Best place to stay with toddlers?

[dts718]

Which Disney resorts are the best to stay at w/ a 2 and 4 year old and why?
Thanks all!

 

[Nolcrest]

I guess Deluxes are better as far as transportation goes but looking back I wished I had booked the All Stars when my kids were little.

This way we could have "grown" with the resorts. Having teenagers now they really wouldn't appreciate the icons that I know they would have been enthralled with as kids. I could've saved money too.

I guess I've always chosen where I've wanted to stay and now that the kids are older I wished I had chosen the resort that they would have adored at the time. (my kids would have liked any pool)

From a purely sentimental point of view I say start with the value and work your way up as they get older.

 

[Terk-1]

When my oldest nephew was a toddler, my family stayed at the French Quarter twice with him, then again when he was older and his other brother was a toddler. We then stayed at the Movies when one was 6 1/2 and the other 3 1/2 and they loved it, especially the Toy Story section. Took tons of pictures of them with the oversized characters.

I think I would vote for the Movies for their first visit.

 

[dts718]

It's funny that you brought up the transportation, because I think that's my main concern. I've heard so many negative things about the value resorts buses. But..I guess you get what you pay for...

 

[s&k'smom]

First I have to admit I am completely spoiled staying in the deluxes. I have stayed at WL and GF with a toddler and 6 year old and I have to again admit transportation was a big part of it. To be able to hop on either the monorail, boat or bus was a big plus. And my kids absolutely loved the pool area at GF. We plan on one of the monorail resorts on our next trip. (The monorail is usually their favorite ride too!)

 

[klh999]

I just got back from POR last night and even though I enjoyed it, I would NOT suggest it for a family with a toddler. Too Too much walking. I really like Beach Club.

 

[Kimberle]

I've stayed at CR & WL.

For little ones, WL is the best. We, including our 4yo dd really loved it.

Its the smallest of the deluxes. It's 1 building, so you don't have to worry abt running from building to building in the rain to get your coffee, or like.

It has 2 pools, main, quiet (which really is quiet), plus a kiddie pool. There are 3 hottubs for the grownups. There is a nice beach w/ a playground. (on the sand, so you don't have to worry abt them getting hurt.)

Whispering Canyons is a very family friendly resturant. They have stick horse races for the kids every hour. Your kids won't have a problem sitting still! There is just to much to do/look at.

The transportation is excellent. There are 2 boat lines. The larger one (you can roll your stroller on) goes WL/FW/MK. The smaller one (you do have to fold your stroller) goes WL/FW/CR. (It's very easy to go to Chef Mickeys at CR or Trails End at FW (excellent, inexpensive buffet next to Hoo Dee Doo). There is also a small petting zoo at FW and pony rides ($3, closed toe shoe required). It's a nice low key break for the little ones from the big parks.

 

[tink2]

We've stayed at AKL, POR, and POFQ with toddlers. Our favorite is POFQ. It is small and compact- not much walking to anything no matter which room you have. The kids liked the statues of alligators around the resort and though we went in Nov. and didn't swim, the pool is very neat looking with a dragon's tail. If you stay at POR or AKL, or most others, do your homework before you go and request a certain area of the resort. If you do not do this, you could be walking a whole bunch as a previous poster said. We liked POR a lot and had a good location- Magnolia Bend I believe. Not too bad of a walk. POFQ is by far the most compact. Transportatoin to/from parks was excellent at all three. AKL was the best b/c it didn't share a bus with any other resort and only had one stop. Good luck deciding- either way you'll be fine and at Disney!!!

 

[TJA]

You're going to receive many different opinions on this one. Here is mine:

We stayed at AKL in Novemer with 2 babies. We loved the resort and if it would've been just me and my husband on the trip, we would have absolutely no complaints. But with 2 kids, it was too hard on us. The resort was way too spread out and it only had bus transportation. Folding and loading our stroller became old really fast!

Needless to say, I'm planning another trip in a few months and I'm ONLY looking at monorail resorts. Poly, in particular. I agree with the above poster about kids liking any pool, but we just can't go through another trip with only bus service. Just our opinions.... Good luck with your decision!

 

[klh999]

Just a little tip. As I posted above POR can be a very long walk with a toddler. I will be posting a trip report later on but I requested two buildings and got neither. This was in value season with the resort half empty. So you dont always get what you want. I would pick a hotel where you would be happy no matter where you end up at the hotel. I wouldnt choose POR based on the fact, that if you get a far away building, I wouldnt be happy.

 

[hannahryan]

We went when our kids were 2 & 4. We had a great time, but it would have been so much easier if we were at a monorail resort. Also, you should be as close as possible to MK because that is mainly where they will want to be. I would stay at the Poly or if that is too expensive, stay at the WL.

 

[dts718]

Of course the Poly would be our first choice, but it is very expensive...

 

[onecoolmama]

Contempo! Here's the thing, you can walk to MK, it is the easiest resort to get to and from any other resort. ie... walk to MK and hop another bus.

Since you will probably be spending most of your time at MK and you can walk to there..the rooms are a little bigger, there is a bed for your 4 year old..it is perfect.

With kids, especially that little, location,location,location! If you have a car, maybe one of the other resorts would be ok, but I just know for us and our kids (13mo and 3yo) that was the best advice we took from this board.

