How important is choice of resort?

[KrisM]

We'll be doing our one and only trip next April. Kids will be 5.5, 7.5 and nearly 10. I am trying to figure out a budget and am stuck on resorts. I did some pricing for different dates, but with the same expected price season, just so I could compare.

My choices now start with POR as the cheapest, then All-Stars suite, Art of Animation suite, FW cabins, and Contemporary. A range of $1700 from cheapest to most expensive. And if we rent a golf cart, cabins and Contemporary swap places.

I can't figure out what is important. The suites have 2 bathrooms, which would make mornings easier since DH is so slow in the bathroom. Cabins have a kitchen, which would be nice. Contemporary has the monorail. POR saves money.

What do you use to decide? How much time will we really be in our room all together and not sleeping?

[klwa]

We stayed in the All Star suites the last time we went & really enjoyed them. Trying to decide between them & the AoA suites for next spring. We liked having a door to shut between us & DC, so they could go to bed earlier than we did. (We went in December, so parks closed earlier & our kids were younger than yours.) One plus for AS over AoA is that each of your kids could have their own bed, since they have 3 fold outs (1 full & 2 twins) rather than 2 full sized at AoA.

We've also stayed at POR, but only with DS. It was fine, but with 5, you WILL be tight on space. But, the pool is pretty cute.

We used the on-site bus transportation at both resorts and found it comparable between the mod & the value. Yes, it was annoying some nights leaving the parks, but I would have been annoyed walking out to my car & getting caught in traffic too.

Yeah, I didn't help at all, did I....

[WatchingThemGrow]

How many nights? Our DC love the monorail. We love the ease of it. The contemporary is so cool, but we've never been able to afford staying there.
POR is fine. It's not ooh and ahhh, but at least you're on the property. We've done it 2-3 times for 1-2 nights at a time. You can walk to PO FQ as well for some more pool fun, more food options. I'm hoping to spend a little bit more this time just because I'm a little freaked out by the huge "rat boxes" DH spotted in the shrubbery at POR near the swampy area. Our room last time also had some water in the carpet, which was a foreshadowing of what would plague the months following our short Disney visit. (the 3 moldy homes we were in)

For a one time only trip, I'd stay somewhere fun. We would rather be cramped and in a fun location than have more bathrooms, etc. The deluxe rooms have microwaves and fridges, right? instant oatmeal and hard boiled eggs will do just fine for us some mornings, but I'm not a fan of waiting in lines to get on buses that are completely packed and take 20 minutes to get to my resort.

[KrisM]

We stayed in the All Star suites the last time we went & really enjoyed them. Trying to decide between them & the AoA suites for next spring. We liked having a door to shut between us & DC, so they could go to bed earlier than we did. (We went in December, so parks closed earlier & our kids were younger than yours.) One plus for AS over AoA is that each of your kids could have their own bed, since they have 3 fold outs (1 full & 2 twins) rather than 2 full sized at AoA.

We've also stayed at POR, but only with DS. It was fine, but with 5, you WILL be tight on space. But, the pool is pretty cute.

We used the on-site bus transportation at both resorts and found it comparable between the mod & the value. Yes, it was annoying some nights leaving the parks, but I would have been annoyed walking out to my car & getting caught in traffic too.

Yeah, I didn't help at all, did I....

Oh, beds for all would be nice. That's true at the cabins as well. My SIL likes the cabins for not being connected to anyone else, too. Less noise.

No, not a lot of help , but reminded me about the multiple bed thing!

[KrisM]

How many nights? Our DC love the monorail. We love the ease of it. The contemporary is so cool, but we've never been able to afford staying there.
POR is fine. It's not ooh and ahhh, but at least you're on the property. We've done it 2-3 times for 1-2 nights at a time. You can walk to PO FQ as well for some more pool fun, more food options. I'm hoping to spend a little bit more this time just because I'm a little freaked out by the huge "rat boxes" DH spotted in the shrubbery at POR near the swampy area. Our room last time also had some water in the carpet, which was a foreshadowing of what would plague the months following our short Disney visit. (the 3 moldy homes we were in)

For a one time only trip, I'd stay somewhere fun. We would rather be cramped and in a fun location than have more bathrooms, etc. The deluxe rooms have microwaves and fridges, right? instant oatmeal and hard boiled eggs will do just fine for us some mornings, but I'm not a fan of waiting in lines to get on buses that are completely packed and take 20 minutes to get to my resort.

A week. Somewhere between 7 and 9 nights, depending on a few things.

[hillview]

well at our kids (younger) ages we would spend at least a couple of hours in the room after the park. Have you looked into renting points for Bay Lake Towers (connected to the contemporary)? We did that last year and it was awesome and a lot less $.

[TwinFoxes]

Have you looked at using a DVC property? They have kitchens and more room. Booking through Disney is expensive, but you can also book direct from owners or through services. I think 5 in a regular room, especially with a slow poke, would be stressful.

I'm one of the people who hate the busses. Waiting to get on a packed bus at the end if the day is pretty low on my list. It is even less fun with a stroller. We just drive, or when we stayed at BWV, walked to the parks. I've never been in a traffic jam getting out of the park, but we've gone in October.

As for your Q, I doubt your kids will care where you stay, a larger room would probably help YOU have a more relaxing trip.

[KrisM]

I don't really understand how to rent points. I've heard about it, but don't know who I'd rent from, how it works, etc. I'll look into it more and see.

[TwinFoxes]

Disboards has a forum, and I'm pretty sure there are recommended services if you don't want to rent directly from an owner. I am always too nervous to rent from an owner, although tons of people do! I want some sort of recourse if there's a problem.

[egoldber]

With your kids ages, you will spend a lot of time at Epcot and DHS. I would consider staying in an "Epcot Area resort", which is Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club or Swan/Dolphin (not owned by Disney, but on Disney property and with many of the same perks) that way you can easily walk to those 2 parks. Not having to park is really nice. We get Parkhopper tickets, and walk into Epcot for the food and ambiance almost every evening we stay at Disney.

I can see splurging for a Monorail resort for a once in a lifetime trip, but Contemporary would not be the resort I would pick for that. I would choose the Polynesian or Grand Floridian.