#Largefamilyprobs

[MommyBell08]

Is there a tread anywhere on going to Disney with large families? We sold our DVC because we were borrowing and borrowing and needing more points. We are now a family of 7. Where do you guys stay with LARGE families? We can go in September (slow season) since we homeschool. We want to stay on property. We can't afford the DVC contract we need right now (300+ points) I don't want to finance. I debating on renting points or getting a package and getting free dining, hopefully. Anyone have advice?

 

[roseaster]

Family of 7, soon to be 8. Disney has priced us out of on-site lodging. Even 2 rooms in a value, once you add in buying all your meals, is out of the budget.

We have rented DVC points, but while that is a savings over what you would pay if you booked directly with Disney, it still isn't terribly budget friendly.

We stay off site, Our last trip we rented a 4 bed/4 bath house with a private pool for $1500 for 2 weeks from www.vrbo.com. We went to Universal and we saved quite a bit on money on food by making meals in the house. The extra space was great, and the kids loved having a private pool to use whenever they wanted.

 

[Thumper1066]

I agree with roseaster. Having an entire house to yourself is amazing. With what you save on lodging you can spend making magic happen. As far as travel time if you are going early we have never had any traffic problems. And coming home late has never been a problem. Or you could rent a 5th Wheel camper and stay at Fort Wilderness. There are companies which provide large units that sleep up to 10 and if I am not mistaken you can also pitch a smallish tent on the same lot. There are tons of things to do at the Wilderness Campgrounds, including 2 pools.

 

[DisneyOma]

Family of 7, soon to be 8. Disney has priced us out of on-site lodging. Even 2 rooms in a value, once you add in buying all your meals, is out of the budget.

I think you priced yourself out with your choice of having a large family. I'd guess that it's more expensive every day with a large family? Meals, clothing, etc, bigger house, bigger car? Whay would that be Disney's fault?

 

[MommyBell08]

I think you priced yourself out with your choice of having a large family. I'd guess that it's more expensive every day with a large family? Meals, clothing, etc, bigger house, bigger car? Whay would that be Disney's fault?

Maybe she meant options in general? Not a lot of the rooms on Disney property will allow for larger families.

 

[Tara1988]

If you have at least one child under 3, the cabins at Fort Wilderness or a family suite at AoA are options. Otherwise, I would rent a house or condo off-site

 

[roseaster]

I think you priced yourself out with your choice of having a large family. I'd guess that it's more expensive every day with a large family? Meals, clothing, etc, bigger house, bigger car? Whay would that be Disney's fault?

Really? Maybe you aren't aware that Disney has raised their prices quite considerably over at least the last 10 years? Ticket prices went from $67 a day in 2006 to $100 a day in 2016. This is a single park ticket only. They have also raised the prices of their lodging by incredible amounts. The rate of Disney price increases far outpace the price of inflation. Ticket prices alone have gone up 60% in the last 10 years.

So yes, they have priced us out. They have priced out a lot of people.

Here are a couple links. This doesn't even include the price increases in food.

http://micechat.com/23546-price-increases-walt-disney-world/

http://time.com/3721999/disney-world-magic-kingdom-ticket-price/

 

[davidm]

Is there a tread anywhere on going to Disney with large families? We sold our DVC because we were borrowing and borrowing and needing more points. We are now a family of 7. Where do you guys stay with LARGE families? We can go in September (slow season) since we homeschool. We want to stay on property. We can't afford the DVC contract we need right now (300+ points) I don't want to finance. I debating on renting points or getting a package and getting free dining, hopefully. Anyone have advice?

I know this is quite an old thread now, but your question is still relevant to those of us with big families (and we homeschool as well, letting us go whenever we want). Mine is a family of 8. For me, the choices boil down to
A.) Flying down, staying on property, trying to get free dining, staying in 2 rooms at a value or moderate (I have done this twice)
B.) Driving down, staying off property in a villa.

The rooms Disney offers for a family of 8 are absolutely laughable in terms of price in my opinion. I'm sure they are quite nice, but the pricing of their villas, when compared to off-site properties is literally not even an option for my family price wise. I think there is a real need for Disney to offer more suites that can fit 8 people that are affordable. I don't need deluxe accommodation, but I do need a place for my family to sleep. But the only large rooms Disney offers are at Deluxe resorts. It's baffling. Do only wealthy people have large families? It truly is strange.

