Best resort to stay in for 4 and 2 year olds

[Catie19]

My husband and I are planning our first family trip. We have never stayed in a resort, and were wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good resort for young children. Our oldest is 4 and youngest is 2. Thank you!

 

[stobaugh6]

Art of Animation because the theming is just fantastic! Or one of the MK monorail resorts because of the convenience of being able to take the monorail to MK. Those would be my picks! Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

My husband and I are planning our first family trip. We have never stayed in a resort, and were wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good resort for young children. Our oldest is 4 and youngest is 2. Thank you!

All Star Sports or All Star Movies. My son is 11 and chose Sports for our June trip. We've stayed at Pop Century too. Enjoyed it! All Star Music is nice too, but I think with the age of your children they'll like the others better. Have fun!

 

[SG131]

Depends on budget. Out of the value resorts I’d pick all star movies. The theming is great especially as a little kid seeing all those huge characters. If you have the money to spend on a deluxe I would pick somewhere on the monorail line. The resorts esp GF and Poly have great splash pads for the kids and being able to just roll the stroller right into the monorail to get to MK is great. Generally I’m not a fan of the moderates because the resorts are so spread out.

 

[saraheliz]

Depends on your budget but we really enjoyed Art of Animation last year. I love POR, too, and stayed there when my kids were that age, but AoA would be great with littles.

 

[KenHutch]

Well for budget All Star Movies, if you spend more a family suite at Art Of Animation (Nemo for the easy pool use). If your budget allows consider Animal Kingdom Lodge. Looking out the window and seeing animals can occupy little ones for hours.

 

[TwinkleKS]

If it is in your budget, the Contemporary (monorail & you can walk to MK), or the Poly & GF (monorail). Fort Wilderness has playgrounds and the cabins are nice because you are not attached to other rooms. Plus you get the boat to MK.

 

[YesterDark]

We stayed at Coronado with a 4 and 2 year old in one of the newer rooms in 2017. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them on a surface level. It depends on how your family operates and what your budget is.

Things to consider:
Distance to the parks: Staying on the monorail line makes it easier to bring strollers to the parks, but it's more costly.
Time at the parks: Will you spend all day every day at the parks? Are you looking for better pools or would any pool do? Do you care about pools?
Time for naps: Do you need to go back to the resort for naps? Distance question again. Or ease of transportation. Some of the value resorts are part of the loop and may take longer than others (I think).

What is your ideal vacation like?

 

[brent02139]

If your budget allows, I would seriously consider Animal Kingdom Lodge. The view from the rooms (savannah view) can be jaw-dropping for kids and animal lovers

 

[mybestieismickey]

We took our 3 (almost 4) and 2 year old to Animal Kingdom Lodge (kidani) in the fall of 2017. We all loved it! We rented points for a standard view studio and ended up with a not so lovely view of the buses which my 2 year old son loved watching come and go. ‍

But we loved walking around the resort together. It was exciting for the kids to look out the windows on the way to the elevator and see what was out on the savanna. The pool at Kidani was super fun with 2 water slides (our littles stuck to the small one) and a splash pad. They loved the night vision goggles and just taking in all the views. We wish we had built in more resort time to do all the activities.

If budget allows, I would stay in a savanna view room, but if you can’t swing it, I would stay in our bus view room again in a heartbeat.

I would also recommend having a car with kids that age if you can. It’s really nice not to have to wait for a bus when your toddler is having a meltdown and you just need a break from the park stimulation.

 

[MudQueen22]

It depends on your budget. My oldest child was 5 the first time we went. We stayed at Pop, but I don't think she cared where we stayed--she was just so happy to be there.
On our second trip (with our youngest along with us), we stayed at the Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. Although I won't stay there again due to the cost, I was glad we did. Oldest child was in awe over the room and the grounds at AoA.

At your kids' ages, if you can afford a monorail resort, that would be optimal for YOU. You will have an easier time with a stroller, and your kids will likely be happy just to be there.

With kids, any place that lets them get a good night's sleep at night and have the Disney magic by day, you can't go wrong.

 

[cheryllarsen]

My kids love Animal Kingdom.

 

[cheryllarsen]

Takes a little longer to access the other parks but a Savannah View room always makes them so happy.

 

[Catie19]

Thank you everyone for your input! We've been looking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Art of Animation. I think we're leaning more towards the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I love the activites that they have at the resort. The day we arrive and our last day we plan on spending at the resort so the girls can adjust a little before we dive into Disney. Our 4 year old is extremely excited (and so am I!) Thank you again for your suggestions!

 

[amberpi]

I went twice last fall with a 4 and 2.5 year old. We would have been miserable in a regular room with the kids. I strongly recommend budgeting for a suite because the kids will need way more sleep than ya'll. We did one night once with the kids all together, but I think we were there 6-7 hours total. Just a point to consider. Have a blast.

 

[katyjeka]

Our girls love Wilderness Lodge and the boat ride to MK.