Help me pick a resort, going with a large family group

[TurkA77]

Being the resident Disney-phile in the family, the honor has been bestowed to me to plan most of the familys trip to WDW. Im use to only planning for 2-4 people and as of right now this group is at 13, 10 adults and 3 children. We are traveling around the first week of November.

Throw me some ideas for the best way to do this. Right now we are thinking:

3 suites at ASM ( I have stayed there before and prefer something new)
3 Suites at AoA
3 5 person rooms at POR that adjoin

Im trying to keep the price reasonable for everyone. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Being the resident Disney-phile in the family, the honor has been bestowed to me to plan most of the familys trip to WDW. Im use to only planning for 2-4 people and as of right now this group is at 13, 10 adults and 3 children. We are traveling around the first week of November.

Throw me some ideas for the best way to do this. Right now we are thinking:

3 suites at ASM ( I have stayed there before and prefer something new)
3 Suites at AoA
3 5 person rooms at POR that adjoin

Im trying to keep the price reasonable for everyone. Thanks in advance for the help.

Have you ruled out off property? For a group that size you could really get an amazing deal at a lot of offsite properties. My cousin swears by Sheraton Vistana, and a lot of people on these boards love Bonnet Creek. I am sure the recommendations could go on and on over the Orlando Hotels board. We have never stayed off property because it is actually more expensive that the values for a little family of 3 like mine.

Out of this group I would suggest POR since you have mainly adults in your party. It is so beautiful! But I think getting 3 adjoining rooms would be a stretch. Can each family just get their own room?

 

[TurkA77]

Off property isnt an option. Just a personal preference from most of us going.

The reason I was thinking adjoining rooms is cause its my brother has the 3 kids and his wife. He wanted a suite so he can put them to bed in the bedroom and still hang out in the living room. If we have adjoining rooms, the kids can sleep without being disturbed by the adults hanging out in one of the other rooms. That was my thought, but Im not sure if it would work.

 

[karly05]

Just a note: it sounds like you would want to request connecting rooms (rooms with a door that allows you to go between them without going outside). Adjoining just means the rooms are next to/near each other.

 

[Jaxbelle]

We stayed recently at POR and booked 4 rooms, and we requested connecting rooms and received them. We had a party of 16 and found this situation worked well for us, plenty of chances to mingle with the other adults while children were sleeping. It seemed we had an entire section of the upstairs Alligator Bayou building to ourselves because our rooms were all side by side (and with doors connecting 2 & 2)! And the resort itself is beautiful and relaxing. Although I don't have any experience in the suites you mentioned, just wanted to give my review and say how happy we were with our decision.

 

[Belle83]

Being the resident Disney-phile in the family, the honor has been bestowed to me to plan most of the familys trip to WDW. Im use to only planning for 2-4 people and as of right now this group is at 13, 10 adults and 3 children. We are traveling around the first week of November.

Throw me some ideas for the best way to do this. Right now we are thinking:

3 suites at ASM ( I have stayed there before and prefer something new)
3 Suites at AoA
3 5 person rooms at POR that adjoin

Im trying to keep the price reasonable for everyone. Thanks in advance for the help.

How many families are going? 3 rooms at POR might hold everyone but that seems crowded, would one of the kids stay in each room on the fold down bed? I would personally go for 4-5 regular rooms at a value like Pop Century, trying to get as many connecting as possible.

 

[spiceycat]

have you consider a 2-bedroom - they can sleep 9 - so you would need 2 of them

of course you could get your brother a 1-bedroom sleeps 5 - and everyone else a studio -- sleeps 4.

this is OKW, AKV and BLT

one good thing about DVC is you don't have to pay extra for more than 2 adults in a room - like you do with a regular resort.

plus since you will have at least one kitchen - several kitchenette - you can eat some meals in your room/villa.

would go with OKW if you are budget minded.
when are you going?

the FW cabins sleep 6 - like the AOA &ASMu suites. so just 2 won't work for you.

a studio at OKW would run you (least) $100 to $130 (broker) (higher) $140 TO $182 - so need to know when you are going - this is sun thru fri (leaving on fri)

a 1-bedroom at OKW $210 TO $273 - higher $300 to $390

2-bedroom at okw $290 to $377 higher $400 to $520

assuming you find $10 a point for the lower - for broker assuming he is charging $13 (might be more now) for higher

the least and higher are based on season

xmas to NY is not included (assuming you want a more reasonable time to go)
these are also 2013

 

[momof2minnies]

The grand villas at OKW sleep 12- are any under 3?

Linda

 

[TurkA77]

Thank you very much for the suggestions.

Ive never used a broker before, so I may need more of a explanation on that.

The trip will be Nov. 5th-Nov. 12th a Tuesday-Tuesday.

All 3 kids will be sleeping in the same room.

 

[Deb & Bill]

have you consider a 2-bedroom - they can sleep 9 - so you would need 2 of them

of course you could get your brother a 1-bedroom sleeps 5 - and everyone else a studio -- sleeps 4.

this is OKW, AKV and BLT

one good thing about DVC is you don't have to pay extra for more than 2 adults in a room - like you do with a regular resort.

plus since you will have at least one kitchen - several kitchenette - you can eat some meals in your room/villa.

would go with OKW if you are budget minded.
when are you going?

the FW cabins sleep 6 - like the AOA &ASMu suites. so just 2 won't work for you.

a studio at OKW would run you (least) $100 to $130 (broker) (higher) $140 TO $182 - so need to know when you are going - this is sun thru fri (leaving on fri)

a 1-bedroom at OKW $210 TO $273 - higher $300 to $390

2-bedroom at okw $290 to $377 higher $400 to $520

assuming you find $10 a point for the lower - for broker assuming he is charging $13 (might be more now) for higher

the least and higher are based on season

xmas to NY is not included (assuming you want a more reasonable time to go)
these are also 2013

The grand villas at OKW sleep 12- are any under 3?

