Is the upgrade from Value to Moderate worth the price?

[Svhadden]

We had always stayed at POP until this past year, when we stayed at POR. Oh my. Loved loved loved POR.

But yes, it does depend on how much time you spend there. We're park commandoes so I don't feel like we got to fully enjoy and take advantage of all that the moderate offered. For instance, we never got to eat at Boatwrights, and never got to see Yee Ha Bob. We did, however, wear out the pool

But it was a significant upgrade. We loved the more refined atmosphere, the bigger room, the quicker bus service, and the boats to DTD. We were in the Alligator Bayou (bldg 16) so we were really close to pool/eating/gift shopping.

We're booking POR again next year, but we're going back to POP for the quickie trip we're taking in Jan. I'd vote moderate for a more relaxed vacay, value for park commando vacay.

 

[punkin]

It would not be worth it to me unless the differential in price was negligible. I liked POP a lot when we stayed there, partially because it was fairly cheap. POR was a disappointment. It's neither fun and cheap like the values nor does it have the amenities that I like in a deluxe. I think it's the worst of both worlds. The rooms are bigger than POP though.

 

[Crystal824]

To me the price difference between a value and a moderate is worth it. The rooms are a little larger, the pool is a little nicer, and it is less crowded. I've stayed all all levels of rooms at WDW. My favorite so far is Port Orleans French Quarter. I just love the theming and that the resort is realatively small.

With that being said, I do not think the difference between the moderate and deluxes are worth it.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We really enjoy staying at the value resorts because we just don't think that the moderates are worth the extra $$. Unless...you have a great deal on a moderate (which we got when for this Thanksgiving when we're staying at POFQ!).

We've stayed at value, moderate, and deluxe. I think it depends on what you are wanting out of your vacation. If you are looking for a really relaxing time, go with a moderate (and POFQ or POR are great choices).

Things that we love about a value resort:
1. major Disney theming
2. cost
3. counter in sink area vs. pedestal sinks. This means less storage for your toiletries, toothbrushes etc. I'm going to bring the over the door shoe holder to hold our toiletries since we'll be at POFQ for 9 nights over TG.
4. cost
5. adequate space in the rooms
6. cost
7. Everything seems pretty close to the food court and transportation

Things we love about a moderate:
1. Peacefullness of the grounds (more landscaping, more spread out-which I know contradicts #7 above, but sometimes you just enjoy a little more privacy)
2. More upscale theming. Things feel a little less geared to little kids.
3. I think the food court is a little nicer
4. Option of having a sit down restaurant at your resort (Boatwrights)
5. Water slide at the pool
6. Less crowded transportation

One thing you might think about doing instead of surprising your family with another resort, is to surprise them with a fireworks cruise or something like that.

Finally, you might want to double check on availability for TG week at POFQ. They may be nearly sold out. The difference in cost for a holiday week between value and moderate might be quite a bit.

We got in on free dining and always upgrade from QS dining. For the amount of the upgrade to regular dining (which we pay for OOP at a value) for our family of four, it ended up being only about $10 more per night to stay at a moderate. Since my sister and her family are coming with us and my BIL is a pretty tall guy, we decided it would be worth it to have more space. Plus, the refridgerators were a draw for us (we didn't know that they would put fridges in all of the values when we booked).

If you end up moving to POFQ, maybe we'll run into you!

I stayed at POFQ a few weeks ago, and there was a full counter in the double sink area.

 

[lucigo]

I just called to make our December reservation (very late I know), and the price different was $64 per night, so basically the mod was double the price of the value. I opted for Pop and saved myself $320.

 

[Dacky619]

To me the price difference between a value and a moderate is worth it. The rooms are a little larger, the pool is a little nicer, and it is less crowded. I've stayed all all levels of rooms at WDW. My favorite so far is Port Orleans French Quarter. I just love the theming and that the resort is realatively small.

With that being said, I do not think the difference between the moderate and deluxes are worth it.

This is exactly how we feel. We are ok staying at a value for a weekend trip, but if it is for more than 3 nights, a Moderate is well worth it.

 

[Marionnette]

The answer to this question is so subjective. What I value in a vacation may not be the same thing that someone else values. And what I consider to be a smart way to spend my money may not be how you choose to spend yours.

A lot of people will say that they only use the room to shower and sleep. Well, even when I'm taking a trip that is focused on visiting the parks from open to close, I still don't like the value resorts.

The walls are thin. You can hear your neighbors. Their arguments, their fussy kid that screams for mamma at 3 AM, their television that is on all night.

