Advice on a resort with a family of 5

[dlsanchez]

Could you please give me you opinion on which resort for 4 nights with a family of 5 with 3 teens? Thank you!

one room at
Art of Animation (which room?)
POR
Contemporary (it worth the $150 extra a night?)

or
2 rooms at a value resort and which resort?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

With 5, at AOA, you have to do a Family Suite, full stop. It will have the most space of your options.

POR works if one of your teens is short.

CR works with a taller teen. The key benefit there is being walking to Magic Kingdom.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

What’s more important to you, space/layout or location?

Personally we prioritize location, so I would pick Contemporary of the options you listed. A similar option you may not have considered is a one bedroom villa at BLT. More expensive, but gets you an additional bathroom as well as the kitchen, laundry, and separate sleeping space from the teens.

I would not do 5 in a POR room, too small and not enough location payoff IMO.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Have you looked at the Epcot area resorts (Beach Club, Yacht club, Boardwalk Inn?)

We stayed there about a year ago with our kids ages 12, 14, and 16. Dh and I shared one bed, two kids shared another bed, and the third kid slept on the couch/daybed. We really liked that it was walking distance to two parks, and all the entertainment around the boardwalk was fun for the evening.

 

[Thecouch]

Maybe look at dvc hirer on the threads on this site. $17 a point seems standard but will often see $13-15 a point closer to trip

 

[dlsanchez]

Thank you for your input. I will be purchasing the special 4 day ticket so I will be visiting one park a day. I was thinking that 2 rooms at POP is about $350/night, Contemporary Garden is $450/night, POR is $275/night. My teens are small. 2 are 5 feet tall. Would the extra bed be too small?

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Is it a priority to stay on site? Because God knows you save a bundle by staying elsewhere in a suite that will give you more room than any Disney room(at a decent price) can possibly give you. My wife and I are planning a trip in February to watch our daughter compete in the Cheerleading Championship. Have a room only at POP for now but can save big bucks by staying at Cabana Bay Beach Resort which is only 15 min away(have stayed before a might make change to save large $$$) . If not staying in the bubble is a possibility there are very large family suites that sleep six at CBBR with small kitchenette, a bathroom area that is seperated so one person can shower while another is using the toilet while a third can be putting on make up (very nice layout). Nice places to eat as well as two pools a lazy river a bowling alley arcade multible bar/snack places. You will save a large sum of money. Just saying

 

[dlsanchez]

Also, would you prefer POP- 2 rooms or AoA suite? Which is a nicer resort? POP 2 rooms is $100 cheaper per night than the suite at AoA.

 

[dlsanchez]

Is it a priority to stay on site? Because God knows you save a bundle by staying elsewhere in a suite that will give you more room than any Disney room(at a decent price) can possibly give you. My wife and I are planning a trip in February to watch our daughter compete in the Cheerleading Championship. Have a room only at POP for now but can save big bucks by staying at Cabana Bay Beach Resort which is only 15 min away(have stayed before a might make change to save large $$$) . If not staying in the bubble is a possibility there are very large family suites that sleep six at CBBR with small kitchenette, a bathroom area that is seperated so one person can shower while another is using the toilet while a third can be putting on make up (very nice layout). Nice places to eat as well as two pools a lazy river a bowling alley arcade multible bar/snack places. You will save a large sum of money. Just saying

We definitely want to stay on site. My kids have never stayed on site and have always wanted to try it. We have stayed off site for the 5 times we have been to Disney. Also, we live one hour form Disneyland so we could easily just go there instead. However, we want the Disney World full experience for our last trip with our kids before our oldest goes to college.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

I truly understand. LOVE Disneyland by the way wish I was close to either one but am not We love the bubble just have to save money this time. Not one week after we helped, nudge nidge wink wink, our son purchase a car my car of 17 years died. So we all of a sudden have two car payments instead of the one (our other car is paid off thank god). So we are looking to save save save. Room for five is tough to come by without moving to a suite. Which is why I think rentingDVC points could be a good way to go. Have you thought about renting for DVC at Wilderness Lodge. Have stayed there before and it is awesome. I think WL is on the lower end, price wise, of the Deluxes and it is truly exceptional in my opinion. It's close to Magik Kigdom by boat and you can take boat to CR and get monorail to Epcot and or the other esorts on monorail line.

 

[rstevens333]

Walking to the MK from the Contemporary is amazing, but it sounds like you'd only be doing that once.

Two rooms at Pop sounds like a great option. It's two rooms *and* you get fun transportation to two parks.

 

[Gehrig1B]

Would the extra bed be too small?

We stay at Boulder Ridge and on several occasions have had a 5th person, male over 6'0" tall, have no problem sleeping on the pull-down bed. Was it perfect, no, but he said it was fine...

 

[cutigerlady]

With 3 teens, I would think two bathrooms would be a necessity! I would pick 2 value rooms or the AOA suite. If Value, I would pick Movies or Music because they have been updated.

Another option would be to look at the Swan/Dolphin to see if 2 rooms would be equivalent of 1 room at another BW area resort.

 

[Karebear]

We come from CA too and our first priority is proximity to the parks and getting the most out of the trip. I have a son and daughter (14 & 15) and their favorite is Yacht Club. I know The Epcot resorts aren’t on your list but you might want to look at them. If you stay there, you can walk or boat to 2 parks which really cuts down on your travel time. My kids love the pool at Yacht and Beach. Have fun planning!

 

[stinkpickle]

If you plan on spending most of your time in the parks, I would suggest getting two rooms at Pop.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

I agree with Stinkpickle! One of my neighbors just returned from a stay at PoP last month and she really enjoyed it and loved the Skyliner.

 

[nkereina]

Two rooms at a value gives you a second bathroom, more space, and more comfortable sleeping arrangements. Two bathrooms will help you be more efficient for getting ready in the morning, which I think is crucial on a short trip. So that would be my vote.

The family suite at AOA is another good option, but if the price is comparable to two rooms at a value, I would rather have the two rooms. But warning that they will NOT guarantee you connecting rooms, so you do run the risk of the rooms not being adjacent. When booking, you'll need to have someone 18+ on each reservation.

East of transportation is also crucial on a short trip, so Contemporary would be my third choice but its not optimal IMO.

I would not choose POR - those rooms are small and storage is minimal. It would be very crowded. The 5th sleeping surface is slightly larger than a crib mattress and are meant for ages 11-12 and younger.

 

[maxiesmom]

The Contemporary. So easy to get to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Plus the way the bathroom is set up the toilet is in a room off of the main bathroom, which can be very handy.

 

[dlsanchez]

Thank you everyone! I think I will go with 2 rooms at POP. YC and BC are sold out. I am only going to MK for one day so Contemporary seems like overkill. Hopefully they give me rooms close together at POP.

 

[SharonZ]

The two rooms at POP for sleeping surfaces and also two bathrooms. POR with three teens would be tight.