Preferred rooms in value resorts

[ktrask]

Horray...we are now in a zone that I can price my December 2013 vaca!

Family of three, our daughter will be 5 at trip time. We will be there the week after Thanksgiving 2013. Tuesday to Tuesday

I'm just pricing things out, but the question came to mind, is it worth it to pay for the preferred room (non AOA) or not pay for it and hope for a "close" room to the buses etc. Not having it booked preferred would save about $130 on the trip price.

My husband stayed at a value that same week pre child, and I don't remember being all that far away from things.

 

[adventure_woman]

We don't pay for preferred - I always request a room closest to the front, and I've always gotten the building to the preferred.

 

[maxiesmom]

We usually pay for preferred rooms. Otherwise there is always the chance that you will end up far away from the food court and bus stop. Sure you can request being close, but you can't depend on getting your requests met.

To me, it is a small sum to pay to know I will be close to everything.

 

[budafam]

We paid for it the first time we went and then didn't pay for it the second time but I requested close to transportation and actually, the second time we were CLOSER than when we paid for the preferred room. So I will never pay for preferred again.

 

[cglaura]

I think it really depends on how you feel about walking, how you tour, etc. I know having a child at the end of a long touring day will be a factor.

For us, it never was an issue. As an example, last trip we stayed at ASMusic, and were put in the Broadway Section. It took 5 minutes to get back to the room (I timed it one night, just for disBoards ).

It also depends on what you feel is value for your family. I personally would rather use that $130 on something fun, rather than 5 minutes of walking. It's all personal choice though. We walk alot in every day life, so it is not a big deal to us.

As a point of reference, we were in a room that would be right under the label "7. Broadway Hotel" on the map linked below. So, pretty far out there. Through the lobby and down the center area, was 5 minutes at t regular pace.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmusicmap.htm

 

[ktrask]

Awesome...I was leaning towards saving the $130 and using it for something else. Sounds like I'm not living in crazy town to do that

Good suggestions on requesting a close room!

 

[Poohbug]

Figure out what is important to you because the value of a preferred room is subjective.

I only have experience at Pop but I would rather NOT have a preferred room. They are close to the pool and food court. That means it is noisy and people are always walking/running/talking/screaming next to your room. I would rather walk 4 more minutes and have a quiet room to relax in.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I don't have children, but me and DH do fine for the value room. We would be walking all day anyway. Means more exercise for me. But if I had little ones, I may pay the extra to make it more convenient.

 

[Fire14]

I've stayed preferred once at ASmo and I honestly think I walked futher than I do non preferred. I personally would take chance and save moola.

 

[jessica52877]

I love to walk and see the different area of the hotels. I also prefer to be away from most of the hustle and bustle so for me personally I would save the $130.

 

[nje92280]

I felt the same way, I'd rather save the money and spend it on something while we are there. We are going to be walking all day anyway so what's a couple minutes more. We are going in 3 weeks and about 2 weeks ago I got an email which new promotions. I went online to check the new promo and was actually able to get a Preferred room for less than I paid for the standard. I only ended up saving $1.32 in total for 4 nights but now we'll be a little closer and it didn't cost more!

 

[mrodgers]

We didn't pay for preferred at Pop and the only way we could have been closer to the pool and food court is if we were on the 1st floor. As it was, we had to merely walk down 2 flights of steps and we were practically falling in the pool.

 

[KeroKero]

One year we paid for preferred and I found that while the building itself was close to the main building and the bus stop, the location of our room was far!

Other years we hadn't paid for preferred and found that we came out better in the long run.

I guess the whole thing is pretty hit or miss. In future we've decided to just take our chances and not pay the extra.

 

[bookgirl]

Horray...we are now in a zone that I can price my December 2013 vaca!

Family of three, our daughter will be 5 at trip time. We will be there the week after Thanksgiving 2013. Tuesday to Tuesday

I'm just pricing things out, but the question came to mind, is it worth it to pay for the preferred room (non AOA) or not pay for it and hope for a "close" room to the buses etc. Not having it booked preferred would save about $130 on the trip price.

My husband stayed at a value that same week pre child, and I don't remember being all that far away from things.

The only value stay I have so far was my first and yes it was worth it. My parents were on that trip and they are older and the extra per night was worth saving their legs for the tons of walking you do at WDW. It if had just been me I may or may not have, but with bad knees/feet/ankles or small children I think it's not worth it to risk requesting a close room and then getting bumped to the back of the resort. If it's not sold out you can always upgrade when you get there if it looks like you're way far back.

I have only done requests on my other stays (mod/deluxe) and gotten pretty close. I do have one night at AoA on my next trip and I am way the heck out there in the LM standard rooms. But it's just me so I'm fine with the walk.

If you're good with a walk then save the money. (I too stayed at ASMu and I would have been fine with any building it really is a small resort. POP not so much.) Just choose your resort wisely then make a request.

 

[ceecee]

We chanced it the first 3 times, the next time we were VERY far from the food court and bus stop, we then started paying the extra which was $10 a night and it was worth it. We have been staying at CSR and requesting a building we like there. We did pay extra this year for a Princess/FairyTale room (forget what they called it) at POR because it was guaranteed refurbished. It was SO close to the food court and bus stop we loved it.