I'm so overwhelmed with choices, please help

[hallmom]

We are planning a family vacation to Disney this dec 7-11. We have 4 children ages 7, 5 and 3 year old twins. I have been researching and reading, but I am so overwhelmed!

We took our oldest 2, 4 years ago and stayed at the Grand Floridian. It was beautiful, nice, but I want something more child friendly this time. We need a two bedroom, so i was thinking a villa. I orginally called and made Animal Kingdom, Kidani House reservations, but now I am reconsidering. It seems too spread out for 4 children, too many long walks for the twins and a little longer bus ride than we really want.

Then I thought Wilderness. It is by Epcot, so closer and not so huge. But, then I saw the Contemporary villas, they look so nice, great pool, close by everything.

I am just so confused! My girls aren't princess obsessed and none of the 4 are obsessed with any special characters, so that's not a deciding factor. They do love animals, so thats why I thought animal kingdom originally, but that doesn't matter that much.

I mostly want compact walks, close to Magic Kingdom, and fun theming for the kids.

Any opinions? Thanks

 

[disneywatcher]

We are planning a family vacation to Disney this dec 7-11. We have 4 children ages 7, 5 and 3 year old twins. I have been researching and reading, but I am so overwhelmed!

We took our oldest 2, 4 years ago and stayed at the Grand Floridian. It was beautiful, nice, but I want something more child friendly this time. We need a two bedroom, so i was thinking a villa. I orginally called and made Animal Kingdom, Kidani House reservations, but now I am reconsidering. It seems too spread out for 4 children, too many long walks for the twins and a little longer bus ride than we really want.

Then I thought Wilderness. It is by Epcot, so closer and not so huge. But, then I saw the Contemporary villas, they look so nice, great pool, close by everything.

I am just so confused! My girls aren't princess obsessed and none of the 4 are obsessed with any special characters, so that's not a deciding factor. They do love animals, so thats why I thought animal kingdom originally, but that doesn't matter that much.

I mostly want compact walks, close to Magic Kingdom, and fun theming for the kids.

Any opinions? Thanks

Wilderness Lodge is closer to the MK (just a boat ride away) and so is the Contemporary.

Have you thought about looking into doing a CL suite as opposed to a Villa? I know that the WL has a 6 person room that's CL. I think the other resort's do as well.

Closer to Epcot are Yacht/Beach Club and Boardwalk.

I can say for us, we just wanted something that looked cozy but still had the feel of Disney so we went with the Wilderness Lodge and more then likely will for years to come. It's cozy, friendly, easy to find our way around and my kiddo's love the pool's and the hot tubs.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You will need a room that sleeps six. So a two bedroom villa would work. Or a suite that sleeps six.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

I just have two, a boy who is 7 and a girl who is 4. Both have done solo trips with me at age 4, and a family vacation when the baby was 2 and son was 5. On the family trip we stayed at CSR and I was EXHAUSTED from all the stroller hauling and walking (because even though I requested close to the front, we got stuck way in the back) and it was a .5 mile walk just to get food, which grew old especially with little ones about to melt down. The me/4 year old trips were at ASMo, and POP, which were both not much of a walk with the Preferred rooms (you might check how much two joined rooms or a Suite would be there) and I had a stroller solo too. Both of those trips were much easier than the long walks at CSR.

I will tell you that walking doesn't bother me, and I thought it wouldn't be a big deal because you could hop a shuttle (it makes four stops on that property) but it was a big deal to the kids after about 2 days. The oldest wanted to not walk, and after a day of walking in the parks, I wanted to not walk either.

My honest suggestion to you is if nothing really is a "Must" for anyone in your party, consider something that has monorail access because I'm guessing with the twins you will have a stroller. You can just roll it right onto the monorail. That will take care of EPCOT and MK. You will still have to have a bus ride to AK, but generally one day at that park is enough. The Contemporary least appeals to me but I am considering it our next trip because that would be the easiest.

