Family of 8

[mrswhitbey]

We're traveling in June with our 6 kids. We've only stayed onsite with 2 rooms. Not sure what we want to do this time but want to save money, our options are 2 rooms with military discount, rent points for villa or stay offsite. What do you recommend and if off site what place? No timeshare access for us.

 

[DanInMN]

We have stayed offsite at Bahama Bay Resort, Wyndham Bonnet Resort, and Reunion Resort. Each of these are very nice and would be great for a large family. All are large condos or town homes that offer 2-3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and a deck. Prices vary depending on time of year, how far in advance you book, and mostly on how diligently you look for deals - but in general they cost less than one room in a Disney moderate. Check VRBO, eBay, and some of the re-sellers mention in these threads.

You will need a rental car (unless you are driving your own, of course), but these can be found very cheap if you search long enough.

You can save a lot by eating a few meals off site, either in the condo or at non Disney restaurants. Easily enough savings to cover the rental car, perhaps a lot more.

 

[Jdismom]

I would look into renting a house. Many have private pools and there are also many neighborhoods very close to Disney. Winsor Hills seems to be a favorite. We stayed in Indian Creek, a pretty short drive away.

 

[edolee]

We're traveling in June with our 6 kids. We've only stayed onsite with 2 rooms. Not sure what we want to do this time but want to save money, our options are 2 rooms with military discount, rent points for villa or stay offsite. What do you recommend and if off site what place? No timeshare access for us.

If you are willing to drive (and to me it is MUCH more convenient than taking the Disney buses). Then for SURE rent a villa. For the price of 2 rooms you will be able to get a MANSION with a private pool! And you can save big $$ by doing a little cooking... at least having cereal, fruit and milk in the fridge for breakfast.

Check out this place: http://www.vrbo.com/506723 for example. Private bedrooms, more bathrooms... faster to the parks in many cases than the Disney hotels depending on where you were staying.

6 kids makes 1 car tough though... if you are renting a car. There are a many resorts within 10-15 minutes of Disney that have these type accommodations. Skip the hotel/motel option.

I would check these resorts on vrbo... Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Sunset Lakes, Emerald Island, and there are more.

The key is, you have to be willing to drive, and to pass up the 60 day window for FP+, and EMH perks that you get at the Disney hotels. (EMH parks are mostly a terrible idea anyway, as they are always the most crowded, but FP+ is a bit of a pickle.) Look at the other forums for FP+ strategies for offsite.

Hope that helped! I promise you... stay at Windsor Hills or one of the others, and you will never stay onsite again.

Ed

 

[Bete]

Residence Inn Lake Buena Vista has two bedroom suites which you can get as two queens in each bedroom. Each bedroom has a bathroom. This gives you 4 beds. Your privacy will be an issue in one of the bedrooms. There is a pullout sofa bed in the living room. If you can double up on the kids you can get a King bedroom and the other bedroom can have 2 queens and you still get a sofa bed.

These suites are like little apartments. You get a kitchen which is opened up to a living room. There are three TVs. You get an included breakfast which for us was enough to last us all day until we got out of the Disney parks. It's a hot breakfast and there are many different choices of food. They do an included evening reception three times a week that is like a quick service meal. The evening reception includes wine and beer. The hours for this are restrictive like 5:30 pm to 7 pm. The pool is okay. They do run bus shuttles to the parks, but the schedule was too restrictive for us and we used our car. If you drive you will have to pay a $15 parking fee every day you go to a park.

The resort is a little on the older side, but it was fine for us. Nothing needed repairing or whatever. There won't be a lot of room to be as a family in the living room. There's a little mini grocery store onsite.

You can buy your park tickets there; there is a rep available for this service.

The location is not too far from I-4 and it's close to Downtown Disney.

I would say the 2 bedroom suite would run you $150/night and maybe a little more if you are going at a peak time. Remember, this includes their wonderful breakfast.

 

[nugov2]

Loved Windsor Hills. You are very close to the parks, can get a 6bdrm themed home with a private pool and there is a beautiful resort pool with waterslide.

 

[sueliz]

Last dec we stayed in 4 bedroom 3.5 bath in Emerald Island. It was wonderful! Unit right next to playground and pool/clubhouse so perfect for outside dining at our town home while watching kids play at small playground. I would also look into home with private pool at windsor Hills. They have fancier public pool and slide. If you don't get home with private pool, then I would look for "close to clubhouse" when looking at other town homes/condos as this makes it easier with younger kids (not sure how old yours are).

 

[bluetree]

We're traveling in June with our 6 kids. We've only stayed onsite with 2 rooms. Not sure what we want to do this time but want to save money, our options are 2 rooms with military discount, rent points for villa or stay offsite. What do you recommend and if off site what place? No timeshare access for us.

If you can get a military discount check out getravelop.com it is for government employees! Great prices....good luck and have a fun trip!

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Rent a 3 or 4 bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Very safe and nice option if it's your first time off-site, as it's right next to Carribean Beach and within the Disney gates. Check out the "We Looooove the Bonnet Creek" thread on this forum for all the details you need to know about booking. A three bedroom would probably work fine--there is a bedroom with a king, one with a queen and one with two fulls, plus a pull out couch.

A previous poster mentioned a 2 bedroom at Residence Inn as an option. I LOVE that hotel, but that would still be a bit cramped for me with 6 kids. You can only imagine how relaxing it is having your own bedroom and bathroom on a vacation and having some quiet time and TV after the kids go to sleep, rather than having to tiptoe around sleeping kids and such.