Tween DS and DD sharing “queen” bed in Disney hotel

[Calelladreaming]

Hello, am hoping to take our kids for a trip of a lifetime to DWF in October 2026. Planning a two week half term trip with 10 days in some sort of self-catering (poss Windsor Hills or The Grove) followed by a 4 day splurge on a Disney hotel, likely Animal Kingdom.

Am completely gobsmacked at how un-family friendly most hotel rooms are with 2 queen beds rather than a queen and 2 singles (FFS, if Premier Inn can get this right….!). I can’t see how this arrangement would suit anyone other than a family group of 2A 1C.

DS will be 12 (nearly 13) and DD will be 11. Would I be nuts to consider getting them to share a queen bed/is it just plain wrong, or would I be nuts not to do this?!

Any views or experiences welcome. The beds look huge so maybe it’s not such an issue to share but I don’t know.

The alternative is to book 2 rooms at double the cost (which would still be cheaper than the “suites” which would have an extra sofa bed or similar).

One option would be to let the kids decide and to offer them, say, £300 spending money each if they’re willing to share which would still be a big saving and would keep them happy/mean they’re not being forced to share.

While we could afford a second room it’s such a lot of money even in the context of the holiday as a whole, and it’s an inheritance that’s funding it so I don’t want to “waste” money IYSWIM.

Thank you!

The concern isn’t inappropriateness, just that they might feel quite uncomfortable about it - it’s an awkward age. And yes, they would probably bicker, and argue about having the duvet pulled off by the other etc!

DH sharing with DS and me sharing with DD would be a better solution, otherwise we could consider an airbed. But it would be galling to be paying top whack for a hotel (our choice but anyway) for one of the kids to have to sleep on an airbed, and for us to have to buy an airbed for that matter!

Much though I liked the look of Animal Kingdom Lodge I’m completely sold on a walkable hotel. I’m going to contact Disney reservations to ask what they recommend - whether the rooms with an extra fold down bed are all reserved for groups of 5 and whether any walkable hotels have bunk beds (seems to be the case for AKL but they don’t make it obvious on the website).

We went in May 2024 with a 9 year old and 11 year old. We woke up when we woke up and stayed in the park as long as we felt like it. Typical hours for us at the park was 10.30am - 6pm except for Magic Kingdom when we stayed for fireworks. Didn't need the rest period in the afternoon because we planned our visit based on the crowd calendar and went on days that had the lowest crowd for each park.

Universal Studios At Universal Orlando crowd calendar - January 2025

I am not sure a Disney hotel gives much benefit anymore other than being maybe half an hour closer to the park than an out of resort location? Based on your kids ages I think they would prefer Universal to Disney so I would switch the itineray to have 4 days Disney and 5 days Universal. The queues are likely to be big at Universal this year as the new park opens in May.

We booked a small SUV via Skyscanner (Budget) which was £300 for 10 days. Worth every penny.

Compare Cheap Flights & Book Airline Tickets to Everywhere | Skyscanner

Thanks @roses2, a few people have said their kids preferred Universal to Disney, and while my kids loved DLP they are not really into Disney films. But I have to say, the trip back to our accommodation for an afternoon rest was a game changer for us so we’re likely to stick with that. From my own trip to WDW when I was 11 I remember the parks were even more magical and noticeably quieter in the evenings.

We’re not planning on going until Oct next year but I imagine the crowds will still be big in the new Universal parks. I’d wondered about staying in a Universal hotel but they all looked massively underwhelming!

Thanks for the car hire tip, that’s loads cheaper than I was expecting.

Look into renting dvc (Disney vacation points) plenty of options now to buy and is often cheaper - for example we are getting a 2 bed villa for less than 2 rooms.
a one bed villa at AKL will have more sleeping options and more space as well as being cost effective

I'd look to stay in a Universal hotel that offers "free" fast pass for the few days you want to go to Universal. The queues are on average 45 minutes per ride without and the hotel works out cheaper than buying fast pass separately.

This was on my list to research! We’re big fans of fast passes (not sure there’s any going back when you’ve tried them….). I’m not crazy about having 3 different hotels but it sounds like it may be worth it.

Thanks @Tiswa, I need to look into this too.

We stayed at the Riyal Pacific hotel when we were at universal last October, really just to get the fast passes, and would recommend. Easy to get to the parks - it was just a few minutes in a water taxi - meant we could go back there for a break mid after if needed
But while the parks were busy, having express passes meant we waited no more than 10 motor most rides, which was great

I'm totally out of touch about Disney hotels these days (recently found a receipt for our last stay at the Polynesian at about USD 180 a night!) but if it's close access to the parks you want you may want to consider one of the EPCOT hotels. If you are only there for 4 nights you will probably want to spend as much time as possible in the park, and easy access to pop back to the room, and I am not sure somewhere like the Animal Kingdom Lodge will do that.

Although, if you can't pop back to the room, my top tip is book a late lunchtime meal in a nice cool, indoor restaurant.. gets you out of the heat and reinvigorates you for the rest of the day. Our favourites are San Angel Inn and Coral Reef in EPCOT (although admittedly, too many of these lunches and you may as well have paid for the Grand Floridian!).

We visit Disney quite a bit.
TBH me and my DH take a child each in bed because they bicker about space etc otherwise and it makes life easier.
Even last year when the kids were 15&17 we shared a bed 1 adult&1child.
They are big beds.

If you look at cheaper resorts you could go for a 5th sleeper which is a pull down bed.

I'm not sure I'd pay them to share a bed that's just weird.

We used to share one room quite often on holiday (family of five, one girl, two boys). When sharing beds, rule was girls shared and boys shared.

But tbh usually there would just be one bed, a very uncomfortable sofa that we'd fight over and the losing two kids would make do with a pillow and blanket on the floor. I used to sleep in the bath sometimes. I still remember all our holidays with fondness 😂.

If you do opt for a Deluxe hotel or villa, check which parks typically have extra magic hours after the parks close. Last summer it was Mondays for Epcot and Weds for MK (I think) so we booked AKL for Monday to Thursday to take advantage. In the winter months I believe it swaps to Hollywood Studios.
I wouldn't say it's a dealbreaker but it was nice to walk on to Seven Dwarves Minetrain which is notorious for queues. And I love the parks at night, so pretty and cooler!

Also October, check the likely dates for the Halloween Parties in MK, as the park closes early unless you have party tickets.

Definitely look at a hotel stay for universal. Even a single night will give you two full days of fast pass. Lots of people do this, arriving 7am, drop overnight bag with concierge and head to the park.

Yes, of course it's fine. We are going in September and my 17yo boy will be sharing with his 12 yo sister.

Incidently, I've booked Springhill suites which has 'studio suites' so all one room but you have a sitting area. I guess someone could sleep on the sofa if the kids really don't want to share. Mine love having 'sleepovers' in each other's room. No different to that except you're there too!

Me and my 2 often share a hotel room together. It's good fun, imo!

Me and my 17yo and 12yo often share hotel rooms. We've never had a problem getting changed in the bathroom or all sleeping in the same room. I suppose it's what you're used to.

If you have a 2 bed apartment then presumably will be sharing a room then so will still just get changed in the bathroom? I don't think it will be a problem at all.