Help! - options for a family of 6

[KirbyGald]

While a family of 6 is normal, or maybe even small, for us here in Utah, it is appearantly abnormally large for the designors of DW.

I'm looking for pointers on where to stay, and whether to get two connected rooms, or a villa/suite. We are frugal but I would like to give the family the Disney Experience. Our kids are 11, 15, 15, and 17 ( 2 boys 2 girls)

I estimate that having a kitchen will save me about $200 per DAY in meals, but that also seems to limit choices. Am I overestimating the savings of having a kitchen?

Lastly, is there a better value in rooms in hotels on Disney property that are not Disney owned, and do any of them have kitchens and sleep 6.

Thanks in advance. We look forward to joining the ranks of DW lovers.

 

[storybookmum]

Hi, Kirby, and welcome!

I'm posting from work, and can't access everything I'd like to here, but the first thing that sprang to mind was the Fort Wilderness Cabins. We are a family of 6, but only 5 of us are travelling on this trip (our oldest is in his senior year of high school and not coming along this time), and we had first planned to stay there. They're expensive, but as you say, you save a fortune in meals, and the atmosphere sounds genuinely pleasant (Disney without being overwhelmingly Disney). I like the idea of having a back yard of your own to relax in during the evenings, and you can see a lot of the MK events from the beach. The pool is boring, and there's very little storage room in the cabins, but they have a loyal following; there is a whole board for Camping at Disney, and you'll find a wealth of info there.

You can certainly get adjoining rooms at a value resort, or a moderate, and that can be fairly inexpensive and give you two bathrooms to boot. I am not a huge fan of the All-Stars; I find them exceedingly cramped, loud and the food courts absolutely stink, but it's a fairly affordable way to go.

You didn't mention when you were thinking of coming; bear in mind that discount codes are frequently available, so don't rule out getting adjoining moderate resort. We got POR for five nights in November for $79 a night.

A home away from home resort will save you piles in meals, but try to be realistic about how much cooking you really want to do on your vacation, how much time you have, and how much you're willing to sacrifice from park time to be back cooking. Even if you stay in a regular hotel room, all the moderates and deluxes will have fridges in the very near future, and you can easily do breakfast and picnic lunches to bring in the parks with you (we always do that, and so we usually only have dinners in the parks or resorts). Dinner alone is still expensive with a larger family, of course, but keep in mind that lots of places have HUGE entrees that make it very easy to share (not at the buffets!).

I wish I had everything at my finger tips, or suggestions would abound. Rest assured, though, you're not freaks, you're just a family!!

Cheers,

Kris

 

[kathmzh]

Kris had some great advice. If you need to spread out more and will go offsite, the Vistana resorts, Marriotts and others like Cypress (Pointe?) and Hilton Vacation club have two bedroom condo rentals. Some of these places are gorgeous. The Orlando Hotels Board here has a weath of information on offsite options. Good luck!

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

For a family of 6 I would suggest a DVC resort with a 2BRV. You can rent points from a DVC member to save money off the rack rates. The going rate to rent points is $10/pt. Depending on when you were going and the duration would determine the amount of points you would need. A quick example would be 7 nights in January @ OKW - 2 BRV - 218 points for a total of $2180.00 (no tax on point rentals) where as the rack rates for these same accommodations would be $3824.52 + tax. There is a DVC Rental board here I would suggest visiting to get the finer details but this would be your best all around.

Renting at a DVC resorts would give you the highest quality accommodations inside of WDW. You would have a full kitchen (save lots of money cooking in), living room w/ TV and DVD player, laundry facilities (pack much less and do laundry in your room will save you lots of luggage space and transport time), dinning area and a deck or patio and accommodations that sleep up to 8. The master bedrooms have Jacuzzi tubs, which are great after a long day of walking through out the parks.

I would highly suggest visiting the DVC Rental board if this sounds of interest to you or if you have questions about the DVC in general feel free to PM me.

 

[Kimberle]

Welcome to the DIS!!

Lots of good advice already given!

The cabins would be a great option. They sleep 6 and are private. You'd have a full kitchen plus a gas grill. If you have a rental car, you can park it at your door. (Though you can't drive it around the campground, only to enter and exit.) Don't worry, they come with complete maid service. They'll even clean up your b/fast dishes.

Two rooms at one of the value resorts is another option. You'd have dbl beds, 2 bathrooms and 2 TV's. No cooking, thought. You could keep a cooler in your room with milk & juice for breakfast. You could even keep lunch meats for sandwiches.

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

We, too, are a family of 6, but with smaller children (9, 7, 4, 1). We bought into DVC this year for this very reason. We don't fit into a regular hotel anymore, and the cost of two adjoining hotel rooms was prohibitive for us. A 2 bedroom villa will give you lots of space, and a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, a sitting arean, and quieter accomodations than two rooms at a value resort.

My vote is for renting points.

 

[HopperFan]

Never thought I would stay there but switched to there when I was able to get $136 per night, therefore extended our trip to a week. We saved ALOT of money in food costs. We only ate one meal a day in parks, usually a counter service. On an off day we ate at DTD, Rainforest Cafe. No major cooking, eggs & bacon, ham/turkey/cheese w/rolls salad etc. But it made a difference. Our grill was charcoal but the deck is very large and a nice plus. We were there in December, so the pool and amenities were not something we worried about. If I were going for the whole experience (theme pool etc) I would rather be at a hotel. But it sleeps 6, decorated well, maid service and gave us stretching room....as well as a kitchen.

 

[OhMickey]

We are a family of 6 also. We've stayed at the AS and FW. Some family members prefer the AS and other prefer FW. My kids are 15, 13, 10, 10.

The best part of the AS (for me) is that I can't cook or prepare food. I feel this is a vacation for me too and if we had a kitchen - guess who would be cooking! We usually had cold cereal in our room for breakfast (we purchased milk from the gift shop - not the food court where it is more expensive). My family never leaves the parks until they close - so again, a kitchen was not that big of a deal. The AS hotels have more activity than FW. The pools do not have a slide but are shaped to go along with the various themes of the resorts. We had connecting rooms which gave us 2 bathrooms. This is nice (especially with a 15 year old daughter). The food courts offer a nice relatively inexpensive choice in dining.

When we stayed at the FW cabins our daughter was in a wheelchair (broken ankle) and we had a cabin that could accomodate visitors in wheelchairs. The cabin was decorated beautifully. It really did feel like a log cabin. The kitchen was nicely stocked with pots, dishes and utensils. However, we did not make full use of these (LOL). Again, we usually ate cereal for breakfast. One bonus for us was that at the end of the day, we could have some ice cream in our hotel room. There is only one bathroom which created a little problem for us. Also, some of the cabins seem far away from pools, laundry and the convenience store. The transportation (if you don't have a car) can also be a hassle. You take a bus to the entrance of FW and then another bus from the FW entrance to the parks. The pools are boring - just rectangular pools.

As far as saving $$ on food. Review the menus. My kids and I usually do some sharing of meals (sometimes we buy 4 meals and sometimes we buy 5). Do not over do the buffets. They are fun but very expensive if you are not big and I mean BIG eaters. I think most of the buffets run $25/pp over 11 years old.

So if your family is like mine - Never leaves the parks, Has a teenage daughter who takes a lot of time to primp, can save money on food by sharing...I recommend the AS or POP.