for those who brought a toddler to a resort

[Jill2150]

We will be traveling next year with our almost 2-year old to Disney. I was wondering of anyone who has done this, do all the resorts have cribs you can rent? If so are they decent and big enough for a 21 month old? I am not sure she will be old enough to sleep in her own bed.

I think we will probably have to come back to the resort to nap, because my DD doesn't seem to fall asleep in strollers. Did you all have luck with coming back and napping mid-day? Thanks in advance!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Some resorts have cribs; all resorts have Pack & Plays; I'm relatively certain there's no charge for either one. If you want to be absolutely sure she's in a crib, check out www.abbf.com (A Baby's Best Friend). It's an Orlando-area company that provides all kinds of kid-related equipment.

 

[jberry5]

When we went in November/December of 2005, our DS was 19 months. That trip we stayed at the Grand Floridian thanks to grandpa and grandma. We simply requested a crib ahead of time, and then again at check-in. There was no charge for it, and if I recall it was one of those Pack 'n Plays.

 

[Poohbug]

If you have a choice between pack n play and crib-definately take the pack n play. The last crib I had there was an old wooden thing that was loose and wobbly from being pushed around to the different rooms. Not very nice especially for on older child that will be moving around in it. Maybe they haven replaced with new since I used them(2 yrs ago)-I'm sure if you don't like the crib you can replace it with a pack n play.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

When my DS was 21 months old we had a room with 2 double beds. We requested bed rails and it worked out great! I would lay with him mid afternoon to get him to take a nap(mine wouldn't nap in stroller either) and same thing at night. It worked so well that when we got home we got rid of the crib! I think being in a strange palce, trapped in a strange crib si tough for a toddler.

 

[DISNEYGIRL0811]

I have requested toddler rails for one of the beds as my dd (20m) hates to sleep in pack and plays - she just screams/cries! Toddler rails seem like our answer, We are family of 4. dd will sleep with me and ds will sleep with dh!

 

[mayesq]

There is always a pack n play in the closet for your use or you can request bedrails, which we do for our oldest. I typically bring my own pack n play, but we drive. Also, they provide sheets for the pack n play as well.

 

[kittylady1972]

We've had both there. I think it was Boardwalk where we had a wooden crib, and I know at the Contemporary we had Pack-N-Play. Both worked out just fine for us. We have always come back to the room mid-day for naps with the little ones. It makes it so much easier to then stay later in the parks. It's one of the reasons we enjoyed our stay at the Contemporary, because it was easy to walk back and forth to MK.

 

[dizneyluv]

with our ds who was toddler age both times.

Dh slept with ds in the double bed at the value resort with a bedrail (the resort had them). I slept in the other bed. If we had a king bed we would have slept with him in the middle. He would not sleep in a pack n play on vacation.

We did not have luck with going back to the resort for naps. Again this was our ds and all kids are different. We brought our own stroller (because we had our car and wanted it from the parking lot to the park) and he was familiar with it. He fell asleep in it at the same time everyday. It was such a relief. It was full size with shade and recline. Going back for naps would have been fine with us but he had other plans. We just did grown up stuff while he was asleep.

It was more essential that older ds had downtime. In all with both sons needs we had fabulous times both visits.

 

[mana'olana]

duplicate

 

[mana'olana]

When we took DD the first time she was 20 months and we had the pack n play (AKL). She refuses to sleep in the stroller too so we went back for naps (her and daddy). It works out great going back for naps. By the time we made it back to the parks every one was having dinner.

 

[kenny]

We had 2 double beds in our room. We requested bed rails and my wife shared the bed with our dd.

As for napping, my dd NEVER took a nap in the stroller and was no longer napping at all when we went last december. We brought our own stroller rather than rent and to our amazement she napped in it several days.

I think Disney is just so overwhelming it exhausts them. Plus we let her walk with us a lot and it tired her out.

We went back to the room one day but after that we would simply let her take a nap in the stroller and DW and I would take turns going on rides.

Good luck.

 

[LilGMom]

We've been taking our kids since the oldest was ten months old and he just turned six. My youngest ds is almost 26 months old and when we went in May (and every previous trip) we used the pack-n-play that is provided in the room (and he is the size of an average three yr. old). We may try bed rails on our next trip but I'm not sure about our two sons sharing a bed, someone might get hurt.

