First visit w/ 5 & 7 yr olds. Where to stay?

[elizmich]

It will be their first visit. Since it's such a big deal, I'm not really concerned with cost.

Where to stay?

How long?

Include Sea World, etc. or just do things within the park? I anticipated being there 6-7 days.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[mericletwins]

I would vote for the Beach Club. The pool is the best, there are movies on the beach at night, walk into Epcot, boat over to MGM and walk to the Boardwalk area for whatever they have to offer. We went there last year at ages 7,7 and 6 and the year before. My kids loved the resort pool so much that some days we fit our park time around our pool time instead of the opposite.

For 6-7 days I would stick to all that Disney has to offer instead of cramming in other parks. You will not run out of things to do at Disney in 6 or 7 days. What time of year are you planning on going?

 

[Kim1964]

I agree with Beach Club and sticking to Disney. I think that by day 3 or 4, a non-park, hang at the pool day is a great idea, and Stormalong Bay rocks! Disney can be exhausting, and I know that for my family (DH, me, DD11yo, DD5yo), a day off from touring refreshes all of us.

 

[Frankiesmom]

I vote for the POLY-you have the monorail;easy access to MK. The theming is wonderful! The kids get a big kick out of staying at the Lilo and Stitch hotel. You can watch the Wishes fireworks from the Poly beach or if conceirge interests you;book Lagoon View Conceirge and you can watch the fireworks and the castle change color all nite from your balcony. The volcano pool is really cool-especially forthe kids! And it has such a wonderful tropical feel! Do a google search for Tikiman's polynesian website-answers and pictures of everything Poly! Hope this helps!

 

[Lilolvr]

Poly, Contemporary or CSR

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I second the vote for Beach Club.

I just got back yesterday from a trip with my husband and daughter (who turned 5 during our trip). The Stormalong Bay pool is perfect for this age group!!! There are shallower sections for younger kids, deeper sections for kids who are ready to handle it, a part where you can build sandcastles, a lazy river with tubes, and best of all, a shipwreck with both a short and just fast enough slide (~18 feet?) and a longer extremely fast slide for the daredevils. Since my child is a rather outgoing only child, we wound up striking up conversations with a fair number of kids. I would ask them "What has been your favorite thing about Disney so far?" Several said "The pool." It really is that great.

I think cramming in SeaWorld and/or Universal might be a lot in 6-7 days. Here's what we did on our first 3 days, just to give you an idea. I should mention that we don't like to rush around too much, and also that my kid is much more into the characters than rides.

Day 1--Flight arrived at 10:30ish. A
12--At hotel aafter grocery stop to get water, soda, fruit, sunscreen, etc. Checked in early, had lunch.
2--POOL!
6:15--Dinner at Garden Grove at Swan with Rafiki and Timon. (Food was nothing special, but we do like The Lion King.)
7:30--Made smores on the beach.

Day 2--Epcot Day.
8:35 AM--Breakfast with Princesses at Restaurant Akershus. Met Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, and Mulan.
Also got lucky and met Mary Poppins outside.
9:20 or 9:30--Hit The Living Seas pavillion. Prioritized this as apparently lines get long later, and we like Nemo. Did Nemo ride, then Turtle Talk with Crush (very funny). Then toured the aquarium, which my child really loved.
11ish--Browsed gift shop.
11:15--Headed off to Food and Wine Festival. Stopped to see street performers in the U.K., which my daughter liked. Then got unadventurous eater her chicken nuggets at the McDonalds stand. Then husband sampled some sushi. Then we both got some kefta from Morrocco. Got daughter a Mickey ice cream bar. Daughter was not that excited by the country part of Epcot, which was also somewhat crowded due to Food and Wine Festival. On a previous trip, she had really enjoyed the Chinese gymnasts, but they don't start until later. She was more interested in heading back to the hotel.
12:30ish--Headed back to hotel.
Brief rest. Pool time.
5:30--Dinner at 1900 Park with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Anastasia, Drizella, and Lady Tremaine. Very fun!!!!

