I finally get it. There is a difference in deluxe to values.

[4HppyCamprs]

We have stayed at each level and will never stay value again. You summed it up nicely but we will add that the POLY and PoR felt like vacation destinations and the ASMu felt like a motel 6 plopped into the center of a mall on a Friday night. Not our vacation style.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[butsy113]

Has anyone stayed at the Swan? We have walked through on our way to putt putt from BCV, but never stayed there. Just wondering how it compares. Is it more comparable to moderates or deluxe?

 

[weswife]

We have stayed at all levels. My DS and DH are deluxe guys all the way!!!!! They did enjoy a stay at CBR ( twice actually ) . I agree the deluxes offer a lot more. I did like POP and the food court was great, something for everyone. This year we are going for 2 weeks, staying at OKWV and BWV. I have added 2 secret nights at BC I told the guys we were staying one night at AoA LM but then changed it to BC due to a pin offer!

 

[Trip planner]

We have stayed at WL twice and are trying CSR for the first time and we are worried about the "step down". Do they have towels at CSR pools? Ugh, I am about to check availability at Delux hotels for our October trip. We were not at the resort much our previous trips but DH was just commenting about how he is stressed at work and needs a relaxing vacation (ie. less theme parks). Hmmmm.

 

[lroger01]

I've never stayed anywhere but at a value resort. I love going to Disney even with a value room. I could probably afford to upgrade now, but I'm afraid I'll get spoiled and not be able to downgrade if/when I needed to.

Someday though I'll bite the bullet and book a stay at Wilderness Lodge. That resort is just amazing!

 

[Ali]

Yes csr has pool towels. Don't worry. It's a great pool to relax around. Good bar, food, and playground all in the pool area.

 

[Trip planner]

Yes csr has pool towels. Don't worry. It's a great pool to relax around. Good bar, food, and playground all in the pool area.

Perfect! Most of the deluxes are sold out for my dates and I wouldn't have stayed in my budget for this trip which probably would have stressed DH even more

 

[tuckerkeys]

I've stayed at the swan & dolphin - we love it!

It is a deluxe IMO. Quiet too - the swan is.....dolphin is a bit larger therefore a bit more action. It is quiet as well, just has more hustle & bustle....their pool is great! Sheila's steakhouse is always a stop for us on every trip - our favorite steakhouse!

We will be going for f&w in oct & staying at the dolphin. The price per night is comparable to a Disney moderate, with deluxe accommodations..... I found a $139 per night deal for food & wine back in may, so I hopped on it. Even with their $15 a night resort fee, this couldn't be beat!! The location alone for f&w is worth it.

 

[Syndrome]

We generally stay deluxe every stay when we are "on-site". Although we have never stayed at a value resort , we have visited the values, and we just dont care for the "over the top" Disney themed Motel 6 look of them. Rooms are small, and they always seem way more crowded that they probably are. If we have to stay on a budget........we will stay off site in a condo or a house close by.
Lately though we find ourselves really interested in the Moderates OVER the Deluxes. The large food courts at POR Riverside, and CBR are something the deluxe resorts cant compete with. We feel like we can save a bit of money and still have a deluxe experience with moderates. The one thing we do miss with mods, are room balconies. But we can do with out it for a trade off of a nice convienient food court area.
We visited CBR on our last trip, and fell in LOVEwith it. More so than the deluxes we have stayed at. SO, our next trip will be to CBR.

To us..........the Deluxes have lost some of there "glimmer" they used to have. Either that or we have just gotten used to them ! lol

Syndrome

 

[RainK]

So glad to read this, we are just the opposite and need some help! We are wanting to stay at a value for the first time. Our villa reservations at Animal Kingdom-Jambo are January 2-9, and we are thinking of surprising the kids by leaving 2 days early in order to see the New Years fireworks. I would love suggestions, since we have never stayed in a value resort. Which value resort do you recommend or not recommend? Will we be able to handle a value after being used to deluxe villas?

