Family of 5, when #5 is a newish baby.

[ILoveLegos]

Hi,
My sister and her husband have 3 kids who will be at the time of their November trip: 6 years old, 5 years old and 5 months old. When my sister tried to pick a resort online, only suites were her option since she entered all the ages of her kids. I told her that POR has a tundle bed in Aligator Bayou and thet allows 5 in a room. She was only just "considering" a Disney resort for the first time for the convenience and magic of it all. My sister works for the Marriott and can stay there for little or nothing depending on the occupancy levels of the hotel at the time. Does Disney have cribs for babies? Do babies in cribs bump the occupancy level up just like adding an adult person? The baby currently can sleep in a pack and play travel type basinet thingy - but who knows where he's 5 months old. Have any of you ever just left the baby off the reservation inquiries so you can see all room types? I know she'll just stay in a Marriott to avoid hastle and would never endanger her kids by having too many in a room. We are just not clear on Disney policies and would like some clarification. Thanks for your input.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Good News for your sister! Because the youngest child is still a baby, Disney will allow her to stay in a "regular" room without any issues.

When booking, over the phone, or on-line she needs to enter 3 children, but then, in the ages section show that 1 child is an infant, and all of the rooms will show as options. She doesn't need POR, or any specific resort.

Disney will supply a playpen-style crib for the room, so she might want to consider at least a moderate, so they have a bit more room to move around.

My DD slept in more hotel "cribs" than most, and she always did fine!

The $$ is a big factor, but in my opinion, you just can't beat the convience of staying on-site, especially with small children.

[kakn7294]

In order to get the pricing, she doesn't have to put the baby on the "reservation" as long as she's not actually making a reservation, just "window shopping". If she decides to make a reservation, she will have to add the baby, but that won't change the pricing any since everything for baby is free. She can choose any room at any level (except King bedded rooms) and adding the baby won't make a difference in occupancy. "Cribs" at WDW resorts are generally pack-n-play type playpens with plenty of room for a 5 mo old to sleep in.

[Dyanna]

We originally booked a room at All Star Movies for our family of 5 the youngest being 10 months at travel time but we upgraded to Port Orleans FQ. At any resort when booking you must include your infant & make sure to request a pack n play for the baby ,they are no charge.

[Jen C.]

We wnet last Sept. w/ my kids the same ages~6,5, and 6 months. I cannot stress enough how IMPERATIVE it is for your sister to stay on prperty with children these ages. We stayed on the monorail, but if that is not an option for her, at least stay on property. The transportation issues alone...:eek:

[MNNHFLTX]

Children 2 years old and under are not included in the "official" occupancy count at Disney World resorts. So if your sister wants to book online, she just needs to make sure and put in that the third child is an infant and all the resort options available should show up. When in November are they going? The only reason I can think of why suites are showing up is that it might be during a peak period like Thanksgiving week, when resorts' standard rooms may already be booked up.

[ILoveLegos]

Thanks everyone - my sister is now definitely leaning toward "doing disney while staying at a Disney Resort" in stead of staying at the Marriott, because to all of your suggestions! :mickey: She looked into the transportation apect of planning this trip and Disney wins hands down!!!
I think my sister was playing around with dates around Thanks Giving and that may be the reason for her limited choices like a poster above said. Now she has officially booked the airfare for November 11-16, which I think is right around Jersey week, that may have also accounted for her limited choices in on property hotels (although I could be wrong - I didn't check her school calendar).
This will be their first trip to Disney as a family ever, so I'm hoping that they have a really nice time. Thanks again!