Creative Solutions For Older Kids Who Need To (but don't want to) Share a Bed on Vacation

[amarberry]

I'm the mom of a teen and a tween (opposite genders) who do not want to share a bed which I completely understand and support. My older child was a kicker when she was younger, so bed sharing has never really worked out. In the past, we have either booked accommodations that have three beds or brought a pack and play (when they were much younger) or a classic Aerobed. In the last couple of years, there has been some complaining by both kids that the Aerobed is really uncomfortable. I go back and forth thinking that that they are spoiled little Princess and the Pea kids and being sympathetic since they are just getting bigger and it probably isn't very comfortable.

It looks like we are going to be in a situation where we will only have two beds. We booked AKL hoping for bunkbeds, but I see that they are phasing those out. I'm trying to find a creative solution that will make them happy enough. One option that we were thinking about was getting a memory foam bed bumper (normally used for toddlers) and travel sleep sacks (like you would use at a hostel) to essentially divide the shared bed into two. Has anyone done something like this successfully? Another thought was to find a higher quality air mattress (recommendations anyone?). I imagine that air mattresses have come along somewhat since we bought our old Aerobed, but we probably also need to consider the space. We would be flying so size/weight of whatever we bring is something of an issue, but we are willing to give up some luggage space to find a solution.

I'm certain that we are not the first family to deal with this issue or the last, and I'm guessing that there are probably some really good ideas out there. Please share! We actually really enjoy sharing a single hotel room while we are on vacation because we like the time together, but two undivided beds just doesn't work for us. I really wish that Disney would increase it's offering of things like bunkbeds, pull down beds, sleeper chairs, etc. to accommodate families.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Would you consider switching room categories? If you booked a 1-bedroom villa at AKV Jambo or Kidani (standard or savannah view), you would get a king bed, queen pull-out and twin size sleeper chair, giving you three sleeping surfaces. You would still, then, all be in the same room and get a full kitchen and w/d as a bonus. You could also book a standard room at GF, CR or Poly and be guaranteed a day bed in any of those rooms. There are also a ton of DVC studio rooms that would fit the bill as well with a queen, queen pull-out sofa and murphy pull-down. You would find those at BCV, BRV, BWV, VGF and RIV.

Edited to add - you could also book a 5th sleeper room at POR or CBR and get 3 sleeping surfaces (2 queens and a child-size pull-down)

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The Beach Club and Poly have decent pull out sofa beds. We stayed at both and they are a nice size and comfortable. I believe BC you would have to request but it's guaranteed in the Poly.

The murphy pull down beds in the villas look uncomfortable and DD refuses to sleep in one. They are pretty small.

 

[TwinkleKS]

When I was growing up my brother and I slept with the same gendered parent most of the time. It kept up from fighting in the bed. Now DH and I have three kids, so depending on the hotel, the twins will sleep together and one of us may share a bed with our son (he is the youngest). We have used the pull down beds in the Beach Club, GF, and CR as well.

 

[Disneypro1]

Bring an air mattress. I sleep on it from time to time at WDW. Not a big deal at all. Or let one of the kids use it.

 

[Searc]

Would you consider switching room categories? If you booked a 1-bedroom villa at AKV Jambo or Kidani (standard or savannah view), you would get a king bed, queen pull-out and twin size sleeper chair, giving you three sleeping surfaces. You would still, then, all be in the same room and get a full kitchen and w/d as a bonus. You could also book a standard room at GF, CR or Poly and be guaranteed a day bed in any of those rooms. There are also a ton of DVC studio rooms that would fit the bill as well with a queen, queen pull-out sofa and murphy pull-down. You would find those at BCV, BRV, BWV, VGF and RIV.

Edited to add - you could also book a 5th sleeper room at POR or CBR and get 3 sleeping surfaces (2 queens and a child-size pull-down)

The recommended age for the pull downs at POR is no older than 9 as a general guide. Of course, if your kids are older but smaller, it won't be a problem.

 

[amarberry]

Thank you for the responses. Just to clear a few things up. We've booked free dining and the deluxe resort pickings are slim. Booking a moderate (CBR was the only one available with the possibility of the third bed) is actually more expensive with the upgrade to the regular dining plan. We were considering changing to BWI which has a daybed and would solve all of our problems, but it will be about $1000 more. I'd be open to spending the extra $$$ if I were more excited about staying at BWI, but honestly, we would prefer to stay at AKL (we've stayed at BWV through DVC the last two trips....love it, but were excited about the change). If we can figure out to make the AKL bedding situation work, we have all decided that we'd prefer to stay there. I think that's why the kids are actually open about sharing a bed...with some sort of barrier.

