Upgrade Regret

[fbp]

Another resort choosing question (thanks for your patience):

Has anyone who usually stays at a value resort upgraded to a moderate for a trip and regretted it?

We generally stay at the values, because we don't spend a whole lot of time at our resort when in WDW and enjoy the over the top theming. We're on the verge this time of trying a moderate but we keep flip-flopping. What a fun decision to have to make!

Thanks in advance!

 

[fbp]

Port Orleans has a boat. Discussion over.

Yeah we took that boat last year from DTD to check out the resort. It was great. What a pleasant way to end or begin a day.

 

[WDWHarpua]

The only thing I can say about POR and CSR is they are both pretty big. I loved our stay at CSR and will probably never stay at POR, as POFQ is right next door and I love-love-loved it. Port Orleans has a great location. Bus rides were short. CSR is a bit farther away from MK, but pretty close to the others. the values all seem farther away than either of them.

I don't think you'll regret staying at the Mods, as I feel they are well worth the upgrade in price. But that's just my opinion. Others are sure to feel differently.

 

[Chriscampbell]

I just came back from Orlando early this morning, I was there at Christmas and was my first time on Disney property I stayed at Pop and I loved it because I am a teen and its just a fun place, however I stayed at Coronado in my latest trip and was disappointed, our maid was terrible don't think they ever dusted or hoovered or anything. they made beds and I think that's it, they discontinued the marina yet they were still advertising it and the pepper market wasn't my favorite, it had no atmosphere and felt more like a morgue. However we ventured over to Port Orleans Riverside on the last few days before we left and we wished we had went sooner and got asked to change resort. Port Orleans is a lively hotel from what I can tell they had entertainment in the bar area for families every night (apart from Sunday) and for people with dining plan their was a much wider selection of food. I never got to try their breakfast but it has to be better than Coronado's french toast . I think most of the time I never ate at my resort we preferred to eat at port Orleans but its personal preference if you would prefer peace and quiet or a hotel where it seems to cater better for families.

 

[fosse76]

after staying in value resorts the last few years i am beyond excited to be going "home" in september to Caribbean Beach! My absolute favorite resort! But either way, what a terrible choice to have to make huh? lol....happy planning and im sure you will go where your heart takes you!!

I was upgraded to CBR two trips ago thanks to some obnoxious girls who decided it would be fun to continuously bang on the walls and connecting door. As a solo treveller, it was a nice upgrade and even looked into staying at a moderate for my next trip. But, as a solo traveller, I couldn't really justify the cost (even at a discount) when the values serve my needs just fine. That and I don't like to part with my money unless I have to

 

[JillC LI]

We stayed at Movies and Sports in the past and really enjoyed them. Mostly for the same reason you stated: we didnt spend a lot of time at the resort in the first place. And, honestly, all of the resort rooms look the same when you are asleep anyway.

That being said.......we upgraded to CBR on our last trip to take advantage of free dining and we loved it. As long as it fits in our budget, CBR will be our Disney home from now on.

We usually stay at Values. Two trips ago, we also upgraded to CBR because the cost differential between upgrading free QS dining to regular dining vs. the cost of staying at CBR where regular dining was included for free was negligible. CBR was beautiful and we'd definitely stay there again but not if we had to pay more for it because we spend so little time at the resort. As a result, we stayed at Pop on our last trip and loved that too.

 

[MuchLovedMama]

My first Disney stay was a CBR in 2000. I have since stayed at POP 2 different times. We like POP so much more. Had I stayed at POP first and then tried CBR I know we would've regretted it.

 

[worldfanatic]

There are also quite a few intangibles that make a moderate stay a bit better even if you are not at the resort a lot. It is hard to put into words but it just feels nicer, and more elegant.

Well said.

IMHO, the best part of the upgrade is that the new resorts tend to be just a little quieter than the value resorts. While the ambience is great at any on property resort, certainly a little quiet outside of the hustle and bustle of the parts is a great thing.

I find that even with the small amount of time we spend at the resort a quiet walk at dawn or dusk kind of puts a different spin on the magic

We all get different things from our trips to the world. The trick is to find what or where you want to be to make the most out of your trip.

Also well said.

If you do decide to upgrade I don't believe you will regret it one bit! The atmosphere is definitely more relaxing at Moderate resorts and it just gives the vacation a different feel.

