LOOKING FOR ADVICE AND INSIGHT

[Alice's Yaya]

My family (myself, daughter, son in law and granddaughter who will be 5) are looking at the week after Thanksgiving 2018. My plan is to try and rent DVC but I want to put down a deposit on a regular room just in case. My window to do this is July 13th. I have narrowed it down to the following -

Contemporary - standard room. Pros - close to Magic Kingdom, monorail to Epcot. Cons - expensive, room size, no microwave or stove.

Boardwalk Inn - standard room. Pros - close to Epcot, boat to the Studios, decorations at Christmas. Cons - room size , no microwave or stove.

Art of Animation family suite. Pros - larger room, 2 baths, microwave. Cons - bus service. Might consider renting a car.

Ft Wilderness Cabin - Pros - larger room, privacy, full kitchen. Seems closest to being a 1 bedroom villa without worrying about points. Cons - not close to anything. Definitely would rent a car.

Any insight or advice is welcome.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

Ft wilderness cabins. Add rent a golf cart and you are just a boat ride to MK. Also full kitchen means in room breakfasts and full fridge for snacks and drinks. But it also means you would end up on a sofa bed and not a real bed if the other take the bedroom. Its a great place to come back to after long park days.

 

[ljmclin]

In my opinion, you have to decide what is most important to you - location, room size, cost, kitchen...... Once you decide what you want the most, its easier to narrow things down. For my family location and atmosphere are always #1 on our Disney vacation, so we stay at the Polynesian every trip. We have tried other resorts, but always end up back at the Poly because it has everything we want.

 

[ljmclin]

Also, do you have the dining plan? Is a full kitchen for cooking necessary?

 

[Alice's Yaya]

We aren't doing the dining plan. Would like to have a kitchen to do breakfast only. . We always wind up with pop tarts or something similar and would like more of a protein start to our day. I could do eggs, sausage and bacon in a microwave easily. It's not a deal breaker though.

Thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated.

 

[bettybooplove]

My family (myself, daughter, son in law and granddaughter who will be 5) are looking at the week after Thanksgiving 2018. My plan is to try and rent DVC but I want to put down a deposit on a regular room just in case. My window to do this is July 13th. I have narrowed it down to the following -

Contemporary - standard room. Pros - close to Magic Kingdom, monorail to Epcot. Cons - expensive, room size, no microwave or stove.

Boardwalk Inn - standard room. Pros - close to Epcot, boat to the Studios, decorations at Christmas. Cons - room size , no microwave or stove.

Art of Animation family suite. Pros - larger room, 2 baths, microwave. Cons - bus service. Might consider renting a car.

Ft Wilderness Cabin - Pros - larger room, privacy, full kitchen. Seems closest to being a 1 bedroom villa without worrying about points. Cons - not close to anything. Definitely would rent a car.

Any insight or advice is welcome.

Are you planning on cooking? The Cabins don't have ovens but they do have convection microwaves.*

With a 5 year old I would strongly consider the Contemporary. Being able to walk to MK is a bonus.

*I see you've responded about the oven.

 

[DaisyJ]

Do you need three beds? That will rule out a lot of standard rooms. Personally, I would want privacy when staying with my mother (for my husband) or MIL (for me), so the more privacy, the better.

 

[KrazeeK120]

You might also consider the sleeping set-up.

For instance, if you book a cabin, are you willing to take the pull-out and let your granddaughter sleep in the bedroom with her parents?

I'm also not sure if all rooms at CR or BWI come with daybeds. If not, you'd have to consider whether you'd want to share a bed with your granddaughter.

Might be better to consider the sleeping situation first and then pick a resort from there.

 

[Alice's Yaya]

2 beds are fine. My granddaughter would sleep with me. This will be the 4th time traveling with my son in law. We have been ok in the same room as far as awkwardness goes but on our last trip to Disneyland we found that with the addition of a child we could of used a bit more space.

Honestly we would do ok in the standard room at either Contemporary or Boardwalk, just looking at options for a bit more space and ability to cook breakfast. Neither the space or cooking are deal breakers in themselves.

 

[ppjluvsdvc]

FYI a one bedroom DVC will also mean that someone ends up on the pullout couch. Only a kingsize bed in the Master and the sleeper sofa and depending on which resort a sleeper chair.

 

[Wood Nymph]

A one bedroom villa would give you the kitchen that you would like to have and it would probably be the only discount that you can get. The cabin would be fun, too.

The AoA family suites are nice but I wouldn't want to have to deal with the bus system.

Boardwalk has the least friendly counter service options of all your options. Beach Club or Yacht Club would be a good substitute since their counter service options are inside the building, not outside like BWI.

 

[Marionnette]

My family (myself, daughter, son in law and granddaughter who will be 5) are looking at the week after Thanksgiving 2018. My plan is to try and rent DVC but I want to put down a deposit on a regular room just in case. My window to do this is July 13th. I have narrowed it down to the following -

Contemporary - standard room. Pros - close to Magic Kingdom, monorail to Epcot. Cons - expensive, room size, no microwave or stove.

Boardwalk Inn - standard room. Pros - close to Epcot, boat to the Studios, decorations at Christmas. Cons - room size , no microwave or stove.

Art of Animation family suite. Pros - larger room, 2 baths, microwave. Cons - bus service. Might consider renting a car.

Ft Wilderness Cabin - Pros - larger room, privacy, full kitchen. Seems closest to being a 1 bedroom villa without worrying about points. Cons - not close to anything. Definitely would rent a car.

Any insight or advice is welcome.

Sit down and make a list of priorities from "must have" to "that would be nice". Every resort is going to have some disadvantages. It's up to you just how important each of the "pros" are vs. how disadvantageous the "cons" are.

On a personal level, even though I adore my daughter's fiance, I would never want to share sleeping space with him in the very same room. So that would rule out any of your options other than the Family Suites or Cabins. Given those two choices, I would lean toward the Family Suites because they have 2 bathrooms. And this is coming from someone who is NOT a fan of the Value Resorts!

 

[Hopefully]

I would go with the Ft Wilderness Cabins first. The bedroom now has a Queen bed and a set of bunk beds. Perfect for your daughters family. The sleeper sofa in the living room has been reported as comfortable. The full kitchen is definitely a plus for breakfasts, cold drinks and snacks at least.
I would definitely consider either a Golf Cart or a Rental Car if you choose the Cabins.
Ft Wilderness is great fun and I think your granddaughter would enjoy it there.