Moderate Resorts

[tripinbrums]

Have you tried renting points from a DVC owner? You'll get much more for your money at a deluxe DVC studio than you will at a moderate in a regular room.

Personally, I think a value resort is a much better return for your money if not renting points and staying at a deluxe.

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

I was wondering if you rent DVC do you still get to use the tram service? I was looking for where their team stop was and never could find them?

 

[Gracie09]

I was wondering if you rent DVC do you still get to use the tram service? I was looking for where their team stop was and never could find them?

Do you mean magic express or the onsite transportation? But the answer to either is yes. You have all the benefits of staying onsite (transportation, extra magic hours, fp+ at 60 days etc) that you would have in a regular room. However you do not get daily housekeeping. You get trash and towels on day 4.

 

[amberg93]

POFQ all the way.

It's beautiful, compact and the bus service is great. Plus, the Scales the dragon slide is probably the cutest slide I've ever seen. You're allowed to use the pools and dining hall at POR which is close enough to walk and look around but you don't have to deal with their bus service (way too many bus stops for my liking).

 

[nookaz]

Have you tried other websites also? When I went in April, the Coronado was unavailable through the Disney website, but when I was looking at plane tickets, it was available through the US Airways vacation website. It wasn't any more expensive either. Just another option...

 

[Maggie Lizer]

We've stayed at CBR and POR and we much preferred CBR. If we go back in January, when it is cold, we'll just stay at a Value b/c we won't be using the pool.

 

[W.E.D.]

I personally, have fallen in love with the Alligator Bayou section of POR.

My family as well. I would suggest POR.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Have you tried renting points from a DVC owner? You'll get much more for your money at a deluxe DVC studio than you will at a moderate in a regular room.

Personally, I think a value resort is a much better return for your money if not renting points and staying at a deluxe.

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

Wow thanks never knew we could do that ! Will definitely take a look

thanks !

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Funny but we couldn't stand Coronado Springs. Luckily there's something for everyone at WDW.

Animal Kingdom Lodge blows all of the mods away though. We just love that place but the OP seemed to only be interested in mods.

We stayed @ AKL last year and is by far our favorite resort. For this trip we were looking to scale back a little bit.

Thanks for the help !

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

We have stayed at CSR, CBR and POR...CBR was our favorite much to our surprise! We had heard so many negative comments that I really had no desire to ever stay there. We tried it during free dining last year and loved it! We loved the theming and there is a very relaxed feel to it. Buses and service was great...the only thing we didn't really like was the food court. POR was our least favorite as we found it difficult to navigate....the windy paths drove me crazy! Bus service was fine but the customer service was not great that week.

Thanks! bus service is important to us and we have heard negative things about CBR as well so its nice to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I guess it's really about how much you immerse yourself into the resorts. I've stayed at POR a couple times and when it was Dixie Landings. It just feels southern like a Louisiana Bayou. We request Alligator Bayou so when we get back from the resorts we can plop a couple of room chairs out on the ground outside the room and just watch the frogs in little water ponds while enjoying adult beverages.

The quiet pools are nice at night when you get back from the resorts late. During the afternoon breaks we sit in the shade at them and enjoy adult beverages. If we get bored at night after the parks we take the boat to DTD from POR (then run across the street to HESS to stock up on more adult beverages).

If you reserve a pool view just walk out the door and there's your quiet pool.

As far as food goes we normally just grab a muffin and coffee at the CS then eat a light lunch in the parks and then a great TS at night in the park or another resort.

 

[Gottahavemorecowbell]

Let me be the fly in the ointment, here.

Background: I've done Animal Kingdom twice, Wilderness Lodge once, Coronado Springs once, and Port Orleans Riverside once.

POR was far and away our least favorite resort. It's huge and spread out, meaning a lot of walking if your building isn't close to the lobby (lots of them are not). Ours was quite far - I'm talking 15-20 minutes round trip to send a runner to go refill mugs.

Theme-wise, this was easily the least "Disney feeling" of any resort we've stayed in. I'm aware that moderates don't have the impressive lobbies of the deluxes, but this one just felt like a nice hotel at the best (not a Disney experience).

The paths just seemed dark and oppressive. The staff (with the exception of one kind lady at check in) was the least friendly we've ever dealt with at WDW. I know that towel animals and such are supposed to be considered extra magic, but nine nights and not one single towel animal, not one clever arrangement of the kids toys just felt empty after having those experiences pretty much every night on the previous four trips.

Dining was okay. The food itself was good, it's just that the overall selection wasn't what we were accustomed to at the other resorts we've stayed at.

This isn't a comparison of deluxe to moderate; I'd go back to Coronado in a heartbeat! However, I'd go anywhere else (including values) before I'd go back to POR.

Interesting. Our POR experiences have basically been 180 degrees different from yours. Sorry you had a tough one. We love POR and don't think twice about staying there. The negatives you mentioned (walking paths/theming, etc.) don't even make it on our radar as far as a problem goes.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Have you tried renting points from a DVC owner? You'll get much more for your money at a deluxe DVC studio than you will at a moderate in a regular room.

Personally, I think a value resort is a much better return for your money if not renting points and staying at a deluxe.

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

Thanks for this recommendation. We just looked at the website to rent DVC points and we are thinking about doing it! It all looks very good, and it definitely seems like you get a great deal and be able to stay at a deluxe resort.

Have you actually rented points from this site before? Does it all go smoothly? How would it work with MDE and Magic Bands?

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I have used David's before & all went as expected. It was fantastic!

 

[CanadianPaco]

We're going to CBR in Dec with the hopes of a refurbed rooms and queens beds. We also thought the idea of a Caribbean feel in Dec may be extra special. As for the other moderates, hands down Coronado was our favourite!!!!! It is simply so beautiful and the rooms were wonderful! (Loved that sliding door/curtain). We found POFQ to be..... boring/quiet, and very un-Disney. Loved being able to take the boat to DTD - that was a perk!

We were going to try POR in March knowing the refurb hadn't started at CBR. When we went to check in, we received a huge dose of PIXIE DUST and were upgraded to WL!!! Crazy cool!! The CM at POR said it was because we were there celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary! It was awesome until we met the CM at WL who said we were the third family sent over from POR that night because they were over booked. Poof! We decided to that we were upgraded because of our anniversary and forgot about the over-booked response. Sigh!

Back to your question.... I say Coronado!! So beautiful and our fav moderate!