Upgrade to Moderate?

[MishaKL]

We are currently booked at Pop Century the beginning of May. If you had a little extra cash, and could book a moderate resort, where would you stay?

Our girls are 5 1/2 and this is their first trip.

 

[JennyDrake]

For a first trip, I would not upgrade. Your kids are going to LOVE the theming and bright colors of Pop. The food court is the best of the values (IMHO). Use any extra dollars for more sit down meals, photpass, etc. At 5.5 yo your kids won't really get to experience xtras of a moderate and the resorts are so much more spread out.

 

[DixieBelle]

Just an opinion, but if this is your girls first trip, most of your time will be spent in the parks. All you really need is a place to sleep and leave your stuff! Maybe save the upgrade money for a special experience?
My sweetpeas love the value resorts because of the oversized theme elements outside and the abundance of potential vacation buddies at the pool areas. It amazes me, the trips when we had to go on the cheap are the ones the kids seem to remember the hotels the best. All they mention about my favorite hotel (Yacht/Beach) is stormalong bay!
Hope y'all have fun whichever you decide!

 

[bjeans0927]

my grandkids are 15-12-7-5. all of them love the value resorts. the 2 older ones have also stayed at the moderates, but like pop and all stars best.
we are planning a trip this summer and will be staying at the value resorts again.
i can afford the moderates, but prefer value.

 

[bjeans0927]

my grandkids are 15-12-7-5. all of them love the value resorts. the 2 older ones have also stayed at the moderates, but like pop and all stars best.
we are planning a trip this summer and will be staying at the value resorts again.
i can afford the moderates, but prefer value.

 

[MishaKL]

Thank you so much!

I guess my concerns are: no fridge, no coffeemaker, and from what I've read, horrible lines getting on the buses.

But from the sounds of it, these are not issues I should really be concerned with?

 

[dvcHammer]

With 5 1/2's in tow, it really does not make that much of a difference to them where you are, they are at Disney World!!! I concur with the other that for a first trip, I'd save the money and use it for special events or character meals.

My Moderate list:

• With kids I'd look at CBR as the most kid-friendly and kid themed moderate, cool pool, nice food court, etc.
• I would avoid CSR - great pool but no food court (the Pepper Market is not a food court)
• I am a big fan of POR for adults and older kids. Great food court, cool pool, boats, fishing, Boat to DTD is a big plus

 

[DixieBelle]

I have never stayed at Pop century. We have done All Stars-music a couple of times, movies and sports and Caribbean Beach. To me, they were okay. At AS refrigeators had to be rented, maybe $10 a day? There is a huge thread about Pop. I bet your answers are there.

 

[JennyDrake]

You can rent a fridge. You can bring a coffee maker. The food courts sort of have coffee (Nescafe). ANY resort can have terrible lines (or not!) for the buses. I'm a frequent flyer at value resorts and have never had LONG line issues. Biggest issue with ANY resort, bus service to/from DTD.

 

[Sue M]

The kids may not care where they stay, but I think you'd enjoy a moderate!
POR is our fav moderate. We got a newly refirbed room last Aug, and loved it. Was our 3rd stay there. We love the Mansion section in Acadian House or Magnolia Terrace- both great locations.
You're never far from a bus stop. We use either North or East stop. You can sit comfortably on the benches, under cover from the elements.

POR has some extras-
Boat to DTD
Horse & Carriage rides
Evening Family entertainment in Lounge
Fishing Hole
Quiet pools in addition to main pool
Rooms have fridge & coffee maker
Free WiFi
Beautiful grounds

For us it's worth it to stay at a moderate. Not a fan of the values.

 

[disneybliss2]

We've stayed at POP and POFQ. We liked the values ok until we upgraded and stayed at POFQ for the first time. The upgrade from a value to a deluxe or even a moderate to a deluxe is pretty steep, but from a value to a moderate it's not all that much. If you can factor it in, I without hesitation would do so. We stayed at POP twice and our experience was the same both times. Fun, festive atmosphere. My girls loved the big character statues. The lines for buses were always long and a stressful way to start our morning. At night as we tried desperately to get our girls to sleep, it was always loud with people running back and forth. Again, stressful. At POFQ, it was the total opposite. It was so calm and relaxing. Very quiet (except while at pool, which is to be expected). The addition of the slide at the pool was wonderful. The transportation was polar opposite. Though we arrived at the bus stop at the same time as we did at POP, there was never a line for busses, the busses were never crowded or full, and we always arrived at the park much earlier. Other little perks included: the refrigerator, coffee maker, queen size beds since POFQ has been refurbished vs. the full size at POP, & ceiling fan). A nice perk of staying at POFQ is that it also has a boat to DTD if you plan on going there. We stayed at POP for our first and second trip. Now that we've stayed at POFQ, I'll never go back. World of difference that in my opinion makes the vacation that much better.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Upgrade.

