First trip, family of 6, advice needed please!

[Janeen]

Hi. My family is going to Disney World in May. There are 6 of us (2 adults, 4 kids - ages 5,6,7,9). I have found this is a hard number to plan with. I would prefer to stay on-site for the whole disney experience. There seem to be few places to stay to acommodate this many. Currently I have two rooms at the All Star Sports hotel reserved for May 5-12. I have included the dining plan and 7 days of tickets with park hopper and water park tickets.

I am getting nervous about having booked at one of the budget places ($100 per room per nite) as I have read horrible reviews on tripadvisor (loud, very crowded, disclaimer of "this is a budget hotel" if you have problems). I would prefer to stay at a moderate hotel, but don't want to have to "morgage the house" to do so. Two rooms at these would be $500 a nite as I understand. I notice that MANY of you knowledgeable people are staying in these moderate resorts instead of the budget ones.

Any advice on planning a trip with this amount of people? I have contacted Dreams Unlimited which I understand is helpful, but am not getting any "real person" advice on what other options I have. They just seem to want to email me a quote and nothing else.

The only other thing I can do is go directly to Disney and play with the quotes, but I don't know if those have any discounts included when they figure on the web site. Can I call them to get a quote if I'm not ready to book yet? I know time is running out since so many people make their plans early, but I'd like to get some pricing advice and talk it over with my husband. As far as I can tell 7 nights with dining plan and tickets is about $4000 and bumping up to a better resort would be about $6000. Worth the extra expense?

Any advice you knowledgeable people could give me would be appreciated.
Thanks
Janeen

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

Worth the extra money??? No way. IMO. With the ages of those kids, there is too much to do at the parks AND the waterparks to be worried about the hotel. You won't even spend much time at the hotel. And you'll be so tired at night that the noise won't bother you. (if there even is noise)

HAVE FUN!!!

 

[Deesknee]

Hello Janeen and welcome!

We are also a family of 6.

First if you are traveling with one under I think 3. You can stay in a moderate. We did this, as well as two rooms at the All Stars. Personally I prefer the 2 rooms. We had 3 teens, DH, myself and a baby.

The other option is to rent points from a dvc member. I am a dvc member but do not rent my points. If you choose to do this look at the dvc threads on this board and ask alot of questions. I have never rented myself, but have heard of plenty of people having a wonderful experience. Just try to find out as much as you can before you decide who to rent from and if this is even something you think you would want to do. Personally, I love dvc resorts, obviously, that's why we purchased the points. It is hard for me to stay elsewhere, although I do on occassion.

Best of luck. If you desire to pm me feel free.

Dee

 

[Perditamarie]

Hi and welcome to the Dis..you will get a lot of great info on these boards. Here are some ideas:

1. If you have AAA, call to see if there is a discount for your timeframe. You can certainly call and get quotes for your dates..nothing wrong w/that. Also check the boards for info regarding discount codes. Mousesavers.com is a great resource for discount hotel room/package info as well.

2. Fort Wilderness Cabins hold up to 6 -- a bedroom w/bunks and a full bed and a living area w/pull out murphy bed..also kitchen and deck. May give you more room to spread out.

3. There are family suites at the All Star Music that sleep 6 and have 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette (fridge, micro, toaster, coffee pot)

4. Rent points from DVC owner to stay at a deluxe resort that will accommodate your party -- like a 2 bedroom condo type unit. These are Disney timeshare units that the owners sometime rent out to the public and really makes these deluxe accomodations much more affordable than if booked directly through Disney. There is a DVC rental board as well.

5. The All Star Sport is a fun resort. The rooms are very small, but clean and functional. There are large pools, huge and fun sport theming,an arcade, gift shop and large food court. The bus transportation here is excellent. I think May is a quieter time of year, so hopefully the resort won't be crowded. I would save the extra $$$ for your trip....or your next one!

You will have a blast planning for your trip...and keep reading and posting and you will understand your choices in no time.

 

[Deesknee]

Sorry I didn't even noticed you had posted the childrens ages. (thanks speed reading class) So sorry.

 

[runwad]

I too second just keep what you've got. It's your first trip right? You'll be tickled pink just to be there. I think people that have issues with hotels are people that go all the time. When we went our first time the room wasn't even an issue (we are a family of 5 stayed at POR) we were just happy to be there, and we didn't know any better then what we had anyway to have an opinion one way or another. Go enjoy.

 

[Barb D]

I actually just switched my reservation from one room at POR to two rooms at All Star Sports. We've stayed at both before, and like them both just fine. I prefer POR for the theming, the pool slide etc, and with 3 kids we could have "legally" fit in one room there...but at the All Star Sports we get 4 double beds and two bathrooms.

If money is no object, sure, go for two rooms in a moderate. Otherwise, you're absolutely fine with two rooms at the All Stars.

BTW, the moderates are "motel style" with doors to outside corriders just like the budgets are.

 

[gcrw11]

We have 2 boys 15 and almost 9 and we've stayed at All Star sports lots of times and POP Century. The rooms are just fine. We get 2 rooms so that we all get our own bed (15 year old won't spoon with anyone). In Feb. we are staying at the campground in a cabin, my personal favorite. Maid service but quiet and private. It also has tons of stuff to do everyday if you want a break from the parks. Our favorite is the campground, then POP century because bus service is better than ALL Star, then All Star Sports.
How much time do you really plan on being at your room? We go there to sleep and swim. Otherwise I'm on Rock N Roller Coaster
I say for your first trip, stay at All Star, visit other resorts while you are there and see what you want for next time. If you don't have fun at Disney, there's something wrong with you. Don't sweat the little stuff. Bring hand held games for the kids while in lines, makes everyone happy.
Don't miss Fantasmic at MGM. My favorite show/fireworks. But I'm also a Mickey stalker so I'm biased.
Have fun on your trip

 

[dsnymomof4]

I agree - stay where you are. The value resorts are great for families. They rooms are fine, there are several pools, nice food courts, game rooms, etc. My kids love staying at Pop Century. We've always had a great time. So, just relax, don't believe everything you read, experience it for yourselves. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. After all, you'll be in Disney!

