Port orleans riverside vs. value resorts

[Mike_Gordon]

I recently reserved the REQUIRED TWO rooms at port orleans riverside for our family of 6. We are going there for 8 days in January of 2018 staying in the royal rooms with river view. However, the price tag is $4700.
With such a huge price tag, I'm looking at a few options. AOA nemo suit is $3100, port orleans standard room with no view and far location is $3400, and all star music is $2250.
Some opinions are to either go value or deluxe as the moderates are more expensive than value but not a huge difference.

Do I try and save on the resort and spend 10k vs 11.5k for total trip?

 

[Texas2Florida2017]

Wow. I'd honestly rent a house near WDW and save like 8K. While staying on property is fun, having your own pool/hot tub and no loud people to deal with after a long day in the parks is so worth the short drive off property.

 

[epcotisbest]

Wow. I'd honestly rent a house near WDW and save like 8K. While staying on property is fun, having your own pool/hot tub and no loud people to deal with after a long day in the parks is so worth the short drive off property.

Yes, I agree. I just don't understand spending this kind of money to stay in the bubble when you can get a nice house for thousands less. Somebody will mention parking and rental car costs, but when you save thousands, that is a small extra amount.
We have rented a five-bedroom, four bath house with its own pool and very nice community pool as well for $1400.

 

[correcaminos]

That's up to you honestly and what you are looking for. You will see people who love value resorts and swear by them and the same true for moderates and even deluxes.

What are your dates? I ask because 7 nights at OKW or SSR in a 2 bedroom renting from David's will run $3472-$4272. Could save you from the original cost, bigger rooms, full kitchen, washer & dryer. King bed in one room and 2 queens in another. If going at the end of Jan AKL savanna view is available for $4368 and will add a 3rd bathroom. Just a thought.

Off site vs on site can be huge for some. It's their money and they may not or possibly cannot drive around Orlando. If riding FOP is huge, good luck getting that as a FP staying off site. I don't get the judging others for using their money so much.

 

[Mike_Gordon]

We plan to stay on-sight for the full experience. Since we are going for 8 days, we plan to do parks in morning/evenings and spend mid days at the resort relaxing and resting. With kids ages 8,6,6,6 it seems mandatory to stay on-sight to have a good experience. As for Dave's DVC rentals, it seems way too risky to be locked in without the ability to cancel. I know there is vacation insurance, but I don't want to have to deal with the uncertainty of a kid getting sick and then having to fight an insurance company to get reimbursed for canceling a trip. The idea of not having housekeeping is also an unappealing part of DVC rentals.

I do appreciate all points of view though. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[epcotisbest]

That's up to you honestly and what you are looking for. You will see people who love value resorts and swear by them and the same true for moderates and even deluxes.

What are your dates? I ask because 7 nights at OKW or SSR in a 2 bedroom renting from David's will run $3472-$4272. Could save you from the original cost, bigger rooms, full kitchen, washer & dryer. King bed in one room and 2 queens in another. If going at the end of Jan AKL savanna view is available for $4368 and will add a 3rd bathroom. Just a thought.

Off site vs on site can be huge for some. It's their money and they may not or possibly cannot drive around Orlando. If riding FOP is huge, good luck getting that as a FP staying off site. I don't get the judging others for using their money so much.

Not judging a thing. OP asked a question about saving money. How is offering a money saving suggestion to a question about saving money judging anything? $4700 vs. $1400 is a $3300 difference, which for me, and my limited budget, is a substantial savings.

 

[epcotisbest]

We plan to stay on-sight for the full experience. Since we are going for 8 days, we plan to do parks in morning/evenings and spend mid days at the resort relaxing and resting. With kids ages 8,6,6,6 it seems mandatory to stay on-sight to have a good experience. As for Dave's DVC rentals, it seems way too risky to be locked in without the ability to cancel. I know there is vacation insurance, but I don't want to have to deal with the uncertainty of a kid getting sick and then having to fight an insurance company to get reimbursed for canceling a trip. The idea of not having housekeeping is also an unappealing part of DVC rentals.

