Two Kids, Two Parents....One Hotel Room?

[blf14]

We’re a family of 5 and always share 1
Room at Disney. Anywhere else we go we aim for a suite, but at Disney? Eh. We make it work . We spend very little time in the room- we don’t do relaxing or down time really, and if we do it’s somewhere else at the resort. Sharing a room is part of what makes a Disney trip different from other trips- for better or for worse, lol!

We get the kids in bed and lay down with them... we do have to turn out the lights and at least pretend to go to sleep, but they fall asleep quickly and we can then get up and switch on the tv or use or phones... if we have the energy, lol! Often we’re surprised that we’re just fine resting ourselves even if otherwise typically night owls.

We will stick with 1 room at Disney until all of my kids are literally physically too large for that little 5th bed (not a guarantee but a possibility given how tall we are in my family!). After that... honestly I don’t know if we’ll go. Just not worth it for us- but to each their own!

 

[bluezy]

My suggestion is that you do what works best for your family. It doesn't really matter what works for other families -- it's *your* vacation. Several years ago my sister and her family went to Disney. They had 2 teens and 2 toddlers at the time. They stayed in a room for 5 (plus a child under 3) at POR. I warned her over and over again that it would be tight and would be a huge change to their usual routine (they lived in a 6 bedroom/4 bath house at the time). She was confident that one room at POR would be fine..."it's only a week!". It wasn't fine. The toddlers were not good sleepers and were used to a totally dark and silent room for falling asleep. They didn't get overly tired at the parks because they spent their entire days in the stroller. They were used to going to sleep at about 7:00 every night. It didn't matter what time they went to bed at night, they were still awake at 6:00 every morning because that's what they were used to. And if they didn't get their 10-11 hours of sleep, they were miserable. So every night at Disney, the entire family had to be in bed with curtains closed, TV off, and no one getting up again at 8-8:30. One night her husband and the teens stayed at the park a little later and just tried to come in the room very quietly after the toddlers were asleep. Didn't work. They woke up and then, because they had slept for a few hours already, they were wide awake. Long story short, because of the sleeping situation, they were all so miserable on their vacation that they checked out and left 2 days early.

We have 5 kids (all teens-adults now). Most of our kids are very restless sleepers and are not used to sharing a bed. When they do share a bed, no one gets much sleep because they're constantly (unintentionally) waking each other up. We had them share beds if it was only going to be 2 or 3 nights. For a 7 or 8 night stay -- no way. No one would be happy and our vacation would be miserable. Not worth the money savings for us. We always did 2 rooms at Pop Century and then when AoA opened, we started getting a suite there because we knew we were guaranteed to be under one roof (also, by that time our oldest son was engaged/married so he either didn't travel with us or they got their own room which meant we could fit in a suite.). We stay at AoA even when we're only traveling with 3 kids even though we could get a room with a day bed at a deluxe resort (we bring an air mattress to AoA so everyone has their own bed). We like having 2 bathrooms and having a private bedroom in the suites. The suites are more expensive than 2 rooms, though. And we could often get a deluxe room that sleeps 5 for less than a suite.

I know plenty of families who have no problem staying in a standard room on vacation...but I also know others who can't. Everyone needs to do what works for their family logistic and budget wise.

 

[3gr8boys]

We stay at AoA even when we're only traveling with 3 kids even though we could get a room with a day bed at a deluxe resort (we bring an air mattress to AoA so everyone has their own bed). We like having 2 bathrooms and having a private bedroom in the suites. The suites are more expensive than 2 rooms, though. And we could often get a deluxe room that sleeps 5 for less than a suite.

I looked at 3 sleeping surfaces deluxe room options with the boys (before we could see pricing....just comparing rooms and resort amenities) and they really like the AoA suite layout better. I have to say I agree it will be a better option for us too. February 2020 !!

I know plenty of families who have no problem staying in a standard room on vacation...but I also know others who can't. Everyone needs to do what works for their family logistic and budget wise.

This

 

[sponica]

I grew up in a family of 5 and we always had the same hotel room when we went on vacations. My parents would watch tv, I'm sure we'd fall asleep at some point...

