Family of 6 where to stay onsite, 2adults, 2 yo etc.

[mdmbfly]

Tried to search but can't find info on which rooms we could actually stay in. I thought you could have 5 in POFQ plus a baby but having trouble trying to book that. Please give me your ideas and input. We'd like to take advantage of having the 2yo this year since we will most likely have to use 2 rooms or larger (more expensive) rooms in the next trips. Appreciate any advice.

Also, would you suggest we book room only and wait for a code or try a package and take advantage of upgrades? Would it be worth it for a deluxe concierge level for us? Obviously would like to do this for the least amount of $. We will need to fly but are very flexible with dates. Currently looking at May but really not locked to that. TIA!!!!

We will have 2 adults, 12 yo, 7 yo, 6 yo and 2 yo. ALL BOYS!! Only one ever to WDW.

any advice on where to start would be great!

 

[jodifla]

I don't think you can have six in any single room. The moderate rooms would be way too small for that.

 

[stacy6552]

Some of the deluxe rooms have 2 queens and a daybed. With the baby in the crib, you'd be ok (even if he technically sleep in your bed.)

You could also fit into a 2 bedroom villa with alot of comfort (home away from home resorts) and if you find some point to rent from a DVC member, you could do it on a bargain.

However, I would look into the FW cabins. They are great for families and they have a AAA rate that is 25% off, making it not that much more than a moderate. There's a full kitchen. The bedroom has a double bed and bunk beds and you and your spouse can have some privacy in the living room on the murphy bed. Being able to close the door on sleeping kids is priceless.

 

[staci]

I would check into two rooms at a value, the cabins at FW, or maybe call about the POR resort? I *thought* that you would be okay in alligator bayou as they youngest would still be considered an infant. I know I have heard that when people are trying to do 4 adults + 1 infant online for other resorts it gives them problems, did you try calling disney reservations yourself? Of course, if you did do this, it would be VERY crowded, but it all depends on how well your family does in that type of situation.

 

[SammieG]

omg.. I wouldnt try and stay in one room with 6 of you. I personally would rent a villa off site.. all have your own rooms.. and some space and it will be a much nicer vacation for you.

There needs to be a HUGE amount of Disney Magic to make me want to do that. (Personally I dont find it magical onsite anyway.. even if its just 3 of us - too cramped and not enough facilities in the room) I guess it depends on why you want to stay onsite? I cant think of anything worse than cramming into one room.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I agree, with 6 of you, you might find it more in your budget to stay at a villa off site. There are GREAT rooms available, right outside the gates of WDW. I own a timeshare off site, and LOVE IT!!!!! (we bring the MAGIC to our resort from WDW )

 

[go cowboys]

We are in the same situation. My kids are 9, 7, 5 and 2. Our last trip we used a passholder discount and got two rooms at Wilderness Lodge. It was about as expensive as two moderate rooms without the passholder discount. I do not know if you are passholders, but it might be worth checking on.

The best thing I think would be to look into renting points from someone who owns DVC. For about 10.00 per point you can stay onsite and have two bedrooms and two bathrooms complete with a washer/dryer and kitchen. We just returned yesterday from Old Key West and it worked out really well. Depending on the time of year you go and the number of nights you stay it is like renting a deluxe for the price of a moderate and you get all the transportation/conveinence benefits of on site. Even Magical Express if you like that. I don't, but some do.

We used to stay at GF because they allowed 5 people and an infant up to three years, but as the kids age they also just get bigger, and that many people in such a small room with one bathroom is not fun!

Anyway, we ended up buying DVC during our last trip and can already tell for big families who want to stay on-site it is awesome.

Good luck!

 

[mdmbfly]

Thanks for all the great feedback! I've checked all of the options with the deluxe and know that there are a lot of ways to go with junior suites and then the cabins, etc. I thought I had read on here that there were some onsite locations that you could have 5 in one room plus a baby. Wanted to try to use that options since this is the last year that we will have a "baby". We do really well together in one big lump!

We will most likely only do a 3-4 day trip. DH can't take off more than that at one time. We don't anticipate spending that much time in the room together but want onsite so that I can take the baby back for a nap or hang with the middle kids while DH and oldest DS take in a few rides.

I'm going to check into the GF. Didn't know that was a place to have 5 plus.

Would you recommend doing room only in order to get a code? Not AP or AAA holder. Any thoughts about concierge level to save on food or go with the dining option? We had booked POFQ when they were offering the free dining but ended up changing jobs and had to cancel.

I really appreciate all the feedback, it's like brainstorming with experts!!!!
TIA

 

[jodifla]

Thanks for all the great feedback! I've checked all of the options with the deluxe and know that there are a lot of ways to go with junior suites and then the cabins, etc. I thought I had read on here that there were some onsite locations that you could have 5 in one room plus a baby. Wanted to try to use that options since this is the last year that we will have a "baby". We do really well together in one big lump!

