Which resort for mom going alone with 2 young kids (during Pop Warner week)?

[alicenwonder99]

I'm taking a quick trip with my 2 youngest children (6 and 4) the first week of December. We're planning on heading to DL the first week of January with the rest of the family, so I thought I would make this trip to WDW cheap. I thought the younger kids would like the All Star or Pop Century, but then I read about the cheerleaders coming the same week.

Here's what my concerns are:

The children walking by themselves back to the room. Since I'll be traveling alone, I won't be able to carry 2 tired children. So I was thinking a monorail resort would be better. It doesn't matter how early we leave the parks, my children always seem to fall asleep on the buses!! And a long walk back to the room from the bus would be hard.

Easy access to quick food. I thought the values would be better in this situation. I probably won't be doing too many (if any) sit down restaurants with the children. I want to be able to get something quick and cheap.

Good kids pools. I hate pools, and I don't swim. I won't have my dh there to go in the pools with the kids so I need a place that has a children's pool (not deep) that the kids can play in while I sit on the side and watch them.

I've been trying to read all the descriptions of the hotels and I thought Pop Century would be good for us, but then I read about the cheerleaders taking over the resort. We'll be going the first week of December.

Any suggestions for another hotel?

Mary

 

[DisneyMomx7]

How about WL -less expensive than other deluxe resorts and they have the ferry to MK. If price is not a factor then I would go with either the Poly or GF.

 

[justcruisin]

I agree with WL or something on the monorail. Maybe even FW. There are so many things to do --- MK, campfire, petting zoo. Even taking a boat ride is fun. The logistics would be so much easier at a monorail resort. Roaring Forks at WL has great "fast" food.

diana

 

[fam4jc]

HI. I just did a simular trip with my two dd ages 5 & 8 in April. They were a little older, but we did fine. We stayed three nights at the Pop Century and two nights at AKL. At both resorts we were treating with much pixie dust. I just called the resort front desks ahead of time and told them that I was traveling alone with my two girls and I was nervous about it. Would they be sure that I was close to transportation and the food court? They were very nice and responsive. Pop took a little more walking outside, but it was just fine. The great thing about the Disney resort pools is that you can put on the life jackets that they supply for free. Even though both my girls can swim (not strong), I always put a life jacket on them when I wasn't in the pool with them.... We saw a boy get saved by a life guard at the Pop. They aren't just window dressing!

The busses were running great for us. No complaints at all. If you are on a budget I would say the Pop would be a great choice. If you can spend twice as much, I would go for the Wilderness Lodge like the other poster said.

You will have a great time. I took my cues from my girls and found that we had a nice relaxing trip. When they got tired of the parks we went back to the hotel to swim or stopped for ice cream. I found that about every 3 hours we had to either stop for a snack or find a playground. It made our day go very smooth.

I will be happy to answer any specific questions.

 

[F1Julie]

For Pop Warner week, I'd avoid any of the value resorts. If you can swing it, I'd stay at a deluxe resort. If not, I'd go with POFQ since it is the smallest of the moderates.

 

[weluvpluto]

We really wanted to stay at WL but the standard and woods view rooms seem very hard to come by that week. Maybe AKL instead?

 

[Kristine JM]

Hi we are staying at the Polynesian on our next trip because of the monorail convenience for the little ones we hear the pool is great and has the zero entry so it's easy for young children at the pool. We have stayed at the Contemporary a few years ago when our daughter was 2 the pool was just okay. The WL could work well for you it is a smaller resort especially compared to the Poly. The walk to transportation at the WL is not too bad and is a fun resort for little one's. We narrowed our choices down to the WL and the Poly, my husband has always wanted to stay at the Poly so the Poly here we come.

 

[Harambe]

I know AKL seems far from MK, but one thing I love about it is that it doesn't share busses with other resorts. Mara (the food court) has great food, and plenty for the picky eater (DS is a chicken finger/pizza kinda of kid). Request a room near the pool!

 

[alicenwonder99]

Thanks everyone. I think I'm leaning towards the WL. I'm trying to find some pics of the pool. Does anyone have a link to a good picture? I'm trying to make sure that the pool would be good for my little ones. They would probably be ok going in the water with a life jacket on, but I would feel better if it was a pool geared towards little ones (not deep).

I'm also trying to decide how many days to stay: 4 or 5. We probably will skip MGM, do at least 2 days at MK, 2 days at Epcot, and 1 day at AK. Since we are going in December, we can probably do just one day at Epcot. My children do not like the "big" rides, like Splash Mt., or anything faster than Dumbo.

Also, how "easy" do you think it will be for me to find my way around the airport for the new Magic Express shuttle? That is the main reason why I am traveling alone with the younger children: because I don't have to worry about trying to get to WDW myself. If they didn't have the Magical Express, I wouldn't even attempt this trip.

Mary

 

[zippehsmom]

I was going to suggest WL also. In December we are taking our girls (5 & 2)on a surprise trip to WDW, but DH will only be able to be there 3 out of the 7 days. So, I knew I wanted something convenient to MK, but did not want to pay top dollar, so WL was the perfect choice.

I also like that they have inside corridors, in case of rain or something.

zippehsmom

 

[southjerseymom]

I think the WL is a good choice for you. We first went there when DS was 2.5 and DD5months. Since that time we have stayed at BC, Poly, and AS Sports - and DS still talks about the WL. Theming is great for kids. They love running over the bridge in the lobby. I would feel safe by myself at the WL - I like the set up of the rooms around the lobby. When I first stayed there I was not that impressed with Roaring Forks. But after staying at the other resorts I realize it really was geared to the little guys without the craziness of the "big" resort food courts. Whispering Canyon is a lot of fun. The pool has a small kiddie pool and the regular pool is not soo big like SAB at the BC that you can't watch your guys.
The boat ride is really relaxing and will give you a chance to regroup. From what you say about your guys you will spend most of your time at MK. My kids are 4 and 2 now, we just got back in late May. They are not great daredevils (thank goodness) so MK is really their favorite place at this age. MGM is hard because the show times are so structured. Epcot is a great time on the monorail - but not IMHO not that much for the little people. Festival of the Lion King in AK is great...as is the parade, the tree of life, Hester and Chester and Kilamanjaro. If I was taking my kids by myself to WDW I would definately do WL again.

 

[Brumeiser]

I noticed on fam4jc that they talked about having life jackets at the resort pools. Is that for all resorts including the Pop and is it hard to get one? We were trying to figure out how to pack a life jacket for a plane ride so we would have one for the 3 year old. But if they have them down there that woud be great.