Upgrade from Value to Moderate???

[alwaysdreamingofdis]

We have stayed Value (Pop and All Stars) and Moderates (CBR, FQ, and POR). Have dined at and toured many deluxe resorts but never stayed there due to budget. Here is my question...IMO, going from Value to Moderate is a big jump in terms of a much nicer resort, lush landscaping, just a more relaxed overall feel...for just about 110-125 more a night. I can justify that....especially considering moderates have regular DP during Free Dining and Values only the QS. It is a great value (about 200 more for a moderate for our entire 8 night trip if you factor in Dining). However, there is a much greater diff in price from.moderate to deluxe ...and the resorts are not THAT much better than moderates.. Yes, location is a big plus for many deluxe, but at almost double to triple the cost of a moderate a night, I just can't justify the difference. Wondered how others may see this issue. Thoughts??? Thanks!!!

 

[Sue M]

I would upgrade from value to moderate in a heart beat!

 

[alwaysdreamingofdis]

I would upgrade from value to moderate in a heart beat!

For our Sept trip, that is exactly the what we did I'll take POR over Pop anyday

 

[epe105]

I agree with you. To me, it's hard to justify paying so much for a room if we are just going to be in the park all day. That's why I recommend split stays for deluxes. On the first half of our vacations, we hit the parks hard and stay at a value. But at the second half of our vacations, we stay at a deluxe and really try to take advantage of what the resort has to offer.

 

[Huff]

We upgraded from Pop to CBR for $110 more for our 10 night trip with FD. Thats worth it to me. Works out with FD if you have a party of 4 adults. Otherwise the upgrade would be excessive. I've never felt the DLX's are worth the absurdly high prices. We spend very little time at the resort so cannot justify the price.

 

[kla]

Personally, I would never ever pay the outrageous rack rate prices for a deluxe, but have rented DVC points and gotten TA discounts that make staying at a deluxe not feel like such a rip off. Our August stay at BC will cost us about as much as we've paid for a mod in the past, so I can justify the jump. I go back and forth about whether mods are even worth the price over values, though I do enjoy the nicer pools and landscaping, and those extra square feet in the rooms do make them feel bigger. I guess we just don't feel that a balcony, indoor hallways and TS dining options at deluxes are must-haves for us, especially since the rooms are not that much better for the price.

 

[Aurora0427]

You wrote is there much difference between moderate and value and I think you mean mod to deluxe.

We think so. We love the deluxe resorts, but always try and book with a discount. Paying rack rate is hard to stomach. We've stayed at POFQ and all the deluxe resorts except for AKL and BWI. We've also stayed at AoA. But money will be tighter going forward with one daughter entering private school and a new baby. We will really have to save to stay deluxe when we take baby girl number 2 for her first trip in a few years. I think we'd like to try and stay deluxe but may look at POR. The girls would love the royal rooms!

 

[cantoine]

I have stayed at all 3 categories. I will never stay at a value again. Ever. Moderates I love. I have had some bad experiences in some of the deluxes but I have never had a bad experience at the moderates. POFQ is by far my favorite and the funny thing is that was the resort we were most skepticial to stay at.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm the opposite! For an adult traveler either solo or with another adult, I have a very hard time justifying the $75-$100/night for a moderate over a value (you will see my exception in a minute...). You are still eating at a food court. Still using WDW buses. More pools, yes and a hot tub. Nice features. A bit more room and an extra sink--but for me, that is not worth $100/night. I've never had an issue TOP floor, landscape or lake view with noise at any value. Kidani made me insane with in room noise. And the lakeview at Pop is just lovely.

POFQ is my exception!!! Small, quiet resort with so many recreation offerings (Most free!) during the day and in the evenings, not to mention the boat ride to DTD. I found many of their offerings had a high appeal to adults--not just kids. Great walking, running path to/from POR.

 

[Disney fan from Wisconsin]

We prefer Moderate resorts. I agree the price points from value to mod are fine for the benefits you get. I also think the price from mod to deluxe is a lot without seeing as much benefit. AKL would probably be the one exception because you are getting the animal/savanna experience out of it.

 

[alwaysdreamingofdis]

You wrote is there much difference between moderate and value and I think you mean mod to deluxe.

We think so. We love the deluxe resorts, but always try and book with a discount. Paying rack rate is hard to stomach. We've stayed at POFQ and all the deluxe resorts except for AKL and BWI. We've also stayed at AoA. But money will be tighter going forward with one daughter entering private school and a new baby. We will really have to save to stay deluxe when we take baby girl number 2 for her first trip in a few years. I think we'd like to try and stay deluxe but may look at POR. The girls would love the royal rooms!

