(For the summary of this itinerary, see this. For a 90 day calendar, see this.)

D. STILL EXACTLY 90 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL DATE

1. Call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) and make the exact reservations below (A 10-15 minute variance in times, either way, is ok, if that’s all they offer). For some reservations, you will need to provide a credit card number even though you plan to use credits. That’s ok, as this is Disney’s way of making sure that at high-demand events you are not a no-show. You will be able to use your credits—just tell the host at the restaurant when you check in, and your waiter.

Reserve (note: you only need to, and can, reserve table service restaurants):

• First Saturday: Akershus Banquet Character Meal, 6:30p (Dining Plan)
• First Sunday: 50’s Prime Time Café, 6:15p (Dining Plan)
• Monday: Hoop de Doo Revue, 7:15p show (Dining Plan, two credits)
• Tuesday: Whispering Canyon Skillet Lunch 1:15p, (cash); Liberty Tree Tavern Character Meal 6p (Dining Plan)
• Wednesday: Downtown Disney (NOT Animal Kingdom) Rainforest Café, 8p (Cash, not Dining Plan).
• Thursday: Chef Mickey’s Character breakfast, 10:30a (Cash, not Dining Plan); 1900 Park Fare Character Meal, 8p (Dining Plan)
• Friday: Candlelight Processional Dinner Package for the 8:15 Processional show (make sure you tell the reservation agent all of this) San Angel Inn, 5:30p (Dining Plan)
• Second Saturday: Crystal Palace Character Dinner 8p. (Dining Plan)

2. Go to the site for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and order tickets for your family for Tuesday (Cash)

3. Order your Cirque du Soleil tickets (Category 2) for the 6p show on Wednesday at this site (cash).

4. Call the House of Blues Orlando at (407) 934-BLUE and order tickets for your second Sunday 10:30 Gospel Brunch (cash)

E. CHECK THIS SITE LATE IN THE FIRST WEEK OF EVERY FOLLOWING MONTH FOR ANY CHANGES.

F. NOTES ON PACKING BEFORE YOU LEAVE

1. If you use Disney’s Magical Express, you do not need to collect your bags at the Orlando airport. Disney will get them for you and, eventually, deliver them directly to your room. Your bags may arrive hours after you do; so, depending on the weather forecasts, have a carry-on with an appropriate change of clothes for Orlando weather on Saturday, as you will almost certainly go to Epcot on Saturday before your checked bags arrive.

2. Follow the instructions in the Magical Express packet you will receive in the mail regarding both tagging your bags pre-departure, and where to go at the Orlando airport to find your transport to your resort.

3. Bring a copy of your room reservation, confirmation numbers (such as for the Gospel Brunch) and any tickets for special events (like MVMCP) you may have received in the mail.

4. If you have room, pack breakfast supplies: cereal, bowls, spoons, napkins, etc.

• For itinerary design goals and the basic December Itinerary, see this
• For shorter and longer itineraries targeted at the same December week, see this
• For itineraries covering all the other parts of the year, see this
• To design your own itinerary, see this
• For rides that might be skipped, see this
• For a comprehensive guide to rides and attractions, see this

LINKS FOR WHEN TO GO

• For when to go, see this
• For next best dates, see this
• For 2009 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For weeks to visit in future years, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
• For 2009 price seasons, see this
• For projected price seasons in future years, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

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The thumbnail–click to open; when open, click again once or twice to enlarge–rates the Walt Disney World table service restaurants in the Magic Kingdom area–in the park, and in the WDW resorts nearby–based on both appeal to kids and appeal to adults.

This approach allows you to pick your dining choices based on kid appeal, adult appeal, or both!

DINING LINKS

• How to Eat
• What if You Can’t do the Dining Plan?
• Where to Eat
• Dining Alternatives
• The Comprehensive Guide to Walt Disney World Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Magic Kingdom-Area Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Epcot-Area Dining
• Character Meals and Dinner Shows Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Parks Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Resorts Ranked in Order

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The thumbnail–click to open; when open, click again once or twice to enlarge–rates the Walt Disney World table service restaurants in the Epcot area–in the park, and in the WDW resorts nearby–based on both appeal to kids and appeal to adults.

