Will Value/Mod Be A Letdown When We've Only Stayed Deluxe

[WiscMomof2]

Beginning to think about planning a trip for next year and am a little torn. Has anyone gone from staying in a Deluxe to staying in a Mod or Value and not been let down a little? I'm trying to talk DH into saving a little money by staying at a Mod or Value and he wants no part of it (I think he's gotten spoiled ) What advice can you give me to convince him otherwise, or should I even try?

 

[WDW4us2006]

I tried to stay Value once several years ago to save money, just to get a trip in. We checked in, lasted three hours (never even saw our room as it wasn't ready yet), called CRO and switched out.

I think the moderates are great!

This is my own experience. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Please no flames. You asked, I'm answering.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

I have stayed at all 3 levels of Disney resorts and enjoyed all 3 levels. I decide where I am staying based on what type of trip it will be. For example, this past summer we went to Disney for over 2 weeks. Because of this we were taking it very slow park-wise and were in the room and at the resort a lot more. So, we chose to go deluxe for the larger rooms and better amenities at the resort. My upcoming trip is to visit my sister who works for Disney. I booked at Pop because the room is mainly a place for me to sleep and shower. Other than that I will be hanging out with my sister at her apartment, at the parks, around Orlando, etc. Saving the money by going value or moderate is great! Plus, the value and moderate resorts are just as well-themed in my opinion and all the hotels have great pools, clean rooms, good transportation, etc. Perhaps you could start out with a mod and then eventually ease him into a value! Good luck deciding!

 

[lazydazy8]

I did AS Music about 11 years ago. We did BWI for our honeymoon 8 years ago. Somewhere in between, we did POR. This December, we are doing POP.

Besides losing the perfect location, I am not worried about too much disappointment. We won't spend much time in the room and the kids will probably enjoy the icons at the POP more than the decor of the BWI....

I personally liked the All Star Music better than POR. I found the transportation for POR really long. It seemed like shorter trips for the All Star. We were kidless back then, but I know the kids will be really excited at the sight of the value resorts!

It will be as good a time as you make it! Try not to look for what makes the value resort substandard to the deluxe. Some aspects of them, you may find more convenient... the food court, for example... Makes it easier to get a bagel and jump on the bus early in the a.m. or it's great for later night snacks!

I would say to give Value resorts a try! You might be pleasantly surprised! You still get all the Disney hospitality, including the Mickey soaps!

 

[jbthi]

I've stayed at Deluxe and Mod. Never had a problem going down to Mod. I've never stayed at a Value and I really don't think I would like it.

June

 

[minnie61650]

Beginning to think about planning a trip for next year and am a little torn. Has anyone gone from staying in a Deluxe to staying in a Mod or Value and not been let down a little? I'm trying to talk DH into saving a little money by staying at a Mod or Value and he wants no part of it (I think he's gotten spoiled ) What advice can you give me to convince him otherwise, or should I even try?

If you have stayed in a standard room at WL than the room size will be much of a difference.

If you really enjoy a balcony and/or interior hallways than you will miss those.

Value, mod and WL room layouts

All Star and Pop room layout

POR & POFQ room lay outs *note CSR does not have a luggage seat.

AKL &WL room layout

POFQ,POR,and CSR has 54 square feet more than the value.
That means if both the mod and the value room were 27 feet long than the mod would be 2 feet wider. Just enough room for a double sink instead of a single.

CBR is 340 square feet which means it is 26 square feet bigger than POFQ,POR, and CSR making it maybe a foot or so wider than the other mods.

AKL and WL standard rooms are 344 square feet but the sleeping area is not bigger than a mod.
Most the extra square footage at AKL & WL is taken up in the entry & the sink area.


