Which resort with 2 small children?

[abouley]

I have been researching and trying to figure out which resort to stay at during our next trip. We have only been to WDW 1 time when our oldest DS was 19 months. We stayed at the CBR and I wasn't overly impressed. We (DH and I) will be traveling with a 2 year old and 4.5 year old on our next trip I'd like somewhere that we can easily go back to our room in the afternoon, use the pool and take naps. I prefer somewhere that has a nice food court and great kid pool area. A seperate bedroom area would be a plus for when the kids are napping but not required. I hate to spend more than necessary on a room but money isn't the main concern. If we went with a deluxe, we might do half the trip onsite and the 2nd half offsite in our timeshare (we are planning for 10-14 days total).

I have thought abourt Saratoga Springs, Poly, Contemporary, Wildnerness Lodge, Boardwalk, or ??

What would be your top choice and what are the pros and cons!

Thanks!
Alison

 

[CoolPool]

If you imagine spending the bulk of your time at the Magic Kingdom, I'd say you are describing Wilderness Lodge or the Contemporary. Poly does not have a kiddie pool. The other properties don't have the easy access to the MK. But as you tell by my user name, I care most about The Pool. Food courts; other might know better as I avoid them.

 

[lucincia]

I would say WL. Food court - nothing to write home about, but it's only food, right? Pool is okay. But, room - get one on a higher floor, above the WCC, lobby facing.

Higher floor - less noise
Above WCC - You're not in direct contact with the travel of sound.
Lobby facing - wow

We got such room on our last visit. The kids would be napping in the room in the afternoon. DW and I would each grab a book, a mug of hot cocoa and sit in the huge comfy chairs right outside our door overlooking the lobby. You can't do that if you're down one of the corridors. Traffic in the hallway is non-existence to light, so it's like having your own private balcony overlooking the impressive lobby. Nice ambient noise. Close to the kids napping. And relaxing.

With the door closed, we hardly hear anything from the lobby. Heck we're too tired each night to care!

When we stay at WL again, we would get the same room location again!

 

[rcraw45425]

WL, for the convenience and theming, plus the prices are not too bad compared to the other deluxes. If cost is not a problem then I'd recommend the convenience of the CR which allows you to walk to the MK. Here isa picture of the geyser at WL:

and the view from a inner courtyard room; # 6039:

 

[mrstomrice]

My vote...the Contemporary. My reason..the monorail will be so convenient for your family!

 

[corlyjones]

Hi Alison,
We went to Disneyworld in May for the first time with our 2 and 4 year old sons and had the same concerns as you. We ended up deciding on the Polynesian and fell in LOVE with it. Here is why we recommend it:

1) You can be in MK in 8 minutes via the monorail and the boys thought the monorail itself was a "ride."

2) We went home in the afternoon for naps everyday very easily.

3) The white sand beach was a hit for the kids. They were too young and tired to stay up until 10 pm at the parks for the fireworks, so we would go home after dinner or an evening park time, put on PJ's, step out of our patio onto the beach and watch the fireworks over the castle from the hammocks - MAGICAL!

4) The entire grounds are themed really well - and the boys thought they were on an adventure everytime they walked around.

5) The nightly torch lighting ceremony was magical for them, as was watching the water parade from the beach each night.

6) Food was convenient and good.

7) After nap the kids could go to the main lobby and make lei's, learn to hula, or do other fun kids activities while DH and I got ready.

8) Service was awesome, and now six months later, my 2 year old says Aloha and Mahalo!

We truly fell in love with the convenience and magic of the Poly. We'll be back in October

 

[esk]

I've done OKW with a 2 year old, WL Villa with a 3 and 1 year old, BCV with a 4 and 1.5 year old, and now back in Dec to SSR with a 6 and 3 year old. So....for my family, we MUST have the separate bedroom for nap time, and nap time is a must because my kids just don't function well without one at that age.

So, OKW was pretty easy for the "nap return" but it did take maybe 30 minutes to get back on the bus. The 2 year old loved the bus and thought it was a ride. WL was also nice, but the boat is slow; again, can take 30 minutes. BCV was great when in the World part of Epcot, but a bus ride from anywhere else.

