WHy only POR?

[disneyobessed]

5 people in a room has never been the norm at hotels anywhere, Disney or not. The norm is 2 to 4 people. If you have more than 2 children, you have to accept the fact that you can't put everyone in one room when you travel. It's just one of the many financial considerations that folks should look at before having big families. I have four children myself, and we bought DVC, because the villas have plenty of space for us. You won't hear me complaining about Disney discriminating against big families, because they don't.

We have also bought into DVC for this reason.. 3 kids and 2 adults.. but we do like to add a few days not using points at other Disney properties.. right now... POR is the place for us with 5. May look into the suites being built near POP..Im not a fan of the All Stars.. just the theming.. if it was in the sports section we'd try it...

 

[disneyobessed]

I have read through all the posts here and I completely understand where everyone is coming from--especially fire codes, profits, blah, blah. But having a family of fivemyself, I understand exactly what you are saying about more options! I ALSO understand that most normal hotel rooms are for for 1 to 4 guests and that I am lucky to find a hotel that will accomodate 5 without getting a suite. But again, why can't more of ANY of the resorts offer a trundel bed option? Don't get me wrong, we LOVE POR, but I think the family would love to stay at other places as well. We will never be able to stay at a deluxe resort because they only offer suites for families with five or more and we cannot afford them (or justify paying that much for a room...). I don't want or NEED a suite--give a basic room with a trundle and we are good to go. I would understand that it would still be more to stay at a deluxe , but maybe just that slightly cheaper option of a trundle room wold actually encourage more families with five to truly consider staying there.

You should look into renting DVC points.. its a great way for a family of 5 or more to stay in a delux resort at a very discounted price.

 

[Rylee]

5 people in a room has never been the norm at hotels anywhere, Disney or not. The norm is 2 to 4 people. If you have more than 2 children, you have to accept the fact that you can't put everyone in one room when you travel. It's just one of the many financial considerations that folks should look at before having big families. I have four children myself, and we bought DVC, because the villas have plenty of space for us. You won't hear me complaining about Disney discriminating against big families, because they don't.

While maybe not the norm, there are still many hotels, (chain and privately owned, Mom & Pop, type) that allow more than 4 in a room, (standard size rooms.) Disney is especially strict at enforcing room occupancy. (Not complaining, just making mention of it.)

We have 5 children, (youngest is 9.) When we all travel elsewhere, we book a 2/bedroom, 2/bath suite. At Disney, we prefer getting two rooms, to the suites at ASMusic. (Hoping the new suite resort will be designed differently.)

Many times, when only 3 of the children are traveling with us, I have enter the correct info... 2 adults, 3 children, along with their correct ages and have rooms with 2 doubles or queens listed as available at hotels... NOT Disney properties, obviously, although we may have to pay a fee for the extra person and/or a roll-a-way bed.

 

[Vivianne]

So we're just 2 people.

Why do we have to pay the same rate as 4 people?

Get my drift?

Are we excluded from the Pop Legendary Years?

Aren't those years representing people that are Senior citizens?

And, why don't they cater to senior citizens, aren't the Baby Boomers
the largest upcoming group of retirees?

What I'm really trying to say, is that Disney can't accommodate every possible group. I don't expect ANYTHING. But I do realize that sometimes
my particular circumstance would not fit the norm either.

 

[Rylee]

I have read through all the posts here and I completely understand where everyone is coming from--especially fire codes, profits, blah, blah. But having a family of fivemyself, I understand exactly what you are saying about more options! I ALSO understand that most normal hotel rooms are for for 1 to 4 guests and that I am lucky to find a hotel that will accomodate 5 without getting a suite. But again, why can't more of ANY of the resorts offer a trundel bed option? Don't get me wrong, we LOVE POR, but I think the family would love to stay at other places as well. We will never be able to stay at a deluxe resort because they only offer suites for families with five or more and we cannot afford them (or justify paying that much for a room...). I don't want or NEED a suite--give a basic room with a trundle and we are good to go. I would understand that it would still be more to stay at a deluxe , but maybe just that slightly cheaper option of a trundle room wold actually encourage more families with five to truly consider staying there.

