Room for six???

[Maxears]

We are planning a mid-December visit to Disney with our four children. I would like to try and book a Disney property but the standard rooms show 5 as the maximum occupancy. Is that a hard and fast rule?? My kids are small and 3 could easily fit in a queen and many rooms seem to have a daybed too and then baby has the pack and play. Moving to a suite or two rooms is certainly out of the budget.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Anaheim has a "law" pertaining to the number of people who can be in a standard "non-suite" room. If management finds out..you are kicked out and taken to the Anaheim PD and fined for defrauding an innkeeper. If there were some kind tragic event, you may be denied recourse.
I would love to stay at a resort hotel and not incur the additional expense, but I choose to have ethics and stay offsite.
There are offsite hotels right accross from the entrance that are nice and a short walk.

Jack

 

[HydroGuy]

We have four kids and have bumped against this too. It is one of the major reasons we do not stay at DLR hotels. As you said, there are suites - but they are more expensive.

With our six we have stayed at Howard Johnsons (when our kids were younger) and Best Western Park Place Inn (last year). At BWPPI we got a mini-suite with 2 Queens and a couch-bed Queen, and also a fridge and microwave. Nothing extravagant, but it worked. There are others on Harbor that have suites. We especially liked the short walk to DLR - about 1500-1600 feet from our hotel room door to the DLR gate.

See other local hotels here:

http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

 

[Maxears]

Whoa Jack,

I am glad you have ethics but I felt like you were questioning mine. I appreciate your info on the "law". Basically that was what I wanted to find out about. I figured I could find out easier here than calling a travel agent to find out if 5 max really means 5 max.

Hydroguy - Thanks for the info. I think that BWPPI may be where we end up staying. Thanks!!

 

[fugazi]

We are planning a mid-December visit to Disney with our four children. I would like to try and book a Disney property but the standard rooms show 5 as the maximum occupancy. Is that a hard and fast rule?? My kids are small and 3 could easily fit in a queen and many rooms seem to have a daybed too and then baby has the pack and play. Moving to a suite or two rooms is certainly out of the budget.

What's your budget like? You can likely find adjoining rooms in a 3* hotel for under $100 a night (for both rooms) total.

 

[kristenhh]

This is the best deal I have found for big families and it provides a lot of space. It is not a fancy hotel, but it was clean and gave our family of 6 the space we needed.

They have different suite configurations available, but I would go with the ones that have 1 1/2 to 2 bathrooms -- much better for big families.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Whoa Jack,

I am glad you have ethics but I felt like you were questioning mine. I appreciate your info on the "law". Basically that was what I wanted to find out about. I figured I could find out easier here than calling a travel agent to find out if 5 max really means 5 max.

Hydroguy - Thanks for the info. I think that BWPPI may be where we end up staying. Thanks!!

Sorry, I was not.Did not mean it that way. I have read a number of posts from folks who think it is real funny to bend the rules to their liking. Many people do not realize it is the law in many cities or when they do, they do what they like.
Again my apologies...

Jack

 

[crazymomof 4]

All I'm going to say is if any of your kids are under 3 it would be very easy to do! The rooms are more than big enough and you will probably end up with one or 2 in your bed anyway. Desert Inn and Suites is not all it is cracked up to be in my opinion! And they do not watch you under a microscope on-site! If there is a fire I am pretty sure you would grab them all. Right? Two rooms would not only be a waste of space but a waste of money! Does it make you a bad person to forget to mention a younger child who you don't pay for anyway, just because you want it to be magical for your kids. I know for a fact you won't be the first to do it!

 

[mommabo]

We are a family of 5 (3 kids 12, 9, 6) and were scheduled at the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites because of the great location (right across the street). However, we have recently made a change to the Homewood Suites, because the Disney portion of our vaction is the tail end of 10 days of "togetherness" and I think we will need a little more room to spread out. Also, we will be upgrading to AP's and returning for mini-vactions throughout the year, so we are approaching Disney with more of a laid back attitude. When we return in Oct, for 3-4 days, DH may include some work meetings, so we will probably stay at the Desert Inn or BWPPI so the kids and I can have easy access to the parks.

It breaks down like this:
Desert Inn and Suites - Parlor Suite (2 Queens in room with sofabed in very small "living room", mini-fridge, microwave, very minimal continental breakfast)
August cost - $129.00 a night.
October cost- $89.00 a night.

Homewood Suites - One bedroom Suite (2 Queens in bedroom, separate living area with sofabed, full size kitchen with fridge, microwave, stovetop, eating area, full breakfast and manager's reception large enough for dinner)
August cost - $122.50 a night with AAA. Also we will have one night free with Hilton Honors points.
October cost - $159.00 a night (this is just from memory, so could be less/more)

We may use the ART or Disney parking resulting in a $30-$36 increase over the three days. Both are certainly less convenient than a simple walk across the street, but sometimes a girl just has to have a little
s p a c e .

