14 People - Unsure Where to Stay

[starry_solo]

I'm sure I posted this elsewhere, but I would look to see if anyone is having a Disney wedding and has a block of rooms that they need to sell. I saw it posted somewhere else (not sure if on this forum or another, but possibly the Disney Weddings portion of this forum) but if you have an idea of when you want to go, you can look around. I believe they have discounted rooms and they have blocks in various resorts

As far as where to stay, which theme park would your nephew most be interested in? If MK, I would try to stay at one of the monorail resorts (expensive!) If EPCOT or HS, I would try Beach Club, Boardwalk, or Yacht Club (also expensive). Hence, see above for hints on how to make it a bit cheaper.

 

[robinb]

If value is the price range that makes sense, then ASMu has suites that are all in the Jazz Inn or Calypso buildings, so again, not too far apart.

The suites sleep 6 people, with 2 people in the bedroom and 4 people in the living room. The OP has 14 people so she would need (at the minimum) 2 suites and 1 regular room and she would have to juggle people to fit. A better choice would be 6 regular rooms so each group has their own space and it would be about the same price.

 

[IrishNYC]

I wouldn't necessarily do villas for a family trip, because sometimes, at the end of the day, everyone needs their own space, as spacious as the villas can be. We do big family trips almost yearly to various places, and every family gets their own room. My little fam of 3 has a room, my sister's 4 have a room, the grandmas share a room, etc. Together but separate = happier times for us, especially after being together all day long.

 

[Babsy]

The suites sleep 6 people, with 2 people in the bedroom and 4 people in the living room. The OP has 14 people so she would need (at the minimum) 2 suites and 1 regular room and she would have to juggle people to fit. A better choice would be 6 regular rooms so each group has their own space and it would be about the same price.

Perhaps so, perhaps not. IDK the dynamics of OP's family and how they would want to split up. Originally OP was looking at 2 treehouse villas. Perhaps three ASMu suites would work, perhaps 6 rooms would work better. The way the OP wants to divide people among various rooms is up to the people involved. Another option with rooms would be preferred rooms which again would be limited in the resort area.
Meanwhile: The point of my post was not so much suggesting specific options as to where and how to stay, but some ideas as to how booking categories would increase the chance that the rooms/suites/whatever might be located in a limited area. Thus increasing the chance that they would be near each other and not spread far and wide across any resort. These listed were just a few ideas to illustrate the point. Other rooms were suggested illustrating that preferred rooms would work this same way.

 

[SharonZ]

With your size of group - I would consider everyone's budget. Some people don't have any idea the cost of hotels at Disney. I don't think I would worry up splitting up, sometimes that works out just as well. It might be hard to get everyone to decide on one hotel in the long run.

 

[Cajun23]

We did a group of 17 people last year.

Half stayed at Poly and half stayed at Pop for budgetary reasons.

We all had an agenda of what we had decided to do. People could either join in on the agenda or do their own thing.

We all had cell phones so we would just call and text as needed.

Everyone had fun and it worked out well i thought.

 

[sunshinemelody]

You really wouldn’t be splitting up the group, just different rooms at same resort, and request they be near each other.
We stayed at Yacht Club in a standard view room over resort entrance. It’s unusual, but 4 rooms shared a large balcony. When I saw this I thought those rooms would be great for a large group.

I'm still relatively new to the whole Disney resort thing, so, I take everything in very carefully in the hopes that I learn something that will benefit my trip well. I noticed that the YC is also pet-friendly (I know that the testing of this program will end soon, but if it continues, I figured I would ask now or forever hold my peace); if this was to be an option, can we request that we be away from the pets in the resort? I know that it is also never guaranteed that we'd get adjoining rooms, but is there any way to at least guarantee a floor?

...

