Value vs. Moderate

[bouncingsquares]

DH and I will be visiting for our longest trip to date from January 30 to February 6. (We usually just do a long weekend.) We have stayed at All-Star Music previously, and we had no issues with it. Both times it was rainy while we were there, and we never got to use the pools at all.

Since they are doing Play, Stay, and Dine during this time, we've been considering moving up to a moderate resort - most likely PO Riverside. We'll be there for six full days with a five day park-hopper, so we will definitely have one full day out of the parks. We have ADRs for every day of our trip, so I'm not really worried about eating at our resort. The weather is also going to be pretty questionable for swimming. I know the pools are heated, but if it isn't at least moderately warm outside, I don't see us going in the pool.

So my question is, do you think it's worth it to go for the moderate? It's a ~$600 price difference (for the whole package, and that's with an upgrade to DDP if we stay at a Value), and while that still fits our budget, there will be little leftover for "extras." (Like souvenirs or drinking our way around the world in Epcot ) I can definitely live without a lot of extras, especially if that means our resort stay is extra awesome, but if there's virtually no difference, I just don't see the point.

 

[dancin Disney style]

It's really subjective. I have stayed at all the values but AoA and all the mods. For me there isn't an enormous difference and for the most part I'd rather have the extra cash. My suggestion would be that if you plan to spend most of your time in the parks, stay at a value and have a more flexible budget. That said did you price it out upgrading from the QSDP(at the value) to the DDP....is that still a $600 difference.

ETA: the only real difference, IMO, between resort levels is the amount room decor. The mods are done up more than the values and a tiny bit larger.

 

[bouncingsquares]

That said did you price it out upgrading from the QSDP(at the value) to the DDP....is that still a $600 difference.

Oops, yes, I forgot to mention that. That is with the DDP at either one. I would not be satisfied with the QSDP haha.

 

[Brenda Kim]

The hotel rooms are about the same beds, bathrooms, small table 2 chairs, Moderate resort rooms are bigger. All Stars 260 SQ FT and Moderates 314 SQ FT. The Moderate resorts are subtly themed, what I mean is that there are no larger than life decorations around the resorts.

I enjoy the theming of the moderates when I go on adults only visits.

 

[dansdad]

What you will get at a Moderate over a Value:

Bigger rooms
Double sinks
Queen beds
Ceiling fans
Pool slides
Hot tubs
Table Service restaurant
Multiple covered bus stops
Lusher landscaping
Laid back relaxed atmosphere
Bike rentals (extra $$)

Now it's up to you to decide if the above amenities are worth the extra $$. For us they are.

 

[dansdad]

The hotel rooms are about the same beds, bathrooms, small table 2 chairs, Moderate resort rooms are bigger. All Stars 260 SQ FT and Moderates 314 SQ FT. The Moderate resorts are subtly themed, what I mean is that there are no larger than life decorations around the resorts.

I enjoy the theming of the moderates when I go on adults only visits.

Actually CBR is 340 SQ FT. The other Moderates are 314.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Oops, yes, I forgot to mention that. That is with the DDP at either one. I would not be satisfied with the QSDP haha.

For me, $600 is a lot of money to spend on just a slightly nicer room. Now, if it got me into a deluxe resort I would go for it.

 

[bouncingsquares]

For me, $600 is a lot of money to spend on just a slightly nicer room. Now, if it got me into a deluxe resort I would go for it.

That's kind of how I was feeling. It seems like the differences between value and moderate aren't big enough to justify it, especially when we'll be spending most of our time in the parks anyway. But if people were like OMG MODERATE IS SO MUCH BETTER, I would probably be easily swayed haha.

 

[dansdad]

That's kind of how I was feeling. It seems like the differences between value and moderate aren't big enough to justify it, especially when we'll be spending most of our time in the parks anyway. But if people were like OMG MODERATE IS SO MUCH BETTER, I would probably be easily swayed haha.

Completely agree. We used to stay at the Values and were perfect when we were park comandos. Because of the way we do disney now, the moderates are that much better. We now have 2 or 3 full days during our trip that are resort only days. So the extra amenities are worth it.

