AoA suites worth the extra $$$?

[sophie_the_pooh]

Alright, here it is... DH and I finally picked a resort and decided to go back to CBR for our Sept. 2015 trip. But, this week, as I was browsing through resort pictures with my 3 years old son running around me, he STOPPED (which, like, NEVER happened in 3 years...!!!) and asked me to go back to the AoA Cars suites pics. Then asked me to go again about 20 times, and again the next day. Now he keeps saying he wants to go to the "Cars hotel" for our next trip!!!
I checked the numbers, and it would be about an 800$ difference (7 nights), which we can manage to save since the trip is only in a year. But then again, it's the same price as a standard room in WL, which we also considered. We had decided on CBR because we went this year and enjoyed the resort, and because the extra money for a deluxe didn't seem worth it for now at his age (and we could only afford WL for now).

In your opinion, is an AoA Cars suites worth the extra money? I'm thinking yes, since he'll be 4 by then, which is to me around the perfect age to enjoy the AoA theming, and I would be looking forward to a little extra running space for him. But I'm also thinking no, because it's still a value resort, with noisy rooms and less options (don't get me wrong, we went to POP twice in 2007-08 and loved it, would go back, but not for 800$ more than a moderate!).

Can you guys help me! Thanks!

 

[MaryJaneP]

Maybe a split stay to satisfy his "Cars" fix and still save you some money. We have no AoA experience but have done split stays at WDW.

 

[BlackCauldron]

I think that its a question of value that only you can answer. The AOA suites are designed to sleep 6, and it seems as though it would be just the 3 of you. In reality, you would be paying an extra $800 because your son enjoys the theme, not because you need the extra room to house more bodies.

As for noise levels, the AOA suites are all accessed from indoor corridors (like a deluxe) and are actually fairly quiet. It also has one of the best food courts anywhere on property. AS for "less options" - what options are you interested in that AOA doesn't offer?

At the end of the day, the real question seems to be - would you rather spend the money just because your son wants to stay at AOA? Another option might be to take that $800 and extend your stay at the moderates for another few days.

 

[cbettua]

I would just take him to the resort one day to see the cars section outside, I think that would satisfy his fix. I am a family of four and don't think it would be worth it.

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

I think that its a question of value that only you can answer. The AOA suites are designed to sleep 6, and it seems as though it would be just the 3 of you. In reality, you would be paying an extra $800 because your son enjoys the theme, not because you need the extra room to house more bodies.

As for noise levels, the AOA suites are all accessed from indoor corridors (like a deluxe) and are actually fairly quiet. It also has one of the best food courts anywhere on property. AS for "less options" - what options are you interested in that AOA doesn't offer?

At the end of the day, the real question seems to be - would you rather spend the money just because your son wants to stay at AOA? Another option might be to take that $800 and extend your stay at the moderates for another few days.

I think I didn't explain myself enough... Of course I wouldn't change to AoA suite just to please my son. People pay extra money for deluxe resorts because of many different advantages: bigger rooms, restaurants, entertainment/sports options, locations, pools, etc. I was wondering if it was worth it to pay extra money for the advantages offered by the AoA suites. To me, those advantages seem to be much more space (yes, we are only 3, but my son is very active and my husband is very sensitive to noise and closed spaces), a great food court, good transportation and a more Disney-ish theming (which I also am a big fan of). Food court and transportation were ok at CBR, but not as good as what I experienced at POP.
But then again, having never been to AoA, I'm not sure if those advantages are worth the extra money...

 

[BigRedDad]

For my family, a room is a place to sleep and shower. We do not go to WDW to spend time in the room. I can do that any where. Deluxe resorts offer noithing for the money that a non-resort guest can do. You can visit all of the resorts and enjoy everything it has to offer. Why pay for it for a different bed and shower? I think I value my money more than others. If I need deluxe accommodations, I would not stay on property. You can get far nicer accommodations for more than 50% less on or just off property.

As for Suites, I would never get one at WDW. They are insanely expensive. I would just stay at CBR and visit AoA.