I think anywhere, with the exception of the CR or Poly, are going to be about 30 minutes to get back for nap from the MK. If you go to Epcot, MGM (Playhouse Disney show was a HUGE hit, I think we went 3 times in a week) or Animal Kingdom (they LOVED the Lion King show and riding the train) then you are talking 30 minutes no matter where you are.

I'd stay where you want to stay because I think it doesn't really matter all that much. We also did off-site with a 2.5 year old and drove...that also took 30 minutes!

 

[beroh2253]

Our first stay when our 2 kids were 7 and 8 was at POFQ. Great pool with a dragon slide and great themed food court a nice quite resort. For the little ones not a far walk to anything. Take a boat ride to downtown disney from this resort or boatride up to POR for a TS meal. Check out the pictures from allears.
21 days till ME and DW trip to POP.


http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/pofqss.htm

 

[Kimberle]

I have stayed at CR & WL.

CR does not have a kiddie pool, nor zero entry. It's a tough pool for little kids who don't swim.

WL is a great place for little kids. They have a nice kiddie pool, playground on the sand. Plus it is under 1 roof so you don't have to worry about going outside if it's raining. It's also the smallest deluxe so you don't have to worry about being to far from anything. It's very easy to take the boat to MK. You don't even have to fold your stroller.

There is a small boat that goes CR/WL/MK (you do have to fold the stroller). It runs 7am -10pm every day. Making it easy to go to Chef Mickeys or over to Ft Wilderness (pony rides, Trails End, Hoo Dee Doo, etc.)

 

[mericletwins]

With little kids, we have stayed at OKW, CBR and the BC. Our favorite was the BC, though we loved all of them and have to all of them. We love the BC because of the following.

1. Easy transportation into two parks. Walk into Epcot, fairly short boat rideto MGM.
2. the POOL. We love the pool so much there. For little kids, there is shallow section that is quite large. It has sand on the bottom and a nice sand bar where you can splash around and build sand castles and such. You can also get swim vests at the pool desk if your kids need them for the deeper parts of the pool.
3. A ton of eating options within walking distance. You have the Marketplace at BC, pizza and bakery at the the Boardwalk and what other fast options am I forgetting? A lot of sit down restaurants are within walking distance as well

There is no real food court, but we think the ton of food options within walking distance certainly makes up for that and then some. You may want the YC instead of the BC because all the BC rooms do not have full balconies (though you could try requesting one) but I believe that the YC rooms do have them. You could look that info up or maybe someone who has been to the YC would know that answer.

We loved OKW also because it was very relaxed and we loved having a separate room for the kids to nap in while we were in the living room talking/watching TV etc. We also loved the washer/dryer. We packed less clothes and came home with almost all clean clothes. That is a joy that can not be over rated! We also were able to save some time money by having groceries delivered and having breakfast/snacks, drinks, etc in our room. If you are doing the DDP it is not as big of a plus maybe, but we didn't have it then and we also did some really simple dinners in our rooms after naps. Like pasta, etc. Had beer and wine, etc These are not just for OKW, but for any of the villas. BCV would be my first pick if going for a villa becaused of all mentioned above. IMO, it is the best of both worlds!


We never found any resort difficult to get back to for naps/rest/swim time. Our kids think the busses/monorails/boats are attractions in and of themselves. In fact, when they were little, they would ask to ride the Mickey busses.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Kaler131]

We stayed at Poly when my (now 7 year old) was two and it was GREAT! We really liked that we could just get on the monorail and go to MK and EPCOT. The bus service to DTD was kinda slow, but we didn't go there much. The kids club (for your older child) was WONDERFUL. That was the highlight of the trip for my older two kids. They are now 13 & 10 and STILL talk about the Neverland Club! (they were 8 & 5 at the time)
The Poly is expensive....but worth it when traveling with a 2 year old! They don't have a kiddie pool, but they do have that zero depth entry pool (where it starts off very shallow and gets slightly deeper slowly) so its great for little ones....AND you can swim in the pool and watch the MK fireworks because you have a GREAT view of the castle from the main pool!!!! There is also a slide at the main pool so your older one might like that.

 

[MissionMouse]

Young children prefer MK more than any other park and if you are going to plan on visiting this park more than the other, along with afternoon naps I would recommend anyone of the monorail resorts.

