Two Kids, Two Parents....One Hotel Room?

2 adults, 3 kids, we share a room. We’re only there to sleep and we’re usually exhausted by the time we get to the room. Showers and sleep.

Eta- I grew up vacationing in a pop up camper with 3 siblings and my parents. Our moderate hotel room is luxurious in comparison. Lol My 3 kids also shared a room until just a few years ago. We bring a fan for white noise and ear plugs for my husband. I’m the night owl so I’ll usually have a bath with a cocktail and then read in bed after they’ve fallen asleep. Of course, I’m also the first one up at Disney too so I can shower and get ready, lay out the kids clothes, and go get coffee while they change.
 
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Those of you that have two kids...do you share one regular hotel room?

We have a 9 year old and a 2 year old. My husband works nights and so naturally stays up late even on vacation. Tiptoeing around sleeping kids every night in a little hotel room is not an appealing option. Plus I doubt the 2 year old will go to sleep if she can see us.

Last time we went before our youngest was born, my mother went and shared an adjoining room with our daughter (AKL). Time before that we got a junior suite at CSR which worked well.

So I guess my options are either adjoining rooms again (but those aren’t guaranteed and obviously my kids can’t be alone down the hall!) or a one bedroom villa (I’d have to rent points I guess). Either way will be pricey! (AKL or maybe WL, we’re thinking)

Some friends of ours think we’re nuts to not just share a room with the kids. Just curious what others do!

My kids are 22 and 16. We stay in one hotel room. I'm not paying for an extra room. We sleep girls in one bed, boys in the other. DS often opts to sleep on the floor. If they don't like it, too bad. They have never complained because they want to keep going on trips. When they were small and we traveled to Disney, we waited to go back to the room until the youngest was asleep in the stroller.

You have another option: you can go to a family suite in one of the value resorts - they have a separate bedroom. We never did that because like I mentioned, I'm cheap. LOL.
 
Single mom to 4 and huge age gap.. 5,6 (asd little man ) and 13 and 17.
We have always stayed in one room. It works for us . I sleep with my 13 y/o daughter and maybe a little guy or downtime any 17 yr old lucks out and gets both little guys lol ..
if course with the Murphy bed 13 year old gets it and big bro and I each get a little..
I’m used to having a bed full and on vacation by the time we get back to the room everyone is too tired to care or move much in bed..
It all works out and they are grateful to be able to go places when half their friends go nowhere :)
 
We generally share one hotel room (two kids, 15 and 8) but occasionally it has worked out to get a suite of some sort with multiple rooms. The extra space is nice, but we don't feel it's really necessary and I definitely wouldn't pay a significant amount more for it. We also own a condo in the mountains that is just a one-room studio, and all 4 of us sleep in that together most every weekend, so we are used to shared space. It helps that we all generally go to bed and get up around the same time, both at home and on vacation.

I think a lot may depend on you particular family and what you are used to. Growing up, my parents were the type to pack 7-8 people in a standard hotel room and think nothing of it. Once DH and I were married and had a kid, they were very offended that we wouldn't still share a small motel room with them - they thought getting two rooms was ridiculous, lol! DH, on the other hand, grew up very differently. When his family traveled, his parents always got two rooms - one for them, and another for him and his sister. But his mom is very quirky about her "privacy", and I suspect that was why. To each their own - do what makes you happy, as long as you can afford it, of course!
 
You do you, I'm not about to judge or tell someone else what to do. Having said that, growing up, all four of us always stayed in the same room. Once went on an overnight trip with me, mom, my boyfriend, mom's sister, and her two kids - we all stayed in one room with 2 beds. Like others said, we're only in the room to sleep and shower.

::shrugs:: To each their own.
 
My two year old has slept in his own room since he was 11 months old, he will not sleep in his own room on vacation. There’s no point in us getting larger accommodations because a second room would sit empty. He, normally, can’t fall asleep in our room at home because he’s too excited to be in mommy and daddy’s room, but on vacation he will not fall asleep unless we are in the same room.

Just thought I’d throw that out there, so you’re not blindsided like we were.
 


We always shared one room and thought nothing of it. The four of us always did fine and loved it - was like an adventure. Could not have afforded a vacation if we had to get two rooms. In fact, would not have even wanted to split up.
 
I grew up sharing rooms as a family of four. DH grew up camping with a family of seven. We travel now as a family of five, sometimes six. Most of the time we share a room and just go to bed when the kids go to bed. It isn't really that big of a deal, and when we are on a vacation where we don't spend time in the room except to sleep - who cares. With phones / headphones if I am really not tired yet and the kids are I can mess around for a bit to wind down without disturbing them.

Some vacations we go on are more relaxing and we may stay where we have more bedrooms / bed options, but sharing a room is better than no vacation.
 
Disney is exhausting, our family falls asleep quick. Only time it’s annoying sharing a room is when the kids decide to get up early and turn on the TV.
 
We have 3 kids and have always stayed in a single room but we don't have any night owls...

