What was your first Disney Deluxe Resort? And moderate and value?

[CARRIE0604]

What a great theme topic!

1st deluxe-poly 2000 (the volcano pool was being built,so we missed it)

1st value-asmusic-2001( a spur of the moment trip with just me and 2 kids)

1st moderate-pofq 2004( family trip with sister and parents)

in-between- dtd grosvenor 2002,doubletree 2003

I love Poly and POFQ, I liked ASMUSIC and I Liked the DTD Hotels
But we all decided we had to go back to the POLY so this year we are staying home(gasp!) and saving for a 10day stay at POLY in 2006>

 

[mom2grace]

This is so much fun to read and it brings back great memories!

First Deluxe was Contemporary, I was about 7 (I'm 34 now). I remember most the huge arcade and the caricature artist!

Then we spent many trips through the 70's-80's at Ft. Wilderness .....remember River Country and the armadillos.

With DH have been twice to Poly, love it a lot!

Next trip we are planning on trying WL for DD's 5th birthday (and her first trip!)

I guess Ft. Wilderness is home away from home, have not stayed at a Value or Mod I guess!

 

[Tinkaroo]

Favorite Deluxe - have only stayed at the Swan and AKL thus far. Our fave was AKL - hands down!!! Swan just wasn't all that great, IMO. The Heavenly Beds were comfy, but you can get those at any Westin property. I'd only stay there again if I'm using SPG points (which we have enough of, and will probably use for, 5 nights of our stay in 2006).

I've only otherwise stayed in one moderate, and one value. We liked CBR - it was our first onsite property as well, so I think it will always have a special place in our heart. Pop was OK for the 1st night of our last trip, but just wasn't our thing - although I'd happily stay there if it was the only way I could stay onsite. The theming is neat, but we did find the room REALLY small, and the resort just kind of crowded in general.

 

[c&m]

First Deluxe: WDW Dolphin. Loved this resort. DH and I stayed there in 2000 for a vacation and really enjoyed every aspect of our trip. We loved the grotto pool, Palio restaurant in the Swan (the best sea bass I ever had), Tubbi's in the morning, the proximity to Epcot (our fave park), the Boardwalk area. Everything about it was fabulous. Hope to stay there again!

First Moderate: Port Orleans French Quarter. This was a nice resort. We were there in 1996. It was OK then but when we visited there again last month (walked over from POR where we were staying), it seemed so much more prettier of a resort than back then. We like this resort. But I think we like POR much more.

Value: Never stayed at any of the value resorts yet. I wouldn't mind saving the $$$ to stay at one; but my DH really wants peace and quiet at the resort after a noisy, go-go-go day at the parks, and we don't think we can get that peaceful feeling at the value resorts.

 

[spresso81]

Hello all,

First Value - NONE

First Mod - I stayed with my parents at the CBR in its very first year of operation, I believe 1988 or 1989. We loved it. It was so much nicer than any of the Disney Village hotels for any of you who have ever stayed there I am sure you would agree. We liked the CBR so much we stayed there 13 more times - now I have my GF hooked on it.

First Deluxe - I am doing my single digit DANCE! This will be my first deluxe trip as we (my GF any myself) will split an 8 day trip between the CBR and AKL. I am so excited to try the AKL with out Sav. view. Give me 20 days and I'll update this.

Stephen

 

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

Keep in mind that I rarely have expectations about a resort before I visit it. The only expectation I ever have is to have fun, and even in a run down, Dominican resort, with a line of cockroaches sneaking in under a crack in the room door, I still had the time of my life. So keep in mind it's pretty hard for something to bother me.

Okay, so my first Deluxe was the Polynesian: I was a kid so didn't really have any expectations, but I remember wondering where the food court was. I'm not too big on restaurants so I was really hesistant to go into Ohana's, but wound up loving the place with it's coconut races and characters at breakfast. The impression of this place stuck and on our next visit (when I was in my late teens) I had a blast again. There's nothing that I do not like about this resort, minus an actual food court. The theming, CM's, rooms, decor in the rooms, bathrooms, beds, lake, etc. are all wonderful.

