Which resort for grand villa, strollers and seniors?

[JennTOR]

Would love to hear your thoughts, planning a 2020 trip with DH, DD age 4 and DDs 18 month twins, as well as my mother and my in law's. In laws- not sure how they'll do with lots of walking and I want to minimize getting twins in/out/folding stroller. 1 week stay, only 3 days in parks, others will be resort days. We are planning on a grand villa and a 1 bedroom for the in laws. Which resorts do you think would fit best? VGF is high on my list for monorail access as we'll be at MK at least 2 mornings. But BWV sounds good too for Epcot and all the dining options nearby plus I've never stayed there. BLT is nice but the decor doesn't jazz me and I'd prefer one level so I don't have to worry about stairs with the twins. Open to other suggestions too, thank you!

 

[Marionnette]

Would love to hear your thoughts, planning a 2020 trip with DH, DD age 4 and DDs 18 month twins, as well as my mother and my in law's. In laws- not sure how they'll do with lots of walking and I want to minimize getting twins in/out/folding stroller. 1 week stay, only 3 days in parks, others will be resort days. We are planning on a grand villa and a 1 bedroom for the in laws. Which resorts do you think would fit best? VGF is high on my list for monorail access as we'll be at MK at least 2 mornings. But BWV sounds good too for Epcot and all the dining options nearby plus I've never stayed there. BLT is nice but the decor doesn't jazz me and I'd prefer one level so I don't have to worry about stairs with the twins. Open to other suggestions too, thank you!

Where do you own? I suggest booking your home resort and switching if something is available at 7 months.

VGF takes a lot of points and the GVs tend to be available into the 7 months booking period because of that. There are 3 bedrooms and a “media room” which has a pullout sofa and can be used as a 4th bedroom. There are 4 full bathrooms. VGF has a total of 6 GVs and they are located in the same wing of the villas building, one on each floor. The kids’ splash and play area is really cute.

BWV has 7 GVs that tend to get booked up by owners fairly early in the 11-month window. Two of the GVs are 2 stories. All of them face the boardwalk. Three bedrooms and three full baths. Great access to Epcot and HS but of the three resorts that you listed, BWV has the worst access to the MK. However, it is one of the best for dining options. And the kids can watch evening entertainment on the boardwalk from one of the GV balconies.

I’ve never stayed in a BLT GV but it’s a great location for the MK and you can easily get to Epcot by switching monorails at the TTC.

 

[Donna M]

We stayed in a few GV, and loved them. Our favorite is OKW because it is so large, but it has two floor. Look into AKV Jambo. That GV is on one floor with the extra room that has a pool table along with a dining room table that actually can fit a large group. The drawback to the unit we stayed in was that it was at the end of the hall which made for a long walk to get there, but great once inside.

SSR is two floors with a very small balcony, a not too big living room either. We won't stay there again.

We have never been able to get into BWV GV. VGF GV looks amazing, but the points are really high.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Jambo has only 6 GV and all are at the end of the hallways. One is handicap accessible. Kidani is two floors

VGF, BWV, CC and Riviera will all be one floors plus Jambo.

 

[Marionnette]

Jambo has only 6 GV and all are at the end of the hallways. One is handicap accessible. Kidani is two floors

VGF, BWV, CC and Riviera will all be one floors plus Jambo.

BWV has two 2-story GVs.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Would love to hear your thoughts, planning a 2020 trip with DH, DD age 4 and DDs 18 month twins, as well as my mother and my in law's. In laws- not sure how they'll do with lots of walking and I want to minimize getting twins in/out/folding stroller. 1 week stay, only 3 days in parks, others will be resort days. We are planning on a grand villa and a 1 bedroom for the in laws. Which resorts do you think would fit best? VGF is high on my list for monorail access as we'll be at MK at least 2 mornings. But BWV sounds good too for Epcot and all the dining options nearby plus I've never stayed there. BLT is nice but the decor doesn't jazz me and I'd prefer one level so I don't have to worry about stairs with the twins. Open to other suggestions too, thank you!

I think VGF is a perfect choice! We’ve stayed there and the GV is gorgeous and so spacious. We were 6 adults and 2 kids. Having the extra media room is huge - my kids used it as a playroom, but you could even set up 2 pack & plays in there. There’s just so much space and it’s absolutely beautiful.

The other GVs we’ve done at WDW are Kidani and SSR so I can’t weigh in on the layout of BWV or BLT’s as we’ve stayed at smaller villas there.

