Why does Disney make it hard for larger families?

chicagoshannon · Mar 7, 2017

I recommend staying off site in a house or condo. We've stayed at Bonnet Creek which was great (as well as a lot of other time share resorts that aren't as close but still within 10 minutes or so), and rented a 4 bedroom house. I can't imagine staying in a hotel room for more than 1 night with infants and anyone else that needs to sleep or nap at early hours. I mean you put the kids to bed and then you just have to sit in the dark. Would drive me bonkers. With a place off property you'll have a living room to relax in after the kids go to bed. The house we rented in January even had a game room with air hockey, pool, and foosball. Plus it's own private pool.

THe house was really nice, but I definitely prefer the time share resorts because of the gorgeous pools and activities. If you're looking for the resort experience the time share properties (Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Sheraton Vistana, Marriott Sabal Palms/ Royal Palms/Imperial Palms are all very close) are the way to go.

maxiesmom · Mar 8, 2017

DisneyOma said:
It's near CBR, (actually it towers obnoxiously over it, ruining a lot of sight lines on property - how the hell did they get away with that?) so it is close to EPCOT and HS. But it doesn't have any Disney perks, right? No free parking, no close bus stops at the parks, no EMH, right? So, unless you have an AP you have to pay $$$ for parking if you drive to the parks.

Correct. And they also charge to use their shuttle to the parks. Not an insignificant amount.

mom25kiddos · Mar 8, 2017

we are in this stay offsite in a villa or house camp as well. Next trip is WBC and a Marriott split stay. Whenever I read about families cramming into those tiny value rooms because they just have to have the 'magic' of staying on property I seriously laugh out loud-All 7 of us in a room, magic is not the word I would use to describe it!

maxiesmom · Mar 8, 2017

mom25kiddos said:
we are in this stay offsite in a villa or house camp as well. Next trip is WBC and a Marriott split stay. Whenever I read about families cramming into those tiny value rooms because they just have to have the 'magic' of staying on property I seriously laugh out loud-All 7 of us in a room, magic is not the word I would use to describe it!

Different strokes for different folks. To me having to drive isn't magical. Getting into a hot car, fighting traffic. Ick. No thanks.

HopperFan · Mar 8, 2017

mom25kiddos said:
we are in this stay offsite in a villa or house camp as well. Next trip is WBC and a Marriott split stay. Whenever I read about families cramming into those tiny value rooms because they just have to have the 'magic' of staying on property I seriously laugh out loud-All 7 of us in a room, magic is not the word I would use to describe it!

Well all 7 would not fit in a room. You would have to book larger accommodations at Disney too, so you wouldn't be squished.

Some folks are never in their rooms, it's just for sleeping, showering and storing their stuff. Kinda like a cruise ship cabin. And if at the resort they are often enjoying the pools and amenities.

There is no right or wrong way. A house works for you, onsite works for others. I have stayed LOTS on property and offsite in hotel rooms & suites and "condo" style. The one thing I haven't stayed in is a house because I live in a house and have no interest in staying in one for vacation. I prefer to be surrounded by amenities.

mom25kiddos · Mar 8, 2017

HopperFan said:
Well all 7 would not fit in a room. You would have to book larger accommodations at Disney too, so you wouldn't be squished.

Some folks are never in their rooms, it's just for sleeping, showering and storing their stuff. Kinda like a cruise ship cabin. And if at the resort they are often enjoying the pools and amenities.

There is no right or wrong way. A house works for you, onsite works for others. I have stayed LOTS on property and offsite in hotel rooms & suites and "condo" style. The one thing I haven't stayed in is a house because I live in a house and have no interest in staying in one for vacation. I prefer to be surrounded by amenities.

When our littlest was still under 3 we stayed in a AoA room, then moved to two rooms at GF. I totally agree, no right or wrong way, and I do get the magic, just meaning for us, it is not magical. Maybe my kids are not the norm, but getting five kiddos to bed takes space and patience in our house, and I don't have enough of either in a hotel. LOL not to say others aren't fantastic at it, just not me. For me, it is not magical.

mom25kiddos · Mar 8, 2017

maxiesmom said:
Different strokes for different folks. To me having to drive isn't magical. Getting into a hot car, fighting traffic. Ick. No thanks.

HopperFan said:
Well all 7 would not fit in a room. You would have to book larger accommodations at Disney too, so you wouldn't be squished.

Some folks are never in their rooms, it's just for sleeping, showering and storing their stuff. Kinda like a cruise ship cabin. And if at the resort they are often enjoying the pools and amenities.

