1st Time WDW Trip: Tons of research, but I still need help!

[joeytdog]

Please help :-)
This is my first time going to WDW. I am married and have 2 young children.
We are going to go in May 2007
My son will be 32 months old
My daughter will be 22 months old
We are extremely flexible on dates and money is not that much of an issue, but then again I do not want to spend more than $500 a night on a room, so maybe it is, looking at all these prices!

I have researched for hours but still cannot come to a conclusion

I need advice on where to stay. I want to stay at a Deluxe or DVC

My factors are monorail access, concierge service, (zero entry?)pool, and room size (or if there is a serperate space, room) etc.

Those factors are in no particular order.

Here is what I think I know:

*Poly seems to be best of monorail hotels IMO. The big problem is all of the rooms are 2 queen beds with just the one room. Ugh. I wish they had the junior suite option. (I know stop complaining:-)) With 2 young kids, a seperate area would be HUGE!

*I am not to up to date on the Beach Club? Unsure what the offers are here for better than a standard room?

*AK is great but seems to far from others and once again I am unsure of the rooms

*CR doesnt appeal to me at all bc I heard the pool is not the best and seems very expensive, maybe I am missing something on this?

*Villas. Renting BC villa seems like a good idea but the only turnoff is the no maid service, plus it is still not a hotel

*WL is one I just discovered. How is the pool here? And they do have Deluxe Suites which I understand have a seperate area seperated by french doors....but you cant get concerige on these correct? And once again, how is the pool?

***I know I may be asking for too much so please take it easy on me***

But anyone who has gone with toddlers could throw in there 2 cents and help me out, I would love it

If you could let me know what pros and cons you had on the hotel you stayed at, I would love it

And finally, and this may be most important, if I wait to book, do they ever offer, free nights or deep discounts at these hotels, or pretty much will it stay the same?

Looking forward to any responses

Thanks in advance

Help!!!!

[Desnik]

My first question to you would be do you want a hotel room or villa? From what you have stated it seems you want a seperate area for the kids. I would then suggest renting points from a DVC'er at a DVC resort. It will be cheaper than rack rates. You can check out the rent/trade board on this site. I think a 1 bedroom at BCV would be great for your family. Yes there is no daily maid service, but on the 4th day they do a trash pick up and replenish towels and such. They will do a full cleaning I believe on the 7th day. The only thing you would be giving up from your wish list would be the monorail. But, BCV is right next to Epcot and MGM. There are paths to walk to either and also boats to take you to either park. Also you'll have access to the BW area and a ton of restaurant choices. The pool at the BC is the best with zero entry, lazy river, sand area, and more. It's like a mini water park. Also, no need for concierge at a DVC resort because you will have a full kitchen. I know most don't want to cook on vacation, and i don't either, but for late night snacks, or breakfast it's great!
At the time of year you are planning I don't remember there being any deep discounts. A great site to check for that is www.mousesavers.com you can also check there for past discounts offered. May is a great time to go, but I believe it is regular, not value season. Again check mousesavers for more accurate info on that.
Personally having 2 kids in tow we really love being a DVC'er and staying at a DVC resort. The space and amenities are great. You can take a look at www.allearsnet.com for pics of all the resorts and rooms. There are also fact pages on all the resorts. Remember the Beach Club Villas are attatched to the Beach Club hotel. Also the WLV are attatched to the WL hotel, and the BWV are attatched to the BW hotel. I know that when staying at a DVC room at the BW you can get room service. If that is important to you. Also the BW is only seperated by a lake from the BC, so same proximity to Epcot and MGM. I know you might be thinking with young kids you will be spending most of your time at MK. That could be true, but may not be. My kids have always really loved Epcot! We all do.
Let me know if I can help in any way1
Happy planning1:)

[ukwildcat]

Just adding my 2 cents:

You can get daily maid service at DVC resorts. You just have to pay for it.

[blessedby3]

I personally like the CR best for small children. Even though it might not appeal to you visually, it is a great resort. We love it and want to stay there again on our next trip. The rooms are huge and the monorail access it great. I like it better than the Poly because when you stay in the tower you have everything under one roof. You just get on the elevator and go down to the monorail line and roll the kids on while they are still in the stroller. Same holds true for when you come back. We always left DD in the stroller all the way up to our room. So much easier than getting her in and out. Many times she was asleep in the stroller and we didnt have to wake her. At the Poly you have to walk outside to different buildings- whichever one you are staying in. If its bad weather you have to go from the main house, back outside to the paths to the rooms. Not for me. I prefer a hotel that has everything under one roof like the CR or WL. The pool was great for our family at the CR. There were 2 hot tubs also. My kids loved the arcade on the bottom floor too, although yours may be a bit young. Chef Mickeys is a lot of fun to watch and eat at. My kids loved hearing the music each time we came out of our room. We also had a terrific view of the MK from our 11th floor room. We watched the fireworks a few times from our balcony. I would definately stay on the monorail line with toddlers. Its just so easy to get back and forth from the MK and Epcot. At the other resorts you will have to load and unload from the busses each time and you will have one or two strollers. Monorail is the best.

