WDW Value Resort with more than 2 kids???

[tidoublegger]

It seems to me that if you have more than 2 kids (who must be willing to share a bed ) then a value room is out of the question?? How do families with many kids stay at a WDW resort? Do they all stay in a mega-bucks suite or at the FW cabins? I'm confused as to how this is done! We are renting a 4 bdroom. house offsite to accomodate DH, dd, and 2 ds next March. Our 16 yo and 19 yo opted not to go. I want to experience staying onsite someday but don't know how it's done with more than 2 kids!

 

[lindaso]

It can be done with 3 kids in one room in certain hotels. I know the Poly has a daybed so those rooms sleep 5. There is also a moderate (Port Orleans maybe??) that has a daybed to sleep 5. Anything more and I think you need a 2nd room.

We usually split and have one parent sleep with one kid on the queen beds and the oldest sleeps on the daybed. More room that way and we can live without sleeping next to each other for a few days!!

 

[NotUrsula]

They get 2 rooms, of course. I don't think that most Americans would be comfortable cramming more than 4 persons in a room that is less than 300 sq.ft. (which is what you are dealing w/ at the Values.)

If there are only 5 persons, the deluxes or S/D can handle it in almost all cases, or the trundle option at POR will work if you can snag one.

As to kids being willing to share beds, my opinion is that they simple have to deal; you work the best bed arrangement that you can, and there is always the floor if they don't like it.

 

[mbb]

2 bedrooms, full kitchen, washer dryer, 2 bathrooms, onsite...can't be beat!!

 

[HaleyB]

PORS has a trundle bed for the 3rd child in some rooms. Many of the Deluxe (all?) have rooms with day beds so 5 will fit. There are also suites and renting DVC points if there are 6 of you going. Two rooms at a value is another way to go and with older kids I like that or DVC points best (DVC points are expensive, they may be a good 'value' for what you get, but it is expensive).

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I feel your pain. We have 3 ds, so that makes it a little easier. I like it all in one room anyway so I can make sure everyone is asleep and ready for ee the next day. But they are getting older and space is tight. We stay at a deluxe, but only in value season and I only get the cheapest room, i.e. garden view at the poly. This time in april we are again staying at the swan on the govt. rate. It is well worth the money. In aug. I priced 2 rooms at the all stars. They were about the same as 1 room with a rollaway at the swan. If you wanted to save even more money and not pay the $25 a night for the roll away, you could bring your own aero bed etc. I wish disney would get on the ball and start seeing there is a big market for bigger and blended familys who just do not fit into your usual perfect 4 to a room resorts etc. who dont want to pay deluxe prices.

 

[got2lovedisney]

I actually crammed myself and 5 15 year olds in a room at the AllStars Music January 2003. (don't tell the resort police ) There were 2 in each bed plus 2 on an airmattress. Needless to say, if was for more than the 2 nights I wouldn't've done it but what the bleep! They had fun!

 

[NotUrsula]

Just out of curiousity, what would you suggest they build? The accomodation of large families is the whole point of connecting rooms, and as far as I know, every resort on Disney property has them, even the DVC properties, which have lockouts. Connecting rooms provide maximum flexibility for accomodating both large and small parties in the same facility.

Disney resorts pretty much have all the market niches covered now, and their occupancy rate is one of the best in the industry. WDW has over 30,000 housing units on property, and they keep them filled. Design and maintenance costs on themed properties are high, as is Disney's service quality, and they charge accordingly. Would you really want an on-property resort that looked like Motel 6 and had amenities and service to match?

The only alternative I could see is building hostel-type dorms, which I suppose might go over well with youth groups, but most Americans over 21 don't care for them. I suspect that the avg. family would go offsite before they would sleep in a bunked dorm.

 

[lindaso]

This thread just reminded me of a conversation DH and I had a few weeks ago. He was saying we should have another baby b/c 5 is an odd number and he wants us to be even. (I know, ridiculous, right?) I countered with the argument that another baby puts us into the category of "2 rooms" for vacation. OK, so we're both a little weird

 

[kc&dmom]

Many hotels know offer a pull out sofa in addition to two double or queen size beds ---- and it would make a huge difference for families of more than 2 kids. Most of the "family resorts" and destinations we have traveled to in recent years offer similar room arrangements. One bedroom DVC's only accomodate 4 and the two bedrooms are outrageous in price even when you rent points (unless you are 8 in a group and splitting the cost). Our family of 5 will be staying onsite again in a deluxe because -- I LOVE Disney hotels. I also recognize we are fortunate to be able to afford to do so. We have debated two connecting rooms but -- we would really prefer a vacation resort for us not just the kids and the value resorts are not how we want to spend a vacation. The moderates put us in the same ball park as a deluxe and as we are five we can get away with sharing one room. I think Disney really lets families down in this respect.

