We have always stayed at the value resorts, and plan on going back in Aug. We are thinking of trying out a moderate resort this trip. What are the pros and cons of each one? We have no clue which one to look at. Our kids will be 6 and 2 at the time of our trip! Thanks!!
We got back from a split stay at Movies/CBR. The girls love both of them. The 3 year old prefers slightly Movies and the 8 year old prefers CBR. To me the huge advantage to the moderate is the refrigerator. I liked the bus system better at Movies. The girls loved playing in the sand at our pretend beach at CBR though. I like the air/heat system better at Movies though. They were both great in their own way... I just wish the values had fridges without the extra 15 bucks a day.... not worth it...
We've only done a value once -- for three nights and personally didn't care for it. We found it too crowded and too noisy (our kids didn't care for it either). We like the moderate much more for many reasons --they are larger and more spread out so you don't feel as if people are always on top of you; there are slides at the pools which the kids (and the adults) really enjoy; hot tubs (which we all love); fridges and coffee pots in the room; bike rentals, boat rentals (or a boat ride to DTD from POR/POFQ for which there is no charge); a sit down restaurant (except POFQ), lusher landscaping. The mods do not have the theming that the values do with the large icons, but they have their own subtle themeing (the CBR probably has the "most" Disney theme with their Nemo motif rooms and he pirate rooms--the pirate rooms cost more). Which moderate you pick, if you go that route, will depend on what you want out of hte resort and which theme appeals to you most. We've only stayed at the CSR (eight times) as we fell in love with it and it has everything we want and we hate to mess with success (the CSR also has queen beds which none of the other moderates) have. Our oldest son stayed at the CBR this past July and enjoyed his visit (he was with his 13 year old baseball team that he coaches); he had no complaints about the resort (but he did prefer CSR because of the food options and the fitness center/spa). It really comes down to what you want/need from your resort. If you are just sleeping/showering, then I would stick with the value. If you plan on spending down time at the resort (we go back to the resort every day of our trip for a couple of hours to lay by the pool, rest, take a walk around the resort to just get away from all the "Disney" for a breather), then consider a moderate.
http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwresortfacts.html This is a good place to start to research the moderate resorts. I also enjoy the resort photos on allears.net Basically, I'd go with the theming that appeals to you. We have enjoyed CBR and POR. At CBR we stayed in Jamaica and felt it was a great location. Beautiful theming, hammocks and playgrounds on the beaches. New pirate pool. We stayed pre-refirb. At POR we stayed in the mansion section, Magnolia Terrace. Again, great location. Beautiful resort. Although we loved both resorts, we loved POR just a little bit more. Boat to DTD, Carriage Rides, evening entertainment at River Roost lounge, Bob Jackson puts on a great show for all ages. There are no wrong choices here, just a matter of what theming appeals to you. Have fun planing.
moderates have water slides which your kids will love moderates have bigger rooms with fridge moderates have restaurants moderates in my opinion are more nicely themed moderates have better lobbies in my opinion.moderates for the money are way better than a value during any season. when my kids were smaller they wanted to stay in value but I always got good deal on moderate or higher.. but that was 10 years ago when rates were much cheaper so at that time I would never consider a value. Not so sure if in this day and economic times I might consider a value
For your family, for CSR, pluses would be Queen sized beds, a rolling door between the sink area and the sleeping area (lets you get ready without waking little ones, or lets you get ready for bed after putting the little ones into bed), in room refrigerator, room a bit bigger, self-controlled central a/c, ceiling fans, and awsome pool.
No need to go elsewhere for the information when we have it here. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Resorts/resortmain1.htm
I've never stayed in a value resort but have stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort four years in a row. We love it so much that we have booked our 5th stay there for 2010. Like the others have said, the moderate resorts have: 1) a refrigerator (at no charge) in the room; 2) the rooms are larger (the ones at the CBR are slightly larger than the other moderates); 3) table service restaurants; 4) themed pools (the CBR main pool was recently totally redone to a pirate theme); 5) extracurricular activities (boat rentals, bicycle rentals, etc.) We have really enjoyed each of our stays at the CBR. We like to take a day to spend at the resort and enjoy the amenities. We usually spend time at the pool, on the beach, take walks, etc. I have lots of pictures of the CBR rooms, marina and resort grounds in my trip report. If you'd like to take a look, just click on the link to my trip report. It's in my signature below. Lisa
I understand your concerns about switching from value to moderate. I posted a thread, "First Moderate Stay," and added a poll to it. So far, POFQ is in the lead and everyone who has added a post saying why they prefer it, say it is because it is small and not spread out like all of the other mods. It seems that most of the things that people really like from that thread are things that we have experienced at values. I'm thinking (depending on the deal/codes that are available in the fall) we may just go back to a value. We have had good experiences at ASMovies and AS Sports. We might have to try Music this next trip. We've enjoyed being close to everything and the themes are fun. The POFQ theme, Mardi Gras, doesn't really appeal to me, though the grounds do look very pretty. Have fun whatever you choose!
Caribbean Beach, at 340 sq ft, has the largest rooms of the moderate resorts. Riverside really has no standout feature to separate it from the others. It has a boat to Downtown Disney, but French Quarter does too. French Quarter has the fewest rooms of all the moderates, which means it's the smallest and no matter where your room is, the main building won't be a tremendous walk. It does NOT have a sit down restaurant. Coronado Springs has a fitness center and the only moderate (or value, for that matter, except for family suites at All Star Music) to offer queen size beds.