This approach allows you to pick your dining choices based on kid appeal, adult appeal, or both!

DINING LINKS

• How to Eat
• What if You Can’t do the Dining Plan?
• Where to Eat
• Dining Alternatives
• The Comprehensive Guide to Walt Disney World Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Magic Kingdom-Area Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Epcot-Area Dining
• Character Meals and Dinner Shows Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Parks Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Resorts Ranked in Order

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The thumbnail–click to open; when open, click again once or twice to enlarge–rates the Walt Disney World table service restaurants based on both appeal to kids and appeal to adults. This approach allows you to pick your dining choices based on kid appeal, adult appeal, or both!

DINING LINKS

• How to Eat
• What if You Can’t do the Dining Plan?
• Where to Eat
• Dining Alternatives
• The Comprehensive Guide to Walt Disney World Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Magic Kingdom-Area Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Epcot-Area Dining
• Character Meals and Dinner Shows Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Parks Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Resorts Ranked in Order

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Much of the material on this site is unique

• Partly because no other site or book focuses solely on first time family visitors who are not sure whether or not they will ever return
• Partly because the approach of this site is unlike that of any other site or book: to give exact advice, but then also next best options if families can’t follow that exact advice, and
• Partly because this site presents information sourced, grouped, or analyzed in ways no one else has ever done.

That said…some pages are “more unique” than others! The top ten most unique pages of all are listed below!

MOST UNIQUE PAGES

1. No other source uses Disney’s own data to predict Future Crowds
2. The only place to find all the weeks of 2009 ranked based on their attractiveness to first time family visitors is here: 2009 Weeks to Visit, Ranked in Order
3. Many source provide simple weather info on Walt Disney World. Only the pages whose links can be found on Weather and When to Go use sophisticated analysis and graphics to show the range of what weather the first time family visitor may be facing
4. The thumbnail in How Old/Tall Your Children Should Be provides the simplest overview of what your kids might miss at various heights
5. The thumbnail on The Comprehensive Guide to Rides is the only simple and easy to read way to tell which rides and attractions are best, and which worst, for the various ages of the members of your family
6. Pretty much any source will tell you the size in square feet of the various Walt Disney World resort hotel rooms. Only How Many Square Feet in a Square Foot shows the real livability of this square footage, by distinguishing among room components, and comparing sizes to hotel industry standards
7. The simplest and clearest way anywhere to see what you get in a Deluxe vs. a Moderate vs. a Value Resort can be seen on Walt Disney World Resort Features by Price Category
8. Disney World is awkward for families bigger than 4 or 5. The most comprehensive treatment of large families anywhere can be found beginning on More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
9. While this site recommends a budget for the itinerary it recommends, it is also the only site that makes it very easy to see what you can get–in terms of nights in the resorts and days in the parks–on Designing Your Walt Disney World Vacation to a Target Budget
10. And the most unique page of all: of course, the Summary of Instructions!

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The links below take you to the most popular pages about Walt Disney World on this site!

See also this page for the Top 10 most unique pages on this site!

TOP 10 PAGES

1. Summary of Instructions: The essential advice of this site
2. Predictions of Future Crowds to use in picking your dates
3. The list of 2009 Weeks to Visit, Ranked in Order based on crowds, prices, hurricanes, ride closures, etc
4. The basic instructions on When to Go, and why to go then
5. Links to material on Next Best Dates if you can’t go the recommended week
6. Material on Weather and When to Go
7. The basic instructions on Where to Stay, with links to more pages if you can’t or won’t stay there
8. The Comprehensive Guide to Rides, which ranks rides by appeal to age group, to use in adjusting this site’s itineraries to the actual ages of your party, or for planning shorter days or shorter trips
9. The Basic Itinerary for the recommended week. Itineraries for other weeks can be found here
10. Suggestions on How Old/Tall Your Children Should Be for first time family visitors who are not sure if they will ever return or not

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Disney Vacation Club members often rent the “points” which they are granted as members of DVC to non-vacation club members.