 

[DenLo]

BLT has 2 floors for the Grand villas, but you can access the second floor via the elevator and use your MB to enter the room. BLT works well for strollers as it is an easy walk to MK and the monorail allows you to roll the stroller onboard. With two sets of elevators at BLT it is a short walk to the elevators from any room. The elevators are quite roomy and will easily hold a twin stroller.

Not knowing your grandparents and how active they are it really is difficult to give advice regarding them. But a monorail resort would allow them to go to another resort for lunch or dinner. Also at BLT you have access to the pool at the Contemporary which is often less crowded.

 

[Shellyred8]

Is a split stay something you have thought about? I just got back from a trip with a set of 23 month old twins. We started at BWV and did HS and EP while we were there. Then we moved to CCV and did MK on those days. We had a double stroller, so I wanted to minimize any bus time. The only day we had to take a bus was on move day and we did AK on that day, because regardless of where we stayed we would have to take a bus there. The split stay ended up working perfectly for us.

 

[JennTOR]

Where do you own? I suggest booking your home resort and switching if something is available at 7 months.

VGF takes a lot of points and the GVs tend to be available into the 7 months booking period because of that. There are 3 bedrooms and a “media room” which has a pullout sofa and can be used as a 4th bedroom. There are 4 full bathrooms. VGF has a total of 6 GVs and they are located in the same wing of the villas building, one on each floor. The kids’ splash and play area is really cute.

BWV has 7 GVs that tend to get booked up by owners fairly early in the 11-month window. Two of the GVs are 2 stories. All of them face the boardwalk. Three bedrooms and three full baths. Great access to Epcot and HS but of the three resorts that you listed, BWV has the worst access to the MK. However, it is one of the best for dining options. And the kids can watch evening entertainment on the boardwalk from one of the GV balconies.

I’ve never stayed in a BLT GV but it’s a great location for the MK and you can easily get to Epcot by switching monorails at the TTC.

Thank you for the details on BWV, I couldn't find the breakdown of one and two story villas. For this group, I wouldn't consider staying at home resort, my in laws would not navigate OKW or SSR well, and too many of us to fit in a vehicle together, nor do I want to ask my husband to play chauffeur all week. Thinking VGF is our best option for space, you're right that media room gives us such a great extra space

 

[JennTOR]

I think VGF is a perfect choice! We’ve stayed there and the GV is gorgeous and so spacious. We were 6 adults and 2 kids. Having the extra media room is huge - my kids used it as a playroom, but you could even set up 2 pack & plays in there. There’s just so much space and it’s absolutely beautiful.

The other GVs we’ve done at WDW are Kidani and SSR so I can’t weigh in on the layout of BWV or BLT’s as we’ve stayed at smaller villas there.

Yes, I stayed in a 2br last year with mom and dd1 while I was pregnant and it was so convenient as we did mostly MK/Epcot. We have done grand villas at OKW, SSR and both sides of AK, and none feel like the right fit with this group, though I loved OKW and AK villas

 

[JennTOR]

BLT has 2 floors for the Grand villas, but you can access the second floor via the elevator and use your MB to enter the room. BLT works well for strollers as it is an easy walk to MK and the monorail allows you to roll the stroller onboard. With two sets of elevators at BLT it is a short walk to the elevators from any room. The elevators are quite roomy and will easily hold a twin stroller.

Not knowing your grandparents and how active they are it really is difficult to give advice regarding them. But a monorail resort would allow them to go to another resort for lunch or dinner. Also at BLT you have access to the pool at the Contemporary which is often less crowded.

Great points, I think we're keeping BLT as our back up choice. And they have the great community center which I don't think VGF does.

 

[JennTOR]

Is a split stay something you have thought about? I just got back from a trip with a set of 23 month old twins. We started at BWV and did HS and EP while we were there. Then we moved to CCV and did MK on those days. We had a double stroller, so I wanted to minimize any bus time. The only day we had to take a bus was on move day and we did AK on that day, because regardless of where we stayed we would have to take a bus there. The split stay ended up working perfectly for us.

We have done a split stay on a last minute trip and it just didn't work for us. And that was only with 1 kiddo, impressed you did it with 2! We couldn't get into room until after 4 with each switch and threw such a wrench into naptime that the end of the day was a wash. Twins are fussier kids than my oldest so I am goingto be militant about keeping naptimes!

 

[clbielick]

i found getting on the monorail with multiple small children and a stroller to be a pain. for some reason every time i have to fold or unfold that dang stroller with people behind me waiting, it takes me triple the time! im planning BLT so that i can just walk over there...maybe your in laws could take the monorail over, if you dont end up doing VGF