Help me decide: All Star Music or Carribean Beach Resort? $500 difference

[MouseKids]

I am planning a trip (3 daults, one 14 year old and one 10 year old) for mid December. For our 4 nights, the price difference between All Star Music and Carribean Beach is almost $500. From reading these boards, my sense is that there is not a great difference in amenities between the moderates and the values. Am I right? WHat should I do? Thanks!

 

[msmayor]

Personal opinion, but in terms of amenities I think there's a big difference.

Food courts only at values, sit-down restaurants available at moderates (although I think the POR and POFQ share Boatwright's.

Bicycle rentals at Mods, none at values.

Pools with slides at mods, none at values.

Slightly larger rooms at mods.

We used the values when our children were very small (under 9) as we really didn't use or need the other amenities at the moderates. We couldn't see paying for things we wouldn't use.

We stayed moderate on our trip on 2000, as our kids were older and we used the bicycles, sit-down, and kids enjoyed the slide.

Now, I've been spoiled by the WL.

 

[mare1203]

I'm one of those people that would always go with the moderate over the value, but that's just me. It really depends on what you want out of the resort. If your not going to spend that much time at the resort then i guess I'd say go for all-star, but this is how I've heard it compared before:
The Caribbean is comparable to a nice Courtyard Marriott or Holiday Inn, while the All-Stars is comparable to a Best Western or La Quinta.
Again, it's what you want out of the resort. The Caribbean is almost always quieter and has (from what I've heard) better bus service, but you'll get different answers from everyone.

 

[MouseKids]

Thanks for your opinion -- that's what I'm looking for! Since this is a short trip and the kids are older (no need to go back for naps!) we are pretty much planning to be at the parks from opening to closing. We probably would be at the food court just for a quick breakfast or a late snack (does anyone know if the food court at either ASMu or CBR has frozen coke? I cannot tell you how cool the 14 year old would think that was!). And I worry a little about the bus service at ASMu, although CBR is so big too that I guess we could have bus issues there also.

 

[MrsLady]

I would also always go with a Moderate. If you can afford the extra $, then I would go with CBR over a value. Just me though!

 

[pixiepower1971]

IMO, if $$ is no issue, go moderate. If you would rather have the $$ for other things OR spend little time in your room, I would go value. You will have 2 rooms so you will have enough space. I would go with Pop if possible though. But any resort at WDW is better then no resort at WDW.

My kids, 9&7, would pick a value and have the $$ for other things...and they have been many times and stayed many places. Room doesn't mean much to them but Mickey ice cream and shopping do!OK...so they are just like me after all.....

 

[monica31671]

I've been to CBR and would give a value a try before I went back. The rooms were big and beautiful, but the place is soooooo big. It seemed to take forever to get to the Customs House or the food court.
I had some issues with the bus. That did not help my opinion of the place.

 

[dsmom]

I liked the ASM much better than CBR but that is just me. We have stayed at all the resorts several times each and I just did not care much for the CBR. It is huge and I did not like all the walking and didn't care much for the bus service there either. I liked all the value resorts and loved the POP. I think the POP was the only one that had frozen coke when we were there- not sure if it has been added to the other values or not yet.

 

[Tissa]

I say spend the $500 on other things and stay at a value. If you are not going to be using the resort a lot why pay extra? My first stay was at Movies and my kids loved it. We didn't have any problems with the bus either.

 

[safetymom]

Do you plan on spending a lot of time at your resort? If you aren't then I say go for the value. If you plan on relaxing at your resort, want a little more room in your room, more swimming pools, boating on the lake, watching the Epcot fireworks from the beach go with CBR.

 

[njcarita]

i've stayed at the all star music and the cbr --- and i liked the all star music better---

i didn't see that the cbr offered anything worth the price deifference

 

[HopperFan]

No way I would spend that much extra to stay at CBR, especially for four nights. As you can see below we stayed at both and rank them equal. Save the money and spend it on some nice meals, take the kids to Disney Quest or a Water park, extra ice cream etc.
Or better yet, sock it away for a future magical visit

 

[Honeybehr1]

There isnt much difference by square feet between a value and a moderate, that is why we have never stayed at a moderate. Well that and I am cheap. I cant see spending extra money for a room that we literally only sleep in. We spend all our time in the park or at the pool.
I would definately go for the value and spend you money elsewhere.

 

[kristenhh]

We were booked to stay at All Star Movies the first week in December, but with the new discount codes and giving up the water park option, we were able to switch to CBR for $33 more total for 3 rooms for 8 nights. It was way cool. The discount code for a package without the dining plan is YQC and with the dining plan is YQE.

 

[OhioTony]

Stayed @ CBR last year & we just got back from POP..our LAST stay at a value. Loud noise levels, long bus lines going to & from the parks, crowded food court & ( I hope this dousn't sound snobbish) the general clientelbrought us to this conclusion. Not to mention DW was distrought over the fact the there was no hot tub! There are too many good Mods to stay at a bad Value! I think the extra cash is woth it!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We have stayed at CBR twice and All Star Movies once, Movies in between the CBR stays. We really like CBR, but the food court is definitely better at the All Stars (more selection). Next trip we'll probably stay at Movies again, or maybe Music, it's just not worth the prics difference to us. We aren't at the resort long enough to rent bikes or boats, and we don't need a pool slide, so the values are fine with us.

 

[SB in KY]

I will go along with most of the others....you will have 2 rooms so space will not be a huge issue and if you are planning to spend most of your time in the parks....just go with the value...ASMu is a fun place, I actually would not give CBR much over it if anything....if you want a leisurely resort stay to hang out at the pool and enjoy fine dining and nice music neither of these locations is what you want....if you want a clean, comfortable place to stay with a little Disney Magic tossed in the All Star would be great.

$500 will buy a lot of meals, or park tickets or whatever....you could stay a day or 2 longer at the All Star for the same price as the 4 nights at CBR!!!

 

[Troy08]

I would splurge and spend the extra for CBR. It;s a beautifully landscaped resort, the food court is good, the rooms are good size and both times I stayed there(in the height of the summer season) I found it to be very quiet and actually quite peaceful. I liked both Martinique and Aruba.

 

[Planogirl]

Have you checked for discounts? $500 difference for only four nights seems like a lot of money.

If you can't find a better deal and really plan to spend little time in the room, you might want to go with the Allstars. It'll save you a bundle and the Allstars is just fine for sleeping.

 

[MouseKids]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm pretty sure we're going to go with All Stars -- if we don't like it, at least we'll know to avoid it in the future! As some of you have commented, $500 is a big difference for just a few days. We are using the code YQE -- our stay overlaps two pricing seasons (value and regular, or regular and holiday -- I can't remember) so perhaps that has something to do with it.

I will be posting a few questions on a new thread shortly, but if anyone has any tips on avoiding getting smoking rooms at ASMu, please let me know! The smell of smoke would probably ruin my vacation much quicker than noisy kids or slow buses!