Switching from Value to Moderate on a budget

[kclark9830]

Where do you stay at WDW? A little background, we have 2 adults and 2 kids under ten yrs. old. We've only stayed at the All Star resorts, and we've been planning on continuing that trend when we go on our next trip in 2016. However, I've always wanted to stay at Port Orleans Resort, particularly the Royal Rooms. These rooms will be about 3 times the price of the All Star rooms, and overall will cost us an estimated $800 extra.

I know the people on the budget board will understand why this gives me pause! haha

A few things to consider: my husband has already expressed a desire to stay at the resort and relax a little more than on previous visits. I think relaxing would be a little more enjoyable at POR than at All Stars. Also, we have 18 months to save the extra money, so quite a lot of time and opportunity.

On the downside: our Disney vacation will be our main vacation for the year. The last time we went, in 2014, it was the only vacation we got to take the entire year. If we DON'T spend the extra $800 on POR, we can use that money to take a small weekend getaway at a different time of the year. This way our Disney vacay won't be the only trip we get to take all year. But if we do the upgrade in resort, we might not be able to do the weekend getaway.

Thoughts? Ideas? Where do you stay when you go to WDW on a budget?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

When we were a family of 5 the only onsite resort we could afford to stay in was POR in the Alligator Bayou section. We HATED it. Room was dark/depressing, small and cramped, we were FAR, FAR, FAR from the main building/food court and Ol'Man Island was pretty far away too. It wasn't any more relaxing than POP and the food court at POR during peak times was a nightmare. We liked 2 rooms at POP better. Much brighter, much more space for just a few $ more and a lot more fun.

 

[wolf29]

My two sons an I go to WDW annually, with this August being the 10th. We've always stayed at Pop, with it truly feeling like our home-away-from-home. Last year we made the move to a moderate to have a little more space, staying at POR, in the Magnolia building. We really only use the resort for a mid-afternoon pool break and to sleep, spending most all of our time doing things. The Royal rooms would be cool, but we're not there enough to justify the cost. The layout is more spread out that the values, more relaxing and quieter. We didn't feel like it was very far to anywhere we needed to go, but I really found myself missing the frenetic pace of Pop.

 

[kymom99]

I have stayed at French Quarter and CBR. The one thing I would suggest if you stay at a moderate is to get a preferred room. Usually the specially themed rooms are the farthest away from all the amenities. At CBR, the pirate rooms are a ridiculous distance from the pool and food court. I think that is why when they refurbed them they made them pirate rooms. Otherwise no one would want to stay in those rooms. I don't know where the royal rooms are, but I am willing to bet they are a hike from all the things that you will want to use at the resort. Just something to think about.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

If you didn't have two kids under 10 I would have suggested a split stay but I think it would be too much of a hassle with kids. I do love the boat access and the food court at Riverside and with kids you might also enjoy the theme pool. It is a pretty decent sized resort so depending on room location you may have lots of walking just to get to bus stops and the food court. $800 is a lot of money and if it were me I would probably be inclined to save the money and enjoy the Allstar. What time of year will you be going? Is it possible to book an Allstar and if a discount comes out then you could upgrade for less than $800? The royal rooms may be excluded from room discounts but maybe you would also find a standard or preferred room acceptable.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Get a standard room there, booked through Orbitz or Travelocity with a promo code to save more money. I loooovvvvveeeee POR!

 

[MimiOfTwo]

I stayed in a Royal Room in November. It wasn't far from the East (or may have been west lol) bus depo. The walk to the main building wasn't too bad. That said I'd pick POFQ over it any day. For the record I hate the values and won't stay there. With POFQ you won't need a preferred room. They don't even have them because it's small. If you get building 4 or 5 you are right at the food court & only bus stop.

 

[DisneySnowWhite]

we stayed at POR and we hated it. It just seemed dark and dirty for some reason. Try the Caribbean. We like it there.

 

[angierae]

I'm having the same struggle with our 2016 trip. We stayed at POFQ in 2012 (with three 'adults' and free dining) and I really want to stay at CBR next trip (10/16) but there's a $700 difference and I just keep thinking about all the things I could do with $700 on that trip. It's a tough call. For four people I'd be inclined to stay in a moderate just to get the queen beds. Are you and your husband going to be comfortable in double beds? DH and I can't do it, we're too used to our king at home. (He isn't going with us in 2016, so.)

 

[ValpoCory]

Where do you stay at WDW? A little background, we have 2 adults and 2 kids under ten yrs. old. We've only stayed at the All Star resorts, and we've been planning on continuing that trend when we go on our next trip in 2016. However, I've always wanted to stay at Port Orleans Resort, particularly the Royal Rooms. These rooms will be about 3 times the price of the All Star rooms, and overall will cost us an estimated $800 extra.

I know the people on the budget board will understand why this gives me pause! haha

A few things to consider: my husband has already expressed a desire to stay at the resort and relax a little more than on previous visits. I think relaxing would be a little more enjoyable at POR than at All Stars. Also, we have 18 months to save the extra money, so quite a lot of time and opportunity.

