Resort with 2 Year Old

[mprice78]

We are trying to plan a trip to DW in May with our son, who will be almost 2 at that point. We are having a lot of difficulty picking out a resort.

We definitely want to stay on site, since we know we'll likely be going back to our room for a mid-day nap most days. Since our son is too young to care much about Disney 'themed' decor we were considering staying at the Dolphin. We also thought the Dolphin would be nice location since it's near Epcott and DHS. However, in the Disney book we got the Dolphin got pretty bad reviews, and I've seen a lot recently on trip advisor too, so we're exploring other options.

We are trying to keep our costs down, so right now we're considering one of the All Stars resorts, Pop Century, POR, and the AK villas (Through DVC rentals). All of these are cheaper than a week at the Dolphin. Our concern with all of these is longer travel times to and from parks, and less dining options within walking distance. Would anyone who's done DW with very young toddlers provide any insight into which resorts would work best? Thanks for any help.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Never had a toddler with me, but we stayed at both the Swan and Dolphin and they were both very nice.

Take your Trip Advisors reviews with a grain of salt. I try to make mine very positive or at least negate some of the very negative ones when I stay at those places. I've never had a horrible stay except for a place in Santa Fe. And you can find that review on Trip Advisor.

 

[twinboysmom]

I have 2 year old twin boys and went 3 times last year when they were 18 months, 23 months, and 25 months. We stayed at VWL, all star movies, and the treehouse villas. Honestly, the treehouse villas are about as inconvenient as you can get and we had no problems. I think you will be fine at whatever resort you choose.

As for trip advisor, I wouldn't look at it too much. If you choose to attempt a Dvc rental and it is for this May, I would recommend making a decision very quickly. You are well within the 7 month window for dvc bookings and your choices will be limited.

 

[SusieBea]

We are trying to plan a trip to DW in May with our son, who will be almost 2 at that point. We are having a lot of difficulty picking out a resort.

We definitely want to stay on site, since we know we'll likely be going back to our room for a mid-day nap most days. Since our son is too young to care much about Disney 'themed' decor we were considering staying at the Dolphin. We also thought the Dolphin would be nice location since it's near Epcott and DHS. However, in the Disney book we got the Dolphin got pretty bad reviews, and I've seen a lot recently on trip advisor too, so we're exploring other options.

We are trying to keep our costs down, so right now we're considering one of the All Stars resorts, Pop Century, POR, and the AK villas (Through DVC rentals). All of these are cheaper than a week at the Dolphin. Our concern with all of these is longer travel times to and from parks, and less dining options within walking distance. Would anyone who's done DW with very young toddlers provide any insight into which resorts would work best? Thanks for any help.

I would suggest the AKV. We took our DGS who was not quite 2 1/2 at the time. The animals were a real hit with him. The pools have wonderful play areas for small children. We had no problems with the busses. If you're in a villa and depending upon whether you choose a studio or larger, you will have access to some kitchen facilities and a washer and dryer which are helpful with a small child. Good luck.

 

[Belle83]

You probably have already ruled it out, but we loved the Dolphin! There are so many dining options within walking distance. It never mattered to me before, but we were at our hotel quite a bit last trip (due to knee issues), so having lots of restaurants nearby was awesome. It was also pretty sweet to be able to have walking/boat access to Epcot & HS.

 

[*MomTo2Princesses*]

Our 2-year-old (and our 5-year-old for that matter) absolutely LOVED AKL! Since we went in September she has constantly asked to go back to "her hotel." I know lots of people think AKL is so inconvient, but we really didn't think so. The zero entry pool at Jambo is very nice, and the splash area at Kidani is great for that age. ODD loved the water slide at Jambo but YDD didn't, so the little baby slide at Kidani was perfect for her. The animals are amazing to look at, and they make for such a fun nap time. While the little ones rested DH and I would enjoy some time together on the balcony watching the animals and relaxing, and it was so peaceful. Dining is great there too!

 

[browneyedgrl4282]

I have 3 year old twins and a 2 year with children we have stayed POFQ, CBR, CSR,POP, and OKW. You really need to decide how much time you really think you will be at the hotel, if you think you won't be there a lot I would go with value or moderate. The deluxe are nice but if you don't spend any time there other than sleep, it won't be worth it.

If you are trying to save money out of all the value ones I would say POP because they have their own bus systems unlike the All star resorts.

We LOVE CSR but if you pick that resort there are no elevators so I would recommend requesting ground floor. It is a larger resort though but not as large as CBR.

CBR - I would NOT recommend this one because of the size alone and I found this one gets really crowded.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Everybody has their favorites but we really liked out stay at POR with DS6 and DS22 months at the time. It really depends what category you are looking to stay in and what amenities you consider important. What time of year you are going and what you are willing to put up with. I will say when I read and write trip adviser reports I look for consistency in the reviews. I ignore the stuff that seems like a personal gripe (bad view or food flavor) and look for stuff that is a recurring theme like dirty rooms or poor customer service.