We really enjoy POP. Next trip I promised my kids we would stay at AOA.
We actually enjoy the over the top theming and like the food courts as there are plenty of options for everyone.
I would stay away from the All Stars....although we didn't hate them, POP has a leg up on all of them.

 

[LovinPooh]

Cbr is beautiful!! The best food court in my opinion.
We are trying out wl next year... love its proximty to mk.

 

[merbobear]

I feel the same, op. We have stayed at POP twice and OKW once. I personally did prefer the theme of Pop Century and it overall is more my favorite compared to OKW, but something about casually sitting on a bench while waiting for your morning bus to the parks is just so decadent when compared to lining up (lol, the cattle call..so true. Anyone who has stayed at a value can relate!).

 

[merbobear]

By the way, our tentative plans for our next trip are to split stay between Pop & BLT, and this thread just got me soooo excited to stay at BLT! Is it May yet?!?

 

[pigletto]

There is also a huge difference between the Deluxes and Values for us. However, we've been going twice a year and we absolutely couldn't do a deluxe every trip. We've found we are perfectly happy with the mods. It's the perfect middle ground for us.

We have stayed at several of the Deluxes and really enjoyed them all. As nice as they are though, the rack rates are ridiculously inflated. So I will only stay in any of them with some sort of discount.

 

[winterwhite]

I don't know what it was, but we spent a couple hours at the beach club last year trying to decide if we wanted to stay there, and all the guests seemed like the whiniest, snobbiest people. We didn't like POP because it was just really busy and overstimulating, but I don't know that I want to be hanging around people who are territorial about pool chairs. So we stay at POR and love it.

 

[jnfr2424]

How spoiled am I with the toiletries in the deluxes ! We took a trip last year and brought my mother who has bad knees and needs some extra time to get around. Now I love POP it's my fave value to stay at. We did a split stay 1 night at POP then off to WL CL. By the time we zig zag to our room it was too much for my mother who went straight to bed at 5pm fully clothed. She hated it so bad she did not eat! I felt like such a horrible daughter thank goodness it was only one night.

 

[maxiesmom]

For me the only thing the deluxe resorts have over the others is location. And nicer pools.

 

[ArwenMarie]

For me the only thing the deluxe resorts have over the others is location. And nicer pools.

I agree. You are really paying for the location with the deluxes, not the room. They make them a bit more plush so you think you are getting something, but it's the location, that is what you are paying for.

On the flip side, you moved a value to where some of the deluxes are, they wouldn't have value prices anymore

 

[maxiesmom]

On the flip side, you moved a value to where some of the deluxes are, they wouldn't have value prices anymore

Exactly. I've stayed at 2 values, all 4 moderates, and 3 deluxe resorts. In my opinion there is nothing that makes a deluxe really worth an additional $300 a night over a value. The beds are not that much nicer, I bring my own shampoo and soap anyway.

Also in general I have found the value resorts have much better bus service than the value resorts. Sure you can walk someplace from the deluxe resorts, but the stinky bus service makes up for that.

 

[AntFarm]

I've stayed at the swan & dolphin - we love it!

It is a deluxe IMO. Quiet too - the swan is.....dolphin is a bit larger therefore a bit more action. It is quiet as well, just has more hustle & bustle....their pool is great! Sheila's steakhouse is always a stop for us on every trip - our favorite steakhouse!

We will be going for f&w in oct & staying at the dolphin. The price per night is comparable to a Disney moderate, with deluxe accommodations..... I found a $139 per night deal for food & wine back in may, so I hopped on it. Even with their $15 a night resort fee, this couldn't be beat!! The location alone for f&w is worth it.

Thanks for sharing this info. We have been thinking about trying the Swan/Dolphin for many years and are looking to book for a F&W long weekend trip in 2014. I think Swan/Dolphin could be our happy medium! We don't get the dining plan and we rent a car so we won't really lose much by staying there.