To those who have stayed with two young children

[Donz23]

We are looking to travel when we will have an almost 3 year old and an 11 month old.

Can anyone who who has gone with similar ages advise on what they did for accommodation and how they found it?
We are looking at either on site Disney in a hotel room or renting a villa. I don't think we will be able to stretch to a 1 or 2 bed onsite at Disney so it will be a standard room.

This year we went with our DD who was 9 months old and we stayed in a studio at SSR. We had a great time and loved SSR. The only downside was, as she's quite a particular sleeper (needs a dark room and quiet) we found that when we put her to bed we were sat in the dark and couldn't even put the TV on without waking her!

So that's the reason we are wondering if a villa next time will be better for us, especially as we'll have another little one by then... but we did love staying onsite.

Anyway, would love to hear from anyone who has been with children of similar ages and where you stayed (hotel/villa) and how you found it/experiences.

[sheluk]

Haven’t done our trip yet... we go in October! But we’ve chosen a villa as we couldn’t quite push ourselves to a Disney 1 bed as much as we’d love to. Our kids will be almost 3 and 16 months when we go and they too sleep in dark rooms at home.

We will be able to put them to bed and chill out in the pool with a wine/beer, instead of having to sit in darkness and silence lol.

We’ve had a lot of people saying the kids are so tired they’ll drop off easily... but we’ll see!

[Donz23]

Originally Posted by sheluk

Haven’t done our trip yet... we go in October! But we’ve chosen a villa as we couldn’t quite push ourselves to a Disney 1 bed as much as we’d love to. Our kids will be almost 3 and 16 months when we go and they too sleep in dark rooms at home.

We will be able to put them to bed and chill out in the pool with a wine/beer, instead of having to sit in darkness and silence lol.

We’ve had a lot of people saying the kids are so tired they’ll drop off easily... but we’ll see!

See more...

Sounds exactly the same as us, especially the draw of the wine/beer in the evening lol! Hope you have a great trip!

[TC Devon]

First trip, children were two and four so a little older. We stayed in a villa with my inlaws and nephew. Both were/one still is bad sleepers both fussy particular sleepers! Being in one room, would have been an absolute nightmare. One woke the other it would have been hell!
If it was me I’d book a villa for the trip.


This year our trip is split stay, so for a week of it we will all be in one room. Children will be 9 and 6 and I know my daughter will accidentally on purpose wake her brother!

[Hula Doola]

Our last trip kids were 4 & 2,5yrs. We chose POFQ as we wanted to be onsite. Would definitely recommend this resort for its size. Everything is really close by so minimal walking about on resort. Super easy to pop back to room if forgotten something when at pool, etc. We had a double umbrella buggy and they napped in it during day time if they needed too so we could stay out longer. Only downside is only having one room but to be honest we were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to room each night so we were happy to just chill out for a bit before hitting the sack. Our kids are early risers and heavy sleepers so we could sit and chat or watch bit of TV quietly when they'd gone to bed, or drag chairs on to balcony /external walkway with a drink. We particularly.enjoyed not having to deal with driving, parking etc with 2 kids in tow.
I can see why some might prefer the space of a villa, but it worked for us.

[minnie52]

We went when ours were about 13 months and 3 years - we stayed in a villa - it was our first trip so we weren't sure how they would be with the time difference etc and it worked well for us. There were evenings when they needed an early night and we were able to sit out and have a drink or watch a bit of telly.

Is a split stay an option for you? That way you could still have the convenience of separate rooms but for a few days would have the perks of onsite?

[Procrastinator]

One room with 2 young kids for us was hard work. One wakes up, they both end up awake. They go to bed, you have to tiptoe round and can't do anything. But that sort of thing all varies from kid to kid so depends on your family.

But onsite has a lot of plusses too! So we got round it with a split stay and did 6 nights on site, then off to a villa. We enjoyed the perks of onsite, but after those 6 nights we were very welcoming of the space in the villa!

[Apricota]

We did a villa when they were 2.25 (twins) then a villa when they were 7 and then I did Nemo suite with them when they were 13 (me and dd in bedroom, ds in pull down bed). All of these worked well. When we go back next time, whilst I would love to do on site again, we would need two bed as a minimum, therefore think villa and more space. Also will just eat what we want at Disney / Universal and not worry. Ideally villa with community pool also.

We could not have done 4 in one hotel room. Never. Ever. Would have worked for us.

[Guest]

We have done 5 trips now with two young kids who are almost 3 and 5. I preferred a hotel room/studio when the younger one was a baby because it made it easier to keep an eye on her. We did a villa when she was 14 months and it was seriously stressful with her running around relocating stuff (coasters, dvds, a pool noodle twice the size of her!)

I have never felt crowded in a hotel room. We tend to go to sleep shortly after the kids because the days are exhausting.

[tigger48]

OP have you considered a condo eg the 2 bed units at Grande Villas are huge (lake buena vista) or the Lake Buena Vista Resort & Spa?