At a going rate of around $12 per point, this perfectly legitimate and Disney-supported approach can greatly reduce the cost of a Walt Disney World visit for those either looking for a 4-person deluxe room (who would target a DVC Studio—see this for more on the DVC resorts and their room types) or for large families targeting an 8, 9 or 12 person DVC room to fit their family at bargain prices. (See both this and this for more on large families.)

For example, during the least expensive season of the year, you can rent a Studio at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge for the 8 nights of my itineraries for 126 DVC points.

At a typical cost of $12 per point, this will cost $1512 for the 8 nights. If you rented this same room through the Disney web site, it would cost $1400 more. The Studio arranged through points is even $400 cheaper over the period than the already inexpensive (for a deluxe) Wilderness Lodge regular rooms.

MORE DETAILS

Successfully renting and using DVC points requires first finding out how many points you will need—points vary by resort, by room type, and by season. Second, you have to find a DVC owner willing to rent you this quantity of points. Third, you need to confirm that your desired room type is available on the dates you wish to go. Finally, you need to work with the DVC owner to have them set you up at the resort.

Mousesavers.com has a wonderful entry on this topic, covering all the details you need to work though, on this page.

LINKS FOR LARGE FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Large Families at Walt Disney World
• More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World, Continued
• The Disney Vacation Club (”DVC”) Resorts at Walt Disney World
• Renting DVC Points at Walt Disney World

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY

• For where to stay, see this
• For your next best choices, in order, see this
• For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
• For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
• For where not to stay, see this
• For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
• For differences among moderate resorts, see this
• For differences among value resorts, see this
• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
• Large families should look at this
• Military/DOD families should look at this

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One Bedroom Villas

Two Bedroom Villas

For even larger families, Grand Villas, available at all Disney World DVC Resorts except for The Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and the Beach Club Villas, sleep 12 and are spectacular—and spectacularly expensive. However, they are often not a huge amount more expensive than 3 deluxe regular rooms—which is what you would need to reserve to find space for more than 10 people—while providing a single space for your entire family and around twice the square footage. If you can rent points, they are less money than three regular rooms at most of the deluxes.

A Grand Villa has three distinct bedrooms—two sleeping 4 in two queens, and one sleeping two in a king. Two more sleeping spaces are available in a sofa-bed in the common rooms for a total of 12 available spots.

Grand Villas are remarkable. If you think (as hotel designers do) of a standard room as being one “bay,” then the DVC Studios that sleep 4 are one bay, the One Bedroom Villas are two bays, and the Two Bedrooms Villas are three bays. (Old Key West is an exception. Because its architecture yields such a large kitchen/dining/living room, a one bedroom is kinda 2.5 bays, and a two bedroom is kinda 3.5 bays.)

Grand Villas are 6 bays—twice as big as the Two Bedroom Villas. They range from 2113 square feet at Saratoga Springs to 2492 square feet at the Boardwalk Villas. (One regular room at the Grand Floridian, sleeping 5, is 440 square feet—so, at maximum capacity, the Grand Villas provide more than twice as much square feet per person)

The 2.5 to 3 extra bays compared to a Two Bedroom include one more bedroom that sleeps 4 more people on two queens, a dedicated dining room with a table for 8 (indoor dining space for an additional two to 8 people is also available), a larger kitchen, and either a second or enlarged living room area, a game room, and/or open two story space.

FINAL COMMENTS ON DVC RESORTS

In general, Old Key West and Saratoga Springs are the cheapest DVC resorts when reserving through the Disney web site, and Old Key West is far and away the cheapest when renting using points.

Bay Lake will be the most convenient of the DVC resorts for first time visitors when it opens, and OKW and Saratoga Springs are by far the least convenient.