I do appreciate all points of view though. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

If onsite is mandatory for your stay and budget is not a real issue, POR is a beautiful resort, lovely setting with beautifully landscaped grounds, very nice main pool and a couple of smaller pools, nice onsite dining options, and the boat ride to Disney Springs is an added bonus.
I misunderstood the tone of the question, thinking the main issue was budget, an issue I have to deal with often.
Personally, if the price is close, a DVC villa is a nice choice too. For us, not having housekeeping is a non-issue as we can sweep the floors, dust and take out our own trash. Takes about five minutes. Two-bedroom villas have their own washing machine and dryer and tossing the towels and sheets in takes very little time as well. OKW and SSR are both easier to get than some of the others, but any two-bedroom villas will have much more room than two hotel rooms. I have not had to ever deal with the possibility of cancellation because of a kid getting sick, so don't really know how much of a possibility that is.
Did have to cancel a DVC trip mid-week one time due to emergency back home, but we just checked out early and lost the rest of the week.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

I recently reserved the REQUIRED TWO rooms at port orleans riverside for our family of 6. We are going there for 8 days in January of 2018 staying in the royal rooms with river view. However, the price tag is $4700.
With such a huge price tag, I'm looking at a few options. AOA nemo suit is $3100, port orleans standard room with no view and far location is $3400, and all star music is $2250.
Some opinions are to either go value or deluxe as the moderates are more expensive than value but not a huge difference.

Do I try and save on the resort and spend 10k vs 11.5k for total trip?

I guess it depends on if you want more spending money over location. Our last trip we stayed at ASMo around the same time frame as you are going. All star was a 30 minute to MK and less to other parks by bus. With the savings on the room, we spent our money everywhere else. Put in for the DDP with the savings. We din't do the afternoon naps, so I assume the just as easy to get back and forth. Riverside has a boat to Springs, that maybe a fun thing for the kids to ride. Busing, you are more central, so I would assume you would have a fast trip on the bus. Since you are planning to use the pools and resort amenities, then you should plan on the best resort amenities since that will be a quarter to a third of your time at WDW. The ASMo best value is only using it as a place to sleep, spending the money elsewhere for your trip. The food courts are ok, but not great. the pools pretty plain.Looking at AoA and Riverside. Aoa boasts the largest pool, with all kid theming. Riverside has just as cool pool area, plus campfire times, horse drawn carages, bike and boat rentals. I can tell you that when my family goes back to WDW, we plan to do a Poly trip nextime, because we plan to do more resort time.

 

[correcaminos]

Not judging a thing. OP asked a question about saving money. How is offering a money saving suggestion to a question about saving money judging anything? $4700 vs. $1400 is a $3300 difference, which for me, and my limited budget, is a substantial savings.

It wasn't your post near as much as the other that sounded judgmental truthfully.

 

[correcaminos]

We plan to stay on-sight for the full experience. Since we are going for 8 days, we plan to do parks in morning/evenings and spend mid days at the resort relaxing and resting. With kids ages 8,6,6,6 it seems mandatory to stay on-sight to have a good experience. As for Dave's DVC rentals, it seems way too risky to be locked in without the ability to cancel. I know there is vacation insurance, but I don't want to have to deal with the uncertainty of a kid getting sick and then having to fight an insurance company to get reimbursed for canceling a trip. The idea of not having housekeeping is also an unappealing part of DVC rentals.

I do appreciate all points of view though. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Totally understandable. You can get housekeeping daily but it is an extra charge (we don't like housekeeping so I love not having it LOL - fresh towels on day 4 is more than enough for us). We use our Citi visa from Costco for travel and while we've never had to use it, it's there and I hear it is good. We all have to do what we are comfortable with. I just thought I'd toss out just in case. That said my friends have said they have gotten good prices on them from Disney but I think they were AP holders. Some got great rates at Boardwalk even (paid about what you do for rentals). I can ask them how they did it if you are interested or I'll move along since it wasn't your original idea.

