Where to stay w/ 5 kids?

[MinnieMartha]

I'm planning a trip to World Disney in the Spring.
I'm having a hard time deciding where to stay. We have 5 kids and need a resort that 7 of us, maybe 8, if my mom comes. She helps with the boys!

I guess the most likely place will be one of the All Star Resorts, but then I really would like a place with a kitchen to help with the cost of food. My youngest son will be 2 when we travel.

My budget is set to spend $200.00 a night or less. Is that going to be possible?

My next task at hand, to start buying those hopper passes for my family. I think we'll make it! :lol: It's so expensive!

I did say planning a trip, sometimes I wonder if we can afford it. :dazzle:

 

[wiskband]

It is possible. i have only stayed at budget and moderate and nce at polynesian which i really didnt like. i have four kids my hubby and dad came this year. and we stayed at the all star. we got 2 ajoining rooms at 50.00 a night. with kids two rooms may come in handy as it did for us. when the little one was sleeping we put baby in other room. the other room served as the quiet room put it that way! lol. so you got two rooms for about 100.00 a night. if you can get that rate. heres what i do as far as food. we get the frig in the room buy some cereal and donuts and so on for the A.M. luch meats for either lunch dinner or late night snack. we typically try to buy just one meal a day. so if we buy lucnh in the parks we eat dinner at the hotel. i think 200.oo is more thatn enough. again i do not know about the resorts with kitchen but i have to say for myself .........do not put a stove any where near me when i'm on vacation! :fork: cause this mama is not cooking. i cook about 340 days a year for a family of six the most im doing on vacation is making a sandwich and even that i make an assembly line and we all make em together! my advice go for the all star for 100.00- 140.00 a night and use the rest of that 200. a night budget for food!:lol: :lol:

 

[ToTBellHop]

Even without all the discounts, you could go to the All-Stars for under $200/night. Since you are going in the spring, the value season is out of the question, but if you go after April 27, you will be going in the regular season, with a cost of $99 per night, per room (and if you can get discounts, like at mousesavers.com, you can do better). If, however, you go before April 27 (peak season), the base price at the All-Stars would be $109...not a big deal, but if you are trying to save money...5 nights and you would save $100 already.

In terms of Resorts with stoves, you are talking one of Disney's Home Away from Home Resorts. The cheapest would be Disney's Old Key West Resort, which has 2 bedroom vacation homes (sleeps 8), would cost $560/night for the regular season, $680 for before April 27...a bit outside your given range. Therefore, take wiskband's advice--buy cereals and donuts and chips AT HOME (cheaper), take them in a suitcase, buy milk and lunch meats or what have you at the gift shop, and you can save on meals--plus, you leave with an empty suitcase for any souvenirs you buy.

If I might recommend a Resort, Disney's All-Star Movies...in my mind, the best themed of the All-Stars--it's my favorite (stayed there twice, including April 2002...couldn't afford anything more after our Feb. 2002 indulgence at AKL ). Hope it helps.

 

[ritchie56]

Do you feel you have to stay onsite? In your situation, I'd look into a condo offsite. We have one booked for May that has three bedrooms, two baths, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, sleeps 8 for $129 a night. They throw in a free rental car if you stay more than seven nights, or offer one night free if you don't need the rental. We haven't stayed there yet, so I can't really say for sure how nice it will be and how much we will miss being onsite, but to me the extra space and the kitchen off set the loss of the Disney Transportation.

 

[frazierle]

I agree with "wiskband". We had 5 kids and 3 adults (based on age only) on our trip last Feb. We had adjoining rooms at All Star Movies. It worked out nicely. You have 2 bathrooms, 2 televisions, and can always make one a quite room.

A suggestion (if your driving) is in lieu of renting a fridge, buy one of those electric coolers (Coleman) from Wal Mart, about $70, these are larger than the one's you rent and you get to keep on using them, hopefully on future trips. Plug it in the car when traveling and you can use it in the room when you get there. Bring your own grub for breakfast and snacks, you'll be amazed on what you could save. We generally ate 1 meal at the parks during the day. The kids never complained about the sandwiches and cereal during the trip.

I believe you would do better to stay at the parks than go offsite. We found that not all the kids wanted to do the same thing all the time. This is where the transportation system was a real benefit. It allowed us to separate and accomodate everyone. Just my opinion I would rather have the buses available than a kitchen.

Have fun.