The beds are smaller. Queen size beds at the moderates vs. full size beds at the values. My husband and sons are each over 6 feet tall. Even if they sleep alone, a full size bed is too short. Sharing a full size bed with any of them is impossible.

The bathroom towels and TP are not as nice. Silly thought, right? But there is a difference. And at the value resorts, they don't supply towels at the pool. So you either have to bring your own or else ask housekeeping for more. And since there is no towel return at the pools, you end up with a pile of damp towels in your room until housekeeping makes up your room and replaces them.

Those are just a couple of the reasons that I would rather spend more to stay at a moderate resort. The rest of the reasons have already been mentioned by other posters.

 

[Celidh]

The answer to this question is so subjective. What I value in a vacation may not be the same thing that someone else values. And what I consider to be a smart way to spend my money may not be how you choose to spend yours.

A lot of people will say that they only use the room to shower and sleep. Well, even when I'm taking a trip that is focused on visiting the parks from open to close, I still don't like the value resorts.

The walls are thin. You can hear your neighbors. Their arguments, their fussy kid that screams for mamma at 3 AM, their television that is on all night.

The beds are smaller. Queen size beds at the moderates vs. full size beds at the values. My husband and sons are each over 6 feet tall. Even if they sleep alone, a full size bed is too short. Sharing a full size bed with any of them is impossible.

The bathroom towels and TP are not as nice. Silly thought, right? But there is a difference. And at the value resorts, they don't supply towels at the pool. So you either have to bring your own or else ask housekeeping for more. And since there is no towel return at the pools, you end up with a pile of damp towels in your room until housekeeping makes up your room and replaces them.

Those are just a couple of the reasons that I would rather spend more to stay at a moderate resort. The rest of the reasons have already been mentioned by other posters.

I agree, preference is definitely subjective.

I thought that CS and POFQ were the only moderates that had queen beds, i thought the others had doubles.

I had to laugh at your tp comment. Our only WDW trip was to POP and my biggest complaint was the tp in the room.

They did have towel returns at the pool at POP. I honestly didn't have an issue with asking for extra towels for the pool. Mousekeeping was always very quick bringing them. We would just take the towels from our rooms and the other ones would be there when we got back from the pool

I liked POP. There were six of us with 2 connecting rooms. The food Court was crowded though but not so crowded that we could never get a table. My partner and I want to go back without the kids. For that trip we want to stay at CS. We want to be able to have a ts meal and staying at a value, we would not be able to eat at our resort for a table service meal. It would be nice to have the ability to have a ts meal at the resort and not have to worry about going elsewhere to eat if that is what we want. I love the look of CS. It looks beautiful.

It seems to me that the values are more kid oriented, but having never stayed anywhere other than POP, I can't really say. If and when we go back with the kids, it will have to be value due to cost because we need two rooms for my partner and I and the 3 kids. I know that POFQ has the room with the trundle but my kids are getting older. By the time we get to go back, I don't think the trundle would be comfortable for my youngest and also, my boys don't like sharing a room. We would still only have one bathroom. For us, I think 2 rooms at a value would be better when going with the whole family. Everyone would have their own bed and we would have two bathrooms and two tvs. We could never afford a suite or anything like that unless I happened to have won last night's lottery!!!

Well, that's my two cents worth based on my one and only trip to WDW

 

[CanBeGrumpy]

I love all levels of Disney resorts, and when we stay Deluxe, there are actually things we miss about the value resorts! (food court, big arcade). I won't try to convince you whether a mod or a value is better for your family, but I did want to say, make sure your family would be ok with this surprise! I know that if my family was expecting to stay Value (and was looking forward to the things we like about the Value resorts) and I switched to Moderate, they might be disappointed. The room size/scenery etc. isn't really what kids are concerned about! Only you know your family, and know if this surprise would actually be a good thing for them!

 

[bartleyosu]

I have stayed at POFQ and POP. One time we got 2 rooms at Pop for price of 1 at FQ so 2 teen boys have their own room. Love POP food court, much better than FQ. BUT FQ rooms, smaller resort, faster bus are best. But I would stay at POP and do fancy meal if 4 of you can comfortable sleep in double beds, we can't anymore.

 

[mrsklamc]

I know this isn't what you asked, but would you consider offsite at all? Windsor Hills is VERY close to the parks and you basically get Deluxe level accommodations for value pricing, or less. No Disney theming but we've just loved our stays there. Last extended family trip had 11 people and it was great that everyone could hang out together in the big room with the kitchen, living room and pool table, but everyone had their own space, too. It was January but we got the 5 bedroom house for like $1500 - we couldn't have stayed onsite for that.