Cheapest hotel with separate bedroom

[Boardwalk_bride]

We are thinking of visiting WDW/Universal in 2024 - going to DLR for the first time in a few months (yay!). I'm wondering what the best, and cheapest options are for rooms where our kiddo can sleep separately? On our last WDW visit (and only one as parents) we splurged on a Kidani one bedroom suite, but we can't do that again with all our travel.

Is our best option for price to just stay at a universal hotel? It looks like even the value resorts with a separate bedroom are super $$$$. We've never stayed off property - we do plan to do a few nights at universal, could consider Disney Springs. She really can't fall asleep unless she has a seperate area - we shared a typical hotel room with her one night last summer on a road trip and she was not happy and coudn't fall asleep.

Also, any other tips on things to do nearby would be great! I'm thinking we'd just have 2 park days, especially if we stay at a nice hotel. We'd be going April 2024.

TIA.

 

[sponica]

Do you know why she can't fall asleep when she's sharing a sleeping space? Is it the noise, the light, etc? With my oldest she needs it dark and there needs to be some sort of background noise (rain falling, etc). Would staying deluxe and hanging out on the balcony while she tries to fall asleep work?

Anything on property at either resort, you'll be paying a premium for a separate sleeping area. I usually look for Marriott Courtyards and Homewood Suites, as those will sometimes have separate sleeping areas, depending on the location.

 

[HopperFan]

First question ~ will you have a car? That would change what I would consider good options.

And are you talking about a room for her to fall asleep before you go to bed in same room OR are you talking about something bigger, 2 bedroom?

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

First question ~ will you have a car? That would change what I would consider good options.

And are you talking about a room for her to fall asleep before you go to bed in same room OR are you talking about something bigger, 2 bedroom?

We are open to having a car - it depends on what else we do. We are sort of looking at the options of what else there is to do, as she did WDW in 2020, and we are doing DLR in April. So, we are thinking, we won't need to hit all the parks, and can have some more relaxing days.

I should also mention, this would be a pre-anniversry trip (we got married in Epcot in 2010), so we would want something nice. We were originally thinking Europe next year, to be in WDW on our anniversary year, but we are thinking we will wait for that.

Basically, trying to plan out budgets now!

 

[Mle8308]

What about connecting rooms? That can be less expensive than a 1BR or even a family suite at a value. You could do connecting rooms at one of the All Stars or Pop. Or a cabin at Fort Wilderness Campground.

 

[sponica]

Followup: how old is this kiddo? My answers might change upon knowing this fact.

 

[loves to dive]

At WDW All Star Music has a family suite. AoA does as well but ASMu is much less. Dolphin has some mini-suites that are not bad.

 

[Magical2017]

Universal's Dockside and Surfside suites are inexpensive.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Have you tried looking at paying cash for one bedroom at BLT? You can still apply room discounts and it might not be too pricey.

Really? I assumed it would cost $$$$ We have stayed in mostly deluxes by renting points - but I don't think I can book something without cancellation that far in advance anymore.

I would pick AoA.

My reasons:
- like you, I think my kid would not sleep if we were in the same room. Especially since there’s no way we could go to sleep at the same time (mine is younger, and he goes to sleep at 7:30)
- I personally don’t think it would work for me to use a balcony as my evening space. There’s just not much room out there, plus depending on the room you might not have a ton of privacy
- I would not do a split stay with a toddler. I love split stays without kids and I could imagine it being fun with older kids, but with a toddler I find it *much* easier to unpack and stay put
- I could see a toddler having an absolute blast at the resort, especially the main pool. And it feels like one with a kind of expiry date (it might not be as fun with older kids).

To me, traveling with a toddler means lots of time in the hotel room. It’s worth picking a resort where your whole group can be as comfortable as possible.

She'll be 7 when we go - turning 6 this year. She moved hotels like a champ on a road trip this summer. Our upcoming California trip is just one hotel near DLR, though. I love the idea of AoA. My first trip as an adult (with my boyfriend who is now my DH) was at Pop, and I have such good memories.

OS was almost three when we went last time, and he wouldn't go to sleep unless everyone else in the room was asleep. If you're wanting to stay up any later than your kiddo, I'd definitely suggest AoA, just to give you a little space that's separate from him so he can crash and you can veg.

