Help! Have I booked in the best resort for our family?!

[wrldpossibility]

Hi all,
We are going to WDW next Dec. 10-20th (a year from this Dec.) and have booked ressies (two, because we have our family and my parents joining us for part of our dates) through DU for POR. I should add that this is our first trip to WDW, even for the adults. So we have a hard time knowing what to expect of the various resorts. Now I'm starting to wonder if we overlooked any options for us as far as resorts go, because I'm worried we won't have enough room at POR. Here's the deal:

We are a family of 5, but the youngest child will be 2, so won't count for the room occupancy. Then for 7 of our 10 days, we have my parents joining us, making a total of 7 people (officially 6, not counting the 2-year-old). We currently have two rooms at POR, and have requested connecting (not guaranteed, I know). But now, luckily with plenty of time left, I'm worried we'll be too cramped in those rooms. We will spend a fair amount of time in the room due to the children's ages and napping, plus, they go to bed earlier than we do, and we'd like to be able to spread out more. Those of us with little kiddos know--trying to get them to fall asleep while we're in the same room is tough.

Here's how we decided on POR: we eliminated the suites at deluxe level, because we simply can't afford it for the length of trip we have. We eliminated the values because we may not go back to WDW for years, and wanted to do the very best we could afford. We eliminated DVC villas because dh wasn't sure about renting the points from strangers. We eliminated FW cabins just because the pools are really important to the kids, and it seems FW doesn't have good themed pools (otherwise, we'd probably stay there). We eliminated a suite or condo off-site simply because this is a one-time trip and we want the "magic" of staying on-site. Plus we want the ease of disney transportation in the off-season and the dining plan. So, that left us with two room at moderates, and we chose POR just because it appealed the most and we like that we can use both pools (POR and FQ).

So my question is, are we missing an option, or do we have the only thing that will work for us? We'd much rather be in a suite so we can all stay together and put the kids to bed in a seperate room, but those are only at the deluxe resorts, right? We will be paying approx. $300 total a night for the two rooms at a mod. I can't get a deluxe suite to share for that or close to it, right? If only the FW cabins had a themed pool with a slide...

Which leads me to one last question: do people really swim in the pools in Dec? We come from a cold climate, so it's hard to imagine! If no one will want to swim anyway, maybe I can convince everyone to go to FW!

Thanks DIS experts!

Amy

 

[maxiesmom]

POR is the only resort that I have stayed at multiple times, so I think it is a great choice! It has a very neat themed pool, kiddie pool, and hot tub. Plus the grounds are very beautiful with lots of vegetation. My only problem is I tend to get turned around on the paths, but I have no sense of direction.
Did you plan on your 2 yr old being in a crib? The bayou rooms have trundle beds, but I believe you need to request it. By the way, do you have AAA? Your DU agent would be able to apply their discount. It is usually 10 to 15% on moderates, depending on the "season". I think you have made a good decision.

 

[disnut8]

You should be fine. Heck, last year, we did four adults and one child in one room and then three rather large adults in another room - at All Stars (I know, five in a room there was a no-no but it was a last minute thing and the little one slept on an air mattress we put under the bed during the day). We all spent a lot of time in the room as well and never felt cramped at all.

To further ease your mind - I just requested adjoining rooms. The in-laws were only there for three nights, we were there for 10 (with the others joining us for six) nights. When I checked them in on their arrival date, there room was not only right next to ours, it was the connecting one. I hadn't even requested that at all.

And yes, there are people in the pools all the time. Even when it's too cold for the lifeguards, there are hardy souls in the pools. But remember - both Riverside and French Quarter have nice hot tubs (the French Quarter one is much more adult since it's away from the pool area).

You've made a good choice - just sit back and relax until next year!

 

[maxiesmom]

You should be fine. Heck, last year, we did four adults and one child in one room and then three rather large adults in another room - at All Stars (I know, five in a room there was a no-no but it was a last minute thing and the little one slept on an air mattress we put under the bed during the day). We all spent a lot of time in the room as well and never felt cramped at all.

Boo Hisss! You broke Disney rule number 1!

Just Kidding! I just wanted to be the first to give you a hard time. It is for certain someone will!

 

[lovewdwdvc]

chaeck the DVC rent trade board before you make a decision. DVC's are a very good option. I would suggest a one bedroom for the entire time and add a studio when the others arrive.

 

[MainStreetFan]

Just one more person to put your mind at ease. You will enjoy the resort and have plenty of room. There are people who swim year round and the pools are nice. Enjoy!!