While I would stay at a Value resort if I had no other choice, I do not prefer them at all.

Here's what they don't offer (mods and deluxes do)-

Towels at the pool
Hotel Lounge/bar
Table service restaurant
Different/more toiletries
Refrigerators
Free Wifi
Pool Side (that's it right there - that's what I dislike the most)

In addition, the rooms are tiny, the bathrooms are tiny, and the bus situation is horrible - very long lines. The resorts are huge (granted, some of the mods are too) and can get overrun by many school or kid groups - and thus they can be nosier.

At 5 1/2, they will enjoy the mods and remember them. My daughter doesn't remember the trips when she was 2 or 3 but she does remember them from when she was 4 and onward.

 

[glocon]

I have never stayed at a value, but I wish we did for at least our first trip. The resorts look very Disney-esque, and like previous posters have said, save the $$ for something else at the world- maybe BBB?
We stayed at POR for our first onsite stay, then AKL, next will be BC. The POR rooms seemed really small for our family of 3, but we had just spent 5 days at a one BR condo before moving to POR, so that makes sense. I think, for us anyway, it would be hard to go backwards in room size and amenities now, and we now have missed that experience in our lives.
I say do a value first and save the $$$. Besides, as the girls grow older, they will need more room, and you will prob move to the mods or deluxes, so savor the experience of the values for now.
As another poster has said, you prob will spend most of your time outside the room for their first trip anyway, so why pay for more than you will use?
JMHO

 

[GatorMommy2007]

If you are set on upgrading, do so!

Kids LOVE the theming at POP! It's got great pools for kids, an excellent food court, and they don't share buses! You can rent a fridge at the hotel. I would save the money for extra souvenirs!

If you have your heart set on an upgrade, then I would consider my list of must-haves, check out bus shares, etc!

 

[HappyGal]

For their forst trip I vote for POP! It's so colorful! So fun! So Disney!

Save the money for a meal at Cinderella's Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom where they can meet all the Princessess in the castle!

 

[Tink0812]

Pop Century is my favorite value resort; however, I do prefer the moderate resorts over the value resorts. I just feel like there is more room and less people which may not actually be true, it's just a little more spread out. Like everyone has said, with younger children, the value resorts are a little more fun and appealing to that age group. Also, we have always said that it doesn't really matter where we stay because all we ever do is get a couple of hours of shuteye and take a shower there. That being said, if I were in your place I would use that extra money for some character breakfast/lunch/dinner ADR's and not be so concerned with upgrading the resort.

 

[MSSANDRA]

The kids are going to be happy ANYWHERE. However, as adults decide if the added comforts of a moderate would make YOUR trip better. We have done pop and it is fine. It can be loud and crowded. You have double beds and no refrigerate or coffee maker. We found bus service at pop fine.

We however have now done moderates and we will not go back to value unless its the ONLY way we can afford a trip. We are huge fans of CSR. Our five year old LOVES the place too. Much better beds, towels, etc. Sooo nice to have a freg in the room. Pool is untimely cool as is the playground. There is no real food court but if you are on the DDP, pepper market is an amazing value on the plan, a buffet for a cs credit and the food is VERY good. It has a sit down option and another small CS place. Bus service is wonderful.

 

[NokOnHarts]

We have done POP twice and never had issues with bus service. They do not share a bus with other resorts so that is helpful. We have gone in early May and in January, so not real crowded times, but we were happy with our resort both times. Very fun! We are thinking of upgrading to moderate for this trip, simply because we've done POP twice now and would like to try something new. But POP has been a lot of fun and would have no trouble going back! I agree with others, for a first trip POP is a great idea! (Unless you need the queen beds, then I'd go Moderate).

 

[DizDaD7]

As much as I can't go back to a value, I'm glad we got to experience them first. It's not that they're horrible because they're not. Just that after going to the mods, they have a whole lot more to offer. Now this year we're going to BWV. so I'm sure it's going to be hard for us to go back. WIth that being said. POP is so, so much fun....It's 24 - 7 Disney in your face, which we kinda enjoy.. The food court is nice, but just very, crowded. Get a table b-4 you get the food. I kinda like the 50's bldg. Close to evrything. All stars are ok, but POP is so much better IMHO.

If you do choose a Mod. 2 of my favs. are CSR, & POR. Either case, you and the youngsters will have a great time...

 

[jujube]

With girls that age, I'd book a royal room at POR. They would love feeling like princesses, don't you think?