 

[tidoublegger]

Thanks for the replies........so the Swan offers rollaway beds? Does the Dolphin too? My hubby could get the government rate (I think as a corrections officer for a state prison) or if I take and pass my nursing boards before I leave and have proof, I could get the nursing rate. This may be a good alternative! I am going to look into it!

 

[NotUrsula]

So you're saying that you think Value Resorts should have a second room category, a type of room w/ greater sq. footage?
If they did that, I'm guessing that the room rate for that category would run ~80% higher than for a standard room, just based on how much they would have to increase the sq. footage to allow for opening that double sofabed inside. Value rooms are VERY small, 260 sq. ft. (By contrast, the Poly rooms are 409 sq. ft., the Beach Club, 400 sq. ft., and trundle rooms at POR are 314 sq. ft., )

The occupancy limits at the WDW resorts are set by the county fire codes, not by WDW. In order to get permission for higher occupancy, they have to enlarge the rooms, and to go up high enough for a full sofabed that will sleep two, they would have to go up to nearly 500 sq. ft. The Values make money for Disney (and me, as I own a number of shares) by packing as many units into a resort as possible, and then keeping the occupancy rate of the resort as a whole as close to 100% as possible. Since WDW hotels charge by the room, when you lower the number of units, you have to raise the prices. If you take the room size up that high at a value, you cut the number of rooms nearly in half.

PS: regarding the S/D. Both hotels allow one rollaway per regular room, and both hotels have some oversized rooms at a higher rate. The regular beds at the Swan are queen, the regular beds at the Dolphin are doubles. I have known people who put three young children in one of the queen beds at the Swan, thus avoiding the need for a rollaway. Also, the S/D have the Starwood chains' specialty beds; the Disney hotels cannot match them for comfort.

 

[sha_lyn]

In order to get permission for higher occupancy, they have to enlarge the rooms,

Actually the fire code occupancy limits are set by how quickly the resort can be evacuated. The exterior corridors, room doors ways and stair ways would have to be widened, and I believe more stairways would have to be put in. That pretty much eliminates the possibility of them remaining value resort.

 

[tidoublegger]

Part of the reasoning for trying to add an additional night to the trip (after renting a house for the week) was so try and stay in a Disney hotel to experience it for the first time. Would the Dolphin or Swan really allow us to experience Disney "magic" or would we be better off doing the adjoining rooms at a value resort or perhaps a cabin at FW? We would probably be able to get either the gov discount or the nurse discount at the Swan or Dophin, but is the atmosphere "Disney"??

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by kc&dmom
We have debated two connecting rooms but -- we would really prefer a vacation resort for us not just the kids and the value resorts are not how we want to spend a vacation. The moderates put us in the same ball park as a deluxe and as we are five we can get away with sharing one room. I think Disney really lets families down in this respect.

I used to think there weren't many options for our family of 5 without "going broke" but I have changed my tune after staying in some of the resorts that do accommodate 5, renting points from a DVC owner & now becoming a DVC owner myself.

There are a lot of options for families with 3 or more children.

--FW cabins is a great option & one we have used numerous times. They accommodate 6. Full kitchen.

--Most deluxes can accommodate 5 people

--POR can accommodate 5

--2 rooms at the budgets will accommodate 8 & you'll get 2 baths

--a 2BR DVC unit will accommodate 8. You'll get 2 baths & a full kitchen.

I also believe that Disney has done their research. There really are options for larger families. Will you pay the price - certainly you will, just like anything else.

Having more than 2 children is more expensive in any regard, not just Disney.

When people mention you can vacation in other spots & get a room for less that accommodates more than 4, they are right. You can also do that off-site near WDW. It's a matter of preference & what you are willing to pay or can afford.

