Questions for a family of five..........

[jimmytammy]

We have friends wanting to plan a trip in Oct. They have five altogether w/ 3 kids age 10 down to 5. They are looking for advice from us but we dont face this being a family of four. So question is where is best place to stay for as few $$s as possible onsite. He is a member of AAA but is there better place to get deeper discount.
I told him I didnt have all the answers he needs but I DO know where I can get some REALLY good answers.
So any advice would be great!!

Jimmy W

 

[bethbuchall]

If they want to stay onsite, the two cheapest options would be an Alligator Bayou room at Port Orleans Riverside (Dixie Landings) with a trundle bed or two rooms at the All-Stars. There really aren't a lot of options for a family of 5 outside the deluxe resorts. That is one thing that always bothers us, too.

I don't know a lot about the discounts, so I will let someone else answer that for you.

Beth

 

[dg39]

I think the only discounts out right now are AAA and maybe florida residence. But, I'm pretty sure 2 rooms at one of the All Star resorts would be the cheapest on site. If your friends don't mind staying dtd the Double Tree Suites have a discount going on til 10/3. Something like 79-89 for a suite per night. Thats pretty cheap. And also the Radission Parkway, which is also a nice place usually runs discounts. If you check out the disboards home page, they have some listings with deals there. Also mousesavers.com has some info on discounts. The CR which is a deluxe may have something, more money than the ones I mentioned but they would be right in the middle of the action and they would all fit in one large room. The rooms in the wings are less expensive than the tower. The tower is pricey. THe Wyndam Palace looks beautiful, while I never stayed there, we did tour it and it looks great. Theres many places that fit all budgets off site, but sometimes it takes alot of research to find one that you really want. Most of them have shuttles to take you too and from the parks, some people like them others have problems. Good luck, I'm sure your friend will find something.....

 

[3for Me]

We are a family of five and we are trying the Dolphin for the first time.
The lady I spoke with said (and these boards have confirmed) that five can fit rather comfortably in one of these rooms. They have an AP rate of $139.00 right now - but only one family member needs to have an AP. If they are staying long enough this might be an option. (There is a breakeven analysis on WDWIG.COM for the annual pass.)

I don't think there will be too many options at this price that are this nice on property - I would definately call soon - the people at the Dolphin are very nice and helpful.

 

[Sammy]

My family of 5 is doing the same thing at 3ForMe....staying at the Dolphin for the first time! Onsite options for a family of 5 are few. Lucky for us, DH is a government employee so we are paying $129 per night. Even with the additional $10 resort fee tacked on, its still less per night that POR right now.....AND we get an awesome location and deluxe accomodations to boot!

The Dolphin has discounts available for Teachers, government employees, nurses, AP holders and Entertainment Book customers. Do your friends qualify for any of these?

Also, Hotel Royal Plaza in the DTD area has great rates through Mousesavers.com. There are some other offsite options listed there as well.

As the previous posters have said, for families of 5, it's either POR with a trundle bed, two rooms at an All Stars, or a nice, big room offsite (maybe Downtown Disney area??)

Good luck!

 

[Pammy jo]

Maybe not as cheap, but last year and this year we rented points from the boards and stayed at a 1 bedroom villa. With 3 children I find it puts the sanity in our vacation to have the extra space. Renting the points makes the villas very reasonably priced and you get deluxe accomadations at that!

 

[goofymom23]

We are a family of five, the same ages as your friends. It is tough on site, the way to go is Port Orleans, or a Deluxe. 2 rooms at AllStars doesn't work well for us either. We tried the Dolphin this past May and were not impressed at all. The rooms were small and we felt like we were overpaying for a Holiday INN. We are going down in September and are staying at Hotel Royal Plaza, these rooms look better than the Dolphin and at a much better price. You could look at the Home Away from Home resorts but again you get pricey. Good luck.

 

[sters]

I've stayed at the Dolphin and, while it has an awesome location, doesn't have that Disney feel to it. We're a family of 5 with young children, so two rooms at the All Star is not an option, which leaves the POR, which I've never stayed at before. I wish Disney would consider larger families who NEED cheaper options even more than smaller ones do. Maybe when they rehab the CBR they can figure out how to do the trundle beds there as well.

 

[swilphil]

We just stayed at the Dolphin and being so close to Epcot, MGM, and Boardwalk gave us plenty of Disney feeling. My in-laws stayed at the Swan with 5 in a room with no problem. It was so great not to have to take busses everywhere, and when you did Swan was the first stop on the route. Swan/Dolphin has a great pool, lots of nice restaurants and you're right next door to the Boardwalk. You get a deluxe room for a moderate rate.

 

[georgina]

Don't forget the cabins at Fort Wilderness. They have a full kitchen, so it is easy to have breakfast, snacks, and an occasional lunch or dinner there.

 

[JACKNAG]

If wind you up staying off site , try the Royal Plaza at DTD, it has two doubles, a sitting area with a two seater couch that opens as a sleeper,.
These rooms were loacated in the tower, Im not sure if all rooms are set up like this. Dont get me wrong DTD is not like onsite but being able to walk to DTD and that makes up a little. And the Royal plaza has some great deals, "check Mousesavers"

Good Luck
Jack

 

[LKS]

It's not a bargain option, but the cheapest way I know to stay in a Deluxe resort with a family of 5 is to get a wing room at the Contemporary. We've done it for 139 or 149 ( I can't remember) with a code. The rooms are the same as the tower rooms and there are two queen beds plus a daybed and plenty of room for 5. It's our favorite on-property resort. We have also done the AKL, but there you have to go for the Deluxe room to fit 5 people and it's definitely more expensive. We have also stayed in the Wilderness cabins and you do get the two rooms, but for us, it feels remote.