Animal Kingdom and Wilderness Lodge are both stunningly appealing to kids. Both are inconvenient, but less inconvenient than Old Key West and Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga Springs typically has the smallest rooms in all room types. The One and Two Bedrooms at Old Key West are by far much larger, and more livable when filled to capacity, than any other DVC One or Two bedrooms. For example, they are about 30% larger than the same room types at Saratoga Springs.

Studios are almost always a waste of money unless you can rent points.

Once you have stayed in one, you will talk about your Grand Villa for the rest of your life.

• Large Families at Walt Disney World
• More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World, Continued
• The Disney Vacation Club (”DVC”) Resorts at Walt Disney World
• Renting DVC Points at Walt Disney World

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY

• For where to stay, see this
• For your next best choices, in order, see this
• For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
• For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
• For where not to stay, see this
• For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
• For differences among moderate resorts, see this
• For differences among value resorts, see this
• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
• Large families should look at this
• Military/DOD families should look at this

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The Disney Vacation Club Resorts at Walt Disney World are time-share resorts whose rooms can also be reserved like any other Disney World resort hotel rooms. Moreover, the rooms at these resorts can also be gained (usually at a huge cost saving) by privately renting “points” from Disney Vacation Club members.

For most first time family visitors, the Disney Vacation Club Resorts are worth considering only under a few circumstances:

• Large families—especially those aimed at a Deluxe property—who are not willing to bet on actually getting connecting rooms. (You can request connecting rooms at WDW, but getting them is not guaranteed.) See both this and this for more on large families. “Villas” which can sleep 8, 9 and 12 people are available.
• Families aimed at a deluxe hotel, but who can only pull it off through the cost savings of renting DVC points. See this for more on renting DVC points
• Families who for one reason or another have targeted a resort with which a DVC property is paired, can’t get into it, but can get into the DVC resort

For other families, the Polynesian remains the best choice. No DVC property has the combination of kid appeal and convenience that the Polynesian presents. See this for more on where to stay, this for more on Walt Disney World resorts (including DVC properties) ranked by kid appeal, and this for Walt Disney World resorts (including DVC) ranked by convenience.

THE DVC RESORTS

There are currently 6 operating DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, with one more under construction.

Operating resorts include four paired with regular resorts and the two standalone DVC resorts. The paired resorts include the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge, the Animal Kingdom (Lodge) Villas, the Beach Club Villas, and the Boardwalk Villas, each paired with the regular resort of similar name, sharing services, restaurants, pools, transportation, etc, and having the same convenience and kid appeal as the regular resort.

The two stand-alone resorts are Disney’s Old Key West Resort, and Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.

The resort under construction is Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. When open, it will become the most convenient of the DVC properties for first time visitors; the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom (Lodge) Villas will remain the most kid-appealing.

DVC RESORT ROOM OPTIONS

All DVC resorts have three room types: Studios, One Bedroom Villas, and Two Bedroom Villas. In addition, most DVC resorts also have a fourth room type, Grand Villas (the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and the Beach Club Villas do not).

Studio rooms sleep 4 (either in two queens, or a queen and a fold-out couch) and are similar to regular deluxe hotel rooms with exception of having a microwave and (usually) a little more space. For first time family visitors they are without merit except under two circumstances:

• as a backup means of getting into a resort whose normal rooms are sold out, or
• for getting a major price break compared to the regular rooms at that resort by successfully renting points from a DVC member to pay for the room.

This material continues here.

• Large Families at Walt Disney World
• More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World, Continued
• The Disney Vacation Club (”DVC”) Resorts at Walt Disney World
• Renting DVC Points at Walt Disney World

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY

• For where to stay, see this
• For your next best choices, in order, see this
• For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
• For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
• For where not to stay, see this
• For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
• For differences among moderate resorts, see this
• For differences among value resorts, see this
• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
• Large families should look at this
• Military/DOD families should look at this

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RECOMMENDATIONS BY FAMILY/PARTY SIZE, CONTINUED

9 people: Some interesting new options emerge at this party size. You can still try for two connecting rooms at the Poly–$89/person per night.

