Family of 4 in 2 Double Beds

[honeymom]

Due to some budget constraints we are thinking of switching from WL to a moderate (either CBR or PO-FQ). We are a family of 4 - myself, DH, DD - aged 5 and DS - age 2 and 1/2 (does not sleep in crib anymore). I like the idea about saving money, but I'm concerned about sleeping. I don't think the kids will share a bed without a war which means my DH sharing a bed with my DS and my sharing a bed with my DD.

As much as I love them, I'm not sure we can sleep comfortably this way. We are all tall and the kids are kickers. What is your experience? Any of you have any advice?

[CapHook]

We always do that kind of arrangement when we are staying in a hotel. When we were at Disneyworld my DD and DS were so tired they didn't move all night and my DS is a very restless sleeper.

[honeymom]

Did any of you ever ask the resort for bed rails and were they able to accomodate?

[skeezixspud]

I seem to recall hearing that some of the rooms at PO have trundle beds, you probably want to check the resorts board. if you got one of those, then you and DH could sleep in one bed, and the kids could each have a bed.

[Kermit]

Yes, you can get a room with a trundle at PO Riverside (DxL). They may charge $10/night extra, but it would probably be worth it.

[honeymom]

My sister stayed in one of those rooms 3 years ago and said it was dirty and dark. She really didn't like Dixie Landings (she loved CBR and liked WL to give you an idea of her tastes). I'm sure it was just luck of the draw given that so many people do like the resort, but she has scared me off of it. If you've stayed there, would you please tell me what your experience was like and if there was a section that you would recommend.

[rbuzzotta]

I can't remember the last time I slept in the same bed as my DH on a WDW vacation!! We have 3 DD's 9,5, 2 3/4. My yougest LOVES the portacrib even though she has been sleeping in a full size bed since the age of 15 months!! My DH and I take turns sleeping with our DD's.

We feel we have solved that problem since we bought into DVC last year. Our first trip in a DVC resort is this July/August. Our favorite resort is PO--FrenchQuarters!! We stayed at DxL this past March and my kids wished that we were at PO. My girls are usually "all over" the bed but after a full day out and about at WDW, they don't even move at night!!!!!

Good Luck

[TinkTink]

If you're not against staying off property, you can rent a vacation home for the same price as WDW moderate. You would get 2 BR, 2 Ba, private pool, kitchen, the works! We did this in January and we plan to do it again and again!

Check out www.pr-vacation.com for more info. There is a lot of info about vacation home rental on the Orlando Accomodations board.

[Schmeck]

First trip to WDW was when DDs were 2 1/2 and 5 yrs old. We pushed the double bed nearest the bathroom up against the wall at CBR, and had the little one sleep on the inside. Both girls are tossers, but I agree, all that exercise, excitement, and fresh air turned them into little logs.

Last trip, (5 1/2 and 8) they didn't want to 'sleep together', so we started them out in separate beds, while hubby and I read at the table. 30 minutes later, the oldest is snoring, the younger is grinding her teeth, and we know they're too zonked out to notice that we've moved one into the other's bed...

Seem to remember that you can order a cot for your room as well - as long as it's for one of the four people in your room.

Schmeck

[honeymom]

thanks for all the great suggestions. In the past I've actually only stayed off site. Given the age of my kids we opted for on site so we can take down time more easily during the day. I hope my kids get as tired as yours. For some reason, they seem to wake up at night, especially when they are excited. Realistically, however, they almost always wind up in our beds anyway when we are away from home, even when we have separate beds for them. Now I've just got to convince my husband that it's worth changing from WL to save the money (he loves the look of that place). If we switch to a moderate I'm leaning towards CBR or PO-FQ. Both look really nice.

[Jenn]

I would get the bedrails for both sides of the bed the kids are sleeping in. Then, ask housekeeping for a couple of extra pillows and put the pillows in the middle of the bed so you make two seperate areas for each kid. That would do the trick with my daughter. She loves sleeping in the middles of a big pile of pillows.

[honeymom]

That's a great idea Jenn. Then they can't kick each other all night.

[Serena]

We have a family of four. Me and my dh, 2 dd's one was 14, the other 8.
Those two almost never get along, but they were so tired and just happy that we didn't hear a peep out of them.
Now these two can barely make it one block without arguing so I was prepared, but no problems at all. The whole week. :)

Me and my dh aren't little and we did fine too.

[greyhoundmama]

My family of four (myself, 10 y/o DS, 9 y/o DD, and 6 y/o DD) will be at the ASMo in two double beds. I agree that the children will probably be so worn out that they won't care where they sleep, or who they sleep with. One thought (works with my children when they beg to sleep on the couch instead of in bed) is that once the littlest one falls asleep in the bed you could move her to a crip in order to give the older child more room, etc.