The pull down beds at BWV and BCV make those resorts our typical first choice, but we booked this trip because of free dining and aren't using our points on this trip.

As for splitting the kids between the same gendered parents...neither kid minds bunking with me, but DH snores and sounds like a freight train. We use a white noise machine to make the room sleepable, but if given the choice between bunking together or bunking with dad, there is no question that they'd chose each other. I don't blame them!!!!

We're definitely open to the air mattress idea, but curious if anyone else has had unique/unconventional ideas to deal with the sleeping situation. If we go the air mattress route, I'd love to know if anyone has a super comfortable brand they've used. The classic Aerobed just isn't that comfortable when kids get bigger.

 

[Searc]

Thank you for the responses. Just to clear a few things up. We've booked free dining and the deluxe resort pickings are slim. Booking a moderate (CBR was the only one available with the possibility of the third bed) is actually more expensive with the upgrade to the regular dining plan. We were considering changing to BWI which has a daybed and would solve all of our problems, but it will be about $1000 more. I'd be open to spending the extra $$$ if I were more excited about staying at BWI, but honestly, we would prefer to stay at AKL (we've stayed at BWV through DVC the last two trips....love it, but were excited about the change). If we can figure out to make the AKL bedding situation work, we have all decided that we'd prefer to stay there. I think that's why the kids are actually open about sharing a bed...with some sort of barrier.

The pull down beds at BWV and BCV make those resorts our typical first choice, but we booked this trip because of free dining and aren't using our points on this trip.

As for splitting the kids between the same gendered parents...neither kid minds bunking with me, but DH snores and sounds like a freight train. We use a white noise machine to make the room sleepable, but if given the choice between bunking together or bunking with dad, there is no question that they'd chose each other. I don't blame them!!!!

We're definitely open to the air mattress idea, but curious if anyone else has had unique/unconventional ideas to deal with the sleeping situation. If we go the air mattress route, I'd love to know if anyone has a super comfortable brand they've used. The classic Aerobed just isn't that comfortable when kids get bigger.

I'd post a general question about AKL asking if you are able to request a cot (do they even have those anymore at WDW?).

 

[amarberry]

I'd post a general question about AKL asking if you are able to request a cot (do they even have those anymore at WDW?).

Good idea! I just put my questions on that thread.

 

[maranara]

I HATED sharing a bed with my sister when we went on vacation. My grandma had a genius solution when we stayed at her house - we still had to share the sofa bed, but she made the bed with 2 sets of sheets and blankets so we each had our own. It made a world of difference. When we stayed in a hotel, my mom did the same thing. I'm guessing she requested an extra set of sheets and blankets to remake the bed...or maybe we traveled with our own? But it made sharing something we could do. Good luck!

 

[VAfamily1998]

Not what you're asking, but if your DH's snoring is problematic have you considered having him see if he needs a C-pap machine?
My husband was snoring terribly (would wake me several times a night) and he was able to get one. It made a huge difference in MY quality of sleep.

 

[elaine amj]

We use a self inflating mattress pad from Costco. For a small thin looking pad, it is way more comfortable than an air mattress. Even my 71 year old mother prefers it to sharing a bed with one of my teens.

 

[amarberry]

I HATED sharing a bed with my sister when we went on vacation. My grandma had a genius solution when we stayed at her house - we still had to share the sofa bed, but she made the bed with 2 sets of sheets and blankets so we each had our own. It made a world of difference. When we stayed in a hotel, my mom did the same thing. I'm guessing she requested an extra set of sheets and blankets to remake the bed...or maybe we traveled with our own? But it made sharing something we could do. Good luck!

Thank you! This is what I'm sort of thinking with the sleep sack idea. I'm aging myself, but back in the day when college aged kids would stay at hostels, you had to bring a sleep sack which is essentially a sleeping bag made out of more of a sheet material. I'm glad to hear that you thought that it helped because that was my inclination, but I wasn't sure. My husband seems to think that this with the travel bumpers might be the best option. Both the sleep sacks and tons of travel bumper options seem to available on amazon.

 

[amarberry]

Not what you're asking, but if your DH's snoring is problematic have you considered having him see if he needs a C-pap machine?
My husband was snoring terribly (would wake me several times a night) and he was able to get one. It made a huge difference in MY quality of sleep.

I think he definitely needs to get one! His mom had sleep apnea and I know my own dad has greatly improved his quality of sleeping since getting one a few years ago. In all honesty, his snoring is worse on vacation because he's usually indulged in some adult beverages (vacation ) and that seems to amplify it .

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

I think I remember my parents rolling up the duvet on the bed and putting it between my brother and me when we were kids. (I am female). Nothing they had to plan for or pack, just used the bedding differently.