But even with the options A and B above, I was absolutely SHOCKED at the price difference between these 2 options for my family. It was thousands of dollars difference just when considering hotel and food, and the driving helps too. You can get an absolutely amazing 2 bedroom villa with jetted tub and a full kitchen etc, for under $200 a night at the right time of year by staying off site. And by choosing to drive down, that saves a chunk of money on airfare, and transportation is already taken care of then as well. And with a full kitchen, meals become a lot easier. My plan includes just breakfast in the room, and a meal in the room every other day, but it still is cheaper than 2 value/moderate rooms EVEN WITH free dining. Basically with the money saved staying off site, free dining wasnt even tempting any more. Because Disney forces us into 2 rooms or a deluxe villa, they leave me no options that are affordable (that's their right by the way, I am just saying things how they stand).

The Sheraton Vistana Resort Villages is what I came down to in my search. (note this is different than the Vistana Resort Villas). It has great reviews, and the rooms look wonderful. I have seen rates per night as low as $170 after tax and everything for a 2 bedroom villa with all the amenities of a house. Getting it under $200 is not hard if your dates are flexible.

I hope this helps someone!

 

[disdreamer7]

We are now a family of 7. Added a daughter in law. We haven't stayed onsite in several years. We have stayed in houses, villas, and resorts. We have stayed twice at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort for less than $2000 for a week. The young adults prefer that to the small rooms and the lazy river is a big plus. Oh yeah extra bathroom rates very high. I have used VRBO/Homeaway. This time we are staying at Reunion Resort. Hotels.com had a 3 br/3b for $246 a night over NYE. With the price of tickets, had to cut the budget somewhere.

 

[davidm]

We are now a family of 7. Added a daughter in law. We haven't stayed onsite in several years. We have stayed in houses, villas, and resorts. We have stayed twice at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort for less than $2000 for a week. The young adults prefer that to the small rooms and the lazy river is a big plus. Oh yeah extra bathroom rates very high. I have used VRBO/Homeaway. This time we are staying at Reunion Resort. Hotels.com had a 3 br/3b for $246 a night over NYE. With the price of tickets, had to cut the budget somewhere.

I hear you. I doubt I will ever be able to stay on property again, and it is a shame because we absolutely love Coronado. I just booked at Vistana Villages for 12 nights for $2090! That is including tax and everything. And this is for a 2 bedroom villa that sleeps 8 with 3 rooms, king bed, 2 queen beds, a sleeper sofa, a jetted tub, 2 bathrooms, balcony with a table and chairs, full kitchen, washer dryer... it goes on. Disney could have got my money if they were even close to this deal. I would gladly pay perhaps even 2 times as much to be in the magic, but it would literally cost 10 times more for a comparable on property villa. I don't think Walt would be pleased.

 

[disdreamer7]

I hear you. I doubt I will ever be able to stay on property again, and it is a shame because we absolutely love Coronado. I just booked at Vistana Villages for 12 nights for $2090! That is including tax and everything. And this is for a 2 bedroom villa that sleeps 8 with 3 rooms, king bed, 2 queen beds, a sleeper sofa, a jetted tub, 2 bathrooms, balcony with a table and chairs, full kitchen, washer dryer... it goes on. Disney could have got my money if they were even close to this deal. I would gladly pay perhaps even 2 times as much to be in the magic, but it would literally cost 10 times more for a comparable on property villa. I don't think Walt would be pleased.

We stayed there during spring break this year. Really had a good time.
When the kids were small it was easier staying on site. But,now that we have to work around college schedules and jobs, limits the time we can go. That time is prime time so the resorts are at peak prices.

