Three Adults; Three Kids... Suggestions?

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
My wife and I will are planning a vacation to Disney in August of 2017. On said trip, we intend on bringing our three kids (ages 6, 3 [nearly 4], and 18 months at time of travel). We also plan on bringing my sister-in-law, If it makes a difference, my wife and I are in our early thirties and my sister-in-law will be in her later twenties.

When we were originally looking, my sister-in-law was not part of the plans and there seemed to be a wide variety of options for rooms that would sleep 4 (plus one in a crib/pack-n-play), but for rooms that will sleep 5 (plus one in a crib/pack-n-play) options seem to be much more limited.

My wife and I have been to the parks before, but for everyone else, it will be a first time trip so we for sure want to stay on property. Since we have younger kids, it's likely we will be coming back to the hotel mid-day for breaks/naps, so that's always something to consider.

We originally (when my sister-in-law was not part of the plan) really wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge, but it seems that the only room they would let us book at that resort to accommodate the number/age of guests we have is a club level suite which goes for about $750 (un-discounted) a night and that's a bit out of our price range.

So, now we're looking at a Nemo Suite at Art of Animation. The rooms comfortably sleep six adults and have two bathrooms, a great pool, and I think the kids would love the decorations. All for about $300 less a night than the room we would need at Wilderness Lodge.

My question is... are we missing another obvious option that we may have overlooked? Or is a Nemo Suite the best option we have without spending >$600 a night for a suite/double room somewhere else? I see that some of the deluxe hotels have rooms that sleep 5, but I see that typically the fifth is in a tiny, kids size bed.. are we going to feel too cramped in one of those, especially when adding a crib for the infant?
 
Last edited:

ekutchey

Active Member
I think you have a great plan. We love WL but we are only a family of 3. I have a friend who travels just as much as we do with a family of 5 plus one in a pack n play. They have stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness (nice feature you will have the boat to MK much like your would at WL) and they have also stayed at Port Orleans - Riverside. You may want to check these out as well.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
You could look into renting DVC points to get a 2-bedroom villa. A quick check on David's site (www.dvcrequest.com) puts a 2-bedroom at Old Key West for 7 nights next August at $3976, or an average of $568 a night.

That would give you a ton of space: Living room, full kitchen and two bedrooms. Sleeping arrangements would be 1 King, 2 Queens, a queen size sleep sofa and I think a single ottoman/chair that folds out.

-Rob
 

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
I know it's not the best option, but you could book two rooms at Wilderness Lodge. Great option though at Art of Animation. All Star Music also has "suites".
 

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
You could look into renting DVC points to get a 2-bedroom villa. A quick check on David's site (www.dvcrequest.com) puts a 2-bedroom at Old Key West for 7 nights next August at $3976, or an average of $568 a night.

That would give you a ton of space: Living room, full kitchen and two bedrooms. Sleeping arrangements would be 1 King, 2 Queens, a queen size sleep sofa and I think a single ottoman/chair that folds out.

-Rob
Also for less space (but less money) - you could rent DVC points and get 2 studios. 2 studio rooms in Wilderness Lodge in later august would average 545 a night. Not for each room, but total, a night. So it's more than an art of animation suite or an all-star music suite, but it'll get you 2 kitchenettes, 2 bathrooms, it'll sleep up to 8, and most importantly get you into the resort you prefer for less than you thought you'd have to pay.

FWIW, renting a 2 BR Villa at Wilderness Lodge would put you at around the same price range as the Club Suite price you were quoted direct by Disney. But you'd also be able to sleep up to 8-plus-an-infant this way, in case you find other friends or relatives who'd like to go and maybe split the difference. The Club room maxes out at 6.
 

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Out of curiosity, if you rent a DVC room, does Disney basically treat you as if you are staying off property since the transaction isn't being done through Disney (i.e. no Magic Bands, no meal plans, and FastPass only 30 days out) or do you get all those advantages as if you were a typical guest at a Disney hotel?
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
I would look into two connecting rooms. In many cases, two regular rooms are cheaper than a large suite. Regular 3-4 person rooms are available at every resort, so you have more flexibility than the options above. They will not guarantee connecting rooms in advance, but we have not had an issue getting them at check in.
 