 

[Dwarful]

wiskband has got it right. might I add my 02. though. our groop of 8 with 5 kids stayed at All Star Movies..Dalmation Bldg. 1 was great location. Buy the resort mugs, they are worth it, maybe not for the little ones we made our 2 & 5 yr old girls share one mug. as the 2 yr old only drank milk, juice, water or hot cocoa.
But the Food court offered a family dinner for about $20 that would easily feed 4-6 people. if you have 2 young children you might get by with 1 meal..or 2 still only $40 and your mugs provide the drinks.
Stock up on non perishable snacks..rice krispies, granola bars, fruit snacks, raisins etc. If you rent a fridge just get the one for one room, or get the cooler...esp. if you will be staying for a full week..that nightly fee would easily cover the cost of buying your own~
Also, maybe make one meal a day a late lunch..lunches are cheaper,esp. if you go for one of the all you can eat sit down meals. Our groop of kids 2-14 g & b loved Liberty Tree, Germany (they had a variety of foods to choose from and they will let you go take a look before you sit down.)
That way you are eatting a nice, relaxed (haha) hot meal but not paying the dinner prices.
good luck. it can be done.
with all the kids I wouldn't even try to stay off site, your drive time, parking etc..I would stay at the all stars before I stayed off site with that many kids its just too much of a hassle!

 

[MinnieMartha]

You all are amazing with you tips and ideas! I'm going to really use this info. in my planning.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! :sohappy:

I love the condo idea, but I really want to stay on site. Decisions!

 

[marypopmom]

I know you are on a budget and the character meals may be out of the questions but here are 2 suggestions
1. You might want to consider the ice cream social at the garden grill in the Land Pavillion at Epcot. Its around 3 o clock each day and I think its $6.95 each for a huge sundae and great character interaction, I think its chip dale, and maybe farmer minnie and mickey.
2. A real freebie is the movie at night at the Fort Wilderness campground. Free movie, free characters. What could be better than free disney magic
Happy planning and enjoy.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I really think you should look in to a vacation home off property. It would be much more cost effective for you to do that. You would get the kitchen and would also be able to have everyone together.

 

[Dwarful]

We got a good rate using a promo code from mousesavers..but we paid $100 per night for 2 rooms at All Star Movies in May over Memorial Day week and into june (we stayed 10 nights)

I don't know how much cheaper it would be to go to an off site condo. You have to factor in travel time...driving, parking, getting into the park (plus you lose EE, our 5 kids are up early anyway)

Plus you are close..say the little one wears out and needs a nap...one adult..(maybe grandma?) could take the little ones back to the resort for naps and meet up with the group later on..where as if you are off site you have to really think about the "expense" of a mid day break!

Besides the breakfast foods how much cooking will you really be doing? We are always on a budget for our trips and tend to eat a good breakfast before hitting the parks, a late lunch (say 2-3) and then snack at dinner time or eat at the resort.

BUT if you can get a condo for less than the resort you would need to see how much less? $25 a night less? well, that eats into your cost for parking and gasoline so in the long run you wouldn't save much and would you drive all the way back for dinner or stay at the parks??
Those are things only you will know about your group and thats what you need to think about when making your plans. good luck though..let us know how it goes for you!

 

[DisneyNut24]

Very well said, Dwarful--

I have travelled with a twenty-two month old to Disney, being on site was a god-send! We were able to split up and one go back to the hotel with him for a nap, while the others went just one more time on Buzz Lightyear's spin. You do not mention the ages of the others, but I am assuming fairly close in age. The transportation system did make it nice for splitting up. Not always the speediest though, depending on which park you were going to that day.

I bought a book called "Walt Disney World with Kids 2000 (and 2003 bought the new one too). It was a great trip planner and was only about $15. I purchased it after we had already booked everything, but wish I had bought it before making those big plans. Very helpful!!!!!!

We flew down, so we did not have the option of a cooler, but that would be nice. We did take small snack size cereal boxes and went to the food court for milk in the moring and ate in our room. We made our big meal lunch and then opted for a light snack at dinner.

I am assuming you are driving there, but if you are flying be sure to check with the airlines on putting food in a checked luggage. At the beginning of the year, there were new regulations put into effect with the new scanners.

Good Luck! As long as "you don't expect to do it all because we are paying out the nose for this trip" you will do fine. Let the kids help plan what they want to do BEFORE you get there. Call ahead and get maps, park times, a video and let the kids pick their very own top three choices and then go from there.

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I know there is a special magic about staying on site...but sometimes you can stay off site and have more money for other things, it just depends on your priorities.

You can rent really nice 1/2 million dollar homes with private pools and spas for around $89 to $129 a night depending on how many bedrooms you need. After being in the parks all day, the private pool and jacuzzi is awesome and it's usually quiet. Plus you have the living room and a den in many of these houses.

Honestly, you can be in the parks just as fast if you rent a house in Kiss. just off the hwy. We found we could make it in 15 minutes or so to the trams from the parking lot of the park, and we were there spring break with our whole family, keeping two vans together.

