What to do when you have a large family

[DL1WDW2]

I have some questions on DVC then. If we buy a resale DVC plan does that end up being cheaper than hotel stays, or is it better to buy the DVC outright from the beginning? If we are spending 5-6k (including DDP) on a trip am I doing it wrong? I'm sure that I am. I am a veteran, but I do not have access to shades of green or military salute. Is there something else I need to be looking at then? Sorry for so many questions... there will be more!

I think the Shades of Green does occasionally open dates for military families that are not “Retired Military.” It has been a while since I checked on shades of green.org

If you scroll down to Special Offers.. the months are January&September...
Proof of honorable discharge (Thank You for your service and your family also)... DD214 Form
Category 3 rates startat$179.
May sponsor up to 3 rooms for family also. Rates based on 2adults in standard room and 4 adults in Suite.
Hope this helps for future plans.
You will need to plan far in advance because many many retired military in Florida area and they book this location !

 

[Wiltony]

We're a family of 7 and bought DVC. One thing to note: DVC will *not* objectively save you money unless you were already planning to stay in similar on-property accommodations. DVC allows you to access on-property Deluxe villas for much less money than you would have to pay otherwise, but if you're fine staying outside the Disney bubble and doing your homework each year to find good deals, you can definitely do better going that route.

 

[Dug720]

GREAT POINT! Thank you.

You're welcome! I used to work in reservations at a hotel (not Disney) and one of the first things we learned was to clarify when someone asked for "adjoining" rooms - I'd say 90% of the time they really meant connecting. About 5% of the time they wouldn't listen and would insist that yes, they meant adjoining - and then complain at the front desk when they were in fact given adjoining rooms, they just didn't connect. And about 5% of the time, they were cool with no door between. (Then a few years later as a youth minister I was on a choir trip where I was not in charge, just chaperoning and the arrangements had been made before I began, and some of the parents who were also chaperoning were about to go down to the desk at a hotel where we were and complain that our rooms were not adjoining with the kids' (their personal kids and friends) when in fact they WERE - they were across the hall. I gently explained that they could go and ask, but if they had requested the rooms "adjoin" they had gotten what was requested. The choir director did go down to the front desk - after telling the kids to not unpack or touch anything - and came back up and said that what I had said was exactly right. We ended up doing some rearranging for those parents who couldn't cope with their high school teen being in a room directly across the hall, as some of the kid rooms (not mixing gender - males were in one wing and females in the other) connected and some of the chaperone rooms connected. But it was a learning experience.)

 

[Deb & Bill]

Do you think it is better to accumulate points from various resorts or have more at one resort?

You cannot combine points from different resorts until seven months out and you may be too late to book the resort you want at seven months out. Nothing may be available. DVC member usually book their home resort at 11 months out and see if anything else might be available at seven months out. Head to the DVC boards on the DIS and read everything you can find there. DVC works best when you can book your stay at least 11 months out (some times during the year you won't find anything at all at seven months out). Buy where you want to stay the most otherwise that seven month rule may leave you homeless. Resale won't let you stay at Riviera or any newer resort (currently, DVC changes the rules all the time). Resale is cheaper than direct. but it is still expensive. Don't by DVC to use outside of DVC. Use it only for DVC.

 

[Dakota731]

We really liked the family suite at all stars for our family of six. Having two bathrooms and the extra space was great!

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

I have some questions on DVC then. If we buy a resale DVC plan does that end up being cheaper than hotel stays, or is it better to buy the DVC outright from the beginning? If we are spending 5-6k (including DDP) on a trip am I doing it wrong? I'm sure that I am. I am a veteran, but I do not have access to shades of green or military salute. Is there something else I need to be looking at then? Sorry for so many questions... there will be more!

The past few years Shades of Green has been opening reservations to any honorably discharged veteran during the months of January and September, so if your schedule had the flexibility, I would go in one of those 2 months. I have taken 4 January trips to Disney World since 2012, and find that an enjoyable time to visit anyways.

Staying offsite would likely give you more options for lower costs. We didn't go to Florida much when I was a kid, but we took vacations every year and didn't have many issues finding rooms that had 2 beds and a rollaway (sometimes with an adjoining room for my grandparents).

Another option is Ft. Wilderness campsites, which accommodate up to 10 guests. There are companies that rent RVs and will deliver to Ft. Wilderness and set them up for you, if that sounds like an interesting option (we personally love Ft. Wilderness).

 

[Macprincess]

Family of five Momma. My children are now college/high school age. We live in FL and typically do mostly weekends and at least one if not two week long stays. Until this year we have been AP holders for most of my children's lives. When the children were younger we would all squeeze in a standard Disney hotel room that would meet our party size. As they grew it became clear that space was needed. I was that onsite Disney gal who ventured off site kicking and screaming the whole way. I was convinced my Disney Magical bubble would be destroyed if we stayed off site. Now we do a mix of on and off site stays, both have their positive and negative merits. You have stayed onsite, your familiar with the benefits and experience onsite has to offer, so I won't repeat them. I will just note that my family has stayed in several combinations of connecting, adjoining, Ft. Wilderness Cabins and DVC rented rooms onsite.