I've stayed in one value (POP), 3 of 4 moderates (POFQ, CBR, CSR) and 2 of the Deluxe/Villas. The values are better than nothing, but the rooms are small, the theming is disappointing (to me at least) the bus service is not as good as the other resorts and everything is loud. The moderates are much better themed, the rooms are slightly large, you get a fridge, the bus service is better, the pools are better, the dining options are better. Of course you pay more. If you are going to do nothing but sleep and shower then a Value is fine, but it you want to enjoy the resort and not just the parks then a moderate is a much better choice.
Thanks everyone for your input!!! Still not 100% sure what we are going to do, but I will consider everyones opinnions!!
Aside from reading the info on Mousesavers, look at the resort photos on allears.net http://allears.net/acc/gallery.htm
We've been to all level resorts, more than one in each category... Values we did when we really were scraping pennies, and when we did a free dining deal this past fall... my mother (who had grown up taking us to no-name motels and such for <$50/nt) and I both agreed that we really didn't want to do values again. They're so much more crowded and we always seemed to have such longer walks to our rooms. One benefit, however, is that the food courts at the Values seemed to be more flexible with trading out side dishes and what you can get for your credits on the DDP. Moderates have bigger rooms, don't feel as crowded, and didn't require as much walking. Having a fridge in the room is a big plus, and it's also a nice perk to be able to fit 5 in a standard room at POR. The themes for moderates are more sophisticated, yet still Disney. We felt like we could relax more at the moderates. Moderates are family friendly places, but not crazily family friendly... I hope that makes sense. Really, they're quieter and more pleasant. So far, I think POFQ is my personal favorite - it's the smallest moderate. We were there just days before Christmas, when the crowds in the parks were clearly growing (even Nemo had a 1 hour wait & TTA actually had a line), yet we never had problems finding available tables in the food court. Only once did we have to miss a bus because of too many people, but it was a morning with extra magic hours at Epcot, and we wouldn't have even realized we missed getting on the bus due to it being full had we been 30 seconds later. (We were first on the next bus that came about 10-15 minutes later). Whenever possible, we're hoping for moderates (& deluxes) when we're able to do them. Sure, maybe our kids like some of the icons at Values, but to them, as long as or resort has any pool or playground, they're happy!
I've stayed at POP several times, AS sports twice, and AS Music once. I've also stayed at POFQ mutiple times, PORS once, CBR once, and CSR three times (as well as WL, AKL, and BW). As you can see from my counters, I've pretty much settled on the moderates as my resorts of choice. As far as Pros and Cons: 1. POFQ--Pros: smallest resort on property, so no room is very far from the bus stop or main building, very friendly CMs, boat to DTD, only one bus stop and even though it shares with PORS, POFQ is usually the first stop, jazz music playing a you walk up to the main building, Eliott Dyson playing jazz in the lounge, PORs and POFQ are sister resorts so you can legally use the pools at either resort Cons: no TS restaurant, rooms could use refurbishment 2. PORS--Pros: beautiful, very peaceful resort with very lush landscaping, very good counter service, decent TS restaurant, (but the TS restaurant no longer serves breakfast), Ye Ha Bob Jackson in the lounge, two distinct themes (the very wooded, shaded Bayou section and the lovely majestic Mansions), boat to DTD, bike and boat rentals, and again PORs and POFQ are sister resorts so you can legally use the pools at either resort Cons: resort is very big, Bayou section does not have elevators (Mansions do though) 3. CSR--Pros: rooms newly refurbished, only moderate with queen size beds, sliding wooden doors between sink and room, very nice main pool, biggest hot tub on property, sand volley ball court, best kids playground, best bus service of any WDW resort, good food court, three places to refill your resort mug (Cafe Rix, Pepper Market, or pool bar), nice tables right outside the Pepper Market overlooking the lake, by far the most comfortable beds of all the moderates, only moderate with a health club/spa and beauty salon, white sand beaches with hammocks in the Cabanas section and beautiful fountains in the Casitas section Cons: resort is big, CMs at Pepper Market are not particularly friendly 4. CBR--Pros: centrally located, rooms recently refurbished, rooms just slightly bigger than the other moderates, very nice main pool, pretty white sand beaches Cons: resort is huge (lots of walking), no elevators at all, bus service and housekeeping were both terrible when I was there. I've never stood on a bus as much as I did the week I was there. Also was not at all impressed with either the CS or TS options, and in fact became very sick after eating at Shutters. At CBR you can pay for a preferred room closer to the main building, but at the other three moderates you have a chance of getting one close to the main building, even with a standard room. My preferred room at CBR (backside of Martinique #24) was further away from the main building than my standard rooms at POFQ (building 4, four different times), PORS (building 18), and CSR (building 9B). Even though I am not scheduled to stay at POFQ in 2010, it is probably a close tie between it and CSR for my favorite resort. I love the smallness, the boat to DTD, and the friendliness of the CMs at POFQ, but CSR has the better transportation, comfort queen size beds, and the most deluxe feel.
We stayed at PO French Quarter last trip and it was our first stay at moderate - usually we stay at the values. We loved it. We found the rooms bigger, they come with a fridge standard and they had a great pool if you have kids. There was also live music at night in the lounge, which was nice. There were also horse & carriage rides that went through. There is a boat that goes to Riverside and Downtown, which was great.