Moderate: Again I first stayed here when I was a kid and also had no expectations, except for it to be colorful and fun. I fell in love with this resort, and it has since become my favorite resort in the world. I absolutely adore it. The lake, the pathways around it, the little island with birds in the middle of it, the watercraft rental... Just floating out on the lake in a paddleboat, watching the water flicker around you with NO other resorts in sight.... It's a serene feeling that cannot be found anywhere else on WDW property. It's completely, totally, and utterly private, yet you can see all the fun happening on shore from your spot in the middle of the lake. Magical! The food court blew me away as well here. The only downside to it now is Shutters, b/c I have no idea why they added a restaurant that is overpriced, serving practically the same thing that the food court already does. But I'll put it this way, we had a completely free budge for our honeymoon (AKA could have stayed concierge at the GF had we wanted to) and chose to come here instead. Thats how much we love this resort!

Value: All Star Music. This trip was a high school graduation present from my parents for my husband (at the time he was my boyfriend ) and I. I had never heard of the place, but they handed us directions so we could drive down there and we found it and stared in shock at the HUGE marambas (Is that what their called? Forgive the musically dis-inclined here!) That being said, WE LOVED IT and the staring was in a good way! We had the building at the far back of the resort and found the pool back there to always be quiet, and we think that the All Stars have the best selections of any of the WDW food courts on property. THe bright colors all around screamed "CHEERFUL" and evne though it was the end of June at the time, it was very quiet in our hotel room.

 

[beccasmom]

Great post! It brings back wonderful memories!

Deluxe - Contemporary - June, 1981 - so exciting to be staying in the hotel with the monorail running through it! MK was only park except for Discovery Island and River Country. Rooms were huge and comfortable. Breakfast and lunch at Top of the World! Taking the water launch over to Hoop-de-Doo. I cried when we had to go home!

Moderate - Caribbean Beach - sometime after it first opened - all the "islands" were not open yet! - We stayed in the Trinidad closest to the food court area - there was only one Trinidad open at that time! Enjoyed the food court and eating outside - until the birds descended on us! We were there in December and the weather was so lovely! Room was, of course, much smaller than Contemporary, but basically very nice. Loved walking around the lake at night - or as far as we could go since there was construction going on!

We are now DVC members and rarely stay at the hotels, although we did make a trip in March 2000 and stayed at the Contemporary. We were not wild about the new decor, but loved being able to walk to the MK. Dearly miss Top of the World! Still get a thrill riding the monorail! Many happy memories!

 

[Leota]

Great Thread, Fantasia!

First Onsite - Home Away From Home- Fort Wilderness Cabins. We loved it so much, we stayed there 2 more trips & have plans to stay there with the Grandsons in Dec.

First Deluxe- Beach Club. My Dream resort. Paid rack rate in 2000 - was worth every penny. I loved every minute, every detail, every single thing about the resort.

First Moderate- Coronado Springs. The only Mod we've done. Loved it - We were pleasantly surprised at just how much we did love it. We would stay there again.

First Value- All Star Sports. First & Only Value stay. It just wasn't for us. We had a great trip despite the sleep deprivation from all the noise. But, I wouldn't stay Value again unless it was the only way I could get to WDW.

I'm glad we have tried all the different resorts that we have. I did plan to stay at all the WDW resorts (except Values). But have become completely hooked on the Swan / Dolphin resorts. I just love evrything about them & they have become our favorite place to stay. We'll probably throw in a few nights here & there at other mods or deluxes occasionally, but S/D has become our WDW home......

 

[tlbwriter]

Moderate: Again I first stayed here when I was a kid and also had no expectations, except for it to be colorful and fun. I fell in love with this resort, and it has since become my favorite resort in the world. I absolutely adore it. The lake, the pathways around it, the little island with birds in the middle of it, the watercraft rental... Just floating out on the lake in a paddleboat, watching the water flicker around you with NO other resorts in sight.... It's a serene feeling that cannot be found anywhere else on WDW property. It's completely, totally, and utterly private, yet you can see all the fun happening on shore from your spot in the middle of the lake. Magical! The food court blew me away as well here. The only downside to it now is Shutters, b/c I have no idea why they added a restaurant that is overpriced, serving practically the same thing that the food court already does. But I'll put it this way, we had a completely free budge for our honeymoon (AKA could have stayed concierge at the GF had we wanted to) and chose to come here instead. Thats how much we love this resort!

