Anonymous wrote:
It's actually super expensive, surprisingly dirty, and boring with long lines and expensive nasty food. We lasted about 2 hours with our kids (6 and 8) then left for a Disney water park. Lower your expectations because the place has not aged well.

I disagree with most of this! We loved it and stayed opening until late every day we were there. I was surprised by how much we all loved it. The food can be terrible, with that I agree. But everything was clean, orderly and well-run. As a cynical friend told us before we went for the first time, "If you can't have a good time at Disney there is something wrong with you!"

Anonymous wrote:
It's actually super expensive, surprisingly dirty, and boring with long lines and expensive nasty food. We lasted about 2 hours with our kids (6 and 8) then left for a Disney water park. Lower your expectations because the place has not aged well.

Not our experience at all. Our 7-year old DD isn't really a Girly-girl, but she embraced everything - breakfast with Cinderella and the princesses in the castle, a hug from Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, the Everest ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, lunch with Mickey, Donald, and friends at Animal Kingdom, the Lion King show, the Toy Story rides, T-Rex in Downtown Disney, the fireworks, the parades, the light shows, the great pools, etc., etc. Don't let a few sour people make you think it's not a hugely entertaining trip for a child.

It's actually super expensive, surprisingly dirty, and boring with long lines and expensive nasty food. We lasted about 2 hours with our kids (6 and 8) then left for a Disney water park. Lower your expectations because the place has not aged well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas? We just booked a vacation there with our extended family and it's our first time going. It looks nice but I'm not sure how far away it is from things. We have little kids 3 and 7 and only have the tickets that allow one park each day for four days. I'm considering skipping Epcot since the kids are young and just doing the magic kingdom for 2 days. Thoughts? Would they get anything out of Epcot? Can you upgrade your tickets for just a day if we wanted to go there for part of a day?

You can upgrade to a ParkHopper pass at any time during your stay, but you'll have to pay to upgrade the whole ticket. For 2+ day passes, I think PH costs $50 now.

We recently went to WDW with a 2.5 year old and spent a good bit of time at Epcot. He loved the Seas (both the Nemo ride and just staring at the aquariums) and he loved all the performers - drummers in Japan, acrobats, some kind of steel drums elsewhere, etc. It's a lot of new stuff to see, which for him works even if it's not designed for kids. There's some kind of scavenger hunt program that your 7 yo might like - I haven't tried it, but I saw lots of kids running around on "missions." With kids that age and limited days, I would consider skipping the Studios rather than Epcot, unless they're really into shows. So many of the rides at the Studios have height limits.

I haven't stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, but when we went with a big group we rented a condo just off-property at Bonnet Creek. So much cheaper (we paid $150/night for huge 3BR), great pools and amenities, and just as close as many of the Disney resorts.

Also, Epcot has the best restaurants, so if you are planning on making reservations at any restaurants there, you will like the flexibilty of the park hopper ticket if you have visited a different park that day.

Anonymous wrote:PP 20:08, which Bonnet Creek property did you guys do? I keep seeing great pics online of elaborate pools there but not sure which resort to pick.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek. It's a timeshare resort but there are several travel agencies that own a billion Wyndham points and rent them out to people. We booked through Vacation Strategy; I have also heard good things about Vacation Upgrades. We stayed in Tower 6 and loved it.
This thread on the Dis boards has tons of WBC info/reviews/advice: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2951974

PP 20:08, which Bonnet Creek property did you guys do? I keep seeing great pics online of elaborate pools there but not sure which resort to pick.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas? We just booked a vacation there with our extended family and it's our first time going. It looks nice but I'm not sure how far away it is from things. We have little kids 3 and 7 and only have the tickets that allow one park each day for four days. I'm considering skipping Epcot since the kids are young and just doing the magic kingdom for 2 days. Thoughts? Would they get anything out of Epcot? Can you upgrade your tickets for just a day if we wanted to go there for part of a day?

You can upgrade to a ParkHopper pass at any time during your stay, but you'll have to pay to upgrade the whole ticket. For 2+ day passes, I think PH costs $50 now.

