Questions about moderate/deluxe for 5

[Heidi K]

Hi. My husband and three children (ages at time of trip: boy 15, boy 12 and girl 9) and I are planning a 12 day trip for the end of August 2021. We are planning under the assumption that life is back to normal and that Disney has returned to pre-covid days. We have only ever stayed at Value Resorts. We go back and forth between doing a split stay between either Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans with whatever room discount Disney will offer and hoping for free dining and staying at the Contemporary or Yacht and Beach Club. Please give any and all insights you would like to share that might aid us in our decision making process.

If Disney offers free dining to people staying at a Deluxe hotel, can someone do a split stay as part of their package?

If free dining is offered after our arrival date, could we arrange a split stay to take advantage of it? Would that impact the type of tickets we have to purchase?

If a split stay is not possible, which Deluxe resort would you choose out of the above?

If free dining isn't offered, which Moderate do you recommend? We obviously need a 5 person room.

Any other advice or considerations for people who have only stayed at Value resorts? Thank you!

 

[ucf_knight]

Do you book 1 room or 2? AoA is a great option for a family of 5 where you’d only have to book 1 room. But from the options you listed I think the Yacht, beach or Caribbean are your best options. All of these resorts have easy access to 2 parks via boat, walking or skyliner whereas contemporary only has easy access to magic. Hopefully you can get a good deal to upgrade and good luck planning.

 

[YesterDark]

For a moderate resort, you have the budget option of the fifth sleeper which is basically two beds and a pulldown twin which is smallish. You'd have two kids sharing a bed. Not sure how they feel about that at that age, but maybe the two boys would be ok with that. That room is basically 300-400 a night rack rate.

You could always do AoA family suite which is $400+ rack rate which gives you a bit more room.

I'm a family of 5 too, and we bring my mother with us which makes us 6. It's essentially two rooms are AoA that make financial sense. Deluxe party of 5 rooms don't make sense to me at that cost unless you really value the accommodations and resort time. Just take a look at deluxe villa rack rates and DVC rental point costs.

 

[our two princesses]

You will love CBR. Beautiful pool and now the Skyliner.

 

[fancymouse]

You might look into the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. They sleep a lot of people comfortably. Sharing a 1 bedroom sounds a little tight considering the age of your children and I’m not sure how many deluxes have options for 5 “adults” without getting 2 bedrooms or a suite.

Fort Wilderness has a boat to MK that is really great and it has fun dining on property and easy access to Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary. There are fun activities on property (fishing, archery, horseback riding). It’s a really cool experience. Most people rent golf carts to get around the resort, but there are also buses internally and around Disney property.

I’m not completely sure about free dining and a split stay, but sometimes the dining plan is weird with split stays. I remember reading this was an issue once with someone because they had a lot of credits by the time their first reservation ended and they were not going to carry over for the rest of their trip. We never do the dining plan, so hopefully someone else can help you there!

 

[maxiesmom]

If the pool is very important, you can't beat the Yacht and Beach Club resorts. Storm along Bay is wonderful!

As far as moderates go, I will say first off I am not a fan of CBR at all. Stayed there once, wasn't impressed. I much prefer Port Orleans riverside. Or even the Dolphin, which allows 5. You could bring an air mattress along, or rent a rollaway from them (I think it was $25 a night but don't hold me to that).

I would only do a cabin at fort wilderness, if you have a car. Otherwise the transportation is a bit tricky. Taking one bus to get on another bus sort of thing.

 

[YesterDark]

You might look into the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. They sleep a lot of people comfortably. Sharing a 1 bedroom sounds a little tight considering the age of your children and I’m not sure how many deluxes have options for 5 “adults” without getting 2 bedrooms or a suite.

Fort Wilderness has a boat to MK that is really great and it has fun dining on property and easy access to Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary. There are fun activities on property (fishing, archery, horseback riding). It’s a really cool experience. Most people rent golf carts to get around the resort, but there are also buses internally and around Disney property.

I’m not completely sure about free dining and a split stay, but sometimes the dining plan is weird with split stays. I remember reading this was an issue once with someone because they had a lot of credits by the time their first reservation ended and they were not going to carry over for the rest of their trip. We never do the dining plan, so hopefully someone else can help you there!

There are hidden costs and/or "hardships" associated with Fort Wilderness. I've never been, but I've priced it out. Depending on what loop you're staying at, you have a decent walk to the bus stop or you have to catch a bus to the bus stop to catch another bus to the parks.

Or you have to catch a bus to get the ferry to get to the MK (or a long walk).

Or you can rent two golf carts at $100-200 (not sure if you can fit 5 people on 1 cart) a day to get around so that you only have to take one bus to get to the parks or drive the cart to the ferry.

You don't have small kids, so you may ok with the walk, but it can be a long walk back to the cabin after a long day at the parks. Something you need to be aware of. Some people love it with a passion. If you seriously consider this resort, just take a look at google maps and get the distances to see if you're ok with that.

 

[5Tulips]

Family of 5 here. While I love CBR, moderate rooms can feel small really fast. We have felt most comfortable in the Yacht Club rooms. Lots of storage space to get bags out of the way and the sleeper sofa seemed so much cozier. We opt for room discounts over the dining plan so not sure how split stays would work.

 

[Hikergirl]

I have a family of 5 and when the kids were younger we had no issues staying in a MOD room comfortably. The last trip we were all together we stayed at BC and it was too cramped for the week. 12 nights would be torture in one hotel room. Granted we didn't spend a ton of time in the room, but privacy, downtime, bathroom use and just plain old being cramped up together when we were got old fast.
If staying onsite is a priority I'd look at a suite or 2 rooms even if it had to be at a value due to budget.
I've never stayed in the cabins but have stayed in similar accommodations at other places, so that would also be on my list of options.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Hi. My husband and three children (ages at time of trip: boy 15, boy 12 and girl 9) and I are planning a 12 day trip for the end of August 2021. We are planning under the assumption that life is back to normal and that Disney has returned to pre-covid days. We have only ever stayed at Value Resorts. We go back and forth between doing a split stay between either Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans with whatever room discount Disney will offer and hoping for free dining and staying at the Contemporary or Yacht and Beach Club. Please give any and all insights you would like to share that might aid us in our decision making process.

If Disney offers free dining to people staying at a Deluxe hotel, can someone do a split stay as part of their package?

If free dining is offered after our arrival date, could we arrange a split stay to take advantage of it? Would that impact the type of tickets we have to purchase?

If a split stay is not possible, which Deluxe resort would you choose out of the above?

If free dining isn't offered, which Moderate do you recommend? We obviously need a 5 person room.

Any other advice or considerations for people who have only stayed at Value resorts? Thank you!

If you do a split stay with free dining and you want free dining for both parts of your stay you must buy tickets for each separate booking in order to get free dining.

The rooms at the poly are pretty big and would be most comfortable for a family of 5 IMO. The boys can take one bed and your youngest can take the day bed. We personally love the BC but poly rooms are larger.

We are a family of 4 and with my kids being older I don’t think we can do one room anymore. Last trip we did a split with poly and beach club and by day 5 I was over it. Like @Hikergirl said. It just gets cramped and for me I need downtime. Also bathroom time and privacy can get to be a pain. So right now my dilemma is what to do next trip. Two rooms at a value, rent points at BC, squeeze into one room at BC and pray for the best.....I have until next year to decide since we won’t be going back until 2022.

I love CBR. We stayed there twice when the kids were younger and we loved it.