Day 3--Magic Kingdom Day
Arrive around 7:30 or 7:40 (Little Ones Early Magic Hour Day).
8-8:45--Played games with Peter Pan and Wendy. SOOOOO FUN!!!!! Highlight of trip.
8:45--Rode Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride.
9--Played on Pooh playground.
9:30--Rode Buzz Lightyear.
10-10:40--Met Ariel in Grotto, after lots of fun getting drenched in fountain.
10:45--Rode Peter Pan.
11--Rode It's a Small World.
11:20--Were heading toward Adventureland, when dd announced she would rather play in the Pooh playground some more.
12:15--Checked in for lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table.
1:15--Browsed at Tinkerbelle's Treasures gift shop. Actually bought something: a charm bracelet dd made.
1:50--Back to hotel. NAP.
5--Dinner at Crystal Palace. Met Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger. I loved this buffet.
7-10:30--Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!!! The other huge highlight of the trip. Great Villains show, great parade, great fireworks!!!! Got to meet Cruella de Vil, Mean Queen, Maleficent, Jafar, Captain Hook. Super fun.

So that's probably more than you needed to know about us, but it just gives you an idea of how much there is to do...and we only did a small, small sample of the things available.

 

[micmacmissy]

Definitely a monorail resort. GF, Poly, or CR. Nothing thrills kids more than seeing that monorail!

Poly would probably be most fun for the kids--then you have boat and monorail options!

 

[jakenjess]

Our kids' first trip was when they were 5 and 7 and we stayed at the WL. They loved it! However, if it's in your budget, I'd choose either the Poly or the Beach Club. I know at those ages we spent the most time at the MK, so the Poly would be perfect. You've got monorail or boat to MK, plus a quick walk to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail. The pool is very nice with a fun slide. We've also stayed at the BC and BW and the kids loved them both. The BW area has a lot of fun activity going on, and you can't beat that quick walk to Epcot.

Happy planning!!

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Take into consideration which park you might want to spend the most time at, if one park more than others. With kids that age, you might be spending more time at the MK than other parks? Next, look at pics of resorts and see if there's anything you just fall in love with. I think those would be two of the biggest considerations.

There's a trade off in saving time, or saving money. If you are going to spend a lot of time at the MK, you might choose a monorail resort; GF, Poly or Contemporary. Any of those themes you really like? The WL is also a short boat ride away so that might be another consideration, prices there start a little lower. WDW is huge, even on the WDW buses transit time can be lengthy (like 1/2 hour), depending on how far away from a park you are.

Your kids are fairly young so I'm not sure you want to do SW also in a 6-7 day trip, unless your family is really into marine animals, It's a nice park also, large, takes at least one day. It would require another $50+ per adult admission (I can't remember off top of my head what kids are), while the 6th or 7th day at WDW admission gets to be very little. I know you said you weren't concerned about the $$$ but just a little info there.

Good luck with your decision

 

[ldo]

you can do a park a day and then let them each pick their favorite to return. Also, you need to decide whether you get a hooper or not (allow you to go to more than 1 park each day). It's about $45 extra. If you are not going at a crowded time, then I would skip it, with 6-7 days, you can go back to several parks again. But, if you are doing character meals, remember to plan your meals around which park you will be at.
If you have the dining plan, then do about 3 character meals--more than that is overkill (at least for my kids). And if you are not doing dining plan, do at least 1 character meal--they are great for your ages!
For hotels--EVERYONE will have a different opinion. For a 6-7 night stay, you want at least a moderate, to have coffe-maker and fridge. But, after that, it's personal preference. My kids that age loved Saratoga Springs for the pool and the great Community Room with games, coloring, etc. But we had 2 full resort days where we did not go into the parks. I would go to allears.net and click on photos of different pool/grounds areas to decide. Most of the rooms are going to be pretty similar.