What makes you decide to stay at a value, mod, or deluxe?

[KatieKat]

Besides the obvious, money.

After staying at each of the levels, I think the only reason I would ever stay at a Mod again is if I'm staying during free dining to get the DDP.

Otherwise, I would rather drop down to the values to save a little dough. The only real downside for our family for staying at a value is those full beds! Yuck!

Deciding value vs. deluxe is really deciding what we want the pace of our vacation to feel like. If we're doing commando style, we stay values. More relaxing, deluxe.

What is your thought process to decide where to book?

 

[cyb]

I prefer to stay at deluxe resorts because of the location to the parks.

 

[kerriemiller]

We spend as much time at the hotel as we do the parks. We love the emersive experience of the deluxe. But we always book when there is a room discount.

 

[disneydreamkate]

We have stayed at mods and deluxes. We are considering AoA when we go in January, unless FD is offered. If it is, it is worth the extra couple hundred bucks to stay at a mod and get the dining plan. We would also stay at a deluxe again if we were going when we know swimming would be an option every single day...because obviously we would then be spending more time relaxing. With a winter trip we end up spending all of our time in the parks, so it's not worth it for us.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Rooms are too small at Values, can't stand double beds plus beds are uncomfortable.


I prefer the mods or deluxe. Especially when I consider we spend several hours a day at the resort, the extra amenities are really nice to have for us.

 

[tajz90]

What is your thought process to decide where to book?

The decision is made according to park hours.

If the parks are open late, we stay value. If the close early, we stay deluxe.

 

[wuzzy6]

We are staying at a Moderate, because for DH and I, a double bed is comparable to sleeping in a sardine can. We could do it if we had to for a night or two - but not for a whole week!

We aren't staying at a Deluxe, because I refuse to pay that much money for what is really just a hotel room. I cannot justify it. However, I'd have no problem staying Deluxe if I could get a good discount on the room - I just won't pay full rack rate. Aaaand, since no discount is available for us for our travel dates at this time, Moderate it is!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I prefer to stay at deluxe resorts because of the location to the parks.

Yep. My main reason for wanting to stay either BC/YC/BWI this trip, was the proximity to Epcot and HS. This is a very short trip (just 3 nights) so the less time we have to spend waiting for buses, the better.

Most of our meals will be in the parks, so the lack of TS restaurants, etc. is not an issue.
Outside hallways aren't a huge concern for us either.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I'll also say that I would never want to stay in a value during a time when the large groups are there--tour groups, cheerleaders, little league, etc.

I actually try to avoid Disney totally during those times--but if I had no other choice but to go then, I would definitely stay deluxe, just in an effort to avoid the large groups.

 

[CajunMomof3]

Like many others, there are several factors that determine where we stay: discounts available, time in the parks versus time at the hotel, and availability in each category. The only problem is: We REALLY love the Poly!!

 

[Elleshoodat]

Besides the obvious, money.

After staying at each of the levels, I think the only reason I would ever stay at a Mod again is if I'm staying during free dining to get the DDP.

Otherwise, I would rather drop down to the values to save a little dough. The only real downside for our family for staying at a value is those full beds! Yuck!

Deciding value vs. deluxe is really deciding what we want the pace of our vacation to feel like. If we're doing commando style, we stay values. More relaxing, deluxe.

What is your thought process to decide where to book?

We stay deluxe if it's a short trip and there's a substantial discount. Mostly, though, we stay moderate. I am not a fan of the values; full beds are unacceptable, and the decor is too busy. YMMV.

 

[dawnhaze]

Money is really the only deciding factor for me. I'm a solo traveler more often than not, so I stay Value since nobody's splitting the cost with me! A double bed is what I sleep in at home (by myself - couldn't share one), I've lived in studio apartments only slightly larger than the All-Stars rooms, and I only use the room to shower, sleep, and lock up my valuables.

If I was going to bring my parents along on a celebratory retirement trip or some such thing (which I'd love to do for my dad's 65th birthday next fall), I'd probably try to book them in at one of the Deluxe resorts on the monorail, and then put myself in a Value - I love my parents but I couldn't stay in a single hotel room with them, no matter how nice it was! And two rooms at a Deluxe would just be an insane amount of money for me, even with discounts.

