Mods VS Deluxe: Things We Learned After Our June, 2017 Trip

Little E

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Apr 3, 2016
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We visited the World June 18-25, 2017. We stayed at POFQ, and we had a wonderful time. However, my DH and I felt we learned a lot from this trip.

We were initially booked at BWI in a standard room; we were excited to be so close to Epcot and HS. Although, after much soul searching, I felt stressed about how expensive the BWI was, so we decided to rebook at POFQ, as it saved us about $1400.

After we made the switch, I did a lot of research on POFQ on the Disboards, I asked Dis veterans lots of questions, and Dis folks really worked to reassure me that we made the right choice. POFQ was a lovely place. We loved how small the resort is, we loved being just steps from the main pool, food court, and bus stop, and we loved the opportunity to take advantage of the amenities at POR as well. Our boys are old enough that they were able to roam the resort on their own; they even walked back and forth between the two resorts on their own on a few occasions, and they really enjoyed their independence at POFQ.

With that being said, the minute we hopped in the pool on our first full day there, my DH said, "We should have spent the extra $1400 and stayed at BWI." *sigh* He was right. This was our longest WDW trip...our first time staying for a full week, and we have come to the conclusion that we are deluxe resort people. We felt cramped in our room, we were very underwhelmed by the pool, and we realized we missed the extra small touches that deluxe resorts offer. We have stayed at OKW, the Poly, the CR, and the GF, and we finally understood during this trip that the extra square footage in a deluxe room matters, that having three sleeping surfaces is REALLY important (our oldest DS had to bunk with the youngest DS, who is a blender at night, yikes!!), and that the ability to get to the parks using forms of transportation other than a bus matters as well.

I want to stress that we didn't dislike POFQ. It was a lovely resort, and the CMs were terrific. Also, the ability to quickly get to our room after getting off the bus after a long day at the parks was awesome. I wouldn't discourage anyone from staying here...we seriously had nothing but good experiences. On this trip, we simply learned a little more about us as a WDW vacationing family, which is a good thing, right? From now on, we know we really want to stay at a deluxe resort. Additionally, we had a Beaches and Cream ADR at lunchtime one day during our trip, and we got to explore the BWI, the BC, and the YC before and after we ate. We loved what we saw, and I think we definitely want to give one of these resorts a try next time. :)
 
Glad your family had a great trip!
With the $1400 you saved, maybe you could rent points to stay @
the BWV, BCV or VGF next time:)

Enough space in the room
and a great pool are important to us
also.
 
We split stayed BC/CR in Feb with our kids and POR on adults only in June. While we LOVED the proximity, especially CR to MK, we'd totally stay at POR again to save the $. But with one requirement - only a POR preferred room to guarantee the 3rd sleeping space. We're discussing a split of POR/BWI or POR/CR for our next trip in a few years.
 

We did our first deluxe trip last trip with a Poly and BC split. I loved staying deluxe with the proximity to the parks. Next trip will be a mother daughter trip and DD really wants to do GF. I've always wanted to try POR or POFQ but I'm worried I might be spoiled by the deluxes now.
 
It is different for everyone. We LOVE POFQ and since we bought DVC we miss it. Wish there was an economical use of DVC at the Disney resorts.
YES YES YES! This is a big reason we haven't bought into DVC yet. As is, I can stay at Contemporary or BLT. I can stay at Saratoga Springs OR Port Orleans Riverside. If I buy into DVC, goodbye to so many resorts. Why can't they figure out a way for points to be used at other Disney resorts easier?
 
YES YES YES! This is a big reason we haven't bought into DVC yet. As is, I can stay at Contemporary or BLT. I can stay at Saratoga Springs OR Port Orleans Riverside. If I buy into DVC, goodbye to so many resorts. Why can't they figure out a way for points to be used at other Disney resorts easier?

You can use them if you buy direct via the Disney Collection but the point usage is just so high that it does not make financial sense. We figure someday we will be short of points for a night or two and we will just book a cash room at POFQ to cover it and all will be happy and we can still visit and grab some beignets. Overall we are still thrilled that we bought into DVC. It was a smart purchase for us. We never really stayed deluxe before and it is nice that we can take the kids to stay at these resorts they always loved but we never felt like we could afford. We are booked for 7 nights at the Poly this Thanksgiving - never would have happened without DVC.
 
