Best resorts for young kids?

[Omoreno]

What are some of the best resorts for infants and toddlers?



If you’ve gone with your very young children, what were some things they really enjoyed or were fascinated by?

What age do kids start to really enjoy the parks?

 

[teawar]

1 bedroom rooms were really helpful when we had a toddler. We would put her to bed in the other room and then watch tv or stay up.

 

[princesscinderella]

AKV is great for little kids because they can watch the animals and they kidani pool has a splash pad.

 

[HickoryDickory]

My young kids love playing on Beach Club, Poly, and Grand Floridian’s sandy ‘beaches’

 

[Timandalicia]

We brought our kids at all ages. They love it at any age but in very different ways. Small World is amazing at even the youngest of ages. Believe it or not, I put 3D glasses on my kids before they were 2 and the loved Philharmagic.

Enjoy while they are young. My 13 year-old was silently looking at everything during Small World. I thought to myself, he still loves this ride. He is still in awe. Only to here him say, “There are 307 dolls on this ride”. . He was just bored so he counted all the dolls.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

I second the suggestion for a 1 bedroom. Having laundry and a kitchen plus the separate bedroom was great.
My personal favourite is Boardwalk. I could walk back to the room from two parks. Very handy if I needed to grab something from the room, outfit changes, nap time, etc. not to have to deal with Disney transportation. There is also a playground at BW, a little pool next to that which was great for my little one, and it’s easy to keep an eye on them.
The Boardwalk area has fun entertainment (pre-covid). The performers and friendship boats are fun to watch. Lots of kids playing on the “green”. Plus easy access to ice cream (replacement for Ample Hills just opened).

 

[DduzDis]

I agree with the Boardwalk suggestions above and would add Bay Lake for the walk to MK and it also has a splashpad my girls loved. We have been taking ours (now 5 and 8) since before they each were 1 yo. Ideally a split between BLT for your MK days and BWV for your EP and DHS days. The walks to those parks from their respective resorts is awesome.

 

[taterheads]

I recommend Pop Century or the suites at Art of Animation for littles. Both have multiple fun swim and water play areas, as well as fun bright theming that a little one would love. They both have ample room for a family of 3. I dont think there is any right or wrong age for a kiddo to experience Disney World. I have taken my kids as young as 2 and they''re now teenagers, we've been at every stage of growing up and they experienced and loved it differently at every stage. What I reccomend if its a once in a lifetime trip and you want to experiece the magic of them believing everything is real, is around 5 years old. If you are more into rides and them calling the shots 10+. It is of course less expensive to take a child than an adult (10 years old at Disney), if expense is a concern.

 

[DeeBee3]

I put a vote in for Wilderness Lodge. Both my little kids love/loved the boat ride over to MK. There is a splash pad near the main pool. The lobby is cool just to wander about and they liked it. You can walk out to the dock and watch the Electrical Water Pageant if they happen to be awake.

 

[havoc315]

What are some of the best resorts for infants and toddlers?



If you’ve gone with your very young children, what were some things they really enjoyed or were fascinated by?

What age do kids start to really enjoy the parks?

First age: If they are still stroller-dependent age, then I find enjoyment is limited for both kids and adults.
Our first trip with kids: My youngest daughter celebrated her 4th birthday on the trip. It was pretty magical for her. Any younger than that, would have been too young. IMO.

Best resorts: It's a combination of factors:

1. BLT: Purely in terms of proximity to Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is the best part for the youngest of kids, and being able to get to/from park by walking/monorail in under 10 minutes is pretty key. Kid's exhaustion starts to show, you can get back to your room in 15 minutes. Instead of a 20 minute wait at a bus stop, followed by long bus ride, etc. (Runner's up: Poly and GFV, just slightly further from MK walking).
2. BCV for Stormalong Bay and easy walk to Epcot. The easy walk to/from Epcot is especially nice for parents of a young toddler. The World Showcase is more interesting to adults than kids, but at least you can get back to your room in 10 minutes if your kid gets cranky. For older toddlers, Stormalong Bay is a fantastic pool. For younger toddlers and infants, I don't think there is a huge difference from 1 pool to another. (Though Runner up here Riviera here: great water play area for the kids, and most times of day, quick easy skyliner access to 2 parks, though there can be long lines at park open and park close).
3. AKV: The downside is the distance from the parks. But the upside: Kids watching animals from the balcony. No other resort can offer that.

For really young kids, I think the biggest factor is convenience of the adults. Avoid the aggravation of long bus rides. Pick locations and amenities that will make it easier on the parents. The kids will be equally fascinated by it all.

 

[Happy2BMommy0812]

We stayed all over with toddlers and preferred our home resort, Polynesian when we had stroller access, or Animal Kingdom for the views of animals (my youngest loved animals) and the zero entry pool. That being said, a lot of resorts have zero entry pools, and we also frequented Beach Club, Boardwalk and Wilderness with young kids. They were all great as well.
We have found that it really does not matter what age the kids are, all resorts are great. We pick based on what the adults want out of the trip.

