"Once you go deluxe, it's hard to go back."

[ethanwa]

"Once you go deluxe, it's hard to go back."

I've heard this saying a lot on the boards. Our first stay on WDW Resort will be at Grand Floridian. Can anyone put some context to the saying? Why is deluxe supposedly so much better?

E

 

[minnie mum]

Well on the one hand you've got the Ritz Carleton, and on the other you've got the Comfort Inn. Which one do you think would have more amenities?

 

[wdwmom0f3]

While I would love to stay at a deluxe resort, I just don't see that it's worth that much more money to me. My family is perfectly fine with POR.

Even with that said, as much as I wouldn't want to, I would stay at a value to save more money if I had a chance to. With a family of five we are limited though.

Right now I am trying to plan a trip for later this year and I'm even thinking about staying at Bonnet Creek because of the space and the price. There will be at least 6 of us going, maybe more.

 

[RedfromNL]

"Once you go deluxe, it's hard to go back."

I've heard this saying a lot on the boards. Our first stay on WDW Resort will be at Grand Floridian. Can anyone put some context to the saying? Why is deluxe supposedly so much better?

E

For me it's simply that I like my comforts, I like the amenities a more luxurious hotel offers, I like the little touches.

And since I can afford to indulge myself with them, I do.
And yes, when you get used to a certain level of luxury/comfort it would be "hard" to go back to a more basic level.

I do so when travelling with friends who have less spendingmoney and don't want me to pay for it. So when I'm taking a trip with them we stay in basic hotels. It's ok. But if I can I do prefer something a bit more fancy

 

[cruisingkat]

We can stay at a deluxe, moderate or a value. It all comes down to economics. If we want to do more than one Disney trip in a year, we will not stay at a deluxe. We set a value at what the extra amenities at the moderate and deluxes are woth to us. If the price difference between the resort level fits within that value, then we will go with the higher level. If not, we go with the lower level.
Also, the length of our stay will help determine the level of resort. We do go at least 4 times a year. We can stay 1 to 2 nights at deluxe, 3-4 nights at a moderate, or 5-7 nights at a value for the same amount of money.

 

[Turk February]

Our latest trip was our first stay at a deluxe. I could easily go back to a moderate, and I plan to on our next trip. The biggest advantage to deluxe (IMO) is the proximity to the parks. I loved walking to MK from CR and taking the monorail to Epcot. Sure, the beds were comfy and the room was bigger, but I'm pretty happy wherever I'm staying as long as my days are spent at Disney

 

[ciera321]

We've stayed deluxe (CRx4, BC, Poly,AKLx2, WLx2) and all the moderates, and we've always gone back to the moderates. I enjoy the deluxe resorts, but for the price and for the amount of time we spend at the resort, we choose the moderates more often.

 

[goofy4tink]

Deluxe resorts (at least at WDW) give you bigger rooms (not hugely bigger, but bigger), usually two queens and a twin sized day bed. The room theming is 'nicer'...seems more upscale. The bathroom areas are nicer....sometimes split into two sections. These rooms have either balconys or patios..usually. These resorts have more themed pool areas, with nicer, more fun slides. They offer at least one table service restuarant. The pool areas have hot tubs..again, usually. The Polynesian, for instance, has rooms that don't have either a balcony or a patio. And there are no hot tubs there.
The deluxe resorts usually offer multiple methods of transportation...usually the ability to get to at least one park without having to use a bus...GF, and the Polynesian use the monorail or small boat to get to MK. CR offers the ability to walk or take the monorail.

The moderate resorts offer a bit less. They usually have one table service spot, in addition to a good sized food court. The pools are nicely themed with slightly lesser slides. There are no balconys or patios....motel style bldgs...doors open right to the outside public walkways. There are hot tubs. The rooms are a bit smaller and have room for four..sometimes double beds, sometimes queen beds. There is a curtain blocking off the vanity area from the sleeping area, which is nice. A fridge is now included in these rooms.

The values offer rooms that are a smidge smaller than the moderate rooms. I think they also offer the curtain arrangement. There are no table service restaurants. I can't remember if there are hot tubs or not...I don't think so, but could be wrong. There are no slides at any pools. The theming is bright, colorful and sometimes over the top.