We have been giving thought to DVC for over a year now. I meant to book a DVC tour before we left for our trip, and in the hustle and bustle beforehand, I forgot. On our way to Beaches and Cream for lunch, we passed the DVC model and popped in just to peek at it and enjoy a few minutes of air conditioning. The DVC CM we chatted with talked us into signing up for an official tour after our lunch...more air conditioning, 3 FPs per person and a $50 Disney gift card didn't seem like a bad gig. We did the tour, but didn't pull the trigger on a DVC purchase. I'm really glad I posed some questions to DVC Dis veterans earlier in the spring before our trip. Thanks to the info I got from the Disboards, I was able to ask the DVC tour CM some tough questions and we had no problem saying "no thanks" for now. We need to do lots more research before we pull the trigger, but I'm thinking DVC will be in our future...someday. We'll need to try out a couple more deluxe resorts before we really know what to commit to. I'm also not sure we'll go the Disney retail route...it's hard to ignore the cheaper price tag of DVC resale.
 
My first trip to DW with my wife was at the Poly- next trip was a longer stay at FQ- she loved having 7 days vs 4 for comparable- maybe even less $...but she also liked the resort better (I didn't). We have a family of 5, so once the kids hit a certain age we "had" to go Deluxe (actually would recommend Wilderness lodge to a family or 4 on the cusp between Deluxe and moderate)...Now they offer more rooms that sleep 5 in the mod's -but now that the kids are bigger - had to move smaller!
 
We visited the World June 18-25, 2017. We stayed at POFQ, and we had a wonderful time. However, my DH and I felt we learned a lot from this trip.

We were initially booked at BWI in a standard room; we were excited to be so close to Epcot and HS. Although, after much soul searching, I felt stressed about how expensive the BWI was, so we decided to rebook at POFQ, as it saved us about $1400.

After we made the switch, I did a lot of research on POFQ on the Disboards, I asked Dis veterans lots of questions, and Dis folks really worked to reassure me that we made the right choice. POFQ was a lovely place. We loved how small the resort is, we loved being just steps from the main pool, food court, and bus stop, and we loved the opportunity to take advantage of the amenities at POR as well. Our boys are old enough that they were able to roam the resort on their own; they even walked back and forth between the two resorts on their own on a few occasions, and they really enjoyed their independence at POFQ.

With that being said, the minute we hopped in the pool on our first full day there, my DH said, "We should have spent the extra $1400 and stayed at BWI." *sigh* He was right. This was our longest WDW trip...our first time staying for a full week, and we have come to the conclusion that we are deluxe resort people. We felt cramped in our room, we were very underwhelmed by the pool, and we realized we missed the extra small touches that deluxe resorts offer. We have stayed at OKW, the Poly, the CR, and the GF, and we finally understood during this trip that the extra square footage in a deluxe room matters, that having three sleeping surfaces is REALLY important (our oldest DS had to bunk with the youngest DS, who is a blender at night, yikes!!), and that the ability to get to the parks using forms of transportation other than a bus matters as well.

I want to stress that we didn't dislike POFQ. It was a lovely resort, and the CMs were terrific. Also, the ability to quickly get to our room after getting off the bus after a long day at the parks was awesome. I wouldn't discourage anyone from staying here...we seriously had nothing but good experiences. On this trip, we simply learned a little more about us as a WDW vacationing family, which is a good thing, right? From now on, we know we really want to stay at a deluxe resort. Additionally, we had a Beaches and Cream ADR at lunchtime one day during our trip, and we got to explore the BWI, the BC, and the YC before and after we ate. We loved what we saw, and I think we definitely want to give one of these resorts a try next time. :)

This is totally the same as our family except we stayed at CBR last time. As a family of 5 we missed the amenities and larger space a Deluxe resort offers us. This isn't to say that as our kids get older and start to leave the nest we won't ever be back to moderate again though, it's just that it won't be our first choice.
 