 

[VdoesDisney]

We have a 2 year old, haven’t stayed at all resorts but here are my thoughts based on where we’ve stayed or visited
- AKV: we had an amazing experience staying here, our kid could just watch the animals for hours from the balcony and be happy, he also loved the Kidani pool. The big known downside is transportation.
- BLT: super convenient MK access and our kid was just fascinated with the views of monorail, that said I’m on the fence on whether I want to stay here again, the balconies are super unsafe (extremely easy for a toddler to climb) and the studios are tiny, the pool was also cold during our stay, our kid was shivering within 20 minutes of being in it.
- Poly: we haven’t stayed here but we’ve visited and spent a good amount of time at the resort, I think this is a better MK option with toddlers, the pool and beach areas are more fun for them, and our kid was very happy to ride the boats to/from MK. While I haven’t experienced the rooms, I know from reviews they are much bigger and have that extra bathroom, so I’m pretty sure this will become our MK centric resort.
- VWL: haven’t stayed here, only visited but we all fell in love, my SO and I loved Geyser Point and the overall theme, our kid was really happy running around all the common areas, the pool looks like tons of fun, and our kid loved the boat rides (looking for add-on contracts here now )
- BCV: my top choice right now, our toddler was in heaven at stormalong bay, we felt the pool was very safe for his age group, and you have so many entertainment options, you can walk along the boardwalk, play in the beach area, let your toddler(s) run around the green areas at BCV, or take the boats/skyliner (our kid considers these forms of transportation rides). Finally the proximity to Epcot is a huge plus, our 2 y/o is happy to do Epcot rides and that’s our favorite park so win/win for everyone, especially when it’s so easy to head back and forth for naps or pool time.
- BWV: we actually own here now but haven’t been able to stay, we’ve only visited, I give it all the same pros as BCV but with a slightly less entertaining pool, though it does have a playground so… maybe it’s a close call
- SSR/OKW: haven’t stayed or visited
- VGF: visited, pool and water play area look like fun but I feel like the overall theme is not very inviting to intense toddlers.

 

[Donna M]

We took our 1 and 2 year old grandkids last year and stayed at OKW. Having the large living room was great; it was easy to run in circles around the island to release all that energy. The main pool worked well along with the kids pool even though it is very basic. This year we are staying in a cabin at CCV and I think having the enclosed screened area will be nice to let them out but not have to worry about them. Having our car was great because we could park right outside our unit and leave the stroller in the van.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Surprisingly, our granddaughters' favorite resort was also OKW, because that's where they were. They were 1 1/2 and 4 yo. They loved the huge balcony where everyone could sit and eat breakfast together (OKW is the only resort with a table for 4). The pool was their favorite (any pool they could go to would have been their favorite). Kids that age love everything. The only surprise was that our youngest, the 1 1/2 yo, picked that time to let us know she was terrified of heights, so she screamed on Dumbo and we had to take her off.

 

[Doberge]

I like and agree with a lot of what's been said but I'll throw in Riviera too. The tower concept is great for compactness. We are at Riviera now and can walk to the pool and restaurants in less than 2 minutes. I did a roundtrip drink refill this afternoon in 3 minutes 30 seconds out door and back.

I don't think there's a bad choice, just some like OKW and SSR that are sprawling and more difficult to navigate internally and with resort buses.

 

[jppeek]

Just returned from a trip with our 23 month old. We did a 10 night split stay VGF and BCV and it worked out pretty awesome. This was our first trip with our son (24th overall)

Did MK every morning the days at VGF and then spent most of the afternoons after his nap at the kids pool area which my son loved! The slide was perfect size and he would laugh so hard every time the hatters hat would pour on him. That play area was probably my sons favorite part of trip!

second half of the trip at BCV was equally perfect. Hollywood studio days we did park in the morning and pool in the afternoon and then Epcot days we switched since Epcot opens later and did pool in the morning (the pool is pretty amazing and my son enjoyed playing in sand).

I swore I never wanted to be that dad trying to board the crowded bus as I try and empty/break down my stroller lol

the one bedroom (or bigger) is a must in my opinion with a toddler. We had grocery delivery and were able to enjoy many meals in the room which took some stress off and allowed us to relax more. Plus the extra space gave him plenty of room to play and seemed to make him more comfortable.

We are planning another trip for February and are going to try and do same thing (half at VGF or BLT for monorail and other half either BWV or BCV for walking/boats). the re-packing part is a nuisance but avoiding buses and having such convenience to the parks far out weighed it for us!

 

[SnowChaser]

Edit: Sorry, forgot I was in the DVC forum! I stand by my recommendations

Most here are recommending deluxes, which sound lovely. We’ve had good experiences at a value and moderate as well, which are easier on the budget for us— Pop Century and Port Orleans French Quarter.

Pop was great for a four night trip, not sure I’d do a full week with a little there. We ate a meal or two every day in the room on the table that pulls down to a bed. That was nice and low key. Great storage in those rooms, which is wonderful bc we all know babies have the most stuff! There’s a great playground and you can walk across the bridge to Art of Animations playground, food court and to view the large statues. Skyliner transport to two parks is awesome, and we found the buses easy and frequent.

Port Orleans French Quarter is my favorite and we stayed for a week in a king room with our two y/o in a pack n play. We put the pack n play in the bathroom sink area and closed the curtain (did this at pop too actually). It was a budget 1 bedroom! The splash pad here is awesome! The resort is compact and well shaded so plenty of space to wander outside with your kiddo. Theres also a playground here that we liked. Buses were good from the single bus stop and the routes to MK and Epcot feel especially quick. Boat to Disney Springs is lovely.