[honeymom]

Unfortunately, we breed tall children. Littlest one is already about 38" tall. Don't think he'd even fit in a portacrib anymore.

My kids always make 90-95 percentile on height. No surprise - I'm nearly 5'10" and husband is 6'2"!

[kathyjanet]

Our family of 4 slept in 2 double beds. My kids are 5 & 7. I was worried at first but we all were so tired from the long days that no one moved in their sleep!

[Ladygator]

We stayed at the Dolphin last August with our 3 children. The infant in a crib and our 5 and 3 years olds each slept on a child-size type air mattress. We just packed an extra suitcase with the air mattresses, the air pump and sheets. It worked out great for us.

[honeymom]

Thank you for the great responses. We switched to PO-FQ and are saving some money (at least enough to help us to afford some souvenirs this trip and a little more money to spend on meals). Now I'll just have to tire the kids out enough to pass out at night since they will be sharing a bed. Somehow I don't think that will be a problem at WDW! Thanks again.

[mom2boys]

We do the one parent & one child per bed arrangement whenever we travel. We even did it at BC with Queen sized beds and a day bed. With everyone in one room everyone needs to go to bed at the same time (at least in our family). The only time DH & I have slept in the same bed on vacation is when we stayed at WL in a room with a queen bed and a set of bunk beds. The boys worked out an arrangement were they alternated sleeping on the top bunk. We were pleasantly pleased with their agreement (& yes surprised). The boys were 5 & 7 last trip.

[ToyStory]

We are having an issue with who will sleep with our son. There is no way my DH and I can sleep in a double bed. DH assumes he will be having the bed to himself since he complains that our son moves around too much.

We had a queen bed at home for the first two years of our marriage, but moved to a King bed and we still fight over the blankets. At least I don't get elbowed in the eye any more.

I plan on gettng a bed rail for my son's side of the bed or move the bed against the wall if we are unable get on. Another thing I am doing is bringing a nighlight for the bathroom since we have one at home.

[disneymania]

We have stayed at DxL, CS & WL with our 3 kids at all ages & I have to say that we usually split up adults with kids just to make bedtime quicker. I do remember that when we stayed at DxL my daughter fell out of the bed a few times which is why one of us started sleeping with her. The beds were really high too. I found out afterwards that we could have gotten guard rails. I would definately check that out. At WL we had bunk beds which the kids still talk about but if you have budget constraints, I would stay at any of the moderates in a second. They are just as great IMHO & the food court at DxL is better than CS & WL hands down (which with small children is where we wanted to eat for many meals).

[TShippPugh]

We have a quite large family (7 of us going) and I found that renting a home is much cheaper than renting a hotel room (which several thousand people have stayed in over the years!).

I found a 4 bedroom, 2 bath with it's own pool in Davenport (10 min to WDW) for $99 per night. The house was just finished in April, so very few people have stayed there.

They have anywhere from 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedrooms for rent. Check out:

www.fvhr.net
www.vrbo.com

:jester:

[mainey-mouse]

Well, I have two tall kids, age 4 and 7. At home they have their own beds, but also usually end up in ours - which is a queen. Amazingly, on vacation, they were so tired they didn't even wake up to move in. Admittedly, I didn't like being in a hotel room with two double beds- but honestly, I wouldn't pay extra for two queens. We altogether prefered the 2 bedroom offsite cabin, with couch and kids sleeping loft too.

We stayed 2 days at PO-RS (Dixielandings). The resort itself from the outside was much more appealing than PO-FQ (saw that when we went to swim at the serpent pool). Pool area is actually nicer at PO-RS than at PO-FQ - except for that serpent slide at PO-FQ which is worth trying out. Playground at PO-RS is far superior to the one at PO-FQ.

PO-RS rooms were dark, and ours was damp. Floor was still wet from carpet cleaning when we got in (about noon) but we figured - well, at least we know they clean the carpets and since we're in early, I guess that explains why they aren't dry yet. It was a bit disconcerting when some spots weren't dry the next am. Neither were our bathing suits which we hung up at 4pm the day before. No adjustments to the in-room airconditionner helped. I think if we were there longer than 2 days, I'd have asked for a new room on the first day. The bathroom is really small, and there is no closet - so you have to live with suitcases out and about. However, the room was NOT dirty at all, and it was attractively decorated. Then again, I work full time, and do my own housecleaning - maybe if I had a maid in daily at home or something, I'd think differently. People have different baselines to compare these things to. Lets just say, it was as clean or cleaner than just about any middle class home I've been in...

Transportation. Every bus we took was crowded - and our kids fell asleep on the way home after fireworks. Big hassle. First bus out to MK on an non-EE day was crowded -- so I assume the first bus out on EE day would be worse. You'll get back to your room just as quickly if you drive - even if you stay offsite in a good location - as you will on the PO-RS bus. Waits are between 10-20 mins (more after fireworks or parade) and drive time is 17 minutes, and the walk to your room is 5-10 mins. I'm aware some people consider these buses a convenience, but why, is just beyond me. The monorail and parking lot tram are at least not long enough for kids to fall asleep on.

