POR vs. Fort Wilderness Cabin for family of 5

[Cherta]

HI everyone,

I currently have a room booked at the POR, but I'm very concerned about the trundle (it looks small in all the pics I've seen). My children are older (ds-16, dd-13, dd-9), so I'm concerned that we will not all "fit" in this room (btw, my son is 6'3", middle dd is 5'6", and my youngest dd is 5'-they are definitely not "height challenged"! ) I would like for everyone to sleep comfortably, if possible. The ASMu family suites are all booked, so the only option is a cabin at Fort Wilderness.

Has anyone stay at both? If so, do you think it's worth the extra money to book the cabin? Or do you think that the POR room will be okay for my family of "giants"?

Any and all opinions are welcome.....

 

[stacy6552]

I have not satyed at FW. But with bigger kids I would stay there over POR. You get way more space and you and DH can have a bit of privacy sleeping in the livingroom. You can get a 25% discount with AAA, which makes it almost the same price as POR and with the kitchen you can save alot just by having cereal in the mornings alot of the days, if not more with other meals.

 

[bradisgoofy]

If I'm payin, the kids are sleeping on the murphy bed!

 

[Buzz2001]

I stayed at FW in 2000. It depends if you like that type of theme, the pool was a bit boring and the transportation was confusing for the first few days. There was a murphy bed in the living room, bunk beds and a full size bed in the bedroom. The one bathroom is tough but you would have the same thing at POR.

Check out this site.
http://home.hiwaay.net/~jlspence/faq_fw.htm

 

[baseballmom3]

What about 2 connecting rooms in an All Star Resort?

 

[Sorsha]

The trundle at PO is very small. My 6 yr old and my 4 yr old took turns sleeping on it, and they were pretty comfy, but I would not recommend it for anyone bigger than that. My 13 yr old laid down on it just to see what it was like and there was NO WAY she could have slept on it. Think "slightly oversized crib mattress" directly on the floor.

For reference, here is a pic of my 4 yr old sleeping on it. She is small for her age, and was 38 inches tall and wore size 3T/4T clothes at the time.

 

[Cherta]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies! It was especially helpful to see the picture, Sorsha.

baseballmom3-I thought about the 2 connecting rooms, but we are going at the end of March (spring break), and everything seems to be booked. I'll keep checking (just in case there's a cancellation).

Buzz2001-Yeah, I thought about the theme, but I'll deal with it if I can be assured of a good night's sleep!

Thanks again!

 

[CheshireVal]

If you can't get connecting rooms somewhere, then I think FW would be your best fit.

I like the cabins and love the atmosphere at FW!

 

[ElizabethB]

At FW Cabins we felt a golf cart was a necessity for getting around. Otherwise, you have to take two buses, in order to get to the boat to go to MK. Way too much commuting for us.
A golf cart adds $50 per day -- an outrageous price, but WDW has a monopoly obviously.
We weren't crazy about FW, generally, but the cabins are quite comfortable for a family.

 

[Vickis3js]

I have stayed in FW when I was a teen with my parents an 2 sisters. There was plenty of room for us all and the kitchen was nice we almost always had breakfast before we left for the parks for the day. It was pre dining plan so it was a money saver. Like another poster said we needed to get a golf cart. It was a hike from our cabin to the boat and the closest bus stop to where we were was a nice walk as well.

We priced POR, FW, and 2 rooms at pop for my family, which is also a family of 5 but my kids are all under 8. We went with the 2 rooms at POP it really was only $100 more then POR and it was about $2000 less then FW. So I would keep trying to see if there is anything available at the values.

Good luck and enjoy your trip

 

[Tink415]

If you prefer POR for the atmosphere and amenities you could bring an aerobed and use that instead of the trundle. We've done that when we had 5 at POR and it worked fine. I don't like the trundle myself. We've either put the aerobed in a suitcase or one of the kids carries it as a carry-on.

We've stayed at both POR and FW and both have there good points. If you're only concern with POR is that everyone has a comfy bed, get an aerobed, it should cost less than the room difference. Good luck!

 

[MS_mom_1965]

This may not be a popular answer, but...

With your children's ages, and given the fact that you have boys AND girls, have you thought about renting a condo off-site? Windsor Hills or something similar?

You could get a 2 or 3 bedroom condo with 2 bathrooms for the same price or less than a cabin at FW, I believe.

 

[MinnieGi]

My family loved FW cabins! Being in the campground was very peaceful. It really felt like you were in a totally different place away from the parks. Yet we were only a boat ride away from MK! We did rent a golf cart which our family loved! It is expensive but defenitely worth it and the kids thought it was SO cool.

 

[Cherta]

After taking in all the great advice, I decided to book two connecting rooms at the Pop resort. After comparing prices, I just couldn't justify paying the extra money for the cabin (although they do look quite nice). Also, the fact that we will have two bathrooms and more room to "spread out" made booking the rooms at the Pop a slam dunk for me.

Thanks again everyone-I know I can always count on the DIS experts to sort it all out for me!

ETA: MS mom 1965-we stayed at the Holiday Family Suites (now called the Nickelodeon Suites, I believe) the last time we traveled to WDW (in 2001), and although it was a very nice hotel, I vowed to stay on-site if we ever decided to return (just can't beat the free AND continuous bus transportation at WDW!).

 

[ConcKahuna]

At FW Cabins we felt a golf cart was a necessity for getting around. Otherwise, you have to take two buses, in order to get to the boat to go to MK. Way too much commuting for us.
A golf cart adds $50 per day -- an outrageous price, but WDW has a monopoly obviously.
We weren't crazy about FW, generally, but the cabins are quite comfortable for a family.

If you were taking 2 busses to get to the baot, you were doing something wrong. It could be why you didnt enjoy your stay as much