6 Adults, 1 horrible snorer: What are our options?

[DemonLlama]

Hi All,

We're not planning to go until December 2015 but with the changed logistics of our usual trips, I am going back and forth on what, resort-wise, will be the most economical work-around for our situation.

This trip is me (the light sleeper), my husband (the now obnoxiously loud snorer) / Our college son and his girlfriend / Our college daughter (the lighter sleeper) and her boyfriend

So our lovely little trips for 4 people staying in a single room (when the snoring wasn't terrible) are a distant memory. Yes, I'm thinking of you WL Courtyard view in 2000, with your $144 a night. You ruined me.

Obstacle #1: 6 people, 5 of whom need to be in rooms separate from 1

Please no advice on white noise, earplugs, sleeping in different positions: believe me, short of the CPAP which he continues to resist, we've tried it all, including surgery on his uvula. Just need ideas on how five of us can sleep separate from him without needing a second mortgage on the house to afford it.

Obstacle #2: DH does not want to stay anywhere that involves us needing to rent a car (we're flying from Denver).

Weren't there a few hotels not "on site" that still get to use the Disney bus system? If so, I may need to investigate those.

We stayed in the cabins a few trips ago, when our party of 5 shrank to a party of 4 at the last minute. My son took the fold-out but my daughter ended up joining him to get away from the snoring, which was annoying me, but didn't keep me up all night like it did her. (Now, it does. I sleep in a different room in our house now.) So with six of us, the cabin option of 4 in the bedroom and two in the living room will not work. It would be me stuck in the living room smothering my husband to get some sleep. Neither of us want that.

Looking at the Value Family Suites, it seems like the same issue -- there's no way to get the five of us sleeping in a different room away from the one. Is that correct? We've never stayed there before, but looking at the double and queen set-ups, unless I want to bring along an air mattress and sleep on the floor, which, don't laugh, may be our best option, if we can hit a discount on them. Rack rate at the moment is quoting $403.43 before taxes.

That got me to looking into DVC rentals, since the 2Bdrms layout appear to be one room for four (two doubles), one room with a king (or two doubles), as well as a pull out in the living room. He'd take the pull-out, the college kids get one of the rooms with the two beds, and I get a room where I can actually get some sleep. Does this sound right, those of you who've stayed in them before? Or are other iterations possible where that might not be the case?

Crunching the numbers, I come up with $570 a night through the DVC rental store ($14 per point) for a 2 bedroom at Bay Lakes (standard) down to $426 a night for Animal Kingdom (standard).

I've already requested the check on availability at the 11 month mark and have pretty much ruled out Bay Lakes, because as much as I love walking to and from the MK I cannot justify paying an extra $144 a night for the privilege of skipping the bus.

So, it seems to come down to:
$426 at AK a night, no chance of that price dropping,
or $453 a night with the added burden of an air mattress, but the possibility of discounts in the future.

Anyone know what this December's discounts worked out to for the family suites?

Or are there other options, taking into account all of the above, which is ridiculous to start with, that I'm overlooking?

Sorry for the ridiculously long post, but this one's got a lot of angles to work out.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Rent a house on Airbnb or a similar service. Rent a car or take cabs or Uber. Your college aged kids' significant others do not want to share a bedroom with their SO's parents, snoring aside, but may be too polite to say because you are paying. Everyone will get privacy, refuge from the snorer and who knows, you might even find a place with a pool.

 

[kirstenb1]

Rent a house on Airbnb or a similar service. Rent a car or take cabs or Uber. Your college aged kids' significant others do not want to share a bedroom with their SO's parents, snoring aside, but may be too polite to say because you are paying. Everyone will get privacy, refuge from the snorer and who knows, you might even find a place with a pool.

I very much agree with this. The immediate issue that always comes to mind for me is, I couldn't share a bathroom with that many people. Even if I could get past the sleeping arrangements, I can't get past the whole logistics of everyone showering, etc.

We're DVC members, but I've always said we'd stay offsite if we weren't. For that many people, having a full kitchen and washer/dryer would be priceless, and ironically cheaper than staying in a crowded room onsite. With your dh and the rental car...is it just that he doesn't want to drive? You're lucky to have so many adults, then everyone else can just take turns driving. Having a car lets you pick up snacks/drinks/quick breakfast foods. All of this saves you time and $$.