The Two Bedroom Villas at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge will not fit 9, but two DVC properties have Two Bedroom Villas that will. The ones at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge will fit 9, and so will those at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort once it opens. The extra spot comes from a convertible chair added to the kitchen/dining/living room area.

A Two Bedroom Savannah View at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge will costs $90/person/night for 9 people if you reserve through the WDW website, or $55/peron/night if you rent points. Bay Lake Towers will be on the order of 10% more. The Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge are much more kid appealing, and Bay Lake Tower more convenient.

A final option at this party size is renting a DVC Grand Villa at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort once it opens. (The Villas at the Wilderness Lodge do not offer Grand Villas—you should pick either one at VAKL for kid appeal, or at Bay Lake Tower for convenience. No other grand villa options have either kid appeal or convenience for first time visitors.)

A Grand Villa is an amazing space, having twice as much room as a Two Bedroom Villa, and three distinct bedrooms—two sleeping 4 in two queens, and one sleeping two in a king. Two more sleeping spaces are available in a sofa-bed in the common rooms.

Grand Villas are remarkable. If you think (as hotel designers do) of a standard room as being one “bay,” then the DVC Studios that sleep 4 are one bay, the One Bedroom Villas that sleep 4 (except at VAKL and Bay Lake, where most sleep 5) are two bays, and the two bedrooms villas that sleep 8 (except at VAKL and Bay Lake, where most sleep 9) are three bays. (Old Key West is an exception. Because its architecture yields such a large kitchen/dining/living room: a one bedroom is 2.5 bays, and a two bedroom is 3.5 bays.)

Grand Villas are 6 bays—almost twice as big as the Two Bedroom options. They range from 2113 square feet at Saratoga Springs to 2492 square feet at the Boardwalk Villas. The 2.5 to 3 extra bays include one more bedroom that sleeps 4 more people on two queens, a dedicated dining room with a table for 8, (indoor dining space for an additional two to 8 people is also available) a larger kitchen, and either a second or enlarged living room area, a game room, and/or open two story space.

Per person per night costs for 9 people in a grand villa at VAKL are jaw-dropping $191. However, if you can rent points, the per person per night cost for 9 people drops to $103.

If you are desperate to accommodate 10-12 in a single space, but can’t afford this, Grand Villas at Old Key West (inconvenient and lacking any kid appeal) are 20% cheaper on a WDW website basis and about 28% cheaper on a points basis.

10 People: these parties are the largest that can fit into two (hopefully) connected rooms at the Poly. This will cost $80/person per night.

If the group must all be in the same space, and thus is not willing to bet on actually getting connected rooms, only a Grand Villa will work. (See “9 People” for details on Grand Villas.) A Grand Villa at VAKL will cost about $172/person/night for 10 people if your reserve though the WDW website; if you can manage to rent points, the cost drops to $92/person/night. A not-recommended Grand Villa at Old Key West will drop your price another 20-28%.

Another cost saving option for a group this size is to have most of the group together but up to 4 nearby but not in the same space. There are some families or parties for which this might actually be a benefit. For example, they may want to group the littlest children and their parents into an 8 person space, and reserve a 4 person space for childless couples, grandparents, and/or teenagers, all of which may either benefit from the privacy and/or contribute to the peace of mind of the party of up to 8 by being in a separate space.

If this describes your group, then your best bet is both a 2 Bedroom Villa and a separate Studio at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. This gives 4 bays, not 6 as in a Grand Villa, and of course one of the bays is not connected to the rest. But the building that contains Villas at the Wilderness Lodge is so small that the studio can’t be very far from the 2 bedroom, and the price will be much lower than a Grand Villa.

This same option works for families that don’t necessarily want this separation of part of their party, but are willing to accept it because it is cheaper than a grand villa, or allows them to stay at the Wilderness Lodge, which is the best overall choice among the DVC options for first time family visitors, but is one of only two DVC properties without Grand Villas (the Beach Club Villas are the other.)

In cash, renting both a Two Bedroom and a Studio will be in total $96/person per night for 10 people; if you can rent points, the cost drops to $68/person/night.

