max. people in deluxe room (long)

[momtotwinglesx4]

Please don't flame me for what I'm about to discuss; I truly just want some feedback, positive or negative, in a kind manner

Our family of 7 is going for a lengthy trip in late Dec/Jan 2004. Staying off-site at super rates in 2 bdr villas for the majority of the trip. However, I have 4 nights left to find accomodations for starting on New Year's Eve. Because we will have 4 small children, (plus a teen) it has been my dream to stay in a monorail resort for these 4 nites, mainly for the convenience of getting back and forth from the MK to our room during this busy time. I've read that the Poly and Contemporary have the largest standard rooms, sq. footage-wise. Either one would be great, but it seems I can likely get the Contemporary for less $$, which is very important to me, because this will be a BIG splurge for us. I cannot afford 2 rooms, nor a suite. We will have AP's, so I'm hoping that will help.

CRO told me that the max. occupancy for a standard room at either Poly or CR is 6, as long as one of the 6 is an infant under 3. Our party consists of 2 adults (dh & I) and 5 kids, who will be the following ages: 15, 7, 7, 3, & 18 mos. Basically, if we left the 3 yr old behind, we would fit--he might get mad though
At home, we are used to bunking together, as we allow our 2 youngest to sleep with us (king bed) and often find one of the 7 yr old twins has joined us during the night as well! So we don't mind being "packed in" for a few days. My plan would be to have myself and 2 little ones in one queen bed, dh and the other 2 little ones in the other queen bed, and dd15 on the daybed. (We would not have the crib in our room, as none of my little ones have ever slept in a crib.) Yes, it will be a tight fit, but well worth it for a few days IMO. We will have times where dh or I will stay in the room with the 2 little ones for naps, while the other parent will stay at MK with the older kids, so it's really only for sleeping that we will all be in the room.

I asked CRO about this situation specifically, if they ever would make an exception, and was told that I would need to ask the resort. The CM at the Poly told me to just leave one of the kids off the reservation, and it shouldn't be a problem. The CM at the CR just stated the max occup. is 6 and didn't mention the option that the CM at the Poly gave me. I'm sure it just depends on who you ask Has anyone ever done this? I know there are other options for a family our size (i.e., renting DVC points for a villa, FW cabins, etc.) but I really want to try a monorail resort and just can't afford two rooms or a suite. Would I be a horrible person to do this? Your honest thoughts, please, but be nice; I get my feelings hurt easily

Sue

 

[DebbieB]

My first thought is it's going to be very uncomfortable. 3 people in a bed, 7 people with 1 bathroom. I wouldn't want to be there in the morning when everyone is trying to get ready. I'd rather do a moderate with 2 rooms, that would give you 4 beds & 2 bathrooms.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Yes, 2 baths would certainly be better, but we can make-do for a few days with one; dh has his shower before bed, dd15 and I shower in the morning. The little kids get bathed at night (all 3 little boys in the tub at one time), and often will skip a night if not too cruddy Having the extra sink will be helpful too.

Sue

 

[Deb & Bill]

Are you asking for our permission or our forgiveness?

 

[ducklite]

My take on it is this:

Maximum capacity's are not arbitrarily determined by pulling thme out of a hat. They are determined after consultation with local fire and emergency officials, loss control consultants from insurance companies, and formulas which determine the amount of public space needed for maximum capacity in the resort.

If everyone decided to add one extra person, it could casuse a serious drain on facilities such as transportation and restaurants. Extra people require extra towels, pool space, bus seats, and yes, extra space on the stairs during an emergency evacuation.

You are not looking at going during a slow time when an extra person would probably not be noticed, but one of the busiest days of the year.

While I can certainly understand your desire to stay at a monorail resort, I don't think that exceeding occupancy is fair to others who are also scrimping and stretching or splurging to stay there.

Have you thought about a Jr Suite at the WL? Easily accessed via the boat launch, and I believe that they sleep six plus a child under two, and for about the same price as the CR.

The other thing I'd like to point out is that it's not looking too promising for AP rates, so if that's what you are basing your room cost estimates on, you might want to have a back up plan in place.

Anne

 

[rascalmom]

Sue,

I can certainly relate to your dream of staying in a monorail resort - we have been fortunate enough to do this and they truly are wonderful. I have seen lots of discussion over my time on the DIS about adhering to room occupancy policies. Some people seem to view the occupancy policies as suggestions and some view them as unbendable laws. I can certainly appreciate your request for kindness - opinions on discussion boards can sometimes be quite voracious.

