Best Moderate Resort??

[Barbie Casbeer]

My Daughter (12) and I will be going to Disney World again on her next Spring Break (April 2013). We usually go in October but stricter rules at school dont allow for a week off in the middle of the semester, so we are trying Spring Break instead as Summer is way to hot! We usually stay at ASMR but are thinking of upgrading to Moderate as she is getting older and we are looking for a more adult themed resort. Would love any suggestions that anyone may have. If we could get a good deal we would love to stay at a deluxe, but don't think that time of year will have much to offer in savings. Any help would be appreciated!

[MMlover]

I think the best moderate for you and your D would be the PORS or FQ. The grounds are beautiful and the pool is fun too. The reason I would shy away from CBR is the layout is so spread out and CS seems to me to be more fit for conferences. It is also a nice ride to DTD which would be fun for the two of you. Let us know what you decide

[Barberella]

I too think the small size of POFQ would be a perfect fit for a spring break mother and daughter vacation. I'd give it a slight edge over Riverside.

[Drince88]

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of them - as long as you know the basics of each.

Caribbean Beach - very spread out, multiple quiet pools, I don't recall if it's transitioned to queen beds or not. They actually have an internal bus loop if you don't want to walk from your 'island' to Old Port Royale (central area). If you're going to a park you just catch that bus at your island's bus stop. IF your daughter is into pirates (they're not just for boys, you know!) they have some rooms that are super-cooly decorated in a pirate theme (that you pay a little more for)

Coronado Springs - also fairly spread out, I don't feel quite as much as Caribbean Beach. It doesn't have an internal dedicated bus loop, but you can ride the bus from your stop to the main building if you don't feel like walking it. I'm not a fan of buffets, and for breakfast that's all they have, in addition to a very limited hot menu (I'm thinking 2 or 3 breakfast sandwich options? It's been a while). I didn't particularly care for the decor in the rooms, but that's a personal thing.

Riverside - Not quite as spread out as Coronado, but probably close. Also multiple bus stops. SOMETIMES shares a bus with French Quarter. The fairly new royal rooms have some really neat touches in them. Boat service to DTD with French Quarter.

French Quarter - the smallest number of rooms of all the moderates, and I like that - but there is no TS at this resort for dinner. (The other moderates I believe only have their TS restaurant open for dinner any more.) Only one bus stop, though sometimes shares with Riverside. No quiet pools, just the main pool - but you are allowed to pool hop over to Riverside for a change or to enjoy their quiet pools. Boat to DTD.

For the most part, moderate resorts are designed to transport you to a different place with their themeing - and sometimes that's the best way to decide - which theme do you most want to enjoy!

[danyoung]

This is always a fun question, and you'll get a different answer from just about everyone who responds. I agree with most of the writeup that Cathy did above, with this exception (and she knows what it is!) - the Coronado Springs Resort is by far my favorite of the moderates. I really like the building layout around the 15 acre Lago Dorado Lagoon. The rooms are beautiful, and the landscaping is just as lush as anything on property. They've just changed the Pepper Market food area from scatter service (where you go to stations, get what you want, and then pay for it all at the end) to a buffet. I have yet to experience it, but others have said it's pretty good. This is a convention hotel, but the conventioneers have their own area and don't much impact the WDW guests.

Enjoy!

[petesimac]

I can't really evaluate any of the other moderates, but I can highly praise French Quarter. It's smallish, quiet, and has an intimacy I haven't experienced anywhere else on WDW grounds. No matter what time of day, you'll never feel like you're just one of many visitors; there are rarely large groups of people converging near the entry point to the complex (compared to the frenzied nature - but still somehow enjoyable - at Pop in and around the lobby and patio near the exit of the food court and entry to the pool). While there is live music most nights, and it IS a bit off-putting at first because you are at the end of a long day, it becomes part of the experience, and a welcome one.

The rooms are clean and comfortable, and include little embellishments that are missing at the values, like upgraded furniture and fixtures, the fashionable subway tile in the bathroom, nicer carpet, and most importantly for this guy, a ceiling fan -- there's something about circulating air that puts me to sleep and keeps me comfortable.

The theming is wonderful, from the brick-lined streets, the horse-head hitching posts that line the streets, and the occasional horse drawn carriage clip-clopping down those very streets. The food court is smaller than at the values, but you'll want to sit outside for breakfast anyway, weather willing (we did every morning of our visit, in JUNE!). The choices are not quite as plentiful in the food court, but good enough, especially if you'll be eating most of your meals at the parks.

I love that you can take a boat to DTD; we did this to catch La Nouba (wonderful, by the way), and it was very convenient.

Even if you don't choose the French Quarter, I hope that you'll at least pay a visit to check it out for future visits. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might be willing to spend the extra money to stay at FQ instead of returning to POP. Time and money will tell.

I don't think I'd enjoy Riverside as much because of it's huge nature. Most of FQ's buses are specifically for FQ, but a few of them (DTD, AK, BB, and sometimes HS) share, at times, with Riverside; you'll stop at the south depot, the north depot, the west depot, the west-south-west depot, the home depot, the office depot; it sometimes feels like they'll never run out of depots at Riverside.

