Thank you all for your quick replies. I don't know what I was thinking when I said we wouldn't need a stroller b/c my almost 4yo right now still always tuckers out and wants to ride in the stroller.
We would plan on getting the meal plan (and that's what I meant about not having to buy her one). Do you all think the deluxe meal plan is a good idea? We like to eat a decent breakfast and the regular meal plan only has 2 full meals. How many buffet or family style restaurants are there?
For the family of 4 plus an infant (in hotel terms) do they provide anything for the 5th person, like a rollaway? I don't think she will still be in a crib, and I know she wouldn't be able to fit in a pack-n-play.
Again, thanks for reading and answering all my questions ~Jackie
We have done the dining plan before, but not the deluxe plan. The deluxe plan is for three sit-down meals per day. That is a lot of food and a lot of time! We generally only do one table service meal per day because a character meal can take 1 1/2 hours or so if there are several characters to see. It depends how your family likes to eat. We generally eat breakfast in our room (cereal, yogurt, granola bars, etc.) , although I have two character breakfasts planned for our next trip. We have counter service for lunch or dinner and a table service meal for the other meal. It just depends how you like to eat. Some meals count as two table service credits - CRT, Hoop De Doo, some signature restaurants that you might not do with younger kids anyway (Jiko comes to mind). You can look at menus on allears.net and kind of decide where you'd like to eat, then figure out how many credits you would need.
One caution - doing the deluxe plan gives you three table service credits per day, but it doesn't guarantee availability. You still need to call for ADRs, and depending on the time of year, you might find it hard to get ADRs in the places you want to be. For example, you might plan a day at MK from opening to closing. On the deluxe plan, you are allocated three TS credits per person per day. It might use up a lot of your time to eat three TS meals at MK, even if you could find three places you wanted to eat. If you are going at a time of year when the parks close early, you might not want to spend all that time eating. It's a personal preference based on whether you would rather grab hot dogs for lunch or sit-down for your meals.
As far as the bedding, POR Alligator Bayou section has trundle beds - I don't know if they would guarantee that section if you didn't have five people over the age of three. Many deluxe resorts have a day bed that could sleep a fifth (even an adult). Some people here bring a twin air mattress (if they have kids that won't sleep together, for example) - it is OK to do this as long as you are not over occupancy limits and you bring your own bedding. I think some resorts have rollaways, but I think there is a fee for that. Depending on the length of your trip, it might be cheaper to buy an air mattress (unless you are flying).
Here is an older thread about cots - it would be a good idea to ask when you make your reservation if you can guarantee one and how much:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=14566037#post14566037&highlight=cot
