Gotta keep em separated.

[smiths02]

So I'm in the early stages of planning my families first trip to DW. It's going to be my wife and I our 3 girls and Grandma and Grandpa. We are planning a split stay at AOA and AK.
I don't think the grandparents will like staying at AOA so I'm suggesting that they stay at the Board walk. Is it going to be too much of a hassle to meet up everyday? Should I find a more age neutral hotel? Cabins maybe?

For a first stay with a group of 7...I think a split stay is a bad idea and staying so far away from each other is a bad idea. Disneyworld is the size of a city (I think San Francisco).
AoA is 1.5 miles from Boardwalk

Maybe if this were multiple extended family, but it is grandma and grandpa. I know I'm making assumptions, but our ILs went with us to spend time with the kid (help with the kid) not because they wanted a separate vacation to Disney.

I haven't stayed at the Boardwalk...but I have stayed at Beach Club, AoA, AKL, and the Poly...I wouldn't hesitate to spend an entire trip in one of those places (Beach Club has a great location as does Poly). For 3 girls, Grand Floridian might also be nice. The Contemporary isn't my cup of tea (the modern thing), but it would be very convenient and I don't see how having the monorail go through your resort (Contemporary) or having animals outside your room (AKL) could not be great for kids.

 

[Canooknic]

I think it all depends on how much you're planning to do together.

If we were travelling with my parents we would all stay at the same resort because they would be up and ready whenever my kids were up and ready to hit the parks, but if it was my in-laws they would sleep in and expect us to sit around waiting for them so I would strongly recommend that they went for a resort they were comfortable with (ideally elsewhere so DH didn't lose his mind spending too much time with them! Lol)

 

[Oilers]

The phrase "age neutral hotel" is boggling me. Neither one has an age requirement. Both are perfectly nice. (Though Boardwalk is a hotel and aoa is a motel due to doors opening into hallways vs the outdoors).

I say age neutral because Grandpa likes to drink. I know he will stay back at the hotel and drink instead of going to the parks. Not everyday but a few of the days he will. I don't think AOA would be a good place for drunk grandpa. He's a friendly drunk but still probably not the best place for him.

 

[stinkpickle]

The old folks in our group just don't like moving to a different resort in the middle of a stay. So if I were in your situation, the grandparents would spend the entire stay at either AOA or AK.

 

[kiford]

I don't think the grandparents will like staying at AOA so I'm suggesting that they stay at the Board walk.

I wouldn't presuppose that they won't like it. Show them a bit about the resort, the pros and cons of being in the same versus different resorts and let them make their own mind up. We went to Jamaica for my niece's wedding. She was getting married at the Riu Negril which I knew wouldn't suit me and I thought might not suit my father. So I showed him some of the information and we eventually decided that DH, my dad and I would stay at a smaller boutique resort hotel close to the Riu. It was a little inconvenient for the wedding (and expensive - we had to pay $75 apiece to be on the Riu grounds for the privilege of attending the wedding, having watered down/digusting drinks and terrible food). We all agreed in the end that it was the best decision. My niece and the rest of the family liked the Riu (as you can tell we didn't) and we loved our resort. Everybody got what they wanted in the end and we knew that we'd have to live with a bit of inconvenience but it was worth it.

 

[Eastern]

Why are you choosing BWI for them and not AK?

I went once with family and I liked being at the same resort. We had our own schedules but it was convenient for meeting up during the week.

 

[Pmlocke]

I am a grandfather and here is my two cents worth. We have traveled with our grandchildren twice. The first time we had adjoining rooms, the second time we were in seperate hotels. The thing is this, my wife and I cannot spend all day in the parks. We certainly do not want to get up early on our vacation to make rope drop. Our first trip was nice but we were glad to get home. We did everything together. We were exhausted. The second trip we met for dinner every night and at times when we would get into a park we would call the kids to see where they were and then meet up for awhile. We discovered we were slowing down the grandkids on the first trip and the accomodations/changes we made during the second trip made for a much more pleasant experiance. Talk to your parents and see what they want to do-and ask them to be honest. Don't push a guilt trip on them because they don't want to spend every minute of every day with you. I promise, you and they will have a better time if you respect eachother's feelings and capabilities.

 

[RustManFan]

I would have anyone together at POR personally. It doesn't have the Disney character theming and is a good escape from all that at the parks. I couldn't be bothered with a split stay myself.

 

[OutNChiTown]

I think it's more of a possibility when you're talking about a deluxe resort (which usually has at least a little better transportation). CBCR, SSR, OKW, AoA are all 100% bus resorts. So, if your mother / grandmother is at Boardwalk, she will have it easier to get to the theme parks and if you choose to meet up with her, it's relatively easy for you as well. Take a bus to DHS or Epcot and walk over / take the boat over to Boardwalk. There are certainly plenty of things for your family to do at Boardwalk as well. It's a beautiful resort to explore.

