Planning babys 1st visit - Please help pick where to stay and why.

[disneygirl76]

We are planning our son's 1st visit in June 2015 and super excited! He will be 1 years old. We have never traveled with children before and know this will be a different experience. Strollers/naps/etc. We do like Deluxe Resorts and tend to stay there but we also really like Port Orleans. Also, we know as we continue to go to WDW with child(ren), we will stay at Values and Moderates more for cost as well as theme experiences that will be enjoyed by our little one. For example, a Cars suite at Animation or a Pirate room at Caribbean. So I kept those off the list. We do love the Beach/Yacht Club but we stayed there the last two times and want to enjoy the pool and slide when Colin is a bit older. So I think we narrowed it down to 4 different resorts. Please tell us your choice and why. Any advice on choosing a resort with a little one would be very helpful!

Thank you!

 

[Tinkerbell397]

I agree 1000% with @HouCuseChickie .... we have stayed at all 3 with and without kids. The WL rooms are too small, the AKL is too far and the CR is "just right" as Goldie Locks would say. Convenient, spacious and just a very nice place to stay.

 

[disneygirl76]

First trip was at Poly but we didn't have a very good experience with it, I would say Contemporary I in the price range otherwise I would say Grand Floridian.

Thanks for the info! Why didn't you have a good Poly experience? Its not on our list but i'm just curious.

 

[disneygirl76]

OK- I haven't read every single post, but I'm going to put in my 2 cents. Out of you noted choices, I'd go with the GF, but I'd highly recommend the Contemporary over the GF for any trips involving an infant or young child. Also, I have not stayed at any of the Port Orleans resorts, but I have stayed at WL and AKL, so I can give perspective on that as well.

WL- we stayed there for our girls' very first trip. DD5 has just turned 2 and I was hoping this would be a good fit since the boat ride to/from MK should have been a major convenience factor. All in all, for the $, it just wasn't convenient enough. We had awful bus service during our stay and the boats were only helpful a fraction of the time. We also had a TON of stuff- i.e. big stroller- diapers- many changes of clothes...STUFF. The rooms at WL are small - noticeably small - compared to other deluxe hotels. I felt horribly claustrophobic the entire trip.

AKL- while we had great bus service there- the bus rides just take much longer. I don't know if I'd want the extra travel time involved on a trip with a baby. On top of that, the rooms are the same size as WL. We were stroller and diaper free when we stayed there, so it didn't feel super cramped, but it would have had we been there with a much younger child and all of their stuff.

Contemporary- The rooms are very spacious and I think it's some of the best convenience any of the WDW resorts can offer. You don't realize how wonderful it is to be able to walk to and from MK until you have a cranky kiddo who needs to get away from the park for a while. Or not having to wait on a bus, boat or monorail when you're running a smidge late because one child had something crazy happen right before you're trying to make an ADR in MK. The monorail is not only convenient for things on the loop and trips to EPCOT, but it's instant entertainment for the kiddo (obviously a perk of the GF too). You also have boat service to WL from there- so a smidge more convenience if you want to travel in that direction as well.

Thank you so much for your info! Its very helpful!!!!!!! I really appreciate it!

 

[disneygirl76]

I agree 1000% with @HouCuseChickie .... we have stayed at all 3 with and without kids. The WL rooms are too small, the AKL is too far and the CR is "just right" as Goldie Locks would say. Convenient, spacious and just a very nice place to stay.

Did the lack of overall "disney" theme bother you? I know not all rooms are disney but most have a theme (beach, french, boardwalk, etc). The rooms look very "hotel" which is not a bad thing. Just an observation. Thank you!