Am I missing something, or did you forget to tell us the name of this wonderful resort?

 

[Bugsmom73]

First Deluxe- CR, I loved the monorail and Chef Mickey's however, I love WL more.

First Moderate- CBR- have stayed there twice and I have loved each time.

First Value- Never stayed at one.

We will be trying our first value next Jan w/ Pop Century and AKL, which is a new deluxe too.

 

[skiwee1]

My first onsite resort was the CBR. We thought it was great to be so close to Disney. The maids left little cute towel bunnies and we were thrilled! We have never heard of such a thing! We ended up staying there 4 times telling ourselsves that anyone that paid $250 for a deluxe must be crazy. We couldn't imagine spending that much for a room! We then heard how cheap the WL was so we gave that a try. It was only $155 an night so we went for it though I didn't see the appeal of that one. Well, we stepped into the lobby and couldn't believe our eyes. It has the most gorgeous lobby of all Disney resorts. We loved the view we had from our balcony and the theming of the pool was great. We found ourselves hating to leave to resort to go to the parks! We loved to just veg out in the lobby or poolside. We were figuring out why people spouted on and on about deluxes. What we didn't like about the WL was the transportation problems. It didn't ruin our trip by any means but we decided to go a little higher in the deluxes if the price was right. So we went for the Poly with a good rate of $190 a night. Well that did it for us. We fell in love with the whole place. The music, themed pool, overall ambiance of the resort, the view, the aromas of the tropical flowers. We were overwhelmed. Since then we haven't looked back. We stay at the Poly all the time and we don't care what it costs! Though a discount is always welcome! We are trying out the CR tower this December. My mom, who is getting up in age, has always wanted to stay in THE Disney resort just once in her life. We are forgoing our favorite resort just once to do this. I can't wait!

 

[gilld]

Our first De Luxe was the Poly and we hated it! Sorry I know most of you love it but for us it was dark, dirty and in poor repair and that smell!!! We're trying the GF later in the year...I'm sure we'll love it there.

Moderate was POFQ which we loved. The smallness and the theming suited us. A very friendly resort.

Value was ASMo which was fine. Liked the theming more than the others and as we were travelling with children didn't worry about the noise.

 

[clutter]

Fantasis, my firsts are the same as yours!

First Deluxe: WL. It was also my first on-site, we moved there from HIFS (now Nick). I was like... so what? It was beautiful, I'll give you that. But I didn't love the room, didn't like riding the boat to MK in the fog. Didn't do it for me. Since then, we've stayed at (in order of favorites) Dolphin, AKL and CR. We'll be staying at BC next month, we'll see if it can top the Dolphin (of which the best part is the location!)

First Moderate: CBR. That was a magical stay, cut short by a family tragedy. I LOVED it there, and so wished we'd been able to finish our stay. Also stayed at POR, and loved it (I'm a moderate kind of gal, but we're more food court types), and will stay at POFQ in less than a month.

First Value: All-Stars. Well worth the price, since I got it for $49/night! Now that my dd swims, I doubt we'll go back (prefer ASMu) unless it's not swimming season. She LOVES her slides.

Fun thread, maybe someday, I'll get to stay at all the resorts.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Deluxe:
Our first Deluxe stay was at the Polynesian Resort in Dec 2002 - the only reason we ended up here was due to the Caribbean Beach closing for rehab, so we got moved for a great rate! We also stayed at the Wilderness Lodge that trip, which has become my favorite Deluxe based on theme & atmosphere. I just LOVE it there! (Especially when they have the huge Christmas tree in the lobby!) We also stayed in the Contemporary Resort in March 2003 due to the SOG being rehabbed. We really love the Contemporary & Polynesian, especially for the monorail & proximity to the MK!

Moderate:
Haven't made it to a Moderate yet!