 

[crusoe2]

Here's what we're planning. Our next trip is planned for when our DD will be about 18 months old. We will probably stay at ASMo and just drive ourselves to the parks. Not only do we prefer to have our DD in a carseat, but we feel that if we use the buses we are likely to have a major meltdown scene while waiting for our bus or when we get on and Anna wants to walk around and play while the bus is moving. As onsite guests we won't have to pay for parking and we think it will be easier to parkhop using our own transportation. Since we won't be using Disney transportation anyway, we can choose our resort based on what we feel the kids will enjoy and what fits our needs and our budget. We like the value resorts because their food courts seem to have a larger selection than the food courts and snack bars at the moderate and deluxe resorts - easy to find something for everyone in the family. They are not as spread out as most of the moderate resorts and, obviously, are much less expensive than the deluxes. We don't mind that there is no pool slide or hot tub and we spend most of our time in the parks so other amenities would be kind of wasted on us. ASMo is our favorite because it has such a great Disney atmosphere with all the character icons and Andy's room and lots of great photo ops. It also seems to be the most compact of all the value resorts so running to the food court to heat things in the microwave or grab drinks for everyone doesn't take long.

All that said, if you can spring for one of the preferred buildings at CBR that would also be a good choice. We stayed there last year and did like having a larger room with more storage space and a curtain for the bathroom vanity area. But we had a room in South Trinidad and, while that wasn't as bad as I had feared, I would have preferred to be closer to the food court and main pool. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[dizcrazy]

great topic!
DH & I are planning on heading to the World Fall 04 with a 1 year old (our princess princess ) and are also looking for advice.
(funny thing is we always swore we would never be one of those stroller couples!" but, now we find we can't stay away!)

So, are those monorail resorts worth it? Should I start $aving now?

:

 

[CarnotaurDad]

DH, DD and I have gone to Disney - when she was 2 3/4 and 3 3/4. Stayed off property the first time and it was fine. Really wanted more of the Disney location the second time. Stayed at the Swan with points from DH travel. Loved the location. We are planning to stay at the Beach Club for our next extended stay.

It was great to be able to walk to Epcot and take the boat to MGM which has the Playhouse Disney Show (we saw it 3 times).

Epcot is the park that was open the latest (we went in Nov) and it was great to always end our day with a stroll around the 'world'. DD loved doing that...her favorite thing she asked for it repeatedly was to see the Chinese acrobats. But mostly it was a relaxing way to end our days.

Also the bakery on the Boardwalk has Mickey shaped cakes for $3 and we all share one each day along our stroll.

And the best is the pool area at the Beach Club is the best looking one for kids. It has a sand pit in the middle of the pool and a lazy river which DD thinks is way cool to do.

My dd is saying hello.

We are planning a short stay before our cruise at WL which also seems to be nice...the boat is a slow ride but fun...the activities at FW seem to be right up a toddlers alley. We are looking forward to the petting zoo.

Additionally, dd was pooped everyday and we never saw the fireworks. Staying at a hotel with a view mean you can all see them and then go straight to bed without dealing with the crowds to get back at the end of a long day.

Good luck,
Princess Veronica's Mom

 

[Ambassador]

We recommend CSR or PO(R,FQ):
CSR has the best playground and kiddie pool, and
from Port Orleans you can take the boat to Downtown Disney, where there is a train ride the littlest ones love.

 

[HappyMommy2]

We've only stayed at All Star Sports since having kids, so kidwise I have nothing to compare it too, but it worked out great for us. Last summer our kids were 1.5 and 3.5, and we rode the buses exclusively--no real problems at all. Never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus. The kids LOVED the resort's bright colors and big icons; the kiddie pool was plenty of fun for them, and DH and I were more than pleased with the low price!

We'll be going again this summer and I suggested that we save up for a room at a monorail resort or WL, but DH and DS 4 said, "No, we want to stay at All Star Sports!" I'll be thrilled to do a Deluxe someday but for now the Values are great for us and our little guys!

 

[tampafan]

My son is nearly 8 and my daughter is 4.5. We have been staying onsite since my son was 2. My daughter was 3 months when she took her first trip. We stayed at a variety of resorts with them at the ages of your children from the Contemporary and Polynesian to all three All Star resorts and everything in the middle (CSR, CBR, and POR/POFQ). I can honestly say that my kids loved the All Stars more than any. They have statues of characters, lots of colors, and are loaded with Disney eye candy. We have never experienced horrible bus service at the value resorts, but the lines are certainly longer as there is only one stop. As for the moderates, my kids prefer CBR over the others. From the time my daughter could talk she has called this place the Pink Hotel. My son loves the walking trail and the beaches. The bus service at this resort is very good. As far as convenient transportation, I recommend either the Yacht or the Dolphin. The ability to walk or boat to either Epcot or MGM is wonderful. The only downside is sharing a bus to MK. We found, however, that the return trip was not so bad if you monorailed back to Epcot and stolled back your hotel.

What I would say is that if you pick a resort that you will enjoy, your kids will love it too.

 

[dts718]

Thanks for your input. It's good to hear from someone that's done the rounds. Right now we're leaning towards the Wilderness Lodge because of the easy access to MK by boat and we like the theming there a lot. But we might spend 1/2 the time at all star movies because the kids will probably love it there too and it will save us some money.