If price does become an object (I know that I would not want to spend hundreds of dollars per night on a deluxe resort) you may want to rethink Bonnet Creek. You are thinking about renting two treehouse at more than $1000 per day each for a total of $14,750 rack rate. An entire week at the most expensive time at BC (according to http://vacationupgrades.com) would be $4550 all in for a 4 BR unit and a 2BR unit. That's over TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in savings. What does that $10K buy you? A free bus ride to/from the airport? Free bus rides to the parks? EMH? For a 4-year old's birthday? Frankly, the 4 year old won't give a darn where he stays and kids that age are often more interested in the pool than anything else. And ... speaking of pools, the BC pool is better than more WDW resort pools except for possibly Storm-along Bay. Even if you account for transportation to/from the airport and Uber/Lyft to the parks you are still saving nearly $1000 per day to stay off site v/s a treehouse or a deluxe resort.

That's understandable.

The main reason for wanting to stay on property was really because a majority of the family have never been to Disney. I wanted us all to be immersed in the Disney bubble. I've done it once and I know how wonderful that can be and I figured that even though, yeah, it's for a 4-year-old's birthday, that the 12 adults of the group can enjoy the Disney magic for what it is. Sure, he'll forget about the room and the ME, but my family won't. It's as much about them as it is about him. This is my way of celebrating us as a family unit and sometimes you only get that once.

I will take into steep consideration Bonnet Creek, weighing the pros and cons (the money is a wonderful pro), and I'll check out the BC forum here on Disboards.

You guys are giving me a run for my money, by the way!

We are doing our 3rd family vacation this August at Beach Club. We like it because in August we spend a decent amount of time at the pool. There are 4 families, my parents, my family brothers and sisters. 16 all together with 8 kids.

Separate rooms are nice, especially with kids, they need some time to wind down. Last time my sister and I had adjoining rooms and my brother and parents.

That's one thing I don't like about SS - the pool was such an afterthought for the Treehouses and yeah, just as @robinb pointed out, my nephew, and probably everyone else, might be more interested in the pool during certain times than anything else.

I'll scribble BC down as well. Now, I'm getting overwhelmed, but I asked for this!

Have you considered Old Key West on a cash basis? ...

I have not yet stayed at this resort so I cannot speak to convenience, etc, however there is always a "first time" at any resort, and the booking is blind until you experience it. We watched multiple youtube videos before decking on thsi resort for this specific trip, and when we considered the layout, as well as the cost differences between this oe and the other DVC villas, this one won. It is a special trip for us because like you, we have a newbie, and we want her experience to be memorable, in a good way! LOL! We would have loved a monorail or EPcot resort, however we also needed to consider the savings, and how that money could enhance out trip.

I woud suggest that before you make any decisions, you should discuss what the budget is and how you will share costs. You would be surprised how that little thing can cause issues. My family just counts the number of adults and then splits the total bill between adults. Not every family is okay with this arrangement, so best to get that out of the way early on.
I would also make sure you know who can or will share space, and if a number of you can all stay in one unit. It is not as concrete as it sounds, and being honest about family dynamics can make the difference between a good vacation and a disaster that no one recovers from.

If you know that having an escape is important I would book rooms for each family, but at the same resort. This way you all can use the pool together, but can have privacy as well.

I have not and unfortunately, I'm unsure as to what you mean by "cash basis." IF you don't mind elaborating, I would be forever grateful. The fun thing about this trip is that we've already discussed our budget and the sharing of costs and that's pretty much nailed in stone - which is why the price range was open, it's a very large budget because we have a large unit. The only thing that we didn't decide on was whether or not we were staying at Disney the entire 8 days or splitting it between there and UO, but that's an entirely different discussion for another day.

Have you thought about the cabins at Fort Wilderness? They supposedly sleep 6 adults each. I've never stayed there personally, but I've heard good things.

Sadly, no.

I'm the only semi-outdoorsy one in our family, aside from my DBf, and so the rest of my family would eat me alive if we did the cabins. I did like the idea of Fort Wilderness, which lends itself somewhat to the cabins, without being in the cabins.