We dined at WL and took the boat to/from MK. It was okay, but seemed slower than bus service but the property is very pretty and calming. I still had to colapse the stroller and haul it on the boat. POLY involves some walking to the various longhouses. It honestly just comes down to what you value more. I will tell you that unless you are close to the parks, it didn't make a lot of sense to go back to the room for a mid afternoon nap for us. Factor up to an hour each way on the bus, then getting to your room, getting them to be still... it can eat up 4-5 hours easy. My thought is closer to MK would be better for that age range.

However all that to say if you change nothing, I still think you will have a great time. We ate at Boma, and my little boy was very interested in AKL, so if all else fails, I think that is a nice place to be. No matter what you pick, you will find that it all works out much better than you think it will.

 

[Desnik]

I would say Bay Lake Tower is your best bet. Walking distance to the MK, and you also have the monorail to the MK, and Epcot. It is DVC so you get the 2 bedroom villa and are just a short walkway to the Contemporary Resort where you have Chef Mickey's for character meals and other great restaurants. The pool has a slide and is zero entry and has a kids splash area. The best is your room will have a full kitchen and that could help save some money on drinks and snacks. If you feel like cooking you can and maybe do some breakfasts in the room. Also, with kids, well even with adults that washer/dryer comes in hand! I love having it on our trips. Oh, don't forget the beach area where the kids can hang out and play in the sand! Oh, and the marina where you can rent a boat! We love doing that as a family.

 

[Belle83]

I think it would be hard to give up the monorail with kids those ages. I would pick Contemporary.

 

[sndral]

I would say Bay Lake Tower is your best bet. Walking distance to the MK, and you also have the monorail to the MK, and Epcot.

There's a skyway from the BLT that you walk across to catch the CR monorail and if you're heading to Epcot, you'll have to switch monorails @ the TTC (love that long monorail ride.) Of course you can walk to CR/BLT from MK, as well. You'd only have to bus to AK and DHS. I suspect the fewer times you have to unload kids and collapse strollers, the easier life will be for you - so I'd go w/ a monorail resort if it were me.

 

[Pig Pen]

If you are considering BLT, you should check on renting points, either from a DVC member or from David's Disney Vacation Club Rentals, rather than booking directly. It could save you hundreds of dollars. For proximity to MK, I would go with a BLT 2 bedroom or a VWL 2 bedroom. BLT is more convenient, but more expensive. VWL is SOOOO relaxing!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are considering BLT, you should check on renting points, either from a DVC member or from David's Disney Vacation Club Rentals, rather than booking directly. It could save you hundreds of dollars. For proximity to MK, I would go with a BLT 2 bedroom or a VWL 2 bedroom. BLT is more convenient, but more expensive. VWL is SOOOO relaxing!

That is a very popular time for DVC members and may already be booked up for points.

 

[lync]

I don't know if you are driving or not, but if you are, you may want to consider the cabins at Ft.Wilderness. You can park right in front of your cabin. We drive to all of the parks. It's so nice to be right outside our door. I was a little hesitant when the CM suggested it for our last trip, but we had a 4 month old and needed a dishwasher. It was so nice t have the extra space, too.

 

[Ariel8676]

We are DVC members and my kids 9,8,5,1 (< well he doesn't know any better yet..lol)..LOVE Kidani village. The grounds are great, the pool and spray ground is beautiful and the kids love looking at the animals. We get a 2 bedroom villa and it is perfect for us. The bus rides are not bad..and Kidani gets picked up and dropped off before Jambo house. I would request a room close to the lobby as some room can be pretty far from the bus stop, lobby and pool...but not horrible. Even if you wanted to take a walk to Jambo, its a few minute (and very peaceful) walk. The rooms are gorgeous, especially if the kids like Lion King!
I have stayed at all of the DVC resorts, and although they are al nice, we just keep going back to Kidani!