We will most likely only do a 3-4 day trip. DH can't take off more than that at one time. We don't anticipate spending that much time in the room together but want onsite so that I can take the baby back for a nap or hang with the middle kids while DH and oldest DS take in a few rides.

I'm going to check into the GF. Didn't know that was a place to have 5 plus.

Would you recommend doing room only in order to get a code? Not AP or AAA holder. Any thoughts about concierge level to save on food or go with the dining option? We had booked POFQ when they were offering the free dining but ended up changing jobs and had to cancel.

I really appreciate all the feedback, it's like brainstorming with experts!!!!
TIA

I'd really take a look at renting DVC points. For what you'd be spending for a room at the GF, you could have a two-bedroom DVC unit....And if you don't stay one of th weekend nights, it should be downright economical.

 

[go cowboys]

I think that based on your 3-4 day stay that DVC would also be the best option if money is of any concern. That being said...We love GF and would stay there every time were it not for the number in our family. For us it is worth the extra money. We have done concierge once and got it with the passholder discount for about the same price as rack for a normal room. I don't think it was great. We were never there to take advantage of it like I thought we would. It was still about $350 per night. AAA has some rates but not always available. If you go sun through thursday you will find cheaper DVC than rooms at GF. I do love the monorail though! Have you been before? Do you want to leave mid-day and swim/nap?

I would be happy to help you find points or search how many you would need if you think DVC is the way to go. Its not luxury but it is roomy.

Jeff

 

[mdmbfly]

Thanks for offering to look for pts for me. I don't want to hassle you., but if you've got time and don't mind...I'd appreciate it. I've looked at the pts board and it looks like it might be more expensive for us to go that route even though I understand that there would be significantly more room. I am looking to go in May, possible the 8th-12 or 13th. It looks like it might be 27pts per night and at $10/pts. Does that look right to you? I think OKW would be best. Wasn't sure which one was closest to MK. I'm guessing we'll spend most of our time there. Thanks a bunch!

 

[go cowboys]

sent you a PM

 

[amadio@verizon.net]

I tend to disagree with some of the things about needed to stay off site. I am in the same boat (or almost I should say) I have 3 kids now, 7, 5, and 3, and am expecting #4 in March.

For the past 2 years we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge (which we love). You can have 5 people, plus an infant. We plan to stay there again, in Nov 06, with the new baby, all in the same room. We will have a queen size bed, plus bunk beds, plus a pack-n-play for the baby. That only leaves one child out, but our 3 year old will probably sleep between us, because even if we had another bed, he tends to sleep with us in strange places anyhow.

But really my point was, we did not feel cramped because we spent very litttle time in the room. We are a close knit group, by I am very claustrophobic, and had no problem. We were either at the pool, the parks, or whatever, and basically just bathed and slept in the room. If we did need more room for relaxing, we would go down to the beautiful lodge.

I too am trying to take advantage before the baby turns 3 of keeping the costs down with one room, so I totally get it!! And I really think it is the best way!!!

 

[java]

Welcome to my pain. We stayed at the GF with 4 children(11,7,2 and baby) it was actually comfortable for us. Now that the 2 is 3 and the baby is 10 months we are finding it hard to get a room. Many of the offsite places don't allow 6 in a room for fire code stuff. So here we sit with no place to go. I won't do the Nick hotel for a week vacation.(it is right outside the gate but it looks like parent hell to me.) They have bigger rooms for larger families. We need a Great Wolf Lodge to open down in Disney. HEAR US DISNEY just a little bigger room available and we would love to give you more of our $$$.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't think babies count towards room count--so you should be able to book. Now comfort is a whole other issue.

The FW Cabins are great--they sleep 6...bunk bed and full bed in the bedroom and a murphy bed.

The only other option is any of the DVC resorts--I think you might require a 2 BR though.

 

[llp479]

Points for OKW for May 8 - 12 would be 108 or $1080 at the $10/point. If you stayed through the 13th, that would be 172 points, or $1720.

There are a couple of nice things about DVC. You have a full kitchen so you can eat some of your meals in your room and save some $$. The washer/dryer is especially nice with kids who somehow always manage to end up wearing more of the Mickey Premium bar than they get in their mouths.

We're a family of 5 and I can't even imagine trying to stay in one room anymore. Of course my girls are 11, 11, and 8 so they aren't small any more, and my DH is 6'2".

 

[mdmbfly]

Working with Small World Vacations to get a quote on just rooms at POR. Is that the best thing to do? Start with room only res in case a code comes out? We could always upgrade to a package if some spectacular deal came out right? Any advice would be great.

 

[Hibernians]

I was in the same situation, family of 6, young children. We booked 2 adjacent rooms at Pop Century and it worked out really nice. The rooms were very inexpensive and the kids had fun, not that we really sepnt much time there since we were at the parks most of the day. I think we paid 89/room.
Of course now that I learned about DVC, I decided to take the plunge and recently became a DVC Memebr at Saratogoa Springs. For large families the DVC is something to consider.