Staying onsite with big family (thoughts)?

[Ericshow]

Looking for opinions on staying offsite or on, for our upcoming trip. Here are the details so you can share your informed opinions :

1. 4 Adults/3 kids (9 and under), 2nd trip to WDW (7days).
2. Trip is third week of October (not very busy)
3. Not early risers and since we are going in "off season", I dont think "extra hours" will mean anything for us anyway.
4. Last trip stayed at SSR, liked it, but spent a fortune
5. Have own car and made it back and forth easily last trip

So the question is, do I spend $500 or more per night for SSR, WLV, or Beach Club Villas.....or save the money and stay offsite at a equally nice location? (at SSR, its just like being offsite (theme, etc) and we dont use transportation anyway). Bottom line, I just want my kids to have fun! If that means stay onsite, fine, if that means save $1500 and buy more "stuff" thats fine as well.

Thoughts?

 

[laughinplace199]

Have you considered renting points from a DVC member? You can get a much better deal on the villas by renting through a member instead of renting through Disney.

My kids are 10, 8, and 3. They love AKV & BCV. We're trying BLT for the first time this spring. I'm looking forward to being able to walk to MK!

 

[puffkin]

I just helped my friends book a Disney trip and they have a similar group (4 adults and 5 kids 10 and under). The oldest qualified for a national dance competition and they decided to make a family vacation out of it. This is their first visit. Since they will have thier own vehicle (actually 2) they decided the best option was to rent a home in Windsor Hills. Their trip is in July so no first hand reports yet, but it looks gorgeous! It was under $2000 for the week and is 6 bedrooms (3 are disney themed) with a pool and game room plus all the facilities at Windsor Hills. Actually their BIL and SIL might fly in for a few days too since they have so much room. They plan on eating breakfast and early dinners at the house and just carrying in snacks to the parks. I think they have 2 character meals planned too. I think it will be a great set up for them and their first trip with such a large family.

 

[4forMe]

Another vote for Windsor Hills!

We usually stay offsite. Last year was our first trip onsite. We did a split stay between Bay Lake Towers and Saratoga Springs. Though we had a great time, I just can not justify the cost again. We stayed in a private home in Windsor Hills in 2007 and plan to do that again next year. If EMH is not important, I would highly recommend staying offsite and saving money. You will get much more space and comfort for a lot less money.

Windsor Hills is less than a two mile drive to access World Drive. It's only a 5 minute drive to Animal Kingdom. The community pool area is wonderful. There's a zero entry area as well as a great waterslide that my kids loved (48" height requirement). We still loved having the private pool with our house as well as the hot tub that we used after returning from the parks. Most of the rental homes also have a game room which included a PS2, air hockey table, pool table, etc. My kids LOVED the game room!

I would suggest a 4 BR, 4 Bath home for the size of your group. We usually have 3 adults and 4 kids with us on our trips and this size house was perfect for us!

Here are some links to companies that have homes available in Windsor Hills:

www.floridasunvacationhomes.com
www.allstarvacationhomes.com
www.windsorhillsrent.com

Here is a link if you are interested in renting privately by owner:

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/florida/central-disney-orlando/kissimmee/west#a2568

Good luck planning your trip!

 

[klacey1]

We travelled with 8 other people in 2008 and stayed at the Marriott Grande Vista-- beautiful, beautiful resort with a great pool that the kids in the group loved (and amazing, decently-priced poolside bar. We made a dinner out of the pool bar menu-- great price and atmosphere). You can also rent DVD's to watch in your room for free. We stayed in two separate two bedroom villas. We had so much space, and with the different bedrooms, the kids could get to bed at a decent hour and the adults could stay up in the kitchen/living room and hang out. Highly recommend it-- much better than Disney prices for such a big group.

 

[katied]

I would look at either renting DVC points, or booking Windsor Hills. I'm a DVC owner, but 2 years ago we were out of points and did a trip at Windsor Hills. We loved the pool area, and the playground was great for little ones. The drive was easy to the parks (not as easy as walking from BLT... but better than waiting for some of the busses). We had a 3 bedroom unit, with 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, w/d, balcony, etc. Lots of space and in mid-Oct, the cost worked out to around $75/nite! A PP wrote about the homes, which would give your group even more space than the condo.

