How much time do you actually spend in your room?

[lindsroc]

So this is our 1st year staying in Disney- and we decided to go all out and get a nice 1 br villa at SSR since its our 1st official trip to Disney. A lot of people had said why spend the money since you're hardly in your room but i think and hope it will be worth it. We have a 3 and 4 yr old, and to us it will be nice because we dont want to have to go to bed at 9pm or so when they do. It will be nice having a seperate living area. We have also said that at least we'll know for next time, maybe we wont need to spend as much on a room and we could stay at a moderate or even a standard in a deluxe. We do plan on having breakfast in room (except for CRT) and the washer/dryer will be nice. Im just wondering with kids- how much time do you actually stay in your room? If youve done a suite, was it worth it? I like that we can make our own coffee etc in the morning but for the extra money, not sure if it would just be worth it to eat out! Thanks!!!

 

[kapoof]

we spend enough time in our room to care what its is like. yes it will be worth it.

 

[rodkenrich]

.

 

[boomhauer]

Not enough to justify spending the money we're spending for the Poly next year, but then again, we've never stayed Deluxe. I have a feeling our plans will change staying at a nicer resort, especially one where you can so easily leave the Magic Kingdom and Epcot for some time off during the day.

 

[grannyminnie]

We specifically plan on spending more time at the resort BECAUSE we booked a deluxe. That way we feel as if we at least justify some of the cost.

 

[Lilolvr]

We're out of the room early, maybe back during the day for a nap and/or shower, and then back to the parks, DtD or the pool until late in the evening. Mainly just to sleep, shower, change and a few naps thrown in.

 

[Hopefully]

We feel the resort is part of the vacation experience and it is important to us. We have been to WDW many times and we no longer do the parks "Commando Style". We do spend time at the resort, in the room, at the pool and to us it is worth it. I think with little ones you will be spending nap time in the afternoon at the resort. You will find the extra space wonderful. Even only eating breakfast in the Villa saves a lot of money. We also stock up on sodas water, beer and wine, snacks etc, which saves us money too.
Have a Wonderful Trip

 

[shellybaxter]

We spend a good deal of time in our room, but our trips are always longer - 10 plus days. We do get up fairly early and get to the parks, but then we return to our room in the afternoon for a nap and such.

I think a one bedroom will be good for you. I personally love that the villas have a king size bed and a large jacuzzi tub. With two little ones the in room washer and dryer will be great as well.

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

This year? Not a lot....

I thought we would spend more time in the room, but we weren't that into our resort (Pop) and my son was awesome napping in the stroller, so we didn't *have* to go back for a nap...

that being said, next year we plan to go for a little bit longer and stay at a deluxe with the intention of enjoying the resort MORE...Pop didn't have any restaurants, hot tubs, water slides...so there really wasn't a whole lot for us to do there other than sit on the cement sidewalks outside of our rooms once our kids were settled in...

In fact, especially with my mom being the animal lover that she is...I
ll probably be hard pressed to get her to leave the hotel!!!

 

[Mrsjvb]

I am big believer that if the room is cramped or otherwise unsuitable, it throws off the whole vacation.

if everyone is tripping over each other trying to get ready, tempers flare. If the room decor is tired or unappealing, your whole mood gets thrown out of kilter. If restaurant choices or recreation choices are sub par or not what you are looking for, then you will be irritable. and this is with or without kids in tow.

I learned something on our cross country trip from Monterey to DC this spring: you get what you pay for. We stayed in Motel Sixes as a cost cutting measure and because of the two cats in the back seat. at $40 a night, I would NEVER stay in one more than 18 hours. yes all we did was sleep and shower. and that's all it was worth.

For us, we do spend a fair amount of time in the room vegging out. so I want my out of park experience to be as relaxing and fun as my in park experience.

 

[RJD]

We don't spend alot of time in our room so we are very happy at the values. I think it does depend on whether your kids are little, need to nap and go to bed early. Now that our boys are 10 and 14, we get back to the room late and we're pretty much all ready for bed! We sleep, get up, shower and then hit the parks so we don't spend alot of time in the room. But I think it really varies family to family.