 

[LAM378]

We did AoA with 3 people last month, including my 4-year-old, and it was worth it to me. I'd never stayed at a value before but AoA didn't seem "value" to me. The resort was 100% full but never seemed crowded or loud or crazy (except peak times at the food court). Everything was clean and modern. The food court was awesome. We didn't use buses because we had a car but the lines never looked too bad.

We had a Nemo suite. They're mini suites, so they're not super spacious, but the extra room is nice. Certainly not "too much" space for a family of 3--it just feels comfortable. It's nice to have a little privacy and spread out. We moved over to WL, actually, and the room there felt very cramped and dark after having been at AoA.

That said, I didn't like the resort so much that I'd stay in a Little Mermaid room just to be there, if that makes sense. The suites are the draw for me. Our room was as close as you can get to the main building, and if you go for AoA, definitely make that request.

Lastly, I'm pricing out a big family split stay vacation for next year with my son who will be 5, and my niece and nephew who will be 2 and 3. Once the spring discounts come out, AoA will be only $40 or so cheaper per night than an Epcot deluxe, but I'm totally firm with my sister and BIL that we are staying at AoA for half the trip. My nephew is a Cars lunatic, and my son talks about AoA every single day. So I understand your wanting to give your son this experience while he's young enough to really enjoy it.

 

[HollyAD]

800$ is a big difference for a room. We are staying there because we have 5 of us going. Until the discount, it was cheaper for us to get 2 rooms at a value. So we ended up with a suite once the discount came out. I wouldn't spend the extra for a suite while at Disney unless you wanted to get a suite at a resort that would include a full kitchen. The AoA suites don't have a real kitchen. I think WL or AKL are worth spending the money on. You will have less room but way more to see at the resorts. WL has really good transportation and the boat, which is my son's favorite ride

 

[Dwarful]

We have stayed at all levels. We LOVED our stay at AoA cars suite and our girls were tweens and teens at the time. The rooms were super quiet. The main bedroom had a very nice large and spacious shower - my husband loved that. The other bathroom has the regular tub/shower combo. Every night the girls took turns on who got to sleep in the pull down bed with Mater. It was kind of funny. We were on the fourth floor and our room faced the pool areas. We did visit the main pool but the Cozy Cone pool became our go to pool.

The food court is quite nice and the buses are great. To be honest my girls loved this resort.....second only to Yacht and they LOVED that pool area and movie on the beach.

 

[4disneylovers]

We returned from AoA two weeks ago. We were there for 2 weeks. It was definitely a splurge trip for us. There are four of us. My children are 12 and 15. My problem with a value is that none of us can share the full size beds. They are just too small and I don't sleep. I considered 2 rooms at Pop or the Nemo suite. We settled on the Nemo suite and it is my kids new favorite resort. Not that we will be able to continue going there because of cost.

We found the room to be soooo comfortable because of the extra space. We learned years ago to take along a power strip to plug in the phones, camera, etc, etc, etc. We didn't need it at AoA. There were plenty of plugs and plenty of space to "put" everything so you knew where it was and you weren't constantly moving stuff to get to something else.

I totally agree with... I only sleep in my room so I don't need a ton of space. However, as we all get older the full beds just don't cut it. I have always thought Disney is missing the boat by not putting a King or Queen in the value rooms with a set of bunk beds for the kids. It was just nice for once for everyone to have their own space and if someone's area got a little messy I could say...you need to clean that up. It gave me a very relaxed feeling. I didn't feel like i was tripping over everyone and everything the whole time. Not to mention the bed/table and couch/bed are very easy to make back and forth and they were very comfortable. It wasn't the kind of matress that you feel a bar in your back all night.

If you can swing it, I would do it in a heartbeat. There were very few things we felt could have been done to improve the stay. We could have used an additional shelf in the shower and there are not enough laundry facilities to accommodate the resort. Other than that I have no complaints. Our room was very quite. It was just all around wonderful.

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

Thanks to all of you for your answers, they're very helpful!