Where to stay in WDW??

[mecawa]

I'm just looking for some advice on the best hotel to stay at in WDW with the kids. We will be taking our first trip to WDW with the kids this fall/winter. DD#1 will be 5 and DD#2 will be between 10-12 months(depending on when we go). For those of you who have stayed in the park which hotel do you think is best for us to stay at (putting cost totally aside)? Somebody told me the Polynesian, then another person told me no way, another friend said the Grand Floridian, but then my SIL said she didn't think it was child friendly at all, another friend told me they loved the Boardwalk Inn. I want something child friendly, good on site restaurants or good restaurants nearby, and something that is easy to get to and from within the park. Any other advice for us is also appreciated:)

[egoldber]

If money is no barrier, we prefer the Epcot area hotels (Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club) because of the ability to easily walk to two parks (Epcot and HS). There is also a huge concentration of restaurants in this area, which makes it a particularly convenient for easy dinners and pleasant evening strolling.

If cost is an issue, then we have also stayed at 3 of the 4 moderates and Pop Century (a value). These are also fine choices that your children will enjoy. Actually many children (including mine) enjoy the Values most of all, because they have the larger than life theming and very kid friendly food courts.

Honestly, I don't think there is a bad choice, just different pros and cons to each one.

[hillview]

Check out the disboards. There are 3 hotels on the monorail. They are IMO the easiest to get to and from the Magic Kingdom. They are the contemporary, the Grand Floridian and the Poly. We stayed in the GF and really liked it. Next trip I will see what has a better price the Poly or GF (or even the Contempory). They are all deluxe hotels so they are most expensive. I think you need to figure out what your budget or willingness to pay is. Also how many you will have in a room. Good luck!
/hillary

[JTsMom]

You can actually walk to the MK from the Contemporary, so to me, that's that absolute most convenient. You'd have Chef Mickey's and California Grill onsite, and would be a monorail ride away from a bunch of others at the Poly and Grand Floridian, not to mention the ones in both the MK and Epcot.

[Momof3Labs]

The Epcot resort area is our favorite, too. Walking distance to two parks, and almost unlimited restaurant choices at Epcot and the surrounding hotels. I hear the monorail mentioned so often as super-convenient, but I've had to wait because trains are full, have been stuck in a "holding pattern" behind other trains, etc. Walking to Epcot and DHS is so convenient with no transportation variables.

BTW, Epcot is my kids' favorite park, another reason that we like to be close to it. They were 2.75yo and 6yo on our last trip. They like MK but beg for Epcot!

[hez]

We stayed at the Polynesian for two nights over spring break this year. We chose it because we wanted the monorail convenience so DD & I could go back for naps, and go back earlier than DS & DH for bedtime if we wanted to. We spent one day at MK, and one day at Epcot.

Even at such a busy time of year, we only had to wait once for the monorail because it was full-- getting on at Epcot after watching fireworks. We pretty much expected that. The last few trips we've usually stayed at an off-property hotel or just gone down for the day while staying with family, so this was a real treat from an ease-of-transportation standpoint.

When the kids are older & we're not hauling a stroller around, we'll probably aim for the Epcot area hotels Beth & Lori mentioned-- DH & I prefer Epcot, but DS still prefers MK right now. We stayed at the Boardwalk for a weekend pre-kids and really enjoyed it.

[bnme]

If I could I would stay at the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian or the Poly due to the monorail. I think they all have good restaurant options and great pools. Check out allears.net for pics and details on each hotel.

I love the Boardwalk area, too. But we seem to spend most time in Magic Kingdom so the monorail would win for us.

[Neatfreak]

If money is no barrier, we prefer the Epcot area hotels (Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club) because of the ability to easily walk to two parks (Epcot and HS). There is also a huge concentration of restaurants in this area, which makes it a particularly convenient for easy dinners and pleasant evening strolling.


I liked our stay in the Epcot area as well, for the same reasons. My kiddo was still napping when we were in WDW, so being close to a few parks made going back to the hotel mid-day easy - we'd spend the morning at MK or AK, have a nap, and then saunter down to Epcot or MGM ...

[mecawa]

Thanks everyone, you've given be some stuff to think about. I also went over to the dis boards as one of you suggested and most people seem to be recommending the Polynesian and the Beach Club/Boardwalk. I like the idea of staying at one of the Epcot resorts (I love Epcot) but I really think with DD#1 we will be spending most of our time at the Magic Kingdom.

[billysmommy]

The Epcot resort area is our favorite, too. Walking distance to two parks, and almost unlimited restaurant choices at Epcot and the surrounding hotels. I hear the monorail mentioned so often as super-convenient, but I've had to wait because trains are full, have been stuck in a "holding pattern" behind other trains, etc. Walking to Epcot and DHS is so convenient with no transportation variables.

BTW, Epcot is my kids' favorite park, another reason that we like to be close to it. They were 2.75yo and 6yo on our last trip. They like MK but beg for Epcot!


Everything Lori said ~ and Beth too :)

We stayed at the Boardwalk Villas last Jan and absolutely loved it. The boys were 2.75 and 5.75 when we were there. It worked out wonderfully ~ we would get to the parks at opening and then back to the hotel ~1:30-2ish for naps and rest and then Epcot for dinner and rides every evening.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Thanks everyone, you've given be some stuff to think about. I also went over to the dis boards as one of you suggested and most people seem to be recommending the Polynesian and the Beach Club/Boardwalk. I like the idea of staying at one of the Epcot resorts (I love Epcot) but I really think with DD#1 we will be spending most of our time at the Magic Kingdom.

