2.5-year-old Sleep on Disney Magic

gatorburt07

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Hello. First time Disney cruisers here. Travelling will be myself, my spouse, and our son who will be about one month shy of 3 when we cruise this March on the Disney Magic. So I'm trying to get an idea of what the best sleeping arrangements will be for our little guy. We are currently in an inside stateroom on Deck 7, and I do understand this may not be the best room situation for us. Our son still naps for about 3 hours every day between about 1p and 4p, and he sleeps from about 8:30p to 7:00a. He still sleeps in a crib and we have never attempted to sleep him in a bed, although he always sleeps in a standard-sized Graco pack n play when we travel. I understand that Disney will provide a pack n play, and it sounds like this is the same pack n play that we are used to. The problem I see with the set up in the inside stateroom is that, if using the pack n play (or the fold-down bed with bed rail if he will go for that) for his sleep, this essentially "traps" us in the bed area behind the curtain at the back of the room, cutting us off from accessing the bathroom and door out. This is doable, but obviously not ideal. My main question is - should we consider upgrading (for about $500) to an oceanview room, where the layout is basically switched, with his sleeping area at the back of the room, and the bed area adjacent to the bath and exit door? The available oceanview rooms are on Decks 1 and 2, and we are currently on Deck 7, in what I have been told is a quiet area. I would hate to pay to upgrade, and then come to find that our new room is noisy due to being near the tender area/machinery/etc. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
I would upgrade to an OV at least or even a verandah. If you're going to be spending that much time in your room for his naps then you're going to want to at least watch the world go by out the window (verandah even better, some fresh air and a drink/snack).
 
I have been in an inside on the magic, and yes, the bed was trapped behind the curtain from the bathroom area and the door. I would upgrade to a verandah if possible. It sure would be nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the ocean views while your son naps.
 
I will be in a verandah room for my upcoming trip with baby. I figure I can at least sit on the verandah and read while he sleeps. I also plan to bring a white noise machine to block out outside noise. You could also bring one if you're concerned about noise.
 


For our child that age, using the sofa bed with the bed rail was the best set up. That way you don't block the path out of the room. And even though our son was used to a crib, he felt secure because he had the wall on one side and the rail on the other.
 
first- i would highly recommend that you book nursery time and allow your son to nap there in the afternoon. This would allow you and your husband some time to explore the ship and relax. We used the nursery ONLY for sleep when my youngest was just shy of one. It was very helpful. They have a dark room with cribs and he went right to sleep there.

I did NOT like having a pack and play in the room. Especially since it had to stay up all day for nap time. We had a veranda and even then it was a very tight squeeze to get between the pack and play and the sofa/desk to get out to the veranda. There was literally no where in the room for my little guy to play. I would request a pack n play to be available just in case but i would hope that the sofa bed with rail works well. We sail with my just turned 3 year old in a month and he will sleep on the sofa as he can easily climb out of a pack and play now

As far as upgrades- i think $500 is a lot for an ocean view - especially since you will not be able to see that view if your curtain is closed while child is napping. I think your money would be better spent on nursery naps and maybe an excursion.
 


Our little guy is 2 and has a similar sleeping patterns. That said, we do bedshare. I'd upgrade!
 
$500 for how long of a cruise? 7 nights? That's a win. 3 nights.... that might be a bit harder sell for me and my budget consciousness.

If your little guy can do naps anywhere, you might get some mileage out of the paid nursery option for the afternoon. Our daughter won't sleep hardly anywhere but her crib or a pack n play. The nursery was not going to be an option for her. My son's first big boy bed was on the Fantasy, so we had to change his bed when we got home.

As for being trapped it is really up to you. You should take some clothes pins to help secure the curtain around the TV so you can watch that from the bed. If you are content relaxing and reading a book, playing a game you brought or whatever, you might not feel trapped. For us, we absolutely would, especially with a light sleeper. We make able use of our balcony. I suspect you would also very much enjoy having an ocean view as well. Natural light is a wonderful mood enhancer. You could toss the pack n play on the other side of the curatin so you can enjoy the ocean view with the curtain drawn. You would still be 'trapped' but you would at least have sunshine.
 
