WWYD: Screaming kid on the other side of the wall of your hotel room

[DodgerGirl]

One thing I dislike when staying in hotels is the fact that you can hear your neighbors in the room next door to yours make every single noise you hear. For example when my mom and I had to share a room at a Residence Inn we could hardly get no rest at all because the neighbor next door to us was snoring loud and breathing loud too and it was like we had Darth Vader next to us and my mom thought it was Dad snoring. Another thing I can't stand in hotels is why people have to stomp around in the morning hours when people are still sleeping and when I have noticed this it reminds me of dinosaurs stomping. What you could've done was the smart thing of calling the front desk and asking them to call your neighbors room and have the front desk remind the neighbors to settle their child down with the screaming. It's possible that the child was having nightmares and scared and the neighbors couldn't figure out what to do

 

[Marthasor]

I apologise. You are absolutely right. How dare I expect people to cut my son some slack due to his disability. How dare I fail to do my job as a parent and control him. I absolutely should hide away in a rental house and protect the world from him. Even better, maybe I should hide away in my own home so the world doesn’t have to make space for him?

I don't think anyone on here is actually suggesting you do this. I'm also the mom of a child with a disability. When traveling, there are certain accommodations I can typically expect - early boarding on an aircraft, the DAS pass. Otherwise, I have to contrive the accommodations that will best suit his needs and, yes, as you suggested in another post, "quiet room" is always the first request I put on our reservations and I typically now spend more on 1- or 2-bedroom villas just so he can be in a bedroom with no external, hallway or connecting door. So, while your disabled child may be prone to outbursts, my disabled child is prone to panic attacks when hearing loud noises. I think, perhaps, we all need to be cognizant and respectful of not only our childrens' needs, but the needs of those around us.

 

[Summer2018]

I don't think anyone on here is actually suggesting you do this. I'm also the mom of a child with a disability. When traveling, there are certain accommodations I can typically expect - early boarding on an aircraft, the DAS pass. Otherwise, I have to contrive the accommodations that will best suit his needs and, yes, as you suggested in another post, "quiet room" is always the first request I put on our reservations and I typically now spend more on 1- or 2-bedroom villas just so he can be in a bedroom with no external, hallway or connecting door. So, while your disabled child may be prone to outbursts, my disabled child is prone to panic attacks when hearing loud noises. I think, perhaps, we all need to be cognizant and respectful of not only our childrens' needs, but the needs of those around us.

Your post provides a new perspective.

 

[Elle23]

To the person in the thread worrying about staying at a Disney hotel because of potential noise, in 7 Disney trips since 2017, I have never heard a peep out of any of our neighbors! It was so eerily quiet at POR, we were convinced we were the only ones staying in the block!

And with that, I will see you all again in this thread after my next trip because I am certain I just jinxed myself!

 

[Cheburashka]

I understand Disney is a place where you would encounter young children. I have two myself. I understand kids behave like kids. But what would you do if the family staying in the room next to you has a young child who would scream from the top of his/her lung for 20 minutes in the morning at 6am and in the evening at 11pm? I, unfortunately, encountered a family like that during our recent trip and had to endure it for 2 mornings and nights. The kid would just SCREAM and repeatedly say "I don't want to!" "No!" and cried. For 20 minutes nonstop. The parents were talking but not asking the kid to stop crying and screaming. The wall was paper-thin. It was 11pm and my family was in bed trying to sleep. All conversations from the other side of the wall were loud and clear.

I didn't do anything nor say anything to the family next door. I just waited and prayed for the kid to stop crying. I didn't bring earplugs but wish that I did. DH was cursing and was adding one more thing to his list of why he does not enjoy going to Disney.

What would you do?

I would go to the front desk (not call the front desk, because those "front desk" calls go to a call center and not to your resort's front desk), and request to be moved for that reason. With kids that bratty, the parents aren't going to be capable enough at parenting to be able to get the kids to stop, so there is no point in complaining to the family directly, or having the resort complain to them on your behalf. Those kids are going to keep screaming and the practical solution is to move yourself away from it.

 

[ScubaCat]

I would go to the front desk (not call the front desk, because those "front desk" calls go to a call center and not to your resort's front desk), and request to be moved for that reason. With kids that bratty, the parents aren't going to be capable enough at parenting to be able to get the kids to stop, so there is no point in complaining to the family directly, or having the resort complain to them on your behalf. Those kids are going to keep screaming and the practical solution is to move yourself away from it.

