Suite for large family???

[RIGrandpa]

Planing a trip in Oct. 2003. Wife and I, daughter and son-in-law, son and daughter-in-law and their two kids. We would like a place on property if possible that would be like a suite instead of three seperate rooms. Anyone know what may be an option, prices, has anyone tried this and how did it work out? Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Captain Hook]

I would look into OLd Key West, the three bedroom grand villa can sleep up to 12 with three bathrooms also the Boardwalk

 

[RIGrandpa]

How do I get an idea of what the prices are for these rooms? They do not seem to be listed in the book that I have on WDW.

 

[Chuck S]

I'm not sure if prices are listed on the official Disney.com site for DVC properties or not. You may also consider renting points from DVC members on the DVC rent/trade board.

 

[SuiteDisney]

Suites at Disney are very expensive! I would check into a two or three bedroom villa at Old Key West, the Boardwalk Villas, Wilderness Lodge Villas or Beach Club Villas. A 2-bedroom villa sleeps 8 and a 3-bedroom villa sleeps 12.

 

[Janet2k]

RIGrandpa, suites are a fun way to have a family vacation. My family has stayed in various suites at the Grand Floridian, Yacht Club, and Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have also stayed in villas (the Disney Vacation Club version of suites) at the BoardWalk Villas and Old Key West. The main difference between a suite and a villa is the fact that you'll have a kitchen and washer/dryer in a villa, whereas in a suite you won't (some suites do have a mini-kitchen but not a full-blown one). I have some photos posted of some of the suites that I have stayed in at WDW: click here to go to my main on-line album.

If you're looking for suite and villa pricing, please contact the Dreams Unlimited folks (the owner of the Dis website) and ask them for pricing:
click here to go to the Dreams Unlimited Travel website.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to post them here or "PM" me.

 

[Janet2k]

I should have mentioned to you that I have had family & friends stay with my family in both suites & villas on numerous vacations. I just love vacationing that way (it's my favorite way). We have been joined by my sister's family, my parents, and a few of my friends and/or their significant others. Those vacations have been priceless -- I wouldn't have changed a thing about them for the world.

 

[Janet2k]

RIGrandpa, I was just on the *official* WDW website. Disney does have suite prices stated for 2003, please check it out. Click here to go to official WDW Deluxe Resorts' webpage.

 

[drusba]

You have 8 and thus you could go with a 2BR villa at Old Key West, BoardWalk Villas, Beach Club Villas, or Villas of Wilderness Lodge. OKW and BWV also have three bedroom villas (they are called Grand Villas) but they are significantly more expensive than the 2BR. Disney's prices for the villas are shown on its sight --www.disneyworld.com and then go to the "resorts", then home away from home resorts, and then check each one for its rates. For the 2BR you are looking at about $550 to $690 a night depending on resort (2BR "suites" at the hotels will run significantly more than that); the 3BR Grand Villas are in the $1100 to $1300 per night range. The 2BR's have living room, kitchen, w/d, large master BR and bath, second bath in the second bedroom and pull out queen in the living room. They are about 1100 sg ft at BWV, VWL, and BCV, and about 1400 at OKW (the 3BR's are mini mansions at over 2000 sg ft). You can also potentially get one of those villas for significantly less by going to the Disney Vacation Club Rent/Trade board on this site. Those are DVC (timeshare) resorts and owners often rent on that board.

 

[Gillian]

When we've travelled with family, it works best if everyone has their own room. It's nice to have a place where you can go & shut the door! For this reason, we wouldn't choose a 2 bedroom with 3 couples. Also, in our family, none of the early risers like to stay up late, so it would be hard to figure out who to put in the living room/kitchen area.

You've got a lot of good information here. If you decide you still want a suite arrangement, but do not want to pay the onsite price, go over to the Orlando hotels board & you will get plenty of help finding an offsite condo or home rental. They are a lot less expensive (under $200/night for 3 BR), often very nice, but lacking the onsite ammenities (transportation is the biggest one for most).

 

[Richyams]

I would look into OLd Key West, the three bedroom grand villa can sleep up to 12 with three bathrooms also the Boardwalk

There are four full baths in the OKW grand villa.

