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Value Resorts vs. Moderate Resorts: Deciding which one
- Thread starter pluto13
- Start date
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
IMHO, Moderate Resorts are much more luxurious than Value Resorts. Value Resorts are basically motels with oversized theming (which our kids loved when they were little), simple pools, and expansive food courts.
Generalizing, the Value Resort food courts tend to be WDW's best, although they can be very loud and busy, especially after park closing. (I also really like the food court at POR.) My biggest complaint has to do with my personal experiences. The Value Resorts tend to attract large groups of seemingly unchaperoned teenagers, which I don't appreciate after 11 PM when I'm trying to sleep.
Value Resorts provide the advantages of staying onsite (DME, buses to the theme parks, EMH) and make a viable option for those being careful with their dollars.
Go with POP over the All Stars. Bus service is better and POP also has a slightly better food court.
Generalizing, the Value Resort food courts tend to be WDW's best, although they can be very loud and busy, especially after park closing. (I also really like the food court at POR.) My biggest complaint has to do with my personal experiences. The Value Resorts tend to attract large groups of seemingly unchaperoned teenagers, which I don't appreciate after 11 PM when I'm trying to sleep.
Value Resorts provide the advantages of staying onsite (DME, buses to the theme parks, EMH) and make a viable option for those being careful with their dollars.
Go with POP over the All Stars. Bus service is better and POP also has a slightly better food court.
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SMS55
Well-Known Member
Do you use what the resort has to offer? For us the hotel room is just somewhere to shower and sleep. We are never there. For us we just need a clean room. We'll stay value because we don't do much there. We are always in the parks. We would rather save the money for other things.
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mateomouse
Member
At the pools, you don't get towels, so make sure you bring the ones from your room. The rooms at value resorts also seem a little smaller to me. But, if you can get a good deal on it, and really are just looking for a place to eat, sleep, and swim, and can give up a few luxuries, value resorts are great!!!
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crispy
Well-Known Member
The mods tend have more amenties like a sitdown restaurant and a hot tub and the theming is more subtle and luxurious. The values have basic amenities like a pool and the theming is more in-your-face and fun. The rooms in the mods are a bit larger, have queen size beds versus full size, have double sinks, and usually have a ceiling fan. We tend to spend a lot of time in the parks so we don't really get to use a lot of resort amenties.
We have stayed at all the value resorts and at POR and Coronado Springs. My children much prefer the value resorts because they are so much fun. If you are seeling a resort experience, then I would definitely recommend the mods, but if you just want a nice room and a pool, then I would choose a value. We often end up booking a value because we truly don't use a lot of the amenties that are offered at the mods or deluxes.
I would recommend Pop over the All-Stars because the transportation tends to be better. Good luck as you make a decision!
We have stayed at all the value resorts and at POR and Coronado Springs. My children much prefer the value resorts because they are so much fun. If you are seeling a resort experience, then I would definitely recommend the mods, but if you just want a nice room and a pool, then I would choose a value. We often end up booking a value because we truly don't use a lot of the amenties that are offered at the mods or deluxes.
I would recommend Pop over the All-Stars because the transportation tends to be better. Good luck as you make a decision!
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sbkline
Well-Known Member
I keep thinking about staying at a value rather than a moderate, to save money, but everytime I compare prices, I don't see enough of a price difference to feel like I am saving sufficient money at a value. The difference between a moderate and a deluxe is significant, but for some reason, the difference between a moderate and a value doesn't seem that great, especially when you consider the discounts that are almost always released. Here is an example:
For our next trip (June 3-13 2014), I priced Port Orleans Riverside, Pop Century, All Star Movies and Art of Animation. I priced 12 nights, but now I am thinking 11 will be more than sufficient. Anyway, 12 nights at POR came up to $2646. The same 12 nights at All Star Movies came out to $1916.48. That's a $700 difference over 12 nights which, in itself, might be a decent savings, but you always need to be mindful of the general public discounts or, if they apply to you, Disney Visa Discounts and AP discounts. The pattern I notice is that moderate resorts seem to get a 20% or 25% discount while All Star Movies often seems to only get a 5% discount.
POR, at $2646, with a 25% discount comes up to $1984.5 for those 12 nights.
All Star Movies, at $1916.48 with a 5% discount, comes up to $1820.66.
That's only a difference of $163.84 over 12 nights.
I may be willing to downgrade to save the initial $700, but if I'm only saving $163.84, I'm just gonna pay it and cut somewhere else.
