Value vs Moderate

[PrncsAurora]

I'm sure it's been asked a million and one times, but what's your opinion on value vs moderate resorts?

We are 99.9% we are going for a moderate this time around since we've never been to one.



**and i've heard the are you the type to stay in the room thing a lot too, and we aren't we go full out cammando in the parks, but we think it'd be fun for the atmosphere and restuarants.

[skiyalater]

I think moderate are better, but a lot of people love Pop Century, so i don't know. Caribbean Beach is a good one.

[tigrou]

I stayed at the carribean last December & realy liked it (although it probaly helped that the hotel was very quiet & we were given a awsome room right near all the annemitys).

I've just booked to stay at the pop century next March, i always said i would never go to a 'value' resort but having researched it a bit it dosn't look too different & is quite a lot cheaper, although you have to pay $15 a day for refrigerator hire.

[disneydame2004]

Pros of the Moderates:
- more environmental theming (everything at Disney has a theme. The Values give you lots of in-your-face icons, big, bold, splashy looks and colors, but they are just there to liven up a basic hotel. The moderates do more to transport you to another place - the romantic South of Port Orleans, the tropical paradise of the Caribbean, or the lively Southwest/Northern Mexico feel of Coronado Springs. The landscaping, the buildings, the rooms, everything you see is designed to transport you to that location.)

- somewhat larger rooms with mini-fridges included.
- table service restaurant at the resort (except at PO:FQ, but Boatwrights at PO:R is a pleasant walk away) as well as food courts.
- main pools with fanciful themes and water slides, as well as additional quiet pools.
- more amenities in general (marinas, bike rentals, fishing, carriage rides, etc.)

I've stayed at 3 of the 4 moderates, and had lovely stays each time.

[tiggerguy]

Here are the room sizes

Value Resort Room size ~ 260 square feet
Value Resort Suite size ~ 520 square feet
Moderates (but not CBR) ~ 314 square feet
Caribbean Beach 340 square feet

[PrncsAurora]

Thanks for the info...esp square footage! Didn't realize there was such a big difference in that!

[LAroy]

50 square feet in not that much more.

If the original room was 12 x 20 thats 240sqft
to add the 50sqft it would be a 15.5x20. thats about an arms length.

But as a past value resort guest there were times an extra arms length would have been nice to have.

I don't think its the room though its the whole surrounding that makes the moderate worth the extra

LAroy

[SnwhtNdwrfs]

I have stayed at Deluxe and Moderate and enjoyed the themeing. Personally I thought PO:R was better than the deluxes we stayed at. (Someday I would like to stay at Wilderness Lodge though....) I will be trying a value hotel in 07 but only going to it because of cost and how it looks more fun for the kids.

[Tinker Bell]

PrncsAurora, is this for a 2007 trip? I've stayed at the All Star Sports and will be living it up at the Coronado in December. I've heard that the bus service is better at moderate resorts than at the value. I will be able to confirm that in a few months. The restaurants are another difference, you only get a food court in the value resorts.

I don't usually spend much time at the resort either, if the parks are open then that's where I want to be! A nice hotel to go back to is always nice though, I'm looking forward to checking out how they themed the Coronado. Personally, what I'd really like to do is stay at a new resort each trip. The Contemporary would be awesome next time!

[WVParkfan]

In my opinion, both the Values and the Moderates are wonderful. Just being at Disney is wonderful. We've stayed at POP, All-star Sports, Caribbean, and (our favorite) Coronado Springs.

The biggest differences between the Values and Moderates? The Mods are a little bigger, but a WHOLE LOT QUIETER!! They are more spread out and have fewer rooms per area, and attract a different group of people. What I mean by that is that many of the "groups" stay at the values, while the mods are almost entirely families (or convention attendies at the CSR). The result is a quieter environment.

We much prefer to be around families like us that are either at the parks late in the evening, or going to bed by 10pm. When we stayed at the Sports, there were college cheerleaders there. They were either practicing their cheering until midnight, or coming back drunk from Downtown Disney at 2am, making a lot of noise. At the POP, nearly every room faces a pool. We had kids running around outside of our room until late in the night. That's not something you get at the mods since they are more spread out.

So, it is worth the extra $ for our family to have a quieter place to stay. That's why we prefer the mods. But, as I said above, I'd stay at a Value any time, rather than stay off-property.

[iwannabeminnie]

It depends. We really enjoyed the All Star Movies Resort when we stayed there. Mr. iwannabeminnie would have to be DEAD and being wheeled in with a hand cart to EVER stay at the Pop Century again though. We have stayed at the Caribbean Beach resort and loved it. This past trip we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and loved it as well. We have also stayed at the Beach Club and apart from it's proximity to Epcot and MGM, actually preferred Port Orleans. Our next trip we are hoping to try Animal Kingdom Lodge. Mr. iwannabeminnie would LOVE to stay at Fort Wilderness, but we are saving that for 2008 and a big anniversary.

[CleveRocks]

50 square feet in not that much more.

If the original room was 12 x 20 thats 240sqft
to add the 50sqft it would be a 15.5x20. thats about an arms length.

I see this differently.

I think 54 square feet (the difference between 260 and 314) is a significant amount of space.

Picture two full-size mattresses laying on the floor next to each other. That would be just a hair over 56 square feet. That's a decent amount of space. Especially with kids, I'd notice that difference in space, if you took my room in a moderate and took that sized chunk out of the room.

[Main Street Magic]

We had this same discussion for our upcoming trip (178 Days 6 Hrs 2 Mins 41 Secs but who;s counting?). There are going to be 6 to 8 of us going and my son and daughter in law wanted just a cheap room because in their minds all the room is for is sleeping. We on the other hand prefer to have some ambiance. Also, from experience, we have seen the crowds of people who stay at the value resorts and we didn't want to put up with large crowds at the end of the day, multiple busses to wait because of the crowds, noisy environment around the room, etc., so we are going to stay at a moderate (If I tell you which one, everyone will want to stay there as well which will blow my argument ;-) ) (ok, .... it's the Port Orleans Riverside!) See you all there.

[iwannabeminnie]

We just got back from PO:R in June and we loved it! We will definitely go back!

[firemedic]

My wife and I stayed at the Po FQ and really loved it. The atmosphere is definitely quieter. And since we live in Louisiana, the FQ kind of felt like home.