There is no right or wrong way. A house works for you, onsite works for others. I have stayed LOTS on property and offsite in hotel rooms & suites and "condo" style. The one thing I haven't stayed in is a house because I live in a house and have no interest in staying in one for vacation. I prefer to be surrounded by amenities.

and I do bow down to you moms of many that can pull it off in a regular hotel set up! I just know and accept that for me it would not be a holiday and bedtime would be so much work. maybe when our littles are a bit older

famy27 · Mar 8, 2017

For those that have done WBC recently, we are probably staying there over the summer, as we are bringing my DD's friend, so we are in need of a bigger room. Are they still ridiculous about their stupid parking pass pick up and trying to get you to go to a presentation? I own (resale) Wyndham points, and I like them overall, but I really hate having to use my time and energy to avoid obnoxious sales people while I'm on vacation. If they aren't being so aggressive, we'll probably go with WBC. If it's still the same drill, we'll look for a different option (probably a one-bedroom that sleeps five, like AKV).

2Pirates2Princesses · Mar 11, 2017

We just got back Wednesday night and stayed in two connecting rooms at Pop Century on this trip. As I mentioned before in this thread, we stayed at All-Star Music in a family suite on our first Disney trip and in a three bedroom Windsor Hills condo on our second Disney trip. We've gone from being a family of six to a family of seven since our last trip so we've outgrown the family suites. We were able to take advantage of the play/stay/dine promo for this March trip so we booked two standard rooms at Pop. For my large family, I feel that the best onsite deal for us is two standard value resort rooms with the either the free dining promo or play/stay/dine promo. We enjoyed our stay at Pop Century and felt that two connecting rooms gave us the space we needed. I was worried we would feel cramped but that certainly wasn't the case. My kids loved the vibrant and whimsical theming of the resort, and having the lake views and being able to see fireworks from our building location was a treat. We enjoy the all inclusive aspect of staying onsite (magical express, park transportation, room charging privileges, dining plan, food court, airline check in, etc.) but......there were things we really missed about staying in a condo too. The kids said they missed having a separate living room/sofa to sit and hang out on, we would have really benefited from having a kitchen/kitchenette with a microwave for morning breakfasts in the room, and I really missed having our own in room washer/dryer that we had at the condo. With a family of seven, doing laundry is inevitable during a week long vacation; and we don't like to return home with a bunch of smelly, dirty laundry. We spent $36 doing laundry on this trip ($3 to wash and $3 to dry a load) :crazy2:

. The bus service at Pop was reliable and efficient; but it's not fun being squished on a bus with standing room only when you have several young kids. So in summary, with a large family I can appreciate the benefits of what both the onsite and offsite experience have to offer; and depending on what type of deal we can get and what type of trip we are planning we are open to both options and know we will have a magical trip either way :thumbsup2

.

Momtoapug · Feb 16, 2018

kace08 said:
Also, I just want to mention that I stayed at Sheraton Vistana Villages last month (2 bedrooms, sleeps 8, 1000 square feet, full kitchen) for less than $150 a night and my family absolutely loved it. The location was very close Disney Springs, but yes, you lose some of the magic when you stay off site, but I can't think of a better place to stay for the price.

Awesome! We are going for first time in a few weeks! Glad to see a positive review

we have stayed on-site in the past but we really prefer at least a 1 BR suite for many reasons. Disney really makes that difficult and prices us out.

Momtoapug · Feb 16, 2018

Mark Vines said:
I am married with a step-daughter (16), two sons (10 & 8), one adopted son (5) and two foster daughters (15 months and 4 months). That first and last family trip we took was in December of 2013. Unfortunately, I did not know about this site at the time and hadn’t discovered the DIS Unplugged podcast as well. In fact, that trip did not go as well as I had hoped because I wasn’t as prepared as I wish I had been. When I got back I promised myself I would do the research before planning our next trip. That is when I came across the DIS Unplugged YouTube page and my addiction began!

I am now looking to plan a Disney World trip this upcoming fall but find it difficult to plan the trip and stay on Disney property considering my options are limited unless I am able to spend a ridiculous amount of money (which I cannot). I do realize that if we stay offsite we will spend less money but if I am going to plan a trip for the family we will want to stay onsite. Mainly because of theming but also for the convenience factor, free parking (we will drive to Orlando), fast pass selections and the possibility of free dining (I realize that this is very hard to get now). When we came in 2013 we stayed at All Star Music in one of their suites. This was fine for our family at the time but now we have added two more little ones. This seems to leave me with very few options. The All Star Music & Art of Animation suites state that they can sleep up to 6 adults. Not sure what that means for us since we have two adults and 6 children. Except for the campsites (which my wife would never approve), everything else onsite that would hold our family would be well out of our price range.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any large families out there that have dealt with these same issues?

