Why do you stay where you stay?

[chelseabun76]

It's an argument that I used to have with my sister. She always said that she chose value not only because she would rather have extra money to spend on food and souvenirs, etc. (for those that DO have to severely budget just to get to Disney) than spend it on a resort that you only go to when you want to sleep. She could never see why she would pay extra for a moderate let alone a deluxe when you spend most of the time in the parks. She also chose value because of the extreme disney theming, something I don't see at the other resorts.

This trip, we're debating upgrading to moderate from value because life is short and I want to at least once, experience it... but because of the past arguments with my sister, I am fighting with myself over if it's worth it or not.

So, why do YOU choose the resort you choose?

 

[maxiesmom]

It depends on a few things. Budget is one of them, and how much time we plan on hanging out that the resort is another.

To me the moderates are much more relaxing. I like the values for their in your face theming, and the whole something is always going on vibe. I like the moderates for how they feel like true get away from the hustle and bustle of the parks.

 

[tango247]

When I booked through our TA, she asked what my kids were into and the characters that they liked. etc., She suggested GF, also made sure to warn me about the $$$ attached to the rooms and it would "cheaper" to stay elsewhere.

This going to be a one time trip here (for a few years at least), plus budget wise we could afford it.

So I decided WTH, why not!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We love staying at the contemporary mostly bc my kids are young and it's very nice to have the monorail since we pretty much stay in MK and Epcot. We also like to take breaks in the afternoon so it's nice to just jump on the monorail and go swimming in the afternoon.

 

[Skullcrusher]

It's an argument that I used to have with my sister. She always said that she chose value not only because she would rather have extra money to spend on food and souvenirs, etc. (for those that DO have to severely budget just to get to Disney) than spend it on a resort that you only go to when you want to sleep. She could never see why she would pay extra for a moderate let alone a deluxe when you spend most of the time in the parks. She also chose value because of the extreme disney theming, something I don't see at the other resorts.

This trip, we're debating upgrading to moderate from value because life is short and I want to at least once, experience it... but because of the past arguments with my sister, I am fighting with myself over if it's worth it or not.

So, why do YOU choose the resort you choose?

We are AP and FL residents so we go a couple times each year. We stay depending on 3 criteria.
1) we have a goal of staying at every resort hotel at least once
2) are the funds available or is there an especially good deal on the higher level resorts?
3) is it the whole family or just me and the wife? If its just she and I we tend to go for something a little more relaxed and we treat ourselves to all the upgrades.

 

[disneypanda11]

We have stayed at moderate and deluxe. The reason we have chosen deluxe for our last 3 trips is primarily for location and the "feel" of the resort. We like being within walking distance (or a short boat ride) to the parks so we can return midday for a swim or a rest. Also, we enjoy several signature dining meals each trip, and many of these restaurants are in the deluxe or at a neighboring resort. And while we had a perfectly fine stay at POR (moderate), we didn't prefer the motel feel of the accommodations. The theming and atmosphere of the deluxe hotels better suits our preferences.

 

[chelseabun76]

Great responses!! I definately can see myself wanting to do a trip with a moderate/deluxe at least once.... if they come out with a discount for January, that would give me a nice deal on our room, I just might have to switch Honestly my mom pays for this trip, it's her gift to the grandkids when they reach 8 years old, so I always try to cut costs whenever I'm doing the booking for her. However this time, she was all for spending a bit extra to experience something different.

 

[gloachat]

I chose to do a split stay at a value and a moderate this year. The value so I will be immersed in Disney (and save money) and the moderate to feel relaxed and pampered. My goal is to stay at all of the resorts on property. I work hard and save up so I can have the type of trip I want, it doesn't matter to me whether I'm not in the room that much. My next goal is to stay at one of the deluxes I just want to experience it, then enjoy it

 

[dansdad]

When we were park commandos we used to stay at the values for the reasons your sister mentioned, it was just a place to shower and sleep. But after doing that for 6 trips, we got tired of coming home exhausted. Then we discovered how nice it was to have 2-3 resort days during our trips. We were coming home feeling like we had just been on vacation. We have found that having some resort days we got good use out of the extra amenities that the moderates have.

 

[khiggins77]

We love Port Orleans French Quarter. The whole hotel is so quaint and beautifully decorated. It's usually not too loud, the pool is a good size, the food court is always clean and there are always tables available. It's just great to have such a nice quiet retreat when leaving the parks. Plus we can't forget the good price !

 

[jcjen519]

We have always stayed at the deluxe resorts. We are people who like to relax on our vacations. We like the comfortable larger rooms, we like the ease of getting to/from the parks. A long bus ride stresses us out. We like the ease of getting to the restaurants we like to eat at (much easier just to walk downstairs than travel on the bus system). We enjoy the pools with the slides. We like to stay club level and we really enjoy being able to use the lounge, having someone to go to that will handle reservations before and during our trip. staying in a nice hotel is important to us no matter where we travel and we're fortunate that we can afford to do so. I would prioritize a deluxe resort but if those things aren't important to you and your family I wouldn't miss out on other things in order to stay at a moderate or a deluxe over a value.

