Disney for larger families

[moxiecola]

We are an average family of 7. Normally our vaca consists of staying in the park but our last trip, when there were only 6 of us, we split our stay between a home rental and a Disney resort. The 2/3 bedroom villas would be ideal but realistically out of our price range. Share with me any tips you larger families have for getting the most for your buck. Where do you stay? Do you add the water parks to your ticket? Do you find the free dining to be worth it? How do you keep everyone accounted for in the parks? I'm sure I could come up with many more questions....any tips you can share are appreciated!

 

[BBG-BLT]

Once we hit 6 people we decided to stay on property in a 2BR which works well. We haven't tried the water parks as 2 of the 4 can't swim yet.

We did try the dining plan and for us it sisn't work too well (1 TS and 1 walk-up per day) the sit downs were kind of hard as the kids were tired and not very patient.

Next time we may try the 2 walk up meal plan.

 

[mjkacmom]

We rented points for the BCV, and would split up in the parks every now and then. We paid for the DDP, because, at the time, 4 of my children were $10 a day.

 

[vettechick99]

I don't have a large family but I do know of some options.

Right now we rent a 2-bed in Bonnet Creek. It's on property next to Caribbean Beach Resort but not owned by Disney. We like it because of the location (so close!), but we get a 2/2 for around $800/week. We enjoy the extra space and price. They have 1-beds up to 4-beds. There is a link in my siggie to the official BC thread.

You have done the rental house route - I think that's great with a large family. But it can be an issue going back and forth each day.

You have looked into renting DVC points right? We love doing that. And I have always wanted to stay at the Treehouse Villas. Maybe you can swing that for the weekdays?

Of course another cheaper option would be two adjoining rooms - even two at a Moderate would be cheaper than most villas.

We love the water parks so I think it's a great option to have. We love going to TL - lots for kids and adults there.

I can't comment on free dining except that most experts will tell you it's not usually worth the price. At least that's what they say on the WDWToday podcast.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

On our last trip we got two rooms at CBR and were very happy. We would've had more room and paid less for it if we'd gone with off-site, but we had never stayed on-site so we wanted to do that. We had plenty of room and loved the theme.

I priced out DDP compared with not using the menus on allearsnet and decided not to use it, I was wrong. For our family it would have been much cheaper had I used DDP, however it depends on the ages of your kids. It also depends on how you eat, you could use the quick service dining plan if that would work for you. I get very stressed out at counter service trying to find seats for our family and get everyone's food so we made ADR's for one table service meal each day.

As far as keeping everyone together we did a couple things. First I tried to coordinate their outfits somewhat, not necessarily matching shirts (we did do that one day, though), but at least matching colors. I took a picture of each of the kids every morning so I would remember what they had on if I was in a panic. We used one stroller for our 5yo and very small 8yo, they didn't always use it, but it was nice to have. We rented it from Orlando Stroller Rentals.

Because of the ages of my kids I was able to assign one older kid to one younger kid, so my 13yo and 12yo would be with my 5yo and my 10yo would be with my 8yo (we had to match personalities, too). We didn't split up, they were just an extra pair of eyes and ears for Dh and I so if their buddy needed something or started to wander they would let us know in case we didn't see.

 

[kpgriswold]

2 ajoining rooms at All Stars or Pop Century is the cheapest was to stay on property. We stayed at an off-site rental home once and found that the space and price were wonderful, but the commute was a pain and we really missed the magic (and perks) of staying on-site.

If you can go during free dining, do so!! Our family of 6 saved nearly $2200 this way when we went in 2007.

Another good idea is to order groceries from one of the delivery services and eat bfast in your room each day. Staying off site and cooking your own meals saves alot of $$ too, but again, you have to trade off the car rental cost, travel time and other downers of off-site living. And who wants to cook and do dishes on vacation?!

As for keeping everyone together, we just pretend that we are camp counselors. We do count heads before we move from one place to another, and we use the buddy system: an older kid looks after a younger one, and DH and I look after them all. Having everyone wear a bright color -- traffic cone orange is our standard park uniform for the boys! -- really helps.

We also "tag" the litte ones each morning, writing our cell phone numbers on the side of their shoes with a sharpie. We've never lost one of them, but our now 13 yr-old -- our very own absent-minded professor -- has gotten good at standing on park benches and waving until we find him.

Really, if you are already parenting 5 kids, you know how to do this. Just have a good plan, be organized, and have everyone pitch in as they are able. And have fun!