Affordable accomodations for large families?

[wakeatty]

We have 4 children and usually take grandma for a total of seven. We have rented homes and stayed at HI Family suites which is a very good deal considering b'fast buffet is free. The kids also enjoyed that property musch more than condo or townhouse.

HOWEVER, this year we have rented points from a DVC owner. Instead of a 2 br villa we took 2 studios which saved us approx $600.00.

$1500 for 2 rooms in a delx resort for 5 nights I can not wait for July to get here. Our 10th trip and we final get to stay on site.
I"M ready to go!!!!! Oh, ya we were able to rent for 9.50 a point..

 

[Deb & Bill]

wakeatty: Your kids aren't small, they? You can't get connecting studios since they only connect to one-bedrooms. Are the adults splitting up for the stay? Actually, your rooms may not even be close to each other. They can't always guarantee it.

 

[okiemomx5]

We have five children and any where we go on vacations we face this dilemma. We are going to be staying at the Port Orleans
Riverside in 3 weeks. I really don't know how much it
is costing per night......according the the site for POR it
says at Peak time for a standard room is $169, but
the other times were around $129 - $149.

We chose the POR because we are going on the Wonder Cruise
and they only put you up in like 2 or 3 places. So, we chose
there over the Caribbean Resort.

From what have been told it's quite large compared to a regular room somewhere else. I hope so.
We will put 4 in one room and 3 in another room and are next
door to one another. We have kids that are 16,16,13,11,10
and so it won't be like we have little ones, but if that were
the case, we would have my husband in one room with
a few and me in another room w/ some of them.
On the cruise we are next door to one another too and
we are doing girls in one room and boys in another!

I hope you find the right place for your family.
I think we will probably look into the wilderness cabins
the next time. We did look at renting a house, but
we wanted to make our first trip special by staying on
grounds.

Have fun what ever you do!

 

[KathleenFL]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the FW Cabins--They sleep up to 6 (dbl bed & bunk beds in the BR, (full or queen?)Murphy bed in the LR, plus a fully stocked kitchen, bath, and a deck with picnic table and grill. The rack rate off-season is $229/nt., but I've heard of some deals as low as $149/nt in the last year....FW is such a great place, for both adults and kids, if you like an "outdoor" atmosphere, and really convenient to MK by boat. We're going in Nov.(3 adults, 2 children - 3 & 1 ) and to me, it's the perfect combination of staying on-site, without that $200-300 per day rate.

Jeff Spencer has a great website, with lots of info on FW:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~jlspence/faq_fw.htm

To find out about discounts on WDW resorts, check out Mousesavers.com........

Wherever you stay, I'm sure you'll have a great vacation!!

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by KathleenFL
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the FW Cabins

FW is such a great place, for both adults and kids, if you like an "outdoor" atmosphere, and really convenient to MK by boat.

The FW cabins are the best kept secret in WDW. Even at rack rate I think it's a bargain, considering the fact that you get a full size kitchen & can prepare meals in your room.

The atmosphere is great even if you are not an "outdoorsman". My 3 DD's love it. Even when we don't stay at FW they always want to go "visit" & always ask if we can rent bikes & take a ride through the resort.

It's a great option to look into.

 

[Lisa P.]

FW Cabins are pleasant but they only have a single bath and the occupancy limit is 6. Some of the earlier posts were regarding family groups of 7 - the Cabins are not an option for them. They are limited to taking 2 rooms or a very expensive suite or DVC villa. I don't know if the All Stars have any connecting rooms where both rooms have 2 doubles (thought it was normally a king on one side and 2 doubles on the other).

So it may be that the cheapest onsite option is connecting rooms at PO-R - that is, IF the youngest is under age 9, to fit the trundle in the room with 2 doubles. Otherwise, a family group of 7 is stuck with 2 rooms at a Disney deluxe or a 2BR at a DVC. Whew! Very pricy. Look into renting DVC points IF the stay will be between Sunday & Thursday nights (weekend nights are high!).

We've travelled with 7-9 people and we thoroughly enjoy the reasonably priced deluxe 2BR and 3BR accommodations offsite nearby - simetimes a couple of side-by-side deluxe timeshare condos. Saving a ton of money means we get to eat in some fo the nice restaurants and/or travel more often.

 

[wakeatty]

Bill you are right about connecting rooms, however, thank goodness we are past having to worry to much about this as the boys are now 20,19,13,11 and of course Grandma is the saviour here... She loves going with us and is oh to happy and willing to sit with the younger ones a night or two so mom and dad can have some fum alone....

We have done this without grandma and always able to get rooms side by side, of course like you said my boys are older and that's is great plus for us...

 

[BethR]

Just FYI - you CAN get 2 rooms that connect (a door that opens between the 2)where BOTH rooms have 2 double beds. We stayed in 2 such rooms when we stayed in 1998.

The last time we went we stayed at Hilton Grand Vacations time share - a friend got a bonus week and offered it to us at a fantastic price. It was WONDERFUL! So much nicer than ANYTHING that we could have afforded on site. I would never think twice about staying off site again.

 

[disneyfan551]

...you guys have sold me on renting a house off-property. We will have 2 families (4 adults, 2- 2 yr. olds) in our party. I am just SOOOO worried about being stuck out in the middle of nowhere! Alot of hotels advertise that they are only 3 miles from Disney, but it may be 3 miles from the very border of the furthest park, with an actual 20+ minute drive!

If you have stayed at any of these homes, I would REALLY like to know which ones are within 5-10 minutes DRIVING time...

Thanks for your help!

 

[Shadow8]

I am going to Orlando in March and I was in the same situation as
you. Most of the affordable houses are at least 5 miles west or 5 miles south of Disney World. I found one 6 bedroom house that was awesome but not
available for the week that we needed it. It is only 2 miles from Disney World.

The lady who owns it actually called me from the United Kingdom
to offer me some other houses that she knew of but none were as close.
It was very reasonable to rent.

If you want to send me an e-mail I would be happy to send you her information.
I think I need to contact her to see if she wants to start paying me for referals.
I'm sent several people to her now. : )



Patti
Shadow@wctatel.net