While you can certainly find a cheaper room off Disney property, many people feel that staying onsite is worth the money. Free, convenient, and easy-to-use transportation throughout Disney World is just one of the many benefits to staying on Disney property. Here are some tips for your resort stay.

 

Consider a room with kitchen facilities. This is especially handy if your baby is still bottle feeding.

 

Book a resort with a great pool. Kids love swimming pools, and Disney resorts come with some of  the best. Children's favorites include the Volcano Pool at Disney's Polynesian Resort featuring a smoking volcano slide, underwater music, and sparkling waterfall, all with a superb view of the Seven Seas Lagoon; the Wilderness Lodge's boulder-lined pool featuring glistening waterfalls, rocky overlooks, a fun water slide, and nearby geyser; and Stormalong Bay, a mini-water park complex between the Yacht and Beach Clubs, offering three acres of fun, including sandy bottom pools, a giant "shipwreck" waterslide, tidal whirlpool, bubbling hot tubs, and a kiddie pool with its own slide next to

the beach.

 

Consider a theme room, such as the Pirates-themed rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. The rooms feature pirate ship beds, buccaneer accessories, and swashbuckling decor.

 

Request a room that is close to a bus stop. Better yet, request a room that is close to the first bus stop on the route. In the morning, you're more likely to get on a relatively empty bus, making it easier to find seats and a place to stash the stroller. You'll have to ride through a tour around your resort, but at least you'll be seated. Also, on the way back to the resort, you'll be among the first people dropped off. It’s much nicer to avoid the tour around the resort at the end of the day when you’re tired.

 

Consider a room with in-room laundry. Examples include at Old Key West Resort and the Boardwalk

Villas Resort.

 

Request a crib for your room. You can do this at any Disney hotel. At Old Key West, the two-bedroom

vacation homes are permanently equipped with Pack ’n Plays.

 

Check the crib or Pack ‘n Play over very carefully. Chances are excellent that Disney’s are in tip-top

shape, but in 2000 the National Safe Kids Campaign found unsafe cribs in 82 percent of the hotels and motels they checked. For example, make sure all hardware fits properly, that there are no small pieces your child could pull off and choke on, and that the crib slats are close enough together that you can’t fit a soda can between them.

 

Book a suite if you can afford it. You get more room for the kids to play and often a refrigerator and

microwave to cut down on meal costs. Plus then you and your spouse will have someplace to talk after the kids go to sleep, other than in the bathroom.

 

Consider requesting a non-handicap-accessible room. Handicap-accessible rooms tend to have shower stalls instead of tubs. But a tub is important to give little ones their baths.

 

If your child is of baby-proofing age, bring along your own baby-proofing supplies. Consider  bringing plug guards, cabinet locks (if you’re staying in a room with a kitchen), and masking tape (for taping wash rags over sharp coffee table corners, sticking lamp cords to the wall, etc.).

 

When you first go to your room, locate the fire exits in the hallway. You might even want to do a fire drill. Count the number of doors between your room and the fire exit.

 

Check the hotel room carefully for hazards. Look inside closets, behind seat cushions, and especially under the bed for dropped pins, coins, clips, hair things, pens, or other potentially harmful, choking hazards.

 

The cords used to open and close drapes can form a strangulation hazard; tie them up out of the way.  Velcro loops, pieces of string or twist ties are useful for this purpose.

 

Some hotels (not on Disney property) may still leave out books of matches. Stash those somewhere inaccessible.

 

If the hotel leaves out a pen, it might be a good idea to move that, too. That way your little one can’t draw on the walls with it.

 

If the bathroom door locks, consider taping the lock so that your child cannot accidentally lock herself in, or everyone else out.

 

If your hotel room has a balcony, check the furniture on the balcony: be sure it isn't placed near the railing, so that a toddler could climb on a chair or table and fall over the railing.

 

Test the hot water. Sometimes it can get hot enough to scald or seriously burn a child. If it is too hot you will not likely be able to convince the hotel to turn the heat down, but you will be alerted to a potential hazard.

 

Be especially careful with prescription or other medicines you bring with you. Unlike at home, they

may not be out of reach in a bathroom medicine cabinet. Don’t leave them next to the sink in a hotel bathroom. There is usually a high shelf in the closet that is out of reach.

 

Take a look at any little bottles of shampoo and the like in the bathroom. Depending on your child’s

age and curiosity, you might need to put these out of reach.

 

Consider Disney's preferred baby-sitting service, called Kids’ Night Out. A nanny trained in CPR and basic first aid will watch your children in your room while you go out, or give you a hand while you’re there if you

need a mother’s helper. Or the nannies can take the children to area attractions.

Resorts