Concerned with space for 4 year old

[Golfer1976]

I have a 4 year old DS that loves to run. No other kids, I am concerned that with anything other than a 1BR villa or larger, he will lose his mind in a small resort room (even at the Deluxe resorts). Has anyone else had experiences with your kids getting bored in the smaller rooms that made you wish you had spent the extra money for larger room.

I know we won't be spending a bunch of time in the rooms except for some downtime to unwind from all that happens at the World.

Options are CSR water view, Poly garden, or WL 1BR villa - could look into SSR villa but concerned about being away from the activity. And as always, there are big price differences in these options.

Thanks

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

My dd (now 8) has been to WDW 10 times and is heading down in May for her 11th. We've never had a problem, and she's pretty active. There is so much to see and do at all of the resorts, if she got antsy we just went and walked around, found the playground, went swimming, etc. Her first few trips were at value resorts, she's done a couple of moderates, and most of the more recent ones have been at Wilderness Lodge (our favorite resort, tons to do for kids). You know him best though, so do what you think is right for your family. I'm sure you'll get lots of opinions here to help you decide!

 

[LillersMom]

We have three active girls and never have had a problem. We have always enjoyed our stays at the poly in a first floor garden view room. They could play outside on the grass while they waited for me and siblings or just for some downtime while hubby relaxed in a chair and made sure they didn't drive anyone nuts!

 

[Wendi2000]

My son is EXTREMELY active, he is never motionless... even while sleeping! I have never even considered a larger indoor space for him. It hasn't been a problem for us... especially in WDW - he gets sooooo tired out in the parks and swimming and running around outside the resort that he is actually more relaxed when we get to the room than he is at home... plus, he gets to lay around watching Disney classic cartoons, so he tends to zone out. The whole environment is so different from home for us that being in a hotel room is never an issue. He's been on cruises too... have you seen the size of those cabins???

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

There's a nice little playground near the pool at CSR, plus huge expanses of sidewalk and grass where your son could run to his heart's content. My 5-yo also loves to run and be active and we stay at CSR and he's never gotten too antsy.

Good luck!

 

[RJD]

The first time we took our kids to Disney they were two busy boys ages 7 & 4. We stayed at ASsports--smallest rooms on property--and I don't remember any issues with the room size and their activity level. We don't spend anytime in the room anyway. Even at that age, they didn't nap, have to have down time or anything like that. We just go-go-go. Obviously we called it a night alot earlier than we do now (they are now 11 and 14). But even back then, we were in the room earlier in the evening, they were totally exhausted and went to sleep. DH & I might have been a bit bored in the room at night, watched tv or whatever. But we'd usually be tired enough to fall asleep early. There is so much else to do at WDW, I find the room size basically a non-issue--at least for our family.

 

[pixie08]

I do not personally have kids but I have many cousins who I have been travelling to Disney with since we were kids. My one younger cousin (he is much younger-15 years my junior) has ADHD. We were always concerned with the same thing however, with all the park activity he was ok. Also when we were at the resort we were sure to take walks and make use of the pool. I hope that is some help!

 

[LovinDisneyWorld]

We took our 4 yr old and 3 yr old for the first time to Disney last May and we stayed at a moderate and never worried about them being worn out. We would go all day to the parks and then spend some time at the resort and they were just so happy to lay on the bed, watch the Disney cartoon classics and go to sleep in the evening.

 

[thumperjr9]

When my oldest DS20 was a little guy he was very active and just played loudly. Also, he would occasionally have night terrors (particularly when he was overly tired). For anyone not familiar with night terrors, its kinda like a nightmare, only you really can't wake the person up and my DS would just thrash around and scream for about 15 minutes...pretty much just have to wait it out. Needless to say staying in a hotel concerned me. For that reason we stayed in a Ft. Wilderness cabin. There's lots of room, not connected to the other units and less ability to bother the other guests. It worked out very well and less stress on me. We really enjoy Ft Wilderness, lots of fun things for the little ones to do, lots of space for them to move around. The one negative is the transportation can get interesting. Anyway, just another option.

 

[karemore]

Even the smallest rooms have a table with chairs. Bring along his favorite cars or whatever small toys he can play with in the room.

We gave our daughter her own little "area" for her toys, she thoughts it was great. She was so worn out from the playground, the parks, the pools, and from exploring the resort she was happy to sit at the table and play for the little time we were in the room and not asleep.