Anonymous wrote:When I traveled alone with DC being in a Disney hotel was well worth it (even just the basic "Value" ones), because I didn't want to have to rent a car, deal with finding food, etc. When I traveled in a larger group and was staying longer, staying off-site made sense for the bigger space at lower price.
If you want a cool hotel but it doesn't have to be "Disney" cool, look at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Big condos with kitchens and laundry and lots of space, and lots of resort amenities (multiple themed pool areas, minigolf, etc), small price compared to Disney villas. But you'll need to drive and the food options on site are very limited.
The Disney hotels do allow you to book your FastPasses a month earlier. For a very small number of attractions that will make a difference, but May is not the busiest season.

Check out yourfirstvisit.net. They have a lot of guidance aimed at people trying to do a "one and done, see it all" type of trip, and I think ages 8 and 5 are right in their recommended range for when to go if you're only going once.

We've been to Disney 3 times and have stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. If I was only going once AND could swallow the price, I would stay at one of the resorts on the monorail. Aside of those, I don't really feel like we miss out on anything we care about by not staying at a Disney resort. The space at Wyndham is pretty great, and it's on Disney property so closer to some parks than some Disney resorts. The last time we went (about 18 months ago), we paid $850 for 6 nights in a 3 bedroom condo. We book through vacationstrategy.com or vacationupgrades.com, not directly through Wyndham. We don't use extra magic hours (we avoid whichever park has that) or the dining plan, so the only difference for us is the delay in booking fast passes. I can't say that it's really affected us though, and I doubt it would affect a May vacation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you military or DOD ? Shades of green is on site and fantastic.

Its often more expensive than a moderate hotel depending on your rank/status. For us its always more expensive.

For those that are Military, the Armed Forces Salute tickets and hotel discounts are good deals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is really the only trip you will make to Disney, then yes stay onsite but I would still rent a car. Try to book one of the villas or at least one of the suites. You will get early hours at some of the parks and just a overall Disney experience. If this was your 3rd or 4th trip, I'd say, don't. The only caveat to this is if you are going to do Universal also, then for that part of the trip I would move off-site and closer to Universal. I think it is a waste to pay Disney prices and go to Universal.

Except the Universal hotels are even more expensive

Don't rent a car if you're staying onsite. Getting to Magic Kingdom by car is ridiculous because the parking adds a few extra steps (park, then tram to monorail or ferry, then MK). Not worth the hassle. The other parks' parking is better but if this is your one-and-done trip, you're going to be at MK.

Anonymous wrote:If this is really the only trip you will make to Disney, then yes stay onsite but I would still rent a car. Try to book one of the villas or at least one of the suites. You will get early hours at some of the parks and just a overall Disney experience. If this was your 3rd or 4th trip, I'd say, don't. The only caveat to this is if you are going to do Universal also, then for that part of the trip I would move off-site and closer to Universal. I think it is a waste to pay Disney prices and go to Universal.

Except the Universal hotels are even more expensive

Anonymous wrote:Some of the comments about run-down Disney hotels seem very off-base to me. We have gone yearly for the last several years and stayed at all levels of properties. All have been well-maintained and regularly updated once things start looking worn or dated.

For a one-and-done trip, I highly recommend staying on property because that becomes part of the story: "We stayed at a hotel that looks like a mountain lodge," or "there was a giant big wheel outside our hotel room." It's part of the whimsy of Disney. If you're on a budget and still want some elbow room, get adjoining rooms at a value (Pop, etc.) or a family suite at Art of Animation. If you have a bigger budget, book a one-bedroom villa (either renting DVC points or through Disney; we booked through Disney and the price was the same as renting points) at a deluxe property. We did this most recently as our kids are older and it just isn't a whole lot of fun cramming all 4 of us in a traditional room anymore.

Another thought if you have the budget is to stay Club Level at a deluxe, because the lounge gives you another nice space for your down time. Yes, you can just hang around the public areas of resorts too, but the CL lounge feels like an extension of your room and the staff is always very nice.

And the food is fantastic. We stayed at Beach Club club level and breakfast was enough for a full meal, and dinner (heavy appetizers) was enough for me and the kids (not enough for DH). And alcohol! Woot woot!

Highly recommend Club Level.

I believe the only time Disney will guarantee an adjoining room is if there is only one adult traveling with more children than can legally stay in a single room with that adult. The occupancy limit is 4 people over the age of 2 in most rooms, 5 people in some rooms at some of the resorts (and then higher limits for the suite and villa options).

Anonymous wrote:Some of the comments about run-down Disney hotels seem very off-base to me. We have gone yearly for the last several years and stayed at all levels of properties. All have been well-maintained and regularly updated once things start looking worn or dated.

For a one-and-done trip, I highly recommend staying on property because that becomes part of the story: "We stayed at a hotel that looks like a mountain lodge," or "there was a giant big wheel outside our hotel room." It's part of the whimsy of Disney. If you're on a budget and still want some elbow room, get adjoining rooms at a value (Pop, etc.) or a family suite at Art of Animation. If you have a bigger budget, book a one-bedroom villa (either renting DVC points or through Disney; we booked through Disney and the price was the same as renting points) at a deluxe property. We did this most recently as our kids are older and it just isn't a whole lot of fun cramming all 4 of us in a traditional room anymore.