I also agree that onsite sounds perfect especially with the kids that age.

Based on this I would say if you can stomach the prices, since you mention relax, I likely would go with the moderate. The area is more relaxing (sorry but values really are noisy to me after my many visits I'm avoiding them). Of course that's my idea of relaxing. I've had one of the most relaxing vacations at POR. The pools were busy but not crazy loud and the grounds were lovely and quiet.

 

[epcotisbest]

Totally understandable. You can get housekeeping daily but it is an extra charge (we don't like housekeeping so I love not having it LOL - fresh towels on day 4 is more than enough for us). We use our Citi visa from Costco for travel and while we've never had to use it, it's there and I hear it is good. We all have to do what we are comfortable with. I just thought I'd toss out just in case. That said my friends have said they have gotten good prices on them from Disney but I think they were AP holders. Some got great rates at Boardwalk even (paid about what you do for rentals). I can ask them how they did it if you are interested or I'll move along since it wasn't your original idea.

I also agree that onsite sounds perfect especially with the kids that age.

Based on this I would say if you can stomach the prices, since you mention relax, I likely would go with the moderate. The area is more relaxing (sorry but values really are noisy to me after my many visits I'm avoiding them). Of course that's my idea of relaxing. I've had one of the most relaxing vacations at POR. The pools were busy but not crazy loud and the grounds were lovely and quiet.

Yes, that is a valid point. The overall feel of POR is more laid-back and relaxing, while sometimes the feel at the values can seem like more of a hectic pace.

 

[JohnD]

I recently reserved the REQUIRED TWO rooms at port orleans riverside for our family of 6. We are going there for 8 days in January of 2018 staying in the royal rooms with river view. However, the price tag is $4700.
With such a huge price tag, I'm looking at a few options. AOA nemo suit is $3100, port orleans standard room with no view and far location is $3400, and all star music is $2250.
Some opinions are to either go value or deluxe as the moderates are more expensive than value but not a huge difference.

Do I try and save on the resort and spend 10k vs 11.5k for total trip?

Have you thought about a Ft. Wilderness cabin? They sleep "6 adults" -- "1 Queen Bed and 1 Bunk Bed and 1 Double-Size Sleeper Sofa." The queen bed and bunk bed are in the same room. The sleeper sofa is in the living room.

I did a quick check for a family of 6 (2 adults, 4 children) for, say, January 7 - 14. I was quoted a price of $2,673.

Between All Star Music for $2,250 and Ft. Wilderness Cabins for $2,673, I'd spend the extra $400 and take the cabin if I were you.

 

[TiggerDad]

When we went with 6 instead of 5, we switched from POR to All-Stars (2 rooms). The key is how you spend your time. Many people like to go back to the room for a break mid-day, and that is a longer trip back to the All-Stars (except from AK). The All-stars are a lot louder too, so you may not get as much sleep during that nap as you expect. We tend to stay in the parks, to avoid all the time lost in transit, but take a long break for lunch to recharge and rest in the park. POR has a more relaxing feel, so if you plan to spend time enjoying the resort, it will be quieter and more relaxing. Only you can decide if the extra expense is worth it. You might search for some of the threads on staying with 6 people.

 

[slappy magoo]

The value suites are still smaller than 2 mod rooms. Don't know how much of a factor that would be.
Also don't know much time you intend to stay enjoying the amenities of the resort you choose. Sounds like you anticipate some down time, which would be more enjoyable at a mod. Is Coronado a possibility? I only bring it up because it's the mod with the most onsite dining options, plus the only mod with a gym if anyone wants or needs one while on vacation. They lean towards large convention groups which means a possibility of fewer children onsite which tends to dial back the pace of the resort a good chunk.