Insisting on staying a hotel when we go to Disney World. Sister wants a holiday rental

[Moru]

My sister and I are best friends. We have young children who are similar ages. We are taking them to Disney World as a very special holiday next year. But we are sort of at an impasse. I do t want to stay in a holiday let as I can’t be arsed to sort out meals and don’t want to tidy up. Our husbands are hands on but it just seems too much. Sister thinks it would be more fun and easier to stay in a holiday let. She doesn’t want to eat out for every meal. I also know I will miss simpler, home cooked meals on day 7 but we can find work arounds ie making salads/sandwiches. I prefer the idea of hotel which is so much less hassle. Sister says she will find it claustrophobic. The hotels are family rooms with suites. We would get separate rooms. We could also play socialising in the evenings by ear. Spend time together and have a drink when we felt like it. Spend time away from each other if we are exhausted for e.g.

Who has the right idea?

I want a break too. I don’t want to even have to think about meals after 8 hours in the park.

I agree, I went with DD aged 5 and we just all went to bed at the same time mostly, but she would often conk out earlier and sleep later than us. It’s tiring!
My friend has just taken 3 children. You spend so little time in the hotel room it makes so little difference.
we spent one whole evening in once because of the weather but you get 2 big beds, we didn’t feel cramped.
I didn’t particularly want to stay up much later drinking. It’s full days out every day including water parks.

How long are you going for - if 2 weeks, why don’t you do 7-9 days in a rental then 5-7 days in a Disney hotel? Then you get the best of both works!

Yeah, but then you have to pack everything up mid holiday and go to a new place, leaving everything in the car for the hours in-between. I'd rather stick to a place and then be there the whole time.

We stayed in lovely condo 10 mins from Disney right by a Walmart. We ate out sometimes, got takeaway and cooked. It was great. There was loads of room and a pool for the kids. More flexibility.

I hate cooking at the best of times, let alone on holiday. But, neurodivergence in the family, and the cost of Disney food would put me off staying in a hotel he full time. I think I’d split the difference and go a week in a hotel then a week self catering.

Also, eating out generally in the US isn’t as cheap as it used to be.

I have done both. I wasn't keen on a holiday let but it was the best decision we made. You can eat in or out. You will only have to take a few clothes as most holiday lets have a washing machine and tumble dryer. Children can play without risk of upsetting other guests. You will find the pressure is off to be ready for meals. Give it a go. If it doesn't work, then next holiday your sister can go with your choice of hotel.
Please don't let accommodation spoil your holiday.
p.s. Just got home from a holiday in a holiday let. Came home relaxed and happy. Previous holiday was in a hotel. Enjoyed it but always clock watching for meals etc.

We've done both and there's no real 'right' answer, but I'm with your sister. Disney hotel rooms tend to be small and we've hated the food at the couple of resorts we've stayed at. They work pretty hard to keep you in the Disney bubble so getting offsite to supermarkets etc is a bit of a drag. There are lots of places with big villas and fab pools only about 15 minutes from the parks. Check out Windsor Hills.

Our favourite way to do Disney is to head to the parks at opening time, back home for lunch and a swim, then back to the park in the late afternoon/evening. Especially with younger children, they won't be able to have fun at the parks all day without a break during the hottest part of the day.

@Moru

This is an excellent resource which details and actually shows the size of rooms/suites throughout WDW.

I’ve been 4 times . The first time I stayed in a hotel and yes it’s big with 3 beds in a large room and breakfast was included. All of the other times we rented a villa. There were 3 bedrooms all huge and 3 bathrooms. And best of all our own pool. After a heavy day at the parks , sitting out by your own pool in the evening was great.
As for cooking whilst on holiday, not a chance. We’d go for breakfast on the way to the parks , very reasonable and huge . This meant mostly we didn’t want lunch or if we did, only something small then we’d go out for dinner, sometimes on the way back from the parks, other times we’d get back to our villa and decompress for a bit, then go out a bit later. It was so relaxing to do it that way and sometimes the hotels can be very noisy. We’ve always gone for allocation on arrival which is fine because they are all to the same standard ( very high) and they are never more than a 15-20 minute drive from the Disney parks.

We’ve done Disney several times, the first in a hotel which was fine but a bit limited so the next three or four times we opted for a villa with pool.
Honestly they all have so much space and are so well equipped it was like chalk and cheese. Takeaways and deliveries were so easy, as was buying salads, snacks and cooked meat (like a whole roast chicken) in the supermarkets. I hardly ever cooked a meal. Bread, fruit, pastries and cereal for breakfast.
Or we ate out, especially breakfasts which were ample enough that we rarely needed much if any lunch. You’ll be spoilt for choice. Hope you have a good time, its great for family holidays.

