Help me plan my 2013 trip!

[autismgoesdisney]

We are a family of five. In 2013, we have promised the kids to move on from POR, where we stayed twice. We will be visiting the last week of August (as we normally do) so probably will get free dining, which means a kitchen isn't important to us.

Anyway our kids will be 9, 7 and 5. Our kids love swimming so pool is important. We also enjoy a few meals at a counter service for breakfast. We drive so transportation isn't that Important.

Our choices are two rooms at cbr or csr, a cabin at fw, or AoA suite.

Suggestions?

 

[cwt580]

kids your ages might like Fort Wildernesss cabins/campground and surrounding area......campfires at night. hoop-de-doo revue......

Think there is a movie night a campfire area....


my biggest concern would be if you drove to WDW. if car is available i would do it. im not a big fan of 2 seperate rooms with younger ones.

If you want rooms. 2rooms at POP isnt too bad either........

 

[autismgoesdisney]

kids your ages might like Fort Wildernesss cabins/campground and surrounding area......campfires at night. hoop-de-doo revue......

Think there is a movie night a campfire area....


my biggest concern would be if you drove to WDW. if car is available i would do it. im not a big fan of 2 seperate rooms with younger ones.

If you want rooms. 2rooms at POP isnt too bad either........

We did Pop before and sports Allstar so those don't really appeal to us.

We did the movie/camp fire thing when the kids were much younger but it's probably time to do it again since my third wasnt there!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Knowing your history, I know you've wanted to do a deluxe...if you're considering an AoA suite, wouldn't you consider a deluxe too??? They are pretty close in price...but, I think if I had a family of five or more, I'd do AoA. The extra bathroom would be nice!!!

 

[monica9]

I would do AKL if you will have a car. Its one of the cheapest deluxes (may even be cheaper than AOA) and the kids would get a great experience with the animals.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I would love to do deluxe, but I have a new goal of trying a lot of resorts so we decided we shouldn't do deluxe before trying other mods just in case we don't want to go back to mods lmao!!!!!

Also I feel the kids will only like AoA for a short time. As it is, the 8 year old isn't that into it.

Maybe I am figuring it out for myself here lol

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Akl is on my list for sure but we are five which means two rooms

 

[auprincess]

Since you say swimming is important to the kids, and you've been staying at a moderate, will they miss not having a pool at AoA? Just something to think about!

 

[Mousemommy1]

I would love to do deluxe, but I have a new goal of trying a lot of resorts so we decided we shouldn't do deluxe before trying other mods just in case we don't want to go back to mods lmao!!!!!

Also I feel the kids will only like AoA for a short time. As it is, the 8 year old isn't that into it.

Maybe I am figuring it out for myself here lol

Well, we have the same goal ...but staying at CBR made us decide to skip mods (for now) and move on to deluxes! So, I would vote against CBR. It just didn't offer much more than the values, IMHO, and it was incredibly sprawled out. What about POFQ??? I think that's where we'll be staying next year if we don't have a good discount.

 

[MMS1125]

I'd do the Poly personally but since you don't want to go deluxe yet I'd probably do the cabin. It would depend on the discounts and if Free Dining was available. By the time you stay at AoA and upgrade to regular dining if you choose you would have paid for a cabin already probably. We personally like to do 2 rooms but my kids are older than yours and 2 bathrooms really come in handy.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Since you say swimming is important to the kids, and you've been staying at a moderate, will they miss not having a pool at AoA? Just something to think about!

That is a great point!!! I would definitely have to mention that to the kids. They LOVE the slides! My hubby wants to visit AoA during our trip this summer. He thinks that may be enough for the kids. He is done with values I think

 

[spiceycat]

do your kids like camping? if they do then FW would be a choice. It does only have 1-bathroom.

if they don't would go with AoA - the new pool there should really work for your family. It has 2 bathroom in their suites

otherwise might go with OKW 1 or 2 bedroom. your family of 5 would fit in a 1-bedroom but it has only 1 bathroom - the 2-bedroom has 2.

might also try AKV there 1-bedroom has 2 bathrooms

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Well, we have the same goal ...but staying at CBR made us decide to skip mods (for now) and move on to deluxes! So, I would vote against CBR. It just didn't offer much more than the values, IMHO, and it was incredibly sprawled out. What about POFQ??? I think that's where we'll be staying next year if we don't have a good discount.