Once I gave in and ventured off site I was surprise that I actually like staying off site. Full discloser it is different, not bad different, but it requires some adjustment of expectations of what your use to a Disney trip being. Yes, you give up daily mouse keeping, magical express, fast passes at 60 days out, and living and breathing with the DDP. However, we mostly rent offsite condos and the in unit space, for a fraction of what it would cost on property, is glorious! A separate bedroom and master bath away from the kids sold me on offsite on day one. In addition, having a full kitchen even if its just used to stock with snack is wonderful. We also enjoy having an in unit washer and dryer. From the perspective of the parent in our home who typically does most of the cooking and cleaning, I do suggest having a chat with your family about picking up after themselves as maid service is not included in condo rentals or DVC for that matter. We also "discuss" how meals will be planed for the vacation because just because you have a kitchen does not mean you must use it for all your meals. We do prepare some meals in the condo from time to time, but if we cook it is usually a group effort or something that is an easy prep in the morning and cooked in the crock pot (brought from home) that is waiting when we return. We still make ADR's and eat some meals at Disney. Heck, we have even found a few favorite offsite restaurants that we prefer to eat at over Disney restaurants. If you do stay offsite I suggest doing your research and electing to stay in a place close by that has the amenities your family enjoys. Know matter how good the price may seem on paper if your kids require a water slide and your trying to convince them that that plain square cement pond is just as much fun it's not going to fly. I also, suggest having a car. Even with car rental and parking fees at the parks I doubt you will be able to get a room for five on site for the same price and certainly not a place with several bedrooms/bathroom. You will find that it's not really easy to do an apples to apples comparison with on site vs off site stays. It's more of a pros and cons and figuring out what is best for your families wants and needs.

Lastly, taking in to consideration all the changes Disney has recently made or is about to embark on with no fast passes, no DDP, and the removal of Magical express and magic hours changed to the first 1/2 hour of the morning in 2022. I would say this might just be the perfect time to try an off site stay. You may discover its an option for your family which might mean more expendable Mickey dollars. For my family that equaled more frequent WDW trips which we found worth it. If after trying offsite you discover it's worth it to pay more to stay onsite that's good too because their is power in the knowledge of knowing what works best for your family unit. For example, my family is willing to stay off site but after trying a non Disney Cruise Line we discovered were willing to sacrifice waiting longer between cruises to strictly cruise Disney. Every family has their own style of traveling and you won't know what works best for your family until you try it out for yourselves.

Enjoy the planning and traveling.

 

[mickeyfan100]

When we first traveled as a family of five, we stayed at Beach Club because they had two queens and a day bed. We did this twice but, as the kids got older, we decided DVC was the only way to go.

 

[MickeyMouse3!]

I have some questions on DVC then. If we buy a resale DVC plan does that end up being cheaper than hotel stays, or is it better to buy the DVC outright from the beginning? If we are spending 5-6k (including DDP) on a trip am I doing it wrong? I'm sure that I am. I am a veteran, but I do not have access to shades of green or military salute. Is there something else I need to be looking at then? Sorry for so many questions... there will be more!

If you are thinking about buying DVC (resale or direct) I would suggest talking to a DVC rep during one of your trips. A tour usually lasts about 1-1 1/2 hours. Stop at one of the many DVC kiosks and inquire there. There is no pressure and you can ask all sorts of "stupid" questions, like we did. DVC will pick you up from your resort and take you to your next Disney stop. You will be able to see the various rooms available and learn how the point system works. This was a tremendous help when we bought. Our first contract was resale and our second was direct. And just to warn you..."Addonitis" is real.

 

[ninafeliz]

Many (most) of the deluxe resorts allow 5 in a regular room, and we did it with 6 until our twins turned 3 and we were officially a family of 6. As you know a couple of the moderates offer rooms that sleep 5, and the family suites at AOA and the Ft Wilderness cabins sleep 6. A couple of the deluxe resorts also have deluxe rooms that sleep 6. With DVC we have to get a 2 BR to sleep 6, which will give us a ton of room but also takes a ton of points! We haven’t been able to use our DVC yet because of COVID, our first stay will be July. Now that we are 6 I’m kind of sad that we’ll have to stay at AOA for the most part when we aren’t using DVC points, I don’t want a cabin amd doubt we’ll find the deluxe rooms available for our dates at a price we are willing to pay very frequently. I wish Disney were like Great wolf Lodge, where most rooms sleep 6!

