Which WDW resorts do you think offer the best value for your money?

[midnight star]

Stayed at Coronado Springs (Gran Destino Tower) in January and we absolutely loved it. We had a water view and could see fireworks from the window. There's also a gift shop,restaurants, pools, spa, etc. We were shocked that it was considered a moderate resort. We were all "if this is moderate, what's deluxe??" lol

Random fact: When I was a kid, both my trips at 5 and 7 were at Coronado springs. So I've actually only ever stayed at that resort. My dad was the one that actually told me to pick Coronado because he said he loved it a lot when we went as a family.

 

[hrvoje]

Thank you everyone for your replies. It seems like Pop Century and Coronado Springs are getting a lot of votes.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I don’t know when you are planning to travel, but on another thread people are reporting that they are seeing some lower prices and less expensive room categories open up for late spring. I would imagine Disney, like much other travel, is experiencing cancellations due to folks being fearful to travel.

 

[nkereina]

Coronado Springs - compared to other moderate resorts that are similarly priced, they offer multiple QS, TS and lounge options. The other moderates don't have that. CBR would be a close second because you can easily walk to Riviera to enjoy the restaurants/lounges there, and CBR also has the Skyliner which is hard to beat for park transportation.

We loved AOA too, and pit the Little Mermaid rooms against Pop rooms in terms of value. We didn't find the walk to the main areas to be nearly as bad as others have said, also has access to Skyliner and doesn't share buses, and we love the theme at AOA much more than Pop. That's more of a preference over value, however.

 

[Remy is Up]

I would echo that realistically there is no true value when compared to off site properties. However, if you take WDW just as itself, Coronado and Port Orleans Riverside easily offer the best bang for the buck. We love the deluxe resorts for theming, the new Riviera is immaculate, Yacht/Beach Club, the lodges. But, for us these days, we generally stay at Coronado or PO Riverside or if we are in festival time F&W or F&G we stay at Swan/Dolphin. We gave up on the budget resorts a long while back. They are clean and ok, but, there is less value in those than in a deluxe or moderate.

 

[Kaadk]

Depends on what you value. Room size? Interior hallways? Table service restaurants? Proximity to parks? Variety of transportation? Quieter? Fewer children? Great pools? Lounges? Resort size? What I consider to be the best value may be completely different from what you value. You need to first consider what you deem important and then see what resorts fit that and then determine if the price is worth it to you. Our favourites are currently BC, WL, AKL, GF, BWI, YC. We consider those to be reasonable value for us based on what we consider important which is room size, good pools, table service restaurants, interior hallways, park proximity, lots of transportation options, reasonably quiet, good lounges, attractive theming, and a few other things. Some trips we have to compromise on one or more of those things to get the others and that compromise is largely dictated by what we plan to do and where we plan to spend our time. YMMV.

I agree with this, what's a good value will depend on your needs. For us, we prefer POFQ, because we like that it's a compact size, almost the size of a value, but provides most of the moderate amenities, like covered bus stops, queen sized beds in place of doubles, etc... and the we're not bothered by the lack of a Table Service restaurant on site, because we pretty much only eat breakfast on site. The other Moderates just feel too spread out for us. Deluxes are nice, we enjoyed our stay at the YC, but come a pretty hefty price jump unless you can snag a good deal (like we did when we stayed at the YC).

No Disney resorts have a good value to price ratio. You can rent a house (some are just minutes to the parks) for less per night then one value room at an All Stars. That being said, I’ve never stayed offsite and I love DVC because it sort of cushions you from that sticker shock of the expensive rooms. I know this is kind of off topic but BWV is the best value for DVC imo because it’s next to two parks but still relatively low in points.

Sidetrack, but, it's the sticker shock of DVC that keeps me from doing DVC. We go about every 2 years. so you'd normally think we'd be good candidates for DVC. But every time I look into it, I keep calculating that if I just put the same amount of money away in a savings account as what I would have to spend on the monthly dues, I can afford to pay for a moderate hotel for our trip. For example, right now, 100 points at the Riveria (according to the DVC website) has monthly dues of $69.25. If I put away 69.25 for 24 months, ignoring interest, I would have $1,662. Assuming DVC only covers the hotel costs, if I spread that $1,662 over 6 nights, means I have $277 to spend per night. I can easily book a moderate, for $277 per night. I know it works for some people, like those who would normally stay at a Deluxe, but for us who normally stay a moderate, it doesn't seem like such a good deal.