We're generally mod people, but are planning to stay deluxe next time (AKL) and I'm actually kind of nervous. I love a relaxed, casual feel when I'm on vacation, and there is a part of me that worries I'll feel like "fancy"="stuffy". Please tell me I'm wrong!
 
Thanks for your input. PO is my favorite resort, and we've never stayed at a Deluxe. DH keeps throwing the idea out to go Deluxe, but we never think it is worth the extra $. We might just do it anyway.
 
YES YES YES! This is a big reason we haven't bought into DVC yet. As is, I can stay at Contemporary or BLT. I can stay at Saratoga Springs OR Port Orleans Riverside. If I buy into DVC, goodbye to so many resorts. Why can't they figure out a way for points to be used at other Disney resorts easier?
Owning DVC and staying in the resort hotels is not mutually exclusive. Last year, I only stayed 1 night in a DVC villa just prior to a 4-night cash reservation at CSR and later in the year, I stayed at GF on a convention rate. This year, I will spend two nights at CCV, a week in a Grand Villa and another 8 nights in a studio at SSR, all on points. DVC doesn't eliminate choices, it expands them.

True, those of us who purchased resale after March 2011 cannot use our points to stay in the Disney hotels but that's a poor use of our points anyway. I can "rent" my points out and use the cash to pay for a vacation anywhere. But if you purchased direct, those points could be used to stay at CR or POFQ if you wanted to.
 
We're generally mod people, but are planning to stay deluxe next time (AKL) and I'm actually kind of nervous. I love a relaxed, casual feel when I'm on vacation, and there is a part of me that worries I'll feel like "fancy"="stuffy". Please tell me I'm wrong!

AKL is beautiful!!!! Super casual too. There's a nice restaurant if you want to dress up. I get that "fancy" feel at GF, but never at AKL. Have fun!
 
We're generally mod people, but are planning to stay deluxe next time (AKL) and I'm actually kind of nervous. I love a relaxed, casual feel when I'm on vacation, and there is a part of me that worries I'll feel like "fancy"="stuffy". Please tell me I'm wrong!
Oh you are wrong to worry, no stuffiness at all. We have stayed at AKL, Poly, GF, CR, BC, and BWI. My daughter was so worried about the stuffiness factor and we just never felt that. We loved every minute of these stays, so don't worry about that. AKL is so beautiful and relaxing and everyone we encountered was super nice and not pretentious at all. You will have a great stay.
 
I rent DVC points just so I can get the perks of staying deluxe for the same cost as a mod. I like BWV and BCV because they are within walking distance of Epcot and DHS. I've stayed several times at AKL and like it because of the animals from my balcony. I'm trying BLT this trip and am looking forward to being so close to the MK.
 
Owning DVC and staying in the resort hotels is not mutually exclusive. Last year, I only stayed 1 night in a DVC villa just prior to a 4-night cash reservation at CSR and later in the year, I stayed at GF on a convention rate. This year, I will spend two nights at CCV, a week in a Grand Villa and another 8 nights in a studio at SSR, all on points. DVC doesn't eliminate choices, it expands them.

True, those of us who purchased resale after March 2011 cannot use our points to stay in the Disney hotels but that's a poor use of our points anyway. I can "rent" my points out and use the cash to pay for a vacation anywhere. But if you purchased direct, those points could be used to stay at CR or POFQ if you wanted to.
But, as I understand it, it is a very poor use of points to stay at POFQ, POR, or any of the other moderates. I have been told that DVC expands options, but I don't understand how. Right now, I can stay at BLT or Contemporary. I can stay at Wilderness Lodge or Boulder Ridge. With DVC, you can use your points to stay at BLT, sure. But wouldn't you have to use cash if you wanted to stay at Contemporary?
 
OP, we have also come to this same conclusion. We did a split stay between CR and BC in June, and the ease of getting to Mk and Epcot was just so nice. We rode a bus only one time during our entire trip, which makes a big difference to us! We also enjoy the extra room that you get in a Deluxe, and the we loved Stormalong bay. It would be really hard to go back to staying mods now.
 


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