 

[MomOTwins]

We stay at one of the deluxe resorts that sleeps 5 in a room with a pull down bed. With discounts, it is often the same or lower cost as two rooms at a cheaper resort, and we’d rather share a smaller space together than risk not getting connecting rooms.

We do shorter stays to keep costs down.

 

[cobright]

POR has rooms with pull down little bed for kiddos.

 

[ElizabethG]

We are only 4, but I will comment on DVC. We have been DVC members since 2009. We bought 200 points direct at BLT. We stayed about 11 nights per year in mostly studios and some 1-bdrm. We were always borrowing until we would have to skip a year to recover points. But, I think we got a really great monetary value from that. We had great vacations and really great resorts. Overall, the rooms cost less than our moderate rooms would have cost.

We added 300 points at CCV in 2018 (also direct). We also changed our stays to only every other year for 15 nights. So, I have more than I really need - which I enjoy. In 2021 we are staying for 8 nights in a 2-bdrm at BCV followed by 7 nights in a CCV Cabin. The cash price for those rooms are crazy. Our first stay using the new points had a rack rate that was half the contract price. Without DVC, we would never stay like that. But I completely love being an owner.

 

[ksanftleben]

I am a veteran, but I do not have access to shades of green

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure any veteran can stay at SoG in January or September under their Salute to Our Veterans program as long as they have a DD214 that shows they were honorably discharged.

 

[DWVol]

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure any veteran can stay at SoG in January or September under their Salute to Our Veterans program as long as they have a DD214 that shows they were honorably discharged.

I didn't realize that until someone else had mentioned in a previous post. I will do some research on it, however, I am now a teacher and my ability to go in Jan or Sep are at a 0% chance unless we had a long weekend that I could schedule far enough in advance.

I addition to all that, our family is a "blended" family, and scheduling with my daughters schedule is sometimes really difficult. As they get older that may change, but some things are unfortunately not an option right now. I would also feel really bad if we took our son to Disney and didn't take everyone.

Shades of Green would be the perfect situation for us if it were available during the times that we get to go.

 

[DWVol]

Lastly, taking in to consideration all the changes Disney has recently made or is about to embark on with no fast passes, no DDP, and the removal of Magical express and magic hours changed to the first 1/2 hour of the morning in 2022. I would say this might just be the perfect time to try an off site stay. You may discover its an option for your family which might mean more expendable Mickey dollars. For my family that equaled more frequent WDW trips which we found worth it. If after trying offsite you discover it's worth it to pay more to stay onsite that's good too because their is power in the knowledge of knowing what works best for your family unit. For example, my family is willing to stay off site but after trying a non Disney Cruise Line we discovered were willing to sacrifice waiting longer between cruises to strictly cruise Disney. Every family has their own style of traveling and you won't know what works best for your family until try it out for yourselves.

Enjoy the planning and traveling.

As I have been reading this past week of all the things that appear to be disappearing from the Disney experience, I have to agree with your last statement. I see a lot of older DVC members aren't very happy with the changes as well as some of the advantages to buying DVC direct from Disney are going away as well. I think that we may wait a little while on looking into buying DVC, especially buying directly from Disney.

I do about 95% of the planning and constantly trying to check and see if we can get the room discount or if we will have to wait until closer to time to budget more is really frustrating. I think during our next planned trip we will look at staying at the Swan and Dolphin. Our kids are still a little too young to go on a cruise.

Like many of you Disney is an escape for us, especially me. Like many veterans I have some issues with crowded areas. But in 2019, in all of my anxiety of being in crowds and thinking about that for weeks in advance, it never manifested. I had this emotional and magical ability to enjoy my family and the time we spent together was special without thinking about the crowds surrounding me. I can't explain it, but aside from occasional issues, mostly with park transportation, I felt "normal." It is important to me that we can enjoy things like this together, and if it is only for one week a year then so be it. It is worth every second in planning and every dollar spent so that we have that feeling and ability to grow closer as a family.

With that being said I don't want to destroy my savings every time I go, and as my kids get older and bigger so will how much room they take up. I want us to be able to not be stressed. The DDP is good for us because I don't have to think about how much money I'm spending on food because I have already paid for it. Staying on property helps increase that magic, but 5-6 suitcases makes a cramped hotel room feel smaller. I know that I'm rambling at this point... It's just the Disney experience that can not found everywhere.