Just so you know - many of the Deluxe hotels accommodate 5 in a regular room, even when the youngest is over 3.

We've stayed at the Beach Club, when we only had 5... 2 queens and a daybed.

 

[missyek]

Actually, most deluxes allow 5 in their least expensive, standard rooms: YC, BC, BWI, GF, Poly, CR. They're by no means cheap, but nowhere near the cost of a suite, either.

Other, more affordable, options for families of 6 are the Family Suites at ASMu, and the cabins at Fort Wilderness. And, the new Art of Animation Resort will offer family suites for parties of up to 6.

Who knew?!? Thank you! Whenever I have done searches it has only come up with suites and no other options and I swear that my AAA agent that I booked my first trip through said that only the suites would accomodate us at the deluxe resorts (hmmmmm maybe one of the reasons she is not an agent anymore?) I just did a quick search now and ta-da, got some plain room options--but yeah, still a bit pricey for me--even in value season! LOL Well, you learn something new each day.

 

[missyek]

You should look into renting DVC points.. its a great way for a family of 5 or more to stay in a delux resort at a very discounted price.

When we went in 2006, we were very close to actually doing the DVC, but in the end really could not handle the payments. I never really thought about renting points--do you have more info on that? That is very interesting to me.

 

[disneyobessed]

When we went in 2006, we were very close to actually doing the DVC, but in the end really could not handle the payments. I never really thought about renting points--do you have more info on that? That is very interesting to me.

There is a link on disboards.. under DVC has renting/selling points.

 

[DebbieB]

You should look into renting DVC points.. its a great way for a family of 5 or more to stay in a delux resort at a very discounted price.

The max in a studio is 4. 1 bedroom is 5 even though some only have sleeping space provided for 4 (king bed, queen sofabed). BLT, AKV (non-value) and refurbed OKW 1 bedrooms have a sleeper chair that folds out to a twin size bed for the 5th person.

I don't think the issue at the moderates is fire code. They are sprinklered buildings with an outside exit. I think it's just that Disney limited the number of rooms equipped with the trundle bed, it was their choice to limit the others to 4.

 

[Amy&Dan]

That made sense so I went back and changed the age of my 2 yr old to 7 and the other Mod Resorts disappeared. I was only offered POR, All Star Music, and all the Deluxe Resorts.

Yeah, enjoy this last year of fitting into any mod or value you desire!. Next year, year it will be different sad to say.

I'm surprised you were offered AKL and WL when you changed your kid's age to 7. I thought those two also had occupany levels of four in rooms besides suites.

 

[mjp12831]

Who knew?!? Thank you! Whenever I have done searches it has only come up with suites and no other options and I swear that my AAA agent that I booked my first trip through said that only the suites would accomodate us at the deluxe resorts (hmmmmm maybe one of the reasons she is not an agent anymore?) I just did a quick search now and ta-da, got some plain room options--but yeah, still a bit pricey for me--even in value season! LOL Well, you learn something new each day.

yeah - the issue with this option is exactly what you found - it's a bit pricey.

families with 5 (us) are already paying alot more for their vacation (park tickets, dining, airfare), which precludes us from (or makes us more sensitive to) the pricier room options.

I believe this is exactly what the op is getting at - it would be nice to have some more affordable options other than por

And, I'm not so sure about this "fire code" excuse - hotels all over the state and world allow you to put a fold up cot in the rooms - we've done it many places with our 5

Por room did seem a (wee) bit larger than POFQ, so maybe that's why they allow it at por?

 

[beccamarie]

We ended up staying offsite because we didn't want to be packed into a one bedroom as a family of five. I want to stay onsite next time. I am so excited they are opening a Family Suite hotel in 2012- The Art of Animation. We are holding out to stay there next!

 

[Lesley]

I think there is a move in the hotel industry as a whole to rooms that sleep 6- 2 full/queen and a pullout sofa. It has definitely made travel much easier for my family of 5, and my kids even appreciate it when we travel without my dh. My 15yo prefers his own bed.