Mark

We are not a large family but- we Prefer space. I just don’t want to be in a small “hotel room” for a week. Even if “we just sleep there”. I also like to stock a fridge with sodas and waters and snacks. I like to save $1000 a week by not using the meal plan.
Last trip we took we stayed on-site at GFV. Wowwww it was amazing and beautiful. I mean, worth every dimeS. But it was close to 6000 NOT including meal plan! We made all our own food and were able to do laundry with the in-room washer and dryers and the room was nicer than the ritz Carlton or Omni resorts we’ve been to.
That said- it was six grand!!!
This year we looked and looked and ultimately decided we are staying off site at Sheraton Vistana villages in a 2 BR suite with full kitchen for six days, with tickets for three people for five days, for $2850....we got the deal through Costco. We feel this is a great deal and offers us so much more space. I will be happy to post an update when we get back to let you know how it goes. Costco has some great packages deals including some on-site that may work for you! So may be worth a look.

kace08 · Feb 17, 2018

Momtoapug said:
Awesome! We are going for first time in a few weeks! Glad to see a positive review we have stayed on-site in the past but we really prefer at least a 1 BR suite for many reasons. Disney really makes that difficult and prices us out.

You'll love it!

MainMom · Feb 17, 2018

Momtoapug said:
We are not a large family but- we Prefer space. I just don’t want to be in a small “hotel room” for a week. Even if “we just sleep there”. I also like to stock a fridge with sodas and waters and snacks. I like to save $1000 a week by not using the meal plan.
Last trip we took we stayed on-site at GFV. Wowwww it was amazing and beautiful. I mean, worth every dimeS. But it was close to 6000 NOT including meal plan! We made all our own food and were able to do laundry with the in-room washer and dryers and the room was nicer than the ritz Carlton or Omni resorts we’ve been to.
That said- it was six grand!!!
This year we looked and looked and ultimately decided we are staying off site at Sheraton Vistana villages in a 2 BR suite with full kitchen for six days, with tickets for three people for five days, for $2850....we got the deal through Costco. We feel this is a great deal and offers us so much more space. I will be happy to post an update when we get back to let you know how it goes. Costco has some great packages deals including some on-site that may work for you! So may be worth a look.

And I refuse to cook or eat sandwiches on my vacation. I also don’t do laundry. My DH likes not having to drive. My kids like eating things they don’t get at home on a regular basis. That’s vacation to us.

abinormal · Feb 17, 2018

We picked WBC because I couldn’t stomach the Disney resort prices even though we were that “perfect” 2 adult, 2 little kid family. The only perk that I’m interested in is the 60-day FP window and I can make do without it. I need space and I prefer to do my own driving, so there’s nothing that draws me to onsite anyway. Next time we go we’ll have an extra kid so even more so.

DisneyOma · Feb 17, 2018

Momtoapug said:
We are not a large family but- we Prefer space. I just don’t want to be in a small “hotel room” for a week. Even if “we just sleep there”. I also like to stock a fridge with sodas and waters and snacks. I like to save $1000 a week by not using the meal plan.
Last trip we took we stayed on-site at GFV. Wowwww it was amazing and beautiful. I mean, worth every dimeS. But it was close to 6000 NOT including meal plan! We made all our own food and were able to do laundry with the in-room washer and dryers and the room was nicer than the ritz Carlton or Omni resorts we’ve been to.
That said- it was six grand!!!
This year we looked and looked and ultimately decided we are staying off site at Sheraton Vistana villages in a 2 BR suite with full kitchen for six days, with tickets for three people for five days, for $2850....we got the deal through Costco. We feel this is a great deal and offers us so much more space. I will be happy to post an update when we get back to let you know how it goes. Costco has some great packages deals including some on-site that may work for you! So may be worth a look.

You do realize that you don't have to do the meal plan? We've only done the meal plan once, when it was free.

abinormal said:
We picked WBC because I couldn’t stomach the Disney resort prices even though we were that “perfect” 2 adult, 2 little kid family. The only perk that I’m interested in is the 60-day FP window and I can make do without it. I need space and I prefer to do my own driving, so there’s nothing that draws me to onsite anyway. Next time we go we’ll have an extra kid so even more so.

Now you also have to pay for parking though, and don't have early entry or extra magic hours. I hope you get all the FP+ you want at 30 days out, but be prepared to be shut out of the big ones. WDW is selling concierge passes, so FP+ is going to be tight at 30 days.

