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View Full Version : Disney World Lodging with 6 and 3 1/2 y.o. plus grandparents



rf04616
04-16-2007, 03:41 PM
We are going to Disney in Nov for the first time with our 6 and 3 1/2 yr olds. My parents and sister/brother-in-law will be joining us as well to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday.

What is the most convenient place to stay if we expect to spend 2-2 1/2 days in Magic Kingdom and 1 day each in Animal Kingdon, MGM and Epcot?

Right now I am debating between Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary. Is Animal Kingdom to remote? Am I better off on the monorail rather than buses?

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

MaryM
04-18-2007, 03:43 PM
If it's "convenience" you're really looking for, you can't beat The Contemporary! It's just an elevator ride to the monorail, and you're off! I think you make 2 more hotel stops, and poof...you're at the MK. Nothing is faster to the MK which is where you're going to be almost 3 times during your stay. That would allow you to go back and forth if you wanted, fairly easily without losing too much time.

I hear Chef Mickey's is a pretty popular character buffet too(even though we didn't try it)

Essentially, walking distance too, but not for the real young or older to walk if that's an issue. We stayed there in Nov 2005; we were a family of 4 with kids ages 2 and 4, and my parents ALL in one room. It was roomy enough....but not to boast. Many people comment that that hotel has a mold problem, so if you've got an allergy concern, you may want to check it out further. We didn't notice anything particularly troublesome.

You can even get a room close to their playground - which is great for taking the kids to run around, and from our room we could see the nightly Electric Water Pageant Parade from our balcony. You can get a room with a patio instead, (we were concerned with a balcony because of climing young ones, but we just had solid rules about the sliding doors not being opened) but it all depends on your preferences once you learn what's available.

Hope this helps in your planning. We're planning to try out their cabins next month at Fort Wilderness, and we'll be staying at the Contemporary on a business trip next winter.
Mary

MaryM
04-18-2007, 03:47 PM
Oh...one more thing...If you do decide to have extra adults joining in your room, you need to pay an extra charge per adult (I think it was $25/day per extra adult). This entitles them to all the transportation etc like anyother resort guest, so not a bad deal if you're all willing to put up with each other. Napping time was hard with 3 generations in one room! The older folks EASILY wanted to fall asleep, while the young ones found it impossible to settle down. This made for some "stressful" family moments....But all in all, we loved our trip after we got home to laugh about it all.

mnosky1
05-08-2007, 12:43 PM
Maybe too late - but we did off site (gasp!) house last year and will this year.

Last year with friends - 8 adults 3 kids, and this year with family, 7 adults 1 kid. We got a large beautiful house, pool, hot tub, kids games, tvs, private bedrooms and baths for everyone. As long as I have kids that nap or go to bed before we do this is they way we'll go. It's great to lay in teh pool while DD naps upstairs in her princess themed bedroom or play cards while the kids sleep. The one we rented last year had a ton of kids games, books, movies, stepstools in bathroom, highcahirs, bosster seats, pool floats, kids disney plates and cups etc.
There are a ton availble in the Disney area - we went through vrbo.com both times.
It is a 10-15" drive to Disney including parking car which is no more than when we stayed at the Beach Club and went to MK.
Oh and cost can't be beat - 400-500 each family for 1 week.

Michelle