 

[hematite153]

Great advice/ideas so far. The only other thing that I can think to add is that there are lots of quiet rooms available at the All Stars but they are far away from the main pools and the main building. When we were at All Star Music (on New Year's Eve, no less) we didn't hear any other guests from our room. We had a room facing a shrub with a path that nobody would walk down except those with rooms beside us. Yes, it was a 5 min walk to the main building but, given how much walking we were doing at the parks, this didn't seem like much more. Or, you can ask for a preferred room (I think they charge more for this though) and be close to everything but take your chances on noise. Decide which you prefer and make a request.

 

[detroitmama]

I know that there are good reasons to stay on-site, but I wanted to let you know that we had a WONDERFUL first trip to disney with our 4 kids, and stayed offsite in a rental home. The brand new 5 bedroom house had it's own heated pool and hottub, games room, and 3000 square feet to spread out. (the master bathroom was bigger than my bedroom at home - ahh!) It was great to have a huge kitchen and laundry room. It was a treat to be able to sit in the hot tub after the kids went to bed, and watch the disney fireworks from the backyard. We were able to stock the freezer with icecream and frozen pizzas, and really enjoy our vacation. Honestly, I really don't enjoy sleeping in a hotel room with kids (which I've done more times than I can count.) After our first Disney experience, we asked our kids what was their favorite part of the trip, and they all agreed that it was the rental house. Besides, it will be CHEAPER than renting two value rooms! You could get a great house, within 10 minutes to Disney, for about $125 a night. Think about it!

 

[torinsmom]

I stayed at Pop twice and had great experiences both times. Pop is a value resort as well. I had to complain about our non-smoking room smelling of smoke when we arrived at 1am last trip and they had me another room on the spot. Wasn't their fault(it was a non-smoking building) but they still were all apologetic and moved us to a great room that was thankfully very fresh smelling. We NEVER had a problem, everything was clean, and all the CM's were the best! I can't imagine paying twice as much for another resort. MOst of your time will be spent in the parks anyway!

Marsha

 

[momof5boys]

Get 2 adjoining rooms at a value resort. We did that 6 years ago with our family of 6, and plan on doing it again this year with our family of 7. I also stayed at POP last year with 5 friends (again used 2 adjoining rooms) The kids loved it there ASM! (and the adults loved the pool bar! )

 

[wdwpjs]

We are a family of 6 also. For the past several years we have stayed at the Comfort Suites Maingate East. I LOVE this hotel. Big rooms, free breakfast and easy access to the parks. We are at the most a 15 min drive to the parks. This is just a biased opinion though. I couldnt think of spending the money on 2 rooms. We are only in our room to sleep and bathe! haha. We go commando in the parks. Just my 2cents. Dont worry , you will have fun no matter where you stay........you will be in DISNEY!!!!!


me, dh, dd15,dd11, ds4, dd1


march 12-19 here we come!!!!!

 

[hematite153]

If you do start looking beyond disney resorts you should check out the DIS homepage. I've seen some good deals there.

 

[DisneyBrat]

Trust me as a family of 5 STAY on property at a budget or moderate if you can. We use to stay offsite but realized how much BETTER it was and convenient too, expecially with the little ones. Just the transportation and not having to fight traffic and drive after a tiring day in the park is wonderful!!!! Get a fanny pack for each person and pack snacks... We even bought the single sandwich keepers from walmart(wonder bread) and took pb&j on a few days... trust me that saved us a BUNCH!!!! we bought caribeaners to carry a water bottle with country time and kool aid to go pouches too. There are ways to save. Just read the boards and ask alot of questions


Lew

 

[wearegoingtoDisney]

You have lots of advice about where to stay but let me as a mom of four also add some advice about the nuts and bolts of traveling with 4 small children in Disney.

1. As you know kids do not and I repeat do not have a sense of time. They do not get that if we walk real slow to see the little Mickey confetti that fell on the ground from the parade then we may not see every ride in the park. Ha! Ha!!!!! I had to really lower my expectations on what we could get done in one day. I wanted to move fast so we could see everything but the kids were content and happy noticing little things and taking their time.

2. Kids do not get hungry, tired or use the bathroom at the same time so bring snacks and be prepared to have your schedule look something like this ride, bathroom, snack, ride, bathroom, snack etc.

3. Plan where you are going to eat and get ADR when necessary. You can always adjust and/or cancel them but there is nothing worse on vacation than looking at a map trying to decide where to eat with crying hungry kids.

4. If you are getting to the parks early (you should) and planning to stay late then atleast some of the days you will need to take a break mid-day and go back to the hotel but be prepared that the turn around time is about 45 minutes back to the hotel, 1.5 hours to change and swim/eat/rest and then about 45 minutes back to the park (the bus ride is NOT 45 minutes but by the time you walk to the bus stop, wait for the bus, etc it takes at least 45)

5. Plan spending money in advance!!!! With four children you do not want all of them asking you for something everywhere you go. Set a limit before you go such as we will look until the last day and then you can get something or you have X amount to spend and when it is gone that is all.

6. Have a ball!