Of course, that's two specific resorts with specific discounts (in this case I think it is the AP discounts). Depending on the discount, the moderates may only be 20% off and some of the values may be 15% off, so you will just have to research the discounts on the specific resorts you are looking at because it may well be, as I have just shown, that you can just do the moderate and not pay too much more than you would for the value resort that you are considering.
For our next trip (June 3-13 2014), I priced Port Orleans Riverside, Pop Century, All Star Movies and Art of Animation. I priced 12 nights, but now I am thinking 11 will be more than sufficient. Anyway, 12 nights at POR came up to $2646. The same 12 nights at All Star Movies came out to $1916.48. That's a $700 difference over 12 nights which, in itself, might be a decent savings, but you always need to be mindful of the general public discounts or, if they apply to you, Disney Visa Discounts and AP discounts. The pattern I notice is that moderate resorts seem to get a 20% or 25% discount while All Star Movies often seems to only get a 5% discount.
POR, at $2646, with a 25% discount comes up to $1984.5 for those 12 nights.
All Star Movies, at $1916.48 with a 5% discount, comes up to $1820.66.
That's only a difference of $163.84 over 12 nights.
I may be willing to downgrade to save the initial $700, but if I'm only saving $163.84, I'm just gonna pay it and cut somewhere else.
Of course, that's two specific resorts with specific discounts (in this case I think it is the AP discounts). Depending on the discount, the moderates may only be 20% off and some of the values may be 15% off, so you will just have to research the discounts on the specific resorts you are looking at because it may well be, as I have just shown, that you can just do the moderate and not pay too much more than you would for the value resort that you are considering.
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sbkline
Well-Known Member
I just checked www.mousesavers.com and there is a current general public discount available for dates between August 15 and September 28.
Sample discounts off rack rates:
Sample discounts off rack rates:
- 5% off – all Deluxe suites, All-Star Movies, Animal Kingdom Lodge (savannah view and Club Level), Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Contemporary (theme park view & Club Level), Port Orleans-French Quarter
- 15% off - Art of Animation (family suites)
- 20% off – All-Star Music, All-Star Sports, Contemporary (some room types), Grand Floridian, Pop Century, Polynesian
- 25% off - Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans-Riverside, Ft. Wilderness Cabins
- 30% off – Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard/pool view rooms), Beach Club, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn, BoardWalk Villas, Contemporary (some room types), Old Key West, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club
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mateomouse
Member
I don't know, when we were at All Star Sports they didn't have towels at the pool. You had to bring them from your room. If you forgot them, like we did, you could pick up some at the front desk, and just leave them in your room.
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The Mighty Tim
Well-Known Member
I tend to go with the values, on account of the fact all I need is somewhere to sleep, get breakfast and an adult beverage in the evening within staggering distance of my room, all with the benefits of staying on the property.
That being said, if the price difference isn't too much, I am considering doing Coronado Springs next time.
That being said, if the price difference isn't too much, I am considering doing Coronado Springs next time.
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itsbetsyh
Active Member
I've stayed in a couple Values--AoA and All Star Movies most recently...AoA was okay, I would stay there again and really in a pinch I'd stay at any Value. But the Moderates are way nicer than Values and worth the extra money. We live 2.5 hours from Disney so sometimes we drive up just for a day and then I'll use a value, but for anything for than a night I go Moderate.
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crispy
Well-Known Member
I agree that if the price difference isn't too much (with $200 to $300), we usually end up in a moderate, but it really does depend on when you go and the discounts. We usually go during free dining and if we stay in a Value, we always upgrade to the regular dining plan. Last October we were originally booked at POR with free dining, but they opened up free dining at AoA in the Little Mermaid section so we decided to switch (the LM section opened a week before our stay). That saved us $600 over six nights even after upgrading to the regular dining plan. Other times, the price difference has been pretty small (usually around $200) when we upgrade the dining so it makes much more sense to do a moderate. That's why it is so important to comparison shop!
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YoungNY
Active Member
After switching from Pop to Coronado Springs in one trip, I vowed as long as I could afford it, I'd stay at at least a moderate from now on. At pop, I thought the rooms were smaller, beds were harder, there are no hot tubs, and all the over sized decorations were a little off putting. It's aimed at kids and families and people who don't care about amenities. I found myself just sleeping at the pop, but actually hanging out at the moderates. Coronado had a nice bar/lounge and sit down restaurant. Port Orleans FQ had Scat Cats Lounge and a lovely hot tub, even thier main pool was nice for adults. I do recommend POP to anymore staying with small children, I thought the twist and shout tutorial in the food court was the cutest thing.
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