 

[bluezy]

We have 5 "kids" (the youngest is now 16 and the other 4 range from 21-35...two of them are married now). We have traveled to Disney as a family of 4, 5, 6, and 7 depending on the trip. We typically go to Disney every other year -- occasionally 2 years in a row. We found that when traveling as a party of 5 or more, that 2 rooms at a value resort or a family suite worked best for us. We looked at DVC, but that just wasn't a good fit for our family and the way we do Disney. We didn't want to be tied to a specific group of resorts -- we want the flexibility to stay at all the resorts. And even with needing 2 rooms for many years, DVC just didn't make financial sense for us. For several trips we did 2 connecting rooms at Pop Century. We chose that resort because it has the highest number of connecting rooms out of all the resorts. Since that was our priority on those trips, we wanted to have the best chance of getting those rooms. We almost always go to Disney in June when crowds are pretty high, but we always got connecting rooms when we requested them. We knew they were not guaranteed, so we were always prepared with Plan B (asking when they would be able to move us to connecting rooms. We were willing to split between 2 rooms for a night or 2 if needed. Thankfully we never needed to.). Right at the time that AoA opened, 1or 2 of the oldest kids were either no longer traveling with us or they were bringing their SO/Spouse on the trip so they got their own rooms and rest of us fit in a family suite. We actually really like the family suites. They're more expensive than getting 2 rooms and we could usually find a 5-person room at a Deluxe for a little bit less per night, but we stuck with the suite for the last 4 trips (and one that was cancelled last year). We like that the suite offers 2 full bathrooms, a mini kitchen with microwave (we eat breakfast in the room most days so the microwave is great for that), and most importantly, it provides a private bedroom space.

We never considered staying off site. We drive over 1,000 miles to get to Disney so the last thing we want to do is drive to the parks every day. I know many families don't mind doing that, but we're not one of them. We like the flexibility of being on property. When the kids were younger, there were definitely days that DH or I would head back to the room with a few kids for naps and/or swimming while the other parent would stay at the parks with the rest of the kids. Some days some people want to sleep later than others....or go back to the room earlier to get to bed for the night. Once the kids were about 15, they'd often come and go to the parks on their own. We were comfortable with them doing that using Disney transportation but would not have allowed that if we were staying off property.

Each family really needs to sit down and look at what will work best for their family. I know plenty of people would never consider staying on property with a large family because you can get much more bang for your buck if you stay off property. And some people would never consider staying in 2 rooms at a Value resort as opposed to a Villa at a Deluxe resort. It all really comes down to what works for you logistically and financially.

 

[Julie Amber]

We've stayed at the ASMU suites and a large suite at the Swan. Both are great. ASMU has magical express (at least until next year) and Disney theming. The Swan suites were much less expensive and are absolutely massive!! You can walk to two parks from the Swan, so we really enjoyed that

 

[Lisa P.]

To the OP...
If you're looking into offsite options as a veteran, have you ever tried the Armed Forces Vacation Club? They list many timeshare resort condos and rental villas at a great discount rate. Since there are so many resorts available in the Orlando area, they usually even have availability during prime school breaks, if you can reserve many months in advance. Some of the resorts that are very popular and may be available via AFVC.com include Cypress Pointe, Silver Lakes (both very close by), and Mystic Dunes (deluxe zero-entry pools, onsite golf). Depending on the unit you book, 2BRs sleep either 6 or 8 with 2 baths, 3BRs may sleep 6, 8, 10, or 12 with 2 or 3 baths. Most rooms include a washer/dryer, great for packing light, especially with kids. The full kitchens will save a lot, even if just for snacks, beverages, and simple breakfasts. A 2BR week may usually be rented for anywhere from $400-$1800 per week, depending on the resort and time of year. Read the linked TripAdvisor reviews before you choose a resort.

One of my sons is eligible and booked four 2BR units in Williamsburg for our little family reunion week (9 adults, 8 kids) in October 2020. Since travel was Covid-slow, the resort was able to place us all in the same building, with interior hallways. We had a wonderful time sightseeing, swam in the warmly heated pools, played (free) mini-golf at the resort, played card games in someone's dining room at night after the littles went to bed, using baby monitors to keep watch over them next door or upstairs, watched evening football games in each other's LRs, had easy-prep meals and an outdoor grill, picnic birthday party. Similarly, we enjoy offsite timeshare vacations about 1/2 to 2/3 of the times we go to WDW, whether we go as a couple and enjoy a 1BR with jacuzzi or have family/friends with us in larger units.

Also, check the Orlando Hotels and Attractions forum on this website for suggested, nearby offsite timeshare resorts and spacious pool homes that may be rented for far less than onsite hotels. The savings can be useful for upgrading your dining budget and/or transportation, especially if you sometimes split up. Hope this helps.

 

[Brook~n~Matt]

I didn't read all the replies so if this is redundant, sorry. I think renting DVC points is a great solution for you if you want two rooms/large family. I've done it several times, all great experiences. It's a good way to dip your toe in the water before committing to buying into DVC. We rented TWO deluxe studio rooms at AKL Savannah View (we have grown kids, no need for connecting rooms) cheaper than we could have rented one room per night on the website. If you can get two connecting rooms, even better! Hope this helps.