 

[Texas Barbie]

We mostly go mod now. The values are great families with small children, but they are so crowded and garish we can't wait to leave. We enjoy deluxe, but since DH took a lower paying job, they would be a stretch for us. Mod is still relaxing, great theming, and less $. POR is my favorite.

 

[chelseabun76]

We love Port Orleans French Quarter. The whole hotel is so quaint and beautifully decorated. It's usually not too loud, the pool is a good size, the food court is always clean and there are always tables available. It's just great to have such a nice quiet retreat when leaving the parks. Plus we can't forget the good price !

POFQ is on my list, as well as CBR.... both look so pretty!

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

Over the past 35+ years we have stayed at Deluxe, Moderate and Values. The Polynesian, Treehouses, Villas for Deluxe. Caribbean for Moderate and All Star Music and Sports. Also stayed at the Dolphin one time.
We can afford the deluxe but do not "use" the resort, so our choice for the past 10 years or so has been All Star Sports. If we loved whirlpools I would be at a different resort!
We think that the bus transportation from there is the best. We are very happy with the room.
We go to the parks and come back and rest in our room.

 

[darrengs]

If the argument is budget based, so that there is more money for spending, then I see the value resort point. However, I don't personally agree with "we only sleep" in the room argument, especially with more than two people in the room. You do need to sleep and the queen beds make that a much better sleep than double beds. But, you also need to get ready, it is much easier getting ready when there is more room and you are not tripping over each other as well as stepping over suitcases. Also having two sinks also makes it easier to get ready to go out in the morning and to go to bed at night.

With that said for budget reasons our family of 4 usually stay in moderates, with most stays at POFQ. However, this past August we stayed one night at POP (thank God it was only one night, as it was crowded, and the beds sure seemed small), followed by 9 nights at YC. the extra room at YC was great, the beds and pillows were really comfortable and it was the best sleep I ever had on vacation. But, we booked bounce back with free dining at POFQ, I just can't see paying non discounted rates at YC in order to get free dining, and we have no problem going "back down" to POFQ.

 

[khiggins77]

POFQ is on my list, as well as CBR.... both look so pretty!

POFQ is my favorite and I've stayed at all moderates as well as AKL and WL. Pofq has lovely walkways all throughout it and you see many rabbits jumping around the property. To me, coming from the northeast, it's the perfect place to stay with a different feel.

 

[spleuchan]

Disney is expensive. Depending on family size, ages, and length of stay you are paying ~$1,500 for tickets. Eat "cheap" at disney $100/day. Like to eat at sit downs that could increase to $200 or more per day. Souvenirs, BBB, memory maker, kaching kaching kaching. On the cheap you are talking about a $3,000+ vacation. Increasing from a value to a mod is a few hundred. This is probably where I get in trouble, but talking disney, a few hundred extra sounds like pennies when your total vacation is in the thousands.

For me, double beds are show stoppers. My wife, on the other hand, probably prefers them because we sleep closer together.

 

[ericstac]

We used to be tied to Deluxe only but then tried the only moderate we were allowed to try (family of 5), Port Orleans and fell in love..

For us, we don't see the value in the added cost from POR to a deluxe. I never thought I would say that but its true. We are hotel snobs but at the same time it has to have that value and the POR is a fabulous place so we save a ton of money and we are happy.
We also drive to WDW and either drive or taxi around WDW while there, totally ignoring the bus system, so that probably helps. The couple times we attempted the buses were not good experiences so we pass on them now.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Queen beds and a water slide are a MUST so we must stay at least moderate.

We've stayed at CBR twice and loved it. We were looking at POR or POFQ for our next trip. Even CSR. I thought it would have to be CSR since there aren't as many discounts with POR or POFQ.

We got an awesome deal for the Beach Club so said let's go for it!!! It fit in the budget. We aren't planning on going back for a while (3-4 years at least). And I've always wanted to stay here but thought I could never afford it. It's my dream resort.

 

[mevelandry]

We've been to Disney 5 times (4 times we stayed directly on site, the other time in a Downtown Disney Hotel) and while we love the theme parks, after the first trip where we tried most of the attractions we were interested in, we kinda know what we like and we are able to do it all in 1 or 2 park days. We don't need/want more as we got to appreciate the "hotel days" just as much (if not more!) as the park days.

Being fans of split stays as well, our ideal trip consist in 2 or more days in a moderate during which we are going to visit theme parks (take note that we could possibly do the same with values instead of moderates, we just never tried the values... but it's gonna change in 2015)...

Then, we stay in deluxes where we do absolutely nothing but walk around the resort, swim and go to the restaurants all day long.

Why do we pay for a Deluxe hotel? Because of the amenities and the theming most of the time.

"Motel doors" being one of my pet peeves, I admit that I appreciate the hallways we can find in the Deluxe hotels.

They also (in my opinion) have the best restaurants of all categories.

Also... Recently, we've been able to book Deluxe hotels at "moderate rack rate prices" (and Moderate for Value Rack rate prices)... I don't think we could go back to paying rack rate for Moderate/Deluxes.