Making the leap to Moderate Resorts -- Advice

[Tony the Tigger]

@Tony the Tigger Thanks so much for the great advice! We'll definitely keep our eyes peeled in case a deal that's too good to resist pops up. As many have said before, once you upgrade to moderates, there's no looking back which will be exciting for us with our future WDW visits. I suppose the hardest thing to deal with the next few years will be the avalanche of construction walls up at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Obviously, the wait will be more than worth it for a Star Wars junkie like myself but, boy they can be eye sores. Having just recently visited Disneyland (my second visit, my wife's first), we were in our paradise there with the Grand California's accommodations, the added convenience of no buses and the overall laid back atmosphere of the parks. That said, Orlando is typically our go-to location and we can't wait to experience it in an upgraded resort.

Star Wars and Jaws were the first two "real movies" I saw as a kid in the 70's (other than Benji and stuff LOL.)

They ruined movies for me for the rest of my life!! Nothing else comes close. These attractions should be mind-blowing when they are done.

 

[Mike K]

Star Wars and Jaws were the first two "real movies" I saw as a kid in the 70's (other than Benji and stuff LOL.)

They ruined movies for me for the rest of my life!! Nothing else comes close. These attractions should be mind-blowing when they are done.

We definitely have the same tastes! I'm a Spielberg kid so everything in the Amblin canon as well as Star Wars hits the right movie magic spot for me.

 

[AlanaH]

I love CBR!! The nice thing about it, while you swing in a hammock, or going to a private pool, it feel like you the only one there!

Also, with the new renovation, that are very nice!

 

[Ben_since_1971]

CBR is a beautiful resort. Yes, it is big and spread out. But that also means that you never feel like people are all over you. I have stayed there at the height of Pop Warner with millions of cheerleaders and never felt crowded (well, except by the pool). The theming is magnificent. Food court is serviceable. I love it.

 

[JohnD]

I've stayed at all the moderates. I like them all. You can't go wrong with any of them. Like any resort there are some positives and negatives:

CBR
Positive: Great theming and immersive. Negative: Large layout and many bus depots

CSR
Positive: Theming and smaller. Negative: Four bus depots

POR
Positive: Theming, two types of areas (Alligator Point and Magnolia), boat to DTD/DS. Negative: Four bus depots

POFQ
Positive Theming (surprise!), One bus depot, boat to DTD/DS, Quiet. Negative: Don't really have one.

 

[Mike K]

I've stayed at all the moderates. I like them all. You can't go wrong with any of them. Like any resort there are some positives and negatives:

CBR
Positive: Great theming and immersive. Negative: Large layout and many bus depots

CSR
Positive: Theming and smaller. Negative: Four bus depots

POR
Positive: Theming, two types of areas (Alligator Point and Magnolia), boat to DTD/DS. Negative: Four bus depots

POFQ
Positive Theming (surprise!), One bus depot, boat to DTD/DS, Quiet. Negative: Don't really have one.

Thanks for the tips @JohnD ! The more I hear about POFQ, the more excited I am to visit! Forgive me for misunderstanding but, you mention many bus depots at all the other locations as negatives. What exactly do you mean? Coming from the values, we've only dispatched at one depot from All-Star Movies and Art of Animation to each park. Can you provide me with more details on that? Thanks in advance!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Thanks for the tips @JohnD ! The more I hear about POFQ, the more excited I am to visit! Forgive me for misunderstanding but, you mention many bus depots at all the other locations as negatives. What exactly do you mean? Coming from the values, we've only dispatched at one depot from All-Star Movies and Art of Animation to each park. Can you provide me with more details on that? Thanks in advance!

For example, Caribbean Beach resort is actually made up of several different "villages." They are named after islands like Aruba, Jamaica, etc. The bus stops at each individual village on the way to and from the parks. It can get frustrating. Sometimes if you are a later stop, the bus maybe full and you'll have to wait for the next one.

That was my least favorite thing about Caribbean beach the last time we stayed. But this time we are driving, so we will have our own car, so that won't matter at all.

 

[Mike K]

For example, Caribbean Beach resort is actually made up of several different "villages." They are named after islands like Aruba, Jamaica, etc. The bus stops at each individual village on the way to and from the parks. It can get frustrating. Sometimes if you are a later stop, the bus maybe full and you'll have to wait for the next one.

That was my least favorite thing about Caribbean beach the last time we stayed. But this time we are driving, so we will have our own car, so that won't matter at all.

@Tony the Tigger Thanks for clearing that up! That really would be quite a pain to deal with so that's comforting to know that POFQ is only one depot. I'm liking our resort decision more and more

 

[JohnD]

For example, Caribbean Beach resort is actually made up of several different "villages." They are named after islands like Aruba, Jamaica, etc. The bus stops at each individual village on the way to and from the parks. It can get frustrating. Sometimes if you are a later stop, the bus maybe full and you'll have to wait for the next one.

That was my least favorite thing about Caribbean beach the last time we stayed. But this time we are driving, so we will have our own car, so that won't matter at all.

Yep. Tony beat me to it.

 

[JohnD]

@Tony the Tigger Thanks for clearing that up! That really would be quite a pain to deal with so that's comforting to know that POFQ is only one depot. I'm liking our resort decision more and more

Like them all. But POFQ is definitely a great first choice.

 

[TXDisney]

POR and CS are our favorite moderates

 

[SAV]

We have only stayed at CSR in the moderate range and absolutely loved it. Queen size beds, Deluxe amenities, the Dig Site pool, immaculate grounds. Felt like we were transported to Mexico.

 

[surfsupdon]

The brand new refurbished rooms at CBR put the Resort easily ahead of the other moderates. They are great!