I doubt you can go wrong, but if you like small, intimate, and quiet, FQ is for you!

[danyoung]

But pete, you forgot to mention the creepy clowns and wacky scary alligators!

[pixar]

This is a convention hotel, but the conventioneers have their own area and don't much impact the WDW guests.

I've never been to a convention in Disneyworld so I'm wondering what the issue is (good/bad)? I've been to conventions in Vegas, but that's a whole different story.

[Drince88]

While there is live music most nights, and it IS a bit off-putting at first because you are at the end of a long day, it becomes part of the experience, and a welcome one.

I'm just curious -- what do you mean by off-putting?

But pete, you forgot to mention the creepy clowns and wacky scary alligators!

I'll give you the clown-type decor in the food court as creepy -- but the alligators are cute! They're playing musical instruments, for goodness sake - just like Louis in the Princess and the Frog (though I think these guys are smaller than Louis)!

[danyoung]

I've never been to a convention in Disneyworld so I'm wondering what the issue is (good/bad)?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here, but I'll give it a shot. Disney is excellent at handling convention crowds. Several of the hotels have convention areas, including the Contemporary, and Boardwalk and Coronado Springs. A convention here is pretty much like at any other place, except for me I don't so much want to be at the convention but in the parks!

A few years ago I worked at a convention in the Boardwalk, and stayed across the lake in the Beach Club. It was really incredibly cool, walking around the small lake at 6 in the morning to go to work. That particular convention only had general sessions till noon, meaning the rest of the day was off. I had an annual pass at that time, so as soon as we shut down the convention for the day I was off to the parks. We even had an entire day off mid-week, so I talked some of my crewmates into ponying up the bucks and doing Epcot for the day. That was a totally fun day, with me being the Disney geek tourguide, and my friends one by one saying "OK, now I get why you spend so much time here!"

[Drince88]

The downside of the convention area (and in my opinion, it's a small downside) is that they generally have a bunch of people going into the convention space at the same time, or getting out at the same time. So the 'central' areas can be crowded with them right before start and right after conclusion. Generally, I'm not around my resort during the 'ending' time (or break time), so that's not an impact to me - and so the only downside IMHO is that the breakfast areas may be a little crowded if you have bad timing.

But honestly, that's not something that has any real impact on my vacation - and I would only use that to break a very very very close tie between resorts. And by very close tie - basically deciding which resort you'll stay at this time vs which resort you'll stay at next time.

[pixar]

Thanks, and just to clarify, I got the impression that more goes on that might negatively affect vacationers when a convention is happening at their hotel.

[danyoung]

I haven't found this to be the case at all. The hotels that hold conventions have their convention areas separated from the regular guest areas. Other than the above mentioned crowd as a convention is starting or ending (which is always a very brief segment of time) there is usually little to no impact of conventioneers on the rest of the park guests.

[mxrapu]

I've attended a convention at CSR before, and on the days lunch was not provided the Pepper Market was extremely crowded at lunchtime.

We stayed at the Casitas on our last visit (as vacationers) and the parking lot was quite crowded the first couple of days because there were 3 conventions going on at that time.

Other than those 2 minor inconveniences, conventions don't have much of an impact--as others have said.

[petesimac]

But pete, you forgot to mention the creepy clowns and wacky scary alligators!

Yeah, they are kind of creepy, but by the end of our stay, they had become part of our strange and somewhat creepy family.

[buzz2001]

I'd recommend CSR in a heartbeat! Besides having a great main pool area, CSR also offers many deluxe amenities at a mod price.

CSR has queen beds and the rooms have been recently renovated and are gorgeous. The rooms also have a sliding wooden door separating the sink area from the room instead of a privacy curtain like the other mods (can be good for little ones napping in a pack n play).

Amenities include a fitness center, spa, free wi-fi, tanning beds, a sauna, salon, full menu room service and a night club.

The resort offers the same toiletries as the deluxes (except GF). CSR has separate shampoo and conditioner instead of the shampoo/conditioner combo at the other mods and values (a small thing, I know, but it means I don't have to pack shampoo and conditioner).

CSR has the largest hot tub of the mods and one of the longest pool slides on Disney property. The pool, slide and playground area is great and all located in one area at the main pool.

Bus service is terrific and is not shared with another resort.

[scoobydooby]

I can't really evaluate any of the other moderates, but I can highly praise French Quarter. It's smallish, quiet, and has an intimacy I haven't experienced anywhere else on WDW grounds. No matter what time of day, you'll never feel like you're just one of many visitors; there are rarely large groups of people converging near the entry point to the complex (compared to the frenzied nature - but still somehow enjoyable - at Pop in and around the lobby and patio near the exit of the food court and entry to the pool). While there is live music most nights, and it IS a bit off-putting at first because you are at the end of a long day, it becomes part of the experience, and a welcome one.

