Where to stay with family of 22?

[mamapooh]

My parents have offered to take the whole family to disney. We have my parents who are seniors, my family with 2 adults, 4 children (ages 16,12,2,1) - second family is 2 adults and 2 children (2,1) - third family 1 adult, 4 children (17,15,9,7) and fourth family is 2 adults and 3 children (13,2,1). I don't want them to break the bank taking everyone. We would certainly be willing to share a villa or two or do everyone in separate rooms. We are planning on February or April of 2008. Unfortunately we have to go during the kids school break and at this point I don't know exactly when that is. Any opinions or suggestions?

 

[Disney Kim]

I would check out the DVC rental points part of the forumn, You could probably get a better deal renting points for a grand villa than booking through Disney, Just a thought

or dvcrequest.com

 

[Sammie]

There is no way, with that many family members and children would I consider renting. No cancellation with that many, would be the death of me.

To save money I would consider the Value suites or FW cabins.

 

[darlak]

Check out the "resorts" link at the top the page on the opening page of Disboard.com. You can look at prices and maximum # of people per room/cabin/suite. You can also see pictures of your different options.

 

[Lynne M]

There is no way, with that many family members and children would I consider renting. No cancellation with that many, would be the death of me.

To save money I would consider the Value suites or FW cabins.

I agree. 22 people would mean two grand villas, or three 2-bedroom villas. That's a lot of points, and you'd probably need to rent from more than one member.

You'd get very nice accommodations for a lot less than rack rate, but it would be a hassle, and risky. Most DVC members who rent points will not refund your money if you need to cancel, as they may be at risk of losing their points. As Sammie said, with that many guests involved, the odds are good that someone will have to cancel, and your parents would be stuck with the cost.

Do consider reserving DVC villas through CRO, though. You probably wouldn't be able to get a grand villa, but since you can put up to 8 in a 2-bedroom villa, the cost per person may be comparable to a regular resort room.

 

[minijeanie]

Vast ages of kids...I think I would consider a moderate.

just got back from CSR and loved it.think this would appeal to all.

check it out

doing a deluxe would be quite expensive...

also could look at POR...but think you will be happier at CSR

 

[Deb & Bill]

I would check out the DVC rental points part of the forumn, You could probably get a better deal renting points for a grand villa than booking through Disney, Just a thought

or dvcrequest.com

Unless you are planning 11 months ahead of time, you won't be getting multiple grand villas. First problem would be finding a single member with enough home resort points to make the complete reservation for you. Is your name Rockafeller????

I'm with Sammie on this one. You or your parents could be out a lot of cash doing a DVC rental when family members start backing out. Cancellation would be next to impossible for this DVC rental.

 

[jennypenny]

I would call Disney's group reservations and see if they could help you. You are technically under the limit, but they'd have some suggestions. We I was having trouble getting ADR's for 12 people, I called them and they were very helpful.

Renting at a DVC resort (through CRO) is probably the best option. You would have different size accomodations available.

Jenny

 

[minnie61650]

The Family Suites at All Star Music will sleep up to 6.
Standard rooms are scattered by the Suites with some standard rooms right next door to a Suite. They are quite affordable starting at $179 a night.
A standard room which sleeps 4 starts at $82 a night.

With your party you might want 3 suites and 2 standard rooms so you can keep the families together.

If you ask for the ressies to be linked CRO should be able to put the group in rooms very close to each other.

---------------------------------------------------

Room size Comparison:

Pop Century/All Stars-260 Square Feet
CS, POR/POFQ-314 SF
Caribbean Beach-340 SF
Wilderness Lodge-344 SF
AKL-344 SF
Yacht/Beach-381 SF
Boardwalk-385 SF
Polynesian-409 SF
Contemporary-436 SF
Grand Floridian-about 400-440SF
Ft Wilderness Cabins-504 SF
Family suites at All Star Music -520 SF

---------------------------------------------------------

The Family Suitesat All Star Music will also sleep up to 6 plus a child under the age of 3 in a pac-n-play.

Here is some info on the Family Suites:

*** They are 520 square feet.

*** The Family suites are located in the Jazz and Calypso buildings at All Star Music.(these are the closet buildings to the food court and the bus stop.

