Value or Deluxe - does length of stay matter?

[mannasn]

I have booked a 10-day trip to WDW in May, staying at ASMo but for the same price I spend less days at a mod or deluxe for the same price. I was thinking the monorail resorts sounded awfully convenient...

This is our first family vacation ever, my first trip back to WDW since 1990 (stayed at Contemporary then) and a celebration of my graduation from nursing school. It will be myself, DH-28, and sons 7 and 4.

We don't travel very often, so we're not used to staying in pricey hotels. We want this vacation to be relaxing, but still have enough time to see what we want to see.. if that makes sense. I'm probably going back to grad school in a year or so - so it may be awhile before our next vacation as well!

Whadd'ya think, Disney vets? Is it worth it to take the shorter stay for a deluxe? Or the longer stay and the cheaper rooms?

I know it's ultimately up to me, but I thought maybe some of you experts could give me some advice! Please help me decide!

Thanks, y'all!

 

[Pixiedust34]

There is so much to see and do at WDW. I'd vote for the longer stay at a less expensive resort. You'll have a more relaxing vacation with a longer stay.

 

[minijeanie]

oooooh....such a tough choice here...

with your kids ages they will probably love the resort and enjoy both the food court and pool....


I personally would move up to moderate...when my kids were younger they absolutely loved the slides in the pool. the values do not have that. Also, there is a hot tub which is great to relax in. Values do not have this

my kids still talk about the slide at the POFQ,WL and POR(which was dixie landings back than)

Either way, you will have a wonderful time
Enjoy!

after all, you are in the most magical place

 

[lifeasahampster]

Go for longer! Why take days off your trip? I stay for 2.5 weeks at the Dolphin because it is not as expensive as the Deluxes and I would not trade it to stay at a more expensive resort for fewer days. I need that time to truely relax, take in the parks, and have a good time. You can always find something positive about any hotel. Don't dwell on the "monorail" just use it one day so your kids can see it. They won't notice that you are not staying at the hotels, they will be just as happy at a value. The bus system works well, they may even enjoy riding the bus. Stay longer, you won't regret it! Have a great time!

 

[minnie61650]

Go for the longer stay at a value. I prefer the All Star resorts.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
The buses are wonderful.
Bus ride times according to PassPorter.com


Bus rides are shorter from the ALL Stars than POP according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses------------Pop buses
MK 20 min---------------MK 25 min
Epcot 10 min------------Epcot 20 min
MGM 10 min--------------MGM 15 min
AK 10 min----------------AK 15 min
DTD 15 min---------------DTD 20 min

The All Star resorts have 1960 rooms each.
Pop has 2,880rooms.
That means more people in the pools,food court and in line waiting for the bus.
When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP and the 2 POPs will have the same # of rooms as the 3 All Stars.

BUS SHARING
It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's qwn bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.

I the All Star Resorts --they can't be beat. I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 5 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we stayed at the All Stars Music for 8 nights.. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have fun at Disney.
I know we did!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I vote for longer stay, cheaper resort. Our very first family trip to WDW was at Ft. Wilderness campground in a pop up camper with 6 people and a dog. We were there 11 days and it was our very best trip. We have stayed at other places including AKL and we loved it, but I would rather stay longer and cheaper. If you stay longer you can spend much more time in the parks and not be so rushed. You will be able to visit your favorites more than once and truly enjoy the Disney magic. If you choose to stay at a deluxe for less time you will be rushing through the parks and you won't have as much time to spend at the deluxe resort anyway. Kids don't notice how fancy the room is. They will notice how many times they get to ride on Splash Mountain or Space Mountain. Have a great time whatever you decide.

 

[johnvree]

For us, the resort is a very important part of our vacation. We spend a lot of time in our resort, so restaurants, recreation and the pool are important. So I would shave off a few days to stay in a mod or deluxe. If I had my choice between 10 days at a value, 8 days at a mod or 6 days at a deluxe, I'd probably choose the mod. Of course, you end up in a catch 22. If you choose the shorter stay for the better resort, you have less time to spend at the resort and, therefore, the resort is less important. That's why I wouldn't go for the deluxe, but I'd still upgrade to the mod.

 

[Florida_Mom]

That is a touch choice! But I think I'd vote for the longer stay.

We stayed at ASMo over the summer and the kids loved it. They loved the pool, they loved the arcade, they loved the food court, they loved the huge Buzz Lightyear outside their building!

They didn't know to miss a slide, so they loved the pool and must have jumped in (not dived) a hundred times.

A few weeks ago we went camping at FW and we had bikes for riding around the campgrounds and we took the boat to MK. But my DS4 really wanted to ride the monorail and the bus. Easy enough. We took a ride on the monorail, and we rode the bus around the campgrounds a few times. Wouldn't you know that that is all he has been talking about since our trip? Next time, I think I'll forego the expensive tickets and just ride the monorail and the bus!

You can still ride the monorail: leave the MK for lunch or dinner one day and ride over to the Contemporary or the Poly for a meal. Take a ride from the TTC to EPCOT. Wait a while and ride in FRONT (so fun!) on that journey because it's a longer ride and your kids would probably think that was really neat (mine did).

Whatever you decide, have fun!

 

[swilphil]

We also go for shorter stays at a nicer resort. We stayed 5 days at the Contemporary on our last trip and we were able to get a lot done because we didn't spend much time on traveling to and from the resort. Plus it was so easy to walk to MK before opening, and that's the time of day when you get the most done. If you don't think you'll be going back to WDW soon, you would probably be fine staying at a moderate. All the mods are very nice and have great pools. The rooms are a bit bigger, too.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I would upgrade to a moderate. We have stayed in the deluxe and moderate resorts, and of course prefer the deluxe, but the moderates are nice too. I, myself, would not want to stay at the All-Star or Pop, call me a resort snob , if you must, but the resort is a big part of our stay and the whole value thing just does not appeal to our family.

If you're a nurse, how about the Swan/Dolphin? If you get a discount, its a deluxe for a moderate price. DH and I just came back from there 3 weeks ago, and will probably be staying there again next September with the kids if I can get my discount.