Hotel vs Suite with Toddler

[suprgrlx]

We're heading down for 10 days in May and we're completely back and forth on staying onsite in a hotel room vs offsite in a suite/house with a 2 year old.

In particular, I'm worried about bedtime and after bedtime. I'm not really worried about the kitchen, but I'm not sure how well she'd go to sleep if we were all in the same room. We'd love to stay onsite and it might be our last chance to do that for a while, but I don't want to have a miserable time because DD's not sleeping.

What are people's experiences?

 

[tourguide81]

Honestly, we travel quite a bit and while a suite or house is nice, we have done just fine in regular hotel rooms. My kids are normal sleepers, not great, they have bad spells, but they are great travelers. In Disney or on other trips, they're exhausted. We've put them to bed and while we didn't watch TV (not b/c of them but b/c we had no interest) we could read, chat quietly, play cards, go out on the balcony, use the bathroom, shower, etc. There was once or twice when they have had trouble sleeping & we didn't have a balcony where we camped out in the bathroom for awhile, but it wasn't the end of the world. We are just as tired as they are when traveling, so we don't stay up late anyway. I would much rather do this and be on site than stay off property.

 

[eliz603]

With both my first and second kids, they were fine in a regular room. They just wanted to go to sleep in that big bed next to mommy. Other than that, we usually had the TV on, maybe a light in a corner of the room and everything. Not a problem.

It's our third child who has driven us into suites and villas!!

So I say it really depends on your child. If you think she can sleep with a bit of noise and shuffling around, go for a regular room.

 

[stace1214]

We're just back from a trip with an almost two year old. We stayed off site at Bonnet Creek for the same concerns and a few others. Having a place to go when she went to bed was great, it was so nice to relax with a glass of wine on the balcony while she slept. I knew too that she wouldn't do well eat at restaurants each day, she is a very active little one and can't sit at a table for an hour and a half like her brother can, and I knew we wouldn't want to do just quick service for each meal. We ended up having breakfast in the room each day before heading to the parks and ate a couple dinners in the room. The kitchen was a lifesaver for our trip. She'll be old our next trip and we'll stay onsite again. Anyway, that's just my experience.

 

[RoosMama]

I think it depends on how you want to do your trip. For our last trip, we just decided that we would keep going in the park/resort until DD2 fell asleep. We have a very relaxed touring style, so it wasn't exhausting. She was so tired after being awake for so long that she would just fall asleep on one of our shoulders eventually. But, if you want to go back and relax in the evenings yourself, I think a suite would be nice.

 

[ilovebassets]

With one child, we could handle staying in a standard hotel room, especially when he was still in a crib as a toddler (don't know if you're 2 yr old will be or not…probably not).

However, with two children, I absolutely refuse to stay in a standard hotel room. None of us will sleep. That's why we stayed at Fort Wilderness Cabins last time and why we are going back there next time. But, it is definitely pricier than a value or moderate (but cheaper than a standard hotel room at a deluxe).

 

[Gillyrose779]

Every child and family is different so go with your gut.

A suite is a must for our 2 and 4 year old boys. We even tested by staying in a standard room for a weekend getaway and it confirmed for us that a suite is necessary. They can nap when they want and we get adult time without having to be quiet.

You could always look into a one bedroom at old key west or saratoga- rent dvc points and it's not too bad.

 

[annainohio]

Does anyone have experience with the Doubletree in the downtown Disney area? I'm wondering how long the shuttles take compared to the disney resort shuttles.

 

[uccats97]

Does anyone have experience with the Doubletree in the downtown Disney area? I'm wondering how long the shuttles take compared to the disney resort shuttles.

We stayed there once. Didn't use the shuttles because of the schedules. They don't run constantly like Disney buses do. You can easily walk 10 minutes to DTD and get on a bus there instead.

 

[rachael95]

I'd also say it depends on how long your trip is for. If it's for one or two nights, staying in a hotel would work for us. (Our almost 2 year old is not a great sleeper and when he goes to bed, we have to go to bed or else he doesn't fall asleep). But if it's more than one or two nights, I'd go for a suite so you can close the door and have some adult time watching tv or reading a book.

When we travel overnight, we'll do a hotel for a one night stay. But when it's a longer trip, we go for a suite so if our son wakes in the middle of the night I can take care of him and DH can still sleep with the door shut.

 

[MandiC]

I think after being in the parks outside all day you won't have a problem with her not falling asleep. I think any child under 5 I saw on the buses at the end of the day was sleeping on their parents shoulders. Personally, especially with only one child, I'd much rather have the benefits of staying on-site.

 

[Crispity]

We just firmed up our plans after discussing the exact same dilemma! What sealed it for us was that we took a weekend trip last weekend in a regular hotel room. While it was fine for our short trip, DH and I both agreed that we didn't want to spend the entire week in one room because we felt like we would feel very restricted, and DD (19 months now) wouldn't get enough sleep. DH was especially concerned, because he always gets up really early, and he ended up hiding out in the bathroom in the morning waiting for DD and I to wake up. In addition, while a kitchen is not so important to us, a washer/dryer is!

The cost of a DVC 1 bd was prohibitive so we decided to compromise with a hotel room at AKL for 3 nights, and then we were going to move offsite to a condo. Fortunately, however, I realized that I could use airline miles to get a one bedroom at Kidani, so now we will be doing a "split stay" between AKL Jambo house (hotel room) and Kidani.

I would recommend alternative ways of getting into DVC if you can (United miles work if you have a lot of them, or you could rent DVC points for far cheaper than through Disney). If not, consider a split stay between offsite and onsite so that you can still have the "onsite experience". Or, if you decide to stay entirely offsite, know that our first WDW trip was last October in an offsite condo, and we had an absolutely fabulous time - you will too!

 

[BrownMomma7]

We, too, are trying to figure out what will be perfect for our family. In the past the true Disney experience has been our niche but this time we get a chance to go in late September when the crowds are less and our day will be more relaxed. I know there is more available for your money off site but what about the awesome pools? and we like the dining plan? and what about the EMH? Will the shuttles get us there and back for naps for our two little ones? Lots of questions!! I am still doing research to see what is the best for our family of 5. I know the Disney experience is what draws us in with character meals, the meet and greets, the late night experiences running to rides with our teen. Hmmmmm, choices choices!


Split Stay POR/Beach Club(wow) 2013,POR Royal rooms 2011 ,Poly 2010, 1st family trip POR 2009, Honeymoon WL 2007, Work conference Contemporary 2004

 

[shm_helene]

As several of the other posters on here alluded to - why don't you do a test run at a local hotel and see how it goes. That's what we did. We also discovered things we needed and didn't need. We found that we would be fine. Is your 2 yo going to sleep in a bed or a pnp (I know pnp's are small but my kids are ginormous so I don't have a point of reference for a 2 yo) - anyways we put the pnp in the bathroom when we travel. At POR the bathroom area has a curtain that we put the pnp behind also.