Can I revisit the "Hotel for 5" question?

[oxfordcircus]

My wife, 3 kids (ages 6, 3, and 1.5), and I will be visiting in January and we'd prefer to stay on-site. I'm pretty much considering anything right now, from deluxe, to DVC properties, to 2 adjoining rooms at a value resort. This will be the first time I've ever stayed at a hotel with all 3 kids and I'm really worried about being on top of each other. I'd love to hear some advice from those of you who have done this before: what hotels are better for our size group, what's the quality of life for 5 people in one room, etc.? What are your thoughts on a studio in a DVC property? Thanks for your help.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I searched this forum before posting, but it looks like this is a question for the resorts forum. Sorry.

 

[Schmeck]

Well, yes, the resort board would give you a better pool of answers, but I can tell you that a child under the age of 3, who would be in a crib, does not count in the family total for a room. So, you're still a family of 4 in the room according to WDW!

Biggest rooms at a moderate are at Caribbean Beach Resort. I don't think you'd be too comfy at a value, but people have done it and survived!

 

[crisi]

With a child under three, you are technically four people anywhere (by the way, DVC studios only sleep four - you are still fine).

You can sleep five in most Deluxe rooms, including a few special (and more expensive) rooms in the AKL and WL (the AKL rooms are on the fifth floor and not the best for animal viewing). POR is the only moderate that sleeps five - it has a trundle bed. Though, once again, none of this counts for you.

Then the thing to ask is "what do I value and what is my budget" A value rooms at POP will be less expensive, but a tight fit and no pool slide. Thing to consider are location (close to the parks? Which parks), room size, kitchen (ft. wilderness cabins, DVC one bedrooms and larger), availability of restaurants/food courts (the Boardwalk area has great restaurants, but the options to grab a quick bite aren't much), transportation options (if you can afford it, a monorail resort with small children is wonderful). What the pool is like, theming, etc.

By the way, there is a slim chance that even if you guarentee connecting rooms, they won't actually be available at check in. Several months ago a woman posted a story about having her family spread between two rooms not terribly close at the resort.

 

[welovedis]

Hi-
I can't tell you what it is like to have 5 people in a room since we are a family of three. But I can relay my experience with renting points for a studio. We visited in Jan 2004 and rented points for a standard view studio at BWV. The convenience of the kitchenette was terrific and the pricing was phenomenal for the accomodations we received. The pull-out sofabed was comfortable and our room even had a small daybed so that was nice too!

We have also done the value resorts (2 connecting rooms as we took my mother along) and it was nice, the moderates are a terrific value, IMO as well.

We've gone with BWV again for our upcoming Jan 2006 trip and this time we'll be staying in a 1 bdrm villa. We wanted to full kitchen to enjoy a few more meals, plus the laundry facilities in the room are a great bonus--less to pack! The jacuzzi tub is what sold it for me since I'll be running the 1/2 marathon.

Whatever you decide, just make sure you read, read, read before your trip & you'll be amazed how much you can see & do in January!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I highly reccomend the Poly. We are a family of 5 and we stayed there in June when we were a family of 4.5 (was pregnant with ds) and the rooms were great size. We will be returning back in spring. We also stayed at WL last Sept. and we loved it but the room was small. My kids are currently 3, 1.5 and newborn. None of them sleep in a crib but if you had to put one in a room go with the Poly. We had a pack and play at WL and it was cramped. At Poly there is room for the kids to play in the room. Very important if your kids are young. This is a regular room. We love WL but but Poly is just wasier. Even the transportation is easier w/a larger group. (Monorail vs. boat)

 

[welovedis]

I agree with MouseHouseMama-the room we had at the Poly was HUGE! Plenty of room for a pack & play and still lots of room to move around. The monorail would be a big plus as well, esp if you are planning on some chunks of time at MK.

If you have AAA you can see if there are any discounts left for Jan, or wait to see if a code or package deal comes out.

 

[Bugsmom73]

I agree with other posters. You do not count as a family of 5 yet. CBR is great b/c the rooms are bigger but you do have to bus everywhere. THe rooms at WL are smaller but we did fine with DD and DS 3.5 and 13mos, last fall. Another option is CR, a wing room or a room facing bay lake. Remember with any mod or deluxe you do get a fridge in the rooms which is a huge bonus. You can get one with a value but you pay 10 dollars a day for it. If you want to be close to MK and want to stay in a DVC, check out WL.

 

[3littleHalls]

We are going beg. of Feb(just switched it from end of Jan) and we have a 6yr DD, 3yr DS, and our baby will be 19mos at time of our trip. We usually do the Poly b/c of the view, being on the monorail(awesome for running back to room for naps) and the room size. Yes, you are still a family of 4 in Disney's eyes. This past spring we had DH, me, 3kids(baby was 9mos) and my mother in a room at the Poly. and it was a little less roomy with all of us, but the kids still had plenty of run around room. I guess now you have to figure out where you want be location wise. You can find out how much square footage each room has when you look into the resorts if that helps.

 

[go cowboys]

We always stayed at the GF as the sq ft is largest and its nice to have the queen size beds of a delux. My kids (9,7,5,and2) do very well there. In July we did the two room thing at WL and it worked nicely. With the AP discount it wasn't much worse than GF and we had to get a preferred view to have connecting rooms. If you go that route, be sure they connect and aren't just adjoining. There is a difference.

Now we are DVC owners, since it has become more obvious that in addition to sleeping space a washer/dryer are needed. I have never found washing at the resorts easy. Usually after midnight on several different floors.

Togetherness isn't always what its cracked up to be. Plus mom and dad need some privacy too!

 

[SueM in MN]

You had mentioned Adjoining rooms and several posters have mentioned Connecting Rooms.
I just wanted to point out that even though they sound like they are the same, to a hotel they are 2 different things.
Adjoining rooms are just next to each other. In some cases, they may be across the hall or they may be separated (like a utility closet or door to a stairwell between them).
If you want rooms that are next to each other and have a door inside the rooms that can be opened to connect the rooms together, you need to ask for connecting rooms.
All connecting rooms adjoin, but not all adjoining rooms connect. I've seen quite a few posts where people are unhappy that they "got rooms that were next to each other, but what we wanted was adjoining rooms."

 

[agnes!]

Have you looked into the Fort Wilderness Cabins? They would easily accommodate your family, plus you get a full kitchen *and* maid service .

agnes!

 

[mikkiwikki]

Biggest rooms at a moderate are at Caribbean Beach Resort. I don't think you'd be too comfy at a value, but people have done it and survived!

This is not true - POR has rooms the exact same size 315 sq ft

 

[clm3]

We did 2 rooms connecting at ASMo when kids were 10, 5, and 2.5 years. It worked out really well; 2 tvs, 2 baths and 4 beds. DD 2.5 slept in our room and the boys had a room all to themselves. Space wise it was wonderful and I didn't get stuck watching cartoons every night.

I really enjoyed having all the space for luggage, coolers and stroller and not being cramped the entire time. Plus I think the Little ones really enjoy the Value resorts and the oversized characters.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is not true - POR has rooms the exact same size 315 sq ft

The 315 sq feet for both that is listed on wdwinfo.com is not correct. CBR was the first moderate built and was different in room size and layout than the moderates built after it. All of the other moderates are pretty much the same plan with different themeing.
We stayed at CBR the first year it was built and once PO opened, we alternated staying at the 2 places. There is a definite (but not that large) size difference in the rooms.
CBR average room size is 340 sq feet (31.5 square meters) according to the Passporter guide.
POR are average of 314 sq feet (29.2 square meters).