WDW Value Resort with more than 2 kids???

[Schmeck]

Quoted from another post on this thread:

"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. "

WDW has many options for "larger than 4 members" families: Adjoining rooms, Wilderness Cabins, Villas, etc. If a family tends to stay offsite because they don't want to pay the cost of deciding to have a large family, that's their choice. Disney already offers resorts in three price ranges. I think that's flexible enough to work with. One of the reasons that it's cheaper to stay offsite is that it's... OFFSITE!

I just don't see the "need" for another enormous, tenement style value resort at WDW, especially one that allows many people in one room. I think it's bad enough that some people decide to squeeze 5 or more people into a room made for 4. What would they do in a room made for 6? Put an entire baseball team in there?

 

[gardendame]

Originally posted by Schmeck
Quoted from another post on this thread:

WDW has many options for "larger than 4 members" families: Adjoining rooms, Wilderness Cabins, Villas, etc. If a family tends to stay offsite because they don't want to pay the cost of deciding to have a large family, that's their choice. Disney already offers resorts in three price ranges. I think that's flexible enough to work with. One of the reasons that it's cheaper to stay offsite is that it's... OFFSITE!

I just don't see the "need" for another enormous, tenement style value resort at WDW, especially one that allows many people in one room. I think it's bad enough that some people decide to squeeze 5 or more people into a room made for 4. What would they do in a room made for 6? Put an entire baseball team in there?

Thanks you for your input, but you are incorrect. Someone asked "what would you have Disney do?" and I offered my opinion. Why would you find it so offensive if Disney built a resort that would accommodate larger families on site? By the way, I have 3 children instead of just 2, but this in no way means that I should live in a "tenement-style" building!!! I find your off hand remarks very offensive and prejudicial. If you do not need a family-size suite, you wouldn't be staying there, so you wouldn't have to look at us tenement-dwellers anyway.

Oh, and I must inform you. Just because I have 3 children instead of 2, the law does not require that I hang my laundry out on ropes in the front yard of my 2400 square foot 'tenement-style' house!!!!!!!!!

What do you people want!?! You are offended (rightfully so) when people squeeze 1 extra person into a 4 person room, yet when someone offers their opinion about there being a need for rooms that accommodate larger families, you complain to!

What would you have Disney do? Ban families from the parks??
I think it is ridiculous that some people are so offended that Families want to be accommodated at a place that is supposed to be for Families to begin with!

 

[sha_lyn]

Why would you find it so offensive if Disney built a resort that would accommodate larger families on site?

There isn't any "if" to it. They have done it. They offer cabins, DVC resorts and ajoining rooms. The rooms are there, you just do not want to pay the price for these rooms. Guess what, my family of 4 coudl save a lot of mony if we stayed off site, but we CHOOSE not do. No one forces us to spend the extra $$ to stay onsite. WDW is not obligated to offer me(or you) a room for a price comparable to one off site.

 

[BrianMonk]

A family of 4 = Great options
A family of 5 = OK options
A family of 6 = Options stink
A family of 7+ = OK options, renting 2 rooms is approaching the norm


The fact I CANT stay at a value resort for my family of 5, without <b>wasting</b> money on another room, is not the best. I've already "mentally" starting putting together plans (for future years) which included partial stays at a value resort only to realize, crap, I've got to get two rooms (with 1 <b>wasted</b> room). That doesn't make sense (or cents accept for Disney).

I really would like to experience more of Disney without wasting my money. The fact I can't (or more appropriately, shouldn't) stay 5 in one room at ALL of the value resorts lowers the intrinsic value Disney to me.

And I love it when the room police come in a start jabbering about well you knew when you have so many kids, stay in a billion $/night Villa, blah, blah, blah. Hey, thanks for the advice Einsteins.

Disney isn't going to change, they know what they are doing. It's in their best interest financially to do it this way. I don't blame them, but I'll probably play the little game sometime myself and stay 5 in a room. Why? Why not?.....and BooYah to the sissymaries.

