Suggestions for hotels on site for 8 kids and 5 adults

[Ms.Sunshine]

I've tried looking up past threads for any info regarding large parties, but most are a couple years old....
So my cousin and I are planning a trip with our kids, our sisters, and their kids (I know, sounds nuts already) We really want to stay in the AOA suites, but we have 1 more child than the capacity of the room allows and we were trying to avoid having to split into 3 rooms. Any ideas/tips on how to accomplish this? We're attempting to make our stay as simple and economical as possible, since all of the families going on this trip are first timers (with the except of my husband, daughter and myself). All of the kids going on this trip will be 12 years old and younger, so we need to keep the kids together with their mommies. There will be 8 kids and 5 adults on this trip (Three families of 3 and one family of 4). Like I said, mostly first timers on this trip, so we would like to stay on site and soak in as much Disney as we can.

 

[Kristamouse]

All-Star Music resort has Family Suites that fit up to 6 people. That could work for the family of 5, then the other two families could have the regular rooms.

There are Family Suites on the same floor as single, three years ago we had a family suite and my parents were a one door away in a standard room.

 

[Kristamouse]

I 4th the Villa, we have a large family, 6 kids. Last two visits out of 15+ visits were off property. I never though I would enjoy being out of the bubble. We loved it and the only we miss is the charging privileges on our Magic Bands. Sitting in a hot tub with a adult beverage while the kids are sleeping and washer and dryer are going was HEAVENLY

 

[MumziDarlin']

Some of our favorite Disney memories are the "Extra Magic Hours" - when my kids were tweens, we would get a hopper pass, go early to the park with the EMH's, swim/rest in the heat of the day (August - Ugh), then head back to the park with the late EMH's. There was less waiting for rides, and we loved riding at the MK when the parade was going on - once we walked down the winding ramp to step onto the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and another walked onto Splash Mountain. Staying on-site was so amazing just for that reason.

Is anyone in your party a teacher? If so, they could see if they could get the teacher discount at the Swan/Dolphin hotel, which is right next to Epcot, and a boat ride to Hollywood Studios. We stayed there our first visit - it is on-site, without exactly being a Disney hotel. The teacher rate was less than we would have paid to stay at a Disney moderate resort.

Also, if you could plan your trip to coincide with one of their "free dining" times, and you are staying at a value resort, it would save you a lot of money.

Keep in mind that if you do stay off-site and need to park at the parks, you will pay $20 a day to park. At this time, parking is "free" to Disney Resort guests. With three cars, that adds up.

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

I do it daily, many big families do

Oh of course, I'm sure lots of big families manage this on a daily basis. It's just not something I really wanted to do, even when my tiny family of 3 went to WDW this past summer. We liked the convenience of the bus system in the Bubble.

I come from a big family as well, and I still don't know how my Aunts managed all of us kids (without our parents) when they took us on family outings.

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

Some of our favorite Disney memories are the "Extra Magic Hours" - when my kids were tweens, we would get a hopper pass, go early to the park with the EMH's, swim/rest in the heat of the day (August - Ugh), then head back to the park with the late EMH's. There was less waiting for rides, and we loved riding at the MK when the parade was going on - once we walked down the winding ramp to step onto the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and another walked onto Splash Mountain. Staying on-site was so amazing just for that reason.

Is anyone in your party a teacher? If so, they could see if they could get the teacher discount at the Swan/Dolphin hotel, which is right next to Epcot, and a boat ride to Hollywood Studios. We stayed there our first visit - it is on-site, without exactly being a Disney hotel. The teacher rate was less than we would have paid to stay at a Disney moderate resort.

Also, if you could plan your trip to coincide with one of their "free dining" times, and you are staying at a value resort, it would save you a lot of money.

Keep in mind that if you do stay off-site and need to park at the parks, you will pay $20 a day to park. At this time, parking is "free" to Disney Resort guests. With three cars, that adds up.

My MIL is a teacher (soon to be retired), but she's not going with us on this trip. I would love to take advantage of free dining; we'll be going some time in June, although not this year. Hopefully they have that promotion when we're ready to book.

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

You could just go with every family gets their own room at either a value or moderate. Too much togetherness can be a negative, especially with all of those little kids. They work each other up and then you have a bunch of giggly kids that refuse to go to sleep. As fun as that is, everyone will need their sleep. Just because you are going on a vacation together doesn't mean you need to spend 24/7 with each other.

This is very true. It may be better for each family to have their own room. I'm sure after a long day at the parks it will better to get all the kids wound down separately.