5 person family -- two rooms at Value or one at Caribbean Beach or PO Riverside??

[tikimao]

Having three kids gets complicated. Looking to do WDW with the family at Christmas, for the first time. I've put in a query for a quote with Dreams Unlimited....but still full of questions that I hope y'all can give a little advice on. For our family of five, 4 adults (parents + two adult kids + 1 kid age kid), we can either stay at Caribbean Beach or PO Riverside OR we could get two rooms at one of the Sports/Movies/etc All-Star resorts.

the parents have been to MK and EP back in 1993, so no clue how things work now. Kids have only been the DL, not WDW.

We love pools, we enjoy being in the Disney bubble (we stay at the GCH when in CA). We will have a car.

Which resort will give us the best experience, for the costs? (room costs are quite similar, booking two Value rooms vs. one 5-person).

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

Always 2 rooms. Then you have 2 bathrooms and 4 comfortable beds.

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

Having three kids gets complicated. Looking to do WDW with the family at Christmas, for the first time. I've put in a query for a quote with Dreams Unlimited....but still full of questions that I hope y'all can give a little advice on. For our family of five, 4 adults (parents + two adult kids + 1 kid age kid), we can either stay at Caribbean Beach or PO Riverside OR we could get two rooms at one of the Sports/Movies/etc All-Star resorts.

the parents have been to MK and EP back in 1993, so no clue how things work now. Kids have only been the DL, not WDW.

We love pools, we enjoy being in the Disney bubble (we stay at the GCH when in CA). We will have a car.

Which resort will give us the best experience, for the costs? (room costs are quite similar, booking two Value rooms vs. one 5-person).

you will pay a lot more money for having the 3rd and 4th adult in the room and the five of you in CB or PO would be expensive. For a few bucks more, I would get two of the cheapest rooms at POP and avoid the 3rd and 4th adult fees and you will have two bathrooms. You have access to the Skyliner as well. if you do this, the adult kids will each have their own bed instead of sharing a double bed at PO/CBR.

 

[robinb]

I would go for two rooms with 4 adults.

 

[pwdebbie]

Yep, I agree, two rooms. You all might not like each other very much after a few days of togetherness in one room.

 

[DanceDisney23]

When you say adult kids, do you mean Disney adults or actual adults? My recommendation would be based on how old the adult kids are.

 

[starry_solo]

Two rooms

 

[DizneyFamof4]

When you say adult kids, do you mean Disney adults or actual adults? My recommendation would be based on how old the adult kids are.

This.
Knowing if your children are adults or WDW adults is very important and if they're WDW adults their ages would help. So if the children are real adults, then without a doubt 2 rooms at a value. If the kids are WDW adults, than you can make a Mod work, depending on your family. If a pool with a slide is really important then the Mods all have slides, with CSR having the best slide while no value pool has any slides.
Our family actually likes being together and rarely if ever get tired of being around each other and never at WDWYou can dwell on the negatives or enjoy the fact that you are at WDW making memories with your family. One of our trips we had DW, our infant DD, myself, plus my oldest sister and her 17 year old DD (my niece), and against a lot of posts on DIS we stayed at POP in 1 room. It was tight but we had a fantastic time and we still talk about that trip and how great it was, whenever we get together

 

[pens4821]

I’m going to go against everyone and say stay at a mod. We stayed at CBR with four Pooh sized adults and a 12 year old. We weren’t in the room much so that helped, and the one bathroom wasnt much of an issue for us. I (6’3 300) slept on the pull down under the tv and actually slept fine and thought it was perfectly ok.

We just like the resort feel so much more than the values. If you are going to not spend much time at all there I’d say maybe value, but if you plan on doing some swimming and relaxing around the resort I’d much rather stay at a mod. It’s much more quiet and the surroundings are MUCH nicer.

If you’re like us and you feel you can make one bathroom work, and you’re not going to be spending much more than morning/evening relaxing in the room I’d say stay nicer.

 

[BlovesC]

Disney days are long and can be exhausting; even if you don't lounge around your resort much, at the end of your day you want everyone to be comfortable and like they have enough space to breathe. I'd choose 2 rooms all day in this scenario.

 

[kymom79]

Can you do a family suite, either at the All-Stars or AofA? We never thought we would take that splurge but did recently and it was worth it for a special trip. You would have plenty of room, privacy, and bathrooms.

 

[jormom1030]

We have 5-2 parents, 21 yo, 16 yo, and 12 yo. We are going to do the family suite at All-star Music in March. Three queen beds and two bathrooms.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would do two rooms at a value. Two rooms at Pop gives you skyliner access or two rooms at AS Movies would be my picks.

 

[mistysue]

Depends on how much you like each other and whether you will coordinate well possibly being separated and at opposite ends of the resort.
For example, we have traveled with another family and the stress of trying to organize two families is way worse than all sharing a bigger room that fits us all. As a family of 5, we LOVED staying at mods. When we travel with another family of 4, we try to get into a 2 bedroom that fits all of us. My daughter took a solo trip that overlapped our trip a couple years ago and meeting up with her was a nightmare, but in the same room she is right on time with us.

Others would argue that you want to separate so you don't get sick of each other but for us we lose hours on "what time are you getting to breakfast? Are we waiting for you? Should you take the bus without us?" etc. In the same room it's easier to gauge everyone during the prep process, someone can help if someone needs something, one person runs ahead for coffee, etc.

