Multi-generational Trip - One room at Deluxe or two Moderate?

[Sunshine1987]

Hello!

Need help deciding on a resort. I am taking my parents for the first ever WDW vacation. It is also their 50th wedding anniversary! I am trying to decide between booking two rooms at a moderate or one room at a Deluxe. My mom doesn't get around too well so we want to minimize walking time. And while we love taking Disney transport (monorail, boat), we do want to minimize bus trips with mom (we will be driving).

Right now I have us doing split stay with two rooms at POFQ - Riverview the first half and one room at the Poly - Garden View for the second half of our stay. What I would love to do is book the entire stay at a deluxe (either monorail or Epcot resort) but I am not sure I can handle a week in the same room with all of us. It is my husband, my 13 year old, myself, and my parents.

One room at deluxe or two at moderate? Which resort? Any suggestions would be appreciated???

Sunshine Mama--
me dh dd(18) ds(15) ds(12)
Upcoming trips:
Wilderness Lodge June 2017
Undecided October 2017

Previous trips:
Disney World- ~ASMovies April 2004 ~Beach Club May 2009 ~POR/Poly split stay May 2010 ~Fort Wilderness March 2011 ~AK Lodge Oct 2013 ~AoA June 2014~Pop/CR-Atrium Club split stay Nov 2016

Disneyland, CA - 1969-1993 (so many trips - I grew up 11 miles from DL), 1995, 1997, 2001, 2008 (off-site), 2015

 

[Marionnette]

Hello!

Need help deciding on a resort. I am taking my parents for the first ever WDW vacation. It is also their 50th wedding anniversary! I am trying to decide between booking two rooms at a moderate or one room at a Deluxe. My mom doesn't get around too well so we want to minimize walking time. And while we love taking Disney transport (monorail, boat), we do want to minimize bus trips with mom (we will be driving).

Right now I have us doing split stay with two rooms at POFQ - Riverview the first half and one room at the Poly - Garden View for the second half of our stay. What I would love to do is book the entire stay at a deluxe (either monorail or Epcot resort) but I am not sure I can handle a week in the same room with all of us. It is my husband, my 13 year old, myself, and my parents.

One room at deluxe or two at moderate? Which resort? Any suggestions would be appreciated???

Sunshine Mama--
me dh dd(18) ds(15) ds(12)
Upcoming trips:
Wilderness Lodge June 2017
Undecided October 2017

Previous trips:
Disney World- ~ASMovies April 2004 ~Beach Club May 2009 ~POR/Poly split stay May 2010 ~Fort Wilderness March 2011 ~AK Lodge Oct 2013 ~AoA June 2014~Pop/CR-Atrium Club split stay Nov 2016

Disneyland, CA - 1969-1993 (so many trips - I grew up 11 miles from DL), 1995, 1997, 2001, 2008 (off-site), 2015

I would never be able to vacation with 3 other adults and a teenager in a single hotel room, no matter how close I was to those people. One bathroom for 5 people? No thank you! My preference would be to spend the entire trip in two rooms. POR/POFQ would both be good choices. The boat ride to Disney Springs makes for easy access to additional dining choices. CBR and CSR are undergoing major construction. I would avoid them.

 

[Gracie09]

2 rooms. always 2 rooms

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I agree with the others. I would do 2 rooms at either POR or POFQ.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It is their anniversary. Give 'em some privacy!

 

[MonaMN]

Agreed. Two rooms. Stay at POR the whole time if necessary - upgrade to preferred to minimize walking. Or do POFQ since it is smaller.

 

[Sue M]

For the preservation of the family-2rooms!! Pofq is very nice. I don't know how difficult it is or how painful for your mom to walk, but Riverview rooms at pofq are the furthest away from main building, food court and parking lot.
A garden view room in building 4 would be much closer.

 

[arminnie]

If your mother has difficulty walking will you be considering an ECV for her? I am now 70 and find an ECV to be a wonderful gift for enjoying the parks.

I personally find using an ECV on a bus to be easier than using one on the monorail. There is a fixed procedure for using an ECV on a bus. I've never heard of someone being left on a bus.

The monorail depends on a message being sent to your stop that someone needs to get off. I can't tell you how many times that gets screwed up. It's easy to get on the monorail - it can be hit or miss about someone being there for you to get OFF the monorail.

 

[baler31]

You will have to pay a $25 per person per night for any adults over 2 per room. At $50 per night that is a large fee to pay and stay in a crowded room. If you are going to be driving anyway you may want to at least entertain the idea of an offsite room. You can get a suite at Waldorf for only slightly more than a moderate. I would also look at Swan and Dolphin although lately I have not found the good prices of years past.

 

[ncc1701]

Two rooms the whole trip would be my vote.That way if your parents want to crash for the night earlier no worries about waking them up not to mention the ease of 2 bathrooms .
Since POFQ doesn't have preferred ( & the preferred at POR have no elevators if you get 2nd floor) the pool view rooms at POFQ are centrally located. We stayed there on a trip and had no issue with any noise at night. All the POFQ buildings have elevators.

 

[Sunshine1987]

Thank you so much for the tips! I was definitely feeling the need for two rooms! I just want to make their visit magical. My dad took me to Disneyland California more times than I can remember when I was little so it's time!

I think they'd definitely like the ambience at Port Orleans. We've stayed there once in Alligator Bayou and loved it. But we kind of wanted to try the mansion rooms but heard they're far from the Riverside Mill. So that's why we chose FQ (plus Beignets)!

