For those with 4 or more kids - where (hotel/DVC/condo/etc.) do you stay and why?

[grlpwrd]

We are a family of 6 soon to be 7 and would most likely get 2 rooms at the All Stars, but am curious what you all do.

Thanks!

 

[nbandfour]

When we had five of us, we stayed at Dixie Landings (2 queens and a trundle). When we had six, but one was a baby, we stayed off site at Holiday Inn Kid-suites (one king, bunks and trundle in second room, baby in crib). Last time, we stayed in a FW cabin. Really, I can't recommend these enough. Even at peak season they were $300 per night and you get two tvs, a kitchen, a patio and barbecue. This September we are going with two connected rooms at the Poly because just once in this life I want to be on the monorail!

NB

 

[TiffJ]

We stayed in a condo offsite 2 times that was about 5 min from WDW and it was awesome. 3br, 2ba full kitchen , washer & dryer. I know there is a lot of extra magic in the hotels onsite but when I can get 1200 sq ft for well under $100/night it is hard to beat. Plus we save money with the kitchen & having easy dinners available. I was usually too tired to go to a restaurant anyway.

 

[swilshire]

We stay in timeshares. After a few years of vacationing this way, my kids are spoiled and would never go back to a hotel. We save a ton of money by using the full kitchen and I do the laundry while we're there, avoiding a big pile when we get back home. We always have three, sometimes four, TVs, which cuts down on some of the arguments about what to watch. The multiple bathrooms help in the morning and evenings.

If I could afford it, I would own at the Disney Vacation Club. There are many marvelous resorts much cheaper, however, nearby.

Sheila

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

Four DDs here!!! We are staying at POP, 2 rooms (means TWO bathrooms!!! With four girls, we need two!! AT LEAST!!). Requested a KING/Double connecting. The CM said that since we are a family with small children, we are guaranteed connecting rooms. PRICE was our reason for this resort!!! Also it does look pretty cool and the kids are VERY excited to stay there!!!

 

[goofeyshell]

We bought DVC 6 years ago. We go every other year and have enjoyed the wonderful resorts we have stayed at. We happen to be a family of 6 and often take grandparents with!

 

[MKCP1984]

We enjoyed WDW last June and stayed at the Poly conceirge. We are a family of 6, and my DS was only 2 at the time. He slept in the portable crib, and one of the younger kids slept on the daybed (a single bed with lots of decorative pillows). We LOVED the food and drinks, which was throughout the day. The breakfast ran from 7-10:30am. Then snacks for lunch, with cookies and lots of beverages and fresh fruit. At 5:00pm, the chef prepared a BEAUTIFUL buffet of light supper items - from a macaroni casserole with meat to sushi or taco night. At 8:00pm, the gorgeous desserts and cordials tempted us. Of course, we totally indulged on thse, especially while watching the fireworks!! It worked out extremely well for us considering we had 6 to feed every day. We ate at the conceirge lounge for bkfst and dinner, and had nicer lunches at the parks, which were less expensive than the dinners.
And a way to get a HUGE discount (50% off!!) on the rooms is to buy only one annual pass. the APholders are entitled to book rooms at that discount.
And the AP entitles you to further discounts on merchandise and dining. Go to the Disney website and look up AP's.


Another way is to rent DVC points and stay in a DVC villa. They are gorgeous and huge and much less expensive than paying cash for the same set of rooms (ie: $400/night for a 2BR versus $750/night thru disney)

Hope this helped. Good luck!

 

[crazymomof4]

First off....Congratulations! Last month I thought we were going to be a family of 7 but it turned out to be a false alarm!

This Sept will be the 3rd time we've rented a poolhome in the WDW area. We really like it. For this trip coming we considered/looked around for condos. We were really impressed with the Windsor Palms condo resort (also has poolhomes but they were out of our price range). This resort is very close to WDW and has a lot to offer: Large pool and game room, 58 seat movie theater, tennis courts, playgrounds, etc. We read many good reviews of this resort. But....in the end we weighed out the condo, with it's resort-style facilities against a private pool home and we opted for the pool home. We just really like the privacy and space of our own pool and house. Literally, for the price of a budget hotel room you can get a 3 bdrm/2 bath house with your own pool! There are THOUSANDS of these rental homes in the area, some closer, some farther away from WDW. Some are priced higher but by spending the time looking I've always found a nice home for very reasonable. For ex: in 9/03 we rented a 4 bdrm/2 bath (1900+ sq ft) house for two weeks for a total of $1050 (tax included). This house was in Davenport, about 10-15 mins. from WDW. This time we wanted to be VERY close, since we will only be there for 1 week. Naturally, the closer you get, the higher the rental fees are in general. But I was persistant and found an exeception. We just booked a 3bdrm/2 bath house (sleeps 8)w/ a nice fenced off pool and nice decor for $537 (all taxes, etc. included) That's less than $77/night! This house is in the Indian Creek development and just 3.25 miles from Disney property!!! (Same distance as HIFS but soooo much less $$ and more space!) We have found that the owners of most of these homes hire a local management company to maintain the home and they are in excellent condition. Also wanted to add that most of these homes provide a crib or portacrib at no extra charge (The British will refer to these as a "cot" on their webpages)

If you want more info on finding a rental home on the internet or want to inquire about the house that we are renting, just let me know and I'll PM or email you the info.

