Moderate Resort Recommendation Needed for Early May 2017

[SteamboatJoe]

My wife and I are currently considering doing one last WDW trip before we start our family and are looking at doing something in early May 2017. We'd like something a little nicer, grown up, and convenient than what the value resorts offer. Not to mention that we will have plenty of opportunity to stay at a value resort once we start a family. While we would absolutely love to stay at one of the deluxe resorts, they simply are not within our budget given the length of time we want to stay (7 days, 8 nights).Given those facts, we've settled on trying to get one of the cheaper rooms at a moderate resort but which one should we go with?

I should mention that we are not considering Coronado Springs. We had our honeymoon there last year and stayed in Business Class. Though it was fantastic, we are both eager to experience one of the other properties. Plus, we don't want to be constantly comparing this trip to the last trip, especially considering we probably will not have the budget to stay in the Business Class section.

Carribean Beach is the most affordable and has a lot of elaborate theming, the latter being of particular interest to my wife, but its sprawling campus and lengthy bus rides are not appealing to either of us.

PO French Quarter has a lot of theming as well, has access to Disney Springs via boat, and only has one bus stop but it seems to be lacking in some of the amenities that truly put the moderate resorts a step above the value resorts.

PO Riverside also has boat access to Disney Springs and true moderate resort amenities but its theming seems a little more reserved and has multiple bus stops.

We are the type that tends to spend most of our time not on the resort property, though since we aren't also doing Universal, Sea World, and Discovery Cove this trip, we will have some time to possibly spend on the resorts that we didn't have during our honeymoon. Since we will also be completely relying on the buses, convenience in transportation is paramount as well.

What say you?

 

[Foltzy]

I love POFQ and am gonna suggest that. You mention that the only problem with it is its lack of amenities, while they're not at POFQ, they're a short walk away at Riverside. The trail from FQ to Riverside is really nice and you can practically use anything at Riverside.
Basically you can get the advantages to POFQ but can walk a little bit to get what FQ is lacking

 

[LadyBelle]

I loved POFQ when I stayed there. It was small and relatively quiet. This year, I'm trying Riverside for a different experience. I like the idea of the areas having their own pool in addition to the main pool. While the numerous bus stops was a concern, I decided it wasn't that big of a concern because the bus would have to come around the entire resort anyway.

 

[Mickey81]

FQ is our favorite resort on property. It's small and quiet. We almost always stay there and in fact will be staying there again in the first of May as well. We spend most of our time in the parks or exploring around property, so the small food court is fine for us. However we usually walk up to riverside once, and it's a nice walk along the river. We've tried other resorts, including deluxe, but FQ is home.

 

[officialtom]

POR is our favourite and we've stayed at them all except POFQ. We've wandered around there and liked it, but not as much as POR. We like that it's a bit more spread out, and each building has quiet pool access. Heading there again in March!

 

[DisneyAubs]

I think both Port Orleans can be romantic! POR may have more subtle theming, but the resort is beautiful and nice for a stroll together. And I think you'll enjoy the boat to Disney Springs too.

 

[PixieDustMamma]

What an exciting time in your lives! I would cast my vote for FQ also. It's theming is just amazing and the last time we stayed there we had a river view room and would take the walk from FQ to Riverside as a family and it was one of my favorite times of day. Our older daughter still talks about staying there. We also love that it is a smaller resort and is the only place on property for that awesome beignet. I've said this many times and will say again though, in my book you can't go wrong at Disney LOL!

 

[TXDisney]

POR or PO FQ

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I second the suggestions to stay at POFQ and walk to Riverside when you want to take advantage of their amenities. My understanding is that you can use both pools, because they are sister resorts.

 

[ekutchey]

I think any would be great for you however I see you didn't want Caribbean because it is large and length of bus rides. Port Orleans is quite large as well with lengthy bus rides so I would hate for you to write off Caribbean for that reason alone and find Port Orleans to have this issue.