You'd think those so stauchly opposed to this would want Disney to build a few more places that could accomodate a little larger family. That way they wouldn't have to experience the angst they feel when the see a family of 5 walking out of a room supposedly built for 4. They could certainly save money on their anxiety medication.

 

[gardendame]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
There isn't any "if" to it. They have done it. They offer cabins, DVC resorts and ajoining rooms. The rooms are there, you just do not want to pay the price for these rooms. Guess what, my family of 4 coudl save a lot of mony if we stayed off site, but we CHOOSE not do. No one forces us to spend the extra $$ to stay onsite. WDW is not obligated to offer me(or you) a room for a price comparable to one off site.

"guess what" ???? (you sound like my 6 year old ).
I CHOOSE to stay ON-SITE also! Your family of 4 (oh, the perfect number as anyone with a larger family should live in a tenement dwelling) has the several options on where to stay. Is it wrong for me to want to stay somewhere other than POR or a cabin? Why should you even care? What does money have to do with it? As of right now, I am paying rack rate for POR (which to you means I am slumming it). I simply would like there to be more options. Please explain to me why it would offend you so much for Disney to have just one family-style resort? Look at the money they would make!
I think it would be a good decision for Disney to build at least 1 family resort (as has been discussed with the later addition to PopCentury). Would this lessen the magic of YOUR stay?
You people really are 'resort snobs'! As helpful as these boards have been, they have definitely taken a turn for the worse.
If your life is so miserable that you fret and stress over how a family of 5 or greater might possibly some day ruin your vacation by staying (horrors) ON SITE IN A FAMILY STYLE RESORT, then you lead a sorry, sad existance.
Get a life

 

[sha_lyn]

gardendame ... I think you need to get rid of the chip on your shoulder, and your mind reading techniques leave a lot to be desired. I never used the words (or insinuated) anything about slums, tenements etc.

Is it wrong for me to want to stay somewhere other than POR or a cabin?

I'm assuming you have 5 in your family. You have several options including all of the deluxe resort, renting from DVC, getting 2 rooms at POP or any of the AS. Stop lying and saying you don't have options. You do have several, you just want to whine about them. You can want anything thing, but it doesn't make it your right to get it. I'd love for GF to cost the same at POP but that isn't going to happen. I guess WDW just doesn't care about those of us with champagne taste and beer budgets huh.

(you sound like my 6 year old ).

You sound like someone who stomps their feet and throws a tantrum when they don't get their way.

If your life is so miserable that you fret and stress over how a family of 5 or greater might possibly some day ruin your vacation by staying (horrors) ON SITE IN A FAMILY STYLE RESORT, then you lead a sorry, sad existance.

You have the sad existence. You feel so self important that you have to make up some big story in your mind that I think your family of 5 is ruining my life. Get over yourself. You aren't **** to me.

 

[laceemouse]

We have 4 kids and this is the main reason we bought into DVC. The large 2 BR villa with kitchen and washer/dryer beats the heck out of 2 hotel rooms IMO. I highly recommend it, and really if you go as often as most of you seem to go it pays for itself in a few years. I really can't imagine having more than 4 and still being able to do Disney, go out to eat, ect. very often. Right now if I had any more laundry to do I think I would go beserk!!!!! I agree, Disney does offer more options now, you just have to be willing to pay for them. For those of you who want to squeeze lots of LITTLE kids into one room, be warned. Once puberty hits they want there PRIVACY and this is really no longer an option. Babies and toddlers are SOOOOO cute, but alas they do grow up and require more space, and ADULT passes at WDW!!!!

 

[dijid]

I read this thread with interest as we now have 5 kids.

Everyone is so quick to tell you to rent two rooms when you've got the 5th person. What most families need when their kids are young is a one or two bedroom suite where there is only one door. If we were to put our kids in one room and sleep in the connecting room, I wonder if we would be charged with child endangerment when our kids decided to go try out the pool in the middle of the night. (Our oldest is 4 1/2 - not exactly a responsible age. The 2 year old is really into exploring and would probably love having a room with his own door to the world) So that forces us to have one parent in each room. And we have to stay that way from the minute the child goes to sleep. No thank you. This is our vacation and I don't want it that way.

