help! disney with small children

we are planning a trip to disney w/ an almost 3 year old, and 1 YO in either July or Sept.

I want to stay in Disney, a property on the monorail (wilderness or Poly ) , to avoid the bus, bringing carseats, more convenience in general. both kids still take naps so we need to get back to the room during the days.

DH would rather save some money and stay at a property off site, rent cars, carseats etc

what would you suggest we do?? I feel like staying off the propery will cause so much aggravation, it may not be worth going

I really appreciate any advice

Re: help! disney with small children

You will get more for your money off site, you could get a 2 bedroom resort for like $150 a night, but it's obviously more inconvenient.

Re: help! disney with small children

We went last year with our 3 year old and our 18 month old...we stayed off property in a timeshare (2 bed, 2 bath). It was perfect for us. We rented a car and brought the carseats because they needed them on the plane anyway. My kids napped in the stroller during the day at the parks. For us, it was a last minute decision to go (and a second big vacation that summer) and it ended up costing a lot less because we did it that way. We would probably do it again that way, since where we stayed was only about 5 minutes from Disney.

Re: help! disney with small children

we're going at the end of June with our almost 4 y/o and 4 month old. We're renting a house and car. Since we'll have to take the outdoors in moderation because of the baby and we're going my my parents we figured it was easier (and much cheaper) to have a house to come back to where we can feel comfortable hanging out. They all have screened in pools.

Re: help! disney with small children

We've stayed on property and off. We prefer staying off property since we get so much more room for much less $$$. We like having 2 beds/2 baths, full kitchen and washer/dryer right in our unit. Our kids have always napped in the strollers while there. We've traded off walking with the stroller while one goes on rides. This past trip DD#1 was 3.5 and was able to go on rides alone with DH or I while the other one pushed/sat with DD#2 (20 mos) while she napped.

Re: help! disney with small children

We stay off property when we go. We get a house for about 100-120 dollars a night...It is so much easier. Most have pools. Most are a 10 minute ride to Disney. You can save a ton of money by having a kitchen and having your own food. We eat breakfast at the house and pack sandwiches for lunch. We go to the parks in the morning. Then go back to the house for naps. Then back to the park for the evening. And if you can, go in Sept. So much nicer and less crowded.. We are going the end of Oct, beginning of November...

Re: help! disney with small children

There is no question you WILL save money by staying off site - BUT you will lose park time, ease for you and your DH, and several of the benefits of staying ON site that will be helpful with young kids. But you can mitigate some of those expenses.

We stayed at the Poly last year - (may 2010) and the Sept/Oct 2008. Our last trip DD#1 was 34.5 months and DD#2 turned 1 on the last full day of our trip. So about the same ages that you are talking about.

Being at the poly was FABULOUS with very small/young children. I like it better than the other two that are also on the monorail b.c I think you have more options.

The rooms are large - we had plenty of room for a pack n play AND a double stroller.

You can wheel your stroller directly onto the monorail which is a HUGE plus when your children fall asleep in the afternoon or at night.

What I like about the poly - aside from the resort itself.

You can get on the monorail and go to the MK. You can walk next door to the TTC (5 min walk) and hop on a HUGE ferry. Even better when people do a mass exodus from the MK after the parade you can avoid the buses AND the huge monorail line - and just walk over to the ferry - you DON"T have to fold your stroller you just roll right on. It goes right to the TTC and you walk next door to the Poly.

Then if you want to go to EPCOT - we spent most of our time at MK and EPCOT. You can either get on the monorail and switch to the EPCOT monorail at the TTC OR you can avoid that hassle and walk next door to the TTC and just get on the EPCOT monorail and not switch. Again we never had to fold up our stroller once.

The down side is you do need to take a bus to AK and HS - but the one or two times you have to do that are MUCH easier than doing it over and over all day long.

It was SO easy to back to our room at lunch time for naps and swim at the volcano pool (and they have a sprinkler area).

Under 3 are free - so you don't need tickets for either child - AND if you plan well you won't need to pay for that many meals. Under 3 dine free at buffets and family style restaurants. We were on the dining plan - but we ate at places like Biergarten, Chef Mickeys, Akershus, Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree tavern, Ohanas - were some of the places we ate that had no charge for the girls. You only pay IF you go to an a la carte place (i.e. coral reef) and order a meal off the children's menu or the regular menu for them - (they can eat off your plate for free).

We shipped a box with diapers, wipes, etc - to save on luggage. It was like $18 for a huge (medium size uhaul box) box. Then we used gardengrocer.com - like peapod that delivers to your hotel - we used it for milk, yogurt, juice, water, snacks, breakfast in the room etc.

If you have a car - you will have to pay to park every day, I think it is about $14 (free IF you stay ON SITE and decide to rent a car) - the down side is you usually have to park a way. So you get out of the car - get the stroller and everything you need out and packed - then you walk to the shuttle, unpack again get on the tram - ride to the entrance and then repack again. Plus you have to bring car seats. That is driving time, packing and unpacking etc. To me makes it more work when you are tired already. Night time can take a while to get out of the lot. But you WILL probably save money if you stay off site - both on meals and lodging.

You won't have access to EMH which are really helpful. You probably won't use the evening ones (unless you use the AK ones which are really early compared to other parks). The EMH mornings are a BIG help when you have little ones- most kids get up early anyway - so you get to the park when it opens and you have that extra morning hour to get rides in before it gets too crowded. We always leave either at lunch or right after lunch and return around 4-5 for dinner and more rides.

The other nice thing about the poly is that if you don't want to keep your kids out really late BUT you want to experience the fireworks a lot of parents put their kids into their PJs and put them into the stroller and hit the poly beach. The narration and music are piped into the beach (rock speakers) and you can sit on the beach and watch the water parade and the fireworks - this way if they fall asleep you just wheel them into your room and put them in bed.

You can't use a carseat on the Magical Express bus so unless you want it for the plane you don't need a seat at all. ME was SO easy you just put a tag on your bag in NY, give it to the airline and it will be waiting in your room a few hours after you check in.

Re: help! disney with small children

What about staying at a moderate or value resort and rent a car? That way you still get to enjoy all the amenities of staying on park property and save a bit of money. We loved Port Orleans and Pop Century!

Re: help! disney with small children

We are going in the Fall (late Oct/early Nov) and my kids are the same age as yours.

We are staying on-site, at the Wilderness Lodge. The rates are lower since it is off-season. We decided to do it, for the following reasons:

-We are driving down, (live in VA) so we have the extra money to stay at a Disney resort.

-We plan on doing MK, HS and AK. We can take the boat to the MK, this is easy with strollers, gear, etc.

-My kids do not nap in strollers, unfortunately. So, our 1 year old will be napping in the afternoon, the 3 year old naps maybe 4 out of 7 days a week. So we can take a quick ride back to the hotel each afternoon to nap, recharge, then head out again. If the 3 year old will not nap, he can play and have fun in the pools and other fun hotel activities while his baby brother sleeps. My parents will be going with us, so we can switch off with who stays with the baby in the room so we can hang out and have fun.

- I wanted to stay on site and get the benefits (early dining reservations, etc)

HTH!