But all 3 of us also shared a bedroom for like 8 or 9 years, so we were accustomed to there being other people around when we were sleeping.

 

[mom2att]

I guess those who can vacation in one hotel room with a family of 5 or 6 have neither light sleepers nor loud snorers in the party. We have both, which makes sleep basically impossible for everyone when there is only one room for it.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Those of you that have two kids...do you share one regular hotel room?

We have a 9 year old and a 2 year old. My husband works nights and so naturally stays up late even on vacation. Tiptoeing around sleeping kids every night in a little hotel room is not an appealing option. Plus I doubt the 2 year old will go to sleep if she can see us.

Last time we went before our youngest was born, my mother went and shared an adjoining room with our daughter (AKL). Time before that we got a junior suite at CSR which worked well.

So I guess my options are either adjoining rooms again (but those aren’t guaranteed and obviously my kids can’t be alone down the hall!) or a one bedroom villa (I’d have to rent points I guess). Either way will be pricey! (AKL or maybe WL, we’re thinking)

Some friends of ours think we’re nuts to not just share a room with the kids. Just curious what others do!

last trip we had good luck with a cabin with the 6 of us. the girls went to sleep early in bedroom while adults hung out in living room. the full size refrg was a bonus as it had full size freezer on it

 

[NYCgrrl]

We are room and tent sharers, LOL.
For up to 5 related people we rent a CL room so that those who wake early and those who stay up late can hang out in the lounge area. Terrace is a nice place also whether you are staying CL or not.

 

[la79al]

Those of you that have two kids...do you share one regular hotel room?

We have a 9 year old and a 2 year old. My husband works nights and so naturally stays up late even on vacation. Tiptoeing around sleeping kids every night in a little hotel room is not an appealing option. Plus I doubt the 2 year old will go to sleep if she can see us.

Last time we went before our youngest was born, my mother went and shared an adjoining room with our daughter (AKL). Time before that we got a junior suite at CSR which worked well.

So I guess my options are either adjoining rooms again (but those aren’t guaranteed and obviously my kids can’t be alone down the hall!) or a one bedroom villa (I’d have to rent points I guess). Either way will be pricey! (AKL or maybe WL, we’re thinking)

Some friends of ours think we’re nuts to not just share a room with the kids. Just curious what others do!

You might find that after a day at Disney your kids and even your husband are so exhausted they fall into a deep sleep rather quickly. Otherwise, can you talk your husband into a TV app on his phone and some headphones? I am in the camp of 'not spending more on somewhere just to sleep' but we are open to close park goers so I'm lucky if all of mine actually make it back to the room before passing out.

 

[pixiemama91]

We always share a hotel room (2 adults, 2 kids), never crossed my mind not to. We do own a timeshare so when we use that my kids have their own room, but one or both often end up in our room anyway. Same as at home. When we are in Disney we are so exhausted at the end of the day most nights that we all just got to bed at the same time. Kids usually in one bed and my husband and I in the other.

 

[westie55]

DH and I have 2 boys, DS3 and DS1. We all share a hotel room. It would be great to have more space, don't get me wrong, but that comes at a price and we are fine in one room so far. You could definitely look into renting DVC points for a 1 or 2 bedroom villa or getting a suite at AoA.

 

[brockash]

Those of you that have two kids...do you share one regular hotel room?

We have a 9 year old and a 2 year old. My husband works nights and so naturally stays up late even on vacation. Tiptoeing around sleeping kids every night in a little hotel room is not an appealing option. Plus I doubt the 2 year old will go to sleep if she can see us.

Last time we went before our youngest was born, my mother went and shared an adjoining room with our daughter (AKL). Time before that we got a junior suite at CSR which worked well.

So I guess my options are either adjoining rooms again (but those aren’t guaranteed and obviously my kids can’t be alone down the hall!) or a one bedroom villa (I’d have to rent points I guess). Either way will be pricey! (AKL or maybe WL, we’re thinking)

Some friends of ours think we’re nuts to not just share a room with the kids. Just curious what others do!