 

[baler31]

I would look for discounts and get two rooms at the Swan or Dolphin. They also have a "stay connected" rate on the 2nd room so you can book a discounted rate such as AAA on the first and then get an additional 20% off on the second room. Might be a bit more than two value rooms but worlds above on location and amenities. Bonus, if you have status with Marriott you will get breakfast for 2. If not start an account so you at least accrue the points.

 

[tikimao]

Wow, thank you all for the detailed, thoughtful replies! The kids are ages 23, 20 and 11. We've done all five of us in one room at the GCH, but that was when the big kids were teens.

I did get a quote for a suite at a Value, but it's a fair amount more than the quote for the moderate POR or CB. A good pool with extras like slides is really important to me and to my youngest kiddo. The older kids can take or leave a pool.

I'm intrigued by the Swan or Dolphin idea - those two hotels look quite appealing. And, TBH, a suite would be the best fit. It's whether I can pay the cost without too much wincing that might be the real issue.

Thanks again -- having never stayed at any of these resorts, having this feedback is truly awesome!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wow, thank you all for the detailed, thoughtful replies! The kids are ages 23, 20 and 11. We've done all five of us in one room at the GCH, but that was when the big kids were teens.

I did get a quote for a suite at a Value, but it's a fair amount more than the quote for the moderate POR or CB. A good pool with extras like slides is really important to me and to my youngest kiddo. The older kids can take or leave a pool.

I'm intrigued by the Swan or Dolphin idea - those two hotels look quite appealing. And, TBH, a suite would be the best fit. It's whether I can pay the cost without too much wincing that might be the real issue.

Thanks again -- having never stayed at any of these resorts, having this feedback is truly awesome!

Swolphin is gonna be more your style if you’re used to GCH. And at least Swolphin is a hotel. Values and mods (outside of CSR Tower) will feel more like a motel than a hotel to you.

If it’s not in the budget that’s fine, go with 2 rooms at a Value. Gotta give up the slide but giving everyone some space to not be all up in each others business every minute of vacation gets more important the older everyone gets

 

[travelgirl06]

Another option may be a 1BR at Saratoga Springs. For our upcoming trip prices for that were not that far off from doing a family suite at a value. There were some good rates through Disney or you could consider renting points.

We’re a family of 5 too and opted to stay off site for the first time next week. We’re giving Wyndham Bonnet Creek a try and got a 2BR for less than the price of a moderate. It’s not a Disney Resort but it’s best to CBR, so driving time should be comparable to being on site. Pools/amenities look great - we love being “in the bubble” but also love having some space to spread out

 

[sponica]

Wow, thank you all for the detailed, thoughtful replies! The kids are ages 23, 20 and 11. We've done all five of us in one room at the GCH, but that was when the big kids were teens.

I did get a quote for a suite at a Value, but it's a fair amount more than the quote for the moderate POR or CB. A good pool with extras like slides is really important to me and to my youngest kiddo. The older kids can take or leave a pool.

I'm intrigued by the Swan or Dolphin idea - those two hotels look quite appealing. And, TBH, a suite would be the best fit. It's whether I can pay the cost without too much wincing that might be the real issue.

Thanks again -- having never stayed at any of these resorts, having this feedback is truly awesome!

Honestly, with that age breakdown, I'd sacrifice the slide.
You could also price out 2 rooms at Coronado, when I was looking for February, the price difference between what I was looking at for Pop and what I was looking at for CSR were minimal. I think 30 dollars a night between the most expensive Pop room and the least expensive coronado room. You get the pool slide, but you lose the skyliner. And you don't have to deal with bedsharing arguments. When my sister and I traveled together at that age, the requirement always was that we got our own bed.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Wow, thank you all for the detailed, thoughtful replies! The kids are ages 23, 20 and 11. We've done all five of us in one room at the GCH, but that was when the big kids were teens.

I did get a quote for a suite at a Value, but it's a fair amount more than the quote for the moderate POR or CB. A good pool with extras like slides is really important to me and to my youngest kiddo. The older kids can take or leave a pool.

I'm intrigued by the Swan or Dolphin idea - those two hotels look quite appealing. And, TBH, a suite would be the best fit. It's whether I can pay the cost without too much wincing that might be the real issue.

Thanks again -- having never stayed at any of these resorts, having this feedback is truly awesome!

The last time we all stayed in one room my kids were 15 and 9 and that was 8 years ago. It wasn’t that bad but I knew we could never do one hotel room for longer than one night ever again. We haven’t been back as a family since then. My son went on his senior trip and I’ve done some mom/daughter trips and am planning a trip with my SO. My son is kinda “over” Disney so it works. He is open to going again but it’s not a priority for him right now if I want him to pay his own way (he’s 23, graduated college and works full time) but if I pay he’d be more open to going.

Even though I'm team onsite in the Disney bubble, if I were to do a family trip today and I'm the one paying, WBC would be where we stay. We’ve done other vacations and stayed in 2-3 bedrooms at other Wyndham properties and my kids really enjoy them and we have a great time. And from what I’ve seen WBC has great pools and amenities.

We can’t do one room but it pains me to pay deluxe prices for a value suite or two rooms at a value. My kids really enjoy a good pool and pool slide. Now that they’re older they also enjoy lounges and a place to get a drink. I would be very open to doing two rooms at CSR but it gets pricey very fast. You’re creeping into $600 a night when you can get a WBC in a 2-3 bedroom resort for $1200 a week or less.