*** They cost less than a standard room at AKL or WL.

***1-6 adults may stay in a suite for the same set price.
(There is an additional fee of $10 per night for a 3rd or 4th additional adult in a standard value room.)

*** They have a QUEEN size bed (the other values and even the mods do not have a queen bed.

***The fridge is included (if you booked 2 connecting value rooms you would need to pay $10 extra for a night for a fridge if you wanted one.

*** They come with a microwave and coffeepot (If you booked 2 connecting value rooms you would not even be be able to rent a microwave and coffeepot.

***They have 2 TV's (if you book POR or a Deluxe room which sleeps 5 you will have 1 TV)

***They have 2 bathrooms (if you book POR or a Deluxe room which sleeps 5 you will have 1 Bathroom.)



For more info and photos please see the FAQ thread and feel free to PM me with any questions.

Here is the FAQ thread:*Note you can also find it on the resort sticky


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409

----------------------------------------------

Here is more info about the Family Suites:


The Family Suites are located in the Calypso and Jazz Inn Buildings.
Calypso Building 1 has 32 suites
Calypso Building 10 has 54 suites
Jazz Inn Building 2 has 52 suites
Jazz Inn Building 9 has 54 suites

The suites are located on all three floors, and are near each other, but none offer connecting suites. There is no price difference between the buildings.

Check here for the 2007 rates:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-2007.htm#VALUE


For comparison, the price of a Family Suite is $9-11 more then 2 Standard Rooms, or $13-15 less the 2 Preferred Rooms, depending on season.

------------------------



The new family suites offer an affordable and convenient option for larger families with the amenities of a studio apartment.

Families can be together in the suite while enjoying separate sleeping areas with added privacy. Having two bathrooms will not only save time, but makes getting ready easier for the whole family. Plus, extra amenities like a microwave enable guests to prepare warm snacks and meals. With the extra room, guests can relax and recount the memories of the day before falling off to a goodnight’s sleep.

They:

-Sleep up to 6 (plus one child under age 3 in a Pak-n-Play crib)
-Studio amenities and separate sleeping areas giving more privacy than a standard room.
-Queen bed, full-size pullout sofa, convertible ottoman & chair sleepers (4 separate sleepers)
-Private master bedroom and family room have 27” flat CRT TV and high speed internet access.
-Kitchenette with microwave, small refrigerator (4.3 cu. ft) and coffee pot
-Two-full bathrooms
Here is the layout:

See this thread for photos:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1392866

For more info please see the FAQ thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409

Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay.

 

[alldiz]

If you dont want to break the bank....

I would go with Fort Wilderness Cabins....So much to do at
that resort....Each cabin sleep 6 with a full kitchen....
Boat ride to the contemporary and WL...
Boat to MK...Campfire every night...

OR....
ASmu suites....sleeps the same amount....and also full kitchen....
Less to do at the value resorts though....

If you will spend most of your time in the parks....
ASmu suites is your CHEAPEST way to go.....

If you want to hang at your resort more....definately
go with the campground....lots to do...
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[labdogs42]

What about a vacation home or two? You'd be off site, but everyone could stay together and you can probably find a good deal. We're staying in a vacation home this May with 9 people. It was a better deal than the Disney hotels and we have our own pool! I'm not sure if they have homes big enough for 22, but it might be worth a little internet search to find out! Good luck!

 

[goodferry]

Am I reading right that you are two, six, four, five and five? Are you wanting to sleep separate (each family in their own room?) If so, the only rooms that sleep six are the Deluxe rooms at the BWI, the Family Cabins and the family suites. We are staying in the deluxe room at the BWI (we are six too), but I would consider the cabins, Fort Wilderness is a lot of fun. Make your ressies early so you can get your first choice!

 

[minnie61650]

I have been thinking that since the party of 6 does have a child under 3 the families really can stay in any room that sleeps 5 plus a child under 3 in a pac-n-play.

So the deluxes that sleep 5 is an option and since the families that have 5 or 6 each have a child under 9 ( the trundles beds are recommended for children under 9 ) they could stay at POR in the AB section with a trundle bed.

The POR rooms would be very tight for the family of 6. If 2 pac-n plays are needed for any of the families than there would not be enough room at POR IMHO and the cabins or Family Suites would be a better option.

