Why does Disney make it hard for larger families?

[cgattis]

Alligator Bayou. Preferred I think all have them, otherwise it is a request for a party of fewer than 5.

Since we realized the kennel is literally right across from POR, the kids have voted we stay there next trip, so this is good info. Thanks!!

 

[markb681]

I've stayed my last 2 visits at POR...Alligator Bayou...standard room view...both times had the Murphy bed...I didn't request it..didn't need it!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Is there anywhere that your family can stay, and stay cheaply?

As others have said, Disney isn't any different than other hotels. They can accommodate most families.

 

[Yarbogash]

Stay off site. I love to stay on site but if there was ever a group on here that I'd recommend to stay off site you are it. Given your constraints for budget, size and makeup of your group, comfort, convenience and did I mention budget, stay off site. There are countless off site hotels around WDW that can accommodate 8 in a unit. Floridays, Silver Lake, Best Western Premier Saratoga, Orange Lake, etc have 2 or 3 bedroom units and some for less than a relatively tiny Disney value resort room. And you will get the comfort of a kitchen, in suite w/d and privacy for the different sleep schedules. You are driving so driving from some of these places will not be much different from driving from a value. You could even rent a house for less than 1 room in a Disney value resort.

Somebody mentioned eBay. Try eBay or skyauction, you may find a decent unit for $300 to $500 total for a week.

 

[Yarbogash]

If I were firm on staying on property, I would book two value rooms and put in a "request" for connecting rooms. On the chance it doesn't happen I would have my suitcases packed for one parent in each room and kids accordingly, whether it is a boys room and girls room, or however. The worse would be to get to non-connecting rooms and have to shift all the clothing in the bags.

This is something I have trouble understanding. How is it in this day and age Disney can't guarantee connecting rooms? I can book a Hilton and through their app I can not only get guaranteed connecting rooms I can look at a floor map and pick my exact room. I've been tempted to book connecting rooms for us but tried it once at AoA, got burned so never again. We vacation to spend time together, not apart. Hopefully Disney can work this out someday.

 

[dansdad]

This is something I have trouble understanding. How is it in this day and age Disney can't guarantee connecting rooms? I can book a Hilton and through their app I can not only get guaranteed connecting rooms I can look at a floor map and pick my exact room. I've been tempted to book connecting rooms for us but tried it once at AoA, got burned so never again. We vacation to spend time together, not apart. Hopefully Disney can work this out someday.

The antiquated system that WDW uses does not allow rooms to be "blocked off" upon booking.

 

[FortForever]

adults. Not sure what that means for us since we have two adults and 6 children. Except for the campsites (which my wife would never approve),

Have you ever actually looked at Fort Wilderness? It's the furthest thing from "camping" that I've ever seen in a campground. It's a resort. If you don't have a trailer, you can rent one that sleeps 8 or 10 people. There are lots of vendors who rent specifically for Disney. They set it up and break it down for you. You don't need to know the first thing about an RV.

The RV will have bathroom, shower, and full kitchen. Staying at FW is great because it's a quick boat trip back from Magic Kingdom, to eat lunch or dinner and not have to pay Disney prices for food. We have our own camper, but come fully stocked with all the groceries we need. We don't even need to buy a bottle of water from Disney. Much more practical than staying in the hotels.

I would suggest letting your wife take a look at the place. It's not dirty. It's all paved, with tons of stuff to do there without even going to the parks.

 

[buzznina]

Have you ever actually looked at Fort Wilderness? It's the furthest thing from "camping" that I've ever seen in a campground. It's a resort. If you don't have a trailer, you can rent one that sleeps 8 or 10 people. There are lots of vendors who rent specifically for Disney. They set it up and break it down for you. You don't need to know the first thing about an RV.

The RV will have bathroom, shower, and full kitchen. Staying at FW is great because it's a quick boat trip back from Magic Kingdom, to eat lunch or dinner and not have to pay Disney prices for food. We have our own camper, but come fully stocked with all the groceries we need. We don't even need to buy a bottle of water from Disney. Much more practical than staying in the hotels.

I would suggest letting your wife take a look at the place. It's not dirty. It's all paved, with tons of stuff to do there without even going to the parks.

I would also check into what FortForever has mentioned. Also have your DW look at some of the beautiful campers that you can get for just $175 a night that sleeps 8-10 people. Our friends did this and loved it. I told my DW, that the next time my sister and family wants to join us we will go this way and even save more $$$ since it will be split 2 ways

 

[Lynne M]

This is something I have trouble understanding. How is it in this day and age Disney can't guarantee connecting rooms? I can book a Hilton and through their app I can not only get guaranteed connecting rooms I can look at a floor map and pick my exact room. I've been tempted to book connecting rooms for us but tried it once at AoA, got burned so never again. We vacation to spend time together, not apart. Hopefully Disney can work this out someday.