The big thing I always keep in mind is that vacation makes my kids regress a lot. They might go to bed super easy at home, might be able to sleep through a marching band storming through their room, but on vacation, they'll be bouncing off the walls until 4 a.m. and wake up if a fly sneezes two rooms over (I exaggerate... a little). Plan for how your kid sleeps when he's younger so that you won't wind up expecting more of him when you're there than he's able to give, being overtired and overexcited.

She's pretty good overall. A0A is just sooooo expensive! But maybe we will just hope for a discount.

What about connecting rooms? That can be less expensive than a 1BR or even a family suite at a value. You could do connecting rooms at one of the All Stars or Pop. Or a cabin at Fort Wilderness Campground.

I thought about the connecting rooms, but would rather just have a suite to get a mini kitchen.

Followup: how old is this kiddo? My answers might change upon knowing this fact.

She'll be 7 when we go. She is an only child, smart, and high energy, which does make traveling pretty easy with her.

At WDW All Star Music has a family suite. AoA does as well but ASMu is much less. Dolphin has some mini-suites that are not bad.

I'll look into that one again - the price seemed the same as AoA. I don't really want to stay at Swan/Dop. We stayed at Beach Club once and couldn't stand the shared buses between all those resorts.

Universal's Dockside and Surfside suites are inexpensive.

That's what I am leaning toward. Maybe there for a few nights and AoA for a few. Would love to do the skyliner and the pool looks so fun.

 

[Magical2017]

If you price out Dockside or Surfside, you can see the prices. They are not the premiere resorts that come with Express passes, but they do have suites and are considered the value-type resorts of the Universal hotels. The prices have really gone up at many of the Universal properties, though. By 2024 they may be even higher.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

If you price out Dockside or Surfside, you can see the prices. They are not the premiere resorts that come with Express passes, but they do have suites and are considered the value-type resorts of the Universal hotels. The prices have really gone up at many of the Universal properties, though. By 2024 they may be even higher.

Ugh, oh no! Depending on the exchange rate (we are in Canada) we might have to prioritize Europe..... I'll keep an eye on when things can be booked.

 

[Mle8308]

Ugh, oh no! Depending on the exchange rate (we are in Canada) we might have to prioritize Europe..... I'll keep an eye on when things can be booked.

Crazy how Europe can be less expensive than Disney! You could visit Disneyland Paris!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Crazy how Europe can be less expensive than Disney! You could visit Disneyland Paris!

I know. We have gone to Europe a lot because it's usually cheaper than travelling even within Canada (especially going out west - Slovenia is cheaper, even with flight!).

We do have a whole DLP trip planned too, which we could do next year as I'll already be in Spain in June for work, it would just mean being there in July, which I don't really want to do (although we can go another time). We will see how she does on the 6 hour flight to LA first....

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Really? I assumed it would cost $$$$ We have stayed in mostly deluxes by renting points - but I don't think I can book something without cancellation that far in advance anymore.

She'll be 7 when we go - turning 6 this year. She moved hotels like a champ on a road trip this summer. Our upcoming California trip is just one hotel near DLR, though. I love the idea of AoA. My first trip as an adult (with my boyfriend who is now my DH) was at Pop, and I have such good memories.

She's pretty good overall. A0A is just sooooo expensive! But maybe we will just hope for a discount.

I thought about the connecting rooms, but would rather just have a suite to get a mini kitchen.

She'll be 7 when we go. She is an only child, smart, and high energy, which does make traveling pretty easy with her.

I'll look into that one again - the price seemed the same as AoA. I don't really want to stay at Swan/Dop. We stayed at Beach Club once and couldn't stand the shared buses between all those resorts.

That's what I am leaning toward. Maybe there for a few nights and AoA for a few. Would love to do the skyliner and the pool looks so fun.

check the price of cabins at fort Wilderness. especially if wanting the mini kitchen as the have a full kitchen.

 

[loves to dive]

I'll look into that one again - the price seemed the same as AoA. I don't really want to stay at Swan/Dop. We stayed at Beach Club once and couldn't stand the shared buses between all those resorts.

