Newbie here : Bonnet Creek or AoA

[Tinker101]

Hello. Planning my first family trip. My parents will be coming along with us, so we'll have 4 adults and my two kids : DD will be just shy of 5 and DS will be a few weeks shy of 3. This will be their first trip to Disney.

We really want to stay in the park and have the convenience of being close and ideally, not having to rent a car. Also, for kids that age, do you bring along carseats for the plane. My thought is if we stay in the park then we'll just use the shuttle and won't need car seats? If I'm wrong, let me know. Another concern is cost, it seems like it would be much cheaper if we stayed at Bonnet creek. If anyone could give any advice, do and don'ts it would be great to hear.

This will be our first big family trip. We typically do road trips so this will be my kids first time flying too. We live in MA. We don't need anything fancy, just a clean place to sleep and a pool to unwind in. We are planning on October 2013 for 7 or 8 nights. I don't want this to be a fast fast paced trip. I want everyone to have a good time, I want the kids to be mesmorized by the magic of Disney. If we miss a parade or fireworks it won't be the end of the world.

I do think we'd want a break in the middle of the day to come back to the hotel and take naps, freshen up and go back for a few hours. Can someone tell me about the kid rest areas in Disney? Is it a place for the kids to relax or is it just a big restroom type thing to change them up and cool down a for a few? I imagine my two would nap in the stroller if we allowed them some down time to do that. So we may not have to go back to the hotel for that down time. If we were to stay all day at the park it would be an early night to get back and relax, pool and bedtime.

Can anyone give some insight on these two resorts and what would seem better money wise and convenience wise for my family?

 

[BarryS]

I'm a newbie here, too, but I can share what I've learned from my own experience and from what I've read on this board.

As you have discovered, it is cheaper to stay offsite, especially for large families. But, many people choose to pay that premium to stay onsite because of the perks and the "magic" feeling. There are many opinionated folks on both sides of that argument!

So, BC is going to be cheaper and will give you more space than AoA. Although BC has shuttle buses, they will not run as often as Disney resort buses, so if you want the flexibility of coming back for an afternoon nap, you will want a rental car. But, since you are saving so much on the room at BC, you can probably rent a car and still come out cheaper than AoA.

That said, with AoA (or any other Disney resort) you won't have to rent a car because you get Magical Express to and from the airport as well as Disney buses around WDW (and they run often enough for you to take that afternoon break). Plus you get other perks like Extra Magic Hours, ability to purchase the Dining Plans, and more.

Some other onsite options for your group of 6 are ASMu family suites, 2 rooms at any of the Value resorts, a Fort Wilderness cabin, or staying in a DVC 2 Bedroom unit (very pricey). Since your parents are coming along, you might get by fine with the 2 room option even if you can't get connecting rooms (2 rooms at POP will be cheaper than AoA, and you might get a room-only discount or free dining if Disney offers it next year).

So for the lodging, it's going to be a personal decision for you based on the kind of vacation you want, your budget, how much space you need in the room, etc. I would price everything out for both BC and AoA (or 2 POP rooms), and then decide. And remember that your kids are going to love it no matter where you stay

The kid rest area (baby care stations) are nice. We went inside one at AK last year, it had a room with a TV playing Disney movies in addition to a nice bathroom for changing diapers or for potty trained little ones.

As for carseats, I'm not sure if you have to have them on the place. We flew and rented a car last year, so we brought our carseats on the plane since we needed them anyway for the car.

Sorry for the long post. Hope it helps.

 

[Tinker101]

Thank you BarryS. I was beginning to think no one would reply to my post.

so, 2 rooms at POP would be cheaper than one suite at AoA? wow! I'll have to price it out and see how it prices. Thanks!

 

[Rogue 35]

Not much to add except the family suites do come with a kitchette. We were on the fence regarding a family suite vs 2 rooms at a value but the money we could save having breakfast in the room and how cool the AoA rooms are swung the choice.

 

[BarryS]

Those are both great points, Rogue. I agree, the theming of the rooms at AoA looks fantastic!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We are a family of five and we have gone to Disney for years and stayed different ways.

We have booked two rooms at a value (Music) and it was great. I booked that over the suite because I hate moving things to make beds out of sofas and things like that. The tiny kitchen thing was not very impressive to me. For this reason alone I wouldn't book AoA and pay what they want for it.

So, if I were going with my parents and staying onsite, I would book two rooms instead of the suite. Also, it may have changed but at one time they would NOT accept discount codes off of the suites. Using a discount code off of two rooms would save a lot.

Being a family of five, we now normally stay at POR. We love that resort. This next time though we will be a party of six again so we have chosen to stay at Bonnet Creek over booking two rooms at a value. For $120.00 a night I am booked in a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen & den, washer and dryer and plenty of space. With my family space is priceless! Plus, it's right there on property. I saw it when we were there last June and the location is perfect! We drive to the parks anyway so the bus transportation was not a factor in my decision.

I guess I would sit down with my family and decide together what is important to everyone. Staying onsite is magical, but I still believe that Bonnet Creek is a fantastic option. I wouldn't even consider staying anywhere but Disney or Bonnet Creek because I like being ON property.

 

[Tinker101]

Thank you for the replies. Great points about Bonnet Creek. I've been reading up on the BC board and I think that might be a good option for us. Sounds fantastic and much more affordable!