It's not that they can't, it's that they choose not to.

 

[happymommy]

Unless something has changed, you can also book into guaranteed connecting rooms at the Swan and Dolphin. We did this a few years ago. I think it was just a few dollars extra to do this.

It's true, not just at Disney, but any hotel, that it's just more expensive once you add extra people. Once my kids got over 10 or so, there was no way we could all stay in one room and still enjoy ourselves! We need some space.

You can request connecting rooms at a value resort, or look into the Swan and Dolphin for nicer amenities (but then you would need your own transportation to and from the airport if flying, or pay the parking fee there if you have a car, so that does add up).

I understand wanting to stay on site. If you do off site, you need to get to and from the parks with quite a large group. That makes it harder to come and go. If you stayed at a value resort, some of you can go back earlier to the rooms much more easily.

I think of all the options, two value rooms will likely be the least expensive for on site. Renting a 2 bedroom DVC or treehouse will probably cost more (but then you would have the kitchen and laundry although not sure if the treehouses have their own laundry rooms).

Off site, you could factor in the cost of multiple Uber rides and still come out ahead though. Even for such a large group, a house may be nice.

 

[dmband]

This is something I have trouble understanding. How is it in this day and age Disney can't guarantee connecting rooms? I can book a Hilton and through their app I can not only get guaranteed connecting rooms I can look at a floor map and pick my exact room. I've been tempted to book connecting rooms for us but tried it once at AoA, got burned so never again. We vacation to spend time together, not apart. Hopefully Disney can work this out someday.

It's not that they can't, it's that they choose not to.

I actually feel Disney doesn't give/guarantee connecting rooms as a way to get you to pay extra for family suites and such.
We are a family of six who goes to Disney every other yr. (at least) and often times with another family/parents.
Only once have we had rooms "close" and that was at CR where we were two rooms apart and on op sides of the hall.
Every other time we have been separated, sometimes by completely different sections of the resort.
Last time I actually asked if there was anything closer and low and behold they had rooms closer to each other. (Hats off to that cm for taking time to look)

So this yr. to give you numbers and why it's in Disneys interest to not connect families...
AOA, one suite, $53xx. (I need two and a regular room too)
POR, one preferred room, $1784 (I need three rooms)
POR, one garden view room w/special discount, $1391 (need three)
As you can see, even just needing two rooms for my family alone, in order to guarantee all six of us being together it is more then double POR. They know most families don't want to be or can't be separated so it "forces" them to pay more by not guaranteeing connecting rooms.

In fairness, I know many people have got connecting rooms but for us to never get them out of all the times we travel it seems odd. It is also funny to me how many CMs will quote you as getting connecting rooms as a guarantee when that's clearly not the case or the policy. (Had to laugh when I was told this time around we were guaranteed connecting because we have more kids then adults)
I have never been to any other resort or hotel in general that doesn't give you connecting rooms. I feel it's laziness on Disneys part and a gimmick to get more money out of you.

As for the numbers above and advise of two values being the best option, in many cases yes but since mods get higher discounts you can often stay there for the same, close to, or less so investigate all options

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

My sister just got back from a trip to WDW with her best friend, best friend's husband, and their 4 children. They got two rooms at All Star Music with a door in between. They had an adult room and a kid room for sleeping with the doors between them cracked a bit. Worked great. I would think that with your family size and ages, this could be a great way to go. And, if you don't end up getting rooms that are adjoined, you can always have the two youngest in the room with you and your husband and the oldest daughter in the room with the middle kiddos.

 

[Lynne M]

My sister just got back from a trip to WDW with her best friend, best friend's husband, and their 4 children. They got two rooms at All Star Music with a door in between. They had an adult room and a kid room for sleeping with the doors between them cracked a bit. Worked great. I would think that with your family size and ages, this could be a great way to go. And, if you don't end up getting rooms that are adjoined, you can always have the two youngest in the room with you and your husband and the oldest daughter in the room with the middle kiddos.

These are the connecting rooms that folks upthread were talking about. Adjoining, in Disney-resort-speak, means "rooms that are as close as possible to each other."

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

These are the connecting rooms that folks upthread were talking about. Adjoining, in Disney-resort-speak, means "rooms that are as close as possible to each other."

See, I thought that connected meant next to each other and adjoined meant a door between because I got corrected once saying connected meant there was a door. Either way, with the older girl, she could stay with the middle kids in one room. They just have to make sure one of the adults is on the reservation.

