Large Group (7 adults, 5 kids)

[indyjonestx]

My family is starting to look into planning a DW trip for Dec 2014 (I know early, but the large group has me wondering options). Its three families: my sis- (2 adults, 2 children), our parents (2 adults) and my family (3 adults-3 children). We went to DW two years ago with a total of 9 (5 adults, 3 children) and stayed in a two bedroom suite at Saratoga Springs. It was tight, but it worked well. We are looking at what would be the better option of resorts, or if there is a better option than each family getting their own room. Staying all together would be a plus in our books. My husband is retired military, so Shades of Green is also an option. We are looking at something that would be at a moderate level (can't afford the crazy prices at the Deluxe reosrts).
Any suggestions?

 

[CastlesandDreams]

Hi and welcome to the DisBoards!

How about the Family Suites at the new Art of Animation Resort (which is a value resort)? The Family Suites are awesome--- just stayed there in April and we are going to stay in them again next April.

The suites have a bedroom with a queen bedroom. The living room has a sofa bed and this fold-out-bed-over-the-table contraption. Both are quite comfy. There are two bathrooms and a little kitchenette (micro, sink, fridge). Each one of the suites can sleep 6.

There are also standard rooms rooms, but in a different section. If you wanted to get two suites and one standard room, you can request they be "close" (but they would be in different buildings.)

 

[RMAMom]

For a group that large and considering that you all want to stay together I would say Shades of Green. You can stay in the palm suite it has 3 bedrooms a kitchen and living room 2 bathrooms for $375 a night. There are other family suite options there also.

 

[indyjonestx]

Thanks a bunch. I'll look into these. I guess I need to figure out if the dining plan and Magic your Way is going to be that important. I see that SoG does not have those amenities. We have never used SoG, so I'm not sure what to think.

 

[mamathompson]

We did almost your same configuration last year. We had me, dh , and our 4 children. My MIL, my Sister and neice , and my mom step dad and teenage sister. We chose 3 rooms at a mod. We went in September with free dining. We had asked for one set of connecting rooms and then an adjoining. We ended up with just three rooms next to each other but it was perfect. My MIL shared with my sister and niece and my Dd. (We are all one big happy family!) We figured this was our cheapest option including the standard dining plan and we all had a blast. Good luck to you. I was the chief planner which was a hard job with that many. Especially since we are the type to stick together for meals and in the parks.

 

[indyjonestx]

We did almost your same configuration last year. We had me, dh , and our 4 children. My MIL, my Sister and neice , and my mom step dad and teenage sister. We chose 3 rooms at a mod. We went in September with free dining. We had asked for one set of connecting rooms and then an adjoining. We ended up with just three rooms next to each other but it was perfect. My MIL shared with my sister and niece and my Dd. (We are all one big happy family!) We figured this was our cheapest option including the standard dining plan and we all had a blast. Good luck to you. I was the chief planner which was a hard job with that many. Especially since we are the type to stick together for meals and in the parks.

I did just about all the planning on the last trip. That meant coordinating flights from San Antonio and Dallas to meet up at Orlando (got us all there within 20 mins of each other), reserving all of our dinners, setting up the Illuminations dinner, scheduling a session for the kids at the Pirates League, and figuring out what parks we needed to be at each day to be able to make the dinner/pirate league times easier to get to. Worked pretty well except for the nasty stomach bug my sis brought from Dallas. It made its round through each person...I woke up on the last day with it. My poor daughter who had been looking forward to a dinner with the Princesses on our last evening got it right before we were seated for dinner. CM's were very nice and allowed her to get pictures with the princesses before we had to bug out of there. She was throwing up our entire time of trying to make our way out of Epcot.

Anyhoo, Another question if I might: Would it be better to look into renting DVC points? I saw that there may be some larger Villas that potentially could accommodate everyone.

 

[jworkkul]

How about looking into renting points for the DVC and stay in a 3 bedroom suite. My family did that in 2007 and there were 12 of us and it didn't seem crowded. The master bedroom has a king bed and full bath. There is a full bath off the living room. There is a full kitchen with everything (but food) in it. The two bedrooms have double (or queen, don't quite remember) beds and each have their own bathrooms. The sofa downstairs makes a queen bed and the chair makes a twin bed. I find that Old Key West is the best and cheapest.