I can definitely see the appeal of the decor and amenities at the Deluxe and Moderate resorts, especially if you spend a lot of time at your resort, but that stuff's just not important to me personally.

 

[mickeynut1]

Our first onsite stay was at a mod and we loved it; however, the following year we tried a deluxe and we haven't stayed any other level since. We spend alot of time at the resort (probably more than at the parks) so the pool, surroundings, room size, etc. is important to us. We love the alternate transportation options the deluxes provide, along with a variety of dining options. If we see staying deluxe will be tight for a trip, we either cut our trip down a day or two or reschedule it so we can stay where we want to stay.

 

[shannonstar]

We have only stayed at Mods so far, but this time we are staying at Deluxe Villas.

The reason we chose Mods is actually the smallness of the POFQ resort and the boat to DTD. We really love POFQ, so upgrading this time is actually odd for us.

We stayed at the Dolphin once b/c the teacher discount was so good and we got extremely cheap tickets. We loved the location of the Dolphin, but it didn't feel Disney to us. We also missed being able to send our purchases back to the hotel.

This time, we rented DVC points and are staying at the BCV and AKV for a split stay of 10/11. The entire cost of the room was less than 1600, so even though we missed out on free dining, we are still excited and may even come out ahead $$$. We chose BCV for its closeness to Epcot (DS9's favorite park) and HS. We wanted to maximize our time on that side of the world while we stayed there. We chose AKV for the beauty and relaxation of it. By the time we move over, Thanksgiving crowds will be in full swing and we will be spending more time at the resort (which we loved when we visited to eat at Boma).

I guess what really tipped the scales on splurging room-wise this time was that we likely won't be back for awhile.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Location, location and location are the most important and that being said... Location to the park we're most interested it..... With Disney that means deluxe!

Again, we're MK people and like being on the lakes so WL is our deluxe... Close enough and not at the ridiculous price the monorails charge... For us ot's the best of both worlds.

 

[grrrlennyl]

My partner and I stay at Values during free dining. Doing so allows us to stay longer (7 days last year; 8 days this year), which we in no way would be able to do if we were staying Moderate or Deluxe. Basically, we try to maximize the time we can spend in WDW. Ha! A full bed works fine for us (even though we do try to nab a king-size) and we don't spend a ton of time in the hotel.

I'm planning on taking a trip with my family in January or February of 2014. Since there will be anywhere between 4 and 7 of us, we'll probably end up in a Moderate during free dining. (I know a lot of folks don't like free dining, but we've done the math and it works for us.) However, that's with splitting the cost of a room 3 or 4 ways, which makes a big difference.

If I hada ton of money to just do whatever I wanted to with, I would probably spend a week in the Poly with my partner. We were thinking of skipping next December and going back in December 2014, so maybe we'll be able to save up and do that...or maybe a split stay.

 

[magrudersmakes3]

We usually stay moderate, but did try a deluxe one year. If we are staying short stays, we do moderate, but longer ones we like the deluxe for the amenities.

This is our first time renting DVC and we are staying at BLT. With doing this, it allowed us to save 2K on our stay for the week.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

Rooms are too small at Values, can't stand double beds plus beds are uncomfortable.


I prefer deluxe. Especially when I consider we spend several hours a day at the resort, the extra amenities are really nice to have for us.

AGREED! I save money for vacation so I can be comfortable, not do dishes ( I hate to cook on vacation), and enjoy the amenities of a resort. Therefore values are out for me! besides, we would have to book two rooms to fit our family. I would rather put my money on something a little more luxurious.

Each family is different. We are not park commandos; we enjoy hanging out at the resort. Deluxe is definitely our choice.

Next trip with family, we are renting points (but I am still not doing dishes!)

 

[jlh512]

To us it is value resort or deluxe. We tried the moderates once just to see what it was like and we decided that they are not all that different from the values. So if we are trying to save money then it's a value resort, but we prefer the deluxe resorts because of the proximity to the parks. The moderates are just as far and rely solely on the buses.

 

[KatieKat]

The decision is made according to park hours.

If the parks are open late, we stay value. If the close early, we stay deluxe.

I never thought about it that way. Good idea!