Moderate Resorts - Your views on them?

[Figments Friend]

Hi Everyone

Thought i would begin a thread today regarding Moderate Resorts at WDW, as i am considering 'moving up' in the WDW World and am considering a stay at a Mod.

I usually stay at All Star Music ( my 'apartment' away from home..) but with the new Dining Offer now out i am contemplating possibly staying at a Moderate. This will be a first. So i am interested in YOUR feedback, tips, general review of your stay.

Which Moderate do you enjoy most?

Is there one you would recommend above all others?

Is there one you were not overly keen on and would advise one stay away?


I have read various other threads and several guide books about the Mods, but i always value the opinions of readers HERE on WDWMagic.Com. You guys ( and gals) know your stuff...and a lot of regulars like me come here. I just always tend to stay at the Values...but i am now considering a move to a Mod.

I would love to hear your views!!


:wave:

 

[wdwfan22]

We have stayed at all of the moderate resorts. This is our run down ... Coronado would be our choice as it's the closest to a Deluxe without having to pay for it. It's also the only moderate resort to feature queen size beds. Port Orleans Riverside is themed well, but the rooms are a little worn. Port Orleans French Quarter is a smaller resort and doesn't offer a restaurant on location unless you count walking to Riverside. Caribbean Beach is really spread out but does offer slightly larger rooms than the others.

1. Coronado Springs
2. Caribbean Beach
3. Port Orleans Riverside
4. Port Orleans French Quarter

 

[rpk4444]

I have stayed at all of the moderates and Caribbean Beach is my favorite. Maybe because it's the first Disney resort that I ever stayed at. My second choice would be Port Orleans French Quarter. You really can't go wrong with any of the Moderates. Good luck.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I have stayed at PORS. I love PORS. POFQ is nice, too. I only visited it. However, the immediate advantage is its size. POFQ is the smallest moderate. This makes walking and getting around easier. PORS is larger, but so beautiful. Either one of those are good choices. Coronado Springs to too big and convention-oriented. I have not been to CB.

 

[majorrfb]

POFQ is the choice

Hubby & I stayed at POFQ & loved it! Very pretty, peaceful, & convenient!

The quote says it all, especially convenient to all parks and everything Disney:sohappy:

 

[wendysue]

I am an avid fan of the Caribbean Resort. This was the first Disney resort that I remember staying at when I was little and have returned for many visits since then including my honeymoon a few years ago. We have stayed in all categories (Value, Moderate, Deluxe, & Deluxe Villa), but when we talk about which one we loved the most it always ends up being the CR. It may not be the most luxurious or the most popular, but we absolutely love it. When I am there, I truly feel like I am at Disney. We are simple people so the accomodations, atmosphere and "dining" fit perfectly for us. I've not stayed at the other mods so I can't really say that CR is better, but I do know that we have always been happy when we've stayed there. Good luck in your search!

Absolutely! We also love CBR.

 

[Wakkie Nu Nu]

We love CBR as far as personal tastes, but CSR is really "moderate plus", with several features and amenities the others just don't have.

 

[Mouse Man]

We have stayed at all the moderate resorts and our favorite is the Dixie Landings/PORS. We will be staying there again this year in September. Beautiful resort, layed back, well kept love the mansions and of course love the boatride to DTD, love the store, food Court. Can rent boats and bycycles there. Lots of pools to realax and enjoy in. Our least favorite is CSR, way to big, had issues with a few drunk and loud conventioneers. We also felt with the bussinenssmen around that we were truly not away from it all meaning away from work. At the other moderate resorts we felt laid back and relaxed. Now our next favorite is the CBR. Love the theme and colors and was always treated by the staff as if this was our home away from home. Now POFQ is nice and small, but we are not into the Mardi Gra theme. Hope this helps you out a bit.

 

[DisneyWeather!]

As others have said, the mods offer a different feel. I feel like I am at a resort rather than a motel. To me, being at the mods is all part of being in the "world". I am still in an exotic location when I am not at the parks. As far as a preference on which one, I would lean towards Riverside. We went to both Riverside and CB. Maybe it was just that Riverside was more recent, but I think I liked the grounds a little better there. I originally said I wanted to try all four, but I am having a hard time mentally preparing to go anywhere else. As a previous post said, I don't think the Mardi Gras theme is for me. At least I have a while to decide : (

 

[kittybubbles]

We've always felt that we will try every Disney Resort at least once, but it seems when we stay at a MOD we are happy w/ POFQ. Maybe it is that we like staying at POP a lot and when we decide to stay at a MOD it tends to be after a few too many times being rather far from the main building at POP.

We know when we stay at FQ, no building is too far from the main building. We really like the small size of FQ, the boat ride to DTD, and we really like the NO'leans look and feel (w/o the smells of the real FQ).

We are TIW holders so it is a plus that they do not have table service as the QS gives us a discount. If we feel like TS, we could always walk to PORS.

 

[PalisadesPkteer]

I have stayed at CBR Sept. 28 to Oct.2 2007.

The rooms are slightly larger than other Moderate resorts.

Has fridge in the room but think all Moderates have them. Ceiling fan in room

Each Island or "Village" area has its own
1. Quiet pool
2. White sand Beach
3. Hammocks on the Beach and
4. Bus stop. (Covered)

Just refurbished the feature pool and it is very nice

I liked the laid back, soft steel drum music and quiet surroundings. Beautiful and quiet place. They treated me like royalty when I was there.

