Best Resorts for Large Family (5+)

[PrinceOfPeace]

We are looking to stay on property for the first time. It’s been a while and looking to know what resorts are best for a family of 5 or more? All adult size since my kids are teens.

 

[HopperFan]

We are looking to stay on property for the first time. It’s been a while and looking to know what resorts are best for a family of 5 or more? All adult size since my kids are teens.

It really depends. For me I say enough real beds, bathrooms and a bit of privacy so I'd lean to where my budget can handle multiple rooms. On top of that how much time are you spending at the resort vs being in the parks. Where do you plan to dine? Parks, multiple resorts, Disney Springs or YOUR hotel? What do you want in amenities at your hotel? Inside hallways, outside hallways, pools with water slide and hot tubs OR will you mostly sleep & shower? All that comes in to play. NOTE: We are all adults, we are park centric, hotel is for sleeping, showering, maybe a pop in for refreshing and changing clothes.

 

[Nabas]

I appreciate Disney’s Value Resorts but feel these are best experienced by families with young children. Since your family includes teenagers, I’d exclude all of these.

Our teenagers wanted to spend a lot of time at the pool. They also wanted independence. A resort like the Boardwalk has a few pools, is within walking distance to two theme parks, and has its own nighttime entertainment district. If it’s within your budget, renting DVC points and staying there would be my first recommendation.

There are less expensive options. Ultimately, your budget will determine where you stay.

 

[hertamaniac]

Although it will be difficult to get and is a 3BR/2BA configuration, the Treehouses at SSR might be an option. One of the bedrooms has 2 bunk beds, but depending on the size of your teens it might be fun/accommodating. I believe there is also a full-size sofa bed in the LR. It comes with a full-size kitchen and stacked washer/dryer combination. They aren't the shiniest new toy in terms of resorts and could use a refresh, but the amenities are quite nice.

We stayed there a couple of years ago and the location was fantastic for our needs. There is a nice quiet pool and hot tub secluded from everything and an almost personal boat dock that goes to Disney Springs.

 

[Aggiegrl]

We are a family of 5 with 3 teens.

2 years ago, we chose Caribbean Beach Resort. We really enjoyed this trip. My kids loved the skyline, the pool was great, and the easy access to Hollywood Studios was great for my kids.

This year, we are at Beach Club. My shortest child would just barely fit on the 5th sleeper at CBR, so it was time to upgrade. Stormalong Bay and walking to Epcot and HS were big pluses for us this time. I imagine my kids will have a lot of freedom in the Epcot/HS resort area. We were also interested in the Studio Villa at Poly since it has an extra bathroom space. But, it wasn't ever discounted so Beach Club won out.

We rented Villas when my kids were smaller and needed naps and earlier bedtimes. Now that my kids are teens, one room works just fine for us. It actually helps my teens get up less cranky in the morning. I get up first and start making noise/turning on the bathroom light, and they wake up slowly.

We've done adjoining/connecting rooms at All Stars and Pop, but we don't prefer the more busy vibe of the value hotels anymore.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Swolphin connecting rooms could be something to look into. They used to have sort of family discount if you call, don’t see it in the website though. But not Dolphin, they have double beds and that’s too close for teens, swan has queens and SR has queens except a couple suites which have doubles. 2 teens would have to share a queen but you’d have two bathrooms, more breathing room and they could wander the Boardwalk area or access EP & DHS by boat.

 

[jormom1030]

We just did a family suite at All Star Music with a 21, 16, and 12 year old. It worked well for us. We did parks every day though. We don’t spend double what an off site condo (with double or triple the room) costs to hang out at our resort.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We are only a family of 4 but we started doing 2 rooms at resorts years ago. Our favorite is POFQ and we request connecting rooms. It works out great to have 4 beds, 2 bathrooms, 2 TVs, 2 fridges, and extra space in general. We enjoy POFQ as it's a compact resort, has only one bus stop, great QS food, quaint atmosphere and boats to DS.

That being said, next year we are doing a split stay with 2 rooms at each resort, CBR then BC.

So much depends on your budget, park touring style, time of year, if you will have a car, and whether a pool is important. A little extra info and I think you will get more informative responses.

 

[Mainemama]

We like Carribean Beach. I have a 19, 16, and 11 year old. (Girl/boy/girl). The girls aren’t huge so they share a bed, the boy is 6 feet and prefers to get his own bed. He doesn’t care if his feet hang off the pull down. We stagger when we wake up, and we don’t all shower at the same time, so the bathroom works. My son took to taking his rest break out of the room, say in a hammock. Part of the fun of Disney vacations for us is we are all in 1 room. We used to do Yacht Club as our favorite, but have found CBR meets our needs in a similar way for a much better price point.

 

[ilovebassets]

I would splurge on one bedroom villa at one of the cheaper DVC resorts like SSR, OKW, or AKL. Five adult sized people are going to sleep better with three proper sleep surfaces. And even though most of the resorts have one bathroom, the sink, shower, and toilet are separated, and there's two sinks for getting everyone ready (plus a kitchen sink!)

 

[Becky Mouse]

We are looking to stay on property for the first time. It’s been a while and looking to know what resorts are best for a family of 5 or more? All adult size since my kids are teens.

I'd say the cabins at Fort Wilderness. However, they're going DVC and are jumping up a bit in price. Depending on when you go, they're probably about $500/night. The new ones still have the full kitchen, dining area, living room (with a murphy bed), a separate bedroom with a queen bed and bunk beds, deck, and patio.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The sofa beds in a deluxe resort are larger and more comfortable than the small drop-down Murphy beds in Moderate resorts and in DVC resorts. We stayed at the Beach Club and Yacht Club many times with our family of five and it worked out great. They were happy to be at WDW and were always up for rope drop.

 

[Dulcee]

Although it will be difficult to get and is a 3BR/2BA configuration, the Treehouses at SSR might be an option. One of the bedrooms has 2 bunk beds, but depending on the size of your teens it might be fun/accommodating. I believe there is also a full-size sofa bed in the LR. It comes with a full-size kitchen and stacked washer/dryer combination. They aren't the shiniest new toy in terms of resorts and could use a refresh, but the amenities are quite nice.

We stayed there a couple of years ago and the location was fantastic for our needs. There is a nice quiet pool and hot tub secluded from everything and an almost personal boat dock that goes to Disney Springs.

Second this. If its in your budget the tree houses are fantastic. I stayed in these (as a teen!) with my family and then as an adult along with our inlaws, additional adult siblings, etc. Both trips were super memorable. We especially loved the little private outdoor decks at the end of the day. Was just a great place to enjoy the quiet and sit and chat and catch up.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I'm sure you didn't want so many answers on this but I tend to agree with @Grace&Carolinesmom - there are a variety of factors that dictate where we stay, especially the time of year.

Mom of teen girls here and we started doing larger rooms or more rooms to get more bathrooms. I've considered the Family Suites at ASMu but didn't love the value vibe for us and have looked at renting points but we don't plan our disney trips that far out, so it really doesn't work with how we travel. But I would recommend that if you have ample planning time and are flexible on where you could stay, go for renting points. There's always cash DVC stays and we've done those when good deals have come out but those are usually for studios w/ one queen and the pull out sofa.

We LOVE POFQ and on our last stay, we said for future trips we'd likely do two rooms, requesting adjoining. I've also looked at the deluxe resorts with the pull out sofa bed w/ 2 queens like a GF studio. I like the epcot and MK area resorts so my kids can walk/boat to/from parks on their own if they want to or get food, etc. It gives us more options overall.

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

Great answers! Thank you! We usually stay at Bonnet Creek or Reunion but want something on property this time.