Ultimately, if you're paying rack rate for a Disney deluxe, but wish to save money and not sacrifice comfort - I'd really recommend an offsite suite. Having tried both with kids - we won't consider an extended stay in a hotel room again if we have any option - until maybe the kids are old enough that we can get them their own room

[kathfish]

You know what.... my kids fight over which one gets the FLOOR! Ds is 10 and dd is 7 and every year for the past 5 they have been switching off one night one GETS the floor, the next night the other one GETS it.... Yup, their strange! We use the bedspread on the bottom and get extra blankets/sheet to cover them. Works good for me and Dh! Now we have an 8 mo old, so soon we'll need more floor!:p

[imgoingtodisney]

We had originally booked at Caribbean Beach resort for Oct - 2 double beds. I am going with husband, MIL and 9yr old son. When I heard Wilderness Lodge had 2 queen beds or 1 queen w/bunk bed I got on phone to MIL and asked her if she would sleep in the bottom bunk. We need the extra room.
Husband and I went with son in 1996 - he was 4 at the time - and thought the All Stars were too small. This time we moved up from Value to Deluxe (lower end of Deluxe but still Deluxe).

[ZachnElli]

Maybe you should look offsite. We are staying at Holiday Inn Family suites (www.hifamilysuites.com) and staying in kid suites. Kids get their own room with bunk beds, an extra pull out in their room plus a tv/vcr/nintendo in their room! Plus it's only a mile from WDW. My rates are cheaper than what I found onsite (not including AS/AM). Just a thought! I may be on vacation, but I don't want to share my bed or bedroom with my kids! :)

[lorik]

Those double beds are always a problem for us. My DH is 300 lbs and there is no way the two of us can get a good night sleep, or any sleep at all, in a double bed. DH sleeps with DS and I sleep with DD. However, this is not particularly comfortable for DH since DS is 9 and big for his age.

If we can ever afford to go to Disney again we are considering staying at the Swan since there are Queen size beds and hopefully, they will still have the nurse's rate so it won't be any more expensive than a moderate.

[honeymom]

We just got back and much to my surprise, yes my kids were so pooped at night that they slept together in the same bed. We asked for bed rails which worked great. Thanks for all the advice. Had a very pleasant stay.

[LKS]

One other idea which has worked for us is vacation bribery. Any kid that we did not hear talking after bedtime got a dollar in the morning. Ours don't mind sleeping together, but talk and talk, keeping one another awake. It worked, especially since they wanted vacation spending money.

[honeymom]

I believe in bribery. I actually give my kids a dime (sorry I can't afford a dollar on a regular basis), each time that they sleep through the night without waking us up. Unfortunately, I don't give many dimes away.

[RumpleMom]

We have queen bed at home, so double bed on vacation felt really small. We realized we would need to move up from moderates to have queen bed, but did not feel we would be able to afford to go to WDW every three years if we did. We decided we would drive instead of fly to save money, and bought DVC to lock in future prices. We are looking forward to summer vacation in 1 bedroom at OKW- we have king bed and 2teenage DD have queen sleeper sofa.

[jstmee]

Ha, lol, rofl, sleeping ALONE, in bed with DH on a vacation with my dear, dear four, wonderful children?? I wish. Actually, we have gotten away with ALL six in one room before. I take a 12 year old, my hubby takes a 12 year old, my dd 9 puts two chairs together and curls up in that and my ds 8 gets a blow up mattress thing and sleeps on that. Of course that usually gets a rip in it after one night, but it's the thought that counts. Now, we get two rooms and pray that there is no arguing before bedtime. They "promised" for the disney trip they wouldn't argue, they are working out sleeping arrangements now and we aren't going until September.

[Yvette Q.O.D.]

When we were a family of 4 (now 5) this is how we did it. DH and DS slept in one bed and DD and I slept in the other. It was more comfortable that way because DH and I do not fit comfortably in a double bed.

We're too used to our big king bed at home.

Have Fun!
:bounce:

[Pooh93]

We did the family of four thing in December. My kids were 5 and not quite 3 years old. I thought they'd want to sleep together....silly me;) One dd slept with dh and other dd slept with me! I got the one that kicks, tosses and turns all night! I guess that is what us mom are for! Actually, it wasn't that big of a deal, because DH and I have a queen bed at home and I'm not sure I'd have been that comfortable with him, because he is a tosser and turner at times also.

[whirlsy]

hi, i also am staying at the wl with my 6yr old daughter and 2 yr old son and husband i requested bunk beds let the little one stay on the bottom and request bed rails they let us do it so im sure youll have no problem getting them also, wl is the best resort by far i would hate to think you had to switch . best of luck