PS. One is more of a motel, the other more hotel. If such things are important to you, you may want to check out tripadvisor. Clearly, I can go either way just depends on my mood.

 

[fugazi]

We are a family of 5 (3 kids 12, 9, 6) and were scheduled at the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites because of the great location (right across the street). However, we have recently made a change to the Homewood Suites, because the Disney portion of our vaction is the tail end of 10 days of "togetherness" and I think we will need a little more room to spread out. Also, we will be upgrading to AP's and returning for mini-vactions throughout the year, so we are approaching Disney with more of a laid back attitude. When we return in Oct, for 3-4 days, DH may include some work meetings, so we will probably stay at the Desert Inn or BWPPI so the kids and I can have easy access to the parks.

It breaks down like this:
Desert Inn and Suites - Parlor Suite (2 Queens in room with sofabed in very small "living room", mini-fridge, microwave, very minimal continental breakfast)
August cost - $129.00 a night.
October cost- $89.00 a night.

Homewood Suites - One bedroom Suite (2 Queens in bedroom, separate living area with sofabed, full size kitchen with fridge, microwave, stovetop, eating area, full breakfast and manager's reception large enough for dinner)
August cost - $122.50 a night with AAA. Also we will have one night free with Hilton Honors points.
October cost - $159.00 a night (this is just from memory, so could be less/more)

We may use the ART or Disney parking resulting in a $30-$36 increase over the three days. Both are certainly less convenient than a simple walk across the street, but sometimes a girl just has to have a little
s p a c e .

PS. One is more of a motel, the other more hotel. If such things are important to you, you may want to check out tripadvisor. Clearly, I can go either way just depends on my mood.

I'm telling ya, Priceline is the way to go. We got rooms at the Hyatt Regency for $42 a night (I think that's what it was). Free parking, free shuttle (5 blocks from DL). You can't be sure what rooms you're getting other than there will be a queen, a king, or two doubles, which is a drawback. When we got there were given two adjoining rooms- one had two queens, one had a king.

 

[darph nader]

Just for grins & giggles,try Camelot Inn family suites.Right across the street. The only downfall is the room we stayed in only had 1 bathroom.

 

[mommabo]

I'm telling ya, Priceline is the way to go. We got rooms at the Hyatt Regency for $42 a night (I think that's what it was). Free parking, free shuttle (5 blocks from DL). You can't be sure what rooms you're getting other than there will be a queen, a king, or two doubles, which is a drawback. When we got there were given two adjoining rooms- one had two queens, one had a king.

Unfortunately, Priceline is not so great with larger families. As you said, can't be sure what room you are getting and therefore not enough room for all of us, no guarantee about adjoining rooms, and we always prefer to have kitchen facilities when at all possible. But for those smaller groups, sounds like a good way to go. Who knows, some day when DH and I take a trip on our own (far in the future) we may try it.

As to the OP, who was really asking about a Disney property, I apologize for getting off track. These are just other options to consider for families larger than 4. Hope it helps.

 

[stagemomx3]

Moving to a suite or two rooms is certainly out of the budget.

There are 6 of us in our party as well, my aunt, myself, my 3 kids, and my niece. What I can't really figure out is why it was more expensive to get a suite, then two rooms. We have two rooms reserved at the GC for Oct. 31st-Nov.4th. I'm hoping that we will at least be next to each other. I plan to call as we get closer and request it.

 

[Zoemakes5]

We stayed in a "family suite" at the Anaheim Plaza hotel. It honestly was only slightly more than a regular room at any of the other hotels I was looking at for the same time. Nice pool, big too.
Their family suites are really two adjoining/attached (meaning a connecting door) rooms, one which has a microwave (and I think a coffee maker.)
We loved it. Very comfortable beds, and it was great having the kids on the other side of the door with equally comfortable beds. They all slept very well. (4 Q beds, two bathrooms total).
It's right across Harbor, at the corner of one of the main entrances. We were there with DD age three, and had no trouble. They do accept AAA, too.

 

[fidoprincess]

No "moral" judgements here but I know plenty of families with small kids who have stayed in one of the Disney Hotels esp PP or DLH. They get a room with 2 queens and a daybed and then request a free rollaway-voila-sleeping for 6!

We have 2 kids and always say we have 5 just so we can get the room with the daybed. My kids are 6 & 11, a girl and a boy, and they do not want to share a bed! DD was sad that DS was always getting the daybed so last time we asked for a rollaway and had plenty of room and each kid had their own spot. The rollaway was nice and we could keep it set up the whole time plus there was also a pack and play in the closet. Hmmm, I wonder if we are "morally" BAD cause we say we have 5 instead of 4-lol!(Hanging my head in shame...)

 

[Maxears]

Thanks for all the replies! This was certainly the right place to ask!!