no mattresses in Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach!

[zaksmom]

Just tried to book a standard roll-in shower room at Carribean Beach for the last weekend in Oct, but they were all booked! Usually have no trouble with bookings really close to our arrival date. Anyway... they could offer us a Pirate Room. These were more expensive because of the theming and that really means nothing to us...but my son wanted to stay where the zero entry pool was. So I booked it. The reservationist said that maybe the room would be closer to the pool because it cost more. Sounded good, so I decided to do some research on-line. In the description of the pirate room on this website it says that there is only a box-spring and a 4" pillow-top on the beds, no mattress in these rooms because of the configuration of the pirate bed. Now I'm worried. Will my son or his father be able to sleep on these beds. Does anyone have any experience with this this pirate bed? The reservationist said it would be a lowered bed like the others in the roll-in shower rooms. We need this lowered bed. We like to be prepared and know whether we will be able to make the room "work." Does anyone know if they have regular beds in the accessible Pirate room?
Thanking you in advance. I know I could call back special reservations, but would like the feedback of anyone who might have eyeballed these rooms.

 

[SueM in MN]

Just tried to book a standard roll-in shower room at Carribean Beach for the last weekend in Oct, but they were all booked! Usually have no trouble with bookings really close to our arrival date. Anyway... they could offer us a Pirate Room. These were more expensive because of the theming and that really means nothing to us...but my son wanted to stay where the zero entry pool was. So I booked it. The reservationist said that maybe the room would be closer to the pool because it cost more. Sounded good, so I decided to do some research on-line. In the description of the pirate room on this website it says that there is only a box-spring and a 4" pillow-top on the beds, no mattress in these rooms because of the configuration of the pirate bed. Now I'm worried. Will my son or his father be able to sleep on these beds. Does anyone have any experience with this this pirate bed? The reservationist said it would be a lowered bed like the others in the roll-in shower rooms. We need this lowered bed. We like to be prepared and know whether we will be able to make the room "work." Does anyone know if they have regular beds in the accessible Pirate room?
Thanking you in advance. I know I could call back special reservations, but would like the feedback of anyone who might have eyeballed these rooms.

My guess is that the person describing the beds did not understand what they saw.
Many beds have just a mattress and no box springs - they are not necessary with certain styles of bed frames. Traditional bed frames have 4 cross pieces - one on each side to make a rectangle that the box spring sits on. Those beds need a box spring because that is what gives stability and support to the bed.

Other frames have no need for a box spring because the frame has either a solid ‘floor’ or many cross pieces. With those frames, the mattress is all that is needed.

We don’t have box springs on any of the beds in our house. The pillow tops on some of our mattresses look like a separate piece, so someone who is expecting a box spring might think they are seeing a box spring with a very tiny mattress (in fact, that was what my SIL thought when she saw our beds).

I have not seen the Pirates rooms, but I think from the pictures I’ve seen that they could make a lowered bed by not using a box spring - there is definitely enough ability to support a mattress. Without a box spring, you would have a much lower bed.
Not sure if this picture will work, but if it doesn’t, here’s the link:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/3928954485_bf9fc5eaf1_z.jpg

 

[zaksmom]

Thanks. The picture helps too. I've just found myself in rooms before that were described by the reservationist that turned out not to work for us. So I always try to find out as much as I can in advance. When I looked at the DIS resort section (which has always been reliable) - it kind of sounded like a warning:
"While these rooms will definitely appeal to young boys, you should be aware that the beds here are unusual in order to accommodate the bed frames. Beds in Pirate rooms consist of a box spring and 4" pillow top - but no mattress."
It didn't make sense to me, but your explanation sounds better. No box but a mattress.
Thanks again for your prompt reply.

 

[kaytieeldr]

That description makes no sense. You can't have a pillow "top" if there's no mattress for it to top. Looking closely at the front bed in the photograph, you can see a slight crease in the spread about equidistant between the top of the bed and the top of the frame - i.e. about where the bottom of a mattress would meet the top of a box spring.

If the bed isn't as you need it when you arrive, and you can't or won't change rooms, call Maintenance. They might be able to remove the box spring for you, or they might have to remove the bed frame. The latter worked for me at Old Key West. The mattress & box spring on the floor was still plenty high enough for me to get out of bed easily (unlike the bed in its frame).

 

[ratlenhum]

We stayed there in August and the beds were fine. We all thought they were comfortable and had no problem sleeping.

The room is not closer to the pool, in fact the area where the pirate rooms are is one of the furthest sections from the pool. I have RA and a child with autism to walk with (likes to stop and inspect/stare/space out along the way) and we made the walk in about 5-7 minutes. Beautiful walk though

Check out the MAP

the pool is at letter C. The pirate rooms are in Trinidad South

 

[zaksmom]

Thanks again for all the feedback. Sounds like it would be fine.

 

[stinkerbell007]

We just returned from WDW (June 1 - June 7, 2012) and spent our first night in a Pirate themed room before transferring to a pre-planned upgrade. It is true that the pirate beds have a box spring and a pad on top (about 4 inches) rather than a regular mattress. All four of us found the pad much less desirable than a regular mattress and we were actually glad that we were making the change, although packing up after one day was no fun. BUT, we got regular mattresses in the new room at the new resort (OKW). I'm sure this is after the fact for your trip, but perhaps it will help someone else with a similar question. Oh, and the beds in those rooms are full size as opposed to the standard queen beds in most rooms.

We didn't get to swim due to weather, but one of the other posters did say that this section is one of the furthest - from everything.

Hope you had a great trip!

 

[Kwaschitz]

We stayed in them - reservationist was confused, there IS a mattress The room was great and we LOVED the room... but they are NOT close to the pool (or anything else). We were not there with anyone with a disability and we found that it was too far for us to walk to get drinks or snacks. With our then 4 year old, it took us about 10 minutes to walk from our room to the main pool/dining so we never did - literally, not a single time did we swim on that trip nor did we get drinks in our refillable resort mugs. (We won't stay there again unless one of the kiddos asks specifically for a pirate room and just *has* to have it)

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I remember reading a trip report where the poster commented on the mattress or lack of and the poster even took pictures of it. And yes it was only 5" high. The poster was concerned about how comfortable it would be and as it turned out she said it was very comfortable.

Here is the trip report. If you scroll down a bit you will see the picture of the mattress

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43294575&postcount=59"

 

[smidgy]

when my sons were young, we purchased bunk beds that were very similar.

they had a box spring, with about 4 inches of mattress type material on top... poor guys. very uncomfortable... very hard. poor shopping on our part!

and the pirate rooms are the farthest rooms from the food court. maybe a little closer to the main pool than the barbados section? nah, they're farther.

disney is SO smart!! no one ever wanted to be in these rooms, so they found a way to charge extra for them!!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

We just returned from WDW (June 1 - June 7, 2012) and spent our first night in a Pirate themed room before transferring to a pre-planned upgrade. It is true that the pirate beds have a box spring and a pad on top (about 4 inches) rather than a regular mattress. All four of us found the pad much less desirable than a regular mattress !

Box springs, even modern ones, come in a variety of surfaces. Some are "rock hard" or rather have no give, and I question what they are for, why not just build a plywood covered frame.

In the case of a bunk bed with 4 inches of padding for the kids, better to replace it with a real mattress with perhaps 4 inches of box spring material (or a plywood frame) underneath. Disney should too.