Help picking moderate resort & questions about free dining

[Sdabwolk]

I looking for some help in deciding which Disneyworld resort is best for my family. We are wanting to stay probably 3 nights because I would like to combine our Disney world stay with a Disney cruise. My daughter will be 4 & son will be 1 when we are looking to travel. We are thinking about sometime in Sept or Oct 16'. I've been reading a lot about the free dining during that time so I'm thinking that we would be most interested in a moderate resort since I would like the better dining package. I'm thinking that we would maybe go to Magic Kingdom 2 days & Animal Kingdom 1 day if that helps (although I am open to other suggestions). I read that the French quarters is usually excluded from the free dining. Are there any other moderate resorts normally excluded or is this true? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[dmunsil]

Depending on your situation, you may find that it's more cost-effective to stay in a Value resort and pay for an upgrade to the standard dining plan.

For example, looking at late September, 2016:

Caribbean Beach standard room: $215 Su-Th, $252 F-Sa. (The other three moderates are within a few dollars of the same price)
Pop Century standard room: $138 Su-Th, $172 F-Sa. (The other values are also similar)

Cost for 2 adults, 1 child to upgrade dining plans: $41.49/night ($19 per adult, $3.49 for child. Infant doesn't get dining.)

So Pop Century Free Dining + Dining Upgrade is $179.49 Su-Th, $213.49 F-Sa

For the extra money at the moderate, you'd get queen beds (instead of doubles), a nicer pool, fancier grounds, and a table-service restaurant. If you're there for only 3 days, something tells me you'll be mostly eating at the parks and not as likely to spend lots of time at the pool. But I know I have trouble sleeping on a double-size bed, in which case the moderate is probably a good upgrade.

As to which moderate is best, certainly there's a lot to like about Port Orleans (both parts). The theming is probably the best, and it has good pools and activities. It's relatively easy to walk from one to the other, so even if one is blocked out, the other is a good bet. Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs are very similar as far as location and room quality. Coronado Springs is a convention hotel, so the food and whatnot stays open a little later. Otherwise, it's kind of six of one, half-dozen of the other, really.

If you do think a value is an option, I like Pop Century much better than the All-Stars. It's newer, nicer, and closer to places you'd want to go. AoA is also nice, but the regular rooms are pretty much always blocked out for Free Dining.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It is a good bet most of October will be blacked out for free dining, based on bounce backs.