How a resort can make your stay and change your views!

We use to always stay at values and thought they were fine until we stayed at CBR. Loved it!! We've also done CR and AKL. The last two times we went we went to values- POP and ASMo. Hated POP- thought ASMO would be ok since we used to like it. We all decided we are never doing a value again unless it's absolutely necessary. We might not be deluxe snobs but we did upgrade to have to be at least mod snobs.
 
Very similar experience OP. :goodvibes Our first trip was in 2007 and we stayed at the POR. We'd stayed in nice hotels and liked it but wasn't overjoyed, it was a place to sleep basically. Loved their food court.


Our next trip was in 2009. We stayed DVC with our dear friends and wow, what a difference a resort makes. We stayed OKW and AKV with them. We finished off the trip with a two night stay at the POR. The differences were astounding.

It was that trip that we decided we loved staying deluxe and DVC was right for our family. I had done some research so we didn't go in blind.

We couldn't be happier with our purchase. We've stayed at the GCV twice at Disneyland and both times were incredible. The ammenitites do matter to me as does the size of the villa. Where I lay my head is as important as how I spend my days. We love the pools, the lobbies, in fact, we love our resort time.

This will be our first trip *home* since purchasing DVC. We'll be at the THV and AKV for 5 nights each.
 
We are the opposite, we keep trying a deluxe here and there thinking it will make us want to stay there but after the trip DW and I just think the $$ difference is not worth it to us. The balcony is nice but really we spend so little time using it that we have not missed it. We do not have issues using a bus and have had more issues on the monorail then with the buses that we use a ton more. We will still do a deluxe every so often but probably for only short trips. Looked REALLY hard at DVC's but do not like the fact that you only get 1 real bed, sorry fold out was uncomfortable.
 
we love AKL...we loved it even more booking it for years at the AP rate of 149 a night...[big sigh] being able to take away from the Jiko bar with some of the great south africa wines that rarely go anywhere other than there...[another big sigh]
 

Although we always stay deluxe, we actually really like some of the moderates too .... Thats one of the benefits of Split Stays ... you get to experience both in the same trip. :goodvibes
 
I have stayed at both the POR and the POFQ and POFQ is a million times better..mostly because it is so small and relaxing and they do show movies in the courtyard. Love the live music in the bar and the greeter that is there every time we go in and out of the resort.

Deluxe are my favorite too but I would still pick POFQ over WL and AKL any day
 
The resort is as much of a part of our vacation as the parks are. We started going to WDW before there even were value resorts, so we would split our stays between mods and deluxes most of the time since we couldn't afford to stay in a deluxe, usually, for the entire visit. We just found that we loved the resort so much as a part of our stay and that meant deluxe resorts for us... and since the prices of them were quickly making it almost impossible to afford, is why we bought into DVC to assure ourselves staying as we want to for a good LONG time. As well as assuring ourselves of at least WDW trips every other year. Which is how often we go. We thought we were spoiled before... but try staying in a 2 BR villa for a week and a half! Geeze LOUISE! SPACE! And of course CMs have a great deal to do w/ our enjoyment, but so far, we've not met too many cranky ones at the resorts. Thankfully!

That said though, I'd still stay in a moderate if we blew our points in another way and wanted more time on property. The now POR (formerly DL) was our very first ever WDW resort but we loved PO-FQ the most of all of them. I just can't see us ever staying at a value. Save AoA which I don't really see as a value.
 
Although we always stay deluxe, we actually really like some of the moderates too .... Thats one of the benefits of Split Stays ... you get to experience both in the same trip. :goodvibes

I'm actually thinking about this for our trip next year. Were already booked on a bounce back for POFQ, 10 nights. We usually arrive on a Monday, and leave the following Thursday, taking the first Saturday as an "off day". I'm thinking about doing a split, and moving from POFQ to the Wilderness Lodge for the balance of the trip! Would save us like $500, but still let me get my fix of that resort. :)
 
I'm worried that if we do stay onsite for part of our 2015 trip, we'll be spoilt! And we're only thinking of staying at POP!
 
