think I would always choose to stay on property, the perks are definitely worth it for me, but for the next trip (whenever that may be....) I'll probably choose a value resort.

That's a really interesting perspective.

 

[Angharad]

As long as we're onsite we're happy. If staying offsite was really the only way to get to Florida, I'd consider it. But it would be my last resort.

We are a midday break and chill in the pool sort of family so I'd say we'd spend a fair bit of time at the resorts but we've stayed at everything from Value to Deluxe, we're easy to please!

 

[married2mm]

As long as we're onsite we're happy. If staying offsite was really the only way to get to Florida, I'd consider it. But it would be my last resort.

We are a midday break and chill in the pool sort of family so I'd say we'd spend a fair bit of time at the resorts but we've stayed at everything from Value to Deluxe, we're easy to please!

Have you stayed at deluxe then back to value and vice versa?

 

[TraceyPoppins]

We've stayed off-site in a hotel, offsite in a house, CBR, PORR, SSR, AKL & OKW and the Disneyland Hotel. Do we have preferences? Of course. But where we've stayed was always based on the situation we were in at that time. Marriott points? Extended family vacation? Planned trip or bonus, budget friendly mini trip? We're flexible and are always thankful to be in WDW, regardless of where we stay.

 

[DizDaD7]

if you couldn't have your chosen resort-would you still go on vacation?

Would you/do you have a backup resort?

For those who simply the resort is a place for sleeping; how do you select your resort?

It used to be that it was just a very clean place to sleep, while we commando the parks....Then once we found the Mods. and were so overwhelmed by the upgrades over the values, for a small price.....Then we did DVC and honestly it would be hard to go back to a value, but not necessarily a mod. True it is nice having indoor hallways and more food choices & elaborate pools at the Deluxes and Villas. I try for a different Villa when we go, but quite honestly just going for me now, is way better than not going at all...All the villas are different and each one had its pros/cons.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

We also choose our resort based on the time of year and the events happening at the time. For example, Beach Club for Food and Wine or Bay Lake Tower for New Year's Eve. Our last trip we wanted to spend some time checking out all the new stuff at Disney Springs, so we stayed at Saratoga Springs.

Our needs change as my kids are older. With three teens and myself, getting a studio for 17 nights during the August heat probably wasn't the best idea. Next trip I rented out our DVc points and reserved a Fort Wilderness cabin. We'll be regulars at Trails End by the end of our two week stay.

 

[TraceyPoppins]

We also choose our resort based on the time of year and the events happening at the time. For example, Beach Club for Food and Wine or Bay Lake Tower for New Year's Eve. Our last trip we wanted to spend some time checking out all the new stuff at Disney Springs, so we stayed at Saratoga Springs.

Our needs change as my kids are older. With three teens and myself, getting a studio for 17 nights during the August heat probably wasn't the best idea. Next trip I rented out our DVc points and reserved a Fort Wilderness cabin. We'll be regulars at Trails End by the end of our two week stay.

I have two teen girls who like some space but also enjoy trying different resorts. We are taking a mini bonus trip over NYE this year as DH has a meeting in Orlando 1/2/18. We agreed to tack on some family days prior IF we could keep the cost relatively low. Not easy with airfare at that time, but we had enough Marriott points for 2 free nights. We're staying the first of the 3 nights at AoA to keep cost down while getting the 6O day FP window. It's our first time at AoA or a value in general, and we are looking forward to the experience!

 

[StageTek]

if you couldn't have your chosen resort-would you still go on vacation?

Yes. The vacation itself is the reason we go.

Would you/do you have a backup resort?

Yes.

For those who simply the resort is a place for sleeping; how do you select your resort?

Price.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

I have two teen girls who like some space but also enjoy trying different resorts. We are taking a mini bonus trip over NYE this year as DH has a meeting in Orlando 1/2/18. We agreed to tack on some family days prior IF we could keep the cost relatively low. Not easy with airfare at that time, but we had enough Marriott points for 2 free nights. We're staying the first of the 3 nights at AoA to keep cost down while getting the 6O day FP window. It's our first time at AoA or a value in general, and we are looking forward to the experience!

We did AoA for a night just to try it out. The mermaid rooms were a long walk to get there but nice. The food court and the pool were great.