Disney Lodging Advice

W.,
Disney is a blast for the children no matter where you stay. Have you looked into the Pop Century resort or the All Star....They are very kid friendly. (although I have not stayed there yet) Does your child like the Pirates of the Carribean? The Carribean resort as of Jan. '09 will be converting a few rooms into that theme.
We took our kids last minute and had to stay at the Best Western in March of '07. Even though we could not give them the true Disney experience they still had a great time.
Make sure you do Park Hopper passes and pick a meal plan....they are WELL worth the money.

Hope this helps.
Jen

1 mom found this helpful

My family and I went to disney world this summer and we stayed at the Nickelodean Hotel. The kids had a blast. There was so much to do there. The had meals, daycare onsite for parents night out. It was so convient b/c it was right next to Animal kingdom, Magic kingdom, Walt disney world.

I hope this helps and does not make you more confused.

My kids are 7, 5, and 2. They all loved it and still talk about it today :)

1 mom found this helpful

This website has great advice: http://allears.net/index.html

I have three children and we have been to Disney a few times. We've stayed at the Grand Floridian, Contemporary as well as the Port Orleans properties. Price wise - the Grand Floridian is a lot more expensive - and with the small amount of time you are at the resort I don't think it's worth it. I thought the best deal was Port Orleans - the only negative is that it doesn't have as much to choose from with restaurants. Otherwise - convenient bus rides, not crowded, good pool, game room and not crowded. The monorail is nice at Contemporary, but the bus is so convenient I'd go with Port Orleans. You will truly hardle be at your hotel!

Hi - I used to work at Yacht and Beach for a few years. The pool is inbetween the resorts, so one isn't closer to the pool than the other. The Yacht side tends to be "classier" and quieter with more convention guests (especially in the fall) and the Beach side is more relaxed atmosphere and tends to have more families. You can easily walk over to the Boardwalk from Yacht & Beach. It would only take a couple minutes or you can take the boat across the lake. Personally, I think the Grand Floridian is a bit too snooty and stuffy. It's a gorgeous resort with great amenities, but not the relaxed atmosphere I would like for my own vacation. You can also walk into Epcot from Yacht $ Beach or the Boardwalk. There is a "side" entrance that will take you into the park right near the United Kingdom Pavilion. It's great at night when the park is closing and you don't have to fight the crowds to the main entrance parking lot, buses and monorail. Also very convenient to get to a great dinner in one of the countries restaurants. I used to walk over that way after work all the time and meet friends for dinner.

Have fun! We are hoping to get down there next fall as well for some days at the park and a Disney cruise!

I'm pretty sure wherever you stay at Disney is a great place. I have to ask though, is there a particular reason you're not taking your younger child? We went 2 years ago with our girls ages 4 & 7 months & it was soooo fun for everyone. The baby got to ride quite a few things & we went back to the hotel every afternoon for a nap. Hope your trip is lots of fun!

We did the Polyneisian which is next to Grand F. Kids were in and around 8 and loved it. Very cool pool and had a view of Magic Kingdom, food option good. Close walk to Monrail station where it was one stop to the park. Loved by all.

Hi W.!

You're right. It's a bit overwhelming trying to choose a location. You did the right thing by avoiding the "budget" hotels. They're nice, but they get crowded, therefore the pool is crowded, the restaurants are crowded, you get the picture. The Coronado is very nice. It's officially the "convention" center, but has a great pool with a big water slide and practically no one in it. It also has a playground. My husband liked it because it has a fitness center on-site. Not all of the resorts have this feature. Also, because most of the guests at this resort are there for a convention, the shuttle buses are never full and you can easily get rides back and forth between the parks. We've also stayed at Port Orleans and that was very nice, too. (The food was great and very child-friendly!) You can take a boat ride over to Downtown Disney. The Grand Floridian is more for adults. Disney goes out of their way to make sure you enjoy yourself, so I'm sure that whatever you choose, you will have an awesome time! Have a great vacation! L.

