Hi Michelle,
I'm so glad you sent your question our way, and I hope I can help to make you less overwhelmed! Walt Disney World offers many options with resort theming, budgets, and theme-park proximity, so let me help to explain some of these options.
First, Walt Disney World has 3 levels of resorts:
Value,
Moderate, and
Deluxe. The Value Resorts are the budget-friendly options, but they still capture all of the Disney magic. The Moderate Resorts are quite similar, but the rooms will be larger with more amenities. Finally, the Deluxe Resorts have the largest rooms and even more amenities and are located within close proximity to the individual theme parks. For example, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, and Disney's Contemporary Resort are just minutes away from the Magic Kingdom. After exploring the resorts and finding which one best meets your needs, you could book adjoining rooms for everyone in your party so that you have the individual rooms for everyone, but the rooms would be located next to each other.
There is another option, too, with the
Deluxe Villa Resorts. These are the Disney Vacation Club resorts that guests can book. These resorts have studios, 1 bedroom villas, 2 bedroom villas, and 3 bedroom villas that might be an option for combining families into one guest area, but with separate bedrooms. You would also have a full kitchen and a washer/dryer in these rooms (not the studios, however).
I hope this helps to make your planning less overwhelming. Once you explore more of the resorts and find you have more questions about the resorts, please let us know how we can help.