We just got back Sunday from a week at WDW. We have done the dining plan numerous times. We decided this was our last time on the plan. Service was horrible! The shortest sit down meal we had was just under 2 hours. The longest meals were 3 hours. That is too long sitting in a rest. at a theme park. The worst service we had was at Le Cellier, which happened to have the best food. Also, there were lots of complaints about the 'seasonal' pricing. Honestly, with the crazy prices WDW is now charging for buffets I can see why people are making other choices. We switched dining a few times on our trip and never had trouble getting a different option. We also noticed lots of people who looked like 'sherpas' hauling around coolers on wheels (yep, they got through security!), cooler bags and other bags full of sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. I'd say the days of great dining at Disney seem to be numbered. $40 per day for two adults during the summer 'seasonal' pricing will get you 2 counter service meals per person per day and not much else. Sandwich/fries were running about $7 add on a $2.50 drink and your close to $10 per person.
We stayed at Boardwalk, had room 3279, great room, nice view, excellent location. We took advantage of the 4/3 offer. We loved being close to the Studios and Epcot. But we noticed that we shared buses to and from MK & AK and those buses got crowded quickly. If you want to stay at a value I'd really go with Pop because of the bus system. It seemed to be the only resort that had its own buses running to and from the parks. (possible cutbacks? don't know).
We stayed offsite back in 1998, rented a home w/a pool. Wouldn't do it again for all the savings in the world. However, you can get a nicer hotel offsite for the same price you pay for the values. So the term 'value' resorts is a bit misleading. If you have your own car you can always drive to the 3 parks but use WDW for MK. We opt to use WDW transportation for everything and only once had trouble.