Don't discount the possibility of adult naps! I loved being able to nap in the afternoon. You and your spouse could also swap and enjoy some time around the ship. One could nap for 1.5 hours while the other reads or enjoys the adult hot tubs and then switch for the other 1.5 hours.
 
A tip I learned here on the Dis is that you can ask the room host to remove the coffee table from the room. This gains you precious space if you have a pack-n-play set up!
 
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Also, the nursery is set up for naps. We used this the first time we cruised and it was great. We were able to enjoy the adult area while our son was napping. Now he is 4 and too old for the nursery but still naps. I'm going to miss the nursery. LOL
 
Which room are you in? The Magic has some sideways inside cabins. If you are in one of these, then the layout will not be an issue.
 
Also, don't assume you will be stuck for naps everyday. We have traveled with now 2 young kids and we had nap time around the pool everyday. Daddy watched cartoons and movies with little ones curled up in a towel, usually out of the sun. Good naps were had by ALL!!!
 
Thank you for all your comments thus far. We are in room 7623, which is not a sideways room. When I'm looking at the sideways room layout, it appears that we would still have the same problem of being "trapped" in the bed area. Although it does look like it would be easier to exit the room, we would still be cut off from the bathroom. Unfortunately, our son does not nap outside of a quiet, dark space, and so we will definitely be taking him to the cabin each day for nap, although we will be flexible with timing. We do use a sound machine. We do not intend to use the nursery. Also, we are on a 5-night cruise from Miami (Key West/Nassau/Castaway Cay). If we stick with the current room, my wife and I would just take turns each day - one of us takes a nap/reads in the room, and the other explores the ship - something we've done before while travelling. Thanks again for all the replies so far.
 
How soundly does the little one sleep/nap? When DD was out, nothing really disturbed her. Once she fell asleep, we could move about the room quietly (not banging closet doors), in/out of the room or bathroom, TV on quiet, etc. And I agree with PP who said adult nap time is great!

Enjoy your vacation!
 
We found that no matter the cabin category (barring concierge as we’ve not done that one), the PNP made it difficult to move around. We were never able to enjoy our veranda for the PNP.

Our youngest was 2 on our most recent trip and we used the couch bed. He’s still in a crib at home but this worked well for us. We did request a PNP just in case, but left it folded up. I think no matter your category I would try for the bed, perhaps with a rail, and use the PNP only if that doesn’t work.
 
Our first cruise we had a family verandah room. My 15mo was still on two naps a day so lots of room time for me. This room setup was good because I could close the curtain (couldn’t access the verandah), but I could pull the tv out of the curtain just enough to watch it after (on lowest volume ever!) I knew he had fallen asleep. Not sure how other rooms are set up, but that made it easier to kill time in the room. So even though we had one, we never used the verandah during the nap. The TV placement was important!

The nursery is a good option for naps, but depends on your child. My second would have cried if I put him in there (still at age 5 we get the pick me up from the club texts), but my third is very flexible and happily took a couple naps there last October.
 
I can understand wanting a view. That makes perfect sense. But, I confess that the thought of having a small child in a verandah room worries me. Don’t get me wrong — it is not a comment on parenting styles. It is more the function of being a parent of 3 and grandparent to 5! On our last cruise with twin grandsons, I apologized to my son and his wife for only booking them an inside stateroom but I knew I could never have handled the stress of having my two beloved but feral grandchildren with unfettered access to a balcony!!! (We booked a verandah and the whole family could use it but at least that way there was NO risk that either of the twins could get on the verandah without an adult present!)
 
We had a verandah with our two - three year old grandkids and loved it. We ate dinner out there and sat there when they slept in the afternoon. If one of us was not out there, the door was locked.

I personally can’t imagine an inside stateroom with a little one sleeping. It will for sure be dark but I know I would feel trapped.

If you can afford the better layout, do it. If not, make do. Either way you will have a great time. Have fun!
 

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