Another thought if you have the budget is to stay Club Level at a deluxe, because the lounge gives you another nice space for your down time. Yes, you can just hang around the public areas of resorts too, but the CL lounge feels like an extension of your room and the staff is always very nice.

The thing is, Disney won't guarantee adjoining rooms. You can request them, but it's not guaranteed. If you read at the Disboards you will see that many times families with two adults and several young kids have requested connecting rooms, but received rooms far apart instead.

If you are considering Disney villas, see if you can rent points from a DVC owner. I've done this with these folks: https://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-rentals.asp , and there are other options out there too. You'll pay less than going through Disney, with some trade-offs: no daily maid service, and reservations are not cancellable.

Some of the comments about run-down Disney hotels seem very off-base to me. We have gone yearly for the last several years and stayed at all levels of properties. All have been well-maintained and regularly updated once things start looking worn or dated.

For a one-and-done trip, I highly recommend staying on property because that becomes part of the story: "We stayed at a hotel that looks like a mountain lodge," or "there was a giant big wheel outside our hotel room." It's part of the whimsy of Disney. If you're on a budget and still want some elbow room, get adjoining rooms at a value (Pop, etc.) or a family suite at Art of Animation. If you have a bigger budget, book a one-bedroom villa (either renting DVC points or through Disney; we booked through Disney and the price was the same as renting points) at a deluxe property. We did this most recently as our kids are older and it just isn't a whole lot of fun cramming all 4 of us in a traditional room anymore.

Another thought if you have the budget is to stay Club Level at a deluxe, because the lounge gives you another nice space for your down time. Yes, you can just hang around the public areas of resorts too, but the CL lounge feels like an extension of your room and the staff is always very nice.

If this is really the only trip you will make to Disney, then yes stay onsite but I would still rent a car. Try to book one of the villas or at least one of the suites. You will get early hours at some of the parks and just a overall Disney experience. If this was your 3rd or 4th trip, I'd say, don't. The only caveat to this is if you are going to do Universal also, then for that part of the trip I would move off-site and closer to Universal. I think it is a waste to pay Disney prices and go to Universal.

I would recommend staying on site at the Beach Club Resort in a Villa. The pool is amazing! You can walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Just got back from a stay at the Dolphin, which as a PP said, is a Sheraton right next to the Swan (Westin). The first time we took our kids there, we stayed at the Contemporary. That was a very expensive hotel, and what we found was that it was way quicker to walk to the MK rather than take the monorail. IIRC, the monorail going to MK actually takes you several stops at other hotels first, so it's like a 20 min trip to get to MK as opposed to 10 mins of walking. I think the Contemporary is the first stop going back from MK, but obviously you have to wait in a line.

The Dolphin was nice in that it did allow you to make fast pass reservations 90 days out, but because it's not a Disney hotel, you don't get the free Magical Express bus to/from the airport and you don't get charging privileges on your Magic Band. We booked a car from Orlando Limo and were happy with them. They did a stop at a grocery store so we were able to get perishables for breakfast.

One of the benefits of staying at a Disney property is the extra Magic hours. Since our kids were younger, we didn't take advantage of them, so I don't know if magic hours would be a deciding factor for us.

PP 8:22 here

Also, your trip will be during the Flower and Garden festival at Epcot
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-flower-and-garden-festival/
I'm not sure if that affects availability at the Epcot resorts like the Food and Wine festival does.

Animal Kingdom is farthest from the other three parks--it's a great hotel but you'll spend the most time traveling to other parts (it also has the fewest things to do there). Recommend staying at MK if you can swing it, or Epcot. The villas at Wilderness Lodge or Beach Club might be perfect for your family. Staying on property makes for a nicer vacation at Disney for a lot of reasons.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for your advice. I think the thing is that to get the two (or more) room suite/villa/whatever that we really prefer while on vacation, we're going to need to spend at least $600/night to stay on the Disney property (or am I off base here? Just going off what I see on the Disney website) when an even bigger condo could be had for half the price (or less) just off property. But again, I do like the idea of being able to have some extra amenities for the parks and the themes of the hotels are super fun - I know my kids would LOVE the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

You could probably get two value rooms or maybe even two moderates for less than $600/night--but Disney won't guarantee they will be connecting or even in the same building.

I know you said third week in May, so I plugged in random start and end dates in that period and found you can get a 2 bedroom villa for $574/night at Old Key West resort. These are some of the largest 2 bedroom units on property--you'll have a kitchen and living room too. There is a boat that takes you to Disney Springs (the main shopping/dining area--formerly known as Downtown Disney.) I am the PP that said my family is staying at Saratoga Springs later this year---Old Key West was actually my first choice, but was unavailable for my dates, so I'm a little jealous! FWIW, 2 bedroom at Saratoga Springs is also available for the same rate those days in May. And for both resorts, there are 1 bedroom units available for a lower rate.


There are also similar 2 bedroom (and one bedroom) units available at the other resorts, including Animal Kingdom lodge--but you will need to go over $600/night for those.
If you really think your kids will love Animal Kingdom Lodge, you can always have a meal there and just walk around and look at the hotel. The last time I was there my husband and I made reservations at their signature restaurant, Jiko. We arrived about an hour early, got a drink at the bar, and then went outside on the various observation decks at the resort to watch the animals. There are two other restaurants, Sanaa (excellent!) and Boma (Its a buffet, but I have not eaten here. I've heard great things about it, though.)