 

[Tysdad747]

I 2nd (or 3rd?) A Baby's Best Friend. The crib was at the concierge when we arrived and I dropped it off at the concierge the day we were leaving. It was all sealed, easy to put together and sturdy.

T

 

[las3888]

You can request a crib at any resort and you may end up with a pnp. Some resorts do have full sized wooden or metal cribs (which I think are wonderful), but they are hard to come by and supposedly they are phasing them out. Our DS REFUSES to sleep in a pnp. We learned this the hard way on our first trip to Disney with him, so we were able to get a crib at BWV.

Anyways, we rented on our last trip because DS is now almost 2.5 y/o and still sleeps in a crib. Since we knew we definitely needed a big full sized crib, we didn't mess around and went ahead and rented from abbf.com. It was just what we needed.

 

[mrsnj91]

I rented from abbf too but I didn't know they had pack and plays at the resort. Where was that information? Maybe I should change my order and use the resorts? Are they clean and nice?

 

[momof296&02]

I'm sort of a germ a phobe & I've always brought my own pnp with me. Our PNP had a bag & we would check it with our luggage. My son hated the pnp so I would lie with him until he fell asleep & then move him to the pnp.

 

[esk]

We've been using the hotel pack n plays for 6 years now, with no problems. But I bring one of those wet pads and put it over the "mattress" and then my own sheet. I also bring a "blankie" from home. I feel like the wet pad is a great barrier to anything I don't want my child touching, although, the pack n play is probaby cleaner than some of the hotel sheets and blankets. Oh sorry, I really don't want to start another one of those threads, ewww!

We also did A Babys Best Friend when DD was 6 mo -- we got the bouncy seat, the sit n stand stroller and I think a exersaucer. Worked out great.

We must come back for naps -- we've tried to push on through, and by 4 pm, both DS 6 and DD 2 are miserable and then so are we. Lately, we let DS 6 stay in the park with Dad and the toddler and I come back for a nap and use cell phones to coordinate meeting. This worked out really well for us at Disney Paris the last two times. This is why we stay on property; niether of my kids are stroller sleepers and we're just all happier if they nap. But each child is different -- have you tried a dry run of a pack n play, and of going all day (maybe the mall or the zoo?) and seeing what happens? That will give you a pretty good indication, although with all the people, sounds, colors, characters, weather at Disney, it could go either way

 

[DT83097]

We had a wooden crib at the Poly in April for my DD who was 20 mo. at the time. She slept fine in it. The only thought I have between the pack and play and the crib, is PNP's usually have 2 mesh sides and 2 solid fabric sides which helps cut down on the light. The crib is open on 4 sides so during daytime naps I settled into a corner of the room and propped on of the pillows on a chair next to it to block out some of the light. Other than that the wooden crib worked fine (and DD is used to sleeping in a PNP when not at home)

 

[EastonCat]

We took our (then) 18-month-old to Disney a few years ago. After a great deal of consideration and advice seeking, we got a small suite at the Dolphin. This cost about the same as a room on the monorail but provided a few upsides:

1. If you are bringing a toddler and no other children, you're really on an adult's vacation. You won't need to spend 75% of your vacation in the Magic Kingdom, so monorail access at the hotel isn't as important as it was to us when we took her at age 3, when we spent much more time within sight of the Castle.

2. Good room service. Restaurants were not always in the cards with our little one at this age. For dining out, you have lots of selection in the Swan and Dolphin, the crescent lake resorts, Epcot and MGM relatively close by. This flexibility really suits a vacation that requires changes in plans.

3. A small suite at the Dolphin or Swan is about the same cost as a room at the GF. We had enough space for our little girl to play and roam in our room.

4. Have you ever slept on a "Heavenly Bed"? You should. They have cribs, but our little one liked falling asleep on the second bed in our room. I don't know if they have rails, but our daughter was a sound sleeper who could sleep on a bed without them at that age. Either way, the bed you sleep in will be spectacular.

5. A quiet, lonely kiddie pool, even during a peak week near Easter. This is a business person's hotel. Kid decompression can be a good thing.