 

[stacy6552]

I would try FW, because the pools shouldn't be a factor that time of year. Even though they heat the pools, its usually too cold to walk around wet. With napping kids and loads of time in the room, I think the bedroom door is a must have. Weighing the two, I'd go for the door and factor out the pool.

 

[Rhonda]

I would try FW, because the pools shouldn't be a factor that time of year. Even though they heat the pools, its usually too cold to walk around wet. With napping kids and loads of time in the room, I think the bedroom door is a must have. Weighing the two, I'd go for the door and factor out the pool.

The FW cabins are wonderful! And, like Stacy said, the pools won't really be a huge factor because of the time of year and all the other stuff there to keep them busy! You could always take a half-day at one of the water parks, if the kids really want to swim and the weather is nice!

 

[jewellmmc]

Port Orleans is a great resort. We stayed at the then Dixie Landings and loved it. As for swimming, one day the air temp was 40F and the pool 85F. We went swimming - it was great. Needless to say, we didn't stay poolside very long after the swim. This was in January.

Have a great trip.

 

[whacked]

You might want to condsider the FW cabins with a rental mini-van. You can get a van for not too much that time of year. I would guess that two cabins would be about the same price as two rooms at POR with a LOT more room, your own full kitchen, bunkbeds, more than one room, etc.

Not saying it's a better choice, but different and could be better depending on your family.

You could get an extra cabin when the parents are there and split the kids too!!!

 

[Minnie]

We stayed at POFQ during the 1st weekend in December last year. We were able to swim 2 out of 3 days because the temps were warm enough.

We are from a cold climate and the possibility of outdoor swimming in December was to good to pass up.

I definitley wouldn't factor out the pool and POR has a great pool and as a guest there you also have access to POFQ pool which has a great Dragon pool slide.

Hard choice, thankfully you have tons of time to make a decision. Don't forget to check the codes board for ways to get discounts.

 

[Jackie H.]

Doesn't Coronado Springs Resort have suites? I am thinking they do and that resort looks really great. Buzz has a great website about CSR...
CSR

Edited to add: I think the largest moderate resort rooms are at the Carribean Beach Resort....

Have you thought about Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge they are "moderate deluxes" They are less expensive than the other deluxes, but the room are somewhat larger than the moderates...and they have queen beds.

I guess you have already done a lot of planning....and looking at websites and all. But look at it this way: you've still go plently of time to change if you want to do so

Here are a couple of website that really helped me with resort choices:

All Ears Net

And

Our Laughing Place

This last one actually has floor plans for every resort.

I will tell you what I did for our upcoming trip. I printed out a floor plan for each resort I was considering; I listed the pros and cons of each resort; listed the cost...put it all side-by-side and used this to help me make the decision.

We stayed at POR back when it was Dixie Landings. It is a lovely resort, but it was way too large & spread out for my tastes. We are staying at POFQ for our upcoming trip in January. Unlike the other posters, I do think you will be crowded in the rooms. Of course, that may end up not being the deciding factor...it could be that money carries more weight (it does with us this trip....I really wanted to stay at the Beach Club but "it ain't happenin"

 

[MiknMinMouse]

Why don't you post a request on the DVC rent trade board and see what pops up? With that many people and that much time in a room you really can't beat a DVC resort. I've heard good things about renting and trading. You'll get lots of helpful information there. One thing though. You might think you're going to spend a lot of time in the room with napping and such but don't count on it. My kids have been going to Disney forever oldest is 14 and has been going since he was 3, the other two are 7 and 1. I've never gone back to a resort for my kids to nap. When the little ones still napped they were/are in the stroller and typically when they're tired they just fall asleep in the stroller or were really too excited to nap as they got older. If you do the adjoining room thing, however, you can hang out with the adults in one room after the kids go to bed in the other room. The best advice you've gotten IMHO is rule out the pool when making the decision. If you really want to take time from the parks to swim at that time of year the water parks are a really great option. We usually go in January and the last two years it's been too cold to swim so we don't book around pools more around the total resort.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

I think you have made a great choice. However I really might rethink renting from a DVC owner. I have yet to read about anyone being "ripped off". Not saying that it can't happen but...

 

[wrldpossibility]

Keep the advice coming! One question: if we rent DVC points (very tempting to me), we can't have a package and therefore can't have dining, right? We think we really want dining (I say "think" because since we've never been there, how do we really know, lol?). The reasoning behind the dining plan is that we don't want to worry about every dollar (DH will if he's directly paying for each meal...he'll worry about it), and we want to take advantage of plenty of character meals and fun themed sit-downs. But we are NOT big eaters, so we hope to share some meals and spread out the points a bit.