Here is my opinion - since you asked. Staying on the monorail line is certainly convenient. But remember, unless you are willing to pay the extra price for a Tower room at CR or a lagoon view at the Poly, what you are getting is a slightly larger than moderate sized room with more convenient transportion to the MK, you won't have that memorable view of the castle that truly separates the monorail resorts from all the others. Remember these are older resorts - the room size is larger, but the bathrooms are not configured as well as the moderates. The sinks are in the same room as the showers. This makes the morning rush tougher for our family - but we have two girls, ages 15 & 11, so primp time is important to them. With mostly younger ones, this may be less of an issue but at the Poly even the toilet is not really separate, so privacy is limited.

Having said that, the beds are queen size at those resorts. At moderates you would get double beds. Much more cozy for family bed-sharing than the King you are used to either way.

Another point - why do the resorts have these policies? I don't know the facts - I know some might suspect it's to sell more rooms to larger families. It is a for-profit business & certainly their right to do so. If that were all these policies were likely based on, it truly would be merely a judgement call in the matter of respect for the rules stated by the property owner. But what about fire codes? There may be issues there. And what about safety & piece of mind in this post 9/11 world? Do you truly not want a record of each of your children being in your room in case of any type of emergency?

That being said, I know how important the "dream" can be in making your vacation magical. We have stayed at the Poly, CR (twice), OKW & CBR. Our best, most magical, memory filled trip is the first one, when we stayed at the CBR. That resort is beautiful and fully themed. We didn't find this same magic at CR Garden wing. It was quite a hike to the monorail in the main building & all we could see from our room was a grassy area. There is no food court. Housekeeping was lacking greatly. We have decided to go back to the moderates next time and get two rooms for the privacy & extra bathroom. We loved CBR and will probably try it again. Good luck with your decision. Remember - you can ride the monorail without staying in those resorts!

 

[jaysue]

Have you the ability to stay at the WL and afford two rooms - just a boat ride from the Monorail MK and a separate boat to the CR.

Also noticed your ressie would start Dec 31 - I think you need to be careful about your rate since lower rates start Jan 1 (I think) due the "season" change...

Thanks
Jason

 

[floridafam]

I also suggest checking out the Deluxe room at the WL. They sleep 6 plus one child under 3. This is technically not a "suite" because you can often find AAA, DC or other discounts for this type of room and it is quite large. I know it's not on the monorail but the boat transportation is excellent and you can quick hop over to any of the monorail resorts and ride from there.

I also called WL last year because we had 5 and didn't want 2 rooms. He said "no problem". We ended up getting 2 rooms because we felt so cramped-even before the 5th person got there. We wished we had booked a deluxe room.

Do what you feel comfortable with. I don't know what to tell you. Do you know that cheaper rates start the day after you check in, I think?

What type of room are you looking at for the CR? Were you able to find out the price on the room that sleeps more than 7 and was it in your area of what you wanted to pay?

Good luck with your planning.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Thank you all for your very helpful replies! I wasn't aware that the Wilderness Lodge had this type of deluxe room--I'll definitely check that out. Also didn't know about the boat from WL to MK--how often does it go back and forth and how long does it take? Is it a straight shot, or does it stop along the way at another resort? Like I said, convenience to the MK is my main concern, so this sounds like a great option! Yes, I'm aware that I need to make 2 separate reservations due to the dates to avoid paying holiday rates all 4 nites. Do you think this deluxe WL room would qualify for AP rates (if there are any then)?

Thanks again for your helpfulness!

Sue

 

[MELSMICE]

Here are my thoughts:

You need to do what you feel is right, however, 7 in a room even at the CR will be very crowded, even if it is only for 4 days. The rooms are large, but it is still just a hotel & unless you get 1st floor with a patio, you just have the room.

I also believe that room occupancy is given for a reason. Fire codes, etc. We have 5 in our family & often thought about fitting that 1 extra in at a moderate but have always decided against it. I just have a weird feeling about leaving one of my children off of a reservation. Just always gave me bad "vibes". We have found FW to be a perfect solution to our situation.

The FW cabins sleep 6 plus one infant under 3. They are roomy and also an MK resort. They are only a boat ride away from the MK. IMO they are one of the best places to stay. I bet your children would absolutely love it there. Plus, you can save money on food if you decide to do breakfast or a few other meals in the cabin.

I understand your "dream" of staying in a monorail deluxe resort, but unfortunately it may have to be put on hold. Maybe you could share the dream with DH someday all alone!

Like I said, the decision is yours, but if it was me, for the sake of comfort, safety and honesty I would choose another option. Look into the cabins. You would be pleasantly surprised.

 

[floridafam]

We never waited more than 5 or 10 minutes for a boat. Our kids loved it. When we took it, it went straight to MK. I think it stops at FW sometimes but that is no big deal-it's very close.

