Not trying to sound like a snob but...

[missypie]

Last spring at DLR, the worst behavior I saw was at dinner at Ariel's Grotto, which is a table service character meal. There was a very long table of maybe 16 parents and children and the parents were paying absolutely no attention to the children. The kids were not only loud, but were rolling all over the floor...I don't know how the CMs avoided tripping over them and spilling trays of food on them. If I had been the manager, at minimum I would have asked if they could keep their little darlings off the floor so that people could walk by. (Then those folks would have gotten on the boards and talked about how they were mistreated at Ariel's Grotto.)

My point is that this stands out in my mind many months later because it was the parents who totally allowed this situation to happen. I'm sure I encountered tired and cranky kids but it's the inconsiderate parents that I remember.

 

[suwoogie]

Having stayed at all 3 levels, I can say I will NEVER stay at the All Stars again. For the very reason this thread was started. We went when the bands were staying there. Kids were everywhere and no one was watching them. We stayed on the ground floor and above us they played basketball all night. They were loud, obnoxious, and rude. But the defining moment was when they were urinating off the second floor onto the ground floor in front of us.

NEVER AGAIN.

You can be offended if you want. I sure was.

 

[paults]

Yes we are different at the deluxe resort

 

[Madi100]

jjarman: What are you looking for in a resort? I'm just curious to see. If you belong to a "lodge" instead of the country club, I would take it to mean that you don't want to pay extra for the name. I would assume that if your lodge is cheaper, that it probably doesn't offer all of the same amentities that your country club would. That is the way it is with the resorts. I think it's probably safe to say that you could compare about anything like that (as people have been doing in these threads).

There are all types of people at BOTH, though. Just the other day I was talking to a person who was telling me that she didn't understand why someone she knows is on welfare, but also a member of the country club. You'll have that same thing with the resorts.

Me personally, my own deep, dark, feelings, is that I feel uncomfortable at the country club level. Like I said in my previous post, I didn't like the atmosphere of the Grand Floridian. My family is very blessed. We have gone to Disney three times. We have nice clothes, things, and we enjoy life. However, at the Grand Floridian, I feel poor. I am more self conscious of how I look and what I am wearing because I think that resort puts so much more into looks and appearance. Only the best. When I am at the All Star Resorts, it doesn't matter. It seems to be more about FAMILY and FUN than it does about MONEY. That is what I'' looking for. And that is what it comes down to : What you are looking for.

 

[pooh6890]

I find myself so surprised by so many comments here. I am a Single mom with 18 year old twin girls. We have been going to DW since they were 5. I have stayed at the Value, Mods & Deluxe resorts. Every place we stay we feel welcome and comfortable. I work full time and part time to enjoy the many things we "have". I have a lousy ex-husband who always contributed nothing. I worked hard to be able to afford the luxury of going on vacation one or two times a year to DW and stay where we want. There were times when the value resorts were all we could afford and there were times when we could afford consierge rooms. The people did not matter. I barely paid attention. The OP has a valid point. There is a big difference between the Value and Deluxe resorts but I chose not to let it bother me. Being PC all the time just doesn't cut it. I will admit that when I am at the Value resorts I only wish I could have afforded the Deluxe. The Deluxes offer so much more that adds to the whole DW experience. But, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. And please don't tell me that "poor" people dont' go to DW.....they just put off what is going on around them to maybe give their kids a few days off from the real world and what is ahead. Somehow I always find the $$$$ to be able to go once a year because life is too short and I wanted my kids to have a great childhood to look back on and appreciate how hard it was to be able to afford to even do that. AND they do now that they are older. But, yes, there is a big difference I have found many times in the people that stay at the values and the deluxes. It just doesn't matter to some people!

 

[susy]

Sorry folks, there ARE poor people out there and they can't afford vacations, they don't have credit cards or checking accounts-ever see those check cashing stores? They don't have computers, either. I know plenty of them.

I have seen it all. When I was 10, I lived in Harrison, NJ (no offense to Harrison) in a $75 a month apartment in which the bathroom (just a toilet and tub-no sink or shower) had been added on.

When I was 20, we ( I lived with my mom and dad) owned a two-story, five bedroom house with pool and two guests houses in back in Miami Beach. This is right around the corner (about a minute walk) from where Jennifer Lopez's house is now. I had everything I wanted, materially. I was also a stressed out college student with a cheating boyfriend. I was not a happy rich girl.

My prince charming is a man of modest means. We love each other, he supports me 100% (I'm a full time grad student at 37) and I've never been happier.

jjarman,

the bottom line is that you won't see the type of behavior you described at the All Stars. I've never noticed any difference in the people at any of the disney hotels. Once you get to the parks, it's anybody's guess. I would recommend not to stay there if there are groups of kids. I would try Pop Century, since it's new and they don't share buses.

 

[beatnik]

Having stayed at a wide variety of Disney resorts over the years, I would say that you are equally likely to encounter rude people and clueless parents no matter where you stay. Rudeness and cluelessness might be more noticable at the Value Resorts, however, because there are less amenities for more people (waiting in line to get your food and then a second line to pay for your food at a food court, for example, gives a rude person two chances to be noticed at a Value Resort). But wherever you stay you could be unlucky enough to have a vacation which overlaps with some bad apples. Stay where you want and hope for the best... Just try to bring a bit of patience and a sense of humor for the exasperating situations that you might find yourself in...

And just a comment to the parents who expressed dismay that their kids might "melt down" and other hotel patrons look askance at them: I suggest that most people don't have a problem with the child's melt down. When I personally see a meltdown on a themepark sidewalk or in a parking lot, I feel sorry for the melting down child and his or her parents-- a bad situation for all. But I can just keep moving past the meltdown and be minimally affected by it. The meltdown which occurs on a bus is unpleasant for all trapped in the vicinity, but there's really nothing a parent can do and these sorts of situations are inevitable unless one manages to live somehow outside of society (and who'd want to do that?). But plenty of parents allow really obnoxious behaviors from their children- relentless kicking of the back of the seat on a bus, crawling under another patrons table at a restaurant, running and screaming (the happy kind, not the meltdown kind) through a hotel lobby... These are the type of things which can really be frustrating to deal with and it is the parent, not the child, who is responsible for the unacceptable behavior. So take heart if your child has a meltdown in a public place-- if you deal with the meltdown as best you can and try to minimize its impact on others, most onlookers will fell nothing but sympathy and gratitude...

Beatnik

 

[Hayley]

As if this thread needed any more comments! But when did that ever stop me?

I think that the resorts definitely have different "feels" and you should stay at the one that "feels" the best. It's hard to ask which one is for you, because different people have different ideas about what is comfortable.

The GF "feels" not so much snobby, but a little less Disney to me -You can stay at that kind of a place anywhere -- when I go to WDW I like staying somewhere with "pull out all the stops" Disney atmosphere.

I would tend to think that All Stars would have more families with little ones and school groups staying on a budget. My kids are older now, and I really don't want a place with so much noise and craziness.

Just because a resort right for me doesn't mean it isn't exactly what someone else is looking for -- but I understand what the OP is getting at -- you just want to be comfortable.