Anyway, off topic. But I do need to think about the pool thing. The kids are really excited about the slides (I know, not the biggest deal at Disney, but it is to them!). I'm sure if it's open, they'll swim!

Edited to add: we did originally decide to stay at WL (our first choice) in their deluxe room I think it's called, but it really just was too much in the end. We really do save a lot staying in a moderate. It seems to me our only choices are the DVC villas, POR, or FW. Oh, and won't we lose our deposit if we change out of a package to DVC?

 

[MiknMinMouse]

Keep the advice coming! One question: if we rent DVC points (very tempting to me), we can't have a package and therefore can't have dining, right? We think we really want dining (I say "think" because since we've never been there, how do we really know, lol?). The reasoning behind the dining plan is that we don't want to worry about every dollar (DH will if he's directly paying for each meal...he'll worry about it), and we want to take advantage of plenty of character meals and fun themed sit-downs. But we are NOT big eaters, so we hope to share some meals and spread out the points a bit.

Anyway, off topic. But I do need to think about the pool thing. The kids are really excited about the slides (I know, not the biggest deal at Disney, but it is to them!). I'm sure if it's open, they'll swim!

Amy

True you can't have the package but we've never used it and have been fine with dining. Some people love it some think it's not worth the money. As for the pool thing, there are some great slides at the waterparks. Also, the DVC pools are pretty nice

 

[irish dancer]

We are a family of 5 (me, dh, dd8, ds5, dd4) and stayed at POR AB this past August for 11 days. I was concerned about the space issue too as we had for the past three yrs been BC DVC and were accostomed to a 1 BR. To my suprise we didn't really miss the space too much, did miss the the washer & dryer though. One thing, we did take a daily break and we needed the rest as much as the kids so that wasn't an issue of them sleeping and us not. We also found that at night the kids were generally so beat that they'd konk out even with the TV still on.

We've been to WDW the first week of Dec four of the past five years and we've almost always been able to swim and our kids loved both FQ and POR pools. Some of the time it was too cool in the evening but you could almost always squeeze in a swim in the middle of the day. We're from Chicago though so what might be considered cool to Floridans was perfect for us.

I too wish the FW cabins had a better pool as that seems to offer the best of all worlds at a great price. At the very least I wish they'd let you pool hop to WL.

If you decide that you realy want the dining plan then renting DVC will be out. If you decide that suite type space is higher on your wants list than a pool with slide then FW will win out. We were very happy with POR and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any family of 5.

 

[MomofKatie]

You said you thought you might want to do the Dining plan, but you aren't big eaters and you want to do the trip on a budget.

We did the Dining plan in October (during the Free Dining promotion), and it was good- but, if you aren't big eaters, and you will be sharing meals. you might be able to eat cheaper without the plan. There is a lot of food, and we wasted some- we couldn't use up all of our credits, either. If you normally don't do appys and desserts at every meal, you will probably do better off the plan.

I think renting points at a DVC resort may be the way to go. You will spend so much less $$ on the rooms (and have a "Deluxe" resort at the price of a Mod, AND have more room) and have a kitchen where you can cook breakfast and a few lunches, that you will be able to budget more $$ for eating at Disney restaurants.

The themed pools at the DVC resorts are wonderful- some of the best on property, IMO. SSR is great, BCV is the best on property, and the others are really great, too.

Look into renting points- it really is a great way to go! We are renting for our next trip- hopefully at BCV.

 

[wrldpossibility]

so I'd lose that if I switched from MYW package to DVC right? My Dreams agent can't do the DVC thing for me, correct? Thanks!

 

[LiteBrite]

Just to clarify - when you talk about the possibility of the FW cabins, are you talking one cabin or two? If you're talking 2 cabins, that's going to be much more expensive than 2 rooms at POR, and if you're only talking one cabin, then I think you're going to feel too crowded in there. Plus, you'd only have one bathroom for all 7 of you!

Don't get me wrong - I love Fort Wilderness a lot, having camped there in our trailer many times over the years. It's a wonderful atmosphere and staying at the Fort is a unique experience at WDW. I just don't think it's the best best for your group.

I think you'll actually really like POR. It's a gorgeous resort with tons of atmosphere. The landscaping is lush and beautiful, the pools are a lot of fun (and the weather may or may not cooperate for swimming in December), the food court is good, Boatwright's is good, and Bob Jackson (the lounge entertainer) is great. If you have two rooms there you should be in good shape for space and bathrooms.