Which resort for first grandparents trip

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Personally I'd just book separate rooms/studios. We do Disney as part of a larger group with extended family and as well as we get along, and as much as we enjoy being together, it's nice to just have a little space that's YOURS. It also makes it that much easier with paying.

Also if you're paying (or if cost isn't an issue for them) I'd very much recommend staying at a deluxe with easy park access. I'd specifically recommend the Beach or Yacht Club, I think. Being close to World Showcase is a plus for people who aren't generally park/ride people, because who doesn't love to eat? There's a lot in the Crescent Lake area they can do on foot without ever leaving the resort area, the pool is hard to beat. If I were going to Disney and planning on limited park time, that's 100% where I'd stay.

 

[Doingitagain]

We took both sets of grandparents and had a grand villa at Jambo House. They preferred sitting on the balcony vs going to the parks! We could cook, do laundry, etc. in the villa. Every couple had their own room and bathroom and there was plenty of space at the dining table and living room.

 

[old lady]

It depends whether they are some young grandchildren. A resort near the park might be best since the monorail will take them to nearby parks or the ticket centers.

 

[FSU Girl]

For any group plan, everyone needs to agree on what type of trip it is and have the same expectations, or feelings get hurt.

Is it a Disney vacation that happens to include these groups of people OR is it a multi group trip that happens to be at Orlando?

The trip with my in-laws was the former (and honestly it was a little too much togetherness for all of us, even with separate rooms). The trip with my mom is the latter.

As an aside, plan the trip you want....don't limit yourself to MK unless you really want to.

The main focus of the trip would be the baby being at Disney with grandparents. We haven’t done a vacation with anyone and the baby yet. Not sure if that’s just because we haven’t done much because of Covid or not lol. I’m starting to think two separate trips with each grandparent might be easier than everyone at once, but the two sets of grandparents do get along and wouldn’t mind doing a trip together so idk

 

[CaptainAmerica]

For slow pace and two sets of grandparents, I'd be booking a 2 bedroom villa AND a Studio (or three Studios) at Old Key West for at least 7 nights. A longer trip takes away all of the pressure to do and see everything at breakneck speed, and you want absolutely everyone to have the ability to get their own privacy if they need it.

I dislike the idea of staying close to the Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is where the elementary-age kids congregate. It sounds counter-intuitive, but with a baby and older relatives, I'd actually want to avoid the "kid-friendly" areas.

 

[FSU Girl]

My DD is now grown, but we went on many family Disney vacations with aunts and uncles and sisters and brothers and parents along the way. My #1 piece of advise is that all family units should be at the same resort. The couple of times we were at separate resorts it was a ginormous PITB to meet up and do things together. My #2 piece of advise is to know, acknowledge and accept the touring/vacation styles of the people you're traveling with. My mom and MIL were both LATE risers. Noon was the crack of dawn for either one of them. We were park commandos. Our touring styles were like oil and water and we knew we couldn't really force them to get up for rope drop. We compromised with a character breakfast and hung out with them at the parks later and at the resort in the afternoon.

Consider why you're taking this trip with the grandparents who are not "big fans of the parks". Is it to spend time with them? Share some Disney magic with them through their grandbaby's eyes? To have a couple days/nights on your own while you have babysitters?

I know from your other posts and trip reports that you enjoy a high end, expensive vacation. If the grandparents can and choose to afford that kind of thing, knock your socks off and shoot the moon! If not, it is incumbent on you to compromise. IMO, you go to WDW often enough that you can bend in this instance and stay at a moderate resort or even *gasp* offsite. Disney will be there in the future for a more intense trip. Take THIS TRIP to connect with family and have a more relaxed time with them with Disney as a background instead of the focus.

Now, back to your question about where to stay.

If you can shoot the moon, I would pick a Deluxe resort near the MK or consider a DVC 2-BR with an additional studio. The DVC resort gives everyone their own space and the living room of the 2BR as a place to hang out. The only problem is that studios have become harder to come by because of the point glut left over from people not traveling during Covid. 2BRs can also be hard to come by for the same reason because most of them are 1BR/studio lock-offs.

If you go the moderate route, I would suggest Port Orleans French Quarter because of the size. It's a small, quaint, intimate resort with beautiful grounds.

If you do the off-site route, you could consider a 3BR at one of the other timeshares. I've stayed at the Sheraton Vistana and at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Both were very nice with resort amenities and both were affordable. You could also consider renting a house with a private pool or a condo that is part of a resort with a pool. I've stayed at a number of local hotels which are very nice but I would prefer to have something bigger.

