Why????

[disneyfanz04]

I have a question. Would you rather stay at a higher priced hotel, or stay at a cheaper hotel and have more money for the parks??? Are there any perks of staying in a $200 a night hotel, is the service better??? Just curious.

 

[safetymom]

We would rather stay at a moderate and have more money to do the parks. Also by staying at a moderate we could stay longer at a resort.

 

[zurgswife]

I love the convience of being onsite.....I use codes and AP rates to get the best value for my money...This summer I was able to get an AP rate at the Wilderness Lodge for $114 per night in July....So, I was onsite and had a great rate...

I didn't enjoy the commuting the one time I stayed off site...wasted too much time in my opinion...

 

[ErinInCT]

I recommend staying on-site, which is more expensive, but there are more perks (Disney transportation, Mickey wake up call, nightly bedtime stories on tv, great theming, free parking, proximity to parks, etc). I just got back from VWL ($300/night thru DVC rental points for a 2bed/2bath) & it was worth every penny. We had sooo much room! We also had a kitchen & w/d so we bought groceries & ate every breakfast (except PSB) & every lunch in the room - saving lots of money. Also bought bottled water & brought it to the park daily in a cooler & saved lots there too. Bought adult beverages to enjoy when stuck in the room when kids go to bed early! We figure this is our vacation so we may as well splurge!! The service at WDW is great whether you pay $70/night or $700/night!!

 

[ErinInCT]

Zurgs wife, we had the same waiter at WCC!!!

 

[disneyfanz04]

Actually, sorry I need to rephrase my question....in cheaper resort, I meant like All Stars or Pop Century opposed to Grand Floridian, AKL, Contemporary. I would never stay off-site...IMHO once your off Disney proplerty it loses the Disney touch!!

 

[danny1649]

At OKW for anything else the extra room you have,whirlpool tub,kitchen that has pots and pans,plates,etc.Washer and dryer and grocery near we enjoy and use all that so I guess thats why we go for more bucks for a room.Since we joined and have DVC until 2042 it's not really that much for the room.

 

[chesirekate]

For us, no it's not worth it to pop for the more expensive resorts. The values are fine by us as we just sleep and shower in our rooms, head out for the day and don't return until it's time to sleep again. With just the two of us and a toddler we simply don't need the room and we'll be using the extra dosh to splurge at a nicer restaurant or stay an extra day or two. Of course, if I were extremely wealthy I might change my tune but for now the values are fine by us

 

[Aimeedyan]

After staying in a value (Pop), I would say no. The diff in price between a value and moderate are not big enough to me to sacrifice again for a value resort...

For us, we found the noise levels at Pop were too high for us to even sleep at night and the rooms too small to spend much time in them. So it's worth it to us to have a relaxing resort environment, like found at moderates or deluxes, and a good nights sleep =)

Often you can get a moderate for $79, while a value may be $49 or $59. $20 or $30 a night difference isn't a big deal when you're talking the money you usually fork over for a WDW trip.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

our first two wdw stays were at all star music and all star sports. we thought those were just fine at the time but wanted to try the next step up for our third trip so we stayed at dixie landinds (now PORS). once we stayed there we knew we never wanted to stay at a value again. we then became vacation club members and have since become very spoiled. our home resort is VWL and our first walk through the villa door convinced us that we made a smart move. if you can afford it you'll see the difference it makes to be in a moderate or deluxe resort. it makes your vacation much more special IMO.

 

[sters]

I'd rather stay on site than a larger and/or more luxurous place off site just for the convenience factor. We've always opted to stay at the value or moderates on site and spend the difference between where we stay and duluxe on dining experiences. Although.... the deluxe rooms beckon!

 

[oogieboogie]

The only times we stay at a deluxe is when they have really good discounted rates. Otherwise, it's moderate or value for us.

We might do a split stay at a deluxe and moderate or a deluxe and value. That way we can experience the deluxe but still have more money for the parks and food.