One of the All Stars has a suite with a seperate BR that would work well in your situation. The Cabins at FW might also be a good option for you..
WE have stayed in the suite at All Stars when we had 6 of us and it was tight but worked out great because the kiddos were small enough to get comfy in the pull out and chair sleeper..
 
Do what works for you. When the kids were little it worked. Our last trip we took in-state a month ago was the last time we get one room. "Kids" are now 15 and 17. I need my sleep since I do 90% of the driving, DS is 6'3", and DD and SWMBO are night owls. I'd stay home before I do that again.
 
Do what works for you. When the kids were little it worked. Our last trip we took in-state a month ago was the last time we get one room. "Kids" are now 15 and 17. I need my sleep since I do 90% of the driving, DS is 6'3", and DD and SWMBO are night owls. I'd stay home before I do that again.
I had to google SWMBO- Gave me a good laugh when I figured it out :P
 
What works for you is what's best for you. That being said, I have 3 kids and they get to go to Disney more often because we cram into what is less expensive. We were there in April and stayed in CBR. We were there again just last week and stayed in 1 room offsite and then moved into our tiny travel trailer at a local RV park. We could go less often and stay in two rooms or in a nicer onsite suite, but staying cheap allows us to have annual passes and the compromise is the sleeping arrangement.
 
I don’t have kids so I don’t know what I’d do, I guess it would depend on my budget and the age of the kids. I do remember that we went on a lot of vacations when I was a kid (including annual trips to WDW) and my twin sister and I would share a room with both parents without a second thought. My parents wouldn’t have been able to afford the vacations otherwise. Once in awhile we had a suite or apartment rental at some place or another so my sister and I could have our own room, and that always felt like a big luxury to us.

Even after my parents bought DVC in 1993 we got studios for years in order to be maximize our vacation time. Now that I’m a childless adult who mostly travels to Disney with my best friend (my husband is NOT a Disney person) and my sister and I have taken over the DVC ownership, we do enjoy 1- or 2-bedroom units when we travel, and that is helpful when we bring my BFF’s young niece with us.
 
This is part of the reason we started staying deluxe. We put the kids to bed with a sound machine going and have some drinks on the balcony :) They are always so tired at Disney that they are usually asleep in minutes!
This is what we do. We put DS to sleep with a sound machine & have drinks or play/read on our phones until we are ready to sleep. We stay at poly or CR b/c they have separate full bathrooms with doors so we can take showers & get ready without waking him up.
 
We won’t share a hotel room as a family. Since we had one child we have always gotten a suite anywhere we go. We own dvc now and mostly do one bedrooms for our family of five. If I had to do one hotel room, I’d stay home.

We’re of the suite only family. The kids are night owls, but not anything like dh, and we like to have a couple of cocktails or glass of wine and wind down. Dh is in and out to smoke. The suite is perfect, they are right next to us, hell, closer than home, and we have 2 bathrooms that way. Well do one regular room if it’s just a night, but we like to have some time that’s for us, and not the kids for a bit in the evenings. Also, we’re not early risers, so can grab the kids the breakfast, or get room service and lounge while they watch cartoons and eat within eat shot. We can relax and have coffee and it makes for very pleasant mornings. I don’t know how people do a week at a time with their kids in the room.
 
We all share a room. By the end of any given vacation day we're usually tired, so we all just go to bed at the same time. Then we all get up at the same time, so there's never any tip-toeing around. :)

LOL...sorry! I didn't realize I had already commented on this thread. That's what happens, folks, when you read just the first post and then give your reply instead of at least skimming through the other replies. 🤪😄
 
It doesn't matter what works for the rest of us. If you feel you need 2 rooms or a suite to make your vacation comfortable for everyone, that is what you need. And if you think your husband will be up very late, and will want to do something besides read or hang out outside, it sounds like you need more than one room.
 
We have 4 kids, 2 under 3, and all 6 of us regularly sleep in a regular hotel room. They just get off their sleep schedules for the most part when we are in hotels. We have a 13 night stay coming up in June in regular rooms. I can never get why people can’t a) spend a few nights in smaller quarters- we’re on vacation not buying the room to live in- b)have 2 kids of any age/sex share a bed. My brother and I shared hotel beds through our teen years in the same room as our parents without any problems, we just each had our own side and stayed on it. Or I shared with my mom and my brother with my dad. But on here even people with same sex kids say they need 3 sleeping surfaces and c) have smaller beds than they sleep in at home. I always read about people who just can’t sleep in a full bed. It isn’t that much smaller than a queen in the grand scheme, and you aren’t buying it, just sleeping in it for a few nights.

However, I’ve read these issues come up so many times over the years that I have to conclude that possibly we are the odd ones, or else a less vocal majority, because it is a frequent, recurring topic.

I mean, in a perfect world we would
always get a 2 BR club level room for our family, but unless someone else is paying it just isn’t happening!

I will never understand that either. Now at home my kids have their own rooms but if we are going on vacation and they want to be included then they will be sharing a bed. Until they are old enough to pay for their own room thats how its gonna be, dont like it stay home! Im not gonna spend $100s extra on a room they are just gonna use to sleep in when that money can be used for other things but thats just me.
 

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