Is moderate worth the extra $$$

Amy&Dan · Feb 14, 2005

I know this question has been asked to death but I need a turn! I currently have a reservation at ASMO for this May. We just stayed at POP for 10 nights and liked it a lot. We also have stayed at ASMO and liked it too. The only complaints were the usual: small rooms, really crowded buses/food courts, the usual. We are going in May and even though I have the ASMO reservation I just keep thinking I want to try a moderate. POFQ has always appealed to me and my kids love the look of it on the planning DVD, they are 8 and 10. I am also open to Coronado Springs. CBR just seems so spread out and I hear too many conflicting things about that one. Also, can you get rollaways at moderates? My kids are boy and girl and cannot sleep together and we always haul a sleeping bag on the plane. My current rate at ASMO is $99 (ap rate). I am okay with that but was better with the $49 rate I got at Pop Century. For $49 you cannot beat a value resort. But now I think for maybe $50 more we can have a nicer resort experience. Thanks so much!

JMD · Feb 14, 2005

I think the moderates are worth every penny. I've stayed at the All-Star hotels and will never do it again. The pool is zoo, the food court is always packed and the bus lines are just a nightmare. Not to mention the small rooms.

I personally like the CBR the best out of all the moderates, but thats just personally preference.

TLinden16 · Feb 14, 2005

I personally think that the moderates are worth spending the extra money on if you can swing it, and the POFQ is my favorite moderate. They rooms are bigger than the values, and the double sinks are nice, too. Most of the moderates offer privacy curtains between the vanity area and the bed area so that you can have one person in the shower, one person getting dressed in the vanity area, and everyone else in the main room. I also think the theming at the moderates is more lush and beautiful.

And now the moderates offer free fridges in the rooms, so you could get snacks, water, and breakfast items to have in the room!

You can get rollaways at the moderates for a fee. The POR offer trundle beds in some rooms for free. If your kids aren't super big, they could probably sleep in one.

Karen

lewdyan1 · Feb 14, 2005

We definitely prefer the moderates. However, we didn't love CSR because it is also a convention resort and it just has a different feel when there are alot of business people milling about, imho. The trundle at PO is a great benefit, you need to make sure and request certain buildings as they don't all offer the trundle.

Ariel Wanna-be · Feb 14, 2005

Another vote for the mods!

We've stayed at both PO-R and POFQ and loved them.

We also stayed at ASMo, and agreed that the moderates are worth every extra penny.

webray · Feb 14, 2005

Hubby and I don't think they are worth the money at all. If we can't stay deluxe, we will stay at all stars or pop in a heartbeat. We have never found any of the moderates to be worth the money.

Micca · Feb 14, 2005

The only budget resort we tried was All Stars Sports. I'm glad we did it, but I don't see us going back for more. Seems like our deluxe choices are so often booked when we need them, and therefore we have stayed at CSR several times and think it is quite nice. I'll go so far as to say that there is a much bigger improvement from budget to mod than from mod to deluxe(which will always be our first choice) :earsboy:

MagicKingdom05 · Feb 14, 2005

In 11 days I will beable to tell you.

Rootskate · Feb 14, 2005

Another vote here for the extra expense of a moderate resort. The Hot tub alone is worth the extra $ in our opinion. I am sure you will have a great time no matter where you decide to stay!

z28wiz · Feb 14, 2005

another vote for the moderates pirate:

Nolcrest · Feb 14, 2005

Absolutely consider the moderates if your budget can swing it. I love both POFQ & POR. The nice thing about either of these is being able to use the amenities at both. The boat to DTD is an added plus. Look at both resorts to see which theme appeals to you. Your kids will like either one. The icons at FOFQ are whimsical and fun.

chobie · Feb 14, 2005

My DH and I loved staying at POR, but my kids were disappointed after having stayed at POP. Even with the pool slides they still wanted to go back to POP. Can you do a split stay? The POR does have the extra trundle bed that they don't charge extra for, so that would solve your sleeping dilemma. To me it was worth the extra $$ because I like the refrigerator in the room, the hot tub and the theming.

cyndibelle · Feb 14, 2005

nope dont think so...we just got back from por riverside...and i have to say we like pop much better...the buses were much worse at por...the food was nothing great....rooms were nice..but really how much time do you spend in them?? the atmosphere was nothing like we thought it was going to be......we were really disappointed....next time..we are back where we are happy...pop century!!

Amy&Dan · Feb 14, 2005

Thank you so much everyone. It is a hard decision because we loved Pop and ASMO but kind of want to try a moderate to see if we like it. I am waiting for my TA to get back to me, who knows there may not be any rooms left so we may just have to stick with Movies which is fine too. The refrigerator would be really nice and the option of getting a rollaway appeals to me as well. Ahh, so many choices!!

ILoveWDW2003 · Feb 14, 2005

Another vote against the mods....we did our first 2 trips at CBR, next 2 trips at ASMu/ASMo, and then our last 2 trips at WL/AKL.

We have come to the conclusion that if we can't swing WL/AKL, we are fine with the Value resorts - we don't see staying at a moderate anymore - if we are going to spend the extra money, we are going for the WL/AKL.

HANDYMOM · Feb 15, 2005

Micca said:
The only budget resort we tried was All Stars Sports. I'm glad we did it, but I don't see us going back for more. Seems like our deluxe choices are so often booked when we need them, and therefore we have stayed at CSR several times and think it is quite nice. I'll go so far as to say that there is a much bigger improvement from budget to mod than from mod to deluxe(which will always be our first choice)

I agree. Our family has stayed at CBR and POR-Riverside and CR and we prefer POR. I have a feeling if I ever stayed at the other Deluxes, I may see more of the difference from a moderate to a deluxe but we'll just stick with POR. A lot of bang for the buck and unless I win the next Publishers Clearing House award, I'll never have so much spare cash that I could afford to double my expense. I will just live vicariously through all that can....I love hearing how all the deluxers enjoy it!

TomAndLori · Feb 15, 2005

We tried ASM last trip and while the price was right and we thuroughly enjoyed our stay, I don't think we will ever stay at an AS resort again.

I just think when you are staying in Disney, you deserve better theming than cardboard cutouts. I am not really trying to knock the AS resorts, but they just have too much of a rubberstamp feel. The atmosphere just did not do it for me at all. I will say my wife liked them better than I.

We also love being able to take boats to the Disney Village from POR.

We are going to give a Deluxe resort a try this next round, so I may change my mind about moderate resorts after that, but I think we would be happy to return to POR anytime.

Bugsmom73 · Feb 15, 2005

I like the mods and the deluxes. I think you would enjoy the mods. I would recommend probably POR or CBR.

lewdyan1 · Feb 15, 2005

HANDYMOM said:
I agree. Our family has stayed at CBR and POR-Riverside and CR and we prefer POR. I have a feeling if I ever stayed at the other Deluxes, I may see more of the difference from a moderate to a deluxe but we'll just stick with POR. A lot of bang for the buck and unless I win the next Publishers Clearing House award, I'll never have so much spare cash that I could afford to double my expense. I will just live vicariously through all that can....I love hearing how all the deluxers enjoy it!

I have stayed at all levels of resorts. In regards to the deluxe, we were at the Contemporary and AKL in October and would not go back to either again. We would choose a moderate resort first. We felt the Contemporary was just not worth the extra money and AKL was beautiful, except the walk from our room to anywhere was so long and the kids little legs got tired. We will be at POP on Friday, but then it will probably be back to POR or the Dolphin/ Swan.