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Use the boat service. Such a great and relaxing benefit. We beat our party in a race from DTD back to Riverside using the boat over a bus.

 

[Squigglove]

We don't have a comparison. We just got back from our first stay at a Disney Resort - Port Orleans Riverside and it was amazing! In the past we've always stayed off-site, this was our first stay on-site and was rather impressive. We loved having such a serene environment to return to after those exciting, energy-pumped park visits. My baby loves the water and I really enjoyed my quality time with him at the Ol' Man Island pools (there's a large main pool with slide and falling water, and two "baby pools" about 1' deep). The grounds are amazing, even in all that heat and humidity I didn't mind walking the grounds, the serenity and beauty recharged the proverbial batteries a bit. Now that I have stayed at POR it would be very difficult to try another resort!

 

[seafoodbuffet]

Definitely loved POFQ and would stay there again if we could. Here's a different thought:

Not exactly a Disney moderate but have you considered staying at the Swan & Dolphin? Price-wise, I've found that it compares very favorably to deluxe resorts and depending on time of year, probably just a little more than a moderate (maybe 10-20%).

For that price you are getting what is basically a deluxe resort (nice rooms, great theming, interior entry) and some other plusses:
* walking distance to Epcot (and DHS if you're willing to take a longer walk)
* water taxi to Epcot/DHS
* unique view of Illuminations
* lots of really great onsite dining
* unique architecture/decor (it's a love it or hate it sort of thing)
* special events (e.g. during christmas they have an entire chocolate sculpture display, worth checking out even if not staying there)
* some rooms in the dolphin can accommodate a party of five (something we miss out on at POFQ)
* better bus routing, some of the moderates have lots of stops (Port Orleans can have up to 4 and I think CBR has like 6?), at MOST staying here is Boardwalk, Swan, Dolpin (and often they are dedicated busses during peak times)
* ability to earn/use starwood points (we've been able to stay here for an entire week on starwood points before, you can also use a combination of cash and points for a cheaper stay). Just for comparison, a single night here is just 10,000 starpoints. Depending on how you earned it, on equivalent rewards programs, that's only about $100 of rewards.

what you give up:
* no magic bands given to you (but you can still use magic bands from prior visits if you have them)
* no DME
* no 180+10 ADR, you've gotta make 180-day dining reservations which makes it hard to compete for the top restaurants
* less of a "Disney" feel
* no ability to charge to room via MagicBand
* you have to pay a "resort fee" which will make the price higher than it would appear
* you have to pay for parking which will also increase your out of pocket if you drive

I know this property can be polarizing but provided you can live with the limitations, I think it's a nice option worth considering. I would definitely stay here before many of the other deluxe resorts.

 

[Coaster Lover]

CSR
Positive: Theming and smaller. Negative: Four bus depots

Personal opinion alone, but I rather liked the four bus stops... though I could see where your opinion could vary depending on where on the resort you were staying. If we were leaving our rooms straight for the park, our bus stop was just a quick walk away. On the other hand, if we were having breakfast at the resort or wanted to look in the gift shop, another bus stop was right there. I guess it really helped that when we stayed at CSR, we were at bus stop 2 (I believe)... it was the first stop the bus made for pickups (so unless you were going at an odd time when everyone else was coming back from the parks, the bus was almost always nearly empty when it got to the stop), and it was the first stop the buses made coming back from the parks. I guess I could see where it wouldn't be nearly as big of a plus if you were closer to one of the later bus stops...

 

[JohnD]

Personal opinion alone, but I rather liked the four bus stops... though I could see where your opinion could vary depending on where on the resort you were staying. If we were leaving our rooms straight for the park, our bus stop was just a quick walk away. On the other hand, if we were having breakfast at the resort or wanted to look in the gift shop, another bus stop was right there. I guess it really helped that when we stayed at CSR, we were at bus stop 2 (I believe)... it was the first stop the bus made for pickups (so unless you were going at an odd time when everyone else was coming back from the parks, the bus was almost always nearly empty when it got to the stop), and it was the first stop the buses made coming back from the parks. I guess I could see where it wouldn't be nearly as big of a plus if you were closer to one of the later bus stops...

Don't get me wrong, I love CSR. But I had to go with "positives" and "negatives" for each moderate resort. Something had to fall into the "negative" column so I chose the depots. I suppose I could have added that CSR has a convention center as a "negative". For me, that would be a wash as convention goers tend to be business types headed to the out-of-the-way convention center area that vacationers don't go to. It's not like cheerleaders showing up for Pop Warner or anything.

 

[Mike K]

Thanks for the extensive tips, @seafoodbuffet . The perks relating to distance to Epcot and DHS are very appealing but, we are sticklers for a little more Disney theming. That said, I've always loved the Swan & Dolphin's architecture and have heard that their dining is pretty fantastic. We would never rule out testing any Disney resort so we'll definitely keep S&D in our thoughts for future visits. I suspect if POFQ is a total success for us, we may end up staying their for at least another visit before testing another resort out. Thanks again for your advice!

 

[seafoodbuffet]

Thanks for the extensive tips, @seafoodbuffet . The perks relating to distance to Epcot and DHS are very appealing but, we are sticklers for a little more Disney theming. That said, I've always loved the Swan & Dolphin's architecture and have heard that their dining is pretty fantastic. We would never rule out testing any Disney resort so we'll definitely keep S&D in our thoughts for future visits. I suspect if POFQ is a total success for us, we may end up staying their for at least another visit before testing another resort out. Thanks again for your advice!

You're very welcome! we just stayed at POFQ and loved it and I'm sure you'll have a great time. Make sure to get beignets from Floatworks (the onsite QS restaurant).