Hypothetically speaking....

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Well, I think Disney is leaving some money on the table here, so there is motivation. Lots of bigger families stay offsite because it's easier to get accomodations for families of 5 or 6 (or more!) people.
Sue in Texas
...party of 5...

I have to disagree. They are not leaving any money on the table. The rooms are consistently booked as they are now. What is the motivation to change them?

So WDW could leave the rooms as is and have them stay booked like they are now, or they could spend money to convert them to larger accomodations so they could stay booked. Where is the motivation?

Believe me, if WDW could make a larger profit and would benefit, they would be changing those rooms.


We travel with my parents and sometimes my sister and we always ask for connecting rooms. Only once have we not had connecting rooms and that was because we wanted to move from our first set of rooms because they were too far away. We went back to the front desk and they offered us a better location without connecting rooms and we took it.

I think connecting rooms are granted often. You need to make sure that the connecting request is noted on your reservation when you make it. This is another good reason to make reservations yourself, so you can make sure that your requests are on your reserv.

 

[DizzyFORDisney]

Which resorts hold 6 in a standard room? I thought the deluxes only accomodate 5 plus a baby in a crib?

What about this easy fix - changeout the pull-out-single-sized-bed with a FULL-sized-pull-out in the deluxes. At least that would allow 6 plus a baby.

We just stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos last weekend and they had this arrangement -all I kept thinking was why Disney doesn't do this.....

I would gladly pay deluxe room rates if we could do it with only ONE room!

Just my 2 pennies!

 

[disnut8]

There are a lot of people who go to Disney World who don't travel with large families. There are plenty of singles, couples without children, empty nesters and just plain "we have no kids this trip!".

I am an empty nester but have taken the entire family to Disney World several times. When I take the entire family, we do appreciate the choices we have (Boardwalk one bedroom unit, Fort Wilderness Cabins and two connecting rooms at All Stars and next time, Pop Century).

However, when it's just my husband and me, I don't want to take this huge suite or pay extra money when all I want is a plain and simple "hotel" room.

Disney World's guests aren't just families. I think there are enough choices out there to make everyone content.

The family suites are already at All Stars and now it's rumored to be coming to Pop Century. Where are the TANKS (two adults, no kids) going to go if we want a value? Off site and Disney knows that.

 

[minnie61650]

Which resorts hold 6 in a standard room? I thought the deluxes only accomodate 5 plus a baby in a crib?

You are correct the standard deluxe rooms sleep 5 plus a child under 3.

I feel your pain. As a mother of 4 (All grown now. My oldest is in her 30's and my youngest is 22) I often wished Disney had more options for larger families.
When the children were younger and we would go to Disney they did not have DVC or the family suites. In fact Disney did not have a Moderate until CBR opened in the late 1980's so if we wanted to stay onsite we either rented 2 rooms at a deluxe or stayed in the cabins.

I wrote to Disney many times over the years ( at least 5 times a year for more than 15 years) asking for more options for families so when I heard they were building the New Family Suites at All Star Music it just made me so happy!
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I just wanted to add that families have a lot more options now than when WDW first opened.

Since WDW opened they added mods in the late 1980's, with POR AB section for 5 in 1992 ,DVC in 1991, the Values in the mid 90's, and the Family Suites in 2006.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[maxiesmom]

I can't help but be a little skeptical when I see posts about just wanting more options for larger families. I can't help but think what they really mean is "I want better options for my larger family, but I want it to cost less."

Disney has made strides in accomodation larger families, but please remember that larger families are still not the majority of travelers. They can't go crazy and start just converting everything over to suites. It is a lot easier to sell 2 connecting rooms to a larger family than it is to sell a suite to a smaller family, who doesn't need that much space. And just wants a place to rest their heads.

But I do get where you all are coming from. I travel a LOT with my sis and her family, and then we make a group of 6. So it does take some planning when we decide to go to Disney. So if I am dreaming of a resort that would hold all of us---

Disney would find some unused land and make a new resort. They would hook it up to the monorail, of course. Each suite would have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with a full kitchen. Plus washer and dryer. There would be an awesome pool area, and a huge kids club, where you could drop the kids off and get a buzzer(with reception at all of the parks).

Maybe I am just not creative, but you know, most of this already exists. It just costs a bit more than most of us would like to pay. I'm serious. The Yacht&Beach Club has the room set up I described, plus the pool. Unfortunatley Disney has decided that such a set-up comes with a high price tag. Which just proves the point that Disney already has something for every price range, but you can't expect them to give larger families deluxe accomodations for a discount, just to be nice.

 

[Haley]

Disney does do Grand Gatherings- if you have 8 or more people traveling together then you get priority to have connecting rooms.

 

[Lisa P.]

One option that we use, besides sometimes staying in offsite timeshares in larger 2BR/2bath and 3BR/3bath condos while visiting other non-Disney attractions...

We trade our timeshares from outside FL into DVC timeshare units, sometimes 2BRs, onsite. Compared with paying Disney rates for an onsite Family Suite ($205-$310/nt non-holiday w/taxes = $1,435-$2,170/wk), this pays for itself in just two trips or less! It has its negatives:

• 2BRs are generally not available during Christmas/NY/Easter/July 4th weeks.
• 2BRs are usually limited to OKW or SSR, smaller condos at other DVC resorts.
• Villas at AKL is not available yet.
• Requires planning at least 5-6 months ahead, ideally 11 months ahead.
• No daily housekeeping service but you do have an inroom washer/dryer and midweek towel exchange.
• Must select the owned trade week carefully - a tried and true week with sufficient trade power to do the job.

Such weeks may be found for ~$1,200-$2,000 purchase, plus closing/transfer. Adding the annual dues of $450-$590, an II "AC" bonus week in subsequent years which may be traded for a 2nd vacation week for $299, II membership $80, II exchange fee $139 and Disney $95 Resort Fee for II exchangers, the first year's first week of DVC vacation lodging may cost ~$2,000 and subsequent years' two weeks (including a bonus week from II for $299 more) may average just $485-$555 more apiece. So here's the comparison by cumulative weekly lodging costs:

CRO's Family Suite for a week ----- Timeshare Trade into DVC Week
After 1 trip --- $1,435-$2,170 ----- ~$2,000-$2,500
After 2 trips --- $2,870-$4,340 ----- $2,485-$3,055
After 3 trips --- $4,305-$6,510 ----- $2,970-$3,610
...and so on...

For the right people (who can plan early, who don't need Christmas/Easter/July4th and who want to stay ~1 week at a time), this is a much cheaper and more confortable way to vacation at WDW with a family of 5-8 people. And DVC resorts have much nicer, less crowded pools (than Value hotels) - w/slides and hot tubs, more amenities/activities and a master suite w/jacuzzi, a kitchen for snacks and breakfast, inroom washer/dryer, a real living room and a private balcony/patio. When traveling during busier holiday weeks where a 2BR is not usually available for 2BR II trades, it's still relatively easy to exchange a strong trade week into 2BR and 3BR offsite Marriott, Sheraton and other upscale timeshare resorts for slightly less than the above costs (no added Disney fee). Feel free to email me for suggestions or more details.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Disney would find some unused land and make a new resort. They would hook it up to the monorail, of course. Each suite would have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with a full kitchen. Plus washer and dryer. There would be an awesome pool area, and a huge kids club, where you could drop the kids off and get a buzzer(with reception at all of the parks).....

Sounds just like the AKV (Kidani Village) or any of the DVC resorts. Except they aren't connected to the monorail.