Budget Hotel that will work for 2 adults and 4 teens

[smullins4]

Wanting to plan a Disney Vacation. My boys (15 and 17) would like to bring their girlfriends (Unsure how I feel about this option). I'm looking for suggestions of hotels that will work for this situation. The ideal place would be set up like Art of Animation (which doesn't fit in my budget). Suggestions? Two rooms are also not very budget friendly. I'm leaning toward renting a house but feel it would take away from the Disney experience. Thoughts?

 

[DanieD0909]

We just stayed at Holiday Inn Orange Lake and loved it...we were in a 2 bedroom villa. One bedroom had two queen beds, the other a king. 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room and large living room with a pull out sofa. I think it worked out to $139/night... We had some discounts I think?? Hope that helps!

 

[a1tinkfans]

I think with 15/17 year old boys and like aged? Girls along, and I personally wouldn't, I'd get multi rooms, at least 3 ( one for u, one for boys, n one for girls) to provide comfort and privacy. Your one gutsy mom to even consider it, lol. Good luck deciding and planning!

 

[happymommy]

Just my two cents (and I'm no way a prude) but 15 and 17 is very young to want to bring along a girlfriend on a family vacation. College maybe, but that is really quite young. By the time of the trip, are they even going to be dating still?

There are lots of good options on the off site section of the board here, as well as www.mousesavers.com. First trip with my husband, we were off site for less than $60/night, and we had a great time.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

No way would I bring the girlfriends at ages 15 and 17 to WDW. A weekend somewhere local, maybe but not on a major family vacation. What if they break up while on vacation?! Worse what if they get too romantic on vacation?( I realize that many teens are in physical relationships but who wants to deal with it on a family vacation?) Just sounds like a lot of potential problems. Generous thought, but I would reconsider. Plus, it sounds like you would really be stretching the budget to take them along. Make this family only and maybe do a shorter mini-getaway or something with the girls later.

 

[Marionnette]

Wanting to plan a Disney Vacation. My boys (15 and 17) would like to bring their girlfriends (Unsure how I feel about this option). I'm looking for suggestions of hotels that will work for this situation. The ideal place would be set up like Art of Animation (which doesn't fit in my budget). Suggestions? Two rooms are also not very budget friendly. I'm leaning toward renting a house but feel it would take away from the Disney experience. Thoughts?

I'm not sure what you expect from the "Disney experience", but staying onsite comes at a price. You will get more space for less money if you go offsite and it sounds like having a lot of space will be a priority for you.

Many people have had good experiences with skyauction .com. You can get a 2-3 bedroom condo for very little if you look long enough. Or if you really don't mind wasting an entire day of your vacation, you could do a timeshare presentation in exchange for dirt-cheap prices for nice accommodations. My brother did the Hilton Parc Soleil and said that it was very low-pressure. If you choose to do a timeshare presentation, make sure that you have the resolve to repeatedly say no.

 

[Judique]

Are you sure the parents of these girls would agree to this?

I wouldn't. Sounds way to cosy to me.

A day trip would certainly be different.

Some one mentioned getting romantic or even if the couple broke up.

I think a breakup might become awfully awkward and maybe even expensive.

By 17, my older kids did not even want to go to Disney. Son still doesn't, but daughter does in a limited way. Is bringing the girlfriends a way to get your sons to go with you? You may want to really rethink this if that is the strategy. I remember a trip at 17 with my son where he never left the resort room. And then another at an older age (20 plus) with a girlfriend of the same age. It wasn't a real family trip, to say the least.

 

[polyqueen]

To the dear OP, please do not do this! Will you be acting in loco parentis with these two girls? I think nothing good can come of this.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Regarding the girlfriends: It was hard enough to convince parents of a 16 year old to come along with us to be with DD16...Both of my older sons skipped the trip.

But, since you didn't ask for my advice regarding parenting rotfl2, I will just tell you that we rented a 3 bedroom townhouse with a sleeper sofa. Not on property, but it was decorated for Disney. Windsor Hills area so we were very close. We also had a pool in the backyard.

 

[Darcy03231]

With the size of your group I would definitely look into renting a villa or a condo. We're a family of 6 and wouldn't travel any other way. I don't feel like we're missing out on any of the "magic" by staying in a condo or villa. Actually, we have more "magic" by not being all crammed into one to two small rooms.

I know you didn't ask about the girlfriends, but being the parent of both boys and girls there is no way that I would allow any of my children to go away on this type of vacation with a boyfriend/girlfriend at those ages.

 

[ICF]

I'd stay offsite at Windsor Hills or similar place in a house/condo.....IMO, there's no magic trying to fit 4 adults in a normal hotel room. It's also about 5 mins from AK and an easy drive to any of the parks.

And just say no to girlfriends.....nothing good is likely to come from that....at least from your perspective.

 

[NinaBella]

Check Westgate Lakes Resort and Floridays Resort. What about the Doubletree Suites in Downtown Disney?

