Family of six, where to stay onsite??

[Cmbar]

I have a friend who is trying to plan a trip (first ) for her family. They are a family of six. Mom, Dad, 9,7,5 and 3yr olds. Which on property would hold them? I know they could do AS with joining rooms. But can you be guaranteed of ajoing rooms?? Also, should they consider renting DVC? We have never done before, but wasn't sure if DVC had roomier accomodations for a family of Six.

Any information would be appreciated.

 

[clkelley]

The Ft. Wilderness Cabins will hold six.

They have a double bed and bunkbeds in the bedroom and a pull down double murphy bed in the living room.

Many of the DVC resorts will sleep six, but the price difference between them and two rooms at All-Stars or a Moderate is significant.

Although the standard line is that connecting rooms are not guaranteed I have NEVER personally heard of two adults and two or more kids not getting connecting rooms. We had three adults and two older teenagers in November and got connecting rooms.

One thing we usually do is request a handicapped accessible room connecting to two doubles at All-Stars (my hubby uses his own personal ECV so it is legitimate). The handicapped rooms have a king sized bed and a mini fridge.

Hope this helps!

 

[AspiringCindy]

The Wilderness Lodge has beautiful Jr Suites or now called deluxe rooms that hold 6. We usually stay at WL and really love the hotel and atmosphere that WL offers. It is also the least expensive deluxe hotel on property.

 

[Gillian]

For DVC they will need to get a 2 BR. It would be wonderful, and cheaper than the normal suites at the other resorts, but it is still a lot more than 2 rooms. I don't have a link for a point calculator. I always just go to Google & type in DVC point calculator.

The cabins are a lot of fun! The biggest drawback is the single bathroom & no vanity with an extra sink. But with kids it is doable. The kitchen is great too, but without a car it's hard to get a lot of use from it. Another option is to book a car service from the airport with a grocery stop along the way.

 

[soccer mom]

I would vote for FW cabins or two connecting rooms. We used the cabins twice when our kids were younger and they were great. You can put them to bed, close the door and be able to stay up for a while. It has a full kitchen which is great for a quick breakfast. They are very nice and have maid service.

My kids are now teenagers and we opt for connecting rooms so we can have two bathrooms. As long as you have three minor children they will guarantee connecting rooms. We have done it several times and it has always indicated "guaranteed" on our confirmation and has never been a problem.

 

[Familyof6]

We have only been to WDW once and our little one was under 3 so we could stay in just one room. I can't really help with accomodations much, but I would like to add one comment.

Notice the people in their responses mentioned *connecting* rooms. That is the operative word here. When you ask for adjoining rooms, you may only get rooms *near* each other. They may not have a door between them or they may be across the hall from one another. I actually learned this from these boards and unfortunate people who asked for adjoining rooms that really wanted connecting rooms.

Tell your friend to ask for CONNECTING rooms.

Lisa

 

[kdibattista]

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/rescc/costcalc.asp

Here is a link to check out some pictures of the DVC resorts. That may give you a better idea of what the layouts are.

 

[kdibattista]

You can book the regular resorts way in advance but if you are looking to book the DVC properties, you will have to wait until 6 months prior before booking (unless you book privately through a DVC member). That's the problem we ran into. We are taking my family of 8 this December and we ended up booking separate rooms because we did not want to chance missing out. But then again, we are all grown kids (me-26, DH-34, sister - 23, her DH - 25, sister - 19, brother - 17, mom and dad)

 

[marymrg]

We were given "guaranteed" connecting rooms a few years back at All Star Movies for our family of 5. We were traveling with 3 kids. (ages 3, 10 and 11)

 

[Momto8]

I have been guaranteed connecting rooms more than once at the All Stars. They even said it on my reservation that connecting rooms for families with children are guaranteed.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Just another one adding to the list of those that have been "guaranteed" connecting rooms with minor children. They promised me that it's guaranteed when you have minor children. There's going to be a stink if I get there and that isn't true because my kids are too young to be in a room just "near" our room!

 

[erikthewise]

The Doubletree Guest Suites at Downtown Disney are technically on-site and sleep six (two double beds and a sleeper couch) in large suites (I'm guessing about 600 sq ft). Depending on when you go and where you look for a discount it's $100-$180 a night. I've stayed there on a business trip and it's really not bad, though of course not 100% Disney. A reasonable option if you're on a tight budget.

 

[GinB]

Ok, all of these posts about people actually getting "guaranteed" connecting rooms has me in a panic. Our reservation confirmation specifically says "not guaranteed" and we are a family of 2 adults and 3 kids 9,6, &4. Just to cover my bases, I called reservations to ask about this. She confirmed that they are not allowed to guarantee connecting rooms. I asked and she said they would help us find a room at another resort if that were to happen.

Just to be safe, we are driving to Jacksonville and staying there the night before so we can check in REALLY EARLY in the day. I feel like that would give us a better shot at the connecting rooms.

What do you think?

Ginger

 

[10drum]

I don't know when are going but www.mousesavers.com listed a discount for the wilderness resort cabins of $169/nite. for may & june of this year.

 

[Momto8]

Ginger, I would call back and ask again. If you can't get anywhere, then I would ask to speak to a supervisor. I can't believe that they would expect you to split up your family because they can't guarantee connecting rooms. The CM I spoke to said that they have to guarantee connecting rooms for families with children. Granted this was a couple of years ago and maybe they have changed their policy, but if they have, that is not very good customer service to expect families to split up during their vacation. Or maybe you spoke to a CM that was new and didn't know the policy.

That being said, I think you have a good chance of getting connecting rooms with the early check-in. If you can't get anywhere with CRO, I would stress to the CM when you get there that you have to have connecting rooms. You might not get your other requests (if you have others). I know when we requested connecting rooms (when they weren't guaranteed because it didn't involve children), they granted our request but we were unable to get our other requests, like being close to the main building, which didn't bother me as long as I got the connecting rooms.

Good luck and hope everything works out for you.

 

[DVC4US]

Ginger,

We like to stay in 2 rooms whenever we travel and always run into the connecting rooms not guaranteed. I have never tried this at Disney but it has always worked at other hotels. On the morning of check-in day I call the front desk of the hotel and give them the reservation number and tell them I am trying to make sure that the rooms are connecting. I keep calling until I get someone to tell me that the request has been granted. You might want to try this and hopefully it will work.

 

[Real Loser]

When I made my last Disney Reservations, I was told by Disney that they always guarantee connecting rooms when minors are involved. The CM seemed quite adamant about the policy.