Max. of 4 in Disney Resorts??

[BUZZ'SMOM]

Hi all.

Ok, so I've read about all the magic you get from staying on-site. However, we are a family of 5 wanting to stay at a Disney Resort in early June, e.g., All Star Movie, Music or Sports. It seems all of these resorts have an in room maximum of 4. I was quite disappointed that I would have to pay for another room to accommodate my family. I just can't believe that these days, the average family still consists of only 4 members. How unfair is this?

Anyone else run into this problem. There has to be! Care to share your thoughts or suggestions on this one?

Also, how do families continue to go on vacation having to pay outrageous rates like the Poly, Wildnerness, etc. I would think they would want to draw more people to their resorts by allowing them to pay less. I have read about the cheaper rates, but again only for a family of 4.

Unfortunately, I do believe I will have to select a roomier, cheaper hotel off-site!

 

[WDWguru]

That's the price you pay for staying on-site. I personally can't imagine cramming more than four people into an AS room - not to mention sharing the bathroom! Obviously Disney has no trouble selling out their resorts to families who can afford their accomodations. It's not a matter of fair or unfair - is it unfair if I can't drive a Porsche every day? No, and I'm perfectly happy with my little Mazda. We all make compromises and nobody "owes" us anything. If you want to take your brood to Disney, you may have to make a sacrifice - pay a little more to stay on-site or stay off property.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Disney Doll]

From what I understand, that is one of the rules for the AllStars. I know that at Port Orleans Riverside there are some rooms that allow 5...I thnk they have a trundle bed or something. Of course, the YC/BC and other deluxes will go 5, but then the cost can be prohibitive. Perhpas PO-R is a good compromise??

 

[Swan]

I know how you feel. Last June we had already booked a room when my sister asked me to take my nephew(9a small 9 y/o). When I added him to our room they would not let me stay at the resort I had booked. They said I could stay at PO, but I did want to. I ended up staying at the Swan who gave me a free roll a way bed .

 

[Ricola]

BUZZ'S MOM,

I can certainly understand your position; WDW resorts do have limited options for families your size, and the prices for the rooms at some of them can seem quite outrageous. This is an area where some of the offsite resorts offer some real advantages over Disney. For more info on them, I suggest you visit the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board. I'm sure there are plenty of offsite options, and that may in fact be the best choice for you.

Personally, I've found the Disney resorts to all be a pretty good value for what they offer. Yes, the price tag can be high, but I think staying onsite can adds an intangible "magic" to a trip, so I would encourage you to try to find a way to stay onsite if you can.

The least expensive on-site option that I've found is to reserve a room at the Port Orleans Riverside resort in the "Bayou" section. They are quite nice rooms (we stayed there in Feb) and have two double beds and a trundle bed. It's my opinion that unless your kids were all teenagers, the room would nicely accomodate a family of 5. With a Disney Club Discount, they can be had for 25-50 bucks more than the all-stars, and offer (In my opinion) a much nicer resort experience to boot (nicer pools, a sit-down restaurant, better service, and nicer landscaping, etc.) I've stayed at many of the WDW resorts, and this is honestly one of my absolute favorites, regardless of price.

Good luck, and have a magical trip, wherever you choose to stay.

And hopefully, one day, Disney will realize that they're losing an important segment of the traveling public with their policies and room designs, and add some more reasonable priced options for larger families.

 

[tar heel]

As long as one of your kids is under 10, you can stay at Port Orleans-Riverside. I have that resort booked for 5 people the first week in June. The price was $94 plus a $15 extra person charge -- we've stayed there twice before and this is the best rate we've had. If you're interested in this, check mousesavers.com for discount codes and make sure to book by calling cro. Unfortunately, I believe the code I used has just expired.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by BUZZ'SMOM
I just can't believe that these days, the average family still consists of only 4 members. How unfair is this?

Also, how do families continue to go on vacation having to pay outrageous rates like the Poly, Wildnerness, etc. I would think they would want to draw more people to their resorts by allowing them to pay less. I have read about the cheaper rates, but again only for a family of 4.

In looking around at my friends, I would say that the AVERAGE is a family of three or four. I have a few friends with three kids, but most are either none, one, or two. It's not unfair at all. You CHOSE to have three kids. I CHOSE to have one. Does that mean that I should get a discount when I don't have four in the room?

As far as drawing more people to the resorts, they don't need to, especially with the value resorts, which are almost always full. During the times of year that they do need to fill rooms, they offer promos and lower room rates. The past six months were an anomolie within the travel industry as a whole.