On the downside: our Disney vacation will be our main vacation for the year. The last time we went, in 2014, it was the only vacation we got to take the entire year. If we DON'T spend the extra $800 on POR, we can use that money to take a small weekend getaway at a different time of the year. This way our Disney vacay won't be the only trip we get to take all year. But if we do the upgrade in resort, we might not be able to do the weekend getaway.

Thoughts? Ideas? Where do you stay when you go to WDW on a budget?

Once you decide to swing for a Moderate, in my opinion you should swing for a DVC Rental. You can get a room at a relaxing Deluxe resort for about the same price as a Moderate. Experienced DVC Renters can usually beat Moderate prices at any DVC Resort.

We are staying at the DVC wing of the Contemporary Resort, in Christmas season, for $181 per night. And that's the most I've paid for a Studio room through DVC. Boardwalk Villas, Beach Club Villas, and Animal Kingdom Villas can usually be done for less.

 

[Eliza32]

How much time do you spend at your hotel on a Disney vacation?? If you spend a fair amount of time there, then I could see the extra money would be worth it. If on the other hand you are like us (leave hotel by 9:00am each morning, rarely come back before 6:00 in the evening) what would you actually be paying the extra for? I love POP and it does perfectly well for us. We stay 14 nights at a time and have never wished for a higher ranked hotel. Personally I'd keep the $800 for another break.

 

[OZMom]

I have to say it depends on your vacation style too. If you honestly want to spend a day or even a few half days, just at the hotel, POR is great. The pool is nice, they have the surrey bikes you can rent, you can take the boat to downtown. We add extra days into our family vacation just for this purpose. I did not find the rooms dark or dirty at all, but we stayed recently after they have been renovated, so I don't know what they were like before.

DH and I are going in May and since we are "commando" vacationing for 3 days, we booked POP thinking we would only be there to sleep so it doesn't matter. We managed to get a PIN that made the difference between POP and CBR negligible and upgraded immediately.

I agree with PP's, if you can get a discount definitely do the upgrade, or think about switching to POP. But if it's the difference between sleeping in a moderate vs sleeping in a value, save the money. There are so many things $800 can be spent on

 

[auger]

By a twist of fate, we rcvd a room at POFQ last September. We had always wondered if paying to upgrade would be worth the added expense. For the first time ever, we were there without any kids, so we had the entire room to ourselves.
Even so, after a week in that resort, we came to the conclusion that we would never be willing to pay the difference to stay Moderate over a Value. While the resort was nice, it simply was not anything we felt justified the cost to upgrade.
We were in bldg. 5, and in spite of the close proximity to the main bldg., and we still didn't see any substantial benefit over the Values.

Personally, I would take that $800 and find another small vacation to take with my family. Even a couple of weekend getaways to a hotel would be a great break from the daily grind of life. And kids absolutely LOVE going to hotels!! I am fortunate enough to take multiple vacations each year. If I didn't have that luxury, and I knew that I could take another vacation somewhere simply by spending $800 less at Disney on a room upgrade, I wouldn't think twice about saving that money!!

Ultimately, only you can decide what is most important to you and your family.

 

[DCbride]

We either stay value or deluxe. We cut out the mods when the price became almost double value. When we go we stay value except summer when we really use the resort pool, and the price is less then we stay deluxe. I definitely would not pay $800 more for a moderate.

 

[msmama]

I don't like the moderates at disney. I don't feel I get significantly more for the extra money (with the exception of POFQ which is my favorite resort ever).

I've done Pop several times as well as the all stars and a couple deluxes. I do think the deluxes can be affordable if you get the right discount, plus I feel like I'm getting something (location) for the extra money. Otherwise I really like pop more than the other all stars personally. It's always been cheapest too!

 

[Pembo]

We love POR and POFQ! If your kids love pool slides, choose it. If you'd like a leisurely boat ride to DTD, choose it. We loved the main pools and the opportunity to try them at both hotels on our stays. We love the quiet pools. They were deep and my kids loved swimming in them. I've stayed at AsMO and Pop. Both are great resorts however, for me, they lack ambience. I find POR to be more lush in the landscaping and just prettier.

Now if you want more space and a pool slide, try Windsor Hills. We stayed offsite in a condo and LOVED it. We paid barely $100/nt during spring break for a 3 bed condo that was in view of the pool, with a great slide. Yes it's a different vacation than staying on property but it was more relaxing.

Just another option....

 

[tinkerone]

book the resort and room you want for a price you are comfortable with. then wait and see if you can get a pin code, or a special comes on for room only discount or free dinning. I notice that when these deals pop up you can get a mod for the price of a regular priced value. so its like getting a free upgrade, or at least that's what I tell myself.
I do love the pop though.

 

[powellrj]

We have stayed at both POP and CBR and I didn't see enough of a difference to pay much more for one over the other.

 

[sookie]

We hated, absolutely hated POR. It was horrible. Run away.

 

[Pumpkingirl7]

I've stayed in the royal rooms and they aren't worth the extra money... But we love POR and POFQ... French quarter is our favorite!