 

[lindsroc]

I think it will be worth it, especially after reading others opinions. Its true- if your unhappy with your room- cramped etc....its going to put you in a bad mood before you even get to the park. I think it will be great to have the bedroom so we can put the girls to bed at night, and then hubby and I can watch tv and relax before going to bed. Im also excited for the tub!!! I showed the girls pics of it and theyre already planning their nightly bubble baths.

 

[simonkodousek]

I guess you could say that we spend more time in our room than the average family. We don't leave the room until 8 AM and come back at 10 PM, but we take an afternoon break from 12 PM-3 PM.

Enjoy SSR!

 

[kimsuenew]

We loved staying at SSR. We stayed there this September, on our first WDW trip. We were in "The Springs". The whole resort is beautiful. There are wonderful family activities planned daily and the pools are really nice. We would stay again in a heartbeat! We are staying at Pop Century next September, because we simply could not afford SSR (value was the only way we could manage a return trip). We will miss the quietness and just the grounds/colors of SSR! We hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[newholidayx2]

For my upcoming 13night 50th birthday bash in Nov I booked
Pop 4 nights
Coronado 4 nights
BCV 5 nights

Starting out the vacation in commando mode while at Pop. Will relax some at Coronado (planned a morn to hang out). Then at BCV Im birthday partying! Planned a few mornings downtime. Mostly there for Off Kilter!

 

[moviegirl11]

To me, you get more than just a nice room with a nicer resort. I thought the bus transportation seemed much quicker and less crowded at CBR than it was when I stayed at ASMu. There were also less people running around, fewer screaming children and it just felt less crowded there overall. I haven't stayed at a deluxe but when I visited Poly to go see Spirit of Aloha, my immediate reaction was "oh, I want to stay here!" Its just beautiful. Plus it'd be nice to have a bigger room and a private balcony and the monorail option is very appealing, I think. The kind of stuff really would have an effect on your daily routine and the vacation in general.

That said, for us, the decision to go with a moderate was a money thing. We just couldnt justify spending like $800 more on the trip just to stay at a deluxe. If we had that kind of extra money, we totally would because I think it'd be worth it for a trip longer than 4 or 5 nights.

I also wouldnt advise people who've never been to WDW to spend more than they have just to stay at a deluxe. The first visit is such a whirlwind and there's so many new things to see in the parks that chances are, the family wouldn't spend much time at the deluxe. It probably takes most people at least a couple visits before they 1) know what parks/attractions they have to hit (and which ones they can miss) and 2) know how to budget their time right so that they actually HAVE free time to roam the resort.

 

[DisLUV]

Time spent in your room depends on who is on your trip. We spent alot of time in our room at the WL on our Honeymoon (I just had to say it!)!

 

[Charleyann]

I love to go go the parks! I never spend time in my room. I get too bored when I am vacationing to lay around

Charleyann

 

[SB in KY]

With young children you will LOVE the space provided by a 1BR villa. I am certainly not one to play Betty Crocker on vacation but having the kitchen for breakfast, etc with little ones is great....there will be days when the kids have just had enough and you will be able to go back to the room, fix them a PB&J or whatever and let them nap or put them to bed...and you will be SOO thankful for that nice big villa, where you and DH can still visit, watch TV or a movie or whatever after the kids are down..

. The jacuzzi is great and the washer dryer are handier than you even thought they would be.

If you are in a small room at a Value resort you probably will not do anything besides sleep and shower there, but if you have a nice unit at SSR it will feel a LOT more like vacation and you will probably find yourself spending more time in the room and at the resort because it is so enjoyable.

 

[madalex]

We are not "park commandos" who leave the room in the morning and do not return until the parks close down at night. We have breakfast at the resort and then head out in the morning. We are always back in the afternoon to spend a few hours in the room and/or around the resort before heading back out in the evening. We also usually have at least one day where we don't go to the parks and just spend it hanging around the resort. Thus, as we do spend a good bit of time around the resort, the resort we stay at, the amenities at the resort and the rooms themselves are very important.