HELP! Where do I begin?

[damgi]

I would like to start planning a trip to WDW for my brother's family. I am very fortunate that with time to save $, I can afford to bring his whole crew (he, his DW, 2DS and 2DD) plus myself, DH, and Dsis.

I have no idea where to begin! I would love to stay on-site, but not sure which hotels can accomodate a family of 6. My DH and I would share a room with Dsis. I've been to the World 5 times, but never with that many kids!

I know there is tons of info here on the boards, but how do I approach this rationally????

Number 1 Question: Is June/July a horrible time to go? I am thinking Sat - following Sunday giving us 9 days. Has anyone attempted this time of the year?

 

[akrake]

the resort boards...you may have better luck there....if you want to stay onsite or off...first decided that then take it from there....how many days, fly or drive....you may want to rent a house in kissimee. lots of questions....and various answers...good luck.
amie

 

[stacy6552]

Personally, I think summer is a great time to go. Everything is open late, so you have plenty of time to take a break and decompress in the afternoon, if needed.

You should get a 2 bdrm villa. Your brother and his fam can stay in the second bedroom with two queen beds. You can stay in the master and your sis can have a bit of privacy on the pullout in the living room. There're two baths and a full kitchen so you should have plenty of room.

Then I would ask you whats important in a hotel. Want to stay in the middle of the action 24/7? I'd stay at BCV or BWV. Want peace and quiet then OKW or WLV are the better way to go. Want the most space.? OKW no question. Want brand spanking new? SSR is wonderful. Any of them would be great.

 

[dcmbshafe]

I believe there are two things you need to start with:

1. What is your overall budget?
2. Where do you want to stay?

All of the decisions you have to make right now flow from these two questions. I would also strongly recommend you invest a few $ in the Unofficial Guide, which can really help you out with both of these questions, particularly with helping you set up a realistic budget.

You'll get a lot of opinions here regarding question #2. A lot of people wouldn't stay anywhere other than on-site. For them, the trip would lose a lot of its magic otherwise. We have done it both ways and we personally didn't find the benefits associated with staying on-site worth the additional expense. We like to stay in a condo. with a full kitchen, and I would recommend that this is what you should be looking at for your group. We eat practically every breakfast in our room (which saves money at the margin and is a lot quicker) along with other meals, and there is lots of sleeping space. To give you a quick example on cost:

October 2003 - we stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort, which is very close to WDW (10-15 minutes from the time we left our room to the time we were parked at one of the 4 theme parks). We were in a 2BR, 2BA condo. for 7 nights and we rented this week from someone who owns a timeshare week there for $825.

May 2004 - we stayed at the BoardWalk Villas in a 2BR, 2BA condo. for 5 nights and we rented from someone who owns Disney Vacation Club "points". We did Sunday-Thursday nights because these require less points than Friday and Saturday. Although most people will tell you that you can rent points for $10 per point, we ended up paying a little more to stay at BWV because it is harder to get in to. All-in, we payed $1,625 for the 5 nights. Had we opted to stay 2 more nights, I believe it would have been at least $600 more.

Now, you can certainly stay on-site for less than this, but I'm trying to give you an "apples-to-apples" comparison of rooms. You could probably get everyone into a regular room at one of the value resorts and you'll probably end up paying less than we did at the Vistana. The argument here is that you're not in the room that often anyway. Again, this is a matter of personal taste, we are just more comfortable in a condo. with a kitchen.

Yes, there are some additional benefits associated with staying on-site - early entry, disney transportation, and other perks. You have to determine how valuable these things are to you. For us, it simply isn't worth 3X the room expense.

I love to think about stuff like this, so if you'd like to chat more, send me a message.

 

[hig4s]

not sure if your budget can afford it, but Old Key West has studios, one, two and three bed rooms..

A two bed room has a queen bed in the master bedroom, two full size beds in the the second bed room, and a fold out double sofa in the living room.. Along with a full kitchen, washer and dryer in the room. And they have BBQ grills by the pools.

It is away from all the hustle and bustle which is great for the out of park days,, has buses to everywhere and a boat shuttle to Downtown Disney, and is close enough to the Disney shopping center, if you don't feel like waiting, to drive without putting up with much traffic.

June and July are quite crowded but things are open late..

 

[BevS97]

no single room will take a family of six, so you are looking at a DVC property, 3 rooms (2 for the family + 1 for yourself), wilderness cabins (would need 2 for the entire party) or offsite.

Realistically I think offsite is going to be the best option unless budget is not an issue at all.

Actually, I don't think a 2 bed DVC property would be big enough for 9 of you, I think you would need a 3 bed as 2 bed units only sleep 8 unless one of the kids is under 3

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Go to your local bookstore and buy The Passporter guide to WDW. It's a great tool for the beginning stages of planning a trip and it's also great to take along.