 

[Gracie09]

It's not that they can't, it's that they choose not to.

They could but it would be a mess. Disney hotels run at a high occupancy rate. The number of people arriving and leaving each day is thousands if not tens of thousands. If people chose their own room you would end up with hundreds of orphan rooms and even more difficulty getting rooms connected or in the area you wanted because the people who came in the day or week before may have that room.
I don't envy the room assigners. Their whole day is figuring out a big puzzle that will inevitably leave someone unhappy.

 

[disnut8]

They could but it would be a mess. Disney hotels run at a high occupancy rate. The number of people arriving and leaving each day is thousands if not tens of thousands. If people chose their own room you would end up with hundreds of orphan rooms and even more difficulty getting rooms connected or in the area you wanted because the people who came in the day or week before may have that room.
I don't envy the room assigners. Their whole day is figuring out a big puzzle that will inevitably leave someone unhappy.

Totally agree. My mother-in-law likes to have connecting rooms with us (my husband and I). She's 80 years old but has more energy than my husband and I put together. We have gone to Disney World with her and she was surprised with not having guaranteed connecting rooms. Once we were there (and didn't have connecting rooms), she went off on it. I asked her what the problem was. We were near each other (one room in between), we were all adults, we had cell phones and room phones to communicate in the morning with each other.

Now, with the OP's situation with having eight people and six of them kids, it is an issue since they would want to talk to each other and also have the kids together. However, booking one adult in one room with three kids and the other adult in the second room with three kids would handle that issue. The only time there would need to be only four people in a room is at lights out so mom and dad could sleep in one room with two kids and have four kids in the other room.

 

[Dis703]

They could but it would be a mess. Disney hotels run at a high occupancy rate. The number of people arriving and leaving each day is thousands if not tens of thousands. If people chose their own room you would end up with hundreds of orphan rooms and even more difficulty getting rooms connected or in the area you wanted because the people who came in the day or week before may have that room.
I don't envy the room assigners. Their whole day is figuring out a big puzzle that will inevitably leave someone unhappy.

This was my thought on it as well. Can you imagine the hassle of trying to guarantee connecting rooms on such a massive scale? With all of the different booking levels and categories and issues that can come up with room availability I couldn't imagine trying to guarantee it. Then when issues come up and they can't find connecting they'd be responsible for making it right meaning financially or possibly having to upgrade the rooms. I can understand why they don't want to set themselves up for the trouble.

 

[sndral]

I actually feel Disney doesn't give/guarantee connecting rooms as a way to get you to pay extra for family suites and such.
We are a family of six who goes to Disney every other yr. (at least) and often times with another family/parents.
Only once have we had rooms "close" and that was at CR where we were two rooms apart and on op sides of the hall.
Every other time we have been separated, sometimes by completely different sections of the resort...
...They know most families don't want to be or can't be separated so it "forces" them to pay more by not guaranteeing connecting rooms.
...In fairness, I know many people have got connecting rooms but for us to never get them out of all the times we travel it seems odd...

It's tempting to see this as a conspiracy by Disney to extract more money - but they were not guaranteeing connecting rooms long before they built the AOA suites. Plus most visitors aren't as informed or experienced as PP & probably only discover that connecting isn't guarenteed when they don't get their requested connecting rooms.
Ironically the only time we requested 'adjoining' rooms (didn't ask for connecting) we didn't get them - that was at CBR Christmas 2000, we ended up in different islands (they were 'adjoining' islands ) but I figured that was because our plane was delayed a day from the rest of the group due to weather.
We didn't ask for, but got connecting rooms at POFQ & the Poly - I guess because the reservations were linked. After that I bought DVC thus solving that issue. Maybe that's the conspiracy - buy DVC if you want your big group to be together

 

[Mark Vines]

Nearly anywhere you go, hotel rooms sleep 4 unless you get a deluxe or upgraded room. I've even seen many that only sleep 2 or 3. So, WDW is not any different than the majority.

When WDW says "sleeps 6 adults", they mean 6 people plus 1 infant in a crib.

You are a family of 8. You could book 2 rooms in a value resort. Ask for connecting rooms. They do their best to accommodate.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mark Vines]

Disney doesn't make it any harder than most/all hotels in the US. The average family demographic is not 8 family members. I don't think any hotel will accommodate you all in one room.
Your best bet is to rent points for a 2 BR DVC Villa that can sleep 8.
Your other options are 2 Value rooms or off site
Good Luck.

How/Where do you rent points for DVC? Is there a certain website that you would recommend?