I wouldn't do this any other way yhan the OKW GV. Depending on the season, you could rent points and get a full week for $4,000. Well worth every penny.

We stay in this unit for ten to twelve nights every year. We bring another couple and let the common kids have the third bedroom. Between parking outside your unit, the wonderful full kitchen and all that space, it really is the best way to go to disney....and also why we bought into DVC.

 

[Scoootch]

Since you stated that you really wanted to stay on-site, if the expense isn't a problem a suite would probably be nice if it's in your budget. If not, your best bets would be to either Rent points from a DVC member to stay in one of the DVC homes or you may also want to look into the Fort Wilderness Cabins - another home away from home option that sleeps larger groups.

Personnally, as a DVC member, I think the DVC accomodations are right up there with the Deluxe resort accomodations and you would do better money wise to rent points from a DVC member.

Good luck, let us all know how you make out!

 

[ncligs]

Here are 2 links with all the info you need on OKW (prices,pictures,facts,etc).

http://wdwig.com/faq_okw.htm

http://wdwig.com/g_okw.htm

 

[kda]

Just wanted to add another difference between a suite and a villa: The suite will get daily housekeeping service and fresh towels, which the villas will not (but it can be purchased for an additional fee). DVC members are very used to this concept and I feel the space, kitchen, washer/dryer are worth more to me than daily housekeeping service. (It might also explain why it costs less for a villa than a suite) We re-use towels or wash our own, pick up after ourselves, and luxuriate in all the SPACE.

A Grand Villa would enable everyone to stay in the same place, but you could also split up and have two families stay in a 2 BR and get a studio for the other family, if a Grand Villa weren't available. I agree that a 2 BR would be a little crowded for everyone, unless one couple doesn't mind sleeping on the pull out couch.

Have a great trip!

 

[RIGrandpa]

Thank you for all the great information. I did not know the difference between ansuite and a villa. We will do our homework and talk about what fits us best. Thanks again for the ideas and the web sites.

 

[Pamlur]

We are taking almost the same size group in September (add one toddler to the mix) and we have reserved two 2-bedroom villas at Beach Club. I looked into the 3-bedroom, but the layout didn't work for us. It was also more expensive than two 2-bedroom villas.

I reserved through Disney Club instead of renting points. Will we still not have daily housekeeping? I know we will have a washer and dryer in each villa, but had thought we might get sheets changed during our 7-night stay.

 

[wdwphanatic]

... since you're not renting points from a DVC owner, Pamlur. It's only the DVC owners (and their renters) who don't get daily housekeeping service. Anyone who reserves rooms through Disney itself is treated like a regular resort guest and gets daily housekeeping. If you rent through a DVC owner your accommodations can cost a lot less, however, which is why some people opt to forego the daily cleaning (or pay extra per day through Disney to get daily cleaning). I believe that if you rent through a DVC owner, you get housekeeping every 3 days or so, but I'm not absolutely positive about this.

 

[Pamlur]

Okay, thanks so much. When I made the reservations, I had no idea that I could do something like renting points. This is all so new to me; I had called my travel agent and the group booking agent she uses quoted an astronomical amount. A friend recommended Disney Club, and I was thrilled beyond belief at the amount I saved doing it that way. I also booked the Silver DreamMaker (?) package so that if we get separated from some of the grownup kids they will have a meal paid for.

I just this weekend got around to registering here, because now that I have Christmas behind me, I have about nine gazillion questions that I'm going to be asking. It's been a long time since we were at WDW, and we've never stayed at any of the Epcot resorts. I've been reading and reading, and have already started my normal over-planning.

 

[trip]

What is a Silver DreamMaker package?

 

[Coll0610]

If you are staying at DVC on points, you will get clean towels and your trash will be emptied on Day 4. If you stay more than 7 days, you get a complete cleaning on Day 7. For example, if you arrived on Sunday, you would get "trash and towels" service on Wednesday and a complete cleaning on Sunday (assuming you weren't checking out on Sunday). If you want, you can get clean towels on additional days for $6 for a set of a 4 each of towels, wash clothes and hand towels. You can also get additional housekeeping for betewn $25 and $60 / day depending on the size of your unit.