I recommended Windosr Hills to a work colleage of mine visiting from Switzerland. They loved it, and had a great time at WDW, plus enjoyed the space it provided for 2 adults and 3 little ones (oldest was 6 for them).

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

we went down in Dec and stayed 3 nights at Bahama Bay Resort, we got a 3bdr condo for 109.00 a night. HTH.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Don't underestimate the October crowds. It is not as slow as it once was!

 

[Samar]

You could try booking 2 value rooms that connect. If you stay off site, factor in the cost of parking into your off site pricing.

 

[Skyw]

How about the Cabins at Fort Wilderness? That is where we stay. We really enjoy it. You can park your car right up to the front of the cabin. Each cabin has room for 6. There is a lot to do there too. Except for food. There is no counter service so hitting the publix before you go is a good idea. Check out the camping boards for more info and search cabins.

 

[turnerx6]

Hi Lori,
I tried to send you a personal message - but it wouldn't let me. I am SO new to these boards, I dont know what im doing! lol

Anyway. i wanted to reach out and give you a (((HUG))). I see that you too are an "angel mommy". We lost our precious 5 month old daughter in Oct 2007...Im sorry for your losses. I would love to get to know you better if you are up for it.

God bless,
Kelly

 

[njgeneral]

Have you considered renting points from a DVC member? You can get a much better deal on the villas by renting through a member instead of renting through Disney.

My kids are 10, 8, and 3. They love AKV & BCV. We're trying BLT for the first time this spring. I'm looking forward to being able to walk to MK!

So in agreement here. That is how we stayed at OKW last year. 2 families with 4 kids total. Perfect for us. Other option, Sheraton Vistana. We stayed there last September and it was wonderful plus very close to the parks and DTD. In fact, closer than most onsite resorts. Only, downfall... paying for parking everyday. You will need to budget it in.

We are renting points again this April for a stay @ Vero Beach. Look into first and then determine what to do.

 

[bellebud]

we went the 3rd week of oct in 09 - 9 of us (4 kids, 5 adults). 8 of us shared a 2 bedroom villa at the boardwalk, and my mom got a studio there. expensive, yes, but the convenience of disney transportation when we split up was so worth it! the parks were ok crowd-wise... not empty, not packed. we had considered an off-site house/condo, but I didn't want to be tied to all coming and going together, even if we had 2 cars amoungst us. Even my family of 4 occasionally splits up (dh & ds get tired of the parks and go do other things, dd and myself don't). Just really think about if you guys might want to split up or not - if not, I think offsite would be fine.

 

[wondermomamy]

We (family of 6 - 2 adults, 2 teens, 2 kids) just books a house at Windsor Hills for our stay in October. I like to have some quiet time and I'm most looking forward to having space to move about. The kids are excited about the pool and game room.

Another time we stayed in a house - in July -and we found we were often pretty happy to just go back to the house and chill out.

 

[Ericshow]

Thanks for all the feedback friends. Not quite sure yet, but I think BCV or Old Key west! Onsite for sure.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

You might want to consider renting points for SSR and staying at the Tree House Villas. They rent like a two bedroom (same amount of points) but there are actually three bedrooms.

 

[badblackpug]

You didn't post the ages of the kids, but if at least one of them is under 3 check out the family suites at All star Music. (they accommodate 6 over the age of 3) We are a family of 6, and we stay there every year. You could also look into connecting rooms at any of the values. I think it depends on how you like to "do" your vacation if you stay onsite or off. We like the dining plan (vacation is all paid for ahead of time!) We also never rent a car and rely solely on WDW transport. While it is cheaper to stay offsite we figure we make up the difference in meals (kids are BIG eaters) and rental car and parking fees.

 

[Ericshow]

thanks again for the feedback, we are going to rent points and stay at BCV..