 

[nugov2]

You can get a 6bdrm home with private pool and resort pool for under 300 a night and a 3bdrm townhouse for under 200 a night. A rental car is under a 100 a day(websites like hotwire they run $50 a day) so for 250 or 350 a night you are getting way better accommodations even with the parking fees you are coming out ahead vs your small onsite options. Windsor Hills is just a close as some of the onsite resorts. I'd look into that if it were me. Would be a much more enjoyable vacation.

 

[nanhol]

There are non-Disney hotels near Downtown Disney that will come in for far less--you would have to take a taxi or a car service from airport to hotel, and you'd probably want to rent multiple rooms, but it sounds like it would be worth it! I've only looked into one of them, but it was walking distance to DTD, where you can catch buses to Disney resorts--& it also offered park shuttles.

Check out http://www.downtowndisneyhotels.com/ and scroll down to the hotel list on the bottom.

I've considered the Doubletree, as we're Hilton Honors members--it gets terrific reviews on the disboards--but I haven't looked at the other hotels.

 

[Sunnywho]

...

 

[Elmo888]

Why not four rooms at a value resort? Everyone has privacy and a bathroom. You and your DH could request connecting rooms. Wouldn't it be around $400 a night? And no rental car needed.

 

[Sue M]

Another suggestion would be to get 3 rooms at Pop. My brother is a horrible snorer too, and when we visited our mom, I was stuck sharing living room with him. He went and bought those strips you put across your nose, I was surprised how well they worked. He's still alive!

I remember those WL rates too :-(. Our last stay there was the last time 40% AP discount was offered. Can't believe how much they've increased room rates there.

 

[thisismyusername]

As much as I love staying on property, if I were in the situation you're in, and I had the make up of family like you do, and if I were budget conscious, I'd stay off property, too. I really think your only option for on-property is going to be a two-bedroom villa--you in the king bed, your kids and their SOs in the second bed, and your husband on the pull out couch.

Or three value rooms.

Or two value rooms and a set of earplugs for you.

 

[preemiemama]

Weren't there a few hotels not "on site" that still get to use the Disney bus system? If so, I may need to investigate those.


That got me to looking into DVC rentals, since the 2Bdrms layout appear to be one room for four (two doubles), one room with a king (or two doubles), as well as a pull out in the living room. He'd take the pull-out, the college kids get one of the rooms with the two beds, and I get a room where I can actually get some sleep. Does this sound right, those of you who've stayed in them before? Or are other iterations possible where that might not be the case?

Crunching the numbers, I come up with $570 a night through the DVC rental store ($14 per point) for a 2 bedroom at Bay Lakes (standard) down to $426 a night for Animal Kingdom (standard).

I've already requested the check on availability at the 11 month mark and have pretty much ruled out Bay Lakes, because as much as I love walking to and from the MK I cannot justify paying an extra $144 a night for the privilege of skipping the bus.

So, it seems to come down to:
$426 at AK a night, no chance of that price dropping,
or $453 a night with the added burden of an air mattress, but the possibility of discounts in the future.

I have stayed in DVC 2 bedroom this past summer with my parents, son, and husband. It is a 1-bedroom and a studio connected to each other. The college kids would have privacy from you and your husband in the studio room, and with the door closed between rooms the snoring noise should be muffled if he is in the living room area. There are 2 bathrooms available, plus a kitchen and full-sized fridge as well as a washer/dryer. I think those are also good benefits!

Have you looked in to Saratoga Springs or Boardwalk area? Both of those have lower price points per stay than Bay Lake or AK. Plus, at Boardwalk (or Beach/Yacht Club) you could walk to Epcot through the International Gateway.

Finally, the Swan and Dolphin are also in that area, and not Disney-owned but have the bus system/boats to DHS since they are in the Boardwalk area. I am not sure if they have ME from the airport, or what the price per night is there.

Hope that helps!