Thanks for reading my trip reports the main focus of this trip will be for the grandparents to experience Disney through their grandbaby. It’ll definitely be a different pace. I think for rides they’d only want to go on ones the baby could ride which are without height requirements and easy going. I feel like more of those are at magic kingdom so something close to that would be better. My parents definitely don’t like spending a lot on hotels so I might have to pay to get them there, but they do things out of their norm for the baby so they might be ok with it. I just need to go to them all with a game plan they will ok because no one wants to be in charge of planning so I have to figure it all out first

 

[FSU Girl]

Personally I'd just book separate rooms/studios. We do Disney as part of a larger group with extended family and as well as we get along, and as much as we enjoy being together, it's nice to just have a little space that's YOURS. It also makes it that much easier with paying.

Also if you're paying (or if cost isn't an issue for them) I'd very much recommend staying at a deluxe with easy park access. I'd specifically recommend the Beach or Yacht Club, I think. Being close to World Showcase is a plus for people who aren't generally park/ride people, because who doesn't love to eat? There's a lot in the Crescent Lake area they can do on foot without ever leaving the resort area, the pool is hard to beat. If I were going to Disney and planning on limited park time, that's 100% where I'd stay.

I like those hotels, I’m just worried it’ll be a hassle getting to magic kingdom. The only option would be the bus or driving right? With a stroller it seems easier to use transportation that we don’t have to fold it up like the monorail. But my mom would probably prefer being close to Epcot. Doing a split stay seems like too much of a pain with this trip though

 

[FSU Girl]

We took both sets of grandparents and had a grand villa at Jambo House. They preferred sitting on the balcony vs going to the parks! We could cook, do laundry, etc. in the villa. Every couple had their own room and bathroom and there was plenty of space at the dining table and living room.

I’d love to get a grand villa but I’ve never seen them available for cash and I’ve heard it’s hard to get the points to rent. Also planning the trip not very far out so probably nothing available.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I like those hotels, I’m just worried it’ll be a hassle getting to magic kingdom. The only option would be the bus or driving right? With a stroller it seems easier to use transportation that we don’t have to fold it up like the monorail. But my mom would probably prefer being close to Epcot. Doing a split stay seems like too much of a pain with this trip though

There's absolutely no reason to go MK-heavy with a baby. It's not about rides and princesses and Mickey Mouse, it's about color and sound and smell. Baby will get just as much value strolling around Epcot or Animal Kingdom as riding Dumbo or Peter Pan.

 

[FSU Girl]

There's absolutely no reason to go MK-heavy with a baby. It's not about rides and princesses and Mickey Mouse, it's about color and sound and smell. Baby will get just as much value strolling around Epcot or Animal Kingdom as riding Dumbo or Peter Pan.

We’ve taken her a few times for resort only trips so it’ll be her first time going into the parks. She loves Minnie Mouse and seeing characters. She’d probably like walking around Epcot, but most rides there have a height requirement don’t they?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We’ve taken her a few times for resort only trips so it’ll be her first time going into the parks. She loves Minnie Mouse and seeing characters. She’d probably like walking around Epcot, but most rides there have a height requirement don’t they?

I'm certainly not saying don't go to Magic Kingdom or even visit all four parks equally. But some people have been recommending MK area resorts and making comments like you'd spend almost your entire time there.

 

[Doingitagain]

The main focus of the trip would be the baby being at Disney with grandparents. We haven’t done a vacation with anyone and the baby yet. Not sure if that’s just because we haven’t done much because of Covid or not lol. I’m starting to think two separate trips with each grandparent might be easier than everyone at once, but the two sets of grandparents do get along and wouldn’t mind doing a trip together so idk

with separate trips, who gets to be there for the first time? We planned a trip with our family including grandchildren, and the other grandparents are joining us for part of it because they wanted to be there for the “firsts”.

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm certainly not saying don't go to Magic Kingdom or even visit all four parks equally. But some people have been recommending MK area resorts and making comments like you'd spend almost your entire time there.

I think it’ll depend on how long the vacation is. If we do something shorter focusing on just magic kingdom and staying by it might make sense. If we do something longer then we can spend time at other parks. I’m just not sure which to do

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I think it’ll depend on how long the vacation is. If we do something shorter focusing on just magic kingdom and staying by it might make sense. If we do something longer then we can spend time at other parks. I’m just not sure which to do

Short trips are much more stressful to me. No matter how many times I tell myself "don't try to cram everything in," I can't help myself and I end up trying to do too much at a much too aggressive pace.

 

[sponica]

We’ve taken her a few times for resort only trips so it’ll be her first time going into the parks. She loves Minnie Mouse and seeing characters. She’d probably like walking around Epcot, but most rides there have a height requirement don’t they?

I can't remember, how old is your baby? (I feel like your kiddo and my youngest are about the same age)

My then 20 month old loved walking around Epcot and absolutely hated every ride (seriously she tried to claw her way out of Dumbo).

 

[FSU Girl]

Short trips are much more stressful to me. No matter how many times I tell myself "don't try to cram everything in," I can't help myself and I end up trying to do too much at a much too aggressive pace.