This link has links to view each floor plan at Westgate Lakes so you can see where everyone would fit/sleep. http://westgateresorts.com/lakes/accommodations/

 

[smullins4]

Thanks for responding. I really appreciate the hotel information. Just to clear some things up we have not said yes to the girlfriends. I feel the same as the comments in the post. However, your comments made me feel less than a wonderful parent. I am not using the girlfriends to get my boys to go anywhere! Wow!

 

[LJSquishy]

You would be traveling with a party of 6 Adults essentially so you really would need to rent a house somewhere in order to keep it budget-friendly. Art of Animation is a Value hotel, meaning it's among the least expensive resorts on Disney property so if that is out of your budget, you will need to look at staying offsite. Even if you had a Deluxe hotel in your budget, with 6 full-sized bodies, even a 2-bedroom would be cramped. And, it would be extremely difficult to have enough space so that your boys aren't sharing beds with their girlfriends.

I personally don't see anything wrong with you bringing along their girlfriends -- my parents probably would have allowed the same...I was a pretty good kid in high school. You know your kids best and whether it would be a wise choice or not. I do think it may be tough if you agree to take the girlfriends along because at that age who knows if they'll even be together 3 months from now, let alone 6+ months from now. It seems like it would be awfully expensive to get the girls' tickets, house/resort rooms large enough for all 6 of you, transportation, etc and then last minute find out they aren't going with you because your son(s) aren't with them anymore. If you think you'd want to rent the same size house anyway, you could go ahead and do that and wait until last minute to buy tickets for the girls but then you'd miss out on booking Fastpass+ for them.

Maybe Wyndham Bonnet Creek would work for you all? I know it's very popular here on The Dis as far as it being a great value for the amount of space you get (not a Disney-owned hotel). I'm not totally sure if there are enough beds for all 6 of you (unless maybe your boys share a bed and the girls share a bed? Not sure) but it's something you could look into. I do think the best option is renting a house.

 

[lvillotta1]

Please do not invite the girlfriends. Take your own kids and then you stay on property as have all the magic you want. Esp since you are on a tight budget.

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks for responding. I really appreciate the hotel information. Just to clear some things up we have not said yes to the girlfriends. I feel the same as the comments in the post. However, your comments made me feel less than a wonderful parent. I am not using the girlfriends to get my boys to go anywhere! Wow!

SMH.

One post in this thread that implies that you might be inviting the girls so that your sons will agree to go, and that's the one that you zero in on?

Welcome to the disboards! People are going to have opinions and they are going to express them, whether an OP likes the responses or not. If you had simply asked about budget accommodations for a group of 2 adults and 4 teens, no one would have commented on the relationships within the party.

 

[smullins4]

My oldest is a senior and this trip would replace senior week at the beach (which he would not want me to attend and the girlfriend would probably be going with her friends and then they are really alone). I would prefer to offer something exciting and have them with me. We will be taking other family members as well so a house may be the answer. The boys will be taking a friend regardless (girlfriends or just guy friends). Again, we are still tying to decide. I'm looking for accommodation suggestions, regardless, not parenting advice. Thank you to those who have provided hotel, house, etc. info.

 

[smullins4]

SMH.

One post in this thread that implies that you might be inviting the girls so that your sons will agree to go, and that's the one that you zero in on?

Welcome to the disboards! People are going to have opinions and they are going to express them, whether an OP likes the responses or not. If you had simply asked about budget accommodations for a group of 2 adults and 4 teens, no one would have commented on the relationships within the party.

Thank you for your response! My decision will be based on finding accommodations that will allow, if we say yes, the girls to have their own space. I felt without giving my thoughts and details, I would not receive the accommodation info that I was looking for. Again, I'm not trying to make them go. Just offering another option to senior week at the beach in which the opportunity for what people feel would be a factor would be a problem. I thought having them with me would be the best.

 

[mjkacmom]

Thank you for your response! My decision will be based on finding accommodations that will allow, if we say yes, the girls to have their own space. I felt without giving my thoughts and details, I would not receive the accommodation info that I was looking for. Again, I'm not trying to make them go. Just offering another option to senior week at the beach in which the opportunity for what people feel would be a factor would be a problem. I thought having them with me would be the best.

I would let the 17 year old go to senior week. Dd18 went away for the weekend when she was 16 and 17 after prom with her boyfriend and a large group of kids. I'm not going to take away a right of passage (which it is here - DH and I did the same) because I'm afraid of her having sex or drinking (I assume both went on, although the sex would have been tricky considering the amount of kids that stayed together...).

She's never been in any trouble, I've never caught her drinking, and even after seeing a few facebook posts she's been tagged in at college, holding that red cup, she still pulled off one B and the rest A's. She's taken many weekend trips to Boston to visit her boyfriend over the last couple of years, and he's visited her at college.

I think the problem with bringing the girlfriends (besides bribing your ds not to go with his friends) is that we all know how fragile and finite relationships are at this age. The chances of both relationships making it until this trip isn't that good.

That said, if I was staying off site and wanted space, I'd probably stay at Bonnet Creek.

 

[ldo]

I have a sorta similar situation--teen twins (b/g) each bringing a friend. We decided on 2 rooms--a (Dad) +boys room and a (Mom) + girls room. My ONLY concern with inviting GF would be if the status quo changed and GF and Bf broke up.