Advice needed for a group of 9!!

[ManCityMickey]

Hello All!!

So.... the planning has begun for our trip in June 12. This time, along with the usual suspects of myself, DW, DD11, DD3 and M-I-L, we are taking along my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and 2 nephews (14 and 12).

Previously we have stayed in the Holiday Inn and the Kyriad, but this time we want to stay in a Disney hotel, for a little extra magic! So, we are looking for somewhere that can accommodate 3AD+2kids in one room and 2AD+2kids in the other. Do any fellow DISers have any suggestions would be best for us?

We quite like the idea of a pool, but that wouldn't be the be all and end all.

Perhaps we would be best to stay off-site again?

What do you all think?

 

[Ms Poppins]

The Disneyland Hotel, Newport Bay Club and now Santa Fe offer family rooms for 5. They are much more expensive though, and often you will be cheaper getting 2 rooms.

Standard rooms are for max 4 people. All have 2 double beds except Cheyenne which has a double and bunk beds - but the rooms are quite small because of this. I have heard of bunks being available Santa fe and Newport occassionally too, so maybe this can be requested.

Santa Fe and Cheyene don't have pools, all the others do.

If you are driving, you could consider Davey Crockett Ranch, which has accommodation cabins for 6 or 8 I think. There is also a pool. You will need to drive to the park each day as there are no shuttle busses.

The other option would be offsite at the Thomas Cook Explorers hotel. They have rooms for 4, but can offer a connecting annex which has bunk beds, making them suitable for 6. It has a pool, and the reports I've read say it's a great pool. There is a free shuttle bus.

One thing to bear in mind - you won't get EMH unless you are at one of the on-site hotels including Davey Crockett Ranch. I think that Hotel d'lysse (sp) which is offsite, near the shopping mall is included in EMH too for some reason.

We are a family of 5 and have considered every possible variation. But when it comes down to it, we much prefer to be on-site, usually at Hotel New York, with 2 rooms. I like us having two bathrooms to share, love the pool and it's only about 5 minutes stroll through Disney Village to the parks. For the short time we're there I like just walking everywhere and not having to wait on buses etc - I like my being in a Disney bubble

 

[Ware Bears]

Both the Disneyland Hotel and the Newport Bay have family rooms that will accommodate 3 adults and 2 children whereas standard rooms in all the Disney hotels will accommodate 4 adults which is what your SIL, BIL and nephews will be classed as.

The other possibilities are Davy Crockett Ranch (but you'll need a car for this) or the Explorers hotel. The standard room for 4 adults has the bonus that instead of two double beds the set up is one double and two singles plus there are rooms for 6 which have a standard room with the double and 2 singles plus a further room with bunkbeds. We've stayed in the room for 6 many times when my family were younger and the extra space was great. You can even go as far as to request a 10 bed room which gives you the rooms for 6 added to a standard room for 4 (basically interconnecting rooms) with two bathrooms ao ideal for 2 families. The room layouts are here.

There's a pool at all the hotels bar the Cheyenne, Santa Fe and Kyriad. The pool at the Explorers is a nice one and great fun for both litle and 'big' kids.

We stayed onsite for our last visit and chose the DLH as it was a milestone birthday treat. Although I loved every minute of it, it hasn't put me off staying off-site and if there aren't any decent offers for Disney hotels for next summer I wouldn't hesitate to stay offsite again. Having now stayed both on and offsite at both DLP and WDW, for me the main reason for choosing a Disney hotel is location, location, location but if the price isn't right then I can put up with the extra distance.

Happy planning!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Ooh forgot about those Santa Fe family rooms. Wonder if anyone on the boards has stayed in one yet?

 

[tinks_1989]

We are going as a group of 9 but we are driving 7 of us are staying at Davy cricket and 2 at sequoia lodge. X

 

[ManCityMickey]

Thanks for all the advice guys!!!

So... looking at the booking, would you say that booking as a 4, 3 and 2 would be better, to avoid any single supplement? (we all want to stay onsite)

I was thinking of Me, DW, DD11 and DD3
BIL, SIL and Nephew, 12
MIL and Nephew 14.

Would they class my oldest nephew as and adult?

Just waiting for a big offer now for our dates in early June12!!

 

[DLPdaft]

both your nephews will be classed as adults - children are aged 3-11 inclusive at DLP.

In your shoes I would do dummy bookings for any date you like, using several combinations of persons per room, see which one works out cheaper.

 

[ManCityMickey]

Thanks Elaine, was just going to try that!

Thanks for the amazingly fast help.