What would be your preferred hotel with 2 under 4s

[Nettlelondon]

I am in the very early stages of thinking about a trip with two children, at the time we plan to go one will be 4 and one 3. There will be 4 adults, the parents of the children and another couple.

As we are coming from the UK it would most likely be a two week trip so there would be plenty of time for non park downtime, and the 4 adults are travelling to allow everyone to have time with and without the little ones, and for everyone to have the option of park time and non park time.

What would be your preferred on site hotel in the circumstances? And why? Budget isn't hugely tight as we have a fair amount of time to save for it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[KMarston]

If it were two weeks I would do a split stay I think at Beach Club/Yacht Club for the pool and Poly for easy access to MK. Are you getting two rooms?

 

[DisneyRobin]

I would choose one of the monorail hotels - the grand Floridian, the Polynesian or the contemporary. They’re all great resorts with very easy access to the magic kingdom. You can even walk to the mk from the contemporary!

 

[Amy5000]

I stayed at Saratoga Springs when my kids were little and loved it. There's a community center and you can get away from things and just enjoy the pool and environment. But I will say that the monorail is very convenient so you could consider the Poly or any of the monorail resorts. Happy planning.

 

[Nettlelondon]

Thanks. Yes, two rooms. We are friends, but not that close

 

[KMarston]

The pool at the Yacht/Beach Club is amazing fun for kids. There’s a shallow poll with islands of sand. The poll side kids meals are served in a bucket for playing in the sand. Both Poly and beach club’s Cape May have character breakfasts. There’s also a great Lazy River side for adults and kids. A neat slide but an adult would have to tag along. The monorail hotels are so convenient with kids. Our DGS could watch the fireworks from his little pull down bunk at the Poly which also has a great pool and a lot of activities onsite for the kids. The food is good at both resorts and both are within walking distance or monorail for easy access to ther resorts. Hope you all have a wonderful trip where ever you choose.

 

[MrsDuck]

Absolutely a monorail resort - Poly, Contemporary, or Grand Floridian. You cannot beat the proximity!

 

[westie55]

All of the hotels are wonderful BUT I have decided that until my kids are past napping age, I will be staying on the monorail. There is nothing better than not having to wake up your sleeping children to get them onto a bus. I am not sure the monorail resorts are worth the premium you pay otherwise (particularly the Contemporary, IMO it's only draw is being on the monorail), but for families with kids in strollers, I now totally see why people are willing to pay more for these resorts. I do not make tons of money (far from it), but the convenience is worth the price for my family. We love the GF. I'm not a big fan of the Contemporary. We stayed there this summer. The walk to MK was too hot and too far in the summer sun and we found ourselves taking the monorail instead. I haven't stayed at the Polynesian yet and probably will next trip.

 

[sponica]

If budget is no concern, the Polynesian or Yacht Club/Beach Club.

For the more "cost sensitive" I'd look at moderates like CBR (on the skyliner and direct access to Epcot or Hollywood studios) or Port Orleans, yeah I know it's bus everywhere but French Quarter has a super small footprint which is awesome for strollers (we're not return to the room midday people), I honestly prefer Riverside but some people find it too big.

Honestly for kids that age, I'd stay wherever the adults would want to stay. For me, I want easy access to epcot. My kid (almost 4) is happy playing in any pool and running along any green landscaped area.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If it were two weeks I would do a split stay I think at Beach Club/Yacht Club for the pool and Poly for easy access to MK. Are you getting two rooms?

I agree with this. If you have two weeks to vacation, I would split my stay between an EP resort and a MK resort. With little ones and strollers, I feel ease of transportation to the parks and other recreation and dining options is paramount. In terms of specific resorts, though you can walk to MK from CR, the pool area is not great for younger children. I would consider GF and Poly (both have monorail access, zero entry pools and splash pads for younger kids) or even WL (you will have boat access to MK, plus a smaller pool and a splash pad).

In the EP resort area, you really can't go wrong with any of the WDW resorts - BWI, BC/YC. They are all within walking distance to EP plus numerous restaurants in the Boardwalk area. When my DS was still in a stroller, I LOVED staying at these resorts so we could simply stroll out of our room and into EP at night to stroll around and eat. It made my life so much easier than contending with any mode of transportation.

