Disney -- if you have stayed on-site with a family of 6, where did you stay?

[Shellydon]

Looking into Disney!

[Jennifer in MI]

We traveled with my sister and officially booked a child in her room. We stayed at port Orleans riverside that time. We've also stayed off site in a condo.

[Lieutenant Stranger]

My inlaws wanted to stay at the All Star Suites (we had a group of 10) but I vetoed that. We ended up renting a house ridiculously close to property instead. (4 bedrooms). The places I wanted to stay on property were just a bit too much for our budget.

[Tmhearn]

Art of Animation.

[Sugarfoot]

We stay at the DVC at the Contemporary or the Grand Floridian.

[AK_Mom4]

Sort of on site - Best Western Lake Buena Vista. 2 queen beds and a queen size pull out sofa. Nice pool, decent restaurant , not too expensive and on the "B" Disney bus line so easy to get to any park. Part of Downtown Disney.

[Diann]

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge.

[Excelsior! Academy]

DW or Land?

[Storygirl]

We have four children. We stayed at All-Star Music, which is a value resort. We spend very little time in the room and are budget conscious, so it isn't worth it for us to upgrade to a more expensive resort. All-Star Music has a family suite that sleeps six. They took two regular rooms and renovated them into one unit. There is a separate bedroom with a queen bed and a door, two complete bathrooms, and a small kitchenette nook with a mini fridge, microwave, and sink. The sitting area has a pull out couch, a pull out chair, and a pull out ottoman (sounds weird, but it works), so two kids shared the couch and the other two each got their own bed. The pull outs may have been slightly smaller than a regular twin but were perfectly fine for kids. We didn't have a car there and took the bus everywhere.

[Lieutenant Stranger]

Fort Wilderness in a cabin. Loved it! Loved the spaciousness, the privacy, the kitchen, and the option of taking the boat to Magic Kingdom. If you go this direction, definitely look into renting a golf cart for your stay.

 

I looked into this but we had too many people! We've stayed at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista twice (once on our Honeymoon!) and it was nice. Within walking distance of Downtown Disney-- made it back (this was pre-kids) slightly tipsy and when I had missed the bus. 

[Myeightkiddies]

Port Orleans Riverside - has a trundle for extra sleeping.  The pool is nice.  Get a building near the pool/restaurant.

 

The Wilderness Lodge - beautiful.

[Laura's Haven]

I am a huge Disney fan! Have you considered doing the Deluxe Villas? They sleep up to eight or nine people, and have full amenities as well.

[Caclcoca]

We stayed at Fort Wilderness in a cabin and enjoyed it.

[bettyandbob]

We did all star music with 5, but the suites allow 6. It was our one and only trip. We went to the parks for 5 days, so that was packed enough that we did not hang out in the room much.

 

I had contacted the chef at the resort ahead about my dc diet needs (gf). He asked me to see him as soon as we checked in. I did and he stocked the cafeteria with stuff for dc. During the week, other chefs got to know us and would surprise with things they made especially for my dc (choc chip pancakes at breakfast, ice cream sandwiches at night, etc)

 

Our family has different interests and needs--we did not stick together all day long. Having Disney transportation made it a lot easier to facilitate this. We would go to one park in the morning and do things together until lunch. Then, my oldest would whatever he wanted wherever Disney could take him (Norway in Epcot or Virgin Records in Downtown Disney), I would run around to thrill rides with dd, and youngest would take a nap while dh watched cable news (his favorite thing). We had dinner together often after meeting up at an unspecified time at all star music (we only did 2 sit down restaurant meals, we did not do meal plan bc I wasn't sure if gf would work). After dinner dd and I would hop on transportation again to go watch fireworks at a different park than the one we'd been to during the day. Having this flexibility greatly enhanced our trip. It would have been harder to facilitate this staying offsite.

 

Since we were staying on site my older dc were permitted to use their badges to purchase food and charge back to the room. This gave ds another independence activity--questioning food vendors about ingredients. He did not spend too much and he stayed healthy, so that was successful. Dd only did purchases at the all star music cafeteria, but she could run in on her own for an evening snack and choose.

[Luckymama]

What is your budget?

[DawnM]

Yeah, what is your budget?

 

If you are on a budget, you might look into a place like Bonnet Creek.    You can find it sometimes for under $100/night for a 2 or 3 bedroom.   It is not technically on Disney property, as in, it is not owned and operated by Disney, but it is across from Downtown Disney.

