What Resort to Stay at this year...

[Angela72181]

Hello everyone..

Last year we visited Disneyworld for the first time from December 19 - January 2. We were able to get an awesome deal and staid at Pop Century. We had no problems there. We really enjoyed the environment. We got the free dining / upgraded it and it was a great savings for us.

The only downside for us was that we are a family of 5. Kids were aged 5, 7, and 10 months and then us 2 adults. As you can guess we were in cramped quarters but for the price it worked for us. The problem is in the bed sizes. Them being only 2 double beds with a pack n play didn't work. The first night we tried using it sensibly but of course the 10 month old had nothing to do with the pack n play and hubby and I were very scrunched as were the other 2 kids. Our fix to the problem was to fold up the top comforters and the kids bunked on the floor while I took one bed with the 10 month old and hubby took the other bed. As you can imagine the kids weren't too thrilled but we weren't in the rooms for much anyways so it worked.

This year we are searching for a better place to stay that won't break the budget as we are making a week trip to Disneyland and that is gonna take a little away from the extra we could splurge on. We are open for suggestions as to what would be a good fix. Moderate resorts are about the top of our budget and without a discount that price scares me but our agent already had a decent deal that we could make Port of Orleans River Side work.

Hubby isn't too thrilled with this as he liked the closeness of Pop. He says we can make AOA make do if we need to. We wanted to check out AOA anyways but the Family Suites are way out of the budget.

Anyone have insight? A elevator is almost a necessity for us as we had some nights where the little guy collapsed in the stroller and we just left him sleep in it until he woke up by just pushing it into the room...

Ideas are appreciated

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Check out the double tree in DTD

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jcieutat]

We absolutely love POFQ because the resort is the smallest and there is only one bus stop.

We stayed at POR last year with the murphy bed and it was nice. We payed for a preferred room so we would be close to the front by the food court and main bus stop.

As far as closeness goes, they are all really close with the exception of AKL.

Both of these resorts are great at room requests. We have been to Disneyworld the last 6 years with our two girls and have never had to stay on anything but ground level.

 

[AThrillingChase]

As far as price, and also depending on the specials going on at the time you go, CBR is a little cheaper. Maybe $10 a night? With the mods, some of the nightly rates vary by a few dollars. Just depends when you go.

For bed size, CBR is the only mod still rolling with double size beds, the rest of the mods have queens.

POR has sections with a 5th trundle bed as well. But keep in mind that pull down will take up room in itself, so I am not sure it would work with the pack n play. You would also want to request a 1st floor room because the alligator bayou section which has the trundle bed, does not have elevators. The other sections at the resort however, do have elevators.

I can't speak to AOA...but since it is new perhaps it has larger beds/rooms? Someone else may have more info there.

In general though, all the mods will have slightly more square footage than the values and larger beds, so those would be your best bet. I believe with the last FD offer they also came with TS dining as opposed to quick service.

 

[stacy6552]

WL with bunk beds. Totally worth the extra expense.

 

[Sue M]

I would look at Por or POFQ. They have elevators ( except AB section of Por) and are great resorts. We've had 3 stays at POR and one at POFQ. They both have informative threads here. Look at page 1 of the threads for info. You can also request a ground floor.

AoA has been excluded from any discounts because its new. Also POFQ tends to be excluded or gets a lower discount than POR. So budget wise POR would be the best for discounts.

 

[MHTeacher]

I would also suggest POR or POFQ. Both are mods, and have queen sized beds and the rooms have a little more square feet-314 sq. ft. than a value like Pop(260 sq ft).

Usually a moderate is cheaper than a family suite at a value or even paying for two value rooms.

 

[digiMom]

I'll qualify myself by saying that I've stayed value in the past. Our next trip will be in 2014, and I've been researching other options for our next stay. One of the options that may also work for you is renting a dvc studio. With your size group I think the best option to consider would be Old Key West. Hopefully someone who's stayed there can give more insight then I can. But from what I've learned the studios are the largest at 390 square feet. (POP rooms are 260sq ft) The rooms have 2 queen beds and a small kitchenette. There's also a small patio. Some negatives seem to be most buildings have no elevators, limited CS options, limited mousekeeping unless you pay extra, and a large resort with multiple stops (seems similar to a mod???) Price-wise renting points will make them around mod level. There's a lot of threads with pros and cons of going this way. I still haven't decided myself (and have a while to do so ) ... something to consider though. Good luck with your planning!

 

[4kids4karen]

I am not sure what your budget is, but Fort Wilderness Cabins sounds perfect for your family. You can drive straight to the cabin and park right next to it. In the bedroom is a full bed and a set of bunk beds. In the living room is a pull down murphy bed and a sofa. You could put all the kids in the bedroom tucked out the way so in the evening/mornings they can sleep better. The full kitchen would save some money on food costs. Crock-pot recipes are great, you can throw everything in before going to the park, then dinner is waiting for you when you get back!

http://www.crock-pot.com/recipes.aspx

FW Campground is always very festive around the holidays. You can drive around in a golf cart looking at all of the people's campsite decorations.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

What about trying the family suites at All Star Music??? I believe they are cheaper then the ones at AoA. Fort Wilderness cabins are also an option as is POR b/c the rooms in Alligator Bayou accommodate up to 5 guests.

Another thing you may want to look into is renting points from a DVC member and stay in a villa. Check out David's DVC rentals website. You can save a great deal doing this over rack rates. We are renting a studio at Kidani Village at AKV for the 1st time in June and for what it cost me to rent equaled out what it would cost me to stay at a value resort!!