The rooms are clean and comfortable, and include little embellishments that are missing at the values, like upgraded furniture and fixtures, the fashionable subway tile in the bathroom, nicer carpet, and most importantly for this guy, a ceiling fan -- there's something about circulating air that puts me to sleep and keeps me comfortable.

The theming is wonderful, from the brick-lined streets, the horse-head hitching posts that line the streets, and the occasional horse drawn carriage clip-clopping down those very streets. The food court is smaller than at the values, but you'll want to sit outside for breakfast anyway, weather willing (we did every morning of our visit, in JUNE!). The choices are not quite as plentiful in the food court, but good enough, especially if you'll be eating most of your meals at the parks.

I love that you can take a boat to DTD; we did this to catch La Nouba (wonderful, by the way), and it was very convenient.

Even if you don't choose the French Quarter, I hope that you'll at least pay a visit to check it out for future visits. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might be willing to spend the extra money to stay at FQ instead of returning to POP. Time and money will tell.

I don't think I'd enjoy Riverside as much because of it's huge nature. Most of FQ's buses are specifically for FQ, but a few of them (DTD, AK, BB, and sometimes HS) share, at times, with Riverside; you'll stop at the south depot, the north depot, the west depot, the west-south-west depot, the home depot, the office depot; it sometimes feels like they'll never run out of depots at Riverside.

I doubt you can go wrong, but if you like small, intimate, and quiet, FQ is for you!

I agree with all this having stayed at FQ twice. I actually prefer Riverside as I found the food court and pool to be superior, but it is spread out so I would pay for a preferred room there to be near the facilities. I have never even visited Caribbean Beach so cannot comment and haven't visited Coronado Springs either, but I wouldn't stay there on principle that it's a convention hotel. I do not want to see anything that reminds me of work at WDW and seeing other people working would make me stress about work. The shallow pool as I mentioned would also count it out for my children.

[petesimac]

[QUOTE=Drince88;1741299]I'm just curious -- what do you mean by off-putting?

Sorry, I missed this question; didn't mean to ignore you, Drince. The singing was off-putting only at first because it was so unexpected, so loud, and so sudden upon entering the "front door" after a long day at the parks. When you walk in expecting a serene environment and instead get really loud music, it's a bit startling. But by the third day you walk in the door expecting to hear "Sweet Caroline" and are disappointed that it's the guy's day off.

[Drince88]

Ah, yes, that makes sense. He couldn't get much closer to the front door, could he?

[Barbie Casbeer]

After going over the resort pictures with my Daughter she really likes the way the "mansion" type rooms look like at POR - so now wondering which section would be the "preferred" section - closest to buses, restaurant etc...?

[Drince88]

I really don't think any of the mansion rooms are THAT far from the central area. There are a couple of bridges over the 'river' that makes access to the central area fairly easy - plus there is a bus stop on that side of the outside loop that's easy to get to.

I haven't looked to see if all of the rooms in the mansions have been upgraded to the royal rooms, or if some were left 'plain' - but that's something to think about, too.

(I like the mansion section better myself, than the alligator bayou section - strictly a personal preference - so I say your daughter has good taste!)

[danyoung]

Take a look at this map - http://allears.net/acc/ResortMaps/Po...QRiverside.pdf

Parterre Place (95) or Oak Manor (90) are the closest to the bridge that goes across to the main building. I've stayed in them both, and they are perfectly placed for a nice walk to the front buildings.

[foolishmortal]

We just stayed at the CSR in may and we liked it. The only mis-hap we had was they gave us rooms in the casitas and it was interior corner looking at the pool. Not at all what I asked for over a yr ago.

But the fount desk rocked and got the rooms changed to the cabanas looking at the lagoon. The rooms were very nice and I really liked The fact we could close the door to the bathroom sink area which came in handy many mornings.

The sundires smells like grapefruit. They are so nice , even shipped my left overs home! LOL
We were right in the middle with a short walk to the pool. Kids loved the slide and the food at the pool was great! better then the cafe rix.

The cafe rix was good , sep. stations for everything, down side was it got really tight in there and not much space if you have to wait on the hot food area. Pizza was good, bakery items yummy, coffee hot.

The bus line was the best out of CSR and AKL. They came often and we had no problems getting to the parks and back in fair time.

There were lots of convention people there, but they didn't have that much of an impact on us in the cabanas. Oh which also have a nice quit pool next to the lundry room, which was a really nice size too!

The only major draw back to me on this place is it is spread out, so it does make getting food or a snack a kind of hike. We love walking so not a big thing for me.

The other is, I didn't like the casitas area at all, felt too Motelish for me. LOVED, LOVED ,LOVED the cabanas though!

this was our 1st trip ever to WDW, so I can't compare the 2 hotels, just the one we were in.

[danyoung]

The other is, I didn't like the casitas area at all, felt too Motelish for me. LOVED, LOVED ,LOVED the cabanas though!

That's very funny, as I always stay in the Casitas and think it's the best themed area of the resort. I'm not saying you're wrong and I'm right or anything (even though I'm ALWAYS right . . . . .).