Yes, we always stay in the same hotel room.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

We have one parent take the older child out of the room while the other parent puts the younger child to sleep. Older child and parents then play on tablets (using headphones) until they are ready to go to sleep.

The only place we don’t do this is Disney because we have enough points now to get a 1 BR. But all other places I refuse to pay for a second room. Everyone needs to learn to be flexible for the few days you are on vacation, IMHO. And little ones need to learn how to behave.

 

[mjkacmom]

We are a family of 7, and we have always stayed in the smallest possible space that would sleep our family. We also have a 5 bedroom (small rooms), 1 1/2 bath home. Kids are older teens/adults, and when we cruise we get 2 cabins. Dd16 and dd18 have shared a single bed, and dd22 has shared a double with her sisters. DH’s sisters will have kids just make nests with bedding on the floor.

 

[traveler000mkl]

We always do 2 queen bed hotel rooms when we travel for the family of 4. My kids have late bedtimes though, and fall asleep between 9 and 10.. After a long day at Disney, they would probably fall asleep by 9, I hope. so we do blackout curtain/ lights out all together. DH and I catch up on sleep during vacation that way. If we want to stay up a bit later, we might watch a movie or show on tablet with headphones.

 

[DLgal]

We have teen boys (2) and still share a room on vacation without issue. We usually stay deluxe in a room with a daybed or pullout, so the kids can have their own beds, but if that isn't an option, they can still share a bed. I mean, DH and I share a bed and we are bigger than they are, so they can keep sharing for now too.

 

[trixiedust23]

I can't comment on traveling with children, but have you considered a suite at Art of Animation? There's a queen bed in the bedroom and two sleep surfaces in the living room. And they look pretty cute.

We did the AOA suites with 2 adults, 2 kids. Put the kids in the bedroom and we had the living room, Murphy bed and bathroom while they slept in the early mornings and evenings. We found the Murphy bed just as comfortable as the bed in the room. Worked great for us, but this year trying standard Pop room. We’ll see... kids were so tired last trip that nothing would have woken them up. Counting on that again!

 

[bluezy]

We did the AOA suites with 2 adults, 2 kids. Put the kids in the bedroom and we had the living room, Murphy bed and bathroom while they slept in the early mornings and evenings. We found the Murphy bed just as comfortable as the bed in the room. Worked great for us, but this year trying standard Pop room. We’ll see... kids were so tired last trip that nothing would have woken them up. Counting on that again!

I find the murphy bed to be *more* comfortable than the bed in the bedroom. The queen size bed has a really firm mattress, IMO...too firm for me. After 1 night I wake up feeling bruised down the entire side of my body. On our last stay there I brought a mattress topper with me and put it on when we arrived. It was still too firm. I talked to mousekeeping and they put *another* foam mattress topper on top of mine. That made it comfortable for me. That mattress is my only real complaint about the suites. But now I know how to remedy the situation.

 

[tinkerjo]

It’s always been hard for us because we had 4 kids and they were spaces so far apart. We stayed at ASM when the oldest 3 were 8,6,9months. What a disaster that was. Those rooms and beds are so small. After that we either stayed in the cabins at fort wilderness or stayed off site (Ton of space and cheap). Now that there is only 3-4 of us (DS11 and Sometimes DS20) we do one room. They have to listen to us snore and live with it, lol. BUT DH refuses to stay in a resort that just has 2 beds. He needs a couch and a little space because he enjoys watching TV and drinking a couple beers in the evenings while I go back to the parks, or swim with the kids. to heck with TV!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We are a family of 3 and we rarely share one hotel room. We typically do 1-bedroom villas or 1-bedroom suites at Swan/Dolphin. My DH snores and I have to have a place to go when he wakes me up. It costs more, of course, but I would be an exhausted mess everyday otherwise.

 

[MudQueen22]

The last time we went, we were a family of four sharing a room at a value (AoA).
Since it was two double beds, dh slept in one, I slept in the other with our younger child, and our older child slept on an inflatable twin mattress between our beds. Once we all got up, we picked up her mattress and leaned it against the wall so that mousekeeping could move about the room. We folded the top sheet and blanket for the air mattress and put them on the table.
This worked well, and we were all comfortable.