 

[KayaWildfire]

We are a family of 8 with 6 kids between the ages of 6 and 21. And we've done both renting a house and stay onsite. January is another nice(read:cheap) time to go and we are going to stay onsite at Port Orleans Riverside in two connecting rooms. We know we are taking a chance with that since there isn't a guarantee, but it hasn't failed us yet in over 10 trips onsite. We looked into renting points at Saratoga for our trip and it would have cost us the same to do that with the Dining Plan as Riverside at rack rate. We of course didn't pay rack rate so it worked well. Riverside is nice because the kids sleep in one room and mom and dad have their own for the trip. Renting a house is nice and is good for budget trips when we drive to Disney, but with two in college, we don't have the time to take 4-5 days to drive there roundtrip anymore. And by the time you rent a house, a car, deal with dragging everyone into the parks from the parking lot, feed everyone at Disney prices-onsite with the dining plan every time we can. You guys could rent a car cheaper than us because there are 7 of you-8 or over you can't rent a mini van and you are stuck with a Ford Transit that is super expensive to rent.

 

[maxiesmom]

When I have traveled as party of a group of 8 we have always done 2 rooms. I have stayed off site too, but am not a huge fan. I like being in the Disney bubble, I like not having to drive, I like that the family can split up without issue, I like being able to charge back to my room, I like the dining plan, Extra Magic Hours, and Disney's Magical Express. The extra space off site is nice, but we hardly spend any time in our room so it is not the way to go for us.

 

[stazmatic]

I think you priced yourself out with your choice of having a large family. I'd guess that it's more expensive every day with a large family? Meals, clothing, etc, bigger house, bigger car? Whay would that be Disney's fault?

WOW! You sound just like the neighbor on Cheaper by the Dozen.
Having a large family increases the budget for everything, which the OP wasn't disagreeing with. She was simply stating facts and looking for work-arounds. Looking for advice and getting criticized instead is everything that is wrong with this world.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

OP, I don't know if you've been back on this thread or not but I wanted to congratulate you on the success of your adoption journey. I remember your posts from awhile back when you were in the beginning phases of this. I wish your family many blessings and I love your family pic avatar!

 

[Gracie09]

Really? Maybe you aren't aware that Disney has raised their prices quite considerably over at least the last 10 years? Ticket prices went from $67 a day in 2006 to $100 a day in 2016. This is a single park ticket only. They have also raised the prices of their lodging by incredible amounts. The rate of Disney price increases far outpace the price of inflation. Ticket prices alone have gone up 60% in the last 10 years.

So yes, they have priced us out. They have priced out a lot of people.

Here are a couple links. This doesn't even include the price increases in food.

http://micechat.com/23546-price-increases-walt-disney-world/

http://time.com/3721999/disney-world-magic-kingdom-ticket-price/

Right but price increases effect all families not just large ones. Yes you pay more but you have more people. I'm sure you pay more for food clothing school supplies etc for your family than a typical family of four.
There are options two rooms is probably the least expensive.

 

[DisneyOma]

Really? Maybe you aren't aware that Disney has raised their prices quite considerably over at least the last 10 years? Ticket prices went from $67 a day in 2006 to $100 a day in 2016. This is a single park ticket only. They have also raised the prices of their lodging by incredible amounts. The rate of Disney price increases far outpace the price of inflation. Ticket prices alone have gone up 60% in the last 10 years.

So yes, they have priced us out. They have priced out a lot of people.

Here are a couple links. This doesn't even include the price increases in food.

http://micechat.com/23546-price-increases-walt-disney-world/

http://time.com/3721999/disney-world-magic-kingdom-ticket-price/

Disney has also increased the size of their parks in the past ten years, so of course the prices go up - there's more to do and see. It's not based only on inflation - when it was just one little park, that you could do in one day, it cost a lot less.

WOW! You sound just like the neighbor on Cheaper by the Dozen.
Having a large family increases the budget for everything, which the OP wasn't disagreeing with. She was simply stating facts and looking for work-arounds. Looking for advice and getting criticized instead is everything that is wrong with this world.

Roseaster was blaming Disney, (Disney has priced them out, not 'our large family has priced us out') I didn't even quote the OP. Roseaster was criticizing Disney, when of course one should expect to pay a lot more for a larger space. And if you really want to get into what is wrong with this world, I'd be willing to continue the discussion in private messaging. But when people decide to have a large family, then complain that they can't afford this or that, well, what's up with that?