Best Moderate-Mom & Daughter Trip

[pewing]

Thinking about planning a trip for just my youngest (5 year old DD) and myself. Don't think I can afford a deluxe....was wondering about a moderate.

Would like a nice pool area for relaxing. Ease with transportation would be a plus with a younger one.

Any thoughts.

 

[treydawg]

The Port Orleans Riverside is the resort my family ALWAYS stays at. Ever since I was a kid that's where they would stay, and the tradition has moved on to my sister and her husband and their three kids (ages 4, 6, 10).

My last trip to WDW was last summer with my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew (let's just call my role..."much needed extra help"). We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort and had a ball. The resort is layed out in the style of the old south, with each building resembling a plantation home. The rooms are pretty much the same size in each building.

One of the biggest draws to POR is that the bus station to the parks is right behind the main building. Another nice feature is that everything is "comfortably close" to each other (main building, rooms, dining hall, pools etc). The main pool has plenty for kids to do and has a water slide which my nieces and nephew loved playing on. There are also several "quite pools" located on the property, and more often than not we swam in those as they were usually empty.

The Sassagoula River runs right through the resort and a cool feature about POR is that you can ride the quite and peaceful riverboat straight to DTD (it takes about 10-15 mins to get there). In addition to the riverboat you have the option of renting boats/jetskis of your own to explore on.

There are probably other people who have been to WDW more than I have that will give you more info, but I'm posting strictly about my personal experiences at POR with younger children, and from what I've seen the resort just seems to "work" with all ages. I know you will have a fantastic time no matter where you stay (it's is Disney!). Have a safe/fun trip!

 

[GBBTomorrow]

Ditto previous post. Perfect place for a girls' vacation.

 

[Evi]

I have to agree I love the landscaping at por and if I'm not at a deluxe then its por.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I would have to recommend the Caribbean Beach Resort. The grounds are lush and tropical and have many places to sit and relax. The CBR is also the only moderate resort that you can book a preferred room location and be guaranteed a room near Old Port Royale (main pool, food court, marina, etc.). I have lots of pictures of the resort and room in both of my trip report. The most recent are in the "Who Knew Choking Each Other..." report.

 

[dawnbu40]

While all the moderates are nice they don't all have great bus systems. If you want a nice mod with the best buses go with Coronado Springs. The bus system at POR and POFQ is awful because they share. We vowed never to stay at POR again unless we rent a car.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I would have to recommend the Caribbean Beach Resort. The grounds are lush and tropical and have many places to sit and relax. The CBR is also the only moderate resort that you can book a preferred room location and be guaranteed a room near Old Port Royale (main pool, food court, marina, etc.). I have lots of pictures of the resort and room in both of my trip report. The most recent are in the "Who Knew Choking Each Other..." report.

I agree with CBR, your 5 year old will love the splash pool area with a big pirate ship. My DD6 loves that and the pirate cruise she can do that is pretty inexpensive.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We have stayed at all the moderates ~ I would say either CBR or POR! Both are very relaxing, lush, tropical, and fun! Very family friendly as well. And the buses were just fine at both! (CBR does have the best pools though )

CBR ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2074555

POR ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2333071

Good luck deciding!

 

[wdwrich]

The CBR is also the only moderate resort that you can book a preferred room location and be guaranteed a room near Old Port Royale (main pool, food court, marina, etc.).

I thought I recently read on these boards that POR now has a "preferred" room level that you can book for those very same reasons. Perhaps this is the case at all the moderates now?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I thought I recently read on these boards that POR now has a "preferred" room level that you can book for those very same reasons. Perhaps this is the case at all the moderates now?

I hadn't heard that yet, but just checked and it looks like POR and CSR are offering preferred rooms for 2011 in addition to CBR. That's great for everyone wanting a room closer to everything!

I'll stick with my standard locations though. Haven't had a bad location at a moderate yet!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I thought I recently read on these boards that POR now has a "preferred" room level that you can book for those very same reasons. Perhaps this is the case at all the moderates now?

That's definitely something new. It used to be that the CBR was the only moderate with a "preferred" location near all of the action.

 

[wdwrich]

I'll stick with my standard locations though. Haven't had a bad location at a moderate yet!

I completely agree. As far as moderates go, we've stayed at POR and CSR. The only room location we didn't really like, was the one time we upgraded to a water-view room at POR. Go figure. But honestly, paying for a water-view room at a moderate is just not worth it since the rooms don't have balconies anyway. Now, a preferred location that gets you closer to eateries etc. might well be worth it to some folks, but we've always been happy with our standard rooms at the Mods.

 

[GrammyJudy]

I would have to recommend the Caribbean Beach Resort. The grounds are lush and tropical and have many places to sit and relax. The CBR is also the only moderate resort that you can book a preferred room location and be guaranteed a room near Old Port Royale (main pool, food court, marina, etc.). I have lots of pictures of the resort and room in both of my trip report. The most recent are in the "Who Knew Choking Each Other..." report.

In 2011 there are preferred rooms at POR also!

 

[MIGrandma]

My Mother and I loved Port Orleans Riverside. We stayed there for a week in March 2009. They honored our request for preferred building (Magnolia, I think?), and we asked for a third floor (only buildings with 3 floors have elevators) room and that was honored as well. It's a beautiful resort. The food court was great. Nice large pool, and several smaller pools. We had no trouble with the buses, I think POR has 4 stops to choose from, not just the main one by the check-in building. Most times we didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a bus, either at the resort, or at one of the parks to come back to the resort. But we didn't want a bus at peak times either, so maybe that made a difference. Loved the boat to DTD too.

 

[skipperkim]

With a 5 yo I'd recommend POFQ. It's the smallest resort, only 7 buildings. Nothing is that far at that resort. No need to pay extra to get a preferred location. You'll always be first on the bus so you'll have a seat every morning and first off in the evening, if the bus shares with POR. It does have its own bus stop at MK in the evening, a great plus for a small resort. The pool is designed for little ones. While there is a slide it's perfect for them.

www.portorleans.org

 

[Clover9990]

Caribbean Beach Resort, for sure. First of all, they have the best pool area out of all of the mods, IMO. They have 2 pool slides, one of which goes through a cave, and they also have a really neat waterpark-like splash & play area for younger kids.

Also, the rooms at CBR are much nicer than POR. To be fair, we've never stayed at POFQ but we stayed at POR last September and had 2 rooms, and both were in major need of a rehab. Peeling paint, rust in the bathrooms, a musty smell, broken lightbulbs...just not the best experience. The grounds are beautiful, I will give them that- but I think the grounds at CBR are pretty, too. We've also stayed at CSR and while the grounds are beautiful there, the hotel just doesn't have that Disney feel to us.

As far as food goes, I hate the food court at CSR- just don't like the way you order & have servers (& have to tip) at the Pepper Market (unless they've changed this in the past couple of years.) The food court at CBR was nice, big, and the food was pretty good. POR had a decent food court, too- no complaints there- we just liked the atmosphere of the CBR better.

 

[shaffercrs]

Another vote for POFQ.