That's all you can do, really. And as I said before, it's a judgment call if it's worth it or not. Especially when you're really tired, packing up all your stuff and moving to another room with a family is a major hassle. And, you could end up in a room with a worse view, a maintenance issue, or some other problem.

There's no great solution when this happens, unfortunately. We can debate parenting skills and responsibility vs. a disability vs. a cranky child until the cows come home, but the fact is if you travel enough, you'll end up with an unpleasant neighbor and you'll have to make whatever decision is right for you at the time, which comes down to just two choices: put up with it or ask for a different room.

 

[Dakota731]

The posts here that shock me the most are the ones saying your calls to the front desk go to a call center! Well that’s crazy - you could have a kid screaming next door for hours until you finally reach someone!! And I certainly would never knock on the room next door in this day and age, so I guess the only answer would be to walk to the front desk.

 

[HashberryOTG]

The posts here that shock me the most are the ones saying your calls to the front desk go to a call center! Well that’s crazy - you could have a kid screaming next door for hours until you finally reach someone!!

My responses have always been handled quickly. Whether it technically rings down to 2 people at a desk or a switchboard, in my experience, has never mattered. The one time I had to call for security it was clearly immediate given how quickly security showed up. Same with any requests for towels and whatnot.

 

[Trvlnomad]

Good topic for for infrequent or frequent travelers. Anytime I travel:
Earplugs, white noise device, avoid connecting rooms whenever possible.

If it so bad I was not able to sleep, I would ask to move rooms and I have a couple of times.

Bonus tip: if staying at at a value and notice inside furniture moved to the outside walkway - red flag, request a room change immediately.

 

[Marthasor]

The posts here that shock me the most are the ones saying your calls to the front desk go to a call center! Well that’s crazy - you could have a kid screaming next door for hours until you finally reach someone!! And I certainly would never knock on the room next door in this day and age, so I guess the only answer would be to walk to the front desk.

The CMs in the call center pick up almost immediately and can direct your concern to the department that needs to handle your concern. I’ve had the call center dispatch housekeeping, engineering, security and the sheriffs department. I don’t know where you got the idea that no one picks up when you call the call center?

 

[MomOTwins]

The way OP was describing it, it sound exactly like the kid is in on a timed schedule for some medicine. Might be antibiotics for an ear infection right before the trip--so the parents might have had no idea this would happen. I would assume the best--most parents are hyper aware of the effect their kids' noise is having on others. I get it's annoying, but that sort of stuff happens in hotels all the time. I might ask for a different room if there was one, but wouldn't let it bother me if it didn't. We've had middle of the night fire alarms for example--sometimes several in the same trip--and that is the worst because you have to wake the kids and go outside in jammies, and it can take ages for it to get resolved. These things are just a hazard of staying in a hotel--any number of things can disturb your sleep.

 

[Lilsia]

If it was March 2020 at the Poly sorry about that. .my kid was possessed being overtired most nights.
I guess all you can do is empathize with the parents as I am sure they are also wanting some sleep. It is definitely, in my eyes, the nature of the Disney beast.

I don't agree with that. You don't have to go all day until your child is overtired. Vacations are supposed to be fun for the whole family. If your kid is so tired every night that they are screaming and can't fall asleep, maybe a different touring plan is necessary.

 

[MomOTwins]

It is quite a common problem when children disturb others with their screaming.

I mean evidently not THAT common since this is a zombie thread from over a year ago

 

[gottalovepluto]

It is quite a common problem when children disturb others with their screaming.

ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT

 

[Marrila]

It is quite a common problem when children disturb others with their screaming.

Not quite as common as zombie thread resurrections.

 

[kimmar067]

I don't agree with that. You don't have to go all day until your child is overtired. Vacations are supposed to be fun for the whole family. If your kid is so tired every night that they are screaming and can't fall asleep, maybe a different touring plan is necessary.

...which is why, when my boys were younger, we'd go to a park early and head back to the resort around lunch time, where we could have lunch, relax by the pool [or room], get changed and refreshed for dinnertime and head back out to the parks or our dinner ADRs...