Which Moderate?

[**Clare**]

Hi

After a crazy 6 weeks or so of various things taking over life (disasters at home resulting in shelling out for unexpected repairs...AAAAAGH, starting work after being a stay at home mum for the last 6 years, everyone ill..) I am finally back on track with planning our trip.

I've been having a look around and I think we have decided on a Moderate resort as we steering away from TS meals every day.

We are now having a hard time choosing between resorts so I'm hoping for a bit of help please?!

I'm pretty sure any resort will be lovely and I've read that a lot of you experts enjoy PO.

If it helps, our kids will be 9 and 7 and we won't be hiring a car. It's the kids first time to WDW, our 5th, but first onsite stay and first trip to Florida in 10 years!

Thanks so much in advance for any help

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I do think they would like PO, we stayed there twice on Riverside. Lot's of things
for the kids to do, lovely grounds, on time buses.

 

[scoobydooby]

So your children like to swim? Coronado Springs has a pool without a deeper part. For that reason alone we will never stay there! My fave is Port Orleans Riverside but one reason for that was the ability to rent watercraft from there, which Disney recently stopped. It's big though so we always book a preferred location room to be close to the food court.

 

[scoobydooby]

^ do not so. Sorry.

 

[Elise79]

Coronado is our favourite

There are 4 pools and all have deeper sections. 3 quiet pools are great and main pool had a really good slide.

It has the same toiletries as the deluxe resorts and overall a really nice feel.

 

[**Clare**]

Thanks for your replies.

My kids will hopefully be confident in the water by the time we go, they are currently taking lessons are enjoying them.

Choosing a resort can be a personal thing, what suits one will not necessarily suit another, but we are really struggling!

Thanks

 

[torsie24]

Maybe have a look at some photos and watch some YouTube videos? Get a feel for them.

 

[v-1]

Port Orleans riverside is a beautiful resort which has a great pool, Nice QS food. Nice rooms (recently refurbished), A boat to downtown Disney and in the evening you have Yee ha Bob for entertainment.

 

[khibs]

POFQ is lovely. It's nice and small with a good bus service and great for the boat to downtown.

 

[flortlebap]

CSR is probably my favourite Mod, but POR is a very close second - we've stayed there twice.

CSR has more of a deluxe feel to me, but POR is more laid back and the boats are really nice. Have you got a short list?

 

[queendisney]

POR is def my fav, with POFQ next. You can use the facilities of both these resorts and they are a quick walk away from each other. All though POR is a big resort its been proven then you are never further then a 12min walk away from the the main buildings, at a normal slow-ish amble. There are bus stop near to every building if you want to pick up a bus straight from your room. Two big main pools and lots of quiet pools. We prefer the relaxing feel, the beautiful greenery and river all around and its has a good food court as well. POFQ is also beautiful but a lot smaller.

 

[chmurf]

My thoughts on moderates :

CBR : too spread out (largest resort), beds are doubles instead of queens at all the other Disney resorts. Not much of an issue for shorter people, but when you pay a "moderate" price, let's have "moderate" ammenities.

Stayed there (pirate room) but would probably consider PO instead, even if CBR is cheaper.


CSR : don't like the theming. And it's a Convention Center. Can sometimes be a bit "off" as far as the "disney feel" is concerned, due to this resort being a convention center (depends if there is a big convention going on).
On the plus side, this resort is sometimes booked solid for conventions, and "regular" guests are sometimes upgraded to Grand Floridian to make room for the convention.

wouldn't stay there even for free.


POR/POFQ : absolute favorite. Staying at one of the two gives the opportunity to enjoy 2 food courts, 2 feature pools (you can pool hop between both resorts) and quiet pools.
3 different feel (Aligator Bayou, The Mansions, and French Quarter) very relaxed, quiet and lovely.
the boat to DTD takes the cake.

 

[**Clare**]

Thanks so much for all the replies. There sure is a lot of love for PO! They all sound great but I'm definitely thinking of PO, although not sure which area. I like the sound of it being so relaxed. Originally the kids were desperate for a value and liked how colourful they are etc but I much prefer the thought of somewhere quieter after a busy day at the parks. And hopefully free dining!