In addition to pricing out two rooms at the resorts, you may want to check pricing for 2-bedroom villas at CCV, BRV, BCV and BWV. With a good discount, the 2-bedrooms can sometimes price out less than 2 regular rooms. Plus, with the villas, you get a full kitchen, living room and a washer/dryer which will come in handy while vacationing with two toddlers for two weeks. My family just took a trip with a friend and her son in July and we shared a two-bedroom at BCV. With our discount, it was far cheaper than getting two regular rooms at BC.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Just because it hasn't been mentioned, AoA is built for the under 4 set. Zero entry pool themed to Nemo, splash pad, Elephant graveyard, Cars and Little Mermaid interactive areas. The gondola opens that up to be a great option for the adults to get to and from the parks too. You could even take the kids over to CB on the gondola to explore there on a non-park day.

 

[tamerbelles]

We stayed at AoA in August, and it was PERFECT for my kids. The littles will need naps, so having a separate bedroom where the kids can sleep in the afternoon is ideal. Then again, if you're staying deluxe, the adults can hang out on the balcony while the kids nap, which is what we did when we only had one child.

Personally, I liked the extra space in the AoA suite. We felt more "home" by being able to unpack and spread out. That's a big consideration when you're looking at two weeks!

 

[Feberin]

If you have the money a suite with a washer/dryer is grear when traveling with small kids. It makes packing less stressful because you can always do laundry and nobody is sitting around waiting for it either. Plus a suite lets you put the kids to bed and hang out in a communal area while definitely being close to the kids versus connecting rooms where you could not get that request.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I would recommend you rent points and stay in a DVC villa. One bedroom and studio. You will appreciate the washer and dryer and full kitchen on a 2 weeks stay with little kids.

 

[ElsasAnnasMom]

something with either a separate bedroom or a balcony/patio so you can put the kids to bed and still enjoy the rest of your night without having to sit quietly in the dark room.

 

[tinkerjo]

Since Disney makes everything with kids in mind, I’m not sure you can really go wrong. They all offer lots of daily kid activities. The all star and AoA are themed more for kids but also very busy with lots of little kids. The moderate resorts are nice but unless you pay for an upgrade, they lack theming but have good pools. The monorail resorts are great for convenience. One that hasn’t been mentioned is fort wilderness cabins. The downside is transportation( you have to use an internal bus to get to the actual bus unless you rent a golf cart for $60a day but they are really fun) but I always liked the refrigerator and stove to make kid friendly meals (hot dogs and Mac and cheese) and there is plenty of sleeping space. There is a bedroom with a door you can shut for naps. I always hated trying to get my kid to nap when I was in the room. They were used to lying down in their own room without the distraction of me. Plus it is remote and quiet. Honestly, I would pick what works for you and your likes. The kids will have fun no matter where you stay. All resorts have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The best part if staying at a resort with direct access like the monorail is you can rope drop and head back to the room for lunch and nap easily. Not that you cant do it with a bus it just can take an hour back to the room.

 

[brockash]

Since Disney makes everything with kids in mind, I’m not sure you can really go wrong. They all offer lots of daily kid activities. The all star and AoA are themed more for kids but also very busy with lots of little kids. The moderate resorts are nice but unless you pay for an upgrade, they lack theming but have good pools. The monorail resorts are great for convenience. One that hasn’t been mentioned is fort wilderness cabins. The downside is transportation( you have to use an internal bus to get to the actual bus unless you rent a golf cart for $60a day but they are really fun) but I always liked the refrigerator and stove to make kid friendly meals (hot dogs and Mac and cheese) and there is plenty of sleeping space. There is a bedroom with a door you can shut for naps. I always hated trying to get my kid to nap when I was in the room. They were used to lying down in their own room without the distraction of me. Plus it is remote and quiet. Honestly, I would pick what works for you and your likes. The kids will have fun no matter where you stay. All resorts have their advantages and disadvantages.

100% CR or BLT if you can afford them. You can walk to MK and monorail to Epcot - not having to take kids out or collapse stroller for either of these. That's where we spend most of our time so that works well for us. It's great to b able to get back to ur room for a break without all the transportation issues. My kids always loved seeing the monorail and Chef Mickeys right there.

 

[StitchyPoo81]

We love the Contemporary. My kids love watching the Electric Water Pageant at night, renting the power boats and taking the boat over to Fort Wilderness to see the horses that are used in Magic Kingdom. And of course riding the monorail. The pool is nothing special.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

We'll have a 2, 3 and 5 year old on our next trip and are doing Boardwalk Inn. The kids would've been happy anywhere. What won us over was the walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios so we can go back and do a park at "night" (really probably more like 4-8 p.m, maybe 9 p.m. for Epcot if kids aren't grouchy).