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We stayed in Kidani Village at the animal kingdom. We had a one bedroom suite overlooking the savannah...it was great! My daughter was 2 when we went and loved seeing the animals from our balcony. The pool there is also awesome...they have a fun waterslide for older kids (and adults) and a small one for toddlers.

I have been to the pop century, Coronado and Caribbean beach. Caribbean beach is great if you love pools they have a ton of different pools. BUT the property is HUGE. you have to take a shuttle if you want to go to the main house for food. There was no elevator in the area I was staying so I asked if we could have a first floor room so we could wheel DD in with her stroller.

If you are looking for a suite Art of animation is a great place to stay since its fairly new and you have your own shuttle.

My friends (DVC member) stayed at Animal kingdom and they loved it there. They said its a little dark (dark furnishings) and that was her only complaint. She loves Art of Animation and will be staying there again later this month.

Look into renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. It's the cheapest way to stay on-property in a larger suite. Plus the DVC resorts are a lot nicer than Art of Animation. You may be able to get a good deal depending on where you want to stay and what time of year you are going.

You can Google and find several reputable sites. It's not as cheap as staying offsite but a better deal than paying cash for one of the larger rentals. Basically, the DVC rooms are larger "suites" (studio, 1 BR, 2 BR) at regular WDW hotels (usually deluxe-level), so the accommodations are going to be a lot nicer than, say, Art of Animation (which isn't bad, but you know).

Still a little pricey but I'd personally rather rent points and stay in a 1BR at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Boardwalk than Art of Animation if the prices are comparable (and they may not be, I'm not sure).

I'm a DVC member and I would recommend staying in a DVC resort if you can get a room (shouldn't be a problem). The suites would probably be perfect for what you need. We bought at the Floridian, but it is $$$ to just get a room there.

I would recommend Beach Club: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/beach-club-resort/. You can walk from the Beach Club to Epcot, and it's a boat ride to Hollywood Studios. Lots of DVC members really like the Beach Club!

If being on the monorail is important to you with little ones, you might want to check out the Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian, or the new DVC property at the Polynesian. You will pay more for any of those properties, but the convenience is nice.

I have not stayed at Kidani Village, but I have heard wonderful things from my friends who have. I hope to stay there soon!

I've heard great things about Art of Animation. That's probably where we'll stay next time we go.

@MrsADS: how does that work, exactly? I mean how do you rent if you aren't a DVC member?

@Anagram I haven't actually done it but I know a lot of people who have. You can rent points from DVC owners directly but I would probably not do that unless it's someone you know.

I think the points system basically works like - if you "buy in" to the vacation club, you purchase a contract with a certain number of points (say, 100 points a year). The points are worth various amounts and you can use them toward your stays at DVC resorts. For example, 1 night at the Grand Floridian Villas in summer might be 50 points, 1 night at Saratoga Springs in September might only be 15 points.

There's several travel services that basically run a business where DVC owners "sell" them their unused DVC points. Then, people can basically "rent" the points to stay at nicer DVC hotels for less money. Like, an owner sells 100 points and they are paid $15 a point. The business will then rent the points to anyone who wants to buy them for, say, $16 a point.

You can actually book the larger DVC rooms/suites from Disney directly and pay cash if you don't own DVC, but it's CRAZY expensive. Like, you might pay $350-$400 a night for a studio. But if you rent points, you might be able to get that same studio for $150 a night. It's basically a way to stay at a deluxe resort for a lot cheaper.

Hope that makes sense? I haven't actually done it but I know a lot of people who have. I think a lot of the online services are pretty reputable.

I agree with those that recommend looking into renting DVC points. We've stayed with my aunt and uncle who have points in DVC and it was awesome, so nice to have a kitchen, separate bedrooms and in room washer and dryer. If that's too much I have heard awesome reviews for art of animation suites.

Looks like @jmarionsmith: had a suite there so I'm probably mixing AoA up with the Movies type resort. I'm horrible at the names for some of them. And omg the Wilderness Lodge is HEAVEN. We had breakfast with a friend there recently and I want to live there.

@BandDmommy: Hmm hasn't shown up yet for some reason?

@kjpugs: Did you have Mickey Waffles at the lodge? No joke, we've gone and stayed at the lodge with no plans on actually going to the parks, just to have the Mickey Waffles in the morning at the lodge. I swear they make them better than anywhere else on the property.

@BananaPancakes: I didn't!!! We had a sit down brunch- not sure if they had them there even at that restaurant. Oh my goodness now I want to go back, find them, and have some there.

@Mrs. Rabbit: as far as I know, you can eat anywhere! I've gone to eat any many resorts, none of which I was staying at. If you want to do a pricey but memorable breakfast, the character one at the Contemporary is amazing. DH worked there when he injured himself and was on light duty when he couldn't cook (just sweeping) and said it was ADORABLE. He said it was best before 9am - after that it got VERY busy.

@BananaPancakes: GRRRRR! I was there!!!! But I had chocolate chip pancakes on the brain. Plus that place stressed me out a little with the whole "sassy" optional waitstaff. Oh and keeping my daughter from eating the crayons, haha. We walked the grounds... my DD loved the stream and the beach area looked amazing!

@BananaPancakes: haha yes they did that while we were there. And the KETCHUPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the buckets full of drink refills!

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