Which moderate would you choose?

[gethane]

Hello,

I'm going on my very first Disney trip the end of January. I'm starting to get extrememly nervous . It will be me, my husband, my 3 kids (boy-11) (two girls-8,10), my parents AND his parents. Whew. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us all.

Originally, due to price concerns we planned to either rent a house, or to stay off site. However, with Disney's reduced rates for the Winter Thaw, I think we can now spring for a moderate resort.

Please rank the folloing resorts, to help me pick They all look nice.

Caribbean Beach
Coronado Springs
Port Orleans - French Quarter
Port Orleans Riverside

Also, they are running some NICE discounts for AKL and WL. Please also rank those and tell me if its worth it to go ahead and pay more for the Deluxe resorts.

Thank you for your help. The amount of information here is staggering. I'm frankly overwhelmed by this trip.

 

[bryantmdoyle]

Just came back from Port Orleans Riverside, spent 6 nights with family (eight adults and 6 children). We all had a wonderful time and look forward to going back. Port Orleans Riverside has a really fun pool and the food court worked well for us. The transporation to the theme parks was great (never used the car the whole time). We would highly recommend Port Orleans.

 

[DisneyFan79]

In my opinion I believe Port Orleans Riverside would be your best bet. Along with the theming of the resort the older kids (adults) will like, your kids will like the swimming pools and recreation. You also get to share the pool with the French Quarter. The rooms in the Alligator Bayou of PO Riverside offer a trundle bed that one of your kids can sleep on. That way you and your husband have a bed, his parents have a bed in another room, and all three of your kids have their own bed. Just a thought!! Hope you enjoy whichever you decide.

 

[Buzz2001]

CSR of course! Check out my website below for photos and info.

 

[jaguar9748]

I have stayed at CSR, POFQ and POR. I would rank them:

POR
CSR
POFQ

Riverside is just a fabulous resort with so much to do for the family. It is beautifully landscaped. The food court is yummy and the sit down restaurant, Boatrights is really good. The store is big. Cast members are usually pleasant. The boat to Downtown Disney is a wonderful ride and a real plus. Riverside has become our 2nd home! We'll be there in 20 days for a wonderful Christmas celebration!

 

[daannzzz]

They are all nice and fun and comfortable with decent food. They all have aome differing amenities that may make a difference to you. POR and POFQ have the boat to downtown Disney which many people love and swearby. We never used it but liked POR allot. POFQ was the least favorite. They have boats for rent at POR and POFQ in the small river. CBR and CSR are located around lakes and have water craft for rent as well but the area you can boat on is more fun and expansive. CSR has a pretty spectacular themed pool with the longest waterslide. It really depends on what you want in theme though. My ranking is......

CSR
CBR and POR tie
and last at the bottom POFQ

 

[kda]

You're right -- the information is staggering and there's SO many choices!! And every one of them can turn into a great vacation for you and your family. If this is a once in a lifetime trip (congratulations!), it sounds like you may be spending most of your time at the parks. If you're spending time enjoying the resort, the deluxes are an added treat. WL and AKL are spectacular, but the regular rooms (ie, standard view at $119/night plus tax) are only set up to accomodate 4 people. Unless one of the kids is going to stay with one of their grandparents --- which you might be planning on --- , you'd need to spend more $$$ for a slightly larger room. Actually, the same goes for the moderates, unless you're at POR, with the trundle bed.

I think staying on site is the best way to go for our family, but with 9 people you might find that renting a house works best for you -- you can save $$$ on cooking and have more space. If you're planning on less than a week and are only going to Disney (not any of the other attractions in Orlando), staying on site is definitely convenient.

Those 2 deluxes are very beautiful, with many places to explore, expecially if the grandparents are going a little slower and might not spend as much time at the parks. But if $$$$ is a concern, or if you choose to spend your $$$ on food and souvenirs, you'll have a great time in one of the moderates! Have a great trip!

 

[currycook]

Is not the pool closing at POR starting Jan 8th?. I thought I saw that on a past board. Its why we are going with POFQ for a one day stay in Jan. If anyone knows for sure it would be apprecaited if they could provide that information.

 

[catheren]

As far as Moderates, PORS is the best. The landscaping, service and accommodations are lovely. Remember, moderates have external corridors, meaning your room opens to an exterior. In other words a motel. Bedding is 2 doubles or 1 king, rooms are smaller and ammenties are rare.

Deluxes have more to offer, private balcony/patio, interior hallways, room service, daily news, and large rooms, 2 queens, sometimes a day bed, or king. Deluxes are usually closer to a theme park and better transportation to parks.

Since there are 9 of you have you thought of a WDW home-away-from-home-resort?? I recommend WDW's OKW they are HUGE. You get a full kitchen, several bathrooms, washer/dryer and daily maid service (just like a hotel).

 

[E.Jane]

CBR gets my vote! We've stayed there and also the CSR. I just personally liked the "Islands" feel more - coming from 6 feet of snow in January, and being surrounded by palm trees and beaches.......heaven!!