11 People: Your basic options are a Grand Villa at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or a Studio and a Two Bedroom Villa at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.

See the end of “9 People” for details on Grand Villas, and the end of “10 People” for the Wilderness Lodge option.

A Grand Villa will cost $156/person per night if you reserve through the website, $84/person/night if you rent points, and 20-28% cheaper if you go with Old Key West.

A Studio and a Two Bedroom at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge will cost (in total) $87/person/night if you reserve over the website, and $62/person/night if you rent DVC points.

12 People: Your basic options are a Grand Villa at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or a Studio and a Two Bedroom Villa at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.

See the end of “9 People” for details on Grand Villas, and the end of “10 People” for the Wilderness Lodge option.

A Grand Villa will cost $143/person per night if you reserve through the website, $77/person/night if you rent points, and 20-28% cheaper if you go with Old Key West.

A Studio and a Two Bedroom at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge will cost (in total) $80/person/night if you reserve over the website, and $57/person/night if you rent DVC points.

LINKS FOR LARGE FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Large Families at Walt Disney World
• More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World, Continued
• The Disney Vacation Club (”DVC”) Resorts at Walt Disney World
• Renting DVC Points at Walt Disney World

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY

• For where to stay, see this
• For your next best choices, in order, see this
• For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
• For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
• For where not to stay, see this
• For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
• For differences among moderate resorts, see this
• For differences among value resorts, see this
• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
• Large families should look at this
• Military/DOD families should look at this

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This page recommends Walt Disney World accommodations for large families seeking deluxe accommodations, sorted by family size. See this page for an introduction to Large Families at Walt Disney World.

Click on the thumbnail above (when open, click again once or twice to enlarge) to see the recommendations below in chart form; the chart also includes additional information—for example, number of bathrooms, kitchen facilities, total square feet.

As always, when more than one similar option is available, distinctions are made based on appeal to kids and transportation convenience.

All prices are for the 2009 Value Season, the season when this site suggest you go–see this for when to go to Walt Disney World. Prices will be higher during other parts of the year, but in similar proportions. See this for price seasons at Walt Disney World.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY FAMILY/PARTY SIZE

Basic Recommendation for families of up to 5 people: Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Cost/Person/Night $80, for families of 5.

6 people: While you can try for two connecting rooms at the Polynesian ($133/person/night), your best bet if you need to be sure your family is together is a Two Bedroom Villa at the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) property the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. If you reserve through the WDW website, this will cost $118/person/night (but see below for renting points).

The Villas at the Wilderness Lodge are not as convenient as the Polynesian, but are even more kid appealing. A Two Bedroom Villa provides one bedroom with a king bed that sleeps two, and one with two queens that sleeps 4. In addition, you get a kitchen/dining/living room combination with a sleeper sofa that sleeps two more.

The least expensive way to get a 2 Bedroom Villa at the Wilderness Lodge is to rent points from a DVC member. If you are successful at this, you will pay $62/person/night. See this for details on how to do so.

7 people: Same approach as “6 people” above. Cost if trying for 2 rooms at the Polynesian: $114/person/night. Two Bedroom Villa at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge: via Disney Website, $101/person/night; via renting points, $71/person/night.

8 people: Same approach as “6 people” above. Cost if trying for 2 rooms at the Polynesian: $100/person/night. Two Bedroom Villa at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge: via Disney Website, $89/person/night; via renting points, $62/person/night.

This page continues here.

LINKS FOR LARGE FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

• Large Families at Walt Disney World
• More On Large Families at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World
• Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accomodations at Walt Disney World, Continued
• The Disney Vacation Club (”DVC”) Resorts at Walt Disney World
• Renting DVC Points at Walt Disney World

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY

• For where to stay, see this
• For your next best choices, in order, see this
• For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
• For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
• For where not to stay, see this
• For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
• For differences among moderate resorts, see this
• For differences among value resorts, see this
• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
• Large families should look at this
• Military/DOD families should look at this

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