Linda

Thank you very much for the suggestions.

Ive never used a broker before, so I may need more of a explanation on that.

The trip will be Nov. 5th-Nov. 12th a Tuesday-Tuesday.

All 3 kids will be sleeping in the same room.

If you are talking about Nov 2013, you won't get a grand villa anywhere because you are past the seven month time frame. And that time is the end of Food and Wine, Jersey Week and F&W Half Marathon. So the odds of even getting anything at a DVC resort for points is a long shot. I doubt you will find anything available for points. Especially the number of villas you need.

 

[Sue M]

I guess it would depend in what room occ. would be for each room as to where I would stay. In the suites there is only 1 regular king bed, the rest of the beds are pull outs/fold downs, etc. if there are more then the 2 adults in a value resort suite, I don't think the one(s) having the pull out in living room would be too happy.
Without knowing your room dynamics, I'd go for separate rooms in POR.
If you decide to look into DVC, many are happy going thru David's DVC. He is reputable.

 

[gilesmt]

If the brother wants himself and kids, but them in another room so he can still sit up, to me this sounds like he is willing to give up his king size or queen size bed and sleep on a pull out, o I have that right. If not, than an option not mentioned is fort wilderness cabins. I never been but they sleep 6. In the bedroom where you brother can put his kids, is bunk beds and a double, so the kids can be asleep and he can be in the living area. I think there is a Murphy bed in living area. Nice thing about that would be the separateness, but also you get a stove and refrig, and for the few dollars more you would pay over POR, could be saved by cooking a meal or two. Also, with that large a group you have the pouch to sit on and have a cook out, which would be great for our family problem, I am not sure about getting two close together, and I don't know if you would need three or if you could get just two, but in the end I don't think it is any more expensive then the AoA suites.

 

[TurkA77]

If the brother wants himself and kids, but them in another room so he can still sit up, to me this sounds like he is willing to give up his king size or queen size bed and sleep on a pull out, o I have that right. If not, than an option not mentioned is fort wilderness cabins. I never been but they sleep 6. In the bedroom where you brother can put his kids, is bunk beds and a double, so the kids can be asleep and he can be in the living area. I think there is a Murphy bed in living area. Nice thing about that would be the separateness, but also you get a stove and refrig, and for the few dollars more you would pay over POR, could be saved by cooking a meal or two. Also, with that large a group you have the pouch to sit on and have a cook out, which would be great for our family problem, I am not sure about getting two close together, and I don't know if you would need three or if you could get just two, but in the end I don't think it is any more expensive then the AoA suites.

This was one of my first thoughts, but since its 13 of us, I think 2 cabins would be cramped and 3 would be a waste of money.

I think im gonna call this week about the DVC points. Even if its too late for this trip it sounds like its worth looking into for future trips. I honestly know nothing about it, so the info Id get is probably going to be worth it.

 

[Sue M]

This was one of my first thoughts, but since its 13 of us, I think 2 cabins would be cramped and 3 would be a waste of money.

I think im gonna call this week about the DVC points. Even if its too late for this trip it sounds like its worth looking into for future trips. I honestly know nothing about it, so the info Id get is probably going to be worth it.

Check out David's Disney Vacstion Club rentals. He has a points calculator on his web site that will give you a good idea of costs.

 

[TurkA77]

So I got the family to decide on Port Orleans. The group could fluctuate in size by a couple people and I think it would be easier to book an extra room or dump a room if we are at PO. With the suites, the calculating would be a lot harder.

Now we have to figure out if we want POR or POFQ? One of the big determining factors is distance to walking from room to food court. I would think since POFQ is smaller, that would be the best choice. If anyone can give me the differences in the 2 hotels, or point me to a site that lists them, that would be awesome.

Last question, I got a pin code for free dining in November. Unfortunately we will be traveling Nov 5th to Nov 11th. The pin code is for 10/18-10/31 and 11/11-11/23. Can we still get free dining because the last day we are there is the first day of the offer, or are we SOL.

Thanks again for the help, you guys here make planning so much easier.

 

[boundfordisney]

no you wont be able to use the free dining , have fun in the planning!

 

[Missyrose]

So I got the family to decide on Port Orleans. The group could fluctuate in size by a couple people and I think it would be easier to book an extra room or dump a room if we are at PO. With the suites, the calculating would be a lot harder.

Now we have to figure out if we want POR or POFQ? One of the big determining factors is distance to walking from room to food court. I would think since POFQ is smaller, that would be the best choice. If anyone can give me the differences in the 2 hotels, or point me to a site that lists them, that would be awesome.

Last question, I got a pin code for free dining in November. Unfortunately we will be traveling Nov 5th to Nov 11th. The pin code is for 10/18-10/31 and 11/11-11/23. Can we still get free dining because the last day we are there is the first day of the offer, or are we SOL.

Thanks again for the help, you guys here make planning so much easier.

Your check-in day has to be covered under free dining to be able to use that pin.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I think you made a good choice deciding to do several rooms at PO. People on these boards often suggest renting points for larger groups, but we often travel with groups of family or friends and I can't tell you how many times someone(s) have had to drop out of the trip for very good reasons, and it is so easy to cancel out a room, but not so if you have rented points.

 

[TurkA77]

Moved our trip up one week in order to get free dining. Now we will be there for Halloween, get free dining and flights were $100 cheaper per person. Not to mention no Jersey Week (no offense ). Had to book 4 rooms in the end and magically my brothers name had a pin attached to it, so we got free dining on all 4 rooms . That was way more stressful than I thought it would be. At least now we can do the fun stuff like picking what parks and meals we want to do on what days. Thanks for the help again.