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
Out of curiosity, if you rent a DVC room, does Disney basically treat you as if you are staying off property since the transaction isn't being done through Disney (i.e. no Magic Bands, no meal plans, and FastPass only 30 days out) or do you get all those advantages as if you were a typical guest at a Disney hotel?
I have not rented points, but have stayed on my mother's points, which is basically the same thing. Disney treats you as a DVC stay. You can make FP 60 days out, just like a hotel room stay, and you get magic bands just the same. I'm not sure about the meal plans. Maybe someone else can double check this, but I think the DVC member making the reservation can add a dining plan.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I have not rented points, but have stayed on my mother's points, which is basically the same thing. Disney treats you as a DVC stay. You can make FP 60 days out, just like a hotel room stay, and you get magic bands just the same. I'm not sure about the meal plans. Maybe someone else can double check this, but I think the DVC member making the reservation can add a dining plan.

You've got it in a nutshell. You get a Disney reservation number that you can link to MDE.

The only difference is that Disney will not talk to you about the reservation before you arrive. They will only talk to the owner that booked the reservation. So any room requests, adding the Dining Plan, etc must go through David's/the owner.

-Rob
 

SyracuseDisneyFan

Well-Known Member
We used David's to rent points for Bay Lake Tower for our May 2014 trip. We were able to use Magic Bands and make FastPass+ reservations 60 days out. We didn't use a dining plan.
 

MaryJaneP

Well-Known Member
We were just discussing these issues in our family and we think more than 2 adults in any room with only one bathroom is asking for trouble. We had two adults and three kids and it was a challenge. Completely sympathize with budget issues as we had to carefully investigate cost-effective options for us. We would be interested to hear your experience and we are following the comments your are receiving.
 

Belle_MTL

Member
Have you looked into the cabins at Fort Wilderness? We stay there every year and love it! It is usually my husband, myself, our 2 kids and my mom. We all fit comfortably in the cabin. In the bedroom you have a queen bed and bunk beds, the pack and play fits between them. In the living room there is a pull out bed, which I found very comfortable. Having the kitchen is an extra bonus with small kids. We always went to the park first thing in the morning and would return to the cabin right after lunch so that the kids could nap. One thing that I like is that when only my youngest would nap, we could sit outside on the deck with my oldest so that he could play and be noisy and not wake up our little one.
 

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Thank you all for your replies! All very insightful! Since the trip is still over a year out, we certainly haven't made any hard and fast decisions and likely won't until January/February 2017 when we'll have a firmer idea of what our final budget is for this trip. Certainly the fact that the current Disney room rates posted for the period we are going are the non-discounted rates will have a big impact given that I see that typically, for the period that we would be going, rooms are typically discounted 20%-30% and we're not factoring that discount in our current planning.
 

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
There are a ton of options without paying $600 for a suite. My recommendation would be 2 connecting studio rooms at about $110 a night (give or take when you go). This gives 4 bed and 2 bathrooms. It has worked out on many of our trips. If you are considering offsite, there are options that are 2 BR suites that go for about $150 a night.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
My wife and I will are planning a vacation to Disney in August of 2017. On said trip, we intend on bringing our three kids (ages 6, 3 [nearly 4], and 18 months at time of travel). We also plan on bringing my sister-in-law, If it makes a difference, my wife and I are in our early thirties and my sister-in-law will be in her later twenties.

When we were originally looking, my sister-in-law was not part of the plans and there seemed to be a wide variety of options for rooms that would sleep 4 (plus one in a crib/pack-n-play), but for rooms that will sleep 5 (plus one in a crib/pack-n-play) options seem to be much more limited.

My wife and I have been to the parks before, but for everyone else, it will be a first time trip so we for sure want to stay on property. Since we have younger kids, it's likely we will be coming back to the hotel mid-day for breaks/naps, so that's always something to consider.

We originally (when my sister-in-law was not part of the plan) really wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge, but it seems that the only room they would let us book at that resort to accommodate the number/age of guests we have is a club level suite which goes for about $750 (un-discounted) a night and that's a bit out of our price range.