I'm actually thinking about this for our trip next year. Were already booked on a bounce back for POFQ, 10 nights. We usually arrive on a Monday, and leave the following Thursday, taking the first Saturday as an "off day". I'm thinking about doing a split, and moving from POFQ to the Wilderness Lodge for the balance of the trip! Would save us like $500, but still let me get my fix of that resort. :)

Sounds like a great plan ... I always recommend going from a mod to deluxe. I found going from a deluxe to a mod is a bit of a let down.
 
There's no such thing as deluxe snob. It's just a personal preference and you have fallen in love with WL. I would choose Poly and WL anytime if budget permits, but unfortunately, it doesn't.

POFQ and all other moderate resorts are pretty much set up the same. Ex: outside entrance, no inside corridor. The food court is outside as well as the lobby and there is no balcony. If you didn't enjoy POR, you might be disappointed with POFQ. I think you will be happy and enjoy WL again. I like the simple fact that everything is under one room and it has a balcony and close to MK by boat. If money is not an issue for us, we would stick with WL or Poly.

Good luck with your decision. Yes, you do have plenty of time to think about your resort. Who knows what type of discounts will there be later in time. It may persuade you to go with something else.
 
LOL!! I've become a Moderate Resort snob. We have stayed off-site and on-site on a zillion vacations. When we were more into the RVs we would hang at FW for a week and just relax, not even bothering with the parks. Hey, we are Floridians, we can go to the parks whenever we wanted!

Well, last year in the span of 2 months we did ASMu, POR & The Cabins @ FW. I have to say, it's either Moderate or the Cabins for me. The Themeing alone is enough to make you just take a breath and forget your 9-5 or, for me, 9-8 :P.

We are heading over in October and staying at ASMu but, that is mostly because POR was filled up, according to the DIS site. :sad:

As for Deluxe, we've stayed at WL and although I love them, I like the Moderates as they seem to have more, breathing room for me. Sometimes the Deluxes to me seemed filled to the gills but, maybe that's because you are all under one roof. :)

Jackie
 
I do think Deluxe can make a big difference in the stay. The two things we appreciate most about the Monorail resorts is: Nice full service restaurants after a long day without getting back on the bus, 2) No bus in the morning.

Those two things made a huge difference to us. We have stayed POR though and we still had a great trip. Now that my youngest is getting older and we don't need to take a stroller on the bus, it is less of a big deal.

That said, I am thinking of going back to Mods because as the boys are becoming teens, one room/ one bathroom is stressful.

OP: the irony is, the WL is the only deluxe I stayed at that I thought was NOT 'worth it.'
 
Disney spoiled us on our first trip years ago. We called to make our ressie at a mod and they upgraded us to AKL for the same price, savannah view room. WOW we were hooked! We then went to WL for 2 trips and then baby number 3 arrived and we had to go elsewhere to fit 5 in a room. We have done BC/YC/GF and BC is our favorite. Then Dh booked us YC Club level last year as a surprise, now we love club level and can't go back--lol. We love being able to walk to epcot because all 3 of my kids LOVE epcot! It is worth the money to us, we love the deluxe resorts.

A few years ago we did the DVC tour thing because we figured we spent the amount to "buy in" in 2 trips to disney. The lady doing our tour basically told us DVC was not for us after we told her we could only book 60-70 days out and most of the time we could only book a few weeks before traveling due to my DH's business. She said dvc was for people that booked 6 months or more out and we just can't do that. We were disappointed as we really wanted to join that club.
 
For the first several years we always stayed at values. They were affordable. As time went on, we really got tired of the buses at values and the crazy busy food courts. At park closing we'd be waiting in a huge line whilst the mod and deluxe had way shorter waits and lines. We decided to upgrade to mods and loved it. Much better buses and nicer food choices. Plus the food courts are not nearly as crowded. In addition to that, the theming and landscaping at mods are much nicer than the values.

Having said this, we would stay at values again without question. But if we can afford the upgrade, we'll stick with mods.
 





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