 

[lbus42]

Tell your kids about the lack of bedding options at AKL. Ask them if they would rather share a bed or not go to Disney at all?

 

[amarberry]

Tell your kids about the lack of bedding options at AKL. Ask them if they would rather share a bed or not go to Disney at all?

They are aware and are grateful for the opportunity. While I'm not going to book a suite or get a second room to accommodate their bedding preference, I sympathize and am happy to try and figure out a cost sensitive option that will appease them. I didn't like sharing a bed with my younger brother when I was that age either.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

They are aware and are grateful for the opportunity. While I'm not going to book a suite or get a second room to accommodate their bedding preference, I sympathize and am happy to try and figure out a cost sensitive option that will appease them. I didn't like sharing a bed with my younger brother when I was that age either.

My kids are 19 and 13. Boy and girl. Last trip we did as a family they were 15 and 9. They shared a bed but they weren't really happy about it. So I feel your pain.

Since then my son has gone on his senior trip and shared a bed with a classmate. And I went with just DD in 2018 and we had separate beds but she wasn't very happy about a sofa bed at BWV. DD doesn't like air mattresses or sofa beds but she survived and it wasn't bad at all. She's just all about big giant comfy beds.

If I were in your situation I would first see if they offer a cot. If not I would do the bedding down the middle or ask for extra bedding so they can each have their own sheet and comforter. Or do an air mattress and each one takes a turn each night on it. My son is laid back and doesn't care but my daughter can be dramatic about her sleep situation. Then my son feels as though he shouldn't always have to compromise and be the one sleeping on the cot just because she's being a pain. So it can become quite the crap show. LOL

Next trip, before I book, I will be letting them know the logistics of the sleeping situation and how it'll work out. They will have the option to opt in or out WITH NO COMPLAINING. That's what I just did for our Puerto Rico trip. They will have to sleep on air mattresses. My son almost said no but when he realized I was serious he decided to go. Same with my daughter. I told her she can come or stay with her dad or grandma. She said ok too. Now they are excited and looking forward to it. Air mattresses have moved up and with some good bedding they are pretty decent! (I know this isn't your situation but my son is older and doesn't HAVE to go)

 

[Disneypro1]

Tell your kids about the lack of bedding options at AKL. Ask them if they would rather share a bed or not go to Disney at all?

This. And if not. They can have an air mattress.

 

[bluezy]

We're in a similar boat...none of our kids likes sharing a bed with a sibling nor do they get a good amount of sleep when they do share a bed (which they do on short non-Disney trips). They're all use to sleeping alone and all of them are somewhat restless...the youngest one is the worst! She's a tiny thing but she can cover every square inch of a king size bed with or without anyone else sleeping in it. And she throws off soooooo much body heat it feels like there's a heater in the bed. I don't even want to share a bed with her. When our kids (I use that term loosely) do share beds, no one gets a good night's sleep and then we *all* end up tired and cranky...and that's not how I want our Disney vacations (or any vacation for that matter) to be. We spend too much money on vacation for every one to be cranky because we forced kids to share beds. We won't get an extra room for the kids, but we do try to book rooms that can accommodate an air mattress or two so everyone can have their own sleeping surface. Fortunately, all but one of our kids is college age or an independent adult so we're only traveling with 2 or 3 kids instead of 5 so sleeping arrangements are a little easier. We always bring an air mattress to Disney. Our kids aren't really fussy about their air mattresses so I just bring an inexpensive low-height (~8") mattress. That size mattress is easy to prop up against a wall so it's out of the way during the day. At home we have Beautyrest air mattresses for when we have more guests than guestroom beds. I think I paid about $80 for each of them but they were worth the price. I needed something that had a high weight limit (more than 350 lbs) and these air mattresses have weight limits over 500 lbs. My sister-in-law and her husband have slept on them numerous times and said they're the most comfortable air mattresses they've ever slept on -- even better than their Aerobeds that they thought were great. So...just passing that info on in case you find yourself looking to buy a new air mattress.

And I also recommend asking about a cot/rollaway bed when you check in (but have a back-up plan in case there aren't any available). Personally, I wouldn't trust the answers you get on a message board or from a phone CM regarding rollaway beds. I only say this because for years I would see people say that Pop Century absolutely did not allow or have cots/rollaway beds. Yet on 3 different trips, I saw housekeeping CMs moving a rollaway bed in or out of a room *and* saw at least one rollaway bed all made up and in a room (curtains were open). But when I mentioned that on these boards, people still insisted I was wrong and that they had been told by the phone CMs and the front desk that the resort did not have rollaway beds. Ever. I'd probably ask the front desk manager or even housekeeping when you get there to get the most accurate information.