I think 2 pac-n-plays should fit in some of the larger deluxe rooms (of course the deluxe rooms that sleep 5 are quite pricey).

Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[goodferry]

Whenever we have a group going, I always go to the pickiest family (my parents) and let THEM pick, that way, there's not complaining!

 

[ducklite]

There is no way, with that many family members and children would I consider renting. No cancellation with that many, would be the death of me.

To save money I would consider the Value suites or FW cabins.

I would rent the points if I had them, but I would strongly suggest that the renters took travel insurance and I have a no cancellations after 60 days prior policy in place. The way my contract works is that if they cancel after the 60 days mark, I will try to re-rent the points, but they will only get back what I'm able to re-rent, and less a service fee.

It would really be the problem of the renter if they had to cancel after the 60 day mark.

Anne

 

[CarolA]

I would start looking off site. While on site is nice. I think that for a group of this size a house or maybe two houses next to each other would be the way to go. There are some HUGE rental houses out there. On of my co-workers rented a five bedroom house with five baths and two half baths for about $1,500 a week! Not sure how many it slept.

 

[countingthedays]

I would call Disney's group reservations and see if they could help you. You are technically under the limit, but they'd have some suggestions. We I was having trouble getting ADR's for 12 people, I called them and they were very helpful.

Renting at a DVC resort (through CRO) is probably the best option. You would have different size accomodations available.

Jenny

I support calling group sales. Even if you went with more rooms (perhaps splitting out the older kids?), they might be able to give you enough of a discount that it would make sense to do. Good luck.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

For a group that large, staying offsite might be a good choice. With a group that large, having plenty of room to spread out is very important. Also, don't expect the group to stay together all of the time. That is just too many people, you'll be miserable.

Last fall, we (9 people) stayed at the Sheraton Vistana (not the Village). The location was very close to WDW, very close tothe outlet mall, the rooms were HUGE and VERY clean. We had a full kitchen in our rooms, and the price was great. There are also a number of offsite places to eat nearby, so that can save a little money too - maybe.

The downside of being offsite is that you have to coordinate travel to/from the parks (per car), and you have to get everyone motivated to leave. My family did not want to do that this past fall (in the past it's worked just fine though) so I'm not sure what happened with us, but if you can agree to a basic schedule - then you'll do fine.

If you use the kitchen areas - even if you just use it for breakfast and evening snacks - you'll save quite a bit of money off the trip. Even if you don't do it every day. With that many folks, you're going to want at least some food on hand in the room. We didn't do much cooking ourselves - just a few leftovers in the microwave, toast in the toaster. We had cereal, fresh fruit, water - lots of bottled water, snack foods, yogurt, milk, juice. There's still plenty of time to enjoy lunch and dinner meals in the parks! Plus having breakfast in the room was faster than dining out. It's amazing how much time you lose - eating going to the bathroom, waiting at ride exits, etc. The bigger the goup, the more time you lose on these things.

The suites sleep like eight people -we only had five and four people per room - so there was tons of space for us. The end of the trip we stayed at AKL. It was considerbaly tighter in our two rooms. The big advantage of being onsite was that we could pair off and come and go more freely - as opposed to traveling in our two rental cars. On an earlier trip, we stayed in three rooms at the Swan with 12 people. It also worked fairly well, but there was some concern raised over the cost of the rooms - and that was when the gov't rate was LOW!

Make sure everyone knows all the costs up front and they are okay with them.

 

[CanadianGuy]

The biggest problem i see with staying off site.. is it would appear you would need at least five rental cars to cover off 22 people... Five rental cars adds up fast.... For a 7 day stay.. that's well over 1000$ additional. And then coordinating everyone's driving and so forth. Disney Transportation sure would make that easier.. I would think.

I think renting points and renting a couple or maybe three of the DVC grand villas on those points would be the way to go.

It's either that.. or five or six value rooms. Something like that.

K

 

[Sammie]

I would rent the points if I had them, but I would strongly suggest that the renters took travel insurance and I have a no cancellations after 60 days prior policy in place. The way my contract works is that if they cancel after the 60 days mark, I will try to re-rent the points, but they will only get back what I'm able to re-rent, and less a service fee.

It would really be the problem of the renter if they had to cancel after the 60 day mark.
Anne

Which is the reason I said I would not rent points if I was the OP.