 

[stinkpickle]

We didn't appreciate having two sinks and queen beds until we didn't have them.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Completely agree. We used to stay at the Values and were perfect when we were park comandos. Because of the way we do disney now, the moderates are that much better. We now have 2 or 3 full days during our trip that are resort only days. So the extra amenities are worth it.

Yes, I agree with that. When our vacation is mainly an R&R trip that's when we stay at a mod. Trips like that we stay 8-10 days and might go into the parks twice. The rest of the time we are hanging out at the pool or exploring other areas on the property. That becomes our entertainment and then the added expense is justified.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

How much are your table service meals going to cost out of pocket if you stay at the value? I would factor that into the equation.

 

[jmillertime]

You might want to look into renting dvc points from David's DVC. Depending when you go you could get a deluxe for the price of a moderate.

 

[GreatLakes]

I bounce back and forth between staying Value and Moderate and really don't think I have a "better" experience in the moderate. It is different but not necessarily better. If it is a more crowded time I usually go up to the moderate because they don't feel as crowded as the values but most trips for me are slow seasons so that rarely factors in.

For a $600 savings I would go with a value 9/10 times with that 10th time having some other mitigating factor like it is for an occasion or an event that is closer to that resort then the values.

 

[bouncingsquares]

You might want to look into renting dvc points from David's DVC. Depending when you go you could get a deluxe for the price of a moderate.

I had looked into that very briefly, but it seemed like a "too good to be true" kind of thing, so I didn't pursue it. Have you used it before?

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

We moved up to a moderate after years at the Values. The Queen Beds alone are worth it to us. We always stay at POR and thoroughly enjoy the resort, especially the quiet pools. We do always choose a preferred room so that we are close to the buses & the food court, but we love the feel of the Alligator Bayou rooms. Just stayed at AKL & really wished that we had been at POR. Twenty-two more days & we are back at POR! Yay!! You can check out www.portorleans.org for everything about POR & POFQ.

 

[5kidsmommy]

For my upcoming trip the price difference between a moderate and a value was about $600. We decided to go with the moderate because I wanted a queen bed, my daughter wanted the waterslides, I wanted the hot tub, we both like the idea of a larger room and ceiling fans. It really depends though on how you travel. Sleeping alone in a full bed is no bigger, but with my husband it is a no go as we have a king at home and going down to a queen is tight enough.

 

[bouncingsquares]

For my upcoming trip the price difference between a moderate and a value was about $600. We decided to go with the moderate because I wanted a queen bed, my daughter wanted the waterslides, I wanted the hot tub, we both like the idea of a larger room and ceiling fans. It really depends though on how you travel. Sleeping alone in a full bed is no bigger, but with my husband it is a no go as we have a king at home and going down to a queen is tight enough.

We went on vacation with my family over the summer, and they screwed up our reservation, which meant that my husband and I had to share a twin bed. I never want to do that again, but we'll be just fine in a double haha. (We also only have a queen at home, so it's not as big of a jump as from a king.) That being said, I realllly like that the moderates have ceiling fans. Is that weird? I don't care if it is lol.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We went on vacation with my family over the summer, and they screwed up our reservation, which meant that my husband and I had to share a twin bed. I never want to do that again, but we'll be just fine in a double haha. (We also only have a queen at home, so it's not as big of a jump as from a king.) That being said, I realllly like that the moderates have ceiling fans. Is that weird? I don't care if it is lol.

At home I sleep with a window open, I need air. Sure I could bring a fan but the perk of ceiling fans make me happy.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We always were happy with the values until we did moderate. The big difference was noise!! We have never heard noise from other rooms at any of the mods. Values you can hear toilets flushing, conversations through the walls, etc. the other main difference is queen beds. DH and I are 5'10, and 2 of our kids also pushing that, so need this bigger beds. I will say that other than POFQ there is a lot more walking involved, but it's so peaceful we don't mind at all. So if those things are worth $600 to you, go for it, it would be for me, and we had to book 2 rooms this year because there are 6 of us.