Please give me any and all recommendations for a family of 5

[Lovemy3babes]

Scenario: Two adults, child (10), child (9) and child (6). This is for a future trip. Had a personal in real life disaster for a trip we planned for November 2007 so this will now be a trip in 2009 most likely. What hotels can we stay in? What room scenarios? How about DVC rentals with points? Suites? (A family of 5 is just so big according to Disney!) I appreciate all of your input!

 

[sjlupin]

We are 2 adults and 3 kids as well. One of my pet peeves about Disney (and many other places) is the lack of choices if you have more than 2 kids!

You have the deluxes that can accomodate 5 in one room. In the moderates, the only one is Port Orleans Riverside in the rooms that have the trundle. We did this once and it was pretty good. Other than that, you have to do 2 rooms or go to a suite as you mentioned. I don't know much about those. A friend of mine with a family of 6 got a place at Old Key West, which I think was a DVC rental.

We are staying at the Poly this time. My kids are now 12, 11 and 8. We are also doing a 3 night DCL and are getting 2 connecting rooms.

Good luck!

 

[stephbillalec]

Subbing...
Youngest ds will be 3 when we take our next trip so he'll bump our count up to five!

 

[magicmouse2]

Your cheapest option is Port Orleans Riverside Alligator Bayou Section.

 

[fiveforall]

Our family of five (kids ages 12, 10, and 7) has done the following:

two rooms at All Star Music (never again)

Dolphin (great, but the beds were too small. I got a nice discount there.)

offsite at Hard Rock Hotel (phenomenal---can't wait to do it again---huge rooms and bathroom)

offsite at Royal Pacific Resort (good)

offsite at Vistana (wonderful. I'd do it again, but DH doesn't like the drive)

You really have to go deluxe, get two rooms at a Value, a family suite at Music, do the trundle bed thing at POR, or stay offsite. I've never done the DVC. We tend to spend more days at US/IOA, so the past trips we've stayed at one of there resorts and gone to Disney for a few days.

 

[Lilolvr]

Fort Wilderness Cabins
All Star Suites

 

[McKeeFamily3]

definitely check into renting DVC point! We did this, rented enough points for a week long stay at a 2 bedroom at OKW for $1200- this was in thier least expensive season (DVC seasons are different that regular disney hotel seasons) and it was a few years ago. However it is still a great deal at $10 a point no matter the season. We really enjoyed our stay, OKW is beautiful, the 2 bedroom unit was HUGE and truley made the vacation more enjoyable. Also you can save a ton of money by being able to prepare meals in your own kitchen and doing laundry in your own washer and dryer.
Good luck!

 

[lov2b@disney]

We've stayed at poly with our 3 boys- the newer rooms are bigger and we fit just fine!

Our next trip is at BC, hoping for something similar

 

[LilGMom]

You have the deluxes that can accomodate 5 in one room. In the moderates, the only one is Port Orleans Riverside in the rooms that have the trundle.

Just a little FYI, while most of the standard rooms in the Deluxes sleep five you would have to upgrade to a Deluxe Room at the WL.

If you rent points for a DVC room you'd need to get a two bedroom and those sleep six, the one bedrooms and studios both have occupancy levels of four people.

 

[fan1080]

We are a family of 5.

Our last two trips:

1. July 2008: POR, Alligator Bayou with trundle. Worked fine for us, resort was very nice.

2. Feb 2006: 2 rooms at All Star Movies, we split with my brother's family of 3, 4 to a room, connecting rooms. This works great if you are traveling with friends or other family members and you don't mind value accomodations. We booked one of our children in their room.

We are going next month too. We are traveling with friends this time, family of 3, and we booked two rooms at Pop. We are at Disney for the parks more so than accomodations. I look at the resort as nothing more than a place to lay my head down for the night. Some enjoy, and appreciate, the luxurious accomodations. It's a matter of preference.

If we were traveling alone as a family of 5, I would book either the family suite at a value resort, or go with POR or similarly priced moderate.