Value:
Our 1st 2 trips to WDW together we stayed at AS Movies. We really love it there & it will always be special to us, since it was our 1st Resort together. My new favorite Value is now POP Century! I just love it there. We will be there for the 3rd time next week!!! We can't wait!

I'm looking forward to trying some Moderates in the future - Coronado Springs is on the top of my must-do list.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

1st time we "thought" we were on property = Hotel Royal Plaza. Years ago TA sold this to us, In it's hey day. It was very nice. They called and told us to not have our towel on the balcony, "this was a nice hotel".

1st Real Disney Resort = CBR Loved it! Were very excited, they built something we could afford! We where hooked!

1st Deluxe = CR Tower = We hit the big time. Great view, Everything we dreamed about. Been back so many times we have watched the place need the rehab it is getting.

1st Home away from Home= BWV 1 br. Very nice room resort. Unfortunately they had just opened and had MANY service problems during our stay, enough we never went back. (yet).

1st Disney Cruise= Wonder 3 day. Tried it out, where skepitcal, new to cruising liked it, really liked castaway cay (that needs a disney resort) Been on 2 so far.

Favorite Resort = Now I would say 1. Poly 2. CR 3. BC 4. PORS

MKY

 

[Mymatisse]

First Deluxe resort was the Beach Club. It exceeded all expectations and I think it has earned a special place as my favorite!

First moderate was Port Orleans French Quarter. We stayed there under crummy circumstances as our flight was cancelled and we were only there one night. The weather was horrible and we were exausted! I believe that colored my judgement a litte, but I left thinking that POFQ was a pretty resort but NOT worth what we paid. If I'm gonna pay that much money I don't want outside corridors, I want a hotel.

Never stayed at a value and really have no interest.

 

[MKFan-PR]

First Deluxe - CR when I was a kid. But I don't remember much so that doesn't count. My official first Deluxe is the Poly. Loved the place corner to corner. My only complaint was the bus stop, but with the new one now it's great. It's hard to return due to budget constraints, but I'll go back as soon as I can!

First Moderate - CBR. Our first trip with my DW as adults and the same year we were married. We loved the 'feel' of the place, even though we didn't know better at the time and stayed in the dreaded Trinidad South (loooooooooooong walk to OPR and the Food Court ). Had a great time 'rediscovering' Disney.

First Value - ASSp. Only there for one night, on our last vacation. Great for families. Quite busy. Not for couples. We stayed in the Tennis Building, and we actually liked it very much. Would definitely stay there again!

 

[kellypops]

Great question!

1st deluxe--CR, when the park just opened and I was a kid. Between peering into the lobby to see the monorail come through (I STILL love that!) and hanging out on the balcony to see the electrical water barges come by, I was in heaven. CR is still my favorite--I know lots of folks pooh-pooh it and talk about its out-of-date, Jetson-style theming, I still get goosebumps when I see it from a distance. It's my computer's wallpaper!

1st moderate--Actually, this July DH and I will spend our anniversary at POFQ, and I can't wait! We did a lot of research looking into what each mod had, and thanks to the comments written on this site, we decided POFQ has just the right amount of ambience and romance that we're looking for. And the AP rate can't be beat!

1st value--I haven't, but my DH spend a night at ASMo, and did not enjoy it. I don't think it was the resort itself, but I think he was spoiled by the mod/deluxe resorts he's stayed at before. He said he felt like he was in a motel room with a Disney theme--but that's exactly what it's supposed to be, right?

 

[4greatboys]

Our very first resort stay was All Star Sports. We loved, the kids loved.
Our first first deluxe stay was YC concierge. The room was great. We loved the whole resort.
Our first mod stay was POR. We stayed in AB. I loved the landscape and the rooms were great. The only thing I didnt care for is that our room was pretty far from the bus stop.

 

[HM]

First Deluxe -WL
First (only) Moderate -CBR
First Valune -ASMu

First trip...8 days at ASMu
Second trip...4 nights CBR/3 nights WL
all other family trips.....DELUXE! (AKL, Poly, BWI, GF, YC)
-HM