Air Mattress Question

[DizGirl20]

Hi Everyone,

I am so excited... we joined Owners Locker today! Now that I will have my very own locker I have a question about air mattresses...

1. Are they allowed? My daughters don't want to sleep together on the pull-out couch.

2. Does anyone have an OL and do you keep your air mattress in it? Does it take up alot of room?

Thanks!

 

[momhmmx2]

We have a twin and a queen in ours as well as a small electric pump. They rollup pretty small..I got inexpensive ones at Target several years ago. The twin goes on the floor and the queen goes on the pull out couch as the kids think it is too hard to sleep on and for $30 it was well worth not hearing them complain I also keep sheets in the locker for the twin. This last trip I added a thin lightweight blanket as the kids would get cold at night and just the sheet was not enough (Disney does not provide extra sheets/blankets)

 

[dopeyone]

I have a twin and small pump in mine, plenty of room! You'll be surprised at how much you can fit in those purple boxes!

 

[RatherB@Disney]

I am also planning on buying an air mattress (twin size) for DS2 to keep in an OL. Based on this thread, it seems like it will fit in an OL with no problem. Based on other threads I searched through, it sounds like the inflated mattress will fit between a BCV king bed and the wall/sliding door, so this should work out nicely for keeping DS close by and somewhat corralled in the bedroom (as he will not sleep in a PnP).

So I am happy that those two questions were answered, but I feel like my head is going to explode as I research which mattress to buy. Whether I am reading reviews about the expensive Aerobeds or cheaper brands, there are always complaints about poor quality and leaks. Since I am buying this with the intent to use for several years, I am really concerned about reliability. Although for use by a toddler for ~2 weeks a year, am I worrying too much? (As I wrote that, I am now wondering if a squirmy, kicking, active-sleeper toddler would be harder on a mattress than an adult, LOL!)

PP mentions using an inexpensive (~$30) mattress from Target for several years -- I would greatly appreciate anyone else's experience with air mattresses and their quality.

- What brand/model worked well for you?
- Does infrequent use and being folded up in an OL for most of the year affect their lifespan?
- Advantages & disadvantages of internal pump vs. External pump? I think an AC-powered pump would be best, so we don't have to rely on having batteries or having the adequate time needed to charge rechargable batteries. From what I've read so far, sounds like an internal pump may create extra stress on the mattress and make it prone to leaks (?) + the cords aren't long so you have to be close to an electrical outlet to inflate (?)
- Are any types of mattresses more compact than others (to conserve OL space)?
- Would outdoor models be more leak-proof? Are they less comfortable?

TIA!!

 

[RatherB@Disney]

bumping.....hoping someone has some helpful advice!

 

[DizGirl20]

Hi There - I am the OP and we ended up buying a mattress from a WalMart in Orlando; it came with its own external air pump. It was very comfortable and we were able to store it in our BCV villa no problem. I will be interested to see when I pull it out of my OL how it handled storage for 11 months. I don't foresee it being a problem, it was only used for 7 nights and seemed pretty durable. I think we paid about $50 for a queen size mattress (maybe less - can't remember).

ALL THIS BEING SAID, it was the last thing we stuffed into our OL and I can't help but remembering that new "fume" smell coming from the mattress. Now I am wishing I ordered a 2nd OL just to store the mattress. I think I may do that next trip. I am worried how those fumes may affect the other contents in the locker. Oh and we also bought sheets for the mattress that is also in our locker!

 

[Disjunky]

whats an owners locker? how does it work, where is it located? please inform.

 

[DizGirl20]

whats an owners locker? how does it work, where is it located? please inform.

http://www.ownerslocker.com/

 

[twinklebug]

We have a twin and a queen in ours as well as a small electric pump. They rollup pretty small..I got inexpensive ones at Target several years ago. The twin goes on the floor and the queen goes on the pull out couch as the kids think it is too hard to sleep on and for $30 it was well worth not hearing them complain I also keep sheets in the locker for the twin. This last trip I added a thin lightweight blanket as the kids would get cold at night and just the sheet was not enough (Disney does not provide extra sheets/blankets)

Does your twin fit in a studio setup or only 1/2 bedroom units? Interested as I also have 2 teens who won't share with each other or mom any more (hey I don't mind having the queen bed to myself! ) Which leaves DS with a sleeping bag on the floor.

BTW - Housekeeping will bring blankets and extra pillows (not sheets). Every trip just as we move into our room I hit the housekeeping button on my phone and request 2 more blankets and pillows. They're there with the items and a huge smile within 1/2 hour.

 

[RatherB@Disney]

Thanks for the info DizGirl & twinklebug!

ALL THIS BEING SAID, it was the last thing we stuffed into our OL and I can't help but remembering that new "fume" smell coming from the mattress. Now I am wishing I ordered a 2nd OL just to store the mattress. I think I may do that next trip. I am worried how those fumes may affect the other contents in the locker

Whatever mattress I end up buying, I'm definitely going to buy it at home and allow it to air out for awhile before taking to WDW. (I'm sure it won't eliminate ALL the smell, but hopefully it will help) It'd be nice if a relatively odor-free air mattress existed!

DizGirl, I hope you're pleasantly surprised by a low-odor OL at your next visit! At least it's being stored in a climate-controlled area, so the fumes shouldn't evolve as much as if they were baking in the heat (if that's any consolation!)

 

[Anal Annie]

We have purchased air mattresses for camping. I tried a cheapy twin size Target one for DS and it leaked a little or something so I will now only buy the Coleman brand. Personally, for kids for 2 weeks a year I wouldn't spend the money on the more expensive Aerobed ones. We use a Coleman pump that runs on like 'C' batteries or something (we remove the batteries when we're not using it) and it blows the twin up in about 1 min. Same with deflating - it only takes about a minute & they fold up easy peasey out of the way. They're not hard AT ALL to put up & take down. it really only takes about a minute or two. We don't have room in our Owners Locker for an air mattress but DS would prefer to sleep on one over the sofa bed. We took one to HHI this summer for him 'cuz we drove - we stay in studios & the sofa there was so uncomfortable we ended up leaving the air mattress out in the floor in front of the couch & we sat on it instead.

 

[lisareniff]

We have a few for camping and sleepovers. We have purchased Coleman air mattresses and have had good luck with them. I like how they have a system to roll them up. We did have an aerobed mattress first and that one hit the dust fairly quickly.

ETA: The pump is separate. You can purchase either battery operated or plug-in variety. I found having the pump separate is actually nice. You can have one pump for 4 mattresses.

 

[RatherB@Disney]

Thanks for the info! I'll look into Coleman models.