 

[skuttle]

For the second half of our 2003 trip, we spent it with DH's band and we stayed offsite. I hated that bus trip to and from the parks each day...it's like our vacation ended each day when we left the parks where when we stay onsite, the vacation doesn't end until we leave on the last day. That's the reason we stay onsite...the magic never ends until the very end.

We've never stayed at a mod yet, but we have stayed at deluxes and did one night at ASM. We didn't care for ASM....too crowded, small, noisy, and the buses were awful! I know as our family grows, we may have no choice but to stay at the All Stars, but until then we rather spend a little extra to stay at a mod or deluxe.

 

[rcraw45425]

I totally agree about staying onsite, it seems as if the magic doesn't end when you leave the park to go back to your hotel. You can easily hop on hte momorail and just ride(as we often do), or hop over to WS at EPCOT once it cools down of an evening. TO us there is just something special about going to the parks after the sun sets. We will go of a morning, then hop back to the hotel for some R&R, maybe take the girls to the pool, just chill out. Then it's back out for dinner and usually back to a park. Deluxe is the way to go if you can justify it and/or get a terrific rate. DH's justification is "I'll just work another day this month and it's paid for." Gotta love a guy that thinks like that!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Originally posted by Aimeedyan
Often you can get a moderate for $79, while a value may be $49 or $59. $20 or $30 a night difference isn't a big deal when you're talking the money you usually fork over for a WDW trip.

It's a big difference for us. We basically just sleep at the resorts, so the values are a great deal for us. We are staying at AS Music for $49 per night in November and didn't think twice about passing on CBR at $79 per night. That would just about double our cost of room. That money saved will help us get back quicker


Hmmmmm... maybe if Iever get that 20k raise I would reconsider


That's the great thing about WDW... something for everyone

 

[bubba's mom]

Originally posted by chesirekate
For us, no it's not worth it to pop for the more expensive resorts. The values are fine by us as we just sleep and shower in our rooms, head out for the day and don't return until it's time to sleep again.

This is my family............sleep and shower..........

 

[Pumbaa_]

When we first started going, we went either moderate or value, we were never in the room! But as we continue to go, we are spending more time at the resort and appreciate the additional amenities at the deluxe resorts and the locations.

So we joined DVC thinking the studio would be just great! A nice room plus mini-kitchenette. THEN we spent an anniversary trip in a 1 bedroom. So now I am spoiled for life.

I prefer the nicer places for the restaurants, the locations and the additional room in the room.

 

[HookdonWDW]

For us, it's definitely worth spending more. Since we're not park commandos, we spend a good amount of time at the resore. I like having sit down restaurants and character meals on site. I love being able to walk or take a short boat ride to a park instead of riding the bus. We like the theming, indoor hallways, room service and valet parking. We love the themes of the pools (although CSR has a very nice pool).

We will occassionally stay at a Val/Mod/DTD hotel for our first night or two of the trip, but we generally stay at the Deluxe or HAH resorts. I will say that owning DVC has made it easier for us to do this, and that it's a matter of budget. When we were younger and just starting out, a week at the AS Resorts would have been beyond heaven!!

 

[FatCow]

I love staying on-site... only at ASMu, though.

The reason being is that in the end, the cost of staying at ASMu vs staying off-site ends up about the same or only a tad more but with a lot of conveniences.

around US$60 at ASMu, get to enter the park an hour earlier, the refillable mug, not having to drive to (and find parking space) and from the park (after an entire day walking), not having to go gas up the rental car, not having to pick-up and drop-off the rental car. Surely beats spending US$40 off-site (plus car rental)

 

[llggood]

I would only stay on site and only at a Value resort. We pretty much only sleep in the room so if we spent the extra bucks to stay at a nicer resort we would not use the amenities. Maybe when I don't have kids but for now we have four. We get two adjoining rooms at the all stars and it works great. We are not too crowded and it's still cheaper than staying at a deluxe resort that accomodates 6 people!