----------------------------------------

Room size Comparison:

Pop Century/All Stars-260 Square Feet
CS, POR/POFQ-314 SF
Caribbean Beach-340 SF
Wilderness Lodge-344 SF
AKL-344 SF
Yacht/Beach-381 SF
Boardwalk-385 SF
Polynesian-409 SF
Contemporary-436 SF
Grand Floridian-about 400-440SF
Ft Wilderness Cabins-504 SF
Family suites at All Star Music -520 SF

Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[Daryl]

A MOD such as Port Orleans or Coronado Springs will be fine if you are looking to save money. These are beautiful resorts, just more spread out with exterior walkways. You also have food courts and what Disney calls Table Service Dining as opposed to Signature Dining at the Deluxe Resort Restaurants. If the more expensive choices and Character meals are a big part of your vacation then you probably will miss the Deluxe experience. On the other hand kids love the food courts, and the Table Service venues at the Mods are great. The only other thing I can think of is that most Deluxe resorts offer better accessibility to the major parks and thats a very big deal for me! Well worth the extra cash. One last word of caution: If after viewing the Mods on the website, your DH still wants no part, DON'T FORCE HIM. He will be disappointed and make your life miserable... Wait a min. I'm talking about myself

 

[FlyingBelle]

We've stayed at all three levels (see siggie). I can't handle the values. We're kidless - so that may have something to do with it. Both times we stayed at values was for 1 night only (once was a spur of the moment trip, the other was tacking an extra day on the start of our trip to avoid snowstorm in Chicago)

The mods are OK - they are beautiful and still offer a ts restaurant - but they're really spread out so you do a LOT of walking.

Stupid thing - but one of the things we like at the deluxe is the extra mickey toiletries. Of course that alone is not worth the extra $$$, but the additional transportation options and proximity to the parks definitely is for us!

 

[dixipixi]

We always stayed offsite or deluxe until '98. That year we stayed at CBR. The hotel was ok. The pools were nice and the landscaping is beautiful, but the room was worn out and we didn't like how spread out things were.

Because of that, for years we have stayed offsite when we couldn't afford to stay deluxe. This past June we were at POFQ and we absolutely LOVED it!! Our absolute favorite resort is YC and the biggest differences between YC and POFQ for us were: 1. location (it was nice to just walk to Epcot or sit on our balcony and watch fireworks)
2. size of rooms (much more spacious and "airy feeling" at YC) We had connecting rooms at POFQ. There is no way DH, myself and 2 teen boys would have survived 10 nights in one room there!
3. bathroom layout (I felt like I had more privacy, bigger closet, and more storage space at YC).
4. private balconies (we're just balcony people and it really expands the room having that extra space in order to "get away").
5. the pool (the pool at POFQ was very nice but it's not as expansive as SAB. Our teen boys felt it was more for younger kids than for them).

We've never tried the values. I would be more likely to consider them for a trip where it was just myself and one other person. I think anymore than that and the room would just be too crowded.

 

[FlyingBelle]

I've stayed at Deluxe and Mod. Never had a problem going down to Mod. I've never stayed at a Value and I really don't think I would like it.

June

Sorry - totally Off topic... did your tag change when you hit 500 posts? Just curious!

 

[minnie61650]

I love The All Star Resorts.

I am 56 years old and travel several times a year for pleasure. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe and mod resorts are just another hotel/motel to me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite. It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Calypso building. It is closer to the pool, food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.

The Calypso pool at ASMu has Donald Duck.

The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

The pools at The All Stars are very kid friendly.

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theming is pure Disney.
My last 6 visits have been at The All Stars and last fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?

Have a great time at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Check out Buzz's site on Coronado Springs, it shows it just how it is: lovely, relaxing and a vacation in itself. If you look at any posts that have CSR in the title you will find it. CSR is very upscale, it has a gym and room service which distinguishes it from the other mods. It also has the Pepper Market which is the best food court I have been to. I might suggest a mod first and if you like it, go for a value next time. I happen to love the values but then our first WDW trip we stayed at Movies and found right off the bat we are happy at ANY Disney resort! Now we own DVC and stay at the values on the weekend when points are high. I love my DVC but I have to say the mods and values are wonderful too. Different, but still wonderful. And to me the dining options (except room service) that Deluxes have and the values and moderates don't are still available to anyone, regardless of where they stay. My family really missed the Pop food court after four days there, once we headed to BWV. Sometimes I want something quick not an expensive, time consuming meal in or out of my room. But thats just me. Good luck with convincing him. We should all be so lucky to have spouses that are content to spend that kind of money on lodging!