Just depends on what you want. I know everyone wants to try staying on site...but you will actually be in the parks faster than depending on Disney transportation. I know it's nice not to drive though...just ask my husband.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

If money is the most important factor then I would recommend getting a house / villa for the duration of your stay.
We're doing that for the first time this April and have saved a lot of money over what it would cost to stay on site - there's 5 of us this year and we need 3 rooms.
We're paying £985 (about $1500) for 14 nights (Less than $110 a night). We booked the villa through www.contempoflorida.com might be worth visiting the web site - they have an office just south of WDW off I4

 

[MinnieMartha]

Our plans!

Thank you again for all your help! This is more than I could have imagined!

Someone mentioned Ft. Wilderness and I had an idea. My brother in law has a driving camper, and we asked if we could rent it for a week. He agreed said it was on the house!! :sohappy:
So we are going to stay on site at Ft. Wilderness.

This is the perfect situation for us. It is going to run us about $80 a night, we can all stay together and we have a kitchen! We're going to tow our car so we can shop off site and drive to the parks if we need to.

Don't ask me why I didn't think of this earlier. I guess I was shy to ask to 'borrow' his camper.

I've been reading as much info on Ft. Wilderness and it looks perfect! Lots of free things to do or fairly cheap. Hayrides! OMG this is sounding like a vacation in itself.

Thank you all! You are so nice and helpful!

 

[Yellow Shoes]

I am sooo happy for you!!

Isn't it wonderful when things just fall into place?

Your kids (are they all boys?) will have a BLAST at Ft. Wilderness.

You are right about the free and low-cost things to do:

movies with Chip 'n Dale
s'mores (you can buy the stuff or bring your own)
petting zoo

Trails End Buffeteria is one of the least $ places on property. Both the breakfast and lunch/dinner are highly recommended (for when you cannot face another cold sandwich)

Here's a menu . The prices are from Feb. '02:

breakfast $8.50 / $5.50 (child 3-11)
lunch $8.99 / $5.99
dinner $14.99 / $6.99

To compare, breakfast at Crystal Palace is $16.99 / $8.99
(although you do get characters there)

And having your car will give you lots of flexibility to go to off-site restaurants, or just to buy your supplies at a grocery store instead of at the resort gift shop.

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I am so happy for you.....that will work out perfectly. You get everything you wanted and to stay on site. Have a great trip!!!!

 

[wdwkid17]

Question??? All Star Movies?

I'm staying at All Star Movies for my first time.

1. Is the food court godo food?

2. How is the pool area? Which pool is the best?

3. How efficent are the esort busses?

4. Can you walk to other All Star resorts?

 

[Dwarful]

well wdwkid17 heres the scoop
if you are young or going with young people the Fantasia Pool seemed to be the most popular..of course its close to the food court so maybe there is a connection. The Mighty Ducks pool seemed to be less crowded when we were there May/June.

We stayed in Dalmation Bldg. #1 and we were close to both pools, busses, laundry, food court etc.

We never had any bus problems. And during our stay Movies never shared a bus w/music or sports. but I believe in slow seasons they might share buses.

You can walk to the other resorts they are all right next to each other movies being the last in line. albeit it might be more than just a hop, skip and a jump away.

our group had no complaints about the food court...everything from grilled cheese & pizza to meatloaf and turkey dinners. Plus fresh fruits, desserts, snacks etc! Not your top quality food but it wasnt school cafeteria flavors either. I highly recommend the drink mug. We paid $9.99 each but we were there for 10 nights and it was unlimited refills

The theme is really fun, my kids had never seen the Love Bug films but they loved roaming around that part of the resort the most and we ended up with one "Herbie" fanatic now!

hope that helps a bit. I'm sure you will have a magical trip....let us know all about it!

 

[jenjie]

I know you've already worked out your situation but thought I'd add this into the mix for anyone else still looking.

We haven't been here yet (going in March) but http://www.disneyworldvacationcenter.com/condos.htm seems to be a great bargain. You could rent a 3 br/2bath condo for $120 a night in April. It looks like they have some really nice places, too. And only 4.5 miles away from Disney!

~Jen

 

[Mikey4WDW]

many kids

Hello all, those who are going to WDW soon, have a wonderful time. Those that have just come back from there I hope you had a wonderful time, as my brother darthDarrel and I had. If it helps, back in 1996 or 1997 (can't remember the exact year), when I was married to my 2nd wife, her and I and her three kids and my son went to WDW. We got a great price of $79.00 a night in a 2 bedroom manufactured home in Fort Wilderness. We had plenty of room, with plenty of beds for each one of us. The large picture that hung on the wall was actually covering a pullout bed. our manufactured home was only 2 minutes from the Disney bus stop. We only bought food for breakfast and snacks at night. It was a very inexpensive trip and fun.