Swan/Dolphin has their own buses, they no longer share with Disney since they use Meers. They do stop Swan/Dolphin and I think maybe Swan Reserve.

 

[starry_solo]

On-site or off?
Disney Springs is supposed to have some good hotels with good deals.

 

[ucf_knight]

We are thinking of visiting WDW/Universal in 2024 - going to DLR for the first time in a few months (yay!). I'm wondering what the best, and cheapest options are for rooms where our kiddo can sleep separately? On our last WDW visit (and only one as parents) we splurged on a Kidani one bedroom suite, but we can't do that again with all our travel.

Is our best option for price to just stay at a universal hotel? It looks like even the value resorts with a separate bedroom are super $$$$. We've never stayed off property - we do plan to do a few nights at universal, could consider Disney Springs. She really can't fall asleep unless she has a seperate area - we shared a typical hotel room with her one night last summer on a road trip and she was not happy and coudn't fall asleep.

Also, any other tips on things to do nearby would be great! I'm thinking we'd just have 2 park days, especially if we stay at a nice hotel. We'd be going April 2024.

TIA.

If you have a car you have a ton of cheap options off site. We did caribe royale which is a “suite” style room. There’s a bedroom and separate living room type setup that can be closed with a door with a pull out my kid slept on and loved. However if you have to rent a car and then pay for parking etc it may be cheaper to book a cabin at the fort or a aoa family suite

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

If you have a car you have a ton of cheap options off site. We did caribe royale which is a “suite” style room. There’s a bedroom and separate living room type setup that can be closed with a door with a pull out my kid slept on and loved. However if you have to rent a car and then pay for parking etc it may be cheaper to book a cabin at the fort or a aoa family suite

that is what I am starting to wonder too. I think we need to think about how long we are staying and what we want to do. Not sure if we want to actually travel around Orlando area or just take a slower park trip (i.e. more days to enjoy the resort, instead of always on the go).

This has all been very helpful! At this point, I'm thinking split stay between US and AoA (just pay for the splurge) or renting a car and looking into other areas. We will see how DLR goes this spring!

 

[CeCe0906]

Really? I assumed it would cost $$$$ We have stayed in mostly deluxes by renting points - but I don't think I can book something without cancellation that far in advance anymore.

She'll be 7 when we go - turning 6 this year. She moved hotels like a champ on a road trip this summer. Our upcoming California trip is just one hotel near DLR, though. I love the idea of AoA. My first trip as an adult (with my boyfriend who is now my DH) was at Pop, and I have such good memories.

She's pretty good overall. A0A is just sooooo expensive! But maybe we will just hope for a discount.

I thought about the connecting rooms, but would rather just have a suite to get a mini kitchen.

She'll be 7 when we go. She is an only child, smart, and high energy, which does make traveling pretty easy with her.

I'll look into that one again - the price seemed the same as AoA. I don't really want to stay at Swan/Dop. We stayed at Beach Club once and couldn't stand the shared buses between all those resorts.

That's what I am leaning toward. Maybe there for a few nights and AoA for a few. Would love to do the skyliner and the pool looks so fun.

The swan/dolphin have their own busses to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Can walk or take boats to HS and Epcot. AK busses take to same place as Disney busses, for MK it takes you where you have to use monorail or ferry.

I loved staying at Dolphin, super comfy beds, and nicer than moderates in my opinion, and have a nice pool. We often park h hopped to Epcot near the end of day, for ease of getting home. Late dinner at WShowcase, maybe a ride then back to hotel

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

The swan/dolphin have their own busses to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Can walk or take boats to HS and Epcot. AK busses take to same place as Disney busses, for MK it takes you where you have to use monorail or ferry.

I loved staying at Dolphin, super comfy beds, and nicer than moderates in my opinion, and have a nice pool. We often park h hopped to Epcot near the end of day, for ease of getting home. Late dinner at WShowcase, maybe a ride then back to hotel

Good to know, thanks. I'll look into it. We love Epcot (esp. since we got married there), so it would be great to stay close by. I guess it was about 12 years ago we stayed at BC., we just found the buses sooooooo long!