If it is within reason, I would book a MK monorail resort for the best immersive experience at WDW. CL would give you an option to get together in the lounge, while separate rooms allow each group some privacy and a place to call their own. If staying with a lake view in the CR tower, you would all be on the same floor and even on the same side of the CR so your rooms would be fairly close together. Easy to meet at the central lounge when leaving for the parks. Staying CL at either the Poly or GF SL would put you in an outer building, but all in the same one and again with a lounge to gather in. This would be my go to option, but the cost could easily be prohibitive.

Depending upon when you are planning to go, suites at CSR may be nice, but I wouldn't choose that option until sometime next year at the earliest. There will be a lot of closures and construction there this fall.

POFQ is a small moderate resort. If you book rooms there, you cannot be too far away from one another as the resort itself is relatively small for a moderate. It also has a pool area that the 4 year old should enjoy. POR is gorgeous and booking preferred rooms would put you close to the main building in AB as well as near the main themed pool.

If value is the price range that makes sense, then ASMu has suites that are all in the Jazz Inn or Calypso buildings, so again, not too far apart.

If you want to be on property, but want a great location and reasonable price, also consider the Swan or Dolphin. They are Disney owned but are in the Epcot area and are right next to the YC/BC and BWI. The Swan is smaller, so it might keep you closer together if you booked there. They have larger suites as well as many different room categories. Also discounts are frequently common and quite good at these resorts.

Any bookings should be made as "travelling with' all the other bookings. I would request rooms as close together as possible as my only request.

Enjoy your trip!! It sounds wonderful regardless of where you choose to stay!

Thank you! We're definitely looking forward to it!

I think I've got a lot more research to do and I'm honestly so grateful that I asked the questions I did because you all are coming up with amazing answers and better scenarios than I could ever think of. I want our family to have an immersive MK experience - as a matter of fact, it's the park that we'll frequent the most probably. But within the Swan & Dolphin, the ME is not an option, correct? Nor is EMH? If we were to go there, what is a major pro?

But ...now I am overwhelmed. And I think I'll have to take a break here for the night and write down what I need from what I have read and responded to. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th if you're from the states and a generally wonderful day if you aren't. I'll read the rest tomorrow or in the coming days - thank you!

 

[Sue M]

@sunshinemelody i believe the pet trial is ending in October. Is anyone in your party allergic? I ask because Service Dogs are always allowed. So if someonein your party is allergic it should be noted on your reservation and ask for that room to have an Allergy clean.
Unfortunately there is no way to guarantee any floor, room location, etc. In your requests state no more than 3 room requests in priority order. Unless you book CL, then you’d know what floor your on.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm still relatively new to the whole Disney resort thing, so, I take everything in very carefully in the hopes that I learn something that will benefit my trip well. I noticed that the YC is also pet-friendly (I know that the testing of this program will end soon, but if it continues, I figured I would ask now or forever hold my peace); if this was to be an option, can we request that we be away from the pets in the resort? I know that it is also never guaranteed that we'd get adjoining rooms, but is there any way to at least guarantee a floor?


That's understandable.

The main reason for wanting to stay on property was really because a majority of the family have never been to Disney. I wanted us all to be immersed in the Disney bubble. I've done it once and I know how wonderful that can be and I figured that even though, yeah, it's for a 4-year-old's birthday, that the 12 adults of the group can enjoy the Disney magic for what it is. Sure, he'll forget about the room and the ME, but my family won't. It's as much about them as it is about him. This is my way of celebrating us as a family unit and sometimes you only get that once.

I will take into steep consideration Bonnet Creek, weighing the pros and cons (the money is a wonderful pro), and I'll check out the BC forum here on Disboards.

You guys are giving me a run for my money, by the way!


That's one thing I don't like about SS - the pool was such an afterthought for the Treehouses and yeah, just as @robinb pointed out, my nephew, and probably everyone else, might be more interested in the pool during certain times than anything else.

I'll scribble BC down as well. Now, I'm getting overwhelmed, but I asked for this!