 

[mockers]

I stayed in a dedicated 2 bedroom at AKL Kidani in October.There was a lot of space. There were three bathrooms - we actually put our baby in the third bathroom in a crib. The master bedroom had a king sized bed and the second bedroom had 2 queen beds. The main living area had a pull out sofa and a pull out chair. So you could stick kids and girlfriends in one bedroom and yourself or DH in the master and the other take the pull out sofa.

The table fits 4-5 and then their is a breakfast bar with stools. There is also a coffee table that you could eat on and the balcony had 2 small tables. Two of the bathrooms had the toilet separated by a door. There was tons of closet space.

Myself, DH and 5 kids stayed there and it was really spacious. The full balcony adds to the space. My kids are all under nine though so we didn't have privacy concerns for them. I loved the resort and room and would highly recommend it. We stayed in a standard view but I requested one of the rooms that also had a partial Savanna view. Looked this up on the touringplans.com site. We rented points directly from an owner so it was $12 as opposed to the $14 of the companies.

 

[preemiemama]

I forgot about the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga- those might be worth looking into as well? According to allears:

Size:
Three bedrooms, two baths

Number of Units:
60 villas

Number of Guests per Unit:
Villas accommodate up to nine Guests

Bedding Sizes:
Master bedroom - Queen
Second bedroom - Queen
Third bedroom - Bunk
Living room - Queen-size sleeper sofa and sleeper chair

 

[Echo queen]

It was so funny after my DH got his Cpap on about our 5th of a current 12 visits to WDW he would swear that every ride had changed and that they had added new features. The truth was prior to the Cpap every moment that he wasn't moving he fell asleep. He got a whole new experience. Priceless.

 

[worleygirl26]

If you are determined to stay on property I think I'd get multiple rooms at a value.

 

[goofyintoronto]

If you are determined to stay on property I think I'd get multiple rooms at a value.

I agree with this one. that way, you'd all get a good nights sleep.

 

[bumbershoot]

It was so funny after my DH got his Cpap on about our 5th of a current 12 visits to WDW he would swear that every ride had changed and that they had added new features. The truth was prior to the Cpap every moment that he wasn't moving he fell asleep. He got a whole new experience. Priceless.

Same experience. My DH says "not every ride" but I disagree. When he sat, he slept, especially if it was dark. In his first sleep study he was waking a terrifying number of times per hour, so much so that the sleep study people said he was their worst case in 5 years.


OP....

short of the CPAP which he continues to resist, we've tried it all, including surgery on his uvula. ....

Obstacle #2: DH does not want to stay anywhere that involves us needing to rent a car (we're flying from Denver).

He gets a CPAP or you rent a car and stay offsite at a rental house. Period.


DH slept on the couch for something like 3 years (it was his choice to stay there, and his choice to not deal with the reality and just get a bed to put in the extra bedroom) until his endocrinologist finally asked how his sleep was, and he had the sleep study done. He realized then that he was selfish and keeping me awake, which is why he was sleeping on the couch...but even that, his snoring was so loud our neighbors could hear him. The CPAP really really changed ALL of our lives. And with that many wakings per hour, I'm not sure he would be alive now if it weren't for the machine.

 

[lovedonald]

I would get 3-4 rooms at a value resort. We are a big family and we always get multiple rooms at a value resort. Everyone gets a bed and it helps with having lots of bathrooms to get ready in. The earlier you go in December the cheaper it will be. I just looked at the all stars at the beginning of December and the rooms were 98 dollars a night. You can get 3-4 value rooms and still come up with the same price as a deluxe per night. At least you would get some sleep! I also have heard people talk about renting dvc points. I never did that but will be looking into that as a possible option for our next trip once I learn more about it.

 

[krum]

Have you tried a tongue suppression device? It's the only thing that has more-or-less suppressed my snoring.

http://aveosleep.ca/

 

[robinb]

Hi All,

We're not planning to go until December 2015 but with the changed logistics of our usual trips, I am going back and forth on what, resort-wise, will be the most economical work-around for our situation.

This trip is me (the light sleeper), my husband (the now obnoxiously loud snorer) / Our college son and his girlfriend / Our college daughter (the lighter sleeper) and her boyfriend

So our lovely little trips for 4 people staying in a single room (when the snoring wasn't terrible) are a distant memory. Yes, I'm thinking of you WL Courtyard view in 2000, with your $144 a night. You ruined me.

