I have to think that the suites at the value resorts comes from a need for them. There are so many families with three children who just could not stay at a value resort. In fact the only moderate they could possibly stay at was POR in the Bayou section IF the room had a trundle bed. This left families with a deluxe or home away from home which many cannot afford.
I work with a woman who was always frustrated because it would cost them a fortune to stay at Disney because they had three kids. Now, they could afford the nicer resorts, but there are many who cannot.
There is also a need for those families of four with kids who are a little older. The rooms at the value resorts are soooo small. There is hardly enough room to walk around. The floorplan looks like all they did was open up the wall between two existing rooms, add a kitchenette, and some new furniture. I think it will be a huge draw for those families who need the extra space.
I would be willing to guess the DVC talk around Pop Century stemmed from the incredibly low attendance from the general public. I would only be guessing, because we weren't members then, but did DVC attendance also drop off, or did those die-hards we are continue to vacation? (I know we took full advantage of the low room rates during those couple of years.)