That's a basic breakdown. Do I have any issue staying at a value after staying deluxe?? Nope, not a bit. I own at both BWV and BLT..so obviously stay 'deluxe' a lot. But if I'm not using my DVC points, you can find me at Pop. I love Pop. My dh??? Yeah, not so much. He wants the ability to walk to both Epcot and DHS. But, other than that, he has no issue with Pop. Just hates using buses all the time.

While the deluxes are more 'upscale', I don't think they are all that deluxe when comparing them to true deluxe resorts/hotels in the real world. I'm not sure what amenities they offer that I can't get at a value or moderate resort. I don't eat at my resort very often. I don't use hot tubs since they seem to attract young kids who think of them as small heated swimming pools. There are usually just three of us traveling, at the most, so the room size isn't a huge issue. I think the deluxes tend to just gussy up the surroundings. I think they are just a bit nicer than moderates, and basically fancier than values. But, I'm in the minority here. I think there is something to be said for every level of resort at WDW. I have friends who like 'deluxe' accomodations. Their first WDW trip they stayed at the Polynesian..and loved it. When we traveled to WDW together, we couldn't afford the Polynesian, but I loved POR (DxLs when I first stayed there), so we booked there. And I think the other couple was a bit surprised at the resort. It was a bit bare bones for them. In fact, when this mom and her dd traveled with me and my dd, to celebrate the girls' 13th birthdays, we stayed at BWV. I got a two bedroom....they took the second bedroom which is basically a studio villa attached to a one bedroom villa. She was horrified to find that she wasn't going to get fresh towels every day!!! I had to give her the majority of our towels. Good thing they plan for four in the one bedroom and give you towels for that many!! There was no way that other mom was going to be happy with using the same hand towel two days in a row.
So....I guess it's different strokes for different folks. Depends on what you are used to and what you want in a resort room.

 

[Tigger's ally]

It's not hard for us. We have stayed about everywhere and some of our best trips were in moderates. POFQ is as laid back as it gets. Quietest resort on the grounds as well if you ask me. I do love some of the choices Deluxes offer too. Just depends how I am feeling right before we leave. I have changed from Poly to POFQ at the last minute and also from CBR to AKL. Go where it feels right

 

[sammysmom]

Well that is definitely true for us. We were POP people up until 2 years ago when I decided to bite the bullet and stay our furst deluxe stay at Beach Club. The resort is amazing and once we stayed there with the location and bigger rooms, there is no way that we can go back to the POP. We'd miss being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios and the girls definitely would miss the pool.

 

[Huff]

I think theres two groups of WDW visitors. Those that spend 90+% of their days at the parks or dining around WDW, and those that spend significant time relaxing around their resort room, pool, bar etc. For the latter, a deluxe makes more sense, for the 1st group, a value makes more sense. For those inbetween perhaps a moderate is a good balance.

For us we spend very little time at our resort, mostly just to sleep. So a deluxe makes little sense for the added expense. I'd love to move up to a moderate, say POFQ but for our 9 night stay it would cost us around $400 more. That $400 could be put to better uses to enjoy our vacation. That said, on other vacation locations we have stayed in some very posh resorts where the resort is a major part of the vacation.

 

[lisalis]

Our family's first trip to WDW was in a deluxe, where I fell in love with WDW. Then my DH & I went alone and stayed moderate, and a few months later I took my youngest son by ourselves and stayed value. I enjoyed every trip and every resort we stayed in, but it's all about what your expectations are. During my value stay in January, we weren't going to use the pool anyway so it wasn't a big deal. My older boys like the water parks, so we may not stay Deluxe again for the pool. We only used it once when we stayed at AKL; same when we stayed at CSR. I guess we are more tour the parks kind of people. It looks like we aren't going to make it in 2012, but we're planning on 2013. With 5 of us, 2 value rooms looks better than the other options, especially as our older boys will both be teenagers. If we only had 4, I might go moderate or deluxe. When it is just DH and me in the future, maybe we'll be more likely to do deluxe

 

[texasteacher35]

It's too hard, I can't do it!!! Lol I have officially become a deluxe WDW snob! I secretly always have been anyway! I stayed GF several times, Main building-CR, several other deludes, and then I stayed at a pirate room at CBR...and although it was really cute, and the resort was nice...I still felt like I was cheating on my deluxe resorts! That sounds crazy, right?? Bahahaha

 

[sdzman]

We stayed at the WL last summer and while it was a beautiful resort and we had a great time, we are looking forward to staying at POFQ or CBR again. WDW deluxes are not perfect and sometimes I really have trouble justfying the extra money. I would not turn away a chance to stay at a deluxe again, I just dont feel that I have to settle if we choose not to.