For the past two years, my husband and I have taken our son to Disney, and each time we've stayed at the Wilderness lodge.The pool is kid friendly with a wading pool and a water slide.At night they have a light show on the water, and you can see the fireworks from the left side of the resort.I would advise on not eating there.The food is not that great and it's really expensive.

I have never stayed at any of the resorts you mention, but we went last year to Port Orleans French Quarter. It has a great pool with a water slide and it is the smallest resort, so no big crowds waiting for the bus. They had games and stuff for the kids at the pool each day. Port Orleans Riverside also has a fun pool, and you can use either pool if you are staying at French Quarter or Riverside. If your son likes the looks of the pool at Riverside better, I would recommend staying there, though, because it is quite a trek between the two.

Check out this old thread:

http://www.mamasource.com/request/10853120948102496257/0/...
D.

I have a friend who has just become a travel agent for Disney. She can answer any questions for you. Her name is A. and her e-mail address is ____@____.com

4 years ago we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They had a really cool pool, lots of animals around the perimeter of the hotel to see. The kids loved it (they were 6 and 8 at the time). My best advice for going is to definitely do the meal plan. It will save you TONS of money. Also, you can go to a website called www.allears.net to see pics of the different hotels and such as well as read reviews of people who have done things there. My hubby spent lots of time on this website and found alot of really neat tips, tricks and ideas for things to do.

Good Luck and have fun!!!

We just returned...I would highly recommend paying $21.95 for www.tourguidemike.com. It is a WEALTH of knowledge and you can use it as a planning tool, itinerary guide, idea pool for t-shirts etc. They also have forums to post your questions and opportunities for photopass sharing and frig swaps. Also www.disboards.com is great and free! We stayed at the Doubletree near DT Disney for the suite option. Good luck!!! :-)

Purchase or check out from the library 'The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World'. It has a wealth of information from where to stay to what order to do parks/rides to get the best bang for your buck. We would never go without it!

Dear W.,
I am unable to recommend the best choice for lodging, I stayed at several of the above mentioned resorts before I had children for conferences, liked them all, but do remember noise was an issue. I bought a small fan and packed in my luggage, well worth the sacrifice of space. And if you are familiar with "white noise" it filters out sound, using any constant sound, they also now sell sound soothers, much smaller and easier to pack, we don't travel without them. They are available at Target, Walmart and are sometimes seasonal at other stores, you can always order online. The least expensive I have found was around $14.99. I would test it out at home before your trip some of them don't have a basic fan type sound option, usually called white noise on the button and you'd be stuck with birds chirping or some other sound that I couldn't sleep through. Hope that helps. Also while in Orlando, there is a park called the Holy Land Experience, like traveling through time to Bible times. My children really want to go there. Have a safe and wonderful trip! Sincerely, S.

We are Disney World junkies!! We have stayed at the Swan & Dolphin, The Carribean Resort and the last one we stayed at was one of the All Star Resort's. The truth is, is that there is so much to do at the parks, it doesn't really matter where you stay (especially with kids), unless you want the convienience of the monorail running through your resort!! All the resorts have great transportation to all the parks and with the money you spend on/at the parks you might as well stay at the most kid friendly resort and splurge on great dining and shopping. The only draw back we found to staying at the All Star was the dining (which you can do anywhere), but the rooms were nice (no coffee makers, bring your own) and so were the amenities!! Enjoy your trip...

Hey W.,
I went to Disney several years ago with my daughter and granddaughter who was 7 at the time and we stayed at the Value Resorts which seem s to cater more to children. There is the All Century Sports and Movies with is very kid oriented. The pools are nice for kids too. There is no lavish eating facility at these but nice cafeteria like eateries. If you want more, you can catch the tram and ride it to wherever in the park you want to eat. The rooms are smaller and not a lavish either, but again they are decorated for the kids. We really enjoyed the whole atmosphere there. Hope you have a great time.