If you can swing a cheap deluxe, we loved Wilderness Lodge. The boat ride over to the MK was our favorite mode of transportation for the whole trip. You can also take the boat over to the Contemporary to catch the monorail if you want. WL is a gorgeous hotel!

[cono0507]

This is overwhelming! I've just started investigating for our trip next year. It will be our first trip and DD will be 3 and DS will be 5. We are going to splurge a bit and I thought we'd stay at a monorail resort but now all of you ladies are making me reconsider that for AK or Epcot area. Hmmm...

Can someone enlighten me - what is DHS? A few of you have made reference to that and I'm a clueless Disney newbie.

[egoldber]

DHS = Disney Hollywood Studios...aka the park formerly known as MGM :)

[cono0507]

DHS = Disney Hollywood Studios...aka the park formerly known as MGM :)

Ah! Thanks! :)

[mecawa]

Has anyone stayed at or heard anything about the Villas? If so what did you think?

[bnme]

Which Villas? Do you mean then DVC villas?

[mecawa]

Which Villas? Do you mean then DVC villas?

Yes, those are the ones!! Sorry my original post wasn't that clear.

[egoldber]

Again, which ones. :)

There are villas at several resorts: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Contemporary.... There are also some resorts that are all villas, like Saratoga Springs and Old Key West.

We own DVC and have stayed at several. All are nice and include some sort of kitchen (kitchenette in a studio).

[firstbaby]

We just booked our first trip and splurged on the Contemporary primarily for the proximity to MK. Our kids are 5 and 3 and think we'll spend a lot of time at MK - a close second will probably be Epcot. We are going during a time that they offering free dining, so that helped off set the room cost a little. It is our first trip ever so we'll see how it goes :)

[mecawa]

Again, which ones. :)

There are villas at several resorts: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Contemporary.... There are also some resorts that are all villas, like Saratoga Springs and Old Key West.

We own DVC and have stayed at several. All are nice and include some sort of kitchen (kitchenette in a studio).

LOL, Sorry again:), this is all new to me, I was talking about the Beach Club or Boardwalk Villas. We're trying to decide if we should to stay at one of those or to stay at a regular/MK resort in a suite. A good friend of mine always stays at the Boardwalk Villas and they sound nice but I'm not sure what kind of a hassle I'm looking at to get two little kids(one being an infant) to MK from the Boardwalk/Beach Club.

[bnme]

Would you be staying in a studio or one-bedroom? The one bedroom has a full kitchen. The studio just a fridge/coffee maker/micro. Also I think most of them have a queen bed plus sleeper sofa.

I think the studios are roomy but have no idea how they compare to the deluxe room size. I like having the minikitchen. Big money saver and so much easier with kids (for milk in the morning, etc). We like to be able to have breakfast stuff and coffe in the room.

Personally, I would choose a monorail resort over a studio at BW/BC in a heartbeat with little kids. But that is influenced by the fact that I have stayed at the Boardwalk already and would love to experience another place. But the monorail would win me over right now. I think I would choose Poly first, Contemp second, and Boardwalk third. Another negative of the Boardwalk for me is that there is no real counter service or food court nearby (but it has been a while for me so I may be wrong). But I love the Boardwalk and will definetly stay there or BC again when the kids are a bit older and MK is less of a focus.

We are going in Oct and staying at Saratoga Springs because we could not get a room at BC/BW (my parents are DVC owners).

[Momof3Labs]

Note that deluxe (non-DVC) rooms have a coffee maker and a mini-fridge but not a microwave. The fridge was most essential to us and we never missed the microwave. DVC studios have one "real" bed and one pull-out sofa. We prefer two real beds as DH and I end up splitting up and each sleeping with one of the boys - DH is too tall and my back is too ornery for a sofa bed, so we like having two real beds in the room. I think that the DVC studio room size is comparable to a regular room at the same resort, but because you can fold up the sleeper sofa, it probably seems more roomy during the day.

mecawa - the trip from BC/Boardwalk to MK is a bus ride. It is very doable, but you do have to fold up the stroller (on the monorail, you can wheel the stroller right on). We never found it to be much of an issue but some people (on the disboards) act like it ruins the whole trip.

[egoldber]

We recently stayed at the Boardwalk Villas with a group that included 4 children age 2 and younger. :) As Lori said, it is an easy bus ride. One hint though, get off the bus coming back from the MK at the first stop (The Swan) and walk the rest of the way (5 minutes). It will save you 15-20 extra minutes on the bus.

I assume you will have one single stroller? Really no problem at all. I would have no issues taking the 5 year old and 10-12 month old by myself to the MK that way. I do admittedly pack light and am a WDW veteran. ;)

We have stayed at BWV many, many times and love it. We prefer as a family to spend our evenings in Epcot, so it works very well for us. I really don't care for the MK in the late afternoon and especially not at night. We usually try to see the MK fireworks once per trip and that's it.

[clc053103]

Another fan of Boardwalk Villas! The one thing that I really love about Villas vs deluxe rooms is the washer and dryer. We did laundry so we didn't have to overpack, and took home clean clothes. Great when traveling with little guys that spill all over themselves.

This year we are trying the new contemporary villas for something different, but I am thinking we may miss our boardwalk/epcot evenings!

[Momof3Labs]

Another fan of Boardwalk Villas! The one thing that I really love about Villas vs deluxe rooms is the washer and dryer.

DVC studios don't have washers and dryers. Just the $$$ 1br and 2br units.

[clc053103]

DVC studios don't have washers and dryers. Just the $$$ 1br and 2br units.

sorry, didn't realize the studio didn't have that! We've only ever stayed in a 2 BR!

[mecawa]

Thanks for the all the info everyone, this will be very helpful to DH and I!!!