Penmac · Feb 17, 2018

PrincessBelle39 said:
Camping may be a good option. We are booked to stay at Fort Wilderness in July. We've rented a camper that sleeps 8 (there are 4 of us) and booked a full hookup site. We have air conditioning, and all the equipment we could possibly need. There is nothing we need to do other than enjoy it. The company we've booked through set it up and then remove it. It also gives us options as far as meals go and the opportunity to save a little money as we don't have to eat out every breakfast and lunch. And we are still onsite which gives us the Disney benefits as far as FP+ and EMH. I'm known as the 'camping grinch' here at home but I'm actually really looking forward to it.

Alternatively, a vacation home is also a great way to go. We've done this on 3 occassions staying at Windsor Hills each time. Loved it there. Of course you would have parking fees to park at WDW but for what you save and the space it gives you, its a great option. Our last trip was August 2012 and a 6 bedroom pool home cost us under $2000 for 12 nights.

I am very interested in this! I never knew you could do a rental and just show up. We are also coming in July and I have been looking at Windsor Hills, but this could be really fun. Question. Laundry! How easy is it to get to the laundry area from the camping loops if you are far away? We have 5 kids under 9!! Not sure I could sacrifice the condo with washer/dryer.

abinormal · Feb 17, 2018

DisneyOma said:
You do realize that you don't have to do the meal plan? We've only done the meal plan once, when it was free.

Now you also have to pay for parking though, and don't have early entry or extra magic hours. I hope you get all the FP+ you want at 30 days out, but be prepared to be shut out of the big ones. WDW is selling concierge passes, so FP+ is going to be tight at 30 days.

Seeing as how I paid ~$70 per night for WBC I was quite fine paying for parking. I wasn’t interested in EMH. And I got all the FPs I wanted in the end. I put a lot of thought and planning into my decisions and was happy with my choices.

I’m just giving my opinion and experience. I don’t know why people get so put out that other people are happy being offsite.

maxiesmom · Feb 18, 2018

I want to share that the older I get, the less I can stand the hassle of being off site. Heck, if I could I would stay deluxe every trip just for the ease of getting to either MK or Epcot.

Off site is great for space at a cheaper price. But for ease of getting to and from the parks you can't beat a deluxe.

Momtoapug · Feb 19, 2018

DisneyOma said:
You do realize that you don't have to do the meal plan? We've only done the meal plan once, when it was free.

Now you also have to pay for parking though, and don't have early entry or extra magic hours. I hope you get all the FP+ you want at 30 days out, but be prepared to be shut out of the big ones. WDW is selling concierge passes, so FP+ is going to be tight at 30 days.

We intentionally did not use the meal plan at GFV; but we had a kitchen we could store and prepare food for a week in. I feel I would be hard-pressed to store enough food for a week in a single room at a value resort, and we would not be able to prepare food there, I would imagine. Certainly aware we can skip meal plan, but just not sure I like the idea of skipping the meal plan and being in a place for a week where you cant really prep, store, or cook your own food....that would sort of force me into a meal plan, or, spending a good bit on food in the parks, I would imagine? But if I am wrong please tell me because I'd like to make that work- a value without a meal plan...without spending fortune on food?

Turn the Page · Feb 19, 2018

Momtoapug said:
We intentionally did not use the meal plan at GFV; but we had a kitchen we could store and prepare food for a week in. I feel I would be hard-pressed to store enough food for a week in a single room at a value resort, and we would not be able to prepare food there, I would imagine. Certainly aware we can skip meal plan, but just not sure I like the idea of skipping the meal plan and being in a place for a week where you cant really prep, store, or cook your own food....that would sort of force me into a meal plan, or, spending a good bit on food in the parks, I would imagine? But if I am wrong please tell me because I'd like to make that work- a value without a meal plan...without spending fortune on food?

I believe the general consensus is there are very few situations where the meal plan actually saves you money. If you are planning a few character meals or something like that it can but usually just paying out of pocket as you go is less expensive than paying for the meal plan. It is usually recommended that you check out some menus and get an idea of what your family would actually eat and add that up and compare it to the meal plan and you usually come out ahead by paying out of pocket as you go. Especially since the meal plans do not include drinks or tips at table service restaurants anymore. Plus, many people find it to be just way too much food so you wind up paying for food you don't eat.

You know your family best though. Check into some menus and do the math and see if it works out cheaper for you to get the meal plan or not.

ETA: Even if you stay in a value room there are mini fridges there so you can get things like cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, etc for breakfast and have snacks, drinks, and sandwich fixings for lunch leaving you only paying for dinner out. That alone would save you a ton and is totally doable in a value room.

Why does Disney make it hard for larger families?

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