Stayed in Aruba section and was near the footbridge to Food court and feature pool which was a short peaceful walk each day. The island you cross over using the footbridge had more hammocks, picnic tables and nice lush landscaping and local birds around sometimes. (Might have been a small covered sitting area there also but memory is fading.)

The food court was nice and the gift shop area was also this is were the concierge area is.

BUS System.

I DID NOT have any problems with the bus system. There is a dedicated internal bus system with covered waiting areas for each village.
So if you don't want to walk just sit and relax in the covered area till bus comes and get off at the stop you want.

Yes, the bus stops at each village but did not have a problem with it. Aruba was early in schedule during day so got on and just short waits and to the parks you go.

At night it was I think next to last. If you do not want to wait then you can get off at Old Port Royale and walk over to Aruba using footbridge which I did a few times and was not bad at all. Has a full service sit down restaurant which I didn't get to try.

Friends of mine stayed at CSR once. They loved the food court but felt is was a long walk at times to room. They liked the feature pool and said it was mostly quiet and very nice.

Hope this helps.

 

[disneysroyal411]

Go AKL for not a huge amount more, it's better. I also just love and adore the Poly!!!:xmas:

 

[Nansafan]

Hope I'm not to late to weigh in. CBR has a wonderful food court as does POR. The rooms between the Mods are pretty standard so if a Caribbean feel is more to your liking than an "old south" feel, choose CBR. My fav Moderate is POFQ. The reason I prefer POFQ is the size of the resort. While CBR and POR have multiple bus stops, POFQ only has 1. The resort is much smaller than the other Mods and much easier to walk around. Everything is close to each other, the pool, main building, boat dock, bus stop etc. Compared to all the other resorts we've stayed at, POR has a much more intimate feel. We've stayed at the 3 monorail resorts multiple times, the Yacht Club, and all 4 Mods. When we are staying at a Mod, my choice is always POFQ.

 

[scarpiapiano]

We've stayed at a value (All Star Sports) a moderate (POR - Dixie Landings when we stayed) a Deluxe (Polynesian) and a Vacation Villa (Boardwalk). In my opinion the step up from moderate to deluxe wasn't worth the extra $. The step up from value to moderate is worth it. We didn't have kids back when we went to POR or AS. We have kids now and maybe they'd like the constant frenetic energy of the Value Resorts but my wife and I loved the quietness and romance of Dixie Landings. The walk out to the bus stop in the morning with the sun coming up over the river - it really brought out the honey-dripper in me.:kiss:

 

[RiversideBunny]

We've stayed at a value (All Star Sports) a moderate (POR - Dixie Landings when we stayed) a Deluxe (Polynesian) and a Vacation Villa (Boardwalk). In my opinion the step up from moderate to deluxe wasn't worth the extra $. The step up from value to moderate is worth it. We didn't have kids back when we went to POR or AS. We have kids now and maybe they'd like the constant frenetic energy of the Value Resorts but my wife and I loved the quietness and romance of Dixie Landings. The walk out to the bus stop in the morning with the sun coming up over the river - it really brought out the honey-dripper in me.:kiss:

Yes. The step up from Value to Moderate is definitely worth it.
The only time it would be questionable is if the budget is very tiight.

 

[dclfan]

I have stayed at both the value and moderate resorts depending on out budget for the trip but will always love the mods. Ive stayed at POR, POFQ and CBR. Carribean Beach is my absolute favorite. The atmosphere is wonderful. The music the lnadscape everything makes you feel like you are in the Caribbean. The food court is bright, and lively. I love grabbing some breakfast and eating outside of Old Port Royale with the steel drums playing in the backround. Bus service has never been an issue with us at this resort so I have no issues there. I used to stay at POFQ when I was younger but last time I was there I didn't care for it as much as the CBR. Good luck with your planning

 

[MegaPowersPT]

While I'm sure they are nicer than the Value Resorts, we would never stay at a Moderate Resort only because we don't spend any time at the hotel other than sleeping and some swimming.

 

[majorrfb]

AFL yes BUT!!

Go AKL for not a huge amount more, it's better. I also just love and adore the Poly!!!:xmas:

We stayed at AKL and loved it BUT to get ANYWHERES except AK is a long drive. Luckily, we had a rental car so we could come and go as we pleased.
Due to the location, we won't be staying there again. My wife is an animal lover and enjoyed the stayed except distance to most Disney attractions.:shrug:

 

[Shere_Khan]

We are trying PORS for the first time this October. I am super excited.
We went over to POFQ last year just to catch the boat to DTD and to check out the resort. It looked beautiful, I cannot wait to say at River Side.

I have been to CBR before and really enjoyed it as well. We were in Aruba which was close to the bridge to the main building so it was very convenient.

We mostly stay at values because of the prices and the fact we don't hang around the resort much. But this year might be my last year for a while so I wanted to try PORS.

 

[pescador1f]

fyi

not sure if you know but free dining applies to values as well, its just 2 quick service, 1 snack, for an upgrade of $10 per person per day you can get the table, quick and snack plan, I just booked it last week.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Our favorite mod is CBR. Love the theming. Size of the beds. The private pools. covered bus stops. And busing from all resorts seems the same to me as far as time is concerned. i like that CBR has its own bus. The food court is pretty good. Clean grounds and rooms. POFQ is small and quaint in size, which is cool, but man, they have the smallest beds of all the resorts! little known fact.