My in-laws would like to do a 3 generation trip (8 adults, 5 kids) to WDW for my in-laws 50th anniversary in 2021. My in-laws went to WDW for their Honeymoon in 1971 so they think it would be great to celebrate their 50th during WDW’s 50th.
My in-laws asked me for my suggestions on where to stay, but I don’t have a good sense of all the options. I have only stayed on-site, and the past 15 years have only stayed at the monorail resorts (I stayed at the All-Stars twice many years ago and the Golf Resort back in 1982).
I’m looking for input from others who have traveled with a large group. My inclination is that we would want to stay somewhere on-site to get the benefit of WDW transportation/EMH/FP+ at 60 days so we don’t need to rent cars, but I want to get sense of other options.
I haven’t traveled in a large group, but I do think you might want to consider the Skyliner resorts so you’d have that convenience (if you are not Skyliner adverse…I’m not sure how I feel about it at the moment and I’m supposed to ride it in 2 weeks…).
I’m planning a trip for 7 adults and 3 kids right now for late 2020 or early 2021. It would be 4 rooms so fairly similar to what you are thinking.
I quickly eliminated AoA as much as I like the theme and pool. The pool is down for refurb during our dates. Double beds don’t work for our us because my husband is so tall. Also, for the same cost you can often get 2 moderate rooms with 2 queens each. If my choice is 3 doubles (two of which are fold up / sofa) or 4 regular queens I’ll take the queens every time.
Disney Springs has some hotels that get most of the benefits (i.e. EMH, 60 day FPs) for the $160-220/night range for the periods of time I looked. Need to use their shuttle or get yourself to the parks. Would be easy for finding good meals after the parks.
If you don’t care about staying on property you can rent huge homes in the area or $300-500/night. This isn’t an option for us because we’d need to rent too many vehicles for it to really save much. Plus we don’t mind paying for the convenience of on property.
We are likely going to rent DVC at either AKL or BC. Using DVC drops the price closer to value/lower end moderate, but with the perks of a deluxe. Seems like a no brainer if you can get rooms (you’d need to book way out i.e. in some cases 11 months before your trip). Downside is you sometimes have to pay the full room cost upfront.
I would definitely look at renting DVC. You could all fit in one of the Grand Villas, but, generally for less money, you could also get 2 2BR villas. I like this site get a feel for points/cost/occupancy:
Is anyone working DOD or retired military? We were at Caribbean Beach for $150/night with a military room only discount in 2018. And there’s Shades of Green, a military resort in the Magic Kingdom area that we always say we’re going to try.
Does anyone have an RV? One trip we had some staying in a Wilderness Home while we were parked steps away in our travel trailer. We used a travel agent to find last minute discounts and book our reservations together.
Most recently we stayed at Cypress Pointe with three 3-bedroom villas that a family member had enough points for. Reviewers said the villas were dated; our 3 were fine. And we really were 15 - 20 minutes from the parks (depending on how lost we got).
We did a VRBO house that was exactly what we were needing a couple of years ago. On paper it looked 20 minutes away from the Western Way entrance. In reality, we never made that trip in under thirty due to traffic lights being so long.
The time of year your trip is can make a big difference in discount availability. I think with a travel agent looking for discounts for you, one of the moderates is the way to go. We’ve usually booked at least 8 months out.
With kids the ages you’ve listed, I’d definitely stay on property and utilize Disney transportation. Traveling together and remembering your day is part of the fun.
We’ve found this to be the case often with our off-site rentals as well…but, to be fair, even on-site, depending on where you stay, the Disney transportation can take 30+ minutes at times.
We’ll be staying in a 5-bedroom house in Davenport, FL in May for less than $150/night including private pool and game room, etc. I think with 8 adults and 5 kids, it would be better to find a 6-bedroom home if staying off property.
Even with car rentals, I think you’d spend much less staying off property than on property, unless you find some really good deals. But don’t forget you’ll save a ton off property just in food costs since you could have a full kitchen to work with if for nothing else than breakfast!
Good thought. Yes, we would consider the Skyliner. DD4 wanted to ride when we were at HS a couple weeks ago, but we decided to pass given that the long stoppage recently happened and my 23 month old would not do well in a situation like that. But by our 2021 trip I would hope WDW had worked out the issues.
After reading all the great suggestions and thinking about it more, I agree with you about on-site. I’m going to discuss all the suggestions with my-laws, but I’m thinking the best option overall for all the families involved may be to stay at a moderate. I think that would fit each family’s budget and that way we would not need to rent cars or Uber and would get the 60 day/EMH benefits.
Stay off-site at a resort like Worldquest with condos of up to 3 bedrooms. Rent vehicles so you can have some freedom and so you can arrive for rope drop if desired. You will get way more room for your money!
When we’ve traveled WDW with a large group with younger kids we’ve stayed on property partly because Disney transportation allows smaller groups to come and go independently and larger groups can visit with each other while waiting for or while using transportation. On our trip in September Disney transportation also provided great photo ops and one awesome whole boat birthday song!
Yes a large house off property saves a lot of money. Figuring out priorities helps to make a more successful trip.
I’m curious how much moderates are including tax. Whenever I’ve priced them, they’ve been in $200+ night range. If that is in budget for the group then I’d recommend going DVC points and stay somewhere like Animal Kingdom lodge. Depending on time of year, studios all in, including parking and tax , are $244. You could do a configuration like one two bedroom condo and two studios, and have the two families with more generous budgets split the 2 bedroom (would be higher per night per family at $325 or so). Benefit of having this arrangement: the two bedroom unit could serve as a ‘home base’, so to speak for comings and goings, a place to gather in AM for breakfast and at night for inevitable pizza night, or to enjoy a drink after a long day at the parks…also has a washer/dryer (great for littles). It could be the hub, so you strong constantly meeting in the food court.
My understanding is that when buying DVC points there is a no cancellation policy. Is that correct? Also, I recall reading about some risk that on rare occasion a room that you think you have booked doesn’t actually come through due to an issue with the person who owns the share that you are “renting”.
I briefly looked into the DVC points a few years ago and I remember thinking there were some risks.
With savings like that, it’s hard to argue against staying offsite.
You could decide whether to rent a car or use Uber to and from the parks.
The alternative would be the suites at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which I believe has the 60 day FP perk plus EMH. Uber from there, rather than using their shuttle might be worth it to the parks. You could bus back to DS from the parks.
