AoA Suite or 2 Royal Rooms POR?

[SiennaKate]

Hi
We are planning an 8 night stay at WDW from Nov 10, 2014 (my 40th Bday) after a 7 night DCL cruise. We have 4 children who will be 10, 8, 5 and 3.
I was planning on staying at AoA in a suite and hoping for free dining which we would then upgrade to standard.

I am now looking at the royal rooms at POR which all the kids love.Also. We would get 2 rooms. I like the idea of getting the boat to Downtown Disney and the extra activities in this resort.

We will probably also stay 1 night on Oct 31 prior to cruise but not go to any parks. I thought maybe we could stay AoA that night so kids can enjoy the theming but POR when we return.
I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for us. We have been to WdW twice, and Dl last year. We are also coming from Australia.
Thanks

 

[lthiesfeld07]

Hi!

If I remember correctly, Free Dining isn't usually offered at the AoA Resort. With your kids ages, I would say the family suite for sure! But again, I'm not sure about free dining.

I love the Port Orleans Resort! I've only ever stayed at Riverside, but have visited French Quarter before. 2 rooms at French Quarter, you can't go wrong! The boat ride to DtD is great! Ithink you'll appreciate the room sizes at FQ too!

Have a great cruise and vacation!

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[Babsy]

With 8 days you could try 4 nights at each. If you are staying one night prior but not going to any parks, where to stay depends upon how long you will be there. If you are only arriving late in the day and crashing for a night sleep pre cruise, 2 rooms at the least expensive All Star or Pop Century is a value option that I would choose. If you have time and simply want to enjoy the resort for the day Port Orleans makes sense with a free boat to Downtowen Disney and access to the sister resort of riverside. Lots of activities to spend a day here!

PLease note that Disney does NOT guarantee connecting rooms, so if you want to al be in the one unit for SURE than AoA is your best choice. That said, I think that they really try hard to get families in rooms that connect, so you will probably be OK.

 

[plutospalforever]

Your plans sound awesome! What a truly remarkable vacation! Free dining has always been available for AoA suites; the little mermaid rooms are usually excluded. If you have any desire to stay at AoA I would do it sooner rather than later. Your kids are still the perfect age to appreciate the theming and to still sleep comfortably in the non-traditional sleeping arrangements. As they get older they will appreciate/need sleeping in normal beds. We have four children and figure this will be our only year where the AoA suites will work best; in two years we will go to two rooms. Good luck with your decision and have safe and magical travels. : )

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[kddisney502]

So you'll have 6 people in one AoA suite? Or two rooms at POR?

Although the AoA suite allows for 6 people, IMO it's a tight fit. You have 1 queen bed, and 2 doubles. That could be a tight fit for the kids on the doubles. You'll be more comfortable at POR, but have you compared the cost of the different rooms/resorts? For Nov 14 2013 (US prices, AUS prices may vary), the cost for two Royal Rooms at POR is 1.5 times more expensive then the cost of an AoA suite. You might want to check how the up charge for regular dining compares to extra cost of POR rooms.

As for the dinning deal, I believe Australia has different offers than the US, so I'm not sure if it will apply the same. For the latest US deal, free QS dining was offered to the AoA suites (but not to the LM rooms).