We are planning a trip (first time for all of us) to WDW for early Dec with our 4 kids who will be 1, 3, and 4 year old twins. I have been doing lots of reading on lots of sites and have gotten lots of information (mostly from this site), but currently I am a little overwhelmed! So any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

Seems to me that either Contemporary or Polynesian would be my best bet since they are closest to parks and have the monorail, plus have nice pool areas. Is Dec warm enough to enjoy the pools?

I think my plan would be to spend most of my time in MK, but visit the other parks for 1 day each...is this a good plan? We are going for 7 days and I want to have at least a high-level plan, but also be flexible.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have. :)

A good thing espcially with young ones is when your at Epcot and looking round the world showcase take advantage of the kidcot stops it gives the young one and your self 5 - 10 mins to relax out of the sun

thought id just give that little tip

Sounds like you have it well planned out. Your plan to spend most of your time at the Magic Kingdom sounds logical, and it will in the end probably be best, but I would encourage you to visit the other parks first, and let you kids have a say in which one they like best. Don't just assume that MK will be best for them. December weather is probably gonna be just fine. It will vary somewhat, but don't worry too much. If you are actually spending most of your time at MK I would go with the Contemporary. You can't beat the closeness, monorail, and their pools.:) Enjoy your trip, and if you think of any more questions, let us know.
futurecm21

Little kids really enjoy MGM since they have Playhouse Disney and the Little Mermaid. It is also a good place to get autographs because they send out 4 characters at a time into the main plaza and they switch constantly.

You mentioned Contemporary and Polynesian, both on Monorail. Very convenient transportation-wise to MK and EPCOT, true. But for room comfort, there are other options you might consider. Fort Wilderness cabins have a double, bunks and a Murphy bed I believe, and a boat over to MK. All Star Music has the brand new family suites which have a queen bedroom, and I believe three pieces of pull-out bed furniture. I'm not an expert, and have not stayed in either, but I'm researching for my sister's upcoming trip with small children. I think both the cabins the family suites have kitchenettes, as well. Just a thought. : )

We are planning a trip (first time for all of us) to WDW for early Dec with our 4 kids who will be 1, 3, and 4 year old twins. I have been doing lots of reading on lots of sites and have gotten lots of information (mostly from this site), but currently I am a little overwhelmed! So any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

Seems to me that either Contemporary or Polynesian would be my best bet since they are closest to parks and have the monorail, plus have nice pool areas. Is Dec warm enough to enjoy the pools?

I think my plan would be to spend most of my time in MK, but visit the other parks for 1 day each...is this a good plan? We are going for 7 days and I want to have at least a high-level plan, but also be flexible.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have. :)


For a family of six, with a child still in a crib, any standard hotel room is going to be a tight squeeze. I recommend that you look into staying at one of the DVC resorts, in a one-or-two bedroom villa. This will give you a great deal more space, and it would make it much easier to manage nap and bedtimes. You would also have your own laundry facilities and kitchen, because I assume you don't want to eat all your meals out. Even doing a simple breakfast in would be a big time and money savings in the mornings. If you look at the room rates, for the Home Away from Home resorts, these resorts appear to be very expensive. Most of the people who stay there, however, are members of the Disney Vacation Club (a type of timeshare program, which is point-based). These members frequently "rent" their points to non-members (via websites or brokers), and then the member makes a reservation for you. We did this last year, and stayed at a studio at Old Key West, which was basically a Deluxe level resort, and I paid just over $100 a night, and no hotel tax. The market rate per point, to rent, is about $10-$11. Sunday-Thursday nights are about half the "point cost" of weekend nights. The first two weeks of December are in the cheapest season. For a two-bedroom vacation home, at Old Key West, for example, you are looking at 22 points a night, Sunday-Friday. A one-bedroom is 16 per night, for weekdays. If you rented points for a few nights, you would be paying far less per night than you would for the hotels you mention, and would be getting a lot more space, and really useful amenities with small children. If you could not rent enough points to cover your whole stay, you could do connecting rooms or a suite at another on-site hotel, and then Disney would move your luggage for you. Depending on the resort, you would have, at least bus service to the parks, and there are on-site restaurants, pools, and other activities. If you stay on rented points, you can also participate in the Dining Plan, if you want to. Our DVC stay last August convinced us of the value of buying into the DVC.