 

[Jessica Meier]

We love the CR and it felt very Disney. Wishing we could do the long stay and afford it but alas a value will be our home so I can sway the hubby to stay longer next trip.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

@disneygirl76 ....our family loves the CR and we don't need Disney characters 24/7. The only resorts that scream "DISNEY" are the values. The other resorts have their own theme but they are not necessarily "Disney". The Poly is an island theme, the BW is well.....boardwalk....not Disney as in Disney characters. The CR has a theme....Contemporary. And I know it the hotel for business conferences but in 30 years of visits, that has never effected our stay. For us....The CR is Disney. Now that being said....I do agree with those who recommend a suite. Your son will be a year old at the time of your trip: I know that is hard to imagine. His sleep patterns will drastically change from what they are now. He may be walking but for sure he will be standing in his crib.....sleep will not come easily for him if you and dad are still awake and wandering around the hotel room. We will be in Disney this November with for my granddaughters first trip. Since my daughter and son in law have a Marriott timeshare, we will join them....first trip off site. They booked a 3 bedroom suite so our granddaughter can have her own room. Some might think that this is over the top since she will only be 19 months old at the time of the trip. But I think you want to keep your child's schedule as much as possible, even on vacation. She will be able to sleep get a good night sleep without her parents in the room.
You have plenty of time to plan and you are getting some very good advise on this board. Enjoy the planning and remember that if you let your son will be set the pace for this vacation, it will be happier for everyone.

 

[disneygirl76]

@disneygirl76 ....our family loves the CR and we don't need Disney characters 24/7. The only resorts that scream "DISNEY" are the values. The other resorts have their own theme but they are not necessarily "Disney". The Poly is an island theme, the BW is well.....boardwalk....not Disney as in Disney characters. The CR has a theme....Contemporary. And I know it the hotel for business conferences but in 30 years of visits, that has never effected our stay. For us....The CR is Disney. Now that being said....I do agree with those who recommend a suite. Your son will be a year old at the time of your trip: I know that is hard to imagine. His sleep patterns will drastically change from what they are now. He may be walking but for sure he will be standing in his crib.....sleep will not come easily for him if you and dad are still awake and wandering around the hotel room. We will be in Disney this November with for my granddaughters first trip. Since my daughter and son in law have a Marriott timeshare, we will join them....first trip off site. They booked a 3 bedroom suite so our granddaughter can have her own room. Some might think that this is over the top since she will only be 19 months old at the time of the trip. But I think you want to keep your child's schedule as much as possible, even on vacation. She will be able to sleep get a good night sleep without her parents in the room.
You have plenty of time to plan and you are getting some very good advise on this board. Enjoy the planning and remember that if you let your son will be set the pace for this vacation, it will be happier for everyone.

Thanks for the detailed info. We don't need the Disney characters - I guess I should have worded being "immersed in a theme" of some kind. Like the beach, french, boardwalk, etc. I was wondering if that was missed but it doesn't sound like it is and that's a good thing. We have never stayed there so we only see it through the monorail or when we go to Chef Mickey. One of the reasons we love the GF (and enjoyed the PORS) is that it takes us back in time to a different time/place b/c u r so immersed in the theme. We were thinking that at CR might not have that feel. I had never thought about the suite for the separate room before this forum so that was great advice given and is something we are really considering. Where are you staying off site? My parents are Marriott timeshare owners and we have stayed at the Marriott Grande Vista twice. Once with are own car and once we relied on Mears. Do you have a car? That is my recommendation for staying off site, especially at the Grande Vista. They don't have a free shuttle (or at least they didn't when we stayed there) from there and we were so limited by Mears and their times. It was quite a pain.

 

[slappy magoo]

Unless you think there will some sort of incredibly good promotional deal when you take your trip, my advice is - go to a website that rents DVC points and get a 1BR unit at Bay Lake Tower.

OK, actually, my real advice is - go where YOU want to stay, the 1 year old will probably roll with the punches better than a kid at the age of 2.

But because of the concerns of strollers and transportation and all of that, staying at Contemporary or Bay Lake Tower, to me, makes the most sense. First of all, when you go to MK, you won't even have to wait for the monorail or a ferry; there's a 10 minute walkway. If for some reason your kid is having a really rough time or has been sick or had diarrhea and you already went through your backup outfits, you don't want to wait for transportation, and here you wouldn't. Doesn't help as much when you go to other parks, but I suspect you'll be spending most of the time in the MK anyway, correct me if I'm wrong. And if you have Park Hoppers, this makes it easy for you and your spouse to take turns walking over to MK while one stays in with the child either for naps or at nighttime.