Yes.....I did type that by mistake...just went to edit that a moment ago...Thank you

 

[kdisser]

I did the math on our upcoming trip and ran different ideas of trips.
1.. being we stay at value upgrade room to preferred and upgrade the dining (During FD). That total for 4 adults and 8 nights came to $3,857

2..being we stay moderate no upgrades (still FD but DDP instead of QSP). That plan for 4 adults and 8 nights came to $3,927
Total difference of $70 and getting to stay somewhere different I went with staying moderate. We love FD and no matter how we look at it, with different discounts, none of them come close to the savings we get with FD.

 

[Shanti]

For us the comfort and amenities, including better beds, interior hallways, private balcony or patio, better dining, better pools and more elaborate theming make the deluxes worth it. The resort we stay at is an integral part of the trip. The 30% off room-only discounts help a lot, as does choosing a standard view room instead of an extra-cost view or club level room. Choosing a deluxe resort that is not the Poly or GF will also help. Late summer is the most affordable time of the year for deluxes, btw.

 

[KnittingMom]

We have stayed Value (Pop and All Stars) and Moderates (CBR, FQ, and POR). Have dined at and toured many deluxe resorts but never stayed there due to budget. Here is my question...IMO, going from Value to Moderate is a big jump in terms of a much nicer resort, lush landscaping, just a more relaxed overall feel...for just about 110-125 more a night. I can justify that....especially considering moderates have regular DP during Free Dining and Values only the QS. It is a great value (about 200 more for a moderate for our entire 8 night trip if you factor in Dining). However, there is a much greater diff in price from.moderate to deluxe ...and the resorts are not THAT much better than moderates.. Yes, location is a big plus for many deluxe, but at almost double to triple the cost of a moderate a night, I just can't justify the difference. Wondered how others may see this issue. Thoughts??? Thanks!!!

I feel that same way about the price differences. It's fairly easy for me to justify the small price jump from Value to Moderate because we really do use the resort amenities and the hot tub, and the extra space, but I've only ever stayed at a Deluxe with an amazing price code that, in two cases, made the Deluxe less than a moderate (this was in the years after 9/11 when Disney was having trouble selling rooms).

 

[alwaysdreamingofdis]

I did the math on our upcoming trip and ran different ideas of trips.
1.. being we stay at value upgrade room to preferred and upgrade the dining (During FD). That total for 4 adults and 8 nights came to $3,857

2..being we stay moderate no upgrades (still FD but DDP instead of QSP). That plan for 4 adults and 8 nights came to $3,927
Total difference of $70 and getting to stay somewhere different I went with staying moderate. We love FD and no matter how we look at it, with different discounts, none of them come close to the savings we get with FD.

Same thing with us!!!! No way would I pass up Moderate for that price difference!!!!

 

[AJA]

I love the moderate resorts. The only value we've tried was AOA and honestly all the mods are totally worth the price difference IMO.

That said, I also find the deluxe resorts a big step up from the mods. Sometimes the money is in our budget to upgrade and some years it isn't. Disneyworld rack rates for mods and deluxe are insane but with a good discount both categories are worth it.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

It's good question but also has others have said depends on the resort. You pay on delux at times for the location likeno moderate monorail resorts. The only expection which is strange is AK. I love this resort but it's so remote. I prefer the location of Port Orleans resorts.

We own DVC but sometimes we pay rack rate when we run dry of points. It's location for us. We love SSR and PO flr it's boat to The Springs. The monorail resorts for the monorail, EPCOT resorts for being able to walk into EPCOT and boat to DHS. Etc etc.

AoA was great but some of the rooms were too far away from the bus stop. Same as Pop and AS. The delux/moderates might have more bus stops.

But it's all down to budget! It's great there is so much choice for all of us.

 

[Aurora0427]

For us the comfort and amenities, including better beds, interior hallways, private balcony or patio, better dining, better pools and more elaborate theming make the deluxes worth it. The resort we stay at is an integral part of the trip. The 30% off room-only discounts help a lot, as does choosing a standard view room instead of an extra-cost view or club level room. Choosing a deluxe resort that is not the Poly or GF will also help. Late summer is the most affordable time of the year for deluxes, btw.

This- we've been spoiled by our last three trips to Polynesian and GF, but we booked them on a bounce back and had a sizable 35% off discount. We won't have that big of a discount next trip. May look at going back to WL or AKL.

 

[Nancyg56]

We pick and choose our resort based on what we plan on doing on the vacation. For us, the resort is usually part of our trip, so many times it is worth it to us to upgrade to Deluxe.

 

[Eastern]

I like the lobbies/locations of the deluxes so we often choose them, but when I want to feel like I got a deal I book POFQ. So far, my top 3 choices would probably be Poly, POFQ and BWI, in that order.