Best for families?

[JLODONNELL]

Hi all,
Newbie to DVC, we have 160 points per year. What would be the best family resort? We are looking to combine 2 years and bring some friends, were thinking BCV because of the pool but they do not have a 3 bedroom. Any thoughts? The treehouse villas look far from the parks. We have young children and need easy access. Any recommendations would be great!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We wouldn't all agree about the "best" family resort, but if easy access to parks is important, I would say try BLT. It's not cheap, but there are GV's there. When our DGC were young, we always stayed at VWL, because of the ease of getting to the MK and it's really our favorite resort, but they also don't have GV's.

Welcome to the Disboards, and welcome Home!

Bobbi

 

[crisi]

Consider getting two rooms rather than a Grand Villa. When you take guests, its sometimes nice to have space. That is often cheaper than a GV and opens up other options (like BCV if that is what interests you).

 

[Deb & Bill]

For a GV, you'll want to book at your home resort most times of the year. If you don't have a GV at your home, book at two bedroom and a studio. Or two studios and a one bedroom (it sounds like you might have two families going with you???). A GV can be tough to get at 7 months out.

Like Crisi said, sometimes being close can be too close and a little separation may be nice. Plus if someone backs out of the trip you can easily drop a studio.

It seems like everyone who buys into DVC wants to bring everyone along on the first DVC trip (I know we brought my husband's mom and dad with us on our first DVC trip). But you might want to just enjoy it by yourselves for the first trip and get a trip or two under your belt to nail down the details.

 

[Figment2]

So...you bought into one of the DVC resorts without knowing whether you and your family would like it? Just wondering.

 

[cvjw]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the GV use lots and lots of points. If you are looking to use 2 years worth of points (160 X 2 = 320), that is what we normally spend on a 2 bedroom for a week in May. Kidani village 2 bedroom savannah view is 317 points for our week - the GV is over 600 points for the week. You may have to use 3 years worth to get a GV, and that amount of points might not even cover a weeks stay.

 

[iloveokw]

I would book two rooms (studio, one bedroom or two bedroom depending on the number of people) at your home resort. Then you are guaranteed a room. At the seven month window change if you want to and there is availability. That way if your friends back out you can cancel their room, yes it does happen....many times our friends/family don't understand how DVC works and it is not just like a regular hotel reservation. Just be careful with your borrowed points (and banking window) because you don't want to lose your precious points.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I just returned from a trip with 15 family members, ages 2 up to 71. We stayed at Kidani in two 2 bedrooms and 1 studio and it was fantastic! Everyone ADORED the resort.

We were discussing during the trip that I think the best resorts for a big trip like ours with such diverse ages would be Kidani or something in the Epcot area. Kidani was perfect for us and especially nice because the 2 bedrooms had the extra bathroom. Having 7 bathrooms total for 15 people was heaven! Though we loved the parks, I think if you polled my family, they'd say their favorite day was the afternoon we all spent at the pool - it was exciting enough for the big kids, had lots of activities and the zero entry which was great for the little kids and had delectable drink choices at the pool bar for the adults.

Anyway, I would easily recommend Kidani to someone planning a trip with multiple families and I would echo what others have said about maybe doing multiple 2 bedrooms or studios rather than a Grand Villa. We felt like we had so much space when we got back to the resort that it kept us from getting on each others nerves too much.

 

[DVCAmy]

We travel every other Fall with extended family: my family, my sister's family and grandparents. 6 adults and 6 kids. We get 2 2BR and sometimes an extra studio for the grandparents. We loved BCV, BLT and SSR for these trips and would happily go back to any of these for our family trips. 1 thing is I find BCV better with older kids (no strollers) because of the shared buses. I never had a problem with bus room at SSR or BLT (often walked or took monorail)

Good luck trying them all!

Amy

 

[Dean]

Hi all,
Newbie to DVC, we have 160 points per year. What would be the best family resort? We are looking to combine 2 years and bring some friends, were thinking BCV because of the pool but they do not have a 3 bedroom. Any thoughts? The treehouse villas look far from the parks. We have young children and need easy access. Any recommendations would be great!

As noted, there is no one size fits all. Since you mentioned the THV, I'm assuming you don't have more than 9 people. I would agree that getting 2 villas (2 BR plus studio) is cheaper than getting a 3 BR for all other options and at BCV and AKV, these will sleep 9 as well for the 2 BR. I'm also assuming since the THV location is an issue for you that so would OKW and SSR be. OKW will have the largest 2 BR units and should be the cheapest points outside of the AKV value units followed by the AKV standard units and the BWV standard 2 BR units. Of these the AKV will have the best BR access for the LR sleepers and OKW will have the largest units and kitchens. AKV standard will also be the most available along with OKW. Personally, and drawing from my feel of your preferences in your post, I think AKV standard will serve you the best and second would be to splurge to BLT standard IF you can get by with the 2 BR.

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

So...you bought into one of the DVC resorts without knowing whether you and your family would like it? Just wondering.

We bought SSR before it was open, and love it. Also, have never had an issue of staying at other DVC (except BCV).

 

[magicaldisney]

So...you bought into one of the DVC resorts without knowing whether you and your family would like it? Just wondering.

The OP never mentioned anything about not liking something.....just looking for a recommendation on a suitable resort for the size of group and the points they have.