So, now we're looking at a Nemo Suite at Art of Animation. The rooms comfortably sleep six adults and have two bathrooms, a great pool, and I think the kids would love the decorations. All for about $300 less a night than the room we would need at Wilderness Lodge.

My question is... are we missing another obvious option that we may have overlooked? Or is a Nemo Suite the best option we have without spending >$600 a night for a suite/double room somewhere else? I see that some of the deluxe hotels have rooms that sleep 5, but I see that typically the fifth is in a tiny, kids size bed.. are we going to feel too cramped in one of those, especially when adding a crib for the infant?

You are missing another Disney option that is substantially cheaper. The cabins at Fort Wilderness.... There you basically have a murphy bed in the front room that can sleep two, a bedroom in the back with a full size bed with bunk beds in the same room... You would also have a full kitchen if you wanted to use it and the maid service washes the dishes so that's also a plus... and I believe you can also get a crib but you might want to check on that because I haven't needed a crib in a long time and don't remember if they were already in the cabin or we had to request it.

The one thing to keep in mind if you do use the cabins is they work best if you bring your own car or get a rental car. But the good part of the car is you have parking right by the cabin and the cabins are very close to the MK which is likely the place you will be going to most with kids.

Unless they have changed things recently the cabins are considered a moderate resort so they are cheaper than the deluxe resorts even though you get more room in them. Oh the biggest down side for a large group is you only have one bathroom.
 

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
You are missing another Disney option that is substantially cheaper. The cabins at Fort Wilderness.... There you basically have a murphy bed in the front room that can sleep two, a bedroom in the back with a full size bed with bunk beds in the same room... You would also have a full kitchen if you wanted to use it and the maid service washes the dishes so that's also a plus... and I believe you can also get a crib but you might want to check on that because I haven't needed a crib in a long time and don't remember if they were already in the cabin or we had to request it.

The one thing to keep in mind if you do use the cabins is they work best if you bring your own car or get a rental car. But the good part of the car is you have parking right by the cabin and the cabins are very close to the MK which is likely the place you will be going to most with kids.

Unless they have changed things recently the cabins are considered a moderate resort so they are cheaper than the deluxe resorts even though you get more room in them. Oh the biggest down side for a large group is you only have one bathroom.
Just two notes - 1: Pretty sure they swapped out the Murphy beds with sleeper sofas. 2: They are considered moderate resorts, but the prices tend to be more than a room in any of the other actual moderate resorts.

And as you wrote, only one bathroom for up to 6 people can get dicey. I don't know how far one would be to any of the other comfort stations. I also don't know how comfortable someone would be using a comfort station versus a bathroom in their own cabin, even if FW tends to be one of the highest rated campground facilities in the country.
 
Last edited:

21stamps

Well-Known Member
I just looked at renting points for a quick November stay. The resort I wanted wasn't available, but the prices are amazing!!! 2 nights for less than the price of one!!! I agree with the person who said OKW. You could do a 1 bedroom and a connecting studio to make it 2 bedrooms. If you are going to do mid day breaks you will probably want a 2 bedroom for sure.

I've stayed there on an adult trip and it was really nice.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Just two notes - 1: Pretty sure they swapped out the Murphy beds with sleeper sofas. 2: They are considered moderate resorts, but the prices tend to be more than a room in any of the other actual moderate resorts.

And as you wrote, only one bathroom for up to 6 people can get dicey. I don't know how far one would be to any of the other comfort stations. I also don't know how comfortable someone would be using a comfort station versus a bathroom in their own cabin, even if FW tends to be one of the highest rated campground facilities in the country.
You wouldn't want to use a comfort station. Your cabin will be a good bit from any facilities which is also why I would recommend a car if you stay there. While they do have a bus that comes around, the way the cabins are set up in clusters off the main road, there is always a chance that you could be at the far end of the cluster resulting in a fairly long walk... Not such a big deal in the morning but after a long day of the parks the last thing you would really want is a walk back from the bus to your cabin that's half a mile with worn out kids.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom