2 adults - 4kids

[mrbobwright]

My wife and I are planning a trip to WDW. We have 4 kids - ages 11, 8 and twins 4. Are there any accomodations that will fit us all and still be affordable (adjoining rooms, suites). Anyone else with larger families have any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[AuntBJ]

You could do connecting rooms at the All-Stars or one Wilderness Cabin. I think it usually works out to be about the same price. With the All-Stars you would have two baths though.

 

[Demosthenes]

Definately do the cabin. Your kids will love FW, and you can save money on meals by cooking a few lunches or dinners and having cold cereal. There is just so much more to do @ FW than the All-Stars that I wouldn't even consider the All-Stars.

FWIW two rooms at the All Stars would total 520 sq. ft. vs. 504 sq. ft. @ the Cabins.

 

[Mic]

We have 4 kids, too, and we have done several things. We stayed at the All Stars in 2 rooms, and having the 2 bathrooms was a plus. The drawback: the rooms are very small, and the room my DH and I shared had 2 double beds instead of the king we requested(king is not guaranteed). DH said never again! We have had connecting rooms at Coronada Springs as well, and the rooms were a little larger, the pool area a little nicer, but again, 2 double beds in both rooms. I know they have king rooms, but they charge extra for those, and I don't remember if the king rooms connect to a room with 2 doubles. DH said maybe do that again. Then we discovered DVC, and have been spoiled ever since. With a 2-bedroom, we have 2 bedrooms(king in 1, 2 queens or 1 queen/1 queen sofabed in the other),2 bathrooms, AND a full kitchen(that we don't always use). The only drawback:the 2-bedroom costs a lot of points. If you could rent points from a member, you may find this the best option. If you are planning to drive or rent a car, I suggest staying at Old Key West because you can park right outside of your room, and getting to the parks is very easy. If you will not have a car, the VWL may be your best bet(I am assuming that you will want to spend more time at MK than anywhere else) because the boat can transport you over. The cabins would be a good choice, too, because you will have a kitchen and they can accomodate 6. The only drawback: 1 bathroom(may not matter since 2 kids are very young), and the transportation seems to be hit or miss at Fort Wilderness(I have no personal experience to share). The best thing to do would be to price all your options and decide what luxuries are worth paying for. I wish you luck!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Another plus to the All Stars over the cabins is the bus service. It is awsome and so much quicker than FW where you have to take both an internal and then a external bus. It is very much a personal decision. My sister's family always stays at the cabins and we always stay at All star. Another All star plus if you don't want to cook, is the food court. Good food at good prices. There are more things to do at FW but you are father away from them and a bus or golf cart might be needed to get to your activity. AS has two pool each and an arcade. The rooms at AS are small. We however spend so little time at the resort that it's not a problem. Again my sister's family spends more time at the resort and loves the cabin. If you go with AS let them know you have young children so you will be assured connecting rooms.


jordan's mom

 

[Trekker]

another possible is a junior suite at the Dolphin - not sure what the cost is but they would work good for a group that size...

 

[4greatboys]

There are 6 of us too. We stayed YC this last visit. Both my 2 little ones are under 3 so we could all stay in the same room. Rooms are big and we had plenty of space. But because we plan on going many more times with all the kids we bought dvc points. We now have 215 points at OKW. There are several different options of rooms so we thought it would work out best for our family.

 

[VickiVM]

This past Oct. we rented DVC points for Beach Club Villas. We had a dedicated 2-bedroom (meaning that there was not a door separating the two bedrooms) with 2 bathrooms, a jacuzzi bathtub, a full kitchen and a washer/dryer set. There were 6 of us - Me, my husband, our three kids -8, 6 & 4 years - and my mom. Our bed was a king size and my mom's room had a queen size bed and a queen pull-out sofa bed. The living area also had a pull-out sofa bed. We were less than a five minute walk to the entrance to Epcot. We enjoyed the awesome Storm Along Bay pool as well as BCV's quiet pool. We took a quick 10 minute boat ride to MGM (waited about 10 minutes for it) and the buses to AKL and MK were a short wait as well. We enjoyed several other amenites on the YC/BC property including free valet parking (a DVC perk). All this cost us only $249 per night. A hint is to rent DVC points for Sunday night thru Thursday night stay which is cheaper than weekend nights.

Just as a contrast - our first night was a Saturday night which we chose to stay at ASMu because we got an awesome rate of $49/night. We had two connecting rooms. Although it is a lovely property with great amenities, I could not imagine us staying 6 nights there with small children. When you have smaller children you tend to spend more time in the rooms than when they're older and capable of being on the go much longer. AS was just too small and there was absolutely no privacy or sense of personal space. Even the bathrooms are tiny. I'm not AS bashing and would stay there again if we could not afford the other arrangement, however, I would rather save a little more for a little longer and go deluxe.

Bottom line...no matter which on-site property you choose, you'll have a memorable time.