FAmily of 5 in a regular room?

[MistressMerryweather]

The trip is about the kids, and we won't come back for years after (we are lower middle class, coming from Montréal, so it is very expensive for us). I do admit that I myself like being bombarded by disney stuff.

The thing that I would realy like about a moderate is a better food court. The AoA food court seems to be a real pain.

The big kids don't nap anymore. As long as they are fed on a regular basis, they are doing great (we have our six flags pass, so we are used to spend the day in attraction parks). It's my little one that I wonder. At a little more than 2 years old, she will be too old to sleep in the ergo baby carrier (that's what I usualy do with her), but will likely trow tantrums if she is too tired. An all-day-long will be ok in AK, especialy as she is obsessed with animals, but I don't think it will work with the other parks, as we'll be staying later.

I also liked the idea of having a movie under the starts in the values. One of us can go with the big kids while the other puts my toddler to sleep (that's what I did on our Niagara falls trip, my husband went to the pool with the kids while I put my baby to sleep, but we had a junior suite)

I still have until october to make reservations, but I want to make sure I make the best decisions for our family. It's not like we're going every years.

Yeah, the values are "in your face" Disney. Our kids will choose the values every time when asked. We have stayed at Deluxe and Mod, but there is just something about the values with the big themed Disney characters and bright colors. We just love it.
If you are find you don't love the food court at AOA, you can walk across the bridge to POP Century. They have a great food court.
We are staying at AOA next month, but we are 6 now, so we need two rooms. We are moving to POR for the last 2 nights of our trip. We can still be all in one room there and it has a pool slide and boat to Downtown Disney. We can also use the food court and pool at Port Orleans French Quarter, right next store. So that is really nice.
If we couldn't move resorts, though, I would choose the value for the kids...and me. LOL

Will your 2yo sleep in a stroller at the park if he is wiped out? We have a Baby Jogger City Mini and it lays about flat and the sunshade is awesome. Our 1yo and 3yo sleep in it just fine.

 

[jenlov]

I agree w/ POR. That would be great if you happen to be going during free dining. If you're not doing free dining, I'd go with the AoA LM rooms to save money since you'll have to pay for your dining plan OOP. We're doing LM rooms (2), with 4 in one room and 5 in the other (1 baby). We're just sticking with the QSDP b/c it's free. I also don't think we'd be able to eat all the food on a larger plan...not to mention how expensive the tips would be w/ 8 people eating. LOL! I counted it out and figured we'd be spending at least $400 in tips for our entire trip if we did DDP w/ just 1 TS meal per day.

I also agree w/ the statement that DxDP will probably be too much for your little ones. If your husband only wants to do it bc of the convenience, why not stick w/ regular dining plan, so that you can still get a character meal or two (TS meals), and then buy Disney gift cards to use for breakfast (or the other meal that you're not using one of your dining credits for)? The only convenience of dining plan is that it's already paid for. W/ a gift card, it would be just as easy as swiping your room key to pay for your meal. Use the GC's for quick service restaurants and it won't be that expensive. You'll probably even find that it's a lot cheaper b/c you may only be hungry for a yogurt or cinnamon roll at breakfast instead a full meal. Or you may end up splitting a pizza between the 2 little ones instead of them eating their own meals. The DxDP is just so expensive to only do it so that you can have 3 meals per day. not to mention, time consuming. I know this may just be my opinion, but with little ones, we sometimes end up with wasted food b/c they're not that hungry at the time. I just hate to see all that dining $$ wasted if your little ones are too tired for another sit down meal or just not hungry enough. Sure, it's one thing if it's free, but you'll be paying for it (even if you get free DDP and pay for an upgrade).

Anyway, just some suggestions and things to think about.

 

[thr33boys]

Have you considered renting dvc points? Since, your youngest is still 2, you could get away with a studio. Depending on how comfortable you are renting (private owner/third party), I think price wise is comparable to values and a savings over mods.

Now, if you upped it to a 1 bedroom, you'd have the full kitchen where you could have breakfast each day in your room, and then perhaps your DH would be more inclined to get the DDP over the Deluxe Plan.

Just wanted to throw it out there for you.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[hsmamato2]

Op,have you ever been before? this will change my response to your ???
Anyway- what others have said is true you will be fine in one room,we've done it plenty of times,and it was fine. We kept organized,and utilized the extensive grounds and outdoors for extra 'space' when needed ( I remember one trip where DH preferred the pool restroom near our room to sharing with the women in the family LOL)
Just keep things neat,and you should have no issues.
On the dining thing- the dxdp will likely be a complete waste of your money- you are MUCH better off convincing your dh to go with a larger room at a mod,and the lesser plan(1 ts per day) with the kids.
Even if you go to the allears site to price stuff out, you will still be ahead moneywise- it is backwards to worry about saving on the room,and throwing so much cash at a wasted dining plan...
there is no way your little kids will want to sit 3x a day for 2 hours at a time,to eat! you will not enjoy it,and you will miss a LOT of great park fun.
even one ts daily will build...and feel like a LOT with kids that young.
a cs meal for a kid is like 5.00,so why waste money upfront to NOT use the meal plan you paid for?

 

[hsmamato2]

FWIW, I've never done the dxdp- just the reg. one,and it is a LOT of eating.
my sis and fiance have done dxdp,and he likes to EAT,and even they had difficult time using all their credits,for a week. He really likes to EAT. And they had no kids.....

 

[lynypixie]

Op,have you ever been before? this will change my response to your ???

I have been to WDW twice (plus one day in Disney Paris), but never stayed onsite. It was prekids. I had my bachelorette party there with my two best friends in 2004, and I went back with my husband in 2005. Both time we only stayed 4 nights, in a Howard Johnson in Kissemmee. With the kids, we want to stay onsite.