Long story short, as long as one of the family members is at an easy to access resort, it becomes much easier to coordinate.

Hope this makes sense and hope you have a magical vacation!

 

[krissyh]

Port Orleans Riverside. Rooms with a Murphy Bed for the youngest. A nice quiet, relaxing resort for the GPs, boat to Disney Springs and on site activities.

 

[megs1313]

Port Orleans Riverside. Rooms with a Murphy Bed for the youngest. A nice quiet, relaxing resort for the GPs, boat to Disney Springs and on site activities.

with your updates, OP, this would be my suggestion as well.

 

[WDWNY]

For our Thanksgiving trip our family friends came along. They stayed at Four Seasons because the disney hotels looked "outdated" we stayed at BWV/Dolphin. We had the same fast passes and were on one dinning reservations. It was ridiculous meeting up but I think it would be fine if it were different people. Their kids wanted to be in the pool in the mornings and wouldn't get out (which is fine) and then they wouldn't text us if they're still in the pool, on their way or what so we really couldn't plan what we should do. I realized this was going to be the story the entire trip so I did what we planned to do and if they missed out it wasn't my problem.

If everyone can communicate, it wouldn't be a problem. (or if they can't communicate just add them on the find friends app and see where they are LOL)

 

[crazylady]

My family would prefer to stay together in the same place and potentially spend less time together throughout the day I can guarantee that my parents have 0 desire to spend all day, every day in the park. They would be much happier meeting up with us to spend a few hours together in the park or at the pool and having meals together. So in our case, I would pick a hotel where they would be happy with the amenities and have convenient transportation options. If $ was no issue I'd choose Poly or BLT or Boardwalk. But budgets exhist so we'd probably end up at POR.

In your case, I would talk to the parents and see what kind of trip they would like to have and go from there.

 

[TJA]

When grandparents went to disney with us, we all stayed at BC and we often went to the parks without the grandparents (their choice) and they LOVED staying back enjoying the pool and entire area. They even walked into EPCOT one day just to stroll around the countries and buy some snacks and souvenirs. Whether or not we were with them in the mornings/afternoons, we always ended each night with them by eating somewhere along the boardwalk and also having ice cream from beaches and cream!

As far as the hotel, BC was perfect and my parents still talk about it. The important factors I considered when choosing was a hotel with the lobby and rooms all in the same building and I also wanted a beautiful setting they would enjoy.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I always recommend to my family and friends that they should not try to do everything together and definitely should not try and "share" accommodations. I know this because 9 of us stayed in an Old Key West suite years ago and we were barely speaking to each other when we got home -- too much togetherness is not a good thing. I agree with the PP who discussed staying at different resorts and meeting at certain locations at a certain time of day. I also would recommend you think about putting the grandparent at POFQ for the entire trip as it is a nice, quiet and SMALL resort. They can meet you at their convenience at any of the parks and they will enjoy the ease of coming and going from a nice, centrally located resort.

Tom

 

[Manda]

I, personally, think it sounds great because you won't be together so much to want to kill each other. Logistically, if everyone has phones and isn't too uptight, I can't imagine why it would be a problem. Just decided which park you will be at the next day, both parties text when they arrive. It's not like you have to say, "meet me at entrance at 9am" or whatever. When we did the multi-gen trip, we all stayed in rooms in the same building of Poly (my Mom and niece in one room, MIL and FIL in one room, my family in other). My room was connected to my Mom's. It was okay because I wanted to be able to help my Mom with my niece, but it, honestly, probably let to over attempts at coordination. We really didn't have to all leave our rooms and head to the parks at the exact same time every day and I would've been more relaxed not having to worry about what everyone else was doing at every minute.

 

[cgattis]

We've stayed at AoA twice and loved it. My non-Disney DH says it's the coolest place we've ever stayed--including Poly, BC, and AKL. Kids were ticked that we were staying at WL last trip--they wanted AoA again! (Now, just got back from WL and everybody did love it....) Some PP called AoA a motel, but only the LM rooms open to the outside. There's lots of paths to stroll around, three pools, and tons of stuff to look at if they choose to take a break from the parks. We've had zero issues with buses. But yes, the food court (like all of them) can get crowded sometimes. They might like having a real sofa and kitchenette if they choose to hang in the room. And it would give Grandpa one more option for a place to drink The one pool bar might not exactly be inviting, like you said. I wouldn't rule out AoA without showing them pics first. But if they've been before and/or are fine getting around to/from the parks in their own, in the cell phone age, meeting up shouldn't be a problem either.