Obstacle #1: 6 people, 5 of whom need to be in rooms separate from 1

Please no advice on white noise, earplugs, sleeping in different positions: believe me, short of the CPAP which he continues to resist, we've tried it all, including surgery on his uvula. Just need ideas on how five of us can sleep separate from him without needing a second mortgage on the house to afford it.

Obstacle #2: DH does not want to stay anywhere that involves us needing to rent a car (we're flying from Denver).

Weren't there a few hotels not "on site" that still get to use the Disney bus system? If so, I may need to investigate those.

We stayed in the cabins a few trips ago, when our party of 5 shrank to a party of 4 at the last minute. My son took the fold-out but my daughter ended up joining him to get away from the snoring, which was annoying me, but didn't keep me up all night like it did her. (Now, it does. I sleep in a different room in our house now.) So with six of us, the cabin option of 4 in the bedroom and two in the living room will not work. It would be me stuck in the living room smothering my husband to get some sleep. Neither of us want that.

Looking at the Value Family Suites, it seems like the same issue -- there's no way to get the five of us sleeping in a different room away from the one. Is that correct? We've never stayed there before, but looking at the double and queen set-ups, unless I want to bring along an air mattress and sleep on the floor, which, don't laugh, may be our best option, if we can hit a discount on them. Rack rate at the moment is quoting $403.43 before taxes.

That got me to looking into DVC rentals, since the 2Bdrms layout appear to be one room for four (two doubles), one room with a king (or two doubles), as well as a pull out in the living room. He'd take the pull-out, the college kids get one of the rooms with the two beds, and I get a room where I can actually get some sleep. Does this sound right, those of you who've stayed in them before? Or are other iterations possible where that might not be the case?

Crunching the numbers, I come up with $570 a night through the DVC rental store ($14 per point) for a 2 bedroom at Bay Lakes (standard) down to $426 a night for Animal Kingdom (standard).

I've already requested the check on availability at the 11 month mark and have pretty much ruled out Bay Lakes, because as much as I love walking to and from the MK I cannot justify paying an extra $144 a night for the privilege of skipping the bus.

So, it seems to come down to:
$426 at AK a night, no chance of that price dropping,
or $453 a night with the added burden of an air mattress, but the possibility of discounts in the future.

Anyone know what this December's discounts worked out to for the family suites?

Or are there other options, taking into account all of the above, which is ridiculous to start with, that I'm overlooking?

Sorry for the ridiculously long post, but this one's got a lot of angles to work out.

I feel your pain. My DH had an at-home test that said he was waking up A LOT (like 30+ per hour). He's had to cancel 2 in-clinic sleepovers but he has one set up for December. Meanwhile, he keeps me awake every night he is home. I am praying that they give him a CPAP machine. Can I ask what you do at home?

Sadly, but I think that you will need 4 bedrooms at the minimum. One for your DH, one for you, and 2 for your kids and their SOs. As much as I like 2BRs at DVC resorts they will not work for you unless you have your kids and their SOs in the 2nd bedroom together which would be awkward and with your DH in the middle of the villa his snores will reach everyone. I know that your DH doesn't want to rent a car, but a 4-bedroom house is really the best and cheapest option. You can get one for FAR less than $400 per night even after factoring in a car or even two.

 

[Amanda999]

If you are determined to stay on property I think I'd get multiple rooms at a value.

3rd this.

If budget is sky high, sure Treehouse Villas. Otherwise, if you don't want 2 rooms at a value, definitely look offsite. I'll suggest Windsor Hills townhomes - huge, 3 bedrooms all en suite, full kitchen, always 3 TVs, clubhouse pool with slide, very easy drive to AK, and not much worse drive to the other 3 parks. Park right at the door. 2 cars are allowed (2nd parks a bit further away). Stick with a major renter with many units (I don't think I can say names) and it is as easy as booking onsite. Easy drive to a Publix to stock the full size frig. The ceilings are very high fyi, so you don't hear snoring in the 1st floor queen bedroom when upstairs in the master bedroom. Cost will be lower than 2 value rooms onsite.