 

[JohnD]

All are great but I would choose in this order:

• POFQ
• POR
• COR
• CBR

 

[tglancy]

I can only speak for POR, as the only other one I stayed at was CBR but that was 14 years ago on my honeymoon, but POR is fantastic! Boatwrights is great, the lounge is nice and the entertainment there is a lot of fun. The bus rides can be a little long, but the ease of taking a boat to Disney Springs makes up for it.

 

[Jeff456]

POFQ all the way as others have said already, it's nice to walk between POFQ and POR if there was anything over there you needed.

 

[KLeigh]

Another vote for POFQ!

 

[tpoly88]

i like the riverside, the walking paths are really neat and you can take the boat to disney springs which is pretty at night. Not a fan of CBR. Also check the site because sometimes the WL is not much more than a moderate, you have to catch it right. The other option if you dont have kids is the Swan/Dolphin. rooms are nice and are cheaper than a moderate resort is some cases. they just dont give you magic bands there, but you can walk to Epcot and the boardwalk. just a thought...

 

[LeighM]

My husband and I are big fans of PO Riverside. I would like to stay at French Quarter one day but they don't typically offer as many discounts or special offers, like free dining, that Riverside has. Because of that, I would have to say Riverside. French Quarter is a really nice walk and doesn't take very long. We'll sometimes eat lunch or dinner there for the beignets but Riverside has the larger food court and sit down restaurant. Sometimes the buses at Riverside can be a pain but it helps to know that the west depot in Alligator Bayou section is the first stop and the main (south) depot is last for the parks. If you request a room near the west depot, you can typically be first on the bus depending on the time you're going to the parks. I would never let transportation worries stop me from staying there. The grounds are so pretty and it's a really relaxing atmosphere. When the buses were crowded at the end of the day, we would normally take the bus to French Quarter since the lines were shorter and just walk back to the room. Last year, we stayed in one of the royal rooms in the mansion section and the walk was very short. That's the other thing we prefer about Riverside - you have more options of room theme. You can have the Alligator Bayou section which is more rustic, the regular mansion room, or the Royal Room. My favorite was the Royal Room but I couldn't talk my husband into staying in one this year

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Thanks everybody!

While there were a lot of great points made about French Quarter, we ultimately decided to go with Riverside.

T minus 8 months, 8 days and counting!

 

[LeighM]

Thanks everybody!

While there were a lot of great points made about French Quarter, we ultimately decided to go with Riverside.

T minus 8 months, 8 days and counting!

You can't go wrong with either resort. But Riverside will always be my favorite One thing my husband and I both love about it is that it has the understated theme and it's just so relaxing after a busy day in the parks.

 

[kaitertot5249]

I agree with everyone who gave POFQ a shout out. My boyfriend and I stayed at FQ in January of this year and absolutely loved it, it is now one of our favorite resorts and one we will be returning to often. However we were only there for a long weekend (3 nights) and did not spend a ton of time at the resort itself. We did walk around the whole resort and were lucky enough to be put in a Riverview room so we had a great view from our window. The themeing here is awesome and fun to look at, we tried to take a different route to and from the buses everyday to see as much of the resort as we could.

My favorite part of this resort is the size. There were not a lot of people and the resort itself was fairly quiet. Most of the guests were couples, very few families. I don't know if this was just a fluke for the week that we were there but it was definitely nice to feel like we were at more of an "adult" hotel by Disney standards. We also really enjoyed coming back after a long day at the park and grabbing a quick drink at Scat Cat's which was right next to the bus stop and centrally located to all room areas, a HUGE perk of the size of the hotel. Despite the fact that POR is more subtly themed and looks like a more romantic, it is a sprawling resort with family geared "princess rooms" that draw more families with young children to stay there. If you're looking for a romantic adults-only feeling resort POFQ is a great, if not the BEST choice. The good thing is that the two resorts (Riverside and French Quarter) are SO close together that you can easily travel between the two and spend some time enjoying the southern charm of POR or take a romantic horse drawn carriage ride around the resort without staying there. I also think that POFQ is slightly cheaper than other moderate resorts, also an added benefit.