In the interests of full disclosure I won a two-night stay at a Hyatt. I had intended to use the prize to stay in New York, but our plans changed once we realized our daughter was playing a volleyball tournament at nearby D.C. Convention Center. The Grand Hyatt was in walking distance of the Convention Center. The hotel has spacious rooms with a flat screen TV, fridge, and coffee maker. All guest rooms overlook the lobby. There is a lake in the middle of the lobby on the ground floor. The restaurant overlooks the lake.

Let me start by saying that I did not choose to stay at the Rodeway Inn Italian Villa. My teen's volleyball team participated in the MLK Volleyball Classic in Lancaster, PA. Her coach chose the Rodeway Inn. The team loved it as they basically needed a room for the night and, more importantly, to be with friends.

The team's coach made sure that the girls stayed in the main hotel -- he didn't want the girls to be in the wing where you park your car in front of the motel room. Most of the moms except for me were in the main hotel. I checked out the rooms in the main hotel -- clean, but a little shabby. Very cold. The heat did work, but perhaps the rooms are kept cold until someone checks in.

I was in the wing. My room was clean, but the towels were frayed. i got the impression that the Rodeway Inn, while part of a chain, was independently owned and operated. So, all in all, if you are looking for a place to stay overnight the Rodeway Inn would work, but this is a no-frills motel.

We visited Williamsburg during December. My daughters who were 7 and 9 at the time wanted to do the activities for children listed in the brochure. My son who was around 2 was more interested in walking around. The crafts were fun -- the girls decorated a wooden toy. My only complaint is that the area was not well-managed. Crafts supplies ran out -- we were in the last group of the day.

My husband and I visited Disney World twice before we got married. Once we had children we knew a trip to WDW was a done deal.

Our first trip we stayed off site...big hassle. Distance to parks was lengthy once you factored in parking and transportation to the park itself. Hiring a rental car was a nightmare as the car we were given was a flimsily built tiny 4-door car.

For our second trip we knew we wanted to stay at a Disney resort hotel We didn't realize that many Disney properties do not accomodate families of 5.

We lucked out when we discovered that the Port Orleans Riverside rooms could fit a family with 3 young children. The room was roomy with 2 huge beds. The fifth person slept on the trundle bed.

Now the trundle bed sleeper was supposed to be our youngest -- a 3-year-old -- but he was scared of sleeping on the floor. Our daughters were happily esconced in athe double bed, which left only one candidate for the trundle. Good ole, long-suffering, but handily short, Mom, to sleep on the trundle.

The layout of the Port Orleans Riverside was lush, with tree- and bush-lined pathways leading to the main reception center and restaurant.

We never ate at the restaurant as we had the Disney Dining Plan. We woke up early each morning to take advantage to Fast Passes and early openings. We ate breakfast or brunch once we arrived at the Park.

The bus service between Port Orleans Riverside and the parks was excellent, except for one morning a bus we needed to ride to Disney Studios was late. We never found out why, but did get a bus after about 30 minutes.

A great introduction to what people have always insisted on: "Stay at a Disney property!"

My son and I spent at least 30 minutes exploring the exhibit in the center of the Natural History Museum -- the elephants and its animal neighbors and plants. The museum has exhibits ranging from dinosaurs to fossils to undersea creatures to a series of exhibits that were featured in the Ben Stiller film "Night at the Museum: Smithsonian."