Family of 8 traveling 18 hrs to Disney, Reasonable places to Stay? How to save ?

[bcinohio]

We rented a house this past July for 10 people at www.vrbo.com and it was in Sunset Lakes. That is a gated housing development very close to Disney. It took us less than 10 min to get to all the parks. Also part of our family went to Universial and it took about 20-25 min. to get there.

 

[alaskanabbott]

HI, we are a family of 9, me, DH and our 6 kids plus my dad. We are doing the Disney All Star Movies resort in January. We had to get three rooms, b/c each room only holds 4 people, but you guys would only need two. We did get free dining for our stay. We are staying 8 nights, 9 days and with the room, free dining, and park tickets for all 8 days we are paying under $4000 for everyone. Remember that includes a whole other room you wouldn't need. I think per room for 4 ppl, with tickets it was about $1800.

 

[KELLY]

If your dates are open. Try getting to rooms at a value resort during free dining. Food for 8 adds up.

 

[auralia]

have you considered looking into fort wilderness camp ground on disney... i believe you can have 10 people at a site if camping is your thing and the prices are reasonable considering disney and every night there is a movie/camp fire singalong and you can see fireworks from the beach. there is a nice pool (imho) and there are places to go shower and get into some air conditioning for a bit and do laundry. buses run around the camp ground to take you to various areas and to the main front bus stop where you can transfer to busses for the disney parks. I have never actually stayed there as I am a DVC member and pre that we did military discounts, but i have gone there for the camp fire/smores roast/chip and dale and found it to be quite nice if i were intrerested in camping i would absolutly camp there there is a whole forum on fort wilderness you could read up on it and look up some pictures to see if it is something you'd be interested in. just looking quickly at disneyworld.com it is 50$ for a random night in october.

 

[rigs32]

Do you realize that of the list of parks you want to go to, only ONE is a Disney park? Islands of Adventure is Universal Studios. Sea World is owned by the Busch Gardens people. You are going to spend more money per day on your vacation by going to different company owned parks. Disney and Universal tickets are cheaper per day if you only go to their parks, but that means you have to make a choice.

Edited to add - if you really dislike internet research that much, I'd suggest calling a travel agent to see if they can help. People here on the dis a quite helpful, but it sounds like what you're looking for is a bit more involved than most of the questions posed here.

 

[kleubanks]

We stay at the Residence Inn @ Lake Buena Vista. They have 2 bedroom suites with 2 queen beds in each and a sleeper sofa in the living room. There is a FULL breakfast buffet (many hot items, cereal, yogurt, fruit, danish, bagels....). I have booked this for a week in Jan anywhere from 149-179. When you consider the breakfast and manager's dinners...not bad

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I would recommend you stay offsite, since you only want to do one Disney park. Offsite is much cheaper. Problem is, there are tons of options--it's esy to get overwhelmed!

We stay at Windsor Hills and love it--it's very close to Disney. There ARE developments that are closer to Seaworld and the Universal parks--sorry, I'm not familiar with them. I can tell you that WH has condos (in large "towers"), townhouses (attached in a row, most with private pools), and then actual homes. We rent a $BR, 4BA home for the 6 of us for ~$1200 for a week. There ARE cheaper options in WH, and certainly at other resorts and developments. We like WH due to its proximity to WDW and also it has a resort-like feel--a large community pool, playground, game room, movie theater, etc. We also like the specific house, which is why we're willing to spend a little more for it. Obviously, you have to choose what fits your family best, just letting you know the reasoning we use.

With 7-8 people, your best bet is likely a 3BR condo or townhouse. I'm not sure a travel agent can be much help--they tend to sell resort rooms, rather than development rentals. I like vrbo.com, but there's also floridasunvacationhomes.com, mousepadsorlando.com and a host of other sites you can try.

A number of people on the Orlando board swear by Bonnet Creek--again, you might find cheaper, further from Disney. Most timeshare places in the Orlando area also rent out units.

BTW, Gatorland is still open--they rebuilt after the fire. It's a fun, half-day attraction.

 

[Belle5]

Welcome! I just wanted to say hi as I, too, am over run with sons! (6 boys here, too!)

You are going to spend a LOT of money by trying to see so many different kinds of parks with so many people--so just a heads-up on that one. It would be far more economical to visit just WDW or just Universal/Sea World. You see, WDW really hits you hard your first, second and third day of visiting. After day three your admission is practically free through day ten of your vacation. So, if you were to go to WDW for let's say two days, you are going to pay full price admission for both of those days and then you have the start the process all over again with a Universal/Seaworld ticket combo. I would also question WHY Datona? I would definitely want to go over to the gulf side if I wanted to visit a nice beach for the day (and have often done so).