 

[Jenngoofys]

If you are trying to keep costs down I suggest an All Star resort, Maybe Movies (even if your child isnt into the disney decorations they may like the Doggies at the Dalmation hotel) If you are using Disney transportation the All star resorts are great as well. Pop is the size of the 3 all star resorts put together and all those people trying to cram on one bus is not so fun As far as Value they basically have 2 beds a bathroom and a TV, each hotel has 1 -2 pools avaialble, and All star music is within walking distance and has a movie by the pool each night. As far as food each All Star resort has a food court with a variety of foods. www.allears.net check out disney world dining here. Hope this helps you Have a great trip!!

 

[spiceycat]

pop has 2,880 rooms

each all star has 1,920 - well music has less because of the suites

would go with Pop - the decorations are great for his age - but the same thing can be say about All stars.

if you need or want a hot tub - then POFQ is also designed for little kids - it has a swimming pool/slide that he will love.

to me Pop has the better design - the food court/bus are in the central part of the resort.

60's in the middle, 50's on one side (my favorite area), 70's on the other - 80's and 90's are over to the side of the 70's - so you can walk thru the parking lot to get to the central area.

 

[shopgirl78]

We did POR with my 23 month old the first time we went and will be doing POLY with my 26 month old this time. Really, I nor my kids had anything to compare it too (it was our first trip)...they just had a blast and was sooo happy to be in Disney (once we got there. The car ride, they wanted to turn around and go home...). I think its sort of different for #2 and #3 children (which are waht mine are) because my kids totally look to their older siblings and base their reactions on them, KWIM? I can see it being different for a first child.

We only used our hotel to sleep in (well and swim a couple of times) and brought the PNP for DS2 and are barrowing one this trip. We spent all day at the parks (let DS crash in the stroller) and came back when we were ready.

We really enjoyed the breakfast at POR. They had a huge lego table and coloring pages that allowed us to eat when they were done (we had to get our food in shifts). It was a QS--we were on the dining plan.

I do think the AKL would have been neat for that age. I have also heard that kids really like the brightness of All Stars/Pop.

I can see where a zero entry pool would be benefical although we didn't have one it all worked out...

POR felt like a lot of walking but were relatively close (#18). I think it was the August heat and pregnancy. The buses were sometimes a wait...

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We stayed at All Star Movies when our youngest was 2 and our oldest was 6. The kids really liked the big figures and the pool.

It's also been refurbished recently so that might be a good option for you.

 

[mom2clr]

I took my oldest DD at 2 weeks shy of her 2nd birthday for 10 days. (I traveled alone with her.) We stayed at POFQ. We would get up whenever she did and head over to the parks. No issues with buses ever. Only twice in the entire trip did we share with POR. We didn't do mid-day breaks as it was January so the hours were shorter, but being able to get on the boat to Downtown Disney in the evenings if we were up for it, was great.

 

[2goofykiddos]

I agree with the recommendations for POFQ. We went with our 4 year old and 15month old last year. Busses were great, pool was fabulous. Not too much walking and the boat to DTD is wonderful!

 

[Disney grandma]

Our family stayed at the Dolphin when our grandson was 2 and we all loved it. It was so cute whenever we would travel around the area, our grandson would see the giant Dolphins on top of the hotel and would immediately point out our "home". We also have stayed at AKLV and would choose that for room convenience and also the bus trip wasn't bad to the parks. I would choose either of these over a value, one of the reasons being room size, and I prefer indoor corridors opening up to the rooms. Good luck, but if you do choose the Dolphin I think you will love it too.

 

[mprice78]

Thanks for all of the good advice. We have decided to stay at POFQ. While I still like the idea of the Dolphin because of location my wife was too wary of the review from our book and the trip advisor reviews. We decided on POFQ over POR because of the number of complaints about the buses at POR. I know a lot of people had great bus experiences there, but there were a lot more complaints about POR buses than POFQ. I think Kidani village in AK would have been really nice, but my wife was turned off by the idea of no regular mousekeeping. Maybe we'll try that next time when we're planning a trip a little further out. (Right now there was just a standard view studio left, since we are well within the 6 month ideal window)

I'll make sure to post an update on this thread about our experience in another 80 days or so in case it might help out others with toddlers

 

[disneymomjcs]

Kidani would be daily housekeeping if you are paying for the room and not renting points.

I love POR and POFQ and have stayed there many times. We took our daughter there for her first stay. She loved the pools especially being able to use both the Ole Swimming home and the Serpent pool. The quiet pools were nice too!

She mostly sleep in the stoller she was exhausted. So we would find a quiet area. When we were at Magic Kingdom we would go in Carousel of Progress ....great place to nap. Also Tom sawyer island. We would take the monorail and have lunch at one of the resorts and while looking around she would fall asleep.

We have stayed at POR, POFQ, ASM, ASMU, PC, PR, WL, VWL, BCV, SSR, CSR, Swan, AKV Jambo and Kidani. We love all of them but for different reasons.

Two of our favorites AKL AKV and BCV love the pools.

We love the short trip to Animal Kingdom from Kidani/Jambo. They both have great restaurants. Our favorite Boma Breakfast at AKV and and zero clearance to enter the pool for little ones.

Cape May Cafe at BCV and the best little water park in Flordia being close to Epcot and the studios.

I could write a book .....no matter where you stay your kids will have a great time....