Disney 'value' resorts

Has anyone ever stayed at any of the Disney World value resorts (all-star movie, music, pop culture, etc.)? What's the quality of them?

We're thinking about booking a trip to Disney over the summer, and want to do it as economically as possible. I like to stay on the Disney property, but I was wondering if it would be better to stay at a non-disney hotel as opposed to one of the lower-end disney hotels.

I got a quote on the disney website and it came to about $1500 with airfare, 6 nights at the hotel, and a 5 day park hopper pass.

I was on priceline and orbitz earlier, and I have a feeling I can book a cheaper trip that way, but I wanted some opinions. I haven't been to WDW since I was 14!!

Any tips for planning an affordable Disney trip would be greatly appreciated.

paging marymoon

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Posted by don424

paging marymoon

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yup, that's who I'm waiting for - our resident disney expert!

We have booked cheap vacations and stayed at the All Star. We figured while at Disney you are rarely in the hotel anyway so you cared. We just wanted the buses and a food court at the hotel.. we got both so no complaints.

Stay at my house...I have cheap rates

$1500 with airfare sounds about right. If you plan on going back within a year the annual pass will save you a LOT of money on the hotel

I stayed at All Star Music twice. The rooms are VERY clean, as are the pools and all the grounds. There's a cafeteria style restaraunt and a pool bar and very limited room service. We found it to be fine. The only difference between teh value and moderate is that the values have these stupid soap/shampoo dispensers in the showers, and the moderates have actual bars of soap and bottles of shampoo, the theming is less cheesy and the rooms are slightly bigger.

ONETIP: for staying at the all stars is to get the 'preferred view' room. it has NOTHING to do with the view, but what it does give you is the room closest to the main hall, which mean you're right by a pool, a restaurant the lobby nad most importantly the BUSES. If you get the preferred view ($10 a night), you're guranteed to be in the first building and you basically walk out your font door into the pool and it's a 2 minute walk to the buses. If you don't get preferred view, you can be in ANY room, which can mean a 15 minute walk to the buses. For us we felt it was worth it. But the resort is nice to walk around.
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I think it's 100% worth it to stay on disney property. Even if your hotel has a shuttlle, it won't nearly be as fast to get to the disney parks. Also as resort guests you get to use magical express and extra magic hour (see my other disney post..I will bump it)....with extra magic hours you get extra time in the parks with ONLY resort guests (a LOT fewer people) for free..why would you not want that? Plsu you never levae the magic. I would never stay outside of disney.

Aso, sometimes it's cheaper to NOT book it as a package.

What did your pakcage include ???

when are you going? as of may 5 the park hopper passes are gone, and thre are new tickets, which are cheaper, and there are meal plans you can get with your packages, etc....

Also, the airfare may be cheaper on your own. From flysong.com I got $270 RT for the both os uf everything included!!!!!!

And with disnye's magicla express, you don't pay for airport transfers!

if you want a good deal, also try The Magic For Less Travel www.themagicforless.com.

They're a travel agency that works strictly online and they helped me plan my 2nd disney vacation. They're really no nonsense and they don't charge you a fee.

I think the best way to plan a vacation is to spend time on the phone with 1 407 W DISNEY


If you want food recommendations..ask..



ooh Don I LOOOOOOOOOVE French Quarter....we stayed there in June, they had just re-opened it. it's fabulous

Thanks so much Jenn!!

Anytime Jackie!

BTW, I just wrote the wrong name of the ticket..it was Magic Your way, but I had added the park hopper option.

Notice that I'm completely disregarding the fact that we can't plan a vacation until I find out about my internship on the 28th!

hahah of COURSE..


magic your way w/ parkhopper option...
okay.

What I would do, would be to call 407 w disneyand ask for each iece individualy (hotel, tickets) and see if it's cheaper.

the cool thing about the packages is you get cool luggage tags and a free 'plus' option I think. We left a free 'leave a legacy' tile at EPCOT.

Also, there are new packages that include food, which save $$ if you intend to eat, we usually eat on the go and have a few choice spots when we want to sit down.

I always try every option..I've never seen orbitz to be that cheap..so try calling CRO directly

I go to Disney every year and have stayed at a 'value resort' the past 4 years. The first 3 were at the All-Star 'Music' and 'Sports'. This past January we stayed at the Pop Century.

To me it is the best value. Staying on Disney property is just so much easier and definitely worth it. We don't spend a ton of time in the room, so we don't care how spacious or luxurious the rooms are. The rooms are very clean (although I don't remember like Marymoon said about the shampoo/soap thing in All-Stars, in PopCentury you do get a bar of soap and bottles of shampoo). Everyone is very friendly and very helpful. The buses are frequent and easy to use. It does take a little bit of time to go from a resort to another resort for dinner, but that would happen no matter where you stay. The cafeteria is great for snacks on the run, snacks for your room, and breakfast. We haven't had any other meals their, but it was a good experience.

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Posted by marymoon

I wouldn't say they're in the boondocks. They're far from MK and EPCOT, but they are less than 5 minutes from AK, TL and DD

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I agree and they are very close to MGM and Wide World of Sports. Although most people probably don't go WWofS during their visit, during our visits that is where the cheerleading competitions are.