Something you may not have thought about...if you have a wide range of ages in your family--the trip will be so much more enjoyable for everyone if the older teens (assuming you have some) can come and go as they please. For us this has meant that we try to always stay on WDW property. When the kids were younger we stayed "wherever". This arrangement is sooo freeing. (I would imagine that if you only visited Universal and stayed at one of their onsite hotels, you would have similar freedom). We have stayed in adjoining rooms at value, moderate and deluxe WDW resorts depending on our budget at the time. The value hotels are very small and my boys refuse to sleep in a bed together--so we have bodies all over the floors. Also, the beds are small. As small as they are, our whole family agrees that we would rather stay there than off-property so that the older boys aren't relying on us for transportation and can go where they please.

It doesn't matter what I have paid in the past--your cost will be different depending on what discounts you can or cannot get. You will need to get updated pricing for your particulars.

Parking is free for onsite Disney guests--probably the same for Universal. The normal parking fee is around $14 each day (I believe) for each day you are there.

 

[mrsklamc]

another thing you can do is submit an inquiry through the windsorhillsrent site; it will send a message to all that site's owners. If price is your bottom line, you can tell them that and some will take that into consideration when offering you a price.

 

[HeatherC]

You could also stay at Bonnet Creek Resort. If you book within 60days of your trip, you can get a two bedroom villa with two baths and full kitchen and washer and dryer for $120 a night through vacation upgrades.com.

Check out the Bonnet Creek thread for more info.

Hope this helps!

 

[newtodcl]

http://www.vacationcentralflorida.com/

This is another site with inexpensive rentals for Windsor Hills, a gated resort very close to disney with tons of home and townhome rentals....there is also a DIS forum with Orlando hotel accommodation reviews and suggestions...

 

[Purseval]

How are you getting to Orlando, in 2 cars, one car or a camper?

 

[quiverofadams]

Hi. We have 5 kids and always get 2 connecting rooms at the values. Staying on property has lots of perks and free dining would be a huge plus for a family of 8. Your touring plan sounds very expensive. Disney, US and, Sea World daily prices cost a lot of money. Parking adds another $14 a day.
Maybe you could look into free dining package and take advantage of free food, transportation, parking, extra magic hours and more that Disney World offers.

 

[mrsklamc]

Unfortunately there's no way free dining adds up to savings when compared to doing some simple meal prep offsite...or even eating out offsite. Believe me, I've tried.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We stayed at Tropical Palms once about a dozen years ago. It wasn't too bad, we stayed in a cabin. We had fun (for being off site.) We like in site for a few reasons. One, the all inclusive feel. We have strayed to other parks but it is an unnecessary expense for us. The longer you stay at any given set of parks the less you pay per day. So IMO, I'd pick either just Disney or just Universal. Next, even though we drive to Disney (from Rochester, NY) we like to not ever move the car again till we leave. It is wonderful. Also, with free dining, it is a huge savings and one you especially will save a fortune on.

If it were my family, I would get 2 rooms at one of the Values, go during free dining and just stick with Disney parks. It would be much more of a savings and there is really, PLENTY to do without going anywhere else.

Happy Planning, it's half the fun! Enjoy it!!!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

I would also do the math and do free dining in a couple of value rooms. How old are your kiddos with ours the savings adds up. We are staying in POR since there are so many of us considered adults by Disney standards, we really are breaking even on the room since we would do the Dining Plan anyways.

 

[honeydiane1953]

We ALWAYS stay on site. But in your case I would def. stay off-site. I can't believe I just typed such a thing however with 8 yes off site.

 

[Darcy03231]

With all the places you want to go I would look into the Orlando Flex Ticket. We did it a couple of years ago and got the 5 park one. It gave us unlimited admission to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Wet N Wild waterpark for 14 days. At the time it was about $235 for adults and $195 for children

 

[sarah4770]

i know that there is a special at vistana villages....look on this board at dreams unlimited and possibly all ears. They are advertising a 1 br for 199 for three days. and a 2 br is less than 299 for 3 days. you can book them back to back and get 6 nights for a very reasonable price. sleeps 6-8. Includes full kitchen in the 2 BR. That would be central to all the parks you want to visit.
Also seaworld currently has a buy one get one ticket special.....look at the universal board for the code. I just bought one for myself and son 2 days ago......pretty good deal and you can return for the 2nd day free. Now just looking for a good deal on universal tickets.
also,lots of places to go in orlando that don't cost a lot of money. Rock Springs for one, great place to have a cookout and spend the day.

 

[labdogs42]

We stayed in a 5 bedroom house in Davenport before and it was great! I think we paid about $850 for a week. I can't find the listing on VRBO right now, but if I do find it, I'll post it. VRBO is a great way to find a great vacation home at a good price. Allstarvacationhomes are nice, too, but they are pricier.