We always stay at a Disney Resort. Again, that's just preference.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions so far! Having 3 children makes me feel like a leper or something by Disney standards. Geesh.

 

[frdeb1999]

We always stay at the Poly and never have any problems. The rooms are quite large and as our 3 dd's are older....we deffinately need the extra space. Plenty of room though for everything and a wonderful resort. Good luck planning!

 

[mkhc67]

At the CSR you can get a JR suite... two rooms... one room has either two doubles or a king, the other room has a murphy bed queen sized. you get two bathrooms, and the price for the two rooms is less than a One BR at SS and less than some of the regular rooms at the deluxes depending on the time of your visit. I havent stayed in them yet but have reservations in June 08. Good luck on your planning.

 

[traceyr13]

Just waving hi as another family of 5 trying to figure this out myself! (for a March 2009 trip). I really would like to do the Polynesian, but am unsure if it's in the budget - it seems like it's about 150 more a night than the other options? (2 rooms at a value/All Star suite). Port Orleans just doesn't appeal to me. I would really like to be on the monorail, but oy, the cost.

Decisions, decisions...

Good luck in figuring this out!

Tracey

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

We always go with 2 connecting rooms at POP. That way you have two showers, sinks, etc. It's worked great for us!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

DVC 2 BR villas sleep 8. 1BR and studios sleep 4.

However, the new Animal Kingdom Villas 1BR sleep 5 (the Value ones only sleep 4) and the 2BR sleep 9 (again, values only sleep 8).

So with 5, you would need a 2BR at any DVC resort. AKV, you would only need a 1BR, as long as you did not get a value room.

One thing to keep in mind if you want to rent points from a DVC member: The member controls the reservation. You will not be able to contact DVC member services for ANYTHING. If you want the DDP or ME, the member must call and get that for you. For some people, that is the kicker for renting points.

All DVC villas can be booked through regular reservations if available, except for some specific views (like standard or boardwalk view at the BW villas).

 

[Aliceacc]

My youngest will be 5 when we bring the kids for the first time in August.

I was leaning towards either POR with the trundle bed or a family suite at ASM.

But I kept going back to the Contemporary, and the incredible convenience of getting onto a monorail or even walking a tired child back for a swim or a nap. In the end, it came out to something like $400 more total for a garden room in the Contemporary. Well worth the extra convenience!

 

[Aliceacc]

Sorry, double post. Serves me right for being on the computer this early!

 

[scooby91287]

We are also a family of 5 and had to make the same decision for May '08. Last time down we stayed at CS b/c of grandparents in adjoining room we just registered one child with them. What we did learn from that year was we loved the buses there (never crowded) and having a food court when we came back late and just wanted to get something to eat for in the room. This time no grandparents and I wanted as little stress as possible on me (mom's vacation as well as the rest of the family) and my DH wanted best transportation to the different worlds. We decided against POR (too many bad reviews on bus transportation). Then it was between 2 rooms at POP or one at Dolphin (would love Poly but too expensive). Prices worked out about the same once you added parking and a cot to Dolphin. I posted a question about stress level here on DIS and was told while POP was good with 2 rooms it was definitely NOT stress free. Dolphin much calmer and beds nicer. Also DH liked Dolphin's location better being right at Epcot and a boat ride from MGM. Bus service had good feed back and many eating options not only in Dolphin but also at Boardwalk which is right there. Can't wait till May!

 

[bouncy54]

Have you considered renting a vacation villa near WDW? You can get some really nice homes with private pool for a very good price.

We stayed 8 nights in a 4-bedroom home with a game room and pool for $900 a couple of years ago. It was nice having a washer and dryer, full-size fridge, microwave, stove, 2 bathrooms and having the private-fenced pool was wonderful. We swam every evening after returning from the parks.

The only down side is that we weren't surrounded by Disney 24/7, but we really didn't feel we missed out on anything by not staying in the park. Honestly...after spending 10-12 hours in each other's company, we were ready to go to our seperate rooms and veg out for the rest of the night.