Big Family trip help

[EIGHTWGT]

Hello everyone !

This will be my family's first trip to Disney _ I have 4 children - 3.5,9,10,12 yrs of age... We are going to Magic Kingdom, and MGM.

I thought it may be best to stay in a resort but I am not sure. We are staying 2-3 days (we live in Florida) and I am looking for suggestions.

The main goal is the park for our 3.5 year old - she LOVES Disney ! I cannot affort 700 dollar suites... so I came here to see what others may say.

ONE MORE THING

How much can I expect to spend eating per person ??? Whats the cheapest way > ??

Thank you

 

[jksky4]

I have 3 children ages 2, 5, and 7 and we are going to disney for the first time in February. We decided to rent points from a DVC member and are staying at a 1 bedroom villa at OKW for alot less than we could if booked through Disney. We are still able to take advantage of WDW transportation so we aren't even going to rent a car. You may want to look at the DVC forums for information on this. I hope it proves to be a good choice for us.

 

[pennst8r]

You could also get 2 connecting rooms at either a value or moderate resort, something we consider with 5 of us. Disney will guarantee the connecting rooms if you have small children.

 

[minnie61650]

Two CONNECTING(make sure you ask for connecting) rooms would be ideal for your family. Just think 2 rooms means 4 double beds and 2 bathrooms!
I prefer the All Star resorts.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
The buses are wonderful.
Bus ride times according to PassPorter.com
All Star Movies has pop up fountains now also.
Bus rides are shorter from the ALL Stars than POP according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses------------Pop buses
MK 20 min---------------MK 25 min
Epcot 10 min------------Epcot 20 min
MGM 10 min--------------MGM 15 min
AK 10 min----------------AK 15 min
DTD 15 min---------------DTD 20 min

The All Star resorts have 1960 rooms each.
Pop has 2,880rooms.
That means more people in the pools,food court and in line waiting for the bus at POP.
When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP and the 2 POPs will have the same # of rooms as the 3 All Stars.

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING:

It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

I love the All Star Resorts --they can't be beat. I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
I can hardly wait.
Linda

 

[EIGHTWGT]

The All Stars sounds good.........

What about getting to the monorail ?

If we stay at all star Movies - which I like what I see about it... Whats the most " Magical" way to enter The Magic Kingdom ? Monorail ??

I want it to be VERY special for my 3.5 year old Daughter ....

What about fireworks ?

 

[mrzrich]

There are cabins which sleep six. it has a kitchen which can save a large family big money by cooking some meals. Nightly Chip and Dale have a free campfire. There is also a petting zoo, pony rides, and much more than you can do in 2-3 days, it will make you want to return! Boat access to MK is wonderful too!

If your family camped it would be even cheaper. I got a FL resident campsite rate of $34 for Dec.

 

[2x_dis_dad]

We usually have 6 people or more whenever we go. We usually get 2 connecting rooms at a Value. It is great to have the extra bathroom.

 

[Lisa P.]

The All Stars sounds good.........
What about getting to the monorail ?
If we stay at all star Movies - which I like what I see about it... Whats the most " Magical" way to enter The Magic Kingdom ? Monorail ??
I want it to be VERY special for my 3.5 year old Daughter ....
What about fireworks ?

The transportation from All Stars to the theme parks is all by Disney bus shuttle. You'll walk to the bus stop near the lobby of the resort, wait a little while for the next bus to your desired theme park, spend about 20 minutes riding the bus (sometimes standing) and be delivered to a stop, a short walk from the actual turnstiles to the theme park.

It's generally faster to simply drive your car - parking at the theme parks is free with your Disney hotel parking pass. If you want to approach the MK by monorail (very exciting for most children for a first visit), then drive your car to the MK parking lot and take the monorail from there. The one trip that I stayed at All Stars Music, I did not ride the monorail even once and I missed it. Just didn't make the time to fit it in. And the approaches to both MK and Epcot by monorail are really cool - worth doing IMHO, if you can find the time, both early in the day and after dark.

Fireworks are set off to music nightly at Epcot, along with laser lights and water fountains in World Showcase. If you will have park hopper passes, then you could leave MK around 7:00 pm, head to Epcot and take your time reaching the World Showcase area for the 9:00 show. MGM has a laser and fireworks show w/live performers in an outdoor arena and MK has a fireworks show set to music above/behind the castle. These two shows have varying showtimes at least once a week, depending on the time of year. Check Disney's website for details as your travel dates approach.