Help me sell my family on a FW cabin!

[wrldpossibility]

Hi,
We are booked for 2 rooms at POR for a family of 7 (3 kids, 2 parents, 2 grandparents) for next Dec. 10-20th (not this coming Dec). One of the kids will be 2, so not counted toward room occupancy. We picked POR for the pool and the theming, but now I really, really think we'd be more comfortable with the extra room in a cabin. Our kids are young, and we'd like to have the room to spread out when they go to sleep or nap. Plus we'd love the fridge.

However, here are their arguments (so you all can help me answer them!):

My parents don't want to be in an "RV park" when they visit WDW (it's all of our first ever trip). I try to explain that it looks very nice.

Everyone likes the theming at POR better simply because we are from the mountains, and already vacation at real mountain cabins, so it's not a novelty.

The kids really love the pics of the pools at POR and FQ. They want the slides. I know it'll be Dec, but they'll still swim.

I know they'll love the space of the cabin, the peacefulness, and it seems it's closer to MK than POR. They will love the campfire and riding bikes. They will love the bunkbeds. We will save about $300, so that's not the most important consideration. We will use the kitchen for breakfasts and storing/eating leftovers. Storing waters, etc. No real cooking, I don't think.

Here's my worry: will the transportation be bad in that time period? It's supposed to be one of the least crowded times...but we WON'T have our own car. Will it be terrible getting around on Disney transportation? That's important to us.

Thoughts? Should we stay at POR?

 

[sandraB]

I have never stayed at POR, but I have stayed in a cabin at FW. You say you have two rooms at POR, which would give you an extra room also.

The cabins are great, but I would feel a bit crowed with 7. we only had our two boys, who were 4 and 1 at the time, and it was perfect.

The bedroom is rather small, with little room for a pack n play. You can fit one, but with all of you in there, it could be small.

THey kitchen was great, and so was the living area.

I really liked the resort, with the beach, and the playground, and campfire, etc.......

However, for transportation, we almost allways used our own. To get to MK was fun on the boat, but you had to take a bus to the boat, b/c the cabins can be far away.


I loved it there, but I think I would find it small for a family of 7. I think the pools are much nicer at POR also. The pools at FW are kinda boring.


Happy Planning! Sandi

 

[John VN]

Have been in the cabin and for four adults and 3 children I would think the cabin might be a little tight.

John

 

[princessariel]

We have stayed at both POFQ and FW cabins.

One thing to consider at FW is one bathroom for all of you. We had 4 adults, a 6 yo and a 1 yo. That was a mighty busy bathroom. At PO you would have 2 bathrooms.

The pools at FW are nice but nothing special and with kids PO's pool is special.

The food court at POFQ was just a short walk. Where at FW there is no food court but Trail's End restaurant. You have to catch a bus to it and back again.

We had our car so we didn't use Disney transportation to any park except MK. We took the bus to the dock, boat to MK. If we were to use Disney transportation, we would have to take a bus to the outpost, then wait for another bus to our destination. And if that destination was another resort for a meal, say AKL.....you have to go to either a park or DTD to get a bus to that resort. (that would happen at either resort though. We really like having our car there to use)

On the other hand, at FW cabin having a kitchen is great! We stayed at POFQ this past May and since it's been rentovated they put small refridgerators in all the rooms.

Don't get me wrong, I love the cabins at FW. It's my first choice of where to stay. But I will say if you choose PO , the FQ is smaller and while we were there the bus stopped there before it stopped at Riverside.
Where ever you decide to stay, Have a magical vacation!

 

[FWDisFan]

We haven't stayed at POR but have stayed at other resorts as well as the cabins. As we started discussing Disney 06 the kids immediately stated they wanted to stay at the cabins again (we have since decided to do the 50th anniv at DL...first DL visit). We LOVED the cabins, the absolute peacefulness, so much to do, the boat launch....HOWEVER saying all that my impression of the campground was that it is NOT be a great place for a first ever visit to Disney. You seem as though you are miles from Disney without a lot of Disney (think Mickey) here! I even made that comment to my husband while we there.

There is a LOT to do at the campgrounds which is definitely a plus. BUT had we gone in a hotter time of year my kids DEFINITELY would have been disappointed in the pool after experiencing other Disney themed pools. We went in December and opted not to swim.

While my kids loved the bunk beds I can tell you my daugther thought the Murphy bed was cooler and opted to sleep out there (it was just the 4 of us). Although you COULD sleep that many family members it would be TIGHT! We felt it was perfect for our family of 4. The kitchen was great for my milk-aholic son and evening popcorn but other than that we didn't cook there!