I have not and unfortunately, I'm unsure as to what you mean by "cash basis." IF you don't mind elaborating, I would be forever grateful. The fun thing about this trip is that we've already discussed our budget and the sharing of costs and that's pretty much nailed in stone - which is why the price range was open, it's a very large budget because we have a large unit. The only thing that we didn't decide on was whether or not we were staying at Disney the entire 8 days or splitting it between there and UO, but that's an entirely different discussion for another day.


Sadly, no.

I'm the only semi-outdoorsy one in our family, aside from my DBf, and so the rest of my family would eat me alive if we did the cabins. I did like the idea of Fort Wilderness, which lends itself somewhat to the cabins, without being in the cabins.


Thank you! We're definitely looking forward to it!

I think I've got a lot more research to do and I'm honestly so grateful that I asked the questions I did because you all are coming up with amazing answers and better scenarios than I could ever think of. I want our family to have an immersive MK experience - as a matter of fact, it's the park that we'll frequent the most probably. But within the Swan & Dolphin, the ME is not an option, correct? Nor is EMH? If we were to go there, what is a major pro?

But ...now I am overwhelmed. And I think I'll have to take a break here for the night and write down what I need from what I have read and responded to. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th if you're from the states and a generally wonderful day if you aren't. I'll read the rest tomorrow or in the coming days - thank you!

Old Key West is a DVC resort and it has one of the largest most properties and rooms on site. I know that there are options to rent points for a trip, however if that is not one that works for your group, Disney does keep a few villas for people to book for cash as resorts guests. Basically, you book a villa at a DVC property through Disney as if. You were booking a hotel room.
OKW and Saratoga Springs are among the most reasonably priced villas, IMO.
I honestly think that since you were considering tree houses you are also considering sharing space among family. I would do some mock pricing on the website to get and idea how much the rooms and villas are at the various resorts, and I also suggest watching Youtube videos of the resorts and their room choices.

WE travel together often and we share space, however we make careful choices in lodging so that we all can escape one another. I think that with extended family a trip can make or break relationships, so we always start by ensuring we are all on the same page financially, and a lodging choice that is comfortable for one family will not stress another.

 

[mickeygirl78]

I typically travel with a party of 7 but have gone with more. We like getting multiple rooms at the same resort and have never had a problem getting rooms near each other when reservations are linked. We’ve tended to stay away from the larger room situation because (1) separate rooms were typically less (2) everyone appreciated a little downtime in their own space and (3) the beds typically include pull outs which no one wants.

If you can afford it, Yacht Club is my favorite resort. It’s so close to two parks, has the amazing pool and is just a really nice resort.

Have fun!

 

[JennyDrake]

Holy Cow. 14 people. NO DOUBT I would go with multiple rooms at the same resort. No matter how much you like each other, WDW has it's own level of fatigue and over stimulation. THE 4 YO WILL NOT CARE WHERE YOU STAY. He only wants Mickey Mouse and a swimming pool. I wouldn't throw all that money at a Deluxe - ymmv. First timers typically want a LOT of park time. The moderates and values give an additional advantage of a large, centrally located food court with many options.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a surprise trip for my nephew's 4th birthday and I am unsure where to stay. I have been filtering between Saratoga Spring's Treehouse Villas, since there will be 14 of us on property and I can easily get two of those, and Polynesian Villages; however, a vast majority of those coming will be first-time visitors (such as my own mom, my SIL's family, and a few others), and based on Your First Visit, SS is the worst place to take first-timers whereas the Poly is the best. But also based on their chart, we can't even do Jambo House Villas, which accommodates 12 as it doesn't show up on the WDW website.

I have only stayed on property once (my very first time at Disney) at Shades of Green and I enjoyed what little time I had there, but we aren't a military family, so it's not even on our radar. After checking out the WDW website a little more, I figured we could do Wilderness Lodge, but I'm unsure if it will pique my family's interest.