Hi mom22gls,

Can you explain how to go about renting DVC points to a WDW newbie?
Thanks! :)

Hi mom22gls,

Can you explain how to go about renting DVC points to a WDW newbie?
Thanks! :)

OK, I have only rented points once, and it went well, but you have to understand what you are doing. First, you have to decide which resort you would like, and review the points charts. There are several on-line sources for the charts. If you go to www.allearsnet.com, and follow the links for the DVC resorts under the Accomodations section, you will be linked to the charts and information, furnished by www.DVCbyresale.com. You can also get a good primer on the www.mousesavers.com site, which references www.mouseowners.com. I can't vouch for that, or any other site, and I'd appreciate input from other DVC owners and renters. You can look on Ebay, but be warned that the postings may not be clear about what you are bidding on-the postings just said, for example, 5 nights in a studio at Old Key West, Sunday-Thursday. I did bid on Ebay, but with the full understanding that I was actually bidding for a rental of 50 points (the aforementioned studio for 5 nights), and I based my bidding on market price, not the "value" of the rental (which was based on Disney's rack rate, which is much higher). Everyone who bid seemed to understand what they were bidding on, and I did not see anyone willing to pay anywhere near the rack rate. You have to find an owner, who wants to rent the points, and who has the number of points you need. You can go to various Disney Vacation Club boards, and check their rental listings, or find a Florida real estate/timeshare broker. In any event, the "market price" should be in the $10-$12 a point range. As a renter, there is a trust issue. You pay the owner (preferably via Paypal or credit card), and they make the reservation for you. The owner should promptly supply you with the confirmation information. You can then contact DVC Member Services, and you can arrange for Magical Express, the Dining Plan, etc. When you are there, you are treated just as any owner is. You will not be pushed to take a tour or to listen to a sales pitch. Understand that it is not quite like a hotel, in that you don't, automatically, get daily housekeeping service. For a five-night stay, you will get fresh towels and trash removal, mid-week. You can pay extra for cleaning services. The facilities are very nice, and all common areas are beautifully maintained, just as you would expect at any Disney hotel. Some are located adjacent to hotels, but Old Key West and Saratoga Springs are large resorts, which have several bus stops. We did not have a car, and had groceries delivered. A very good value.

RE: "If you could not rent enough points to cover your whole stay, you could do connecting rooms..."

We thought we would go the connecting rooms route this year at the value resorts, but when I called to make reservations, the CM said that connecting rooms could be "requested" but not "guaranteed" and steered us away from that idea.

RE: "If you could not rent enough points to cover your whole stay, you could do connecting rooms..."

We thought we would go the connecting rooms route this year at the value resorts, but when I called to make reservations, the CM said that connecting rooms could be "requested" but not "guaranteed" and steered us away from that idea.
My understanding (from someone I trust on these issues) was that if you only had two adults, connecting COULD be guaranteed, but that was the only time.

Thanks, mom22gls, for your explanation!

We went last April with my 1 year old, 4 year old twins and 5 year old. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarters which I would highly recommend. You do have to take the bus but the advantages are that the hotel is fairly small. Our room was within a few steps of the food court, the pool, laundry and hotel store. I really liked it alot. We got two connecting rooms and it was fine.

Also, the double strollers at DW easily fit 3 small kids in them. The twins sat in the seats and my oldest sat criss cross applesauce in front of them. The baby's little single we brought from home. If you plan on renting a stroller for a few days, buy the little coupon thing where you receive a discount for more than one days rental. We didn't find that out until the end of our trip. But the 4 and 5 year olds only needed the stroller for 2 out of 10 days.

We didn't spend alot of time at MK but that's because we go to DL at least 3 times a month so we wanted to explore the other parks. My boys really enjoyed all 4 of the parks. We tended to go to whatever park was opening early for resort guests that day. It made it easy to decide what to do.

Can I give you my easy packing tip? You might already know it but we started buying gallon size zip lock bags. I label each bag with the child's name and in it put one entire set of clothes (pants, shirt, underware and socks). Every morning they pull out their name (I color code ours as well since each of my boys has a color we use for everything) and it makes getting ready much easier.

Good luck and have a great trip!

Thanks for the feedback! I have been having such a hard time deciding where to stay ... there are just so many things to consider.