If they had 2 bedroom/2 bath cabins then I would encourage that for a second stay.....I still am not convinced the cabins would be great for a first time ever stay -- but in the same breath I can tell you I don't think Disney has a bad hotel. We have loved every Disney vacation regardless of where we have stayed!

 

[PaulD]

You know, I love the cabins and I usually encourage people to stay in them - we stayed there for our first ever trip and were very impressed, so much so that we stayed in them our second trip with the almost the exact same family size/configuration as you. Having said that, I really think in the long run you would probably be happier with the two room scenario. It was just way too tight for the six of us, the cabins are not all that "roomy" for that many people. The only real benefit I can see is the kitchen, we love having a full kitchen.

If a kitchen and space/staying together is really important to you then you might consider renting points from a DVC member, there are 1 and 2 bedroom villas that are very spacious (especially at OKW, a 1BR is around 1000 sq ft.) There are three DVC boards here on DISboards where you can ask some questions about that if you think you might be interested. Allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com talk a little about it too. You definitely have enough time to research/rent a villa somewhere. You can also rent the villas direct from Disney, but they are mega $$$ - really outrageous prices, you can get them much cheaper through a member.

Have fun, whatever you decide!

Ack, I just realized I'm under my husband's login - this is mamatojon! LOL

Christine

 

[mamatojon]

okay, I'm just subscribing to this thread under my own name now so I can follow it.

 

[CruellaDuVille]

After all that you've said, I'd recommend POR for your first stay. Seriously. It's a nice place and it sounds like it would suit your needs better than FW.

 

[FreeTime]

We have stayed in the cabins once, and loved it. However, there were 3 adults and 2 toddlers and we were crowded. POR does have a better pool, however, I wouldn't book because of the pool as you may not do much swimming. You might want to try and rent a DVC villa. But you would need to start working on that now as reservations will need to be made in January.

 

[travelitis]

I vote POR over FW, too. Sorry! There's more Disney magic at POR, and I'll never endorse 1 bathroom for all those people. My family of 5 struggles to get ready if we're sharing just 1.

 

[jamzots]

For your first trip, I say to stay at POR. You can go camping anytime. To me when I am at Disney, I like being a little pampered and lazy. You really don't want to have to worry about fixing meals on your first trip. I think POR has some kind of room service, and you can always rent a fridge for your rooms. Plus you'll have daily "mousekeeping". Not sure if you will have that at the cabins. You can always visit FW and go to the campfire one night and check out the other resort activities, you don't have to be staying there to do that. Also, I don't know how cold it will be in December, but you don't want to be stuck in a overcrowded cabin because it is too cold outside to enjoy the activities. You will be spending alot of time at the parks anyway. Good Luck and Have Fun

 

[cabowser]

I just love the cabins at FT. Wilderness, but I would say that with all of those members of the family it would be too crowded. I do believe that it would exceed the number of guests that you would be allowed to book into one cabin. I think that for your family without the grandparents along it would be great, but adding another adult couple would be too much.

Jan

 

[DURANFAN2]

Unless you guys are super close and can handle major togetherness it might be better to get 2 rooms. The cabins are wonderful for family if you really get along but that bathroom issue may be the biggest thing. Another thing is the lack of privacy the people who use the murphy bed in the living room would have.
As far as this being an RV park I would say there is no other park like it. The cabins are situated in an area that was specially constructed for them. They even have a pool located down in the cabin area. You see no campers ect from the cabin loops.
In the other parts of the campground its common to find the most luxurious multimillion dollar RVs in the country park there with luxury cars in front of them. Many of the campsites costs over $70/80 a nite.
Yes there are tent loops with more affordable pricing and people with just regular grade rv's but I say FW has to be one of the most unique places to 'camp'/rv because of the entire look of the park.
Disney transportation is actually pretty good once you get the hang of it. I know alot of peeps will drive their cars to the parks but hey then they need to calculate the time they spend getting from the lots to the gates and such. Honestly you don't need a car at WDW.

 

[cabowser]

You know, now that you mentioned it, I never saw a tent while I was there. I wondered where the tent campers were. I saw all of the fancy RVs, but no tents at all.

 

[DURANFAN2]

Theres one loop near the 'group' camping area thats really cheap. I think its the most basic sites there are so thats one place tenters usually are. Also there is a loop across from the bridge that leads over to the Meadows pool area which I also consider to be a low rent area. Its crazy, we go golf carting and this loops always seems to be over occupied sites with basic camp gear.