Second of all, when you have a kid that little, I think it's good to take advantage of the interaction at character meals so you're not wasting time in the parks getting those pics of your kid and Mickey Mouse or whoever. Staying at Contemporary or BLT gets you walking distance to Chef Mickey's at the resort, plus Crystal Palace and the Royal Table in MK, and a monorail ride to Ohanas at the Poly or 1900 Park Fare at GF. And 2 monorail rides (which is an attraction in itself IMHO) to Epcot with their Princess breakfast, YMMV if you think your child will dig them over the more cartoon-y characters.

Third, if you splurge for MK views, you never to worry about missing the show at night because the wee one has to sleep. Or like I wrote above when it comes to going back to the parks, you could take turns with one watching the child while the other goes to one of the observatory areas to see the show, or get a drink at the bar at Cali Grill, etc.

FInally, if you do opt to rent points and get the 1BR unit, it gives you a little bit of space to hang out at night without having to keep everything quiet. Whether you let your child sleep in the pack-n-Play in the living room or (as we did), the bathtub area in the master bath (close to the bedroom in case of tears, but BLT 1BR units have 2 bathrooms so you're not risking waking the kid at night), you don't have to suddenly keep everything quiet until morning.

Sure, the CR and BLT don't scream Disney whimsy as much as say the Wilderness Lodge. It's more understated, if not muted, but that magic is there, IMHO.

That'd be my recommendation, but whatever you decide, have fun.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

@disneygirl76 ...I believe we are staying at the Marriott Grand Vista. I am very much looking forward to the trip to introduce my first and only (at this point) grandchild to all that is "Disney". My son in law has reserved a van for transportation to and from the airport and parks. My husband and I (the grands) plan to go to dinner one night....maybe The California Grill if we can get reservation (one of the downsides of not staying in the park is no reservations until 30 days out) and my daughter and son in law will go to dinner one night. I think my husband and I might even get tickets to La Nouba. I know that the next time we visit, we will definitely stay in the park again....the CR for sure although my husband would love to stay at the GF. We'll see!

 

[MickeyisMyBestFriend]

Thanks for the info! Why didn't you have a good Poly experience? Its not on our list but i'm just curious.

There was very young children (1 1/2 year old and 4 year old) in the group and the staff wasn't helpful with the reservations. We didn't know we had to make them (this was before when most people looked things up on google). The room was very far away from everything so it was hard to lug everything there and back. They were constantly trying to get us to book dinner and shows for more money at 9:00 or 9:30 (you probably can tell that wouldn't work with young children). This was 11 years ago so I can't remember everything but that is what I recall. I am sure if we went back it would be not as bad and once we got the hang of it, everything was great. It was just challenging and with all the money we had put into it. (Rest of the trip was awesome though)

 

[disneygirl76]

There was very young children (1 1/2 year old and 4 year old) in the group and the staff wasn't helpful with the reservations. We didn't know we had to make them (this was before when most people looked things up on google). The room was very far away from everything so it was hard to lug everything there and back. They were constantly trying to get us to book dinner and shows for more money at 9:00 or 9:30 (you probably can tell that wouldn't work with young children). This was 11 years ago so I can't remember everything but that is what I recall. I am sure if we went back it would be not as bad and once we got the hang of it, everything was great. It was just challenging and with all the money we had put into it. (Rest of the trip was awesome though)

That is so disappointing. I can imagine how that would effect the experience there. It just looks like it is in some need of some much needed TLC. Just run down. Also, it appears very dark. I don't know, its never been a fave. But if they give it some love, then maybe we will give it a shot.