 

[bowbat]

I think theres two groups of WDW visitors. Those that spend 90+% of their days at the parks or dining around WDW, and those that spend significant time relaxing around their resort room, pool, bar etc. For the latter, a deluxe makes more sense, for the 1st group, a value makes more sense. For those inbetween perhaps a moderate is a good balance.

For us we spend very little time at our resort, mostly just to sleep. So a deluxe makes little sense for the added expense. I'd love to move up to a moderate, say POFQ but for our 9 night stay it would cost us around $400 more. That $400 could be put to better uses to enjoy our vacation. That said, on other vacation locations we have stayed in some very posh resorts where the resort is a major part of the vacation.

I agree with this. We stay at deluxes mainly because we spend a LOT of time at the resort. Our kid is still fairly young and gets tired/over-stimulated after too much time at the parks, so we're generally back at the resort by 1 or 2pm and spend the rest of the day/evening there. Having a larger, nicer room, a balcony, more on-site amenities, and (for us) the club level benefits are all very, very worth it to us right now.

At the same time, we know that as our son gets older, he's going to want & be able to spend more & more time at the parks, and then our hotel becomes less important. We stayed at CBR back in our pre-kid days, when my husband & I were at the parks from morning-night, and it was just fine. I don't think we'll have any problem staying at a moderate when go back to being park commandos.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I think we made the mistake of booking our first trip (2003) at the Grand Floridian. It would be extremely hard to go to a mod or a value now.

One of the biggest things for us is ease of transportation. When the kids were little it was so nice to just put them in the stroller and hop on the monorail! Now that they are a little older they love being able to walk or take a water taxi to DHS and EPCOT!

We love BC/YC and they have a lot of drawer and closet space - which is important to us. I also really like to sit on the balcony with my coffee early in the morning while the kids sleep and DH runs. I like indoor corridors and room service! And for some reason the pictures I've seen of the mods where the closets are open and almost on top of the sinks really bothers me.

If I can't afford a Disney deluxe then the next best option for us would be the Swan or Dolphin - they have really great rates at least as good as the mods.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

We spend a lot of time at the resort too. We prefer a deluxe CL room, or a 1BR villa. We equally like the space, and the CL offerings... so our biggest dilemma is villa or CL for each trip. We've stayed moderate previously, and would stay again if needed--but much prefer deluxe and deluxe villas. The space of the villas and the washer and dryer in the room has spoiled us... but so have the CLs, the extra food and drinks, and the staff. I also like when the rooms are inside a building--I'm just odd when it comes to that.

If you don't spend much time at the resort, and prefer to spend money on other things--then a value or moderate will work fine for you!

 

[cmurray234]

It depends on what is important to you. If you just need some place to rest your head, moderates might well be the way to go.

For our family value resorts won't work. The rooms are too small and my husband and I don't get good sleep in a full-sized bed. We need a queen.

Mostly what we've done it split our stays about evenly between CSR and a number of deluxes. I like CSR well enough because of the queen beds, the affordable price and the great pool. That being said I really liked the deluxes better. they feel more like an actual resort to me. My kids had almost as much fun staying at AKL as they did in the parks.

Last time, we stayed at WL and in February we're going to Beach Club. I will probably stay at deluxe from now on simply because I enjoy what they offer.

 

[tinkermommyof3]

Our first resort was the Poly at a time when I knew nothing about WDW. I chose it because it looked convenient for a young family of 5 with strollers, need for Kids Club and close to MK. It was within our budget and the theme looked great. We did not have any discounts at the time. We were happy with our choice. 8 trips later I have stayed Deluxe mostly but one stay at POR. I love the Deluxe resorts but will stay moderate without a problem. I am booked at POR now with a 30% PIN. That may change before we leave in July, but if it doesn't it will be a great trip.

 

[Pakey]

The GF is not the Ritz Carlton. Or the Four Seasons. While I enjoy 5 star resorts when I travel elsewhere, Disney Deluxes are a far cry from a 5 star and I'm perfectly fine staying at the other resorts too. I did back to back trips where I stayed GF RPC and the next trip stayed at a moderate. Yes, there's a difference but I it's not enough of a difference that it will make or break my vacation.