We're With the Band: When/How Should I Book a 3 Bedroom Villa for 3 Generations?

I was able to book a Grand Villa at Bay Lake Tower, for my clients, cash. I booked it early December for early July. So if you have 6-8 months notice, you could get lucky.
 
A pretty big building. I would probably prefer BLT+CR even though they are #panic separate buildings. Not a huge hike there.

VGF and a standard at GF also are not that far off.

I mean, same building, separate building, once you have to open the door, you need pants anyway.
 


I am roughly in the same boat as you. I am planning a large (11 people) family trip and hoping to mirror a trip that we took back in 1999. For that trip we stayed in a three bedroom suite in the main building of the GF and then switched to the YC. Over the years we have stayed and loved the BWI club level and stay there as often as we can. So for this trip we decided to stay half at the GF and then move over to the BWI. Except that after talking to more CM and travel agents than I ever wanted to it has been discovered that the GF of course still has the three bedroom suite but will not book it as such. They all suggest we book the two bedroom and a standard room CL and make a request that they be adjoining and hope for the best. there is a very good chance that the standard room could be on the third or fourth floor. I know this is not third world problems but it is very frustrating.

This trip is not until 2021 so we have some time to try to figure it out. The travel agents are recommending we book a Grand Villa but we are not DVC owners and they do acknowledge that there is a very real possibility that by the time we could book them there will be no availability. You would think with the amount of large family groups that vacation in Disney that Disney would make it easier for them to stay together.
 
I just finished booking a trip for my family (13 people), and we settled on 2 2BR villas at the Beach Club. We needed bedrooms for four separate families. We looked at many options, but this seemed to be the most flexible and cost effective way of doing it.
 
@Hopefully and everyone else, thanks so much for the info. We stayed in a 2 bedroom at OKW with my folks in 2014 and loved the villa experience there. We did not love how large the resort is, and we did not love the CS options, so I don't think we'd stay there again. I think we'd like to explore a new-to-us resort. I was thinking of resorts specifically that have both regular rooms as well as villas, but I understand I probably won't have a ton of options. A studio and a 2 bedroom also sounds very workable. I just thought it might be a little cheaper to do a 2 bedroom villa and a regular room, although I did not consider how far apart regular rooms might be from the villas. You all have helped me think a lot of things through...thank you so much! This is what I love about the Disboards!!

I'm also coming to terms with the fact the my boys might not be able to stay with us. I'll just have to see what unfolds with the parameters of the band's accommodations, and we'll go from there.

Thank you, thank you! And, if you think of anything else for my sort of unique situation, by all means please share!!!


I was just trying to bounce ideas around for you, and one of the things that comes to my mind is how little time people actually spend hanging around when they are in WDW. I wonder if you are placing too much emphasis on the "Together" aspect in a villa, and not enough on just "together"

You could toss that whole villa/studio idea out and look at your total budget and book separate rooms at a lovely resort. Use the common areas for visiting. If you are all at the same resort you could meet for breakfast, at the pool, in the lobby or lounge, etc. I liked the villa, but if I was looking at how my family preferred to stay, and was not looking at that savings, as well as what my nieces preferred. They wanted that distance from the parks, so we were okay with it, however I would chose separate rooms in a resort that had the amenities we could all share
 


Hi Disfriends! I thought I would quickly follow up, as I have a little more info about the 2020 spring break band trip. You were right...my band boys need to stay with the band off property for the entirety of the spring break trip. They cannot stay with us on property at all. It's either "all in" with the band, or "all out" and not with the band at all.

We had a family meeting where we laid out the options...Plan A: boys go with the band via bus and stay off property, while DH and I fly down and stay with two sets of grandparents on property for the week. Plan B: boys don't go with the band at all, and go with us and stay on property for the week and connect with their band friends whenever they can during the week.

Soooo....what do you think they chose?? PLAN B! While they love being in band, I guess they love WDW more! :rotfl2: They did not like the idea of staying outside the Disney bubble...I cannot believe it! I thought for sure traveling with the band would win out!!

So, we are now trying to figure out where to stay on property. We want to book a package as soon as they come out in June. The grandparents are trying to figure out whether they are coming or not. Both sets wanted to see the boys perform, and now that they are not with the band, I don't know if they will come. So, we could potentially need a room for just the four of us, for the four of us plus one set of grandparents, or for the four of us and two sets of grandparents! I'm stymied about where to stay, especially because one set of grands have never been to WDW.