Ya I definitely don’t want to cram stuff in. An easy going pace is what the grandparents want. And the baby has a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day so we can’t be go go go anyway lol

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I’m working on plans for a first trip to have both set of grandparents come with us to the parks with the baby. I’m not sure where we should stay and what room configuration we should stay. Should we do 3 separate rooms or get a two bedroom villa?

Also how long should this trip be? Neither set of grandparents is a big fan of the parks, but would like to go to explore with the baby.

I prefer staying at the deluxes. Would it be weird if we stay in different hotels? My parents would probably prefer staying off property. Only big issue I see with that is not being able to go to the pool together.

would love to hear some experience of how these kind of trips went for others.

This is all totally dependent on your family structure and how your in-laws would all feel being in one villa together and with you all and a baby. IMO a two bed DVC villa isn't big enough for 6 adults and a baby. Also, would the grandparents be ok in one villa together? Just my own experience through travels with our own kids and one set of grandparents, but adults who are not used to being with a small child all the time and other adults that they're not really related to, or currently live with, may just need a break from one another and a DVC 2 bedroom isn't that much space for 6 adults.

If it's my family and 2 sets of grandparents, nobody is staying together like that in one 2 bedroom villa. There may be ample sleeping arrangements but not enough personal space. For us, it would be same resort and that's where the togetherness would end, everyone would have their own space. Now if it was only one set of grandparents, I would consider a villa and would likely prefer staying at the same resort if we did separate rooms.

If you want to go down the villa road, Beach/Yacht club is nice for the awesome pool area and walking proximity to Epcot/DHS. But if you'll be at MK more and strollering alot, maybe consider GF or BLT villa.

If you decide to go offsite, you'll definitely get more bang for your buck. There are some nice nearby properties with great pools and amenities. And of course, you could go full throttle and rent a condo or house and have a ton more space but I am not a fan of cooking while at WDW so I don't ever bother with that at Disney.

As far as the trip length/tips- totally depends on what you want to accomplish, time away from home, budget, health of grandparents, etc. Not sure of their health but walking around at WDW is a lot even for the fittest of people so I'd say a trip no longer than a 4/5 days to a week max. Over the years, we traveled a lot with my husband's mom/dad, shared hotel rooms, had the benefit of them watching our kids while we'd go out but the key takeaways are that spending time with a small child more often than normal for them can be taxing so they may need breaks from ya'll, they may need to not go to the parks at all and do their own thing, they may be slower paced than you and you may be bothered by that. Or they also may want to do the polar opposite of all that and be with ya'll 24/7 and that may drive you nuts. LOL!

I don't know your relationships and how often they're all together, but just know that there are a ton of variables here that make planning trips like this a little more complicated. When our kids were little, we basically told the grands, join us if you want, don't feel obligated to do anything you don't want to but here's our plans. We were flexible, they were flexible and it all just worked.

 

[FSU Girl]

I can't remember, how old is your baby? (I feel like your kiddo and my youngest are about the same age)

My then 20 month old loved walking around Epcot and absolutely hated every ride (seriously she tried to claw her way out of Dumbo).

She’s 15 months now so she’ll still be under 2 when we go. She really loves being around a lot of people and waving to everyone. I think because she was born during Covid so didn’t get to see many people for a long time. I’m not sure how she’ll like the rides since we haven’t done any yet, but she likes swings at the park and loves new things so I don’t think she’ll mind them. I know she loves seeing characters so meeting as many as we can would be a highlight for her

 

[MainMom]

The main focus of the trip would be the baby being at Disney with grandparents. We haven’t done a vacation with anyone and the baby yet. Not sure if that’s just because we haven’t done much because of Covid or not lol. I’m starting to think two separate trips with each grandparent might be easier than everyone at once, but the two sets of grandparents do get along and wouldn’t mind doing a trip together so idk

Are 4 grandparents who are there for the baby going to feel like they spent time with the baby if there are 6 adults around? I would try separate trips.

 

[DeeBee3]

Honestly, like I mentioned in my post, I think an MK resort is the way to go. Just from my experience now with kids (8 and 4), we have been there at various ages and the almost 2 year old will LOVE the boat rides to the park (if you choose that transportation). I still remember both of my kids riding for the first time from WL and seeing the castle - we took pics of their faces. So cute.

On the plus side, you could also use the monorail to Epcot. I do love Epcot and my kids loved it then and still do. They have Nemo, the aquarium, Living with the Land, and then just walking around through the countries. Perhaps the Moana water play area will be open?

With a stroller and needing to go back for nap, you want to be close to either of those parks. Since you don't think everyone will be on board for HS, I think Epcot and MK will be a big hit. AK is a bus no matter what.

The bus has always been the most annoying to us when we had all the toddler gear. On the boat you don't need to fold up the stroller and it just seemed easier. Everyone has a different opinion.