In your opinion what makes Moderate resorts worth the $ if

I would guess on a Disneymoon one probably would spend more (lots) of time at the resort so the upcharge to a moderate would be beneficial.
You would think but our disneymoon was dh’s first trip and my first time staying on site. We only had three days at Disney so we were go go go non stop.
 
If you're only at the resort to literally sleep and shower, then i'd go for value if I were you. Ive stayed at all of the values and found the beds to be perfectly fine. I've never had a "rock hard" mattress. It doesnt make sense to spend the extra money just to have a covered bus stop and a ceiling fan and coffee maker. I refuse to use the coffee maker because they give you those nasty coffee whiteners, and frankly the coffee is not very good anyway. Plus if I have to buy my own milk for my coffee, I might as well buy the whole cup of coffee. Which is what i do....I get starbucks in the parks.
 
We don’t swim in public pools.
We don’t spend much time at resort other than to shower and sleep.
We don’t eat at the resort other than our final, check-out day

So, is there anything that makes a moderate resort worth the significant upcharge from a value resort in your opinion?
In my opinion there is nothing that makes a moderate resort worth the significant up-charge from a value resort based on YOUR requirements.

We like the pools so that makes the up-charge worth it.
We love to spend time at the resort so that makes the up-charge worth it.
We eat at the resorts if the food is good and at POFQ (where we stay most often) the food is good so that makes the up-charge worth it.
We even love the extras in the rooms like the coffee maker and double sinks and covered bus stops.
 
For us, it would be bed size and noise levels. If we can't get a good night's sleep, our park days are ruined (been there, done that). I will always spend more to try, as best I can, to ensure we all get a good night's sleep.

These are our 2 main reasons as well. We sleep in a King bed at home and so therefore now, we just can't cope with the double beds. Also, there is a huge noise difference it seems between the values and the moderates. We tend to take a mid day break at the hotel room, and you can usually get a quiet nap at the room mid day in a moderate, whereas it's iffy at a value. I still highly recommend value resorts to anyone on a budget, or who doesn't care about noise or bed sizes. However, since we are a young couple without children, the moderates just seem to fit us better :)
 


For you. It doesn’t sound worth it. If it wasn’t for 60 day fast pass I’d say stay off site.
For us hotel is half the fun. For instance port orleans was great. Great pool and slide. Food court was amazing. Rode bikes. Just liked he big resort feel of waking up and walking for coffees.

We stayed at pop. Was just loud and crowded feel to it. But we do like to spend a day or two at resort and hang out.
And now that the offsite DS hotels do get the EMH and 60 day FP+, that can be something they can look into.
 
The only value I've stayed at is Pop, and I really love it there! I like the overall theming. I like that they only have one bus stop, and a queue! I like the gift shop and food court, and the lobby is cute. I stayed in a renovated room this summer, and it was amazing! Once in my room, I did not feel like I was in a value resort at all. It is very new and modern. The bed was comfortable, and I loved the shower! When I go on solo trips, I will only stay at a value, and usually Pop isn't that much more expensive than the All Stars. That being said, when I'm there with my family (3 of us), we will stay moderate (usually POR). We rarely swim or just hang out at the resort, but I love the food court there and Yehaa Bob. The entire resort is gorgeous. If was trying to save money though, I have no problem staying at a value.
 
I also believe length of stay is also a determining factor. If I'm going for three days I hit the parks hard and need a shower and bed. If I plan to stay a week where I can vary my park times and not go at all then moderates is the place.
 


I will say I did have 1 trip where we stayed the entire time at Pop. I joke to this day that the room was so small I had to go outside to change my mind. And that was just with 3 people in the room. I have no clue how 4 people stay in those rooms. And that was before the increased the bed size. I couldn't even get the stroller in the room unfolded with full size beds.
 
We don’t swim in public pools.
We don’t spend much time at resort other than to shower and sleep.
We don’t eat at the resort other than our final, check-out day

So, is there anything that makes a moderate resort worth the significant upcharge from a value resort in your opinion?[/QUOTE]

Only one thing....do you like the vibe of the resort? Meaning, does the look or thought of the resort excite you? If so, paying the extra money is worth it. While I love Pop (a value), I will happily stay at POFQ without a discount because the atmosphere and theming just does it for me. :)
 
We stayed at all the Value resorts except AS Sport. Now when I price WDW stays I don’t even look at Value resorts anymore as I want a quiet resort and queen beds (I know Pop has some queen beds now but it’s my least favourite resort so not going back there). Moderate is now our go-to level with CSR being our favourite.
 
Seems like queen beds and "quiet" are the two most frequently mentioned reasons. We have always thought Value was the best for us, but our adult children swore we had to try moderate after they did. However at the time of year we visit (in December) the difference in price for our 12 day stay can easily be $1,000. Just doesn't seem worth that to us since we are up and out early, return late, and sleep very soundly (two double beds with firm mattresses are fine)!
 