Triple well said.

 

[dreamfinder]

Will you regret upgrading? As Master Yoda said, you will only regret it if you can't/dont' want to drop back to a value. Started at a value with my now DW, and she didn't like it at all, but loved the mods. But then I treated her to a single night at AKL to end a trip, and next thing I know we now own DVC at AKL. So that nice gesture is costing me big time. ; ) But she spends time back at the resort by herself mid afternoon and preferred the extra quiet from the mods.
Personally, I am usually only at the resorts to sleep, so I see no need to spend the extra cash to upgrade. So if upgrading makes you cut your trip short, or spend less in other places that you know you enjoy, then you may not be able to enjoy the upgrade. But if you can upgrade, there is no harm

 

[disneygirl1]

We have upgraded quite a few times to a mod after booking a value, this was mainly due to the fact that a discount was offered and it was in the budget to do so. I have to say that I never felt regret for upgrading. Where are you thinking of upgrading to?

Both times we upgrades were to Coronado! It is my FAVORITE moderate resort. Don't think you will be disappointed at all! It is a fairly large resort however so make sure you request a room close to El Centro. I recommend the cabanas.

 

[Motorpro]

YES!! Nothing beats the magic of POP, Found the others stuffy,not Disney, If I wanted a New Orleans hotel I would go to New Orleans

 

[Crush Dude!]

YES!! Nothing beats the magic of POP, Found the others stuffy,not Disney, If I wanted a New Orleans hotel I would go to New Orleans

Could the same not be said about other resorts??

Everyone has their own preferences :shrug:

 

[quirkle]

:wave:Everyone has their favorite "home".

I love CBR for the atmosphere and being able to see EPCOT and fireworks over the lagoon. We request the preferred room to be closer to the theme pool.

I love love love POFQ because it is quiet and cozy and the boat to DTD cannot be beat - it is a lovely way to spend the evening and if I stay somewhere else I don't go to DTD because it is a pain. Also - POFQ and PORS get to use each others pools. POFQ only has one bus and is smaller .

I am in love with FW Cabins if you want a Disney vacation that actually feels like you are staying in your house. Also - the activities they have made us stay out of the parks for a day, hang around the resort and go in at night.

Some of my best memories are when we bit the bullet and stayed Poly - this is something that everyone should do at least once - staying in a monorail resort was so much fun!

 

[mechanic]

we usually do values. pop is favorite. upgraded to cs one time and didnt care for it. same with por. did akl and loved it. looking forward to trying cb.

 

[erinshaneb]

I would do the upgrade..we have stayed at (just look at the signature, much easier than posting them all) and Movies was super cool with the themeing..until the next year and we stayed at Coronado..the difference it amazing..Coronado is still our favorite food court of them all (lol), Caribbean was nice, but ehhh...Coronado to me was too big..it was sooo much to walk to the main building for breakfast..that being said my husband has taken to preferring deluxe..he has a thing for doors on the inside :shrug: (I pick my battles..lol) the BIG selling point (for us) between mods and values...the BUSES !!! It was a huge cattle call at the values (we even jumped from downtown one year to Pop just to see and connect to somewhere else and ended being stuck at Pop for over 45 minutes bcuz there was such a line)..it seems that buses turn over faster or the wait isn't nearly as long with the mods as with the values..i would assume since the values have more people staying there they have more buses running there, but it just seemed that at the end of the day there wasn't an hour wait sitting on concrete waiting to get back to the mods...to each there own, but I would definitely upgrade

 

[erinshaneb]

But then I treated her to a single night at AKL to end a trip, and next thing I know we now own DVC at AKL. So that nice gesture is costing me big time. ; ) But she spends time back at the resort by herself mid afternoon and preferred the extra quiet from the mods.

:ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL: Alreayd looked into for hubby..he's gonna regret it..we have stayed there three times and I LOVE it..we wanted to buy in DVC this year, but it's gonna have to wait a year

 

[Jeff456]

I've never regretted staying in a moderate as with free dining it makes financial sense, but I have no problem with the values at all and love all star music, I think it's the over the top theming that does it for me plus the fact that ASM was the first Disney resort I stayed in so I guess it feels like what Disney World should be to me! We loved POFQ last time though and I'm sure we are going to love OKW to, but in the future particularly without free dining I would stay in any of the All Stars except sports or Pop without a second thought!