Best Grand Villa for travel with young children

[Coastwood85]

We are planning a trip to Disney the first week of December. We will have a 5 year old, an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old. We are traveling with both sets of grandparents, this will hopefully help with the crazy idea of going with 3 kids under 5.

We are trying to decide which grand villa to stay in. We are thinking BLT bc of the close proximity to MK. But are also considering AKV. Any thoughts on which would be better for our age group? Is there another property we should be considering? We are thinking about using David's DVC Rental service for this trip. Any and all advice and thoughts are appreciated.

[amym2]

I'd suggest posting this on the DVC Resorts board.

I would think BLT would be the way to go, especially if you plan to spend most of your time at MK. AKV would be a neat choice also, and although it is farther from most parks, the bus service gets great reviews. We recently stayed at OKW and LOVED it (didn't have a GV though). If you want to save money, OKW or SSR would be nice. You'd be better off with a car at those resorts.

[Coastwood85]

Thanks, I just posted it under DVC Resorts. New to DIS Boards. Thanks!

[CarpeDisney]

I think that, with the ages of your children, the best bet would be to go with the BLT grand villa. You will love the option of walking to the MK and having the other resorts on the monorail loop accessible for dining.

We have two young children(6 and 3) and have stayed at both AKV (kidani) and BLT. While the more relaxed "away from it all" atmosphere at kidani is fantastic to be in to wind down after a day of over-stimulation in the parks, we prefer BLT these days. We spend a majority of our days at MK and the proximity to our room is great for midday breaks. Its also great to be in the mix of all the activities in the area (mk fireworks, the water parade, etc.)

Good luck with your decision!

[kkmauch]

Being DVC members, we've stayed at all the DVC resorts except BLT. I know that BLT might be a big draw for you with young kids, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

We have also only stayed in one grand villa. We were in a GV at OKW in November of 2011. It was AMAZING and I would HIGHLY recommend it!! For us it was far fewer points than any other GV and provided the exact set-up we wanted. Mom/Dad in the master bedroom, aunt upstairs in the smaller bedroom with two beds and Grandma with the two young kids in the larger bedroom. Each bedroom had it's own bathroom which definitely was a plus. The girls really wanted to stay in the same room as grandma, so the larger room was perfectly sized for them.there was plenty of space to spread out and have privacy when needed but we were still able to enjoy lots of time together.

Our villa was right next to a quiet pool at OKW as well. Out deck overlooked the pool though slightly secluded by trees. It was very convenient for swimming with the kids.

We love the laid back atmosphere of OKW and appreciate that although it can be big, it still feels small enough to us. The main pool is great for kids, the dining is perfect and the resort really fit our family.

Best luck!

[DebbieB]

Originally Posted by Coastwood85

We are planning a trip to Disney the first week of December. We will have a 5 year old, an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old. We are traveling with both sets of grandparents, this will hopefully help with the crazy idea of going with 3 kids under 5.

We are trying to decide which grand villa to stay in. We are thinking BLT bc of the close proximity to MK. But are also considering AKV. Any thoughts on which would be better for our age group? Is there another property we should be considering? We are thinking about using David's DVC Rental service for this trip. Any and all advice and thoughts are appreciated.

You need to check what is available at this point. The first week of December has been booking since the beginning of January and is a popular time for DVC.

[TaraPA]

Originally Posted by DebbieB

You need to check what is available at this point. The first week of December has been booking since the beginning of January and is a popular time for DVC.

I was just going to say the same thing. I just started renting points & quickly found out that where I wanted to stay & what was available are 2 totally separate things! There is very limited availability with points to rent at BLT, that is one thing that stood out to me right away.

Find out what's available, then go from there.

[Deb & Bill]

Originally Posted by Coastwood85

We are planning a trip to Disney the first week of December. We will have a 5 year old, an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old. We are traveling with both sets of grandparents, this will hopefully help with the crazy idea of going with 3 kids under 5.

We are trying to decide which grand villa to stay in. We are thinking BLT bc of the close proximity to MK. But are also considering AKV. Any thoughts on which would be better for our age group? Is there another property we should be considering? We are thinking about using David's DVC Rental service for this trip. Any and all advice and thoughts are appreciated.

Good luck. You may be too late to book a Grand Villa for that week in December. You are already two months behind and that is one of the most popular times for DVC members. You may be better off getting two studios and a one bedroom villa.

Your other problem will be David finding a member with enough points to book the GV for the week.