 

http://www.wyndhambonnetcreek.com

 

 You can book here for far less than their website:

 

http://vacationstrategy.com

[hsmamainva]

Art of Animation!  We stayed there in May with our family of 6 and the suite was ADORABLE!

 

There's a queen bed in the bedroom and a bathroom with a walk-in shower.  The kitchen table turns into a murphy bed that is quite comfortable according to my daughters and my sons had no complaints about the sleeper sofa.  There's a second bathroom, too, with a shower/tub combination.

 

Now, the kitchenette is small -- it's a mini-fridge and a microwave.  Didn't want to give the impression that you could make dinner in it!  But it's great for cereal in the morning or heating up a can of spaghetti-o's if your kids are hungry at midnight.

 

 

[Pegasus]

If you want to stay onsite and cost is a concern, it is almost always least expensive for large families to book 2 rooms at one of the All Star Resorts (Movies, Music, or Sports). Keep an eye on the website Mousesavers for possible room discounts.  We have always had either a room discount or free dining plan on our trips to WDW. If your dates are flexible, you can even wait for a discount to come out and plan around the dates the discount is available!

 

We'll be heading back in December, with free dining!

[Storygirl]

If you want to stay onsite and cost is a concern, it is almost always least expensive for large families to book 2 rooms at one of the All Star Resorts (Movies, Music, or Sports). Keep an eye on the website Mousesavers for possible room discounts.  We have always had either a room discount or free dining plan on our trips to WDW. If your dates are flexible, you can even wait for a discount to come out and plan around the dates the discount is available!

 

We'll be heading back in December, with free dining!

 

Be sure to compare the room rates. It was less expensive for us to book the family suite at All Star Music that I mentioned above than it was to book two separate rooms.

[AnIslandGirl]

We prefer the amenities of Disney's Deluxe and DVC resorts. There are lots of options for larger families.

http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/12/20/deluxe-options-for-large-families-at-walt-disney-world/

[Liza Q]

We've been a few times with 6. We usually get two rooms at the Caribbean Beach but we did try the suite at the ASMusic one year. My husband and I LOVED the suite - private room!! - but my teens were not comfortable and asked to go back to the CBR in the future.

[Luckymama]

If pricing isn't too much of a concern, I suggest staying onsite in a DVC two bedroom villa. You can book directly through Disney (sometimes there are specials in slow seasons), directly through a DVC owner (takes intestinal fortitude---see forum on disboards.com), or through a legit service like David's Vacation Club Rentals http://www.dvcrequest.com/

 

We're been DVC owners for seven years. We usually stay in a one bedroom unit (at Animal Kingdom Lodge--Kidani and at the Contemporary Bay Lake Tower they have two bathrooms), but we get two bedroom units when we have guests.

[Shellydon]

Thank you all!! Off to read up.

[Lori D.]

Disney LAND (CA) or Disney WORLD (FL)?

 

If Disneyland (CA), we stay in one of the motels directly across the street from the main entrance, which means we can walk back for lunch/dinner at the motel. (Use the motel microwave to heat up refrigerated dinners we brought and store in the motel room fridge.) Also handy if a young one (and parent! ;) ) need a nap partway through the day.

 

There are about 6 motels right across the street; some sleep 6, or have suite options to accommodate larger families. Many also offer free breakfast/continental breakfast. For walking distance, you want one with a 1600 South Harbor Blvd. address; 1500 or 1700 addresses are a longer trek, but do-able with older children.

[Alicia64]

This site is awesome for big families: FamilyVacationCritic.com!

 

Alley

[rjand6more]

We have four children. We stayed at All-Star Music, which is a value resort. We spend very little time in the room and are budget conscious, so it isn't worth it for us to upgrade to a more expensive resort. All-Star Music has a family suite that sleeps six. They took two regular rooms and renovated them into one unit. There is a separate bedroom with a queen bed and a door, two complete bathrooms, and a small kitchenette nook with a mini fridge, microwave, and sink. The sitting area has a pull out couch, a pull out chair, and a pull out ottoman (sounds weird, but it works), so two kids shared the couch and the other two each got their own bed. The pull outs may have been slightly smaller than a regular twin but were perfectly fine for kids. We didn't have a car there and took the bus everywhere.

 

 

We did this too.  We have also gotten 2 rooms at Pop Century.

[Shellydon]

Thank all.  Definitely going to do a 2 bedroom villa somewhere.

[SKL]

Art of Animation here too.

[Shellydon]

Just to update, we are looking at Fort Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom.  I would LOVE to to Polynesian, but two rooms there are too expensive.