[Elmo888]

Stay some place with 2 rooms! We just went with a 2 yo and a 6 yo, and I wish that we had 2 rooms!

WL is great. I haven't stayed in a suite (I saw one on an episode of Great Hotels on the Travel Channel), but we enjoyed the pool and there is a wading pool for little ones. The MK is just a boat ride away, and you can roll the stroller onto the boat. (On buses, you have to fold strollers.) Buses connect you to other parks.

If you pay through Disney for one of the villa/DVC properties, it is just like staying in a hotel with everyday maid service. You can get a studio, 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom. WL, BC, and BW have villas. Villa/DVC only properties include OKW and SSR. Am I missing any?

You can also rent DVC points, although you take some risk by renting through individuals. DVC owners don't have maid service everyday (unless they pay for it as the other poster mentioned).

If I were you, I'd try a 1 bedroom at VWL or a suite at WL. That would be great!

FW also has two room cabins (living area and bedroom), but it isn't in a hotel, like you seem to be looking.

On the bargain end, there are family suites at All-Star Music value hotel.

I hope that helps!

[mericletwins]

Please help :-)
This is my first time going to WDW. I am married and have 2 young children.
We are going to go in May 2007
My son will be 32 months old
My daughter will be 22 months old
We are extremely flexible on dates and money is not that much of an issue, but then again I do not want to spend more than $500 a night on a room, so maybe it is, looking at all these prices!

I have researched for hours but still cannot come to a conclusion

I need advice on where to stay. I want to stay at a Deluxe or DVC

My factors are monorail access, concierge service, (zero entry?)pool, and room size (or if there is a serperate space, room) etc.

Those factors are in no particular order.

Here is what I think I know:

*Poly seems to be best of monorail hotels IMO. The big problem is all of the rooms are 2 queen beds with just the one room. Ugh. I wish they had the junior suite option. (I know stop complaining:-)) With 2 young kids, a seperate area would be HUGE!

*I am not to up to date on the Beach Club? Unsure what the offers are here for better than a standard room?

*AK is great but seems to far from others and once again I am unsure of the rooms

*CR doesnt appeal to me at all bc I heard the pool is not the best and seems very expensive, maybe I am missing something on this?

*Villas. Renting BC villa seems like a good idea but the only turnoff is the no maid service, plus it is still not a hotel


***I know I may be asking for too much so please take it easy on me***

But anyone who has gone with toddlers could throw in there 2 cents and help me out, I would love it


Help!!!!


I would absolutely stay at the BCV. It is attached to the hotel and you don't really notice a difference between the hotel and the villas IMO. The pool is absolutely fabulous and has a sand bottom. There is a shallow are where the kids can play in the sand and water as if they were at the beach. If you rent the room from Disney you pay more money, but you get daily maid service, just as in any other hotel room. We have stayed at OKW twice and are going back this Easter for our 2nd stay at BCV. :cloud9: I agree with you about CR not appealing...I don't think I would ever stay there unless the room was free or there was a discount that would bring it down to moderate price level.

The rack rate for a one bedroom villa at BCV is $480 for the time frame you are talking about. If you have groceries delivered or if you go out and buy some yourself and eat most of your meals in your villa (full kitchen) you will save quite a bit of money. In my mind this brings the cost of the room down. This is how we usually do it with young kids. We do usually schedule one character meal however. Usually breakfast.

We have breakfast in the room, go the parks for the morning and come back about one o'clock or so and have a sandwich. (usually buy some type of snack in the park in the morning. We spend some time at the pool/napping in the afternoon, throw together a quick and easy dinner like past a and sauce and back to the parks for a few hours in the evening and buy snacks while we are there. We save a ton of money as compared to eating out and I have the things in the room that I know my kids will eat and I know they are getting "good" food so I don't worry about the snacks we buy in the parks. If you stay at the BCV you will definitely want to schedule time at the pool. Now that my kids are getting a little older our pool time has increased and our nap time has decreased.


Can't wait to hear what you decide! Any other questions, please ask.:)