Planning trip for group of 6 (4 adults, 1 toddler, 1 infant)

[thill]

I'm planning a trip for this fall, likely the second half of October, which I have done before several years ago and enjoyed the smaller crowds and the EFWF. I saw in other threads that there may be some discounts later in the month when I'm going and that I can add those discounts after booking, which is great! So my big question now is finding the best place to stay. It's going to be myself, my wife, my almost 4 year old, my 4 month old, and both of my parents. The big question I have about where to stay is if any particular resorts are recommended and if it's better to book one of the multi-room suites or try to book two regular rooms next to each other? We would prefer to stay in a moderate resort or comparably priced villa. We would only do deluxe if the price was comparable enough through getting one of the villas or if the discount was good enough. Does anyone have experience in staying with a group of this size and what places did, or did not, work? I should mention that my parents will be babysitters some of the time so having everyone close together is a requirement. Thanks!

 

[Upatnoon]

I'm planning a trip for this fall, likely the second half of October, which I have done before several years ago and enjoyed the smaller crowds and the EFWF. I saw in other threads that there may be some discounts later in the month when I'm going and that I can add those discounts after booking, which is great! So my big question now is finding the best place to stay. It's going to be myself, my wife, my almost 4 year old, my 4 month old, and both of my parents. The big question I have about where to stay is if any particular resorts are recommended and if it's better to book one of the multi-room suites or try to book two regular rooms next to each other? We would prefer to stay in a moderate resort or comparably priced villa. We would only do deluxe if the price was comparable enough through getting one of the villas or if the discount was good enough. Does anyone have experience in staying with a group of this size and what places did, or did not, work? I should mention that my parents will be babysitters some of the time so having everyone close together is a requirement. Thanks!

What is your budget? If I were your parents, I would insist on having our own baby-free room.

You mention budget, so for me the least expensive acceptable option would be two value rooms.

I you have some more cash, you could step up to a value suite for you and a single room for your parents. Of course, the price for you would likely be triple for this option.

 

[susy]

Did plenty of trips with the parents when my son was little. Sometimes we could spring for a deluxe.. WL was as high as they could go. Sometimes we would be at the YC and they would stay next door at the Dolphin.

The trip that stands out the most was when we stayed at POFQ-the rooms were nice (request connecting rooms) and the resort wasn't as large as some of the other mods, Like CBR and CSR..you can easily get around, the food court was great, and a nice pool area that isn't too overwhelming. Since there are four of you to take turns pushing, you may want to bring your own umbrella stroller for your four year old, but the resort isn't so big that would you need it at the resort. I think you will be able to get a good price on the mods then. Give your parents a break from the kiddos, too...LOL

 

[thill]

We don't have a completely firm budget and don't really want to do the value resorts unless we have to because this is a splurge type trip that we may not do again, at least for a while. I saw a nice 2 bedroom unit at Saratoga Springs that is cheaper than two rooms at some other places but I've never stayed there before and it seems a little away from the action and not much Disney charm to the resort. I have heard good things about Port Orleans so I will look into that as an option for sure. We are planning on bringing our stroller just in case as we know it's a lot of walking doing a day in the parks and sometimes at the resort as well. Having a nice pool area will be nice as we'll have at least one day away from the parks and maybe a few other short breaks in between for naps, etc.

As for the babysitters/parents, we are going to have to push them to enjoy some of their time on their own as it is since they want to be around the grandkids 24/7 and want us to do our own thing. So it's fine for us to be in one unit or adjoining rooms. I'm going to make them take a few breaks just for them wether they like it or not but I know if I push for more than a few they will not be very happy with me.

 

[NaeNae30]

On our last trip in 2010, both my in-laws went with us and we got two rooms at POR and it was nice. They were not connecting rooms but were next to each other. I have to say that even though I love my in-laws very much (my MIL is one of my best friends) I myself like to have some downtime just with my husband and our kid or kids.

Our 5 year old at the time stayed mostly in the room with my in-laws because he cannot stand to be away from them if they're around.

We leave next week and only my MIL is going with us this time so we are staying in a Cars suite at AoA. It still has some seperated areas though so that will be nice.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We had an awesome trip last September with the two of us and our almost 3 year old DD in one room and my parents in a connecting room at WL. We just booked standard view, which saved quite a bit of money, making the upgrade cost from a moderate easier to take. We both requested connecting rooms and mentioned the other reservation number in our requests.
For our families it worked out great. We had our own separate space when we wanted it, and once everyone was up and ready we opened the doors and had connecting rooms for our daughter to go between. While they can't guarantee connecting rooms, they do try and will get you as close as possible if they can't. It worked very nice for everyone in our case.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

In your case I would get 2 rooms at a moderate and ask for them to be connecting.

That way your parents would have their own baby free room yet because they are connecting it would be really easy for them to babysit just by opening the connecting door.

You want to have both rooms linked as well as doing the connecting request.

I love POR and POFQ for moderates and my favorite deluxe is WL although BWI came a close 2nd just for it's wonderful location.

 

[thill]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the suggestions and will likely either get a 2 bedroom sweet at SS or two rooms at POR, POFQ based on everything I've read and the suggestions here. I plan to go ahead and book this week with the knowledge that I can call them back up and get a discount should one show up for the time I'm going. A friend suggested I check out these forums and so far I'm glad that I did.