Oh, yeah! I did try the Vacation Recommender on the website, but, it just doesn't work with a family as large as mine. It did give us great ideas for what to do (if based on a smaller group of people), but not really where to stay, so, if you can help a girl out, I would be eternally grateful. Thank you!

 

[mickey&minniealways]

If SS is an option for you then have you considered OKW. A two bedroom sleeps nine. A couple of those would be more than enough room. The rooms at OKW are huge. Great place to get away for the chaos. Love the boat ride to DS. Also one of the few places on property with a full basketball court. This has always been a big draw for my boys. On top of all that it is fewer points then other resorts.

 

[Babsy]

Thank you! We're definitely looking forward to it!

I think I've got a lot more research to do and I'm honestly so grateful that I asked the questions I did because you all are coming up with amazing answers and better scenarios than I could ever think of. I want our family to have an immersive MK experience - as a matter of fact, it's the park that we'll frequent the most probably. But within the Swan & Dolphin, the ME is not an option, correct? Nor is EMH? If we were to go there, what is a major pro?

But ...now I am overwhelmed. And I think I'll have to take a break here for the night and write down what I need from what I have read and responded to. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th if you're from the states and a generally wonderful day if you aren't. I'll read the rest tomorrow or in the coming days - thank you!

Sorry, I meant this as a short list of some ideas that could possibly work for you. There are obviously more options. The thought was to indicate that by booking certain categories you can increase your chance of being at least close together, because that category of rooms is limited in area.

The MK resorts are the Grand Floridian, Polynesian and the Contemporary (monorail resorts) and the Wilderness Lodge (boat or bus to MK). They have the largest rooms, easiest access to the MK and the highest prices.

About the Swan/Dolphin (Epcot area):
The Swan and Dolphin are not Disney owned and do not provide Magical Express service, no charging back to the resort from the theme parks, no Disney Dining plan and only 180 days advance ADR's. They do offer 60 day FP+ and EMH and use the Disney transportation just like any WDW resort. Personally, I find the rooms very comfortable and the beds much better than most of those in the Disney resorts. Staying on Disney property, you still feel immersed in the Disney bubble, IMO. We stay at one of these for part of every visit. It allows walking distance or a boat ride to both Epcot and DHS, which is very convenient. We have stayed with a family group with as many as three rooms and always been situated with rooms that are on the same floor and reasonably close together. Another thing that I like about the Swan/Dolphin is that you can book a balcony (or not) or a a view of Epcot fireworks (or not), so that is one less request that you might be hoping for at a Disney resort but be disappointed when you are one of those that do not get that desired outcome. You pay for the privilege or you do not - your choice. Magic Bands do not some free either, but they are a small $12 - $20 investment per person, if you want them. You cannot use them for entry into your room at the Swan/Dolphin, but you can use them for park entry and FP+. (I actually prefer a card for room entry as I find the MB's awkward to angle to the keypad for room entry.)

Also at the Swan/Dolphin are located some truly great dining options. If you have a AAA card you get a discount when dining at any of these even the QS.

Perhaps the biggest pro of staying at the Swan/Dolphin is the value that you get for $$$ spent. You are staying in the second best area of WDW, IMO, where only deluxe WDW resorts are located. However, there are often discounts available at these resorts that allow you to stay here for close to the price of a moderate resort.

We like to split our stay between the MK and Epcot areas. For example we might stay at the GF in the SL CL for the first part of the stay and then move to the Swan for the second half. In your case you might like a 5/3 split with 5 days in the MK area and then finish with a 3 day stay near Epcot. Staying in the Epcot area is convenient plus reduces the overall cost of the trip significantly and you get to enjoy the advantages of both MK and Epcot area resorts.

It is a lot of information, but once you get it all sorted you will have a magical vacation to enjoy! And it can be a lot of fun considering everything and planning! Relax and enjoy all the anticipation!

 

[Aliceacc]

My guess is that, with all that togetherness, each individual family would want its own room.

I would probably suggest one of the values, to make it easy for everyone.