As long as I can afford it, I will choose to stay on property with my 3 DD's

 

[GinRob]

My husband is in the military and we just cant afford to do Disney.. but last summer we were able to get in on the wonderful deal for Military families so we went in July.

My kids were 12, 10, 9, 5, 23 months and 8 months when we went.. and we certainly couldnt afford one of the more $ hotels..

so we stayed in 2 rooms in the All Star Sports. We pushed the beds together in the kids room, and we left the door open connecting us.

Our side had 2 porta cribs for the 2 youngest kids and the other 4 slept in the room with the 2 beds pushed together..

that did leave us with an extra bed in our room, but we used it to lay out clothes, change kids, etc.. and if we needed to, our kids could have slept on it as well.

We wanted to experience it all, and staying off site wasnt an option we wanted to go with..

I would love to be able to go again.. and possibly to have bigger rooms, but all in all, we were just thrilled to be there and the size of the rooms were fine for us. I would do it again in a minute if I could afford it!

so... thats how us big families do it.. we get connecting rooms... and with my kids ages, theres no way we would get 2 rooms that didnt connect.. dh and I wont split up, and the kids are too young to have a room to themselves.

SOG wasnt open at the time.. I do wonder if we would have been able to fit in one room there.. but I never looked into it since it wasnt an option.
Ginger

 

[gardendame]

Originally posted by NotUrsula
Just out of curiousity, what would you suggest they build? The accomodation of large families is the whole point of connecting rooms, and as far as I know, every resort on Disney property has them, even the DVC properties, which have lockouts. Connecting rooms provide maximum flexibility for accomodating both large and small parties in the same facility.

Disney resorts pretty much have all the market niches covered now, and their occupancy rate is one of the best in the industry. WDW has over 30,000 housing units on property, and they keep them filled. Design and maintenance costs on themed properties are high, as is Disney's service quality, and they charge accordingly. Would you really want an on-property resort that looked like Motel 6 and had amenities and service to match?

The only alternative I could see is building hostel-type dorms, which I suppose might go over well with youth groups, but most Americans over 21 don't care for them. I suspect that the avg. family would go offsite before they would sleep in a bunked dorm.

Well, my suggestion would be something similar to the Holiday Inn Family Suites. There is definitely a need for this on Disney Property, and building such a resort would be profitable for Disney! Every day there are posts on these boards about large families. Unfortunately for Disney, most tend to stay off site.
As far as what 'most Americans over 21' care or do not care about, who cares! Why should you?? You say you are a Disney share holder. If this is so, then doesn't it make good business sense to accomodate those larger families? They have already spent money on park hoppers, so they are commited to the vacation - why not suck even more money out of them by offering them a place on site to stay rather than forcing them off site??

 

[pyrxtc]

Originally posted by kc&dmom
One bedroom DVC's only accomodate 4 and the two bedrooms are outrageous in price even when you rent points (unless you are 8 in a group and splitting the cost).

I am renting a villa froma DVC member and it sleeps 8( a 2 bedroom) and it is only costing me $20 more total than I would pay for 2 rooms at the value resorts for the same season. I think it is worth it especially since it has a full kitchen.

 

[kashkdz]

We have three young children and simply stayed at POR (moderate resort) which has accomodations for 5 people in a room. There are two full beds and one has a pull-out bed. The other option is to stay in a Deluxe, one of the Home-Away-From-Home resorts, or rent points from a DVC member.

 

[mom of five]

We have 5 kids ages 10,9,7,7,5. And then me and hubby makes seven. We can't afford the villas--they're like 300.00per night or more and we are planning a 10 night stay. Here is our plan. We have room only ressies for AS movies. We have two rooms that are guarenteed to be ajoining from within. This will still cost about $200.00 per night each room being about $100. Since we are planning on visiting for more than 8 days and planning another visit next year (about 347 days later) we are buying annual passes for the parks. Usually (cross my fingers) there are pretty good discounts to passholders staying at value resorts during the time we are planning. That will possibly bring hotel cost down to $120-$150 per night instead of the $200.
The best thing is, next year, I don't have to buy park tickets (the really big expense for a family of 7) cause we've got APs. We like to stay on-property. But the holiday Inn all kidsuites (not sure if I got name exactly right) looks really really cool for bigger families and is about the same price as my plan, however, looking at all you get it's sure is a better value (free activites, suite rms, etc.). We just want the EMH. Time of value too.