 

[Freshman]

I agree with this, what's a good value will depend on your needs. For us, we prefer POFQ, because we like that it's a compact size, almost the size of a value, but provides most of the moderate amenities, like covered bus stops, queen sized beds in place of doubles, etc... and the we're not bothered by the lack of a Table Service restaurant on site, because we pretty much only eat breakfast on site. The other Moderates just feel too spread out for us. Deluxes are nice, we enjoyed our stay at the YC, but come a pretty hefty price jump unless you can snag a good deal (like we did when we stayed at the YC).



Sidetrack, but, it's the sticker shock of DVC that keeps me from doing DVC. We go about every 2 years. so you'd normally think we'd be good candidates for DVC. But every time I look into it, I keep calculating that if I just put the same amount of money away in a savings account as what I would have to spend on the monthly dues, I can afford to pay for a moderate hotel for our trip. For example, right now, 100 points at the Riveria (according to the DVC website) has monthly dues of $69.25. If I put away 69.25 for 24 months, ignoring interest, I would have $1,662. Assuming DVC only covers the hotel costs, if I spread that $1,662 over 6 nights, means I have $277 to spend per night. I can easily book a moderate, for $277 per night. I know it works for some people, like those who would normally stay at a Deluxe, but for us who normally stay a moderate, it doesn't seem like such a good deal.

I also can’t justify becoming DVC. We are to far away and don’t go every year. However, I find great value in renting points for our stays. We are a family of 3 so a studio works out fine for us. We just did BC last month and the cost for 7 days was @$200 ish more than if we stayed at a moderate(rack rate).

 

[DisneyWishes14]

IMHO, all of the resorts have become incredibly overpriced for what you get. We typically stay deluxe and we typically get the biggest bang for our buck at YC/BC, AKL and CR garden wing when discounts are available.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I think it depends on what you are looking for, and what matters to you.

For us, our two go to resorts are AKL (on rented points) or Pop.

We love AKL for the theming and relaxing environment. When we want a laid back trip that is a little upscale, this is our place.

Pop is vibrant, busy, has a decent food court, nothing is a ridiculous walk, and the new rooms are really nice. This is our go to if we are on a tighter budget or for a shorter trip where we won't be in the room much.

I don't find the moderates to be worth the money over the Pop now that they have the new room layout, so we haven't stayed in one for years.

 

[courtky]

I've only ever stayed at Pop Century, so I'm biased... but I love Pop! We loved it so much we're going back at the end of the year. It's a value, but it doesn't feel like one. If you're not going to be in the room/around the resort much, I would go for Pop or one of the All Stars resorts. I don't see the point in paying for a fancier place if you're not going to take advantage of it, unless you have the extra spending money of course.

The Skyliner was quick and really fun! I would totally pay for a resort that has the Skyliner... sooo much better than the busses. The food court is okay, I personally liked it more than some of the options at the parks for quick service. We walked to the Art of Animation's food court but I really didn't see anything worth walking over. The beds are very comfy and we never had any noise complaints, although we were on the top floor facing the lake.

 

[Sarahslay]

Value is such a subjective thing, what is a value to me could be completely different than a value to anyone else. I look at ease of transportation, proximity to parks, nearby dining, size of room, resort amenities, and then I look at cost and typical resort discounts for certain room categories (for instance, I know Poly always has horrible discounts because they don't need them). I had an insane discount on a CL room at BWI last month, it was a glitch that was fixed but they let those who booked it keep it, it meant I got all the amazing food in that CL, walking distance to two parks plus boat or skyliner if I didn't feel like walking back from HS, and a large room for only slightly more than what I would have paid for a moderate room. I only bought food a couple of times and saved a lot on dining because of the lounge, that to me was an amazing value, but someone else may look at it and say "yeah, but if you stayed at a value resort you could have saved $200 a night and that would have paid for the food." but I wouldn't have been so close to the 2 parks I was mainly going on the trip to visit, and my room wouldn't have been as comfortable and the food offerings not as good. It's all in how you look at it, and I am always willing to pay more (especially if I can get a good room discount) to have more of my priorities met. Not having to wait on buses to two parks is a huge value, likewise when I stay close to MK if I am focusing on that park more, it's a huge value to be able to take a boat/monorail/walk from my resort, and to have so much dining close by that I don't have to go out of my way for. That being said, if you're looking to not spend much and get more out of that I'd say any of the values, especially the ones being remodeled (movies and Pop are already done).