Does anyone have any ideas about the best places to stay with three generations, now that we know that our boys will be with us all week? If the set of grands that has never been to WDW comes, it will be their only trip. We want everyone to have amazing time, and I'm thinking we definitely want a deluxe resort. It's our last trip to WDW while both boys are both still in high school (our oldest will be a senior in high school next year, and we think the chances of having spring break align with our youngest's schedule is probably slim-to-none). We now know that a three bedroom villa is probably not an option, as they are so tough to book. The other requirement is that each family definitely unit needs their own sleeping space.

Any input would be so appreciated, now that we know we're definitely not with the band. :goodvibes
 
Book a one bedroom and two studios (for the grandparents). then you can cancel any studios you don't need. The one bedroom at AKV or BLT will have the sleeper chair in the living room so the two boys won't have to share a bed.
 
Plus, does anyone have any experience with kids who have performed in marching bands at WDW? I have NO idea how that works, or where kids in bands perform.

I would ask that question separately on the themeparks board. Or just do a search.

I’ve seen many posts like that and the kids always seem to have to stay with the group.


You can book room-only then call later on to make it a ticketless package which gives you the dining plan without the ticket requirement, FYI. Then just buy the tickets you need for the people that want tickets. I would just check often. Disney holds some Dvc rooms for their purposes, so I’m not sure they would break rules by having something up earlier than 11 months.
 
. Since packages aren't out yet, should I book three rooms somewhere for the week I *think* will be our spring break next year, with the idea that I can modify the ressie once we know when the band will go?
No. Wait.
Is it smart to book three rooms only,
Not in this case, no.
2. Or, should I sit tight and book later when we have a definite date? If so, when should I book? I'm guessing spring break will be the last week of March in 2020.
Yes, wait. The school calendar should be a good source for which dates to book the trip. Along with, of course, information about the band's dates.
3. I know that villas don't become available for cash bookings for a while. When, exactly, do they become available, and how impossible is it to snag a three bedroom villa?
Pretty impossible, no matter how it's reserved. Relatively few three-bedroom villas.
4. I would love to book a three bedroom at one of the monorail resorts, but I recognize that I may not have many choices regarding the resort. Which resort(s) would I be most likely to book a three bedroom villa in?
OKW, SSR.

Have you considered a one bedroom and a two bedroom?
 
@kaytieeldr Thanks so much for the feedback. Our school calendar has now been approved by the school board. We know spring break will be the last week in March, 2020. Additionally, we now have info about the band trip, and that info led our boys to say "no thanks" to the band trip. So, we're now just planning a regular Disney trip with the idea that our boys will be able to meet up with their band peeps at various times during the week. When the boys were possibly going to be with the band, both sets of grandparents wanted to see them perform. Now that they are not performing with the band, the grandparents are on the fence about coming.

We've decided to sit tight until 2020 packages come out, and I also understand that booking a three bedroom villa will be nearly impossible. So, we are weighing our options around the advice that Dis folks have given regarding booking studios/1 bedrooms/2 bedrooms or just booking three regular rooms at the same resort. It will all depend on how many grandparents decide to come and how pricey everything is. We want to "splurge" a little because it will be probably the last time our boys (a senior and a freshman in high school) will be on the same spring break schedule and if DH's parents come, it will be their one and only time to visit WDW.

We'd really like to be on the monorail, and I know that will be more expensive than some of the other resorts, so probably we'd book just three regular rooms at one of those three resorts. A combo of villas would more likely be feasible at OKW or SSR or AK. We'll just have to see the prices and weigh out what we value most, I guess? All 4 grandparents are in good health and are very mobile. However, a WDW vacay is really demanding in terms of walking, and I can see them really appreciating the ability to hop on the monorail and get back to their rooms quickly. Plus, I LOVE the Disney "feel" that the monorail resorts provide. However, having the amenities of studios/villas would be really nice too. I dunno...

In 2014, my folks came with us to WDW, and we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW. We all loved the 2 bedroom villa...we had breakfast food, snacks, and water delivered from WeGoShop, which was awesome, and we loved having a washer/dryer, and we appreciated having common living space and separate sleeping space for everyone. However, I didn't love OKW itself...it was just OK. We found the resort to be huge and very spread out, and we had to walk a long way to get to the pools, to the bus stops, etc. This added on the walking at the parks was sort of a bummer for my folks. The QS options there also were not awesome, so I know we would not opt to stay there again. I don't know if SSR or AK are similar to OKW in this regard?
 
and I can see them really appreciating the ability to hop on the monorail and get back to their rooms quickly.
It's only quick to/from MK, and possibly Epcot. You need to determine the likelihood of the various members of your party spending the bulk of their time at just those two parks, to determine if a Magic Kingdom-area property is really the best choice.
 

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