Rent a villa? Great Idea - if you can afford it and/or don't stay over a weekend. (We got fortunate last year and got someone's exchanged timeshare unit for a great deal when they cancelled last minute. Too bad that won't happen every trip.)

So, like many families with more than 2 young kids, we have made reservations off site. Going to stay at HIFS. Too bad Disney doesn't offer something like HIFS.

 

[llggood]

We went from 1 child to 3 in one year, we adopted 3 more! We did not know how to go to Disney because there was no way we could afford to stay on site at a hotel that supports a family of 6 so we just booked two rooms at the all stars adjoining. This was cheaper to book two rooms then one room at a luxury resort. I think it is going to work great, we will have two bathrooms etc. My husband will NOT stay off site and I prefer to stay on site as well. The kids think it's neat they will have their own room and everyone is happy.

 

[sha_lyn]

What most families need when their kids are young is a one or two bedroom suite where there is only one door. If we were to put our kids in one room and sleep in the connecting room, I wonder if we would be charged with child endangerment when our kids decided to go try out the pool in the middle of the night.

This post makes no sense unless your family lives in a studio apartment with only one way in and out.
What do you do at home? Lock the doors I assume. Do the same for the exterior door of the connecting room. How on earth do you sleep at night if you are constantly worried about them getting out of your home? Unless you live is some very unusual home (that would break many fire and safety coded), then there are many more ways your children could get out of your home, than there are ways they could get out of a hotel room.

 

[gardendame]

Originally posted by dijid
I read this thread with interest as we now have 5 kids.

Everyone is so quick to tell you to rent two rooms when you've got the 5th person. What most families need when their kids are young is a one or two bedroom suite where there is only one door. If we were to put our kids in one room and sleep in the connecting room, I wonder if we would be charged with child endangerment when our kids decided to go try out the pool in the middle of the night. (Our oldest is 4 1/2 - not exactly a responsible age. The 2 year old is really into exploring and would probably love having a room with his own door to the world) So that forces us to have one parent in each room. And we have to stay that way from the minute the child goes to sleep. No thank you. This is our vacation and I don't want it that way.

Rent a villa? Great Idea - if you can afford it and/or don't stay over a weekend. (We got fortunate last year and got someone's exchanged timeshare unit for a great deal when they cancelled last minute. Too bad that won't happen every trip.)

So, like many families with more than 2 young kids, we have made reservations off site. Going to stay at HIFS. Too bad Disney doesn't offer something like HIFS.

I completely agree. Since this post is about families with more than 2 children, the only valid posters are those in the same situation. Don't listen to those who are here just to gripe. Your concerns are valid!
I repeat what I said earlier - a family-style resort would in NO WAY take the magic out of someone else's vacation. For that 'someone' to object so strongly to the larger family should really examine their priorities. I just don't understand why they are reading this thread to begin with. Too much time on their hands, I suppose.

 

[dijid]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
This post makes no sense unless your family lives in a studio apartment with only one way in and out.
What do you do at home? Lock the doors I assume. Do the same for the exterior door of the connecting room. How on earth do you sleep at night if you are constantly worried about them getting out of your home? Unless you live is some very unusual home (that would break many fire and safety coded), then there are many more ways your children could get out of your home, than there are ways they could get out of a hotel room.

Well, at home my kids don't have a door in their bedroom that leads to a giant playground (like the AS resorts seem to kids that age) with a swimming pool. That's very tempting when you are two years of age. Of course I would lock the doors, but my 4yo can unlock them. At home, our children do not leave their rooms and call us in the morning when they wake up (or if they need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.) But my 2yo challenges his limits whenever he's in unfamiliar situations, so a trip outside in a hotel wouldn't surprise me.

I think this thread shows why HIFS is so successful. They fill a major need in WDW accomodations.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Originally posted by dijid
......... But my 2yo challenges his limits whenever he's in unfamiliar situations, so a trip outside in a hotel wouldn't surprise me.

I think this thread shows why HIFS is so successful. They fill a major need in WDW accomodations.

Why would a child be stopped leaving HIFS instead of a regular Disney hotel? Do you sleep on the pull-out sofa there when you go?