 

[5kidsmommy]

As a person who use to stay at deluxe resorts, Gran Destino Tower at CRS is hands down the best value. (We are all adults as well.) The food is very good, the resort is beautiful, the rooms in the tower are comparable if not nicer than most of the deluxe resorts and you save hundreds, if not thousands depending on how long the stay in comparison to the deluxe resorts.

I've been thinking about staying there for a trip in the future. I figure the savings over a deluxe I can get a a rental car and pay for parking and still come out ahead over a deluxe. I don't mind CBR for transportation since it has the Skyliner but since CSR is only buses I'd like to have a car.

 

[Wendy5055]

Definately POP and then Port Orleans French Quarter then probably Wilderness Lodge although their prices have been higher lately than Animal Kingdom so you would really need to weigh the differences if you wanted to go Deluxe.

 

[SG131]

I like POP if your trip is all about the parks and you don't intend on spending time at the resort. If you want to have some down time, that's when I'd see value in upgrading to a moderate. It will be a little quieter and less chaotic. The pools are also nicer with a hot tub. POFQ is nice because its smaller and close to disney springs for dining options. Gran Destino also looks amazing though I haven't stayed in the tower just visited. I love the deluxe resorts and their proximity to the parks, but I don't think looking at it purely from a value standpoint the value to upgrade is there.

 

[Tormania]

I think it depends on what you are looking for, and what matters to you.

For us, our two go to resorts are AKL (on rented points) or Pop.

We love AKL for the theming and relaxing environment. When we want a laid back trip that is a little upscale, this is our place.

Pop is vibrant, busy, has a decent food court, nothing is a ridiculous walk, and the new rooms are really nice. This is our go to if we are on a tighter budget or for a shorter trip where we won't be in the room much.

I don't find the moderates to be worth the money over the Pop now that they have the new room layout, so we haven't stayed in one for years.

This is what we have done on our prior 2 trips and our upcoming trip as well. This year it's under $250/night (which for the time of year only the value resorts would be less expensive.) We even convinced our friends to go this route with us and after they compared rack rates for the same accommodations as to how much renting points could be had they were sold!

 

[Kaadk]

I like POP if your trip is all about the parks and you don't intend on spending time at the resort. If you want to have some down time, that's when I'd see value in upgrading to a moderate. It will be a little quieter and less chaotic. The pools are also nicer with a hot tub. POFQ is nice because its smaller and close to disney springs for dining options. Gran Destino also looks amazing though I haven't stayed in the tower just visited. I love the deluxe resorts and their proximity to the parks, but I don't think looking at it purely from a value standpoint the value to upgrade is there.

I think I mentioned it in my post above, but to me, POFQ is kind of like a value/moderate hybrid. It's small and compact like a value, but has two very important moderate features for me. 1) Shade at the bus stops, and 2) Queen sized beds.

 

[MarkS2112]

It all depends on how much time you plan to spend at the resort versus in the parks. Some are much better than others but if you don't take advantage of what is there it is a waste of money.

Value - No Comment. Only stayed once and would generally pass on these.

Moderate - CBR Just stayed there and the Skyliner is a big plus as it allows quick access to Epcot area resorts as well as HS and Epcot. Pool is also nice and food court is good. Resort is spread out and bus service can be an issue in the morning especially to MK but we liked it allot especially since rooms refurbished.

Deluxe - Wilderness Lodge. Great atmosphere, pool is good as well as poolside bar area. Dining has good options. Boat to MK is always a treat. Plus usually on lower end of Deluxe cost.

BK/YC both close to Epcot so you can walk. Easy to take advantage of all of Epcot dining options. For Food and Wine Festival great location. Also can take Skyliner to HS or Boat. Pool is best on property hands down!! Dining has good options. Overall both are pricey given their location. Good nightlife options.

If you don't utilize or plan to be in resort much its a cost decision.