We recently went to WDW with a 2.5 year old and spent a good bit of time at Epcot. He loved the Seas (both the Nemo ride and just staring at the aquariums) and he loved all the performers - drummers in Japan, acrobats, some kind of steel drums elsewhere, etc. It's a lot of new stuff to see, which for him works even if it's not designed for kids. There's some kind of scavenger hunt program that your 7 yo might like - I haven't tried it, but I saw lots of kids running around on "missions." With kids that age and limited days, I would consider skipping the Studios rather than Epcot, unless they're really into shows. So many of the rides at the Studios have height limits.

I haven't stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, but when we went with a big group we rented a condo just off-property at Bonnet Creek. So much cheaper (we paid $150/night for huge 3BR), great pools and amenities, and just as close as many of the Disney resorts.

OP here. Thank you everyone. Lots of good info to work with.

Anyone stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas? We just booked a vacation there with our extended family and it's our first time going. It looks nice but I'm not sure how far away it is from things. We have little kids 3 and 7 and only have the tickets that allow one park each day for four days. I'm considering skipping Epcot since the kids are young and just doing the magic kingdom for 2 days. Thoughts? Would they get anything out of Epcot? Can you upgrade your tickets for just a day if we wanted to go there for part of a day?

Anonymous wrote:http://mickeytravels.com/ - this is a link to my friend, elyssa's travel agency. She's a good friend from college and has planned 3 trips for my family. All of services are free and she's great! Really, a huge help for meal planning, dining reservations, etc.

+1 Also used Elyssa recently and she was great. We stayed in Beach Club Villas and loved it.

http://mickeytravels.com/ - this is a link to my friend, elyssa's travel agency. She's a good friend from college and has planned 3 trips for my family. All of services are free and she's great! Really, a huge help for meal planning, dining reservations, etc.

Touringplans.com, great tips for 1/2 day or full days plans at the parks. You may want to focus on the MK given the ages, if the kids love the zoo, then a 1/2 day at AK might be nice, or Hollywood Studios has great shows for kids, Disney junior Ariel, etc., also just a 1/2 day is needed. Given the duration of your trip, being close to your park of choice is critical to you getting the most out of your trip and having fun. I'd stay at contemporary or Polynesian. You cn walk to MK from contemp. Or take the monorail. Chef mickey's at the contemporary is a great breakfast buffet, your kids will get to meet all of the characters- Mickey, Donald, goofy, etc., they stop at each table for pictures and autographs. Being close to MK you can get there when it opens and see the "pre show" before the rope drop. So much fun. Spend a few hrs at the park, come home mid day for pool and/or rest, then back to the park for the electrical parade- so much fun and not loud or scary like the fireworks can be.

I recommended the Contemporary earlier, but we actually stayed at the Bay Lake Towers, which is part of the Contemporary complex. We had a suite with a kitchen and two bathrooms, which worked well for our party.

We only went to WDW and our kids were 5 and 3. We were all about a fun pool but not TOO big since our kids are young, we didn't need a lazy river or really tall slides but we did really want at least a suite and a kitchen setup. And high floors give me the willies with the little ones...
If you are not committed to staying on Disney property, you might check out Liki Tiki Village, about 8-9 miles west of WDW. Terrible name, but for way less $ than a hotel room we got a great 2 bedroom unit with a full kitchen and living room, screen porch, etc with parking, no valet hassles. It has a lowrise resort setting, nice landscaping, sandy playground, poolside grill, several pool areas and their kiddie pool has spray features, zero entry, 5 small waterslides and is really fun for the kids. Downside was no breakfast place onsite, only a poolside bar and grill with limited hours, but there are a ton of family restaurants along 192.
Parking at WDW was $14 and we stayed together all day so splitting up or getting home for a break was not an issue for us. The only hotel that looked tantalizingly close (walking distance with a stroller and no lines for a boat or monorail) at the end of the day was the Contemporary. The other hotels that are pretty close to WDW are the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and the Wilderness. We also considered the Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts and the Bonnet Creek resorts (Wyndham and Hilton) for their nice pools and may try there again.
We got reservations online for an early dinner at the Cinderella castle and brought dress-up clothes for the kids, that was definitely a highlight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Polynesian or Animal Kingdom Lodge. I've been to WDW a lot. Without kids would choose AKL or Beach Club.

Good websites:
allears.net
mousesavers.com
disboards.com
touringplans.com
ridemax.com

Good luck.

I second all these boards. As for me, my fave is the Swan/Dolphin... not "overly" Disney and yet you can still walk to Epcot.

OOps sorry for typos. My FAVE not my face