 

[sha_lyn]

gardendame


If you want to set limits on who can post on a thread I suggest you start your own website.

Do you sleep on the pull-out sofa there when you go?

I'd like to know the answer to that too. The children's area is right of the livingroom, and they (a child )would not walk through the adults bedroom to get to the exterior door.

 

[NotUrsula]

Hotel room doors have flip-locks or chains mounted high on the door. The simple way to keep a toddler from escaping is to flip the lock and then remove any lightweight chairs from the room.
I have flip-locks on my doors at home, too, for just this reason; little ones can't get out without dragging several pieces of furniture over to the door, and I would hear that.

If you still feel insecure, there are door alarms you can buy for hotel rooms. They are primarily designed to foil thefts by members of the hotel staff (sneaking in while you're sleeping to lift wallets, etc.), but they also work for corralling children. Here's an example:http://www.magellans.com/shopping/p...PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=23&iProductID=1231

A petition to have the Values make door alarms available for guest use might be something the managers might go for. (The interested might ask Tyler to suggest it at PC.)

Back to the original issue under discussion... If WDW did add a bldg. or two to the values with oversized rooms (presumably with a Murphy bed or fold-out sofa in them), they WOULD have to charge more for those rooms, which would put them in about the same price range as existing rooms at the moderates. There is no way that they could actually *reserve* those rooms for large parties; they would be on the open market along with every other room, and they might well stay booked up by guests who just want some extra space. What I *really* see as the difficulty in the concept of an especially "family-friendly" resort at WDW is that a resort that had that much emphasis on young children would also cry out for special swimming facilities, more play spaces, and a kids' club facility, which would take it right out of the "value" category. *If* WDW decided to invest in such a concept, I'm betting that it would be installed at a Moderate, not a Value. My money would be on CSR, actually, where it could be marketed to parents who were attending conventions and wanted to bring the kids along.

 

[laceemouse]

Anything that Disney would build, suite or whatever, would cost more than offsite. We have stayed in connecting rooms many times, and with both doors open you do not feel far away from the kids. I still say DVC is the way to go for long-term vacation comfort for families of more than 4, ya'll should check it out!

 

[sha_lyn]

NEVER MIND

 

[6xmum]

We have a large family (six children) and the options are somewhat limited, as you have all noted (I'm not saying that is Disney's fault). Because of our family size, we have only been able to go to WDW once as a family and have another trip planned for January. The first time, we were able to get a great discount for OKW in a two bedroom suite. Other than the 2 adjoining rooms option, that is the only way to sleep 8. We would do that again in a heartbeat if we could get a great discount, but that only works in off seasons etc. This time, we are staying off site to save some money.

 

[Julia M]

What I think some posters are trying to say, is that as a family of five (vs. 4), your options for keeping to a budget (one room) do not exist at the value resorts and there is one option (some rooms at PO) at the moderates.

Obviously, you can rent two rooms just about anywhere, or stay in a higher end home. That's not the point people are making (IMHO) They are trying to say that they wish there were more options for families of five, that involve paying for one room. I think it's the families of five that people have a harder time with. My guess is that when you're talking 6 people (2 adults and 4 kids), there is an expectation that you won't fit in one room.

Again, obviously, when you have a third child, you expect there to be more expenses. However, there are many, many places you can stay with 5 in a room, in other parts of the country. In fact, most places we travel ( and we do travel frequently) we put 5 in one room. Disney could have easily made a section of the All Stars appropriate for a family of five.

However, it's a moot point for me, so I can read all the responses without feeling stressed. I wouldn't stay at All Stars even if they slept five (it doesn't appeal to me). We stayed 3 nights at PO, and while I loved the resort itself, I found the rooms too small for 5 (and I would have found them too small for 4 also). And I can't (or won't) pay for a deluxe (so I can't compare)

My choice is to stay off site. We exchange our timeshare, and stay in a 2 bedroom villa. Our course, then I hear from some people that our vacation, by definition, can't possibly have the same magic as someone who stays on site, but that's another argument for another day!!!!