Tips for booking for 5 for Disney hotels

[shushh]

Hi we are a family of 5 from Sydney visiting DLP for the first time in December.

I am having difficulty getting information with regard to prices so that we can decide which hotel to go for. We would ideally love to stay in a Disney hotel. As far as I can gather, only Newport Bay, Disneyland Hotel and Sante Fe has the capacity to fit 5 in a room. (We've decided not to go with Davy Crockett). I am trying to work out the price for our family to be split into 2 rooms in the other hotels but can't seem to be able to do this without going all the way through with 1 room? Is there a way around this or am I doing something wrong?

Just wondering what the experiences of other families of 5 have been? Many thanks in advance!

 

[tennisfan]

You can only book one room at a time on the Disney site, so you would have to do it once with one set of people & another for the rest for each hotel you want.

It may pay to have a look at the French disney site as they are doing 1 day/1 night free & it could work out cheaper then the UK site (if you are using that one)

 

[shushh]

Thanks for that tennisfan! Just went to the french site but it appears that all sites now only take bookings up to Nov 7th? It seems strange that I was able to get quotes for December just a week ago. Oh well, guess I have to wait then til December rates come out.

 

[jothp]

The winter brochure hasn't been released yet but they were running an early booking discount for certain dates.

If you get a quote for one room with three people in and then another quote for a room with two people in and then add them together this will give you the price. Unfortunately unless your children are over 12 so count as adults then you have to pay a single adult supplement for each room which significantly increases the price.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

The winter brochure hasn't been released yet but they were running an early booking discount for certain dates.

If you get a quote for one room with three people in and then another quote for a room with two people in and then add them together this will give you the price. Unfortunately unless your children are over 12 so count as adults then you have to pay a single adult supplement for each room which significantly increases the price.

Hello

Was it you who booked an adult plus child asked for a paid the supplement for the family room and then put the others on at check in via the room tax route ?

Or is Shushh unable to attempt such a thing as her children are over 12 ?

Or am I going mad and imagining things ?

 

[jothp]

Hi Carrie Cat what a great memory, I did ask if that was possible and the general opinion was that if I had paid a supplement to get a family room they would have to give me one In the end booking AP room only rate worked out cheaper for us because we already have passes so we did that.

 

[shushh]

jothp when you said you paid the supplement for the family room, I take it that this is separate to the room tax?!?

Is the supplement dependent on how many people you add in? And when did you add the other members of your family into the room? Did you have to let them know that in advance that you will require a family room? I am assuming that only certain rooms in the hotels can accommodate 5? Sorry for the barrage of questions...

Oh and if it makes any difference, our children will be aged 4,7, and 9 at time of travel.

 

[Ware Bears]

I know you said you wanted to stay in a Disney hotel but have you looked at the Explorers? It's one of the 'near the Magic' four off-site hotels (the others are the Dream Castle, Magic Circus, and Kyriad) and is served by a regular free shuttle bus that takes 5 minutes. Although not a Disney hotel it's still themed so great for children and it has crew rooms that sleep six (a double and 2 singles in one room and a set of bunks in an adjoining room).

If you were to stay here don't book it through Disney (too expensive!) but through elsewhere ie. its own website, Expedia, Benotel etc etc then buy either park tickets (or annual passes whichever works out cheaper) for the days you want to visit the parks.

 

[shushh]

I know you said you wanted to stay in a Disney hotel but have you looked at the Explorers? It's one of the 'near the Magic' four off-site hotels (the others are the Dream Castle, Magic Circus, and Kyriad) and is served by a regular free shuttle bus that takes 5 minutes. Although not a Disney hotel it's still themed so great for children and it has crew rooms that sleep six (a double and 2 singles in one room and a set of bunks in an adjoining room).

If you were to stay here don't book it through Disney (too expensive!) but through elsewhere ie. its own website, Expedia, Benotel etc etc then buy either park tickets (or annual passes whichever works out cheaper) for the days you want to visit the parks.

Ware Bears, thank you for your suggestion. I know this might silly, but we're travelling a long way to visit DLP and we're unlike to visit in a hurry which is why we'd like to stay onsite. We also like the thought of being able to walk to the parks. Having said that, it obviously has to be within budget, so we are definitely still open to staying offsite!

I must admit I haven't really looked into the "near the magic" offsite hotels in great detail. However, I am now inspired to check it out. We were possibly considering the Marriott property if we were to stay offsite as we get friends and family rate. I guess I just have to do more maths!

Are there any other benefits other then EMH when staying onsite at a Disney hotel?

 

[jothp]

jothp when you said you paid the supplement for the family room, I take it that this is separate to the room tax?!?

Is the supplement dependent on how many people you add in? And when did you add the other members of your family into the room? Did you have to let them know that in advance that you will require a family room? I am assuming that only certain rooms in the hotels can accommodate 5? Sorry for the barrage of questions...

Oh and if it makes any difference, our children will be aged 4,7, and 9 at time of travel.

If you go to do a booking at DLH you can add just one adult to the room plus your 4 year old because they will be free anyway. The price that comes back is automatically for a 4 person room but if you go to choose a different room type there is the option to upgrade to a family room for 5. On the dates I looked at the family room was working out at about £200 more per night. You would then pay the local tax (which I believe is a few euros per person per night but not totally sure) for the rest of you when you arrive.

 

[Ware Bears]

Ware Bears, thank you for your suggestion. I know this might silly, but we're travelling a long way to visit DLP and we're unlike to visit in a hurry which is why we'd like to stay onsite. We also like the thought of being able to walk to the parks. Having said that, it obviously has to be within budget, so we are definitely still open to staying offsite!

I must admit I haven't really looked into the "near the magic" offsite hotels in great detail. However, I am now inspired to check it out. We were possibly considering the Marriott property if we were to stay offsite as we get friends and family rate. I guess I just have to do more maths!

Are there any other benefits other then EMH when staying onsite at a Disney hotel?

Only the location. It is possible to walk to/from the four offsite hotels (we often did it when we stayed at the Explorers), it takes approx 30 minutes but obviously you can't beat a Disney hotel for location. There's also a character meet'n'greet at each Disney hotel which you won't get offsite but anyone's welcome to visit the hotels for a drink/meal/general look round so you could always go to these if you wished (and time allowed). You can get round the EMH issue when staying offsite by buying either Dream or Fantasy annual passes - Fantasy are cheaper but have blackout days whereas Dream are valid 365 days a year.

If you go to do a booking at DLH you can add just one adult to the room plus your 4 year old because they will be free anyway. The price that comes back is automatically for a 4 person room but if you go to choose a different room type there is the option to upgrade to a family room for 5. On the dates I looked at the family room was working out at about £200 more per night. You would then pay the local tax (which I believe is a few euros per person per night but not totally sure) for the rest of you when you arrive.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but don't forget to factor in that you'll also have to buy park tickets/annual passes for the people not on the original booking. EMH for them would be covered by the hotel easy-pass so it wouldn't be necessary to get annual passes, park tickets would suffice.