We have stayed at all three and their all great and the the monorail allows you to visit anyone of them quickly and easily. The GF and PR not only have the monorail but they share a water yatcht to the MK. It travels GR to PR to MK. Note if you have a stroller it will need to be folded, but consider also the water launch may be close to your room than the monorail. You could also consider using the Ferry at the TTC for the PR, depending on your building assignment where you can roll a stoller right on and off. Easy to return to the resort for naps and the drapes easily make the room dark.

PR is also very close to the TTC where we walked to it to get to Epcot. Lots of water activities available. Wishes and Electric Water Pageant are viewable from each resort if you call it an early day.

Just note the CR does have on-site construction underway. TWe prefer the GF and PR pools over the CR which you can check out the resort pictures on this site.

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

Ok, I'm going out on a limb, and suggesting a value resort. We took our two boys for the first time last Dec.,they were 2 &1 and we stayed at the Pop. They loved it! The theming is really big and colorful. Their favorite movie at that time was Lady and the Tramp, so we asked to stay in the 50's building. We are going again in Dec and we will be trying POFQ, but my oldest associates Disney w/ Lady b/c of the resort. I hope he won't be too dissapointed!!
I really enjoy the values, they have really nice pools w/ kiddie pools, and the bus transportation wasn't as bad as I expected.
Good Luck w/ your decision!

 

[TJA]

I'd like somewhere that we can easily go back to our room in the afternoon, use the pool and take naps. I prefer somewhere that has a nice food court and great kid pool area......money isn't the main concern.
Alison

In sticking with your personal situation and requests, I'd recommend Poly. You stated you need a resort where you can easily go back and forth with 2 small children -- Poly is on the monorail loop so you can roll your stroller right on and off the monorail (no unloading and folding it up to load a bus or car). You also stated you'd like a nice food court -- Poly has a newly renovated great fast-food place, though you won't have as much of a selection as at the value and moderate resorts. You also stated that you'd like a great kid pool area -- Poly has 0 depth entry and is nicely themed. And as you stated that money isn't a great concern -- that's good because Poly is pretty pricey LOL!

Poly is a great resort, really beautiful grounds. The Castle is easily visible and you can watch Wishes from the Poly beach each night. It has great restaurants including a character breakfast and also a fun family-style dinner. The rooms are newly renovated and among the largest in Disney, as far as standard rooms go.

To us, the only drawback of Poly is the price. We can stay in our favorite area, the Epcot resort area, for less than Poly.

Now onto a personal opinion: BC is our favorite resort (over in the Epcot resort area). The pool area is awesome (sandy bottom pool with mounds of sand for the kiddies to play in). I did not recommend BC to you because it does not have as good of a "food court" as Poly does, and it is also not as convenient to get back and forth to MK as Poly is. However, if you think you will spend a lot of time at Epcot and MGM, then BC is indeed a great choice for you (you can walk/boat to both parks). As far as a "food court," we've grown used to getting our fast food at the Marketplace in BC or else Hurricane Hannahs (at the pool) or else any stop along the Boardwalk or in any country in Epcot.

Hope this helped a little and didn't make your decision more difficult.....

 

[SnowWitch]

We generally stay at a DVC property in a 2 bedrom unit but this summer we spent a few nights at the beginning of our 2 weeks at the Poly. Myself, ds
(15), DD (2), and dd (8 mon) are returning in Feb. We anticipate spending a large chunk of our time in the MK and splitting the rest of the time between the other three parks. This is why we chose to skip DVC this trip and stay at the Poly on cash verses points at a dvc property.

1. Ease of transportation to MK. Cannot be beat when packing a double stroller. Lugging a double stroller on and off buses makes me dislike the buses that much more.

2. Great food options. No food court but Capt Cook's is fine for something to quick to at. Menus www.allears.net

3. No kiddie pool but zero entry. My 2 yr old loved it and even amnaged the waterslide with her big brother catching her as she exited the slide.

4. Beautiful grounds.

5. Ease of transport to other food options. By monorail...Narcossee's and Cali Grill or on to Epcot for World showcase.

 

[MJMcBride]

I had a 2.5 year olf and a 5 year old and we stayed at the Boardwalk. It was perfect. The Boardwalk itself is nice to walk around and you are right next door to Epcot and MGM. Here's a review from Mouse Extra.

http://www.mouseextra.com/2006/11/30/will-the-vault-open-for-song-of-the-south/#comments

Its one of my favorite resorts. The pool is very good for kiddies.