Thoughts/Advice for Doing Disney with Growing Families

[PlainJane]

Your crew would fit in one room at the following:

POR, CBR, ASMu Suite, and AOA Suite, FW Cabin, OKW 1 bedroom, AKV 1 bedroom, and every deluxe hotel besides WL and AKL.

There are other 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom options, but they are not budget minded.

A lot of the studios are also going through renovations to allow for 5 plus 1 under 3.

If I were picking the most budget option, I would go with CBR. CBR and POR are going to be the cheapest options (even cheaper than two rooms at a value, unless there is some kind of crazy promo going on). One room would be tight, but you would all fit. CBR has bigger rooms than POR, so that was the tie breaker for me.

As far as the dining plan, yes you CAN make it worth it with the ages of your kids, but you COULD also be spending less than the dining plan with less character meals, more counter service, in room breakfast, and less expensive TS options. The thing that bugs me about the dining plan is that I would still be thinking about the money spent on the tip at the end, 18% on an expensive meal is not a small amount of money. It just does not count as all inclusive to me, since they took away the tip being included.

If you ever decide to take the leap and stay off site, you might consider the Swan. You would need a transport to and from the airport, but otherwise you would be using Disney transportation. You could also look at the suite options at both the Swan and Dolphin.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek is really nice. You would want to rent a van because the shuttle just doesn't make sense for your family. It would be expensive and then you are at the shuttle's whims. The rooms are huge next to Disney accommodations and so much less expensive. It's a great location. The pools are also very nice.

 

[maxiesmom]

I've gone to WDW many times as part of a family of 6. And I have to disagree a bit with the previous poster, I would never ever do 6 people in one room at a moderate ever again! That experience was pretty horrible. The rooms are just too tight. Plus now, the resorts that have the small fold out bed have less storage space, as some of the drawer space was turned into those beds.

On a tight budget, I would go with an All Star Family Suite. They are substantially cheaper than the AoA suites. You can utilize the kitchenette to have a few meals in the room and save money that way. The suites have 3 fold outs and a queen sized bed in the bedroom. Two tvs, two bathrooms. Much much nicer than cramming all into one space with one bathroom, one tv, and no kitchenette.

 

[bluezy]

I've gone to WDW many times as part of a family of 6. And I have to disagree a bit with the previous poster, I would never ever do 6 people in one room at a moderate ever again! That experience was pretty horrible. The rooms are just too tight. Plus now, the resorts that have the small fold out bed have less storage space, as some of the drawer space was turned into those beds.

On a tight budget, I would go with an All Star Family Suite. They are substantially cheaper than the AoA suites. You can utilize the kitchenette to have a few meals in the room and save money that way. The suites have 3 fold outs and a queen sized bed in the bedroom. Two tvs, two bathrooms. Much much nicer than cramming all into one space with one bathroom, one tv, and no kitchenette.

I completely agree with this! Even on paper this didn't seem like a good idea to me, but my sister insisted it would be fine for her family (at the time, they lived in a 6,000 square foot house with 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms). The were 2 adults, 2 young teens, a 4 yo and a 2 yo (so perfectly legal in a POR room). By day 2 she was calling me nearly every day crying because they were too cramped in the room -- in addition to the two beds in the room, they used 2 air mattresses (one was instead of the trundle bed) and also had a pack & Play along with a double jogging stroller that even when folded up took up a chunk of space. Add up all the luggage and there was barely room for a path to the bathroom. It never occurred to her that the whole family would have to go to sleep at 8:00 or 8:30 (or at least be sitting in a dark room) because that's when the little ones needed to be in bed and they wouldn't fall asleep or stay asleep unless the rest of the room was dark and quiet. That went over really well with her husband and teens. They tried having the teens go swimming while the little ones were falling asleep but they both woke up when the older kids came back to the room. The one bathroom was a HUGE problem and my sister said she walked to one of the main buildings to use the bathroom a few times. She also showered in one of the changing rooms by the pool one time. They actually ended up leaving almost 2 days early because they were all fighting with each other and everything caused stress. It took a few years for her to admit it (because when they got home, they told everyone they had a great time.) but she wished they had done 2 connecting rooms at a Value resort or a suite at ASMu. She is very much a "keep up with the Jones's" person and felt like people would look down on her if she stayed at a Value resort. She wasn't even totally comfortable staying at a Moderate, but the trip was kind of a last minute thing (which is a whole other story involving those fake talent agents) and a Deluxe resort was not in the budget.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

FWIW, I have done most every option suggested on here. We only have one child (plus one on the way), but we always go with my parents so a party of five. We have done value in 2 connecting rooms, offsite at condo, offsite in a house, and squeezed into one room.

All in one room was tight, but we spend most of the time out of the room so it was fine. Offsite was a lot more space (and cheaper), but I do prefer on site. Connecting rooms was cheaper than one suite when we went - I liked that best of those options. We have also rented DVC points and love doing that! A one bedroom suite with rented points may not be much more than 2 value rooms.

I will also add that I am in the minority that thinks the dining plan is probably a good value based on your family and doing a lot of character meals. I think I would probably sacrifice something else (like being willing to cram into one room), to be able to have the dining plan.