Actually here is the CSR website by Buzz I mentioned above. Check it out, it sold us for our September trip!
http://coronado_springs.tripod.com/

 

[eliza61]

For my family it was a let down. I would be extremely careful. We usually go to wdw during the summer time, so the resort we pick is extremely important because we spend a lot of time there. The values are too jam packed for us, especially the food courts (which IMO are ridiculous during July) and the pools. Since the parks are already very crowded I love to come back to my resort and unwind.

There is absolutely nothing worse than spending 7 nights in Disney and hating your accomodations. If your DH is used to going Deluxe, the most I would drop is to a moderate. Actually I would eat P&J sandwiches at home and save up the difference, since I only get long vacations every other year I usually don't want to skimp on them.

 

[patsal]

I have stayed at all three levels as well as the home away from home. The biggest issue with value and mods are the double beds--we ahve a queen at home and like the extra space. Depends also how long we are going to be at the resort versus the parks. A two week vacation in a value wouldn't work--we are a family of four with teenaged kids, but 4 or five days is no problem.

 

[mtemm]

I think your problem may be that your dh doesn't want to stay at a mod or value, so that right there will likely make him feel the difference more. for us, we stayed at POR (then dixie landings) for dh (then boyfriend) and my first stay at wdw. we were in awe, just loved the resort. the following year we stayed at BWI for our honeymoon. talk about awe! we were just floored by the resort. not only that, it just felt like home. we loved everything about it.

the following year we spent our first anniversary at CBR. It was a total letdown for us. I don't know if it was the resort itself that we just didn't care for, or if it was the fact that we had been so spoiled the year before, but whatever it was, we felt it.

Its been several years since we have been back. we are heading in a few weeks and are staying at the yc. Part of that is the location and our desire for a deluxe, but mostly it is because we now have 3 kids and with 5 of us, we want the space and amenities a deluxe offers.

 

[lovindonald]

Oooooh, I can't help you here. I went from CR to POR and hated it. The best thing about the deluxe resorts is location. I vowed never to stay anyplace else again. There were 5 of us and we had a trundle bed. DS was on the floor right inside the door. He was miserable. I won't stay at anything but the deluxe ones now and if I can't afford it, I will stay offsite which I think I like even better.

 

[hightown]

Have stayed almost everywhere as you'll see by my signature. At this point, I just don't want to do the Values. The last two trips, I've started out with ressies at POP to save money but ended up changing to moderate.

POP is just to frantic. Too many people in bus lines. Too many people at the food court.

The rooms aren't much different from the mods but it's the little differences I like. I like having a coffee maker in my room! At POFQ, I love going just outside of the rooms to the benches scattered around to enjoy the morning and scenery. The pace is more relaxing for some reason.

Disney has priced me out of the Deluxes at this point. Have used Swan and Dolphin as a nice less pricey option or book the moderates. Am hoping they don't price me out of the moderates too. Guess when that happens, we'll go off site. There are some nice options out there!

 

[BamaFan121s]

Nah...nothing at Disney could be THAT much of a let down...except for Stitch's Great Escape. ANY resort is better than not being there at all. Seriously, I've stayed at Deluxes before and stay at mods usually and we still have a blast everytime. Just more $$$ for souvenirs!

 

[Figment2]

Values & Moderates = double beds
DeLuxe = queen size beds

Don't get me wrong I like the All Star resorts but my recent stay at Pop left a lot to be desired (and there were only two of us). Three of us stayed at CSR one time and said, never again. We are spoiled by the DeLuxe resorts.

Cyn

 

[Lewisc]

Do you like to sit on the balacony? Do you like a table service meal, particularly for breakfast? Do you use room service?