 

[missypie]

As the unofficial "vacation planner" for a family of 5, all I can say is thank God for these boards! I wish I could find discussion boards for every location I want to visit.

I find that most travel agents are very unhelpful when trying to sleep 5, automatically assuming that you'll need 2 rooms. I spend countless hours on line myself, trying to find accomodations for our family. Lots of the all suites hotels have only rooms with one king bed and a sofa sleeper, so they don't automatically provide a solution. Expedia will let you search for rooms for 5, but Travelocity won't. Can you tell that this is one of my "issues" in life?

So, whatever the answer, be glad that with respect to a Disney vacation, you can just post and get accurate answers from nice people!

 

[Debbie]

Your friends might want to consider the Holiday Inn Family Suites as an alternative plan, if they have a car. First, it is easy and quick to get to the parks. Yes, you have to consider the parking fee (assuming no one has an annual pass), but breakfast is included, and that outweighs some of the costs. So does having a microwave (my kids love "Mr. Noodle" ) and a refrigerator (frozen water to take to the parks). The hotel is geared for kids. The night time and afternoon programmes are awesome. There is a television in the kids room with a Nintendo, and, (the most important thing to me) a lockable king bed for mom and dad! Since the magic is being with family, itself, I find that the Holiday Inn suited us fine. Deals: check mousesavers, Entertainment rate, winter has the Buy One Get One deal (ie. half price) etc.

Final comment. We've split stays between HIFS and Dixie and Beach Club. My kids-all five of them-prefer HIFS for the room that they have, the activities, and the fun!

 

[undertheradar]

We are a family of five with kids ages 12,7,5. Onsite the options are limited at best. We are staying in a FWCabin this trip. Our first night is at HIFS(Reward Night), and we are then checking into Grande Vista for 6 nights(2 bdrm villa at Marriott Rewards rate of $137. per night). Due to the added space of the vacation villas, I suggest looking into these. We will have full kitchen,2 bathrooms, living rm, dining rm,w/d, two patios- 1 screened and 3 tvs for in the evenings. Onsite, comparable rooms were over 3 x as much. We plan on doing 1 character bkst and 1 dinner, with occasional counter serve lunches.

 

[Laurabearz]

We are new to being a family of 5 but I feel their pain already. Two of my friends (both with 4 kids each) swear by connecting rooms at the ASR. They say the two bathrooms make everything run smoothly. Plus the theming there is over the top Disney!

 

[luvndisney358]

We are a family of five as well and we always stayed at FW. We love the quiet wooded surroundings, the paper thrown on your doorstep in the morning and we LOVE to go sailing through the campground on the rented golf cart we always get.

Last time we drove down from NJ, stayed in Jacksonville overnight for one night, then headed on to Orlando. Saved almost $2,000 in airfare, and the kids weren't too antsy being that they were 14, 12 & 10 respectively. We brought some groceries and there is a wonderful grocery store right by Downtown Disney area too, so it was fine. If you do opt for FW, try to NOT buy your groceries in the Trading Posts. It was astronomical in price!

We might make a quick jaunt there again but I am looking at getting two rooms at one of the AS resorts. FW can be pricey but still I love it so much..............lovely water show at night too and what can you say about HOOP-DE-DOO that is bad huh?

Good luck!

 

[catwho]

Originally posted by missypie
I find that most travel agents are very unhelpful when trying to sleep 5, automatically assuming that you'll need 2 rooms. I spend countless hours on line myself, trying to find accomodations for our family. Lots of the all suites hotels have only rooms with one king bed and a sofa sleeper, so they don't automatically provide a solution.

I hear you!!!! 5 is one of those odd numbers. A family of 5 seems sort of stuck with few inexpensive options. We either have to get 2 rooms for that one extra person or we have to go to a more expensive resorts to accomodate that one extra person. Now if that person was a wage earner I wouldn't mind paying the extra for another room or a deluxe room, but when there is one and a half incomes for 5 people, it just doesn't work!

The last time we stayed at AS (with my parents so we did have 2 rooms for 7 people) we still ended up only using 3 of the beds. I had 2 kids in bed with me, my folks in one bed in their own room and my xh in the third bed with the other kid.

 

[missypie]

You know, it really isn't just a problem for families of 5 or more. My friend is a widow with a 13 year old son and a 15 year old daughter. The kids certainly don't want to sleep together and don't want to sleep with her either. Even though there are only 3 of them, they need 3 beds.

 

[funhouse8]

Is your friend a camper? We are a family of six. stayed once in the fort wilderness cabins for 250 per night. Lovely but very pricey.Next visit we stayed at HIFS. this a great suite hotel.we couldn't believe how close we were to disney and the free breakfast was the best. The suite had a freezer so we froze water over night for the parks. But this year we are driving down and staying in the campground with our pop up.Total cost for 11 days- 505.00 for the six of us. Can you believe that, I spent all today trying to find hotel rooms cheap enough so we don't have to camp. (My older daughters idea) Our only concern with camping is we don't have our own bathroom but I"ll just request to be near when when I checkin.