But only you can decide how much time you spend in the room and what's most important to your family. At the end of the day, you can't get tickets much cheaper, so if you want to cut costs it is either going to have to be room or food that is cut back on.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Forgot to add... our value rooms were under $100 a night, so not as exorbitant as some have implied. And you may find that if staying offsite means you have to rent a vehicle and pay for parking that you may not save as much staying offsite as you think. (A large vehicle can run towards $100 a day, plus over $20/day for parking!)

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Yes, the point about needing dark for the youngest's bedtimes etc. is why we like a simple one-bedroom suite. Just to have a place to shut the door and keep the sleeping and the awake separate. But it's not for space. We live with three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, not six bedrooms and four bathrooms. It's not the same shock to the system for us. ;-)

People keep throwing out "way cheaper" or "more than" comments abut different options, so I thought some curious readers might like to see some actual numbers. These are all places that sleep at least six. So, no POR Riverside "sleeps 5 plus an under-3." Where there are multiple options at a single resort, I have given the least expensive. For the week we want (after Thanksgiving), I get:
Non-Disney
$164 for Wyndham Bonnet Creek room with two queens and a bunk bed (looks like rooms at Great Wolf Lodge), plus $20 resort fee, so $184
$282 Wyndham Bonnet Creek for a 2-bdrm (one king, two queens), 2 bath, whirlpool tub, full kitchen, sleeper sofa, and in-room washer and dryer (less on Expedia)
$180 Sheraton Vistana for 2bd/2ba with a full kitchen
$399 ($381 AAA, both prices include $30 resort fees--not sure about other hotels' prices) Waldorf Astoria Deluxe one-bdrm suite
Disney
ETA: $98 per room at All Star, so $196 for two rooms
$232 All Star Music suite
$298 for AoA suite (except $308 for Finding Nemo--is that because of pool proximity or something else?)
$333 for Cabins at Ft. Wilderness
$704 for Sarasota Springs 2-bdrm villa (one king, two queens, and a sleeper sofa)
$704 Old Key West 2-bdrm villa (one king, two queens, sleeper sofa, and a foldout twin chair)
$740 for Wilderness Lodge Deluxe room with Club access (two queens, one queen sofa)--It looks like a one bedroom suite BUT no door between rooms? Do I have that right??
$752 for one-bdrm Casitas suite at Coronado Springs (two queen beds and a sleeper sofa)
$779 Boardwalk Inn for Deluxe room, Club level (one room for "six adults")
$904 for Beach Club Villa 2-bdrm
$956 AK Villa - Kidani Village 2-bdrm villa (one king, two queens, sleeper sofa, and a foldout twin chair)
$1229 for Contemporary suite in Garden wing with Club access
$1586 AK Lodge 2-bdrm, Club access

Free Dining Q: If we chose a Value like AoA or ASM and wanted to upgrade to the plan that includes one TS meal, how much would that be? Is it just the difference between the regular prices for the QS plan and the next one up?

With the prices above, I'm starting to feel like a sucker for feeling like we "need" to stay at a Disney place to have a proper time. I can buy Magic bands for $100 and get to book FP 30 days in advance while staying "off site." (I have to use the quotation marks because Bonnet Creek and Waldorf are in the middle of everything Disney, so they're not Disney, but they're not outside of the property, either.)

 

[quagmire0]

Our families are almost the same - we are about 1 year behind you!

I looked at all of the 3rd party vendor sites and the best price on tickets I could find was around $1900 for the tickets you have. So, you were able to get your condo, Minivan for 10 days, and your stroller all for $1500ish? Wow. I know the strollers are $100 or so, I've never rented a Van but assume it has to be $400-500 for 10 days. So, less than $1000 for the Windsor place for nine nights?

We may have to do something like this. Even at that price, we could spend plenty of money on character meals and be around $5000.

We're at $1052 (plus a $200 refundable deposit) for the week. You can probably even do a little better than that if you search on VRBO. I went with this particular renter because they had a lot of good reviews. We also wanted to have a room for the youngest to sleep in and another room with three beds for the older kids.

 

[PlainJane]

I've gone to WDW many times as part of a family of 6. And I have to disagree a bit with the previous poster, I would never ever do 6 people in one room at a moderate ever again!

I basically agree with you. It kind of depends on the individual's priorities. I would stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek if a Disney DVC 1 bedroom or a cabin was not a viable option in the budget. I have no desire to stay in the AOA suites, and unless it was saving me a lot of money, I would choose a villa at WBC over that.

1 room at a moderate does not sound great to me either with six people. It does sound better than two value rooms and possibly not getting the connecting door. It's a risk, I know some are willing to take. I would stay offsite before I stayed in one moderate room but being onsite is non-negotiable to some.

It kind of came down to, if you want this to be cheaper, something has to go whether it be dining, bigger accommodations, resort level, being on property, or something else. If it just would not be an acceptable vacation for someone's family, if they compromised on something, then they just have to accept that it's going to be more expensive than they would like.

 

[maxiesmom]

The same trip where we all crammed into one moderate room we moved off site to a 2 bedroom suite (it was a planned move). And we were all much happier with the space. And I am someone who loves being on-site. I would rather chance 2 value rooms not connecting then piling all into one room, but I know for some that wouldn't work.