We did hotel first and never again.
With younger kids, a villa is definitely the way to go. Even the hotel ‘suites’ aren’t really that big and quite claustrophobic for anymore than 2-3 people.
We’ve paid half the price of the Disney hotels for an 8 bedroom villa with far more space than 3 families needed (games room, pool, 3 living rooms, several toilets/bathrooms).
An Uber to the parks is 10-15 minutes and so easy to arrange.
The restaurants on-park are horribly expensive and not always easy to book for larger groups (4+ people). The food is pretty average for the price also.
The supermarket options for families are fantastic and will work out much cheaper/easier. There are several really close to most of the main areas (Championsgate, Kissimi, etc).

100% villa.
Get breakfast cereals etc from a supermarket.
Have lunch in the park.
For dinner order a delivery on DoorDash or Uber Eats. No cooking/washing up required.
And don’t hire a car. Just get Ubers everywhere. There are thousands so little waiting and cheaper/easier than a car rental plus parking.

My view is staying in a villa gives you the best of both worlds, especially if you get one with amenities nearby. Food there and go out as well. Xx

If you are staying in a hotel on the Disney property there are major advantages. Free transportation between the parks entry to the park an hour early etc etc it’s more expensive but you would pay $35 parking if you stay outside the park

I'd go for the villa. Apart from anything else there's going to be a day - believe me - when you can't face Disney, and neither can the kids. On that day, or two, it's really nice to have a house and garden to slob about in.

Just a thought about car hire and villas. You will need car seats. Not sure how that works re hire.

I've done both. Since your children are so small I would suggest an on-site hotel. You then have the flexibility to take the children back to the room for naps.

And I know it sounds like a lot but please get at least a 2 day plus snack meal plan.

I stayed at a place called Floridays Resort on International Drive. 3 bed Condo with everything you could ever need. We could have lived there. Yet you get towels, maid service. There is a pool with movies at night, and a little bit of entertainment at weekends. There is a restaurant onsite too, we got take out from there one evening and a pool bar. Huge supermarket across the road. So kind of like a hotel but like a holiday rental too.

How much cheaper is the holiday let?

There is something nice and relaxing about the kids being able to get up and get themselves breakfast is a seperate room, or making a sandwich instead of a meal one evening, but you want to be saving enough that that you're still eating out most of the time, not wasting holiday on food shops and cooking. The odd meal at "home" can be chilled after some busy park days.
That said, if you have a fridge in your suite/room then you can do that anyway and so the main consideration is probably the kids ages and need for downtime together not at a pool. The parks are the most fun ever but it's very structured and sometimes kids just need a bit of space to play and make some noise with each other.

Location would also be a consideration for me.

Either way will be great though. You'll be at disney!

I've literally joined Mumsnet to reply to your post!

We went for 2 weeks to WDW in spring with our 5 and 3 yo dc. We stayed for a combination of nights at pop century and the Grand Floridian. It was an amazing holiday although not relaxing (but I expect you are expecting that!), and the best part of it all was having all of the Disney transport options to get around. That in itself was so exciting for the kids, we could come and go to the parks as we pleased, often went for a break at one of the other hotels for a look around, and never left the disney bubble. Plus once they were asleep in the evenings one of us could go back out to a park / hotel /fireworks which just wouldn't have been possible from a villa. We hardly ate any table service meals, mostly quick service (which you can then sit down to eat) and the DC shared lots of kids meals as they were really decent portions. Took porridge pots with us which we made up in the morning in the room, and loads of snacks from home.

Disney hotel all the way! Enjoy!

The meal plans almost always work out to be poor value for money versus pay as you go, but lots of people like to have it paid for in advance...

It sounds quite frenetic staying 'on-site'!
We had a villa and hire car and only visited the theme parks every other day interspersing with water parks, NASA, Gatorland etc on the other days. So relaxing to come back and chill and swim. We either ate at the parks or stopped at an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant on the way home. Having said that I probably wouldn't share a villa so in your case the condo style apartments with pools and restaurants sound a good compromise.

Hotel every time!! I don’t want to clean, make beds, make dinner - especially after Disney. I was knackered after the theme parks everyday. Plus sharing a let gives you no time to yourselves- that would be too much for me.

UK Disney tickets are 14 days so you can dip in and out, maybe do a park or waterpark in the morning, hotel pool and nap in the afternoon then to another park in the evening, or visit another hotel or Disney Springs for dinner. All without getting in a car.
Plenty of quick service restaurants dotted about the resort and at Springs. Bonus if you buy a resort refillable mug they can be used in other hotels too.