I have never seen AP rates for the deluxe rooms at WL but I was offered a Disney Club and AAA discount a while back when I was checking on that type of room for October. I did not book it and when I called back a while later only the rack rate was available. IMHO, the rack rate is not that bad for the size of the room that you receive. Do you have AAA or DC?

We were trying to decide where to stay for our trip last year and I also wanted to be on the monorail for our little ones. Well, we decided on WL and were very happy with our decision. Our kids loved the boat rides, very relaxing. We also took the bus over to the TTC and rode the monorail through the resorts and had lunch at the Poly-I was glad we didn't book the Poly-it just wasn't for us even though it was on the monorail.

If you can do without the monorail I would definately suggest WL. Very close to MK, great theming, great pools, geyser, decent restaurants, etc.

Plus, WL around the holidays is the only place to be at WDW, IMHO.

If you are interested in the deluxe room, I would call as soon as possible. You are within the occupancy limits for this room and I think you will really enjoy it. It has 2 queens in the bedroom and a pull out sofa in the living room. Chances are you will have a great view of the water pageant.

Good luck.

 

[MrsPete]

I agree with the others who have posted here. These rooms are designed to hold 5 people + 1 infant MAXIMUM. If you have more, you're going to be really cramped -- so much for the dream vacation! Also, as others have pointed out, you can't break the fire code because you really want to stay at a certain resort. It's just not safe. You'll be adding more people to the transportation system, the pools, the food courts, etc. -- this isn't fair to the others who are using the resort. Finally, suppose they discover that you have exceeded the maximum number; they could toss you and your family out without a refund. That would certainly not be fun!

My suggestions:

Look for a code on Mousesavers.com, which will make the room less expensive -- perhaps you can afford two rooms if you get a good price.

Wilderness Lodge's deluxe room, which was suggested by another poster, does sound like a good idea.

Though they aren't on the monorail, you could consider a moderate or the All-Stars. For the price of one deluxe room, you could have two rooms there -- especially if you manage to get a code. Plus you'd have two bathrooms.

 

[gepetto]

I would second the suggestion for 2 rooms at a moderate or value resort. I know you want a room on the monorail, but you just have too many people for that.

As another poster suggested, the cabins at FW are very nice and they often run specials on them.

 

[jel0511]

Ihave to agree with one of the previous posters, unless you're willing to splurge for a lagoon view room at the Poly or a tower room at the contemporary, you're not going to get the magical experience you're wishing for. Some of the garden views at the Poly are of parking lots, not magical there, and the view from the CR wings are less than magical in my opinion. I'm not going to touch the 7 in a room, except to say that I get cramped in a deluxe room with only 4 people, I can't imagine 3 more. Also, is this something you want to teach your children? Bypassing regulations just because you want to? I certainly wouldn't want my childrent o be taught that lesson.

 

[Gillian]

I've often read here that discounts on the WL deluxe rooms are few & far between, while discounts on regular WL rooms are very common. 2 rooms gives you 2 bathrooms.

As Jason mentioned, starting your onsite stay on the 31st will probably limit your chances for a discount anyway. I'm glad you know the 2 reservations trick!

For what it's worth, the FW cabins also only have one bathroom and the transportation can be a pain! Even though it's just a boatride away from the MK, you first have to take an internal campground bus to get you to the boat. We enjoyed staying there, but we had a car & only 3 people.

Good luck with working out the details!

 

[>>^..^<<]

You must be a close family! lol

If you did leave one of the names off the reservation as was suggested to you... would that not interfere with that "missing" person gaining admission to the parks?

Did you check a rate on a suite? I know Poly has them... I'm sure the contemporary does as well. It may be cheaper than 2 rooms - but more expensive than one.

Good Luck... 7 is a lucky number you know!

>>^..^<<

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

How would it interfere with park entrance?

 

[floridafam]

I guess it may interfere with park entrance if you had a package or tickets attached to your ressie.

I guess you wouldn't need a ticket for the youngest one so maybe it wouldn't.

 

[momtotwinglesx4]

Actually, we'll have AP's, so I don't think entrance to the parks would be affected. You guys have me all fired up for the WL now though! I've been trying to read the LONG WL FAQ thread, but there are soo many pages! It does sound like either the deluxe room or 2 standard rooms (with a great AP rate) would work out well for us. Which do you think would be better? I like the idea of the 2 bathrooms if we got connecting standards, but from reading the FAQ thread, it sounds like alot of the standards overlook the service roads and dumpsters. Not that view is the most important thing to us at all, just wondering if the deluxe rooms have a nicer location. Soo many decisions to make! I also read that sometimes people are offered an upgrade to concierge upon check in for an extra $30 or $40 per nite--not necessarily moving to the 7th floor, just getting key access to the concierge lounge. Does this ever happen with the deluxe or standard rooms? Thanks again for all your help!

Sue