Family of 13..where to stay..help

[solanna2]

First time posting a thread....
We just started planning our Disney vacation for November...
This will be the first time our whole family (all 13 of us) will be staying inside Disney property. I stayed on the ASMo two years ago with my husband and kids, but now we're going to be a big group. I would like to know if there is such thing as a villa or something where we could all stay together or do we have to book separate rooms?...I have the Vacation Planning video and it looks like there are some villas ("Home away from home") that are pretty spacious and have a kitchen -something we definitely need since we'll be traveling with 4 babies. In other words, those of you that travel with a big party...where do you book your reservations?
I'm sure I'll have lots of questions since I took the *hideous* task of planning this vacation (ABSOLUTELY LOVE PLANNING ANY DISNEY VACATION) - and now my family loves me for it ....win-win situation!
Anyway, this is my main concern...please help...

 

[solanna2]

Sorry about the double posting....told you it was my first time!!

 

[golfgal]

I don't know if the villas are big enough or not, but do you really want to all stay in the same place, especially with 4 babies and I am assuming older kids, too. I would look into the Wilderness Cabins. You could get a few of them and then have a quite space for nappers or a place for adults to be when the kids go to bed. Personally, I would much rather stay in one of the resorts with rooms close by each other and not have to worry about cooking while there and trying to please 13 different appetites.

 

[patsal]

A Grand Villa would accomadate this size family based on the children's ages. They sleep 12 plus 3 chilren three or under. The place is huge--bigger than my house and there are three bathrooms. They are pretty costly though.

 

[iwannabeminnie]

I don't know what your budget is, but as mentioned before, the villas are pricey. Very pricey. You would probably be better off getting several rooms at a resort. You could always ask for connecting rooms so the babies could be in one and the adults in one while they are napping, but you would still be able to check on them or hear them if they cried.

 

[gigi1313]

my family had considered doing a "grand gathering" and we had discussed various accomodations and we had decided that POFQ had everything we were looking for in a resort (we did not require a kitchen)... it is a small resort so even if our rooms were not next door, we'd be "near" each other... it has a great kids area/pool... has a lounge for the 20-somethings who did not have to get their kids to bed early... access to all POR has to offer (sitdown restaurant, river roost lounge w/entertainment, marina rentals, fishing)... easy transport to all the parks... boat to dtd... each family could have as much room as they wanted (dh and i prefer connecting rooms for our family) and the price was right for everyone... all around winners w/POFQ!

 

[jcanary]

If going a Sunday thru Friday is enough time, I would really suggest taking a look at the rent/trade board under the Disney Vacation Club. You could get 2 bedroom villas or a grand villa very resonable. You would love the OKW grand villa but they have to be reserved at the 11 month timeframe. I believe they are 3 bedroom, 4 bath, 2 level villa. Master bedroom with king size bed, two bedrooms with 2 queen beds and a pull out sofa. If those sleeping arrangements would surfice, I would go for it. You will LOVE the place. If you can find someone to rent out the points at $10/point it will only be $360/night for Sunday thru Thursday night. If this is being split by 3 families you will not find a cheaper place even without a huge kitchen, that would be 120 a night per family. If you stay Friday and Saturday night it would be 880/night for those two nights. Good luck. It will be fun with the whole family.

 

[gigi1313]

another thought... if you opt to go the villa route, you might want to look into renting dvc points...

 

[Disneyjosh229]

As mentioned by other posters, Grand Villa's are overpriced. Your best bet would be to either.....

1. Rent 3 or 4 rooms onsite

or

2. Rent an offsite vacation home (if staying together is a must)

 

[indigoxtreme]

Have you contacted the Grand Gatherings # for this many people, I think you will qualify. Disney can help you with all kinds of options for everyone.

 

[disnut8]

You could do two cabins at Fort Wilderness. Each cabin sleeps six but with four babies, you'll have two cribs already there. The cabins have a full kitchen, plus plenty of room. There's a deck and a charcoal grill outside. The bedroom (with comfy double bed and bunk beds) has a separate door leading out to the deck so my granddaughter and I could go out there in the morning without disturbing my son and daughter-in-law who were sleeping on the Murphy bed in the living room (the bedroom has a door to close off the living room). There's also a couch in the living room where a child could sleep. You get mousekeeping every day as well. They will run your dishwasher for you and if you have any dishes in the sink, they will load the dishwasher for you as well. You get all the plates, glasses, and utensils for six people in each cabin.

We had one cabin with five people and one with four. Right next to each other since I made both reservations at the same time. It was so nice to be able to go back and forth between the two cabins. The early risers would gather on one deck and wait for the late risers to get up.

We never had a problem with the transportation and even the rookies figured things out quite rapidly. In fact, my mother-in-law was so disappointed that she couldn't stay here this past trip. We ended up with two rooms at All Star which worked fine but no cooking facilities.

 

[Bugsmom73]

I would contact Disney and see what they can offer you in the way of a Grand Gathering. With your party size, you definitely would qualify. I would see what they have to offer and get an idea of what everyone wants to pay in a resort price.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I would contact Disney and see what they can offer you in the way of a Grand Gathering. With your party size, you definitely would qualify. I would see what they have to offer and get an idea of what everyone wants to pay in a resort price.

i agree with this
if not rent dvc points