There's nothing at all unfair about Disney's policies. They are standard throughout the industry. I compare the value resorts to budget hotels. Look at the Econolodge, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn, they only sleep four as well.

As far as the rates at the deluxe resorts being outrageous, I guess you don't travel much. They are actually comparable to the industry standard for resorts and hotels of their caliber. I don't find them "outrageous" at all, especially with all of the discounts, codes and deals available.

Anne

 

[Ricola]

Originally posted by ducklite

As far as drawing more people to the resorts, they don't need to, especially with the value resorts, which are almost always full. During the times of year that they do need to fill rooms, they offer promos and lower room rates. The past six months were an anomolie within the travel industry as a whole.

I have to disagree a little bit here. As a Disney shareholder (and not a shareholder in Holiday Inn, Sheraton, or any other offsite hotel), I feel that Disney is missing a very real segment of the market (families with 3 kids who want to visit Disney World, of which I'm sure there are millions).

Those people that do not want to spend 200 bucks a night for a room, and have 5 people to travel with are almost forced to stay offsite. That means hotel, meal, and souvenir dollars that are lost to Disney, not to mention the lost opportunity to impress a guest and earn their repeat business. I find it hard to believe that any business, especially Disney would not want to "draw more people" to their resorts. Why not offer a resort with inexpensive suites, or, a simpler solution (which wouldn't require redesigning a resort and which could utilize the existing ones), a discount when booking more than one room?

With a giant unfinished resort in Pop Century, and the slowing economy (which, by the way, certainly began well before 9/11), why would anyone want to chase away customers? Disney has yet to run out of space to build more rooms, and faces stronger than ever competition for the entertainment dollars that are out there.

While mine is a family of four, we often wish to travel to WDW with additional people, perhaps one of DSs friends, grandma, or a cousin. A little help in the cost of accomodations could well earn them an additional park pass, souvenirs, and meal on every trip we take.

 

[ducklite]

Again, they don't need to. The value resorts are almost always full. You are looking for more for the same price from a value resort. With their value resort occupancy rates being into the 90% or higher range year round, why on earth would they want to give more for the same thing? When you add in the convenience, the cost of parking and a rental car, and the quality of off-site budget accomodations v. on-site, in most cases it's a better deal to get two rooms at the all-stars than one off-site.

And not to start a war here, but face it, some of the people who complain the loudest are just going to put five in the room anyhow. They're probably also the people who don't understand why they can't swim at the themed pools at the deluxe resorts. Going back to the OP, "I had a bunch of kids, so the world should revolve around big families". It's the entitlement mentality.

Anne

PS--The US 2000 Census is pretty clear that in all the states compiled so far (which is more than half) the average household is some place between 2 and 3 people.

 

[Tina26]

"And not to start a war here, but face it, some of the people who complain the loudest are just going to put five in the room anyhow. They're probably also the people who don't understand why they can't swim at the themed pools at the deluxe resorts. Going back to the OP, "I had a bunch of kids, so the world should revolve around big families". It's the entitlement mentality." **posted by ducklite**

You make it sound as if families with three children are white trash!LOL I agree with what Ricola said. When Disney is building a new resort, why not include a limited amount of rooms that can accommodate a family of five? I'm sure most families would even be willing to pay a little extra for one of these rooms (extra person charge per night). I'm thinking maybe $15-$20 per night.

We don't care for the all-stars resorts, and the only way we will be able to stay at a deluxe resort next year (if we go next year) is to get a deluxe room, which the codes don't apply to. We can stay at a regular savannah room this year because my youngest son is two and can sleep in a crib. So this will probably be our last year staying on site because I just can't see paying over $300-$400 and up per night for a room, maybe if we were rich, but sadly............we're not

 

[WDWguru]

Originally posted by ducklite
PS--The US 2000 Census is pretty clear that in all the states compiled so far (which is more than half) the average household is some place between 2 and 3 people.

And get this! The fastest growing segment of the population is folks like DH and I - people who have chosen not to have ANY kids! So I'm waiting for Disney to announce my two-person room credit any day now

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Tina26
You make it sound as if families with three children are white trash!

No, you are putting words in my mouth. please go back and reread what I said.

They already have plenty of places that accomodate five. The DI, FW, and portions of PO, as well as CS. (You can get a rollaway at CS) Codes apply at all.

And there are discounts at the deluxes with AP and DC rates.

Anne

 

[Tina26]

But I wanna stay at AKL!!! (in a whiny voice while jummping up and down) he he! We don't have ap and are not members of DC. Wish we did have ap though, I would probably live down there!