Mom doesn't want an ECV although we think she's nuts for preferring a wheelchair. My husband wants to rent her an ECV but she's afraid she'll run someone over!!

I think I'm going to adjust my room reservations! Thanks again!

 

[Hopefully]

I would go for 2 rooms at POFQ. I too would not choose Riverview. It is not worth the extra.
If your Mom is too hesitant to drive an ECV than you have to listen to her. It will be her responsibility to drive through the crowds and if she is nervous now, it will be very difficult for her.

 

[jedijake]

Went on a multi-generational trip once with my mother, whom I love like all good sons should, stayed in one room and it was a disaster to put it nicely, always always always recommend to anyone vacationing with anyone outside of spouses / significant others and/or sons/daughters always opt for a second room, just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions!

 

[Babsy]

2 Rooms at POFQ is the best idea of your two proposed options. I would change river view to pool or garden view and request as close to the main building and bus stops as possible. The problem here is that you have to bus everywhere except DS, and you said that you wanted to reduce using the bus, if possible.

The best area for not using buses is the Epcot area, IMO. You can walk to two theme parks or take an easily boarded boat.

Another option might be the Swan or Dolphin. These resorts are sometimes priced closer to the price of a moderate, but are deluxe resorts and are located in the Epcot area. The best discounts seem to be for teachers, nurses or military. Be sure to look for those if you qualify. Your Dad and Mom would probably qualify for the senior discount. There is also a AAA discount which sometimes includes a resort credit. If you stay at the Swan/Dolphin you get some of the onsite benefits, but not all. The big benefit would be the possibility of two large comfortable deluxe rooms in a prime location for little more than the price of a moderate. You would also have either walking or a boat ride to both Epcot and the DHS. You do get 60 day advance booking for FP+ and EMH when staying at the Swan/Dolphin as well. You DO NOT get DME, free magic bands, or charging back to the resort. Magic bands can be purchased for about $12 - $15 each, though, if you want them. DME saves about $60 taxi each way from MCO. Also, if you have a car you have to pay for parking at the Swan/Dolphin plus a resort fee. SO you need to add about $45 each day to the rate to get the actual amount to compare to the price at a WDW resort.

We love staying at the Swan. It is the first bus pick up and drop off for the MK and AK. It is located right next to the Boardwalk (just walk across the bridge and you are there). The rooms are beautiful and the beds are super comfortable. They also have a very nice themed grotto pool.


If you do eat at the Swan Dolphin at any point, they also accept AAA for discounts on food.

Enjoy your trip!!!!

 

[jo-jo]

Have you looked into renting DVC points for a 2 bedroom? I have not done any of the math, but it MIGHT be an option.

But aside from that thought.......2 rooms. We'd NEED a door between us and the rest of the family. Yes, we love you, but we need a nap, or we want a cup of coffee and read for awhile,or we want to use the bathroom without someone saying "how loooonnnngggg you going to be in there".

 

[TJA]

Thank you so much for the tips! I was definitely feeling the need for two rooms! I just want to make their visit magical. My dad took me to Disneyland California more times than I can remember when I was little so it's time!

I think they'd definitely like the ambience at Port Orleans. We've stayed there once in Alligator Bayou and loved it. But we kind of wanted to try the mansion rooms but heard they're far from the Riverside Mill. So that's why we chose FQ (plus Beignets)!

Mom doesn't want an ECV although we think she's nuts for preferring a wheelchair. My husband wants to rent her an ECV but she's afraid she'll run someone over!!

I think I'm going to adjust my room reservations! Thanks again!

I think you made a good decision. We've travelled to Disney with my parents before and always got 2 rooms and it worked perfectly. I just wanted to add to check out the pricing of WL standard rooms (2 rooms). I'm simply putting myself in your shoes and my parents love having that all-one-building type of place where they leave their rooms and have the gorgeous WL lobby to enjoy. Plus they can now see the new fireworks MK show from WL pretty good, I believe. I know you said you'd be driving, but by staying at WL, that would open up a few other options as well (bigger boat to MK would work with a wheelchair I believe). Just a thought!

 

[NMAmy]

Good decision! DH and I often travel with our adult dd, s-i-l, and grandson and there's no way that we could all stay in a single room even though we all get along wonderfully. That would put an end to our travels together very quickly.

 

[MouseyMin]

I agree with all those who recommended staying at French Quarter. If you're staying in the bayou, I recommend requesting a ground floor room, as this section does not have elevators.

 

[Sue M]

Pushing a wheel chair will be difficult for the person pushing. There are more uphill inclines then you think. Renting an ECV from an off site company would be way better. I can understand her being scared because she's not used to operating one. Maybe you can rent one for her at home for a day so she could try it out and get comfortable with driving it before trip.

 

[OlieRow]

Echoing the vote for 2 rooms. We took a family trip (6 adults and 2 kids) just after New Years and stayed at SS in a 2 bedroom villa. It worked out nicely and the extra bathrooms were great. The resort is spread out which might be tough for mobility issues but you will have a car which could help if you need it. We had my sister, her husband in the king room with a baby in a pack and play in their bathroom and their younger girl either on the floor or in bed with them. We brought a nicer air mattress for her father in law in the living room. Then my parents and I were in the room with 2 queens. I think we paid 400-something/night with my annual pass discount. Including the costs for extra adults, I don't think we could have gotten 2 moderates for much less. Look and see if you can get a discount on a 2 BR villa - SS, OKW, and AKL are probably the most reasonably priced although the Epcot DVC resorts are a great location.