Help - where should our family stay?

[rachelfran]

we are going the end of august... august 23 - still undetermined is how long we will stay...we are a family of four - our kids are 12 & 3, when we go... we are joining my brother, his wife and their kids who are 8 and 10 yrs... finally - we may be joined by another brother & his wife (no kids) ... It is not clear whether we will be staying together or will go our seperate ways for accommodation purposes...

anyway - i was looking at the RPH deal on mousesavers but have read that it's not the best solution with small kids.. (my 3 yr old and there is no kiddie pool there)....

The All Star resorts are coming up over $120 per night, at the moment....

Looking for knowledgable advice on what are the best options at a reasonable price - with good transportation as we'd rather dump the rental car that we will be driving in from a wedding in west palm beach, before Disney...

thanks!

 

[disneymama73]

One thing you may want to consider is visiting the Rent/Trade board on this site and rent DVC points from a member. You could get a Grand Villa which sleeps up to 12, if you decide to stay together. Here is a list of amenities at OKW in a Grand Villa, for example...

Three-Bedroom Grand Villas First Floor
Accommodates 12 adults
Master suite with king-size bed, color television, and private bath with a whirlpool tub.
Fully equipped eat-in kitchen
Full-size washer and dryer.
32" television with a VCR in living room
Queen-size sleeper sofa in living room
Cathedral ceiling in living room
Powder room
Private porch with ceiling fan.

Second Floor
One bedroom with two queen-size beds, additional bedroom with two double-size beds.
Ceiling fans, private bath, and color television in each bedroom.
Landing open to living room below.

Points are usually rented at approx. $10/pt. You could even rent points for a studio for your family alone, and you could save a lot of money. I just rented a bunch of points out, and for instance, one person rented 70 pts from me for a 5-night stay. So they are paying only $150/night to stay at VWL! That is a huge savings.

Just something to consider since the prices of the All-Stars appear to be going up...

 

[disneyjunkie]

Would it be possible to put the trip off until the 29 of August? Value season starts then, Pop Century and the All Starts will only be $77+ tax per night.

 

[rachelfran]

Originally posted by disneyjunkie
Would it be possible to put the trip off until the 29 of August? Value season starts then, Pop Century and the All Starts will only be $77+ tax per night.

i wish i could but we're going to a wedding on 8/21 in west palm beach - i live in nyc so couldn't go home and go back...

 

[HappyLawyer]

have u considered staying off property

 

[rachelfran]

Originally posted by HappyLawyer
have u considered staying off property

definitely -
considering all options now -
including home rentals and off property resorts -
just looking for specific suggestions from those more experienced than I

thanks!

 

[disneymama73]

Originally posted by rachelfran
definitely -
considering all options now -
including home rentals and off property resorts -
just looking for specific suggestions from those more experienced than I

thanks!

Look into the Holiday Inn Family Suites. The Kidsuites sleep up to 8 people and are about $69/night, I believe.

We prefer to stay on-property, but that's just us! If you don't mind driving a lot, (we prefer Disney transportation) you may save a lot of money by staying off-site. Another option to consider is the hotels near Downtown Disney.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

If you can swing the rates at the All-stars, that would have some advantaces too. With all stars, each family could have it's own room giving you some time alone, yet if desired, rooms could be near or even joining. With WDW transportation, you could dump the rental car, and yet each family would have the advantage of comming and going to the parks at will. It would allow part of the group to return to the room with the smaller children for a break if needed. There are advantages both ways but we are big belivers in on-site.


Jordan's mom

 

[HappyLawyer]

There are so many places to stay off property, good rates for example the howard johnson enchanted resort is awesome they offer complimentary shuttles to disney, seaworld, and universal, the rooms are nice and spacious they have many activities for children and you can get your passes discout at ticketmania.com
dont get me wrong i love stayong on property but when we are going for long periods of time i stay off to save money, the delux rooms have a fridge and microwave for about 52 bucks a night

http://www.orlandoflus.com/Howard_Johnson_Enchanted_Inn/index.htm#javascript:;

this is the link be careful there are others in the area but they are not very nice

 

[honeymom]

Stay on site. Follow www.mousesavers.com for discounts. There seems to always be a discount for that time of year as the trip gets closer. You can look up historical info on mousesavers.

 

[3boysmommy]

Originally posted by HappyLawyer
There are so many places to stay off property, good rates for example the howard johnson enchanted resort is awesome they offer complimentary shuttles to disney, seaworld, and universal, the rooms are nice and spacious they have many activities for children and you can get your passes discout at ticketmania.com
dont get me wrong i love stayong on property but when we are going for long periods of time i stay off to save money, the delux rooms have a fridge and microwave for about 52 bucks a night

http://www.orlandoflus.com/Howard_Johnson_Enchanted_Inn/index.htm#javascript:;

this is the link be careful there are others in the area but they are not very nice

Have you stayed here?
looks like it might work out better for us than HIFS
we have 4 adults and 3 kiddos, at HIFS we would only have 1 bathroom for 7 people, we could get 2 rooms at HJ for LESS then HIFS.

 

[HappyLawyer]

yes i have stayed there we are actually going on the land sea disney cruise then returning to disney and i'll be staying there again, i would say you can get one room with a fridge and microwave for like 52 bucks then a standard room with out a fridge and microwave for 42 bucks, if you go to hojo.com you can reserve the room and pay when you get there but there and continue to search for other locations if u choose, i like it they have an ice cream party each night for the kids movie night on sat and fri
good luck