PS- for the skeptics out there....this is not MY home that I'm trying to rent. The owners live in Great Britain!!!

 

[lotsofkids]

We are a family of 7 - DS10, DS10, DD7, DS5, DD3. We have stayed at OKW. Renting points may be a good option for you. We really utilize the kitchen. Eating out with 5 is not exactly a treat if you have to do it 3x/day! Plus my family likes the extra space for down time - pack the Disney Monopoly! Congrats on your #5 - our's was somewhat of a surpirse Enjoy.

 

[laceemouse]

We have done the trundle bed room, and a deluxe room. We have stayed in off-site T/Ss. We have 4 kids and really prefer to be onsite so we bought into DVC in 2003. It is worth it's weight in gold. 2 bathrooms, 3 t.v.s, the full kitchen and, my personal favorite, the WASHER and DRYER!!!! I tried to talk DH into a fifth but he wouldn't agree Now we are happy that everyone is in school all day as DD7 is in 1st grade. DD13 will be in High School next year, can't believe how time flies Congrats on # 5, I highly recommend DVC, rent points and give it a try...Lacee

 

[TupperMom7]

Family of 7 here and we are staying in a rented vacation home. It looks really nice and it is costing us for two weeks what Disney World wants for 2 nights in one of their villas.

 

[MelessaG]

We have done the trundle bed room, and a deluxe room. We have stayed in off-site T/Ss. We have 4 kids and really prefer to be onsite so we bought into DVC in 2003. It is worth it's weight in gold. 2 bathrooms, 3 t.v.s, the full kitchen and, my personal favorite, the WASHER and DRYER!!!! I tried to talk DH into a fifth but he wouldn't agree Now we are happy that everyone is in school all day as DD7 is in 1st grade. DD13 will be in High School next year, can't believe how time flies Congrats on # 5, I highly recommend DVC, rent points and give it a try...Lacee

Lacee-
My friends look at me like I'm nuts because, after four kids, I'm a little sad that I've been advised I should not have any more. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who wasn't sure about stopping at four. (I'm told I will be glad when they all go to school too).

As far as the OP's question-my parents have a wonderful time share that we have shared with them. But, we love being on WDW property. So, our future plans are to use either a FW cabin or adjoining rooms at the value resorts. Congrats on your growing family!

 

[Deesknee]

Congratulations!!
Usually we stay (5of us until 8/2003) OKW 2bdrm off season.
once we stayed at POR
This June we are staying POP for 2 nights (2 rooms), then going to OKW 2bdrm. I love OKW especially if kids bring homework with them - plenty of space to spread out.

good luck.

 

[grlpwrd]

Thanks - you all gave me such wonderful ideas!

 

[isla bonita]

We stay in the rental homes. They offer everything and are close by. That way we can all have some space as needed.

 

[Momof5cubs]

We have five children (and in the past have even brought nephews) and here are some things we have done:

2 rooms at POR. The kids loved the pool here.

large suite at Doubletree Suites DTD- This place was great. No problems with transportation/ close to Downtown Disney shops and restaurants. Free cookies!- and all for $119 per night!

We just became DVC members also and are staying at SSR in December!

 

[seetheworld]

We get 2 rooms at the Disney resorts. It gives us 2 bathrooms and plenty of room for everyone including all the perks that Disney offers for staying on-site. HTH

 

[homeschooler]

We stayed at Wilderness Cabins and that was great but somewhat expensive. I also didn't like the bus transfers with strollers and kids stuff.

The last couple of years we have rented houses. This year we are renting the same house we had last year. It is huge, nice private pool, close to Disney and I can do laundry at my leisure, cook meals the kids eat, especially breakfast which I found to be expensive on property. The ONE thing I really love is I can go swimming with the kids and then get out, read, sew, whatever inside but still have the kids where I can see them. I find it much more relaxing to be able to do 'my thing' not sitting around a pool or trying to keep track of three fish in large pools and I would never let them go to the pool unattended.

 

[4kidsnus]

Having done both, we *much* prefer a vacation home (so much so that we ended up buying our own).

No room service, but we save money having a full kitchen (plus, the kids can eat breakfast as soon as they're up - without having to wait for the whole family to get ready in the morning ... I hated that "I'm hungry" morning routine)

Distance ... we can't walk out of the door and onto Disney busses, but then again, on those crowded nights after a day at the park, we don't have to wait for a bus ... and we usually get home within 20 minutes.

Private Pool.
Golf Course View.
Quiet.
Clean. (some homes are affiliated with Best Western - and are meticulously maintained)
Beds! (I get to sleep on a Sealy Posturepedic foam pillowtop - that's reason enough for me. The vacation is too expensive to not get a good night's sleep!)
Long Distance Telephone.
Room to Relax.
Real laundry area.

I'm biased

 

[kerry34]

Normally we stay offsite in a villa, but this time we rented two cabins at ft wilderness. My mom is renting one and the older girls are staying with her, which they are so thrilled about, and the three other kids will be staying with DH and myself.