I think I will be one of those to go against the grain and suggest a moderate... POR...
And here is why I say this...I was one of those who said we would go either just one time or maybe... maybe once every 4-5 years. That was in 2007...we are now going on our 5th trip. We splurged on a holiday trip last December and the kids wanted to go back so bad that we are going again in August...oh and did I mention that I then learned about runDisney and even though I had never run a day in my life, I love Disney so much I am now going back with a friend in February to run the Glass Slipper Challenge. So that is now 3 trips in 14 months for me.
If you start at a deluxe and decide you love it and need to go back, you may really want those deluxe accommodations again. We started at ASMovies when the kids were 3 and 5. We learned that Pop had its own bus vs sharing at the All Stars so when they were 5 and 7, we did Pop. Our next one, there was a 30% of Wilderness Lodge and with the kids now at 7 and 9, the pool made a bigger difference so WL it was. For our December trip, we changed our reservation 4 times, the deals kept coming out between room discounts and
free dining...PO French Quarter to WL to Poly and ended up at Grand Floridian cause for our once in a lifetime Christmas trip, GF was the epitome for us. We are now going back to GF under a fantastic deal with a
travel agency. We have upgraded each trip as the kids got older and I don't regret doing it that way. One trip we will also do a moderate but I see that as more of a hubbie and I trip and we would probably do POFQ.
AoA is suppose to be great but you can fit a family of 5 in POR and save even more, making it possible to either add more vacation days (if your schedule allows it), add more about park days (if cost was part of the reason to only do 3 park days) or even spurge on a different restaurant that you might not have tried. And by saving, if you really love Disney as much as the rest of us, you can always put the extra money in savings and you already have part of your next trip!
I am also in the camp that I don't think 3 days is enough. Five trips and we still haven't done a waterpark cause the kids can't decide which park to give up and we are still seeing new things each trip. Park hoppers are the same price whether you are buying 3 day tickets or 6 day tickets. But the more days you add on, each day gets cheaper to add. For us park hoppers are worth the extra cause it allows for more flexibility. Each trip my kids get excited for a different thing. Last trip, my son, 10, loved the Sorcerer's of the Kingdom game at MK and wanted to go back each day to get the free cards and play a new game. If we didn't have hoppers, we would have had to say no cause we are going to this other park that day. We don't plan too many table services so that if there is a night where we had no plans, the kids could request a park if they missed seeing something or wanted to go meet another character or ride a different ride.
Are you going under any deals? I don't remember seeing what time of year you are going but more than likely there is always some deal to be had. We have never paid full rate for our vacations and every little bit helps!
No matter where you stay, you will love it! Poly is my dream resort... my family never went when we were kids. My brother and I went for 2 days with my grandmother and her 70 year old sister... needless to say it wasn't a wild and crazy trip! We did small world and Hall of Presidents and not too much more. My parents booked once at the Poly but had to cancel, now as an adult, I'm guessing for financial reasons. So Poly is that resort that is my one resort I really want to stay at. But being the mom I am, my kids or the money always win out. Even this next trip, GF was cheaper than Poly by over $600 so I couldn't justify staying at the Poly. But that all being said, I have never had a bad trip cause I didn't stay at the Poly... I know one day I'll get there and it will be amazing!
I know I'm writing a short novel but there was one other thing I wanted to add. Do you have a Target near you? They have a debut red card that you can save 5% on your purchases including Disney gift cards which are tagged as entertainment cards. If you have prescriptions too, for every 5 you fill you get an additional 5% off. I actually paid off my trip all with gift cards... it was a lot of them and I did get looks buying 35+ $50 gift cards but I saved $300 in the end. We will end up charging food and purchases to our room and I plan on paying that off with gift cards too, saving probably an additional $150 or so. If you font have a Target but do have a BJs, they sell $100 Disney gift cards for $97...not as big as a savings as Target but it is still something. Just wanted to share if you are looking to make your money go as far as it can.