 

[Christi 2002]

I had the same thoughts. We have 3 children and ended up at the Contemporary for our June trip, but I thought it was very "strange" that none of the budget hotels slept 5 or more. This is our first trip down with the children. I know just as many people with 3 or more as I do with 1 or 2. We all know we have choices, I think the point was that is seemed "unfair" not to have budget options for larger families. And I agree. I too was shocked when I first started looking into hotel rooms for this trip. Just my 2 cents.
Christi

 

[WDWguru]

Tina, you may want to run some numbers. Depending on what discounts are available, it can be worthwhile to purchase an AP for a stay of just 3 days! Just one adult in your party needs to have one to get the AP room rate, so if it's available it may actually pay for itself and end up cheaper than a hopper or LOS pass.

 

[BUZZ'SMOM]

Thanks for all the comments. I do not feel I am owed anything for having an extra child. Yes, it was my choice - Children are the future. And I definitely did not want to start a war on this. I was just curious on some others thoughts on this. I appreciate all the feedback.

It is a fact, it can be harder for a family of 5 or more, for that matter to even go on a vacation to wdw in the first place, as the theme park tickets, food, etc. are all high priced as well. After all it is wdw. This could be why some kids will never get to experience their dream to visit a place like this.

I understand I can get a resort for over $200 a night, which I chose not to do. Since I have three boys (2 teens and a 6 yr old). I have selected the Holiday Inn Family Suites, which have a selection of rooms for all size families and it included a complimentary breakfast. Besides, hubby and I will appreciate the privacy from the boys. This is why I was disappointed when I found out that the resorts didn't have the same options. I was willing to pay more than an average family, for a bigger room, since I have a larger family. but I'm not willing to pay for 2 rooms. I'd rather spend my hard earned dollars on other things.

As a first time, for all of us, I'm sure we will enjoy ourselves no matter what.

Thanks.

 

[Ricola]

I think the original poster was just voicing her frustration at the lack of options available to her family when planning a visit to WDW. I didn't see anywhere that she said she was entitled to have more people stay for the same cost. What I saw was a wish that 5 people could stay for a more reasonable cost (as they can at offsite resorts...)

Disney obviously made the decision a decade or more ago that adding value and moderate resorts could bring them more dollars. And the throngs of guests (myself included) that visit each year are proof that there's a demand for them.

I suspect that having more options in the less-expensive range for larger families (or groups of friends, sports teams, extended families, etc.) would also prove very profitable for Disney, and bring them more visitors, which means more $$ to build more attractions at the parks!

I'm not suggesting that the "mini-suites" be the same price as the value resorts, but maybe a room large enough for 6 at a resort comparable in amenities to the All-Stars, but priced closer to the moderates.

I don't see what the US Census has to do with this. Common sense says that there are groups larger than 4 that wish to travel together, and clearly, some of them are choosing to stay elsewhere because the options don't exist in their price range at a Disney Resort.

I don't think the world should "revolve around big families" any more than it should revolve around individuals. I think a resort business should try to provide what their guests are asking for. If Disney doesn't do it, someone else will.

edited for typos

 

[BUZZ'SMOM]

Well said, Ricola. Thanks for explaining the situation a little better. I see that we are not the only families trying to experience a wdw resort. Most of us are on somewhat of a budget, especially those with kids. I think people would choose wdw as their most poplular vacation spot if accomodations at the resorts were more reasonable.

 

[disneyag]

Tina26--There are usually lots of codes that apply to the Deluxe resorts. Just keep checking mousesavers.com. The AP could be worth it depending on how long you stay. If you go for 8 days, it's a wash. But, if you go for 5-6 days and save $400 on your hotel room, it's worth it. We got Poly Concierge last Sept for $256 per night (it's usually $400).

I agree that Disney is NOT a cheap vacation, but either are lots of other venues. Try skiing with a family of 4 -- ski passes run more than park tickets and frequently nice hotels are more expensive than Disney's Deluxe resorts. Many "Deluxe" hotels in Hawaii are over $500 per night. I also agree that the perks you get for staying onsite (convenience, no parking, transportation, Mickey soaps, themed rooms and pools, etc) are worth it. I think each family needs to value that for themselves. MANY hotels only allow 4 guests.

 

[gepetto]

We have 3 children and ended up at the Contemporary for our June trip, but I thought it was very "strange" that none of the budget hotels slept 5 or more.

CR sleeps 5 because it has a daybed. There is no room at the All Stars for a daybed. Also, I'm pretty sure fire laws restrict occupancy based on the square footage of the rooms.