Now that DVC has been creating 1br villas that accomodate 5, it's been very good for us, though the new resort with suites will likely work well for us too. I do look forward to when we can purchase more DVC points- we miss the ones we sold - or move to FL. Or both!

But we're staying at POR next month!

 

[eeyorepixie]

For larger families Disney loses, because off site looks better and better to a large family. I know I have considered Winsor Hills more than once, but free dining keeps me at POR

 

[maxiesmom]

Por room did seem a (wee) bit larger than POFQ, so maybe that's why they allow it at por?

More than the size of the room is considered when the room occupency limit is set. The width of the doorway is considered. As is how many floors the buildings have, as well as if there are elevators. And a bunch of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

That is why you can only have 5 in the Alligator Bayou rooms, and not the Mansion rooms at POR. The Bayou buildings are only 2 stories high, and do not have elevators.

Disney can't just go in and make existing rooms hold 5 people. Not without a ton of work, and patially destroying the resorts. Keep in mind too that by adding an additional person to each room you are potentially adding a few hundered guests to each resort. That means the pool area will either be overwhelmed, or need to be made bigger. There would need to be more busses running to handle the additional people, which would mean more busses and more bus drivers.

That is why Disney has chosen to either build a new resort that can hold more guests (the new Pop Century wing) or combine 2 rooms and have them actually hold fewer people. The ASMu suites can hold 6 people, but the 2 rooms they used to make them held 8. Thereby avoiding all of the problems just adding more beds to a resort would cause.

 

[maxiesmom]

For larger families Disney loses, because off site looks better and better to a large family. I know I have considered Winsor Hills more than once, but free dining keeps me at POR

Most of my trips to WDW have been with my sis and her family. We have stayed off site on more than one occasion. However, for us, transportation is a huge issue. You simply cannot match Disney's transportation at any off site resort. Especially now that they have Magical Express. By the time you add in a rental car, and parking fees, you can usually stay in 2 Value rooms cheaper than an off-site suite.

 

[lilclerk]

We ended up staying offsite because we didn't want to be packed into a one bedroom as a family of five. I want to stay onsite next time. I am so excited they are opening a Family Suite hotel in 2012- The Art of Animation. We are holding out to stay there next!

Have you looked into the family suites they currently have at All Star Music?

 

[missyek]

Have you looked into the family suites they currently have at All Star Music?

I have actually looked at them--since they first opened--and the suite at the ASM resort is more expensive than the 5 person room at POR. Go figure! LOL

 

[SnackyStacky]

The local fire code only permits 5 per room in the Alligator Bayou section of POR. Fire code occupancy restrictions are usually determined by the number of bodies you can safely evacuate from a building in the event of an emergency, so I wouldn't expect other moderates - or the rest of POR - to start allowing 5 without significant construction - I'd guess they'd need to make changes to stairwells, corridor width, etc.

There's apparently a little bit of wiggle room at POR, as I've heard of them occasionally putting a family of 5 in other parts of the resort, but that may just happen when an AB room has to be taken out of service for maintenance, and they've got nowhere else to put a family of 5 with a reservation.

Ah, but remember Disney is, for the mostpart, autonomous. As such, Disney sets its own fire codes.

I've never bought into that logic. And I'm not saying it's YOUR logic. I know that's Disney's line if asked about those occupancy limits. The rooms at Caribbean Beach are 340 square feet, whereas Riverside rooms are 314 square feet. Doesn't make sense that a smaller room is safer for 5 guests than a larger room.

Further - a king bed room will hold only 2 guests, while that EXACT same room at ANY other moderate resort will accommodate 4 guests, or 5 guests if it's Port Orleans Riverside.

I truly believe the motive behind Disney's occupancy limits are strictly profit based.

 

[snykymom]

I truly believe the motive behind Disney's occupancy limits are strictly profit based.

Of course it is! Why would you expect it to be anything else? It apparently didn't affect Disney's bottom line to have few options for families of 5 or more (and remember, the size of the average family, particularly in the US, is going down, not up). They have now apparently decided that it is in their interests to have a few more larger rooms, so they're doing it. Why would they do anything that wasn't profitable?