The biggest one for us is the bed size; we are not full-sized bed people so values don't work for us. Plus, we have to bring an air mattress for our youngest and that can fit in a moderate room, but the value rooms are too small.
 
Seems like queen beds and "quiet" are the two most frequently mentioned reasons. We have always thought Value was the best for us, but our adult children swore we had to try moderate after they did. However at the time of year we visit (in December) the difference in price for our 12 day stay can easily be $1,000. Just doesn't seem worth that to us since we are up and out early, return late, and sleep very soundly (two double beds with firm mattresses are fine)!
I’m the same as you. We come back so late that I honestly don’t notice the beds because I fall asleep right away.
 
The biggest one for us is the bed size; we are not full-sized bed people so values don't work for us. Plus, we have to bring an air mattress for our youngest and that can fit in a moderate room, but the value rooms are too small.
This is the one area where I'm still at a loss as to how they've done the bed change at Pop.
This room was so small with Double Beds the door hit the bed when we opened it. Since they've redone the inside only, when you pull down that Murphy bed, I can't imagine how tight it is with 2 Queen beds in it. Great for folks who don't need the 2nd bed but for those that do, I can't imagine how small these rooms much feel now.
 
For our family, we have found that the Mods fit our vacation, queen beds, pool slide for our DD's, extra amenities like surrey bikes, entertainment like Yeehaa Bob, a TS restaurant available if we choose to treat ourselves without leaving the resort, a LOT more greenery and shade to just sit somewhere, just a more relaxing vibe. As for feel of the beds, I have had beds at all levels of resorts that I thought were great to having the mattress replaced, heck we had rooms where 1 bed felt a lot better than the other one in the same room.
We have stayed at POP with 4 people (4 adults and an infant) and a stroller. We really had no issue parking the stroller (full size) right by the AC unit without folding it. Truthfully, it was tight but it was also one of our funniest trips. We made it fun, I would purposely bump into my sister or niece and knock them onto the bed, or vice versa, we would race across the beds trying to get to the bathroom first etc.:laughing:
I have read posts where the OP went solo and felt the value room was to small, everyone is different. I look at it like the old saying "When life gives you lemons..." it's what you decide to do with those lemons.
 
It's funny, I've only ever stayed moderate and deluxe, but for our unexpected April trip, I heavily considered staying at Pop to save money. Then I showed my SO pics of Pop and POR. The look on his face when he saw the pics of Pop...then the words came out "...it's so...loud." "It doesn't look relaxing at all." Then I showed him pics of POR "oh this looks nice..."
We're going for 4 nights, with 2.5 park days and only one morning at the resort planned. But for my SO (and me too), it's hard to put a price on "feeling." There's something just more calming about the themeing of POR when compared to the values. And that's worth spending a bit more. For us.
 
We don’t swim in public pools.
We don’t spend much time at resort other than to shower and sleep.
We don’t eat at the resort other than our final, check-out day

So, is there anything that makes a moderate resort worth the significant upcharge from a value resort in your opinion?
for you no
for others yes

just wondering why you do not swim in public pools??

One type of fish swims in the Pacific Ocean another swims in the Mediterranean Sea and another swims off Brazil. All have a good time
 
We don’t swim in public pools.
We don’t spend much time at resort other than to shower and sleep.
We don’t eat at the resort other than our final, check-out day

So, is there anything that makes a moderate resort worth the significant upcharge from a value resort in your opinion?

The only true physical difference would be the beds (Queen) rather than full, unless you stay:
- POP and get one of the renovated rooms
- AoA Family Suite
- ASMu Suite
- Ft Wilderness Cabin

The rest, for you based on your needs, would just be theme/decor.
 
The beds, room size, thin walls, and bus service are the real difference in my opinion. Beds at the All Stars are very uncomfortable. If we stay for more than a night or two at the All Stars, it takes a hot shower and some Motrin to get rid of the back aches every morning. The walls are sometimes very thin, and the rooms are smaller. Waits for busses at the values in our experience have been much longer than waits at the mods.

That said, the new rooms at Pop are really nice! They rival the mod rooms in many ways now. The new queen beds are great! If not hanging out at the resort much, I would save the money and stay in a renovated room at the Pop.
Our busses at CBR took much longer than Music. I would pick a value if I wasn’t taking advantage of the resort. We love deluxe and will never go back unless we cannot afford it. Moderates don’t provide anything special enough to spend more money than a value resort.
 
Our busses at CBR took much longer than Music. I would pick a value if I wasn’t taking advantage of the resort. We love deluxe and will never go back unless we cannot afford it. Moderates don’t provide anything special enough to spend more money than a value resort.

Beginning to believe that this is true for many people. We have often contemplated a deluxe but during the holiday season, they are just too expensive and well out of our price range. My wife and I are recently retired so we have greater flexibility in travel dates now. I am hoping someday we may spend a night or two at a deluxe. However, my wife is not very keen on a split stay and going to WDW for just a day or two isn't something we would do.
 

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