Really? Have you stayed at POR? Is it like that? I like por but I thought cbr would be better because I Love the islands and thought that would be a better fit for me. Also, I hear great things about cbr pool. Did your kids love it?

I'm so obsessed with hotels. Why?!?!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Really? Have you stayed at POR? Is it like that? I like por but I thought cbr would be better because I Love the islands and thought that would be a better fit for me. Also, I hear great things about cbr pool. Did your kids love it?

I'm so obsessed with hotels. Why?!?!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to use the pool at CBR because we were therein Feb and it wasn't warm enough at night (when we got back to the hotel). It looked really nice though!!!

My understanding is that POR and CBR are about the same size but POR maybe laid out better??? (obviously we have not stayed at POR). CBR was just ok for us...pretty underwhelming. Both DH and I are very active and the distance from our building in the Barbados section to the food court was about a 10 minute walk both ways....not cool if you just want a snack or to fill your mug after a long day at the park with tired kids dragging behind.

I don't know, I guess it's all subjective...there are lots of people who LOVE CBR...we're just not those people.

And I am totally the same way about resorts, though I think I've made the best choice for my family for next month!!!

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Unfortunately, we didn't get to use the pool at CBR because we were therein Feb and it wasn't warm enough at night (when we got back to the hotel). It looked really nice though!!!

My understanding is that POR and CBR are about the same size but POR maybe laid out better??? (obviously we have not stayed at POR). CBR was just ok for us...pretty underwhelming. Both DH and I are very active and the distance from our building in the Barbados section to the food court was about a 10 minute walk both ways....not cool if you just want a snack or to fill your mug after a long day at the park with tired kids dragging behind.

I don't know, I guess it's all subjective...there are lots of people who LOVE CBR...we're just not those people.

And I am totally the same way about resorts, though I think I've made the best choice for my family for next month!!!

Omg I would love to stay at wl! Cl no less! You will be in heaven!!!!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Omg I would love to stay at wl! Cl no less! You will be in heaven!!!!

I hope so!!!! We are super excited!!!

 

[spiceycat]

Really? Have you stayed at POR? Is it like that? I like por but I thought cbr would be better because I Love the islands and thought that would be a better fit for me. Also, I hear great things about cbr pool. Did your kids love it?

I'm so obsessed with hotels. Why?!?!

CBR was the first of the moderates - so the layout for tired people after doing the parks was not well though out.

POR is better. the food court is in the middle of the resort with bridges across the steam for easy access to it.

hey I'm obsessed with WDW hotels too - believe me you are not alone.

then they did CSR and did they go with model that worked - POR - no they went with CBR - although it is easier to get around than CBR. (but who did they use for OKW again CBR - you have got to wonder about the people who made these decisions.)

the food court/ restuarants needs to be in the middle or close to the middle as possible.

but disney then used this to their advantage - PREFERRED rooms..... you can be close to the food court/restuarant if you want to pay extra for it.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

Akl is on my list for sure but we are five which means two rooms

I would look into renting DVC points. A 1br villa at AKV sleeps 5 and by renting points, this may be a solution to make AKV reasonable. Plus the 1 br villas at Kidani have 2 bathrooms.

 

[sharadoc]

My DS has autism and he can't handle the closed-in feeling of a regular room, so we only do suites, villas and the cabin.

The cabin is really great because you are a separate building. DS gets jumpy with too much noise outside the room, or above his head and would constantly asked "what's that?" The cabin takes ALL that away. Plus overall it is SO peaceful there, there's two TVs, and a deck to relax and unwind. You can cook out on the grill too.

The trading post has plenty of supplies. More expensive than a supermarket, but good enough if you're only doing a little in the kitchen. Otherwise, you can get a grocery delivery or go shopping yourself.

There is so much to do at Fort Wilderness too. The Meadows pool is as good as any moderate pool, plus they have a great little kids splash area. If you're in a cabin, there is a quiet pool for a quick swim too. That's where the laundry is.

The boat to MK, or Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge are great. There is no CS breakfast there, but you can hop over to either the Contempo Cafe or Roarin' Fork if you want to. With the kitchen, you can have your own breakfast instead if you don't mind.

 

[artemis908]

I gotta say I love CBR. I think the value is good. The rooms are a good size with two sinks. It's pretty easy to get a room near Old Port Royale if you stay in Aruba or Jamaica you'll have a nice walk across the bridge. I know everyone says they hate it being sprawled out but I like it because it never really feels crowded. The resort is also beautiful with lots of pretty colors, birds, and greenage.