 

[disneygirl76]

@disneygirl76 ...I believe we are staying at the Marriott Grand Vista. I am very much looking forward to the trip to introduce my first and only (at this point) grandchild to all that is "Disney". My son in law has reserved a van for transportation to and from the airport and parks. My husband and I (the grands) plan to go to dinner one night....maybe The California Grill if we can get reservation (one of the downsides of not staying in the park is no reservations until 30 days out) and my daughter and son in law will go to dinner one night. I think my husband and I might even get tickets to La Nouba. I know that the next time we visit, we will definitely stay in the park again....the CR for sure although my husband would love to stay at the GF. We'll see!

We went to the bar at Cali Grill and got a window seat. And the waitress told us we could stay there all night. You can order off the full menu and it was the most wonderful experience. I would definitely do that again. We happened to get there right when it opened but there was still a window seat available when we got up to leave 2 hours later. Have a fabulous trip!

 

[disneygirl76]

Unless you think there will some sort of incredibly good promotional deal when you take your trip, my advice is - go to a website that rents DVC points and get a 1BR unit at Bay Lake Tower.

OK, actually, my real advice is - go where YOU want to stay, the 1 year old will probably roll with the punches better than a kid at the age of 2.

But because of the concerns of strollers and transportation and all of that, staying at Contemporary or Bay Lake Tower, to me, makes the most sense. First of all, when you go to MK, you won't even have to wait for the monorail or a ferry; there's a 10 minute walkway. If for some reason your kid is having a really rough time or has been sick or had diarrhea and you already went through your backup outfits, you don't want to wait for transportation, and here you wouldn't. Doesn't help as much when you go to other parks, but I suspect you'll be spending most of the time in the MK anyway, correct me if I'm wrong. And if you have Park Hoppers, this makes it easy for you and your spouse to take turns walking over to MK while one stays in with the child either for naps or at nighttime.

Second of all, when you have a kid that little, I think it's good to take advantage of the interaction at character meals so you're not wasting time in the parks getting those pics of your kid and Mickey Mouse or whoever. Staying at Contemporary or BLT gets you walking distance to Chef Mickey's at the resort, plus Crystal Palace and the Royal Table in MK, and a monorail ride to Ohanas at the Poly or 1900 Park Fare at GF. And 2 monorail rides (which is an attraction in itself IMHO) to Epcot with their Princess breakfast, YMMV if you think your child will dig them over the more cartoon-y characters.

Third, if you splurge for MK views, you never to worry about missing the show at night because the wee one has to sleep. Or like I wrote above when it comes to going back to the parks, you could take turns with one watching the child while the other goes to one of the observatory areas to see the show, or get a drink at the bar at Cali Grill, etc.

FInally, if you do opt to rent points and get the 1BR unit, it gives you a little bit of space to hang out at night without having to keep everything quiet. Whether you let your child sleep in the pack-n-Play in the living room or (as we did), the bathtub area in the master bath (close to the bedroom in case of tears, but BLT 1BR units have 2 bathrooms so you're not risking waking the kid at night), you don't have to suddenly keep everything quiet until morning.

Sure, the CR and BLT don't scream Disney whimsy as much as say the Wilderness Lodge. It's more understated, if not muted, but that magic is there, IMHO.

That'd be my recommendation, but whatever you decide, have fun.

Thank you so much! I have never done DVC points before. We actually had the paper work to join ourselves the week before we found out we were pregnant so we put the hole thing on hold. Who do you recommend for the DVC point rentals? When you do DVC, how does that work with making dining reservations? Thank you for the great advice!!!

 

[slappy magoo]

Thank you so much! I have never done DVC points before. We actually had the paper work to join ourselves the week before we found out we were pregnant so we put the hole thing on hold. Who do you recommend for the DVC point rentals? When you do DVC, how does that work with making dining reservations? Thank you for the great advice!!!

You can find answers starting here. http://www.dvcrequest.com/

 

[stevehousse]

Ya don't let ur kids pick, especially when they get older...me and the wife got conned into CBR because our kids want to play at the pirate pool...

We have never state there before but everyone online seems to either love it or hate it!

Go with Grand Flo! It's perfect !

 

[disneygirl76]

You can find answers starting here. http://www.dvcrequest.com/

Thank you!