The CBR has more "quiet" pools than the other moderates, and although the weather was a bit cooler in January, we found the kids had a pool to themselves every day. I also liked the lake better than the CSR - much bigger (at least, it seemed that way to me).

I know lots of people love the POR but when we visited it, we didn't like the look of it at all. It seemed very "bunched up" compared to the sprawling CBR. I figure you have the parks and all their crowds if you have a need to be around people. The resort, on the other hand, was very, very quiet at that time of year.

 

[currycook]

If you look back a bit there is a string of posts on the many positives from those that stayed at POFQ. I think they are both fine places to stay. The only one I would avoid is the CB. It has an overcrowed feeling and the oldest. But disney is redoing that one I believe.

 

[RedShorts]

Our first trip to POR was meant to be a once in a lifetime trip too. Now we're hooked and so glad that we took the plunge and stayed on site.
We cannot rank CSR just yet.
Although POR & CBR are very different they are equal in overall enjoyment terms.
Whichever you choose you'll love it, have a great time.
You'll also have a wonderful time just planning it and exploring all the information that's available.

 

[Janet2k]

Gethane, welcome to the Dis! From your list, I see that I have stayed at CSR, CBR, PO-FQ, WL, and AKL. I actually just returned from PO-FQ a few weeks ago (it was my first stay there) and I fell in love with that resort. Probably because of that fact, I would vote as follows:

PO-FQ (stayed there last month)
CBR (stayed there last Christmas/New Year's)
CSR (stayed there a couple years ago)

Out of the WL and AKL, well, I would choose the AKL (it just so happens to be my favorite resort). I last stayed at the AKL twice over the Christmas & New Year's holidays. My last stay at the WL was two or so years ago.

Really, you can't go wrong with any of the WDW resorts. They all have something unique to offer. I have some resort photos posted in my on-line photo albums: click here to go to them. But in order to get a LOT of information regarding all of the WDW resorts, please check out Dreams Unlimited Travel's "Around the World in 30 Days Tour" series of webpages (Dreams is the owner of the Dis website): click here for their tour webpages. You should find links on those webpages to streaming videos that they shot at each of the resorts. And in case some of those old video links don't work, you can go to this other webpage of theirs regarding the resorts (they have video links on those, too): click here to go to DU's resorts' webpage.

 

[Janet2k]

Since I just returned from PO-FQ and BCV, here is the link to my thread regarding those two resorts: click here to go to it. If you have questions, feel free to ask me or PM (Private Message) me. Have fun planning your first WDW vacation. How EXCITING!

 

[Janet2k]

Gethane, since this will be your first WDW vacation, please make sure to check out the wonderful children's activities that are offered at the GF resort: click here to read a little bit about them on the official WDW website. And to see my photos of those three activities, click here to view my on-line photo albums. By the way, you do not have to be a GF resort guest in order to sign your children up for those activities, just call WDW-DINE to book them (they do fill up quickly, just thought I'd warn you).

 

[goofy4tink]

Yikes!!! That's some group you've got going. Will you be doing 3 rooms....one for each group?? If so, I would send one child to stay with each group each night. Then each set of grandparents could spend some 'quality' time with each child. That said, you could then do any of the mods, not just PO-AB. We love POR. Will be trying out CBR this summer. Make sure you ask for connecting rooms. Don't know if you can get 3 rooms connecting. What a great memory maker this will be. My in-laws would never do something like that. My mother did it with just my dd and myself and it is something we will remember forever!!

 

[KristaTX]

Congatulations!! That will be so much fun - you'll want to go back. I hope that this is just your first in a lifetime trip. We've stayed at POR and CBR, and have visited the other two. We really like POR and have stayed there several times. It feels like home to us when we get there. I have heard that CBR has had the rooms redone recently. My husband really liked the hammocks on the sand there. The thing that keeps me from staying at French Quarter is the fact that it just has one bus stop. We ate at the food court at Coronado Springs once, and I didn't like having to tip a waiter at the food court. It felt like part food court part sit down restaurant. Also, the theming was a little too close to home (Texas) for me. Many people like it, though. I think you'll have a blast at any of the moderates - by staying on-site you'll be immersed in Disney 24 hours a day!

 

[gethane]

Thank you all for so many wonderful responses and urls to go visit and see pictures!

Unfortunately, the Riverside doesn't have any more openings at the "Winter Thaw Rate". Right now we're ranking them as AKL, CSR, and heh whatever else (these abbreviations are coming, slowing but surely). In large part it will depend on whether the grandparents (both sides) want to spend the money on AKL or not.

We will be doing some sort of "childsharing". Probably the 2 girls with one group one night, the boy with another. With three rooms, that way each room gets 1 or 2 childfree nights during the vacation.

I'm actually just getting so excited. Before the Winter Thaw rates were announced we had no hope of staying on-site. I imagine it will be a lot more "disney" staying on site. As its our first trip, I want my kids to just be "WOW!" I think they will. Its their first real vacation as well. We've been saving for this trip for 3 years

Thanks again for all your replies!