We had toyed with the idea of a split stay between WDW and International Drive for ease of getting to Sea World & Universal but as we would only be at those parks maybe 3 days tops then it hardly seems worth the hassle and cost of arranging a transfer to the airport.

Has anyone done this and found it to be worthwhile for the shorter travelling times to those parks? We will be going in October, likely the second and third weeks.

Thanks again.

 

[scoobydooby]

It's worth one night in a Universal hotel for the front of line passes for two days ( even if you don't sleep there).

 

[flortlebap]

It's worth one night in a Universal hotel for the front of line passes for two days ( even if you don't sleep there).

We have planned this for September - just one night at HRH for FOTL passes. I think it's worth a split stay.

We are hiring a car so travel isn't a hassle, and we plan on just taking lot clothes for our first couple of days in hand luggage to avoid having to pack and then unpack.

 

[chmurf]

we also did one night at Universal (Portofino Bay) without checking out of POR.
We wanted the FOTL passes, and purchasing the tickets + FOTL for the 3 of us came up only $10 cheaper than booking one night with tickets at RPR, so we bit the bullet and added $80 or so to stay at Portofino.

In the end it was cheaper to do it like this rather than doing a split stay at Disney's as had free dining

So, if you're set on FOTL passes and there are at least 3 people in your party, book a room at HRH (park there it's $18 per night instead of $17 per day at regular parking.)

---

staying closer to Seaworld when you're already onsite at WDW seems a bit useless from my standpoint.
Even without a car it's a short bus ride on Lynx 50, or rather inexpensive with a cab.
Whatever time you gain by staying closer, you'll lose for transfers and packing luggage one time too many.

 

[DisneyDreamer2020]

We stayed at Caribbean Beach in 2008 but in 2010 stayed in Old Key West due to the dining deal.

My kids want to go back to CB next time but I want to do PO but by the time we go back my kids will be nearly 20 lol!

We all loved CB though and my kids were your kids age at the time. Checking out all the pictures helped us decide which resort to stay at.

Good luck

 

[**Clare**]

I can't thank you all enough for the information. Thank you chmurf for those comments re Sea World etc. It is all really helpful. For some reason, I thought Sea World was a bit of a trek from WDW!

I think we are getting there....surely by the time the end of the month comes we'll be totally set!

My main doubt now is about Universal. DS will be 9 and is slowly starting to get into the bigger rides but he is quite small and not sure if he'll be tall enough, or brave enough, for the rides at AoA. He has no interest in Harry Potter. DD is a scaredy cat and I could not see her going on any of the rides.

However, they are both massive Despicable Me fans and love the Minions! Otherwise, we'd probably skip Universal completely until another trip. But, park tickets for 4 primarily to see the Minions...hmmm.

Thanks again.

 

[**Clare**]

We stayed at Caribbean Beach in 2008 but in 2010 stayed in Old Key West due to the dining deal.

My kids want to go back to CB next time but I want to do PO but by the time we go back my kids will be nearly 20 lol!

We all loved CB though and my kids were your kids age at the time. Checking out all the pictures helped us decide which resort to stay at.

Good luck

Hello DisneyDreamer2020, just noticed we are from the same city!

 

[DisneyDreamer2020]

Hello DisneyDreamer2020, just noticed we are from the same city!

Dundee? Cool lol!

Although my post count says I'm a newbie, I'm not, I've been a DISer for about 8 years but I lost all my login info and had to start again from scratch lol!

My kids were 6.5 and 4.5 the first time we went to Universal and there's plenty of things for younger kids to do, my kids are adrenaline junkies though but trust me, there's enough. Even if he's not in to HP the theming of the land and all the shops etc will interest him plus the characters like Scooby Doo come out.

If you're not sure about the rides for your kids ages get one of the 'Unofficial Guides' by Bob Sehlinger, it has ratings for different ages and comments. My kids were annoyed that they were too short for some rides lol!

We tend to go for 3 weeks over the October holidays and always stay in Universal for the first 4 nights before heading over to Disney for the rest of the time