Parents at DLR - how do you room share?

We put the pack n play in the closet of the bathroom area and made a tent when my first was 1. That was hard. We used to always stay across the street in the hotels before he was born. We went back when he was almost 3 and stayed in a 2 bedroom timeshare, a 15 minute walk away, but decided the distance was worth the space (and kitchen)! Occasionally I threw in a hotel suite with free breakfast when I had hotel points over the years. Then we got tired of the distance and the buses and bought at VGC where we always do a 1 bedroom (teen on the sofa bed, kid on the twin murphy bed, and two bathrooms!).
 
Parents who have taken toddlers - how do you survive without a suite?

Our toddler will be 2.5 when we go and he’s very used to sleeping in a dark room with his sound machine and no other distractions.

We plan on going back to the hotel midday for naps but I don’t want to have to lay there silently as well lol. We also don’t want to have to go to bed when our toddler does.

Does anyone have any tips/tricks for room sharing with a toddler or are we just going to have to bite the bullet and get a suite?

We never went to a Disney park when our kids were toddlers, but we **did** go on one hellacious week-long trip to Hawaii when my kids were 1.5 and 3.5. At the time, both of my kids, like your son, slept at home in a very dark room with a sound machine on.

They still sleep with the sound machine and they're 12 and 14 now. ODD, especially, has always been a light sleeper and will wake up to the sound of a mouse fart. :rotfl2:

Our sleeping accommodations on that Hawaii trip were not ideal for decent sleep for my kids. We all slept in one room. It was hell. Even with the sound machine that I brought from home (but now there's apps for smart phones for this, so no need to bring the sound machine with you). The room never got dark enough at night and both kids would take turns waking each other up. One of us adults had to stay in the room the entire time and just lay there in the dark.

In addition, my kids just would NOT nap. AT ALL. After day 3 in a row of this, you can imagine what happened. They turned into demon children. I was exhausted and miserable the entire time.

You absolutely need to get a suite. It needs to have a door that can be closed off. Not a door with windows that you can see through (I think Desert Inn & Suites might have this set up w/a see-through door?). Hojo's family suites would be ideal in your situation.
 
Husband and I have been known to sit in the hallway working on a laptop. Also, we have taken turns, where one of us stays in the room and the other goes down to the lobby or bar.
 
We stay at The Anaheim Hotel. The first floor rooms have very large private enclosed patios with lounges and table & chairs. It would be a nice area for you to hang out in while toddler is sleeping.
 


Parents who have taken toddlers - how do you survive without a suite?

Our toddler will be 2.5 when we go and he’s very used to sleeping in a dark room with his sound machine and no other distractions.

We plan on going back to the hotel midday for naps but I don’t want to have to lay there silently as well lol. We also don’t want to have to go to bed when our toddler does.

Does anyone have any tips/tricks for room sharing with a toddler or are we just going to have to bite the bullet and get a suite?


We didn't never did this is totally why we bought DVC to have that King master and no kids in our bedroom.
 
Parents who have taken toddlers - how do you survive without a suite?

Our toddler will be 2.5 when we go and he’s very used to sleeping in a dark room with his sound machine and no other distractions.

We plan on going back to the hotel midday for naps but I don’t want to have to lay there silently as well lol. We also don’t want to have to go to bed when our toddler does.

Does anyone have any tips/tricks for room sharing with a toddler or are we just going to have to bite the bullet and get a suite?

Our daughter was 2.5 as well, we didn’t deploy any real strategies, I took my son for a swim at the poll, my wife had her iPhone with headphones while my daughter napped. She also took a nap at DL the first night there .

Also our toddler didn’t have a separate bed time. She closed down the parks with us.
 
We went to the Disney parks a lot when our 4 kids were small (now they are 9-16). They were all great at stroller napping. Even at home, we didn’t stay in all day, so they were used to napping in the stroller. If we were staying at the Disneyland hotels, we’d often go back for a mid day swim.
ETA - As a family of 6 we always have suites (or two rooms), but still don’t like sitting in the hotel room during nap time
 


We've done a few things.

Two room 4 queen suite at the camelot. Two connecting rooms at the Sheraton park. Then queen bunkbed suites at the courtyard and springhill suites.

As a now family of seven with two teens and an eight year old who will soon be a moose, we're likely going to connecting rooms.

We've likely only got a few trips will all seven of us left, especially with covid.

Our big driver now is water activities.

Too cheap to spring for the grand californian.
 
The only issue here is for younger children, this is the entry to the room. So, if mom and dad are in the bedroom, the child potentially could exit the room without being heard.
True...but our door had one of those u-shaped flap safety door latches that are found in many hotel rooms. It was installed high enough that I would consider it toddler proof, although an older child could reach it (It's visible in the virtual tour on the hotel's website). Good point though. I guess if we were worried about that, we would have hung out in that room and had the kids sleep further inside.
 

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