Losing My Mind with picking a resort/hotel

[msyut]

I need help, I have been browsing this great site for weeks and can't make a decision so decided to post. Looked at over 100 hotels and can't find what we are looking for. We want a fun resort for the kids, very clean, big enough for the family a suite, no bugs, plenty of pools and close to Disney. I should mention we have 3 kids so we are a family of 5 this seems to have limited us. We are NOT staying on WDW because of money, it seems the hotels off property are cheaper. Any and all advice is welcome please before I commit myself lol Thank you.

 

[kim532]

I personally would look at this hotel, Buena Vista Suites.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Resorts/bvsuites/index.htm


I have never stayed there, but have drove past many times. Close to Disney. They talked about it many times on the DisUnplugged podcast and speak glowingly of it.

We are DVC owners and this would be where I would book if for some reason we needed extra days.

Kim

 

[4mykidz127]

My vote is for Wyndham Bonnet Creek, we stayed there last year and loved it. There is a whole thread on the resort.

 

[kmb584]

My personal favorite off site property is the Sheraton Vistana Villas. The units are incredibly spacious and clean and it's a quick 5-10 minute drive to the parks. There's also quite a bit for kids, from mini golf to scavenger hunts to various pools.

Wyndam Bonnet Creek is a close second! I love the fact that it's located inside the WDW gates and has interior hallways. Again, our 2 bedroom unit was very spacious but we did have issues with housekeeping. I had paid for the unit to be cleaned daily - it was cleaned twice during our 10 night stay. The person I spoke with at the front desk didn't believe me that housekeeping didn't show (again and again as I called every night after returning from the parks) so I demanded to speak with the housekeeping manager. She arrived and was quite appalled to see that I was, in fact, speaking the truth. Thankfully all of the cleaning charges were removed (as they should have been). That issue aside, we truly enjoyed our stay at WBC. The pools were fantastic!

 

[GaBelle]

Have you looked at/ considered the Nickelodeon hotel? It has suites and they are a nice size. Not far from Disney, very fun.

 

[CdnKayDee]

Family of 5 here did 2 weeks at Sheraton Vistana Villages. 2 Bedroom clean and lots of room. Definite recommend.

 

[Rpsemont]

I hate to add more options to the mix, but have you considered renting a vacation home? I recently became exposed to this and we stayed in one last March and loved it. We had a three bedroom condo, in a condo close to WDW (Oakwater)
the resort has a nice pool (although no pool slide), playground, tennis courts, game room, exercise room. All for less than we'd pay to stay at Pop Century.
You have to do a bit of homework, but is certainly worth consideration.
Try VRBO or Home Away and use Zip code 34747

 

[Bete]

We like Residence Inn. It's a easy and pretty quick car ride back and forth. They have an absolute excellent breakfast included and evening reception 3X a week. The evening reception was a meal for us. It's not the cheapest place, but it's nice on all counts.

 

[msyut]

Thank you everyone. I am still back and forth and getting stressed on this. I finally decided to stay OFF property then talked to a friend who said I need to stay ON property now Im going back and forth again and prices are rising. SIGH

 

[vnuzz]

When are you travelling? If it's during Disney's free dining dates, would that help with the costs of staying on-site? Just a thought

 

[msyut]

end of july

 

[mrsmomo]

It would be helpful to know some more details like how long u r looking to stay, how many of those days r u visiting parks, and do u plan on just Disney or universal ioa SeaWorld....these are all factors I take into consideration when planning where to stay and what will b the most cost effective and efficient for my plans

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I need help, I have been browsing this great site for weeks and can't make a decision so decided to post. Looked at over 100 hotels and can't find what we are looking for. We want a fun resort for the kids, very clean, big enough for the family a suite, no bugs, plenty of pools and close to Disney. I should mention we have 3 kids so we are a family of 5 this seems to have limited us. We are NOT staying on WDW because of money, it seems the hotels off property are cheaper. Any and all advice is welcome please before I commit myself lol Thank you.

Thank you everyone. I am still back and forth and getting stressed on this. I finally decided to stay OFF property then talked to a friend who said I need to stay ON property now Im going back and forth again and prices are rising. SIGH

Has your friend ever stayed offsite? Does she know that you can get a 1150 square foot villa with two separate bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a complete kitchen in a resort with multiple pools and recreation areas for almost the same price as a 260 square foot motel-style Disney value room? For a family of 5, I wouldn't consider doing Disney in any other way.

We had similar criteria as you noted above, and ended up selecting the Sheraton Vistana Resort for our upcoming trip. We got our 2 bed/2 bath villa for $120 a night taxes in through Jetblue Vacations, but we also booked ours way back in January (so prices have gone up since then). Dreams Unlimited has a decent rate available for this property, both with or without housekeeping:

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/sheraton/vistana/index.html

Another one on our short-list was Wyndham Bonnet Creek. It certainly gets good reviews here on the boards, and offers some nice features like lazy rivers (which the Vistana Resort does not). People have found some decent rates there too, but the Vistana rate through Jetblue was better than the quote we got from Vacation Strategies for a two-bedroom deluxe.

Windsor Hills would be another property I would consider if I were you. They offer some great rates on three bedroom townhomes, and you'd have your own private splash pool along with access to the large community pool (with a waterslide) and castle themed playground. It would give you an extra bedroom for your kids, and the Windsor Hills properties generally have some extra amenities like game systems, etc. that would be great for families. There are lots of places where you can get rates, but we inquired through this site:

http://www.vacationcentralflorida.com/

and found them very helpful and responsive (even though we opted to stay elsewhere in the end).

FWIW, I can't see us ever staying onsite now that we've got a taste for the value we get offsite. While many consider staying offsite a "downgrade", that's the way we've come to consider an onsite stay.

 

[swilshire]

Thank you everyone. I am still back and forth and getting stressed on this. I finally decided to stay OFF property then talked to a friend who said I need to stay ON property now Im going back and forth again and prices are rising. SIGH

I am a big planner, but this trip is causing you way too much stress. I would politely suggest you stay home. I mean that in the kindest sort of way, but no vacation will live up to your expectations if you couldn't find an acceptable choice out of 100 hotels.

We travel often. There were six of us until the older kids grew up and started staying home. There are probably 30 or 40 great choices of resorts in and around Disney World. We have stayed in many of them. Some were greater than others, but all were just fine.

I always feel badly for the folks who are obviously investing a lot of agony over creating the perfect trip. No trip will ever be perfect, so you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Make a choice. So what if it isn't the absolute best or cheapest choice. Go and have fun regardless. If you can't do that, please stay home for your own sanity.

Vacations aren't supposed to cause months of stress. The planning is a big part of the fun for me, but not everyone can enjoy it.

By the way, we have stayed on and off property. There are great choices off site for less money. You friend that said you MUST stay on property is wrong. There are advantages, but not enough to be a big deal if all of you will be together most of the time.

Sheila

 

[tndisneyfan]

Thank you everyone. I am still back and forth and getting stressed on this. I finally decided to stay OFF property then talked to a friend who said I need to stay ON property now Im going back and forth again and prices are rising. SIGH

If money is an issue I would stay off property. We have stayed onsite many times, but also have stayed offsite at Bonnet Creek. We loved Bonnet Creek so much on our last trip we booked another trip for October.

Families of 5 or more have a hard time staying onsite at WDW. Only certain hotels will accomodate 5. Most of them are deluxe resorts, only one moderate will allow you five in a room. There are suites at AoA and I think some of the ALL Star resorts, but they are almost as much as renting two rooms at a value.

Though we do enjoy staying onsite at times, I think the perks for people staying onsite is not worth the $$$$ you save staying offsite.

 

[disneycrazy01]

Hi. I know it is frustrating trying to plan a vacation for a large family and it is harder when you have kids. I leave for Bonnet Creek - my first time at this resort on Tuesday 7/9 for two weeks. Originally it was for 4 of us - 2 adults and 2 kids and then m other who is 80 and my aunt who is 75 decided to come with us.

I debated for a while between Sheraton Vistana Villages and Wyndham Bonnet Creek, but there was something about Bonnet Creek that we really liked. My 13 year old nephew fell in love with the lazy river when he saw a video on youtube.

I joined Tug2.net and Redweek. I also checked out MyResortNetwork.com, but I liked Tug2.net more. I checked out the timeshare ads and sent emails. When you join Tug, you get to place several free "Wish Ads." I placed my Wish Ad for a 2-bedroom at Bonnet Creek with the dates I wanted. Several owners sent me quotes to my email.

I got a great price and everything went so smoothly. I had my reservation numbers right away and was able to confirm with Bonnet Creek.

I just checked Tug and there are a couple of ads for Bonnet Creek for the end of July and some for August.

For example there is an ad for a 2-bedroom from 7/27 thru 8/3 for 949.00
There is an ad for a 2-bedroom presidential fro, 7/27 thru 8/3 for $1100.00. There is an ad for August 9 thru 8/16 for $875 in a 2-bedroom.

When I get back on 7/23 I will post back on this site with my honest review of Bonnet Creek.

Just one other thing to factor in is the cost of transportation to the theme parks. If you are renting a car then the location shouldn't matter too much. I'm not sure whether Sheraton Vistana charges a fee to go to the parks, but Bonnet Creek started charging a fee to use their shuttles in March - it used to be free.