• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • TravelingDad

Traveling Mom

Traveling tips, deals, info from moms and families

  • COVID-19
  • Road Trips
    • ROAD TRIPS ACROSS THE USA
    • ROAD TRIP PLANNER
    • ILLINOIS ROAD TRIPS
    • TEXAS ROAD TRIPS
    • GEORGIA ROAD TRIPS
    • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIPS
    • NORTHEAST ROAD TRIPS
    • MIDWEST ROAD TRIPS
  • Destinations
    • Northeast
    • Southeast
    • East Coast
    • Midwest
    • South
    • Southwest
    • Northwest
    • West
    • US Cities
      • New York City
      • Chicago
      • Los Angeles
      • Orlando
      • San Diego
      • San Francisco
  • Disney
    • Disneyland
    • Walt Disney World
    • Disney Worldwide
    • Disney Cruise
    • Discount Disney World Tickets
  • Outdoors
    • Skiing
    • National Parks
    • RV/Camping
    • Beaches
  • Travel Resources
    • Babies and Toddlers
    • Free Things to Do
    • Packing
    • Discount Attractions Tickets
    • Discount Disney World Ticket
    • Discount Universal Tickets
    • Grandparents
    • Cruising
    • TravelingDad
  • Search
  • COVID-19
  • Road Trips
    • Road Trips Across the USA
    • Road Trip Planner
    • Illinois Road Trips
    • Texas Road Trips
    • Georgia Road Trips
    • California Road Trips
    • Northeast Road Trips
    • Midwest Road Trips
  • US National Parks
  • RV and Camping
  • Beaches
  • Disney
    • Disneyland
    • Walt Disney World
    • Disney Worldwide
    • Disney Cruise
    • Discount Disney World Tickets
  • Cruises
  • Skiing
  • Free Things to Do
  • Traveling with Babies and Toddlers
  • Traveling Grandparents
  • TravelingDad
  • US Destinations
    • Northeast
    • Southeast
    • East Coast
    • Midwest
    • South
    • Southwest
    • Northwest
    • West
  • US Cities
    • NYC
    • Chicago
    • Los Angeles
    • Orlando
    • San Diego
    • San Francisco
  • International
  • Travel Resources
    • Book A Trip
    • Discount Attractions Tickets
    • Discount Disney World Tickets
    • Discount Universal Tickets
    • Packing
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Mobile Menu

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
You are here: Home / TravelingDad / Dad Travel 101 / The Top Reason You Want A Locking Door on a Family Vacation (And It’s Not What You’re Thinking)

The Top Reason You Want A Locking Door on a Family Vacation (And It’s Not What You’re Thinking)

July 21, 2016 //  by Paul Eisenberg//  Leave a Comment

FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy, TravelingMom may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.

Between seven and eight each weekday morning is the time in my house I have long referred to as the Witching Hour.

Five of us – two adults, two teen girls, and a 9-year-old boy – jockeying for privacy in a two-bedroom, one bathroom apartment.

If it weren’t an hour that brought out the worst in all of us, we might find it comical.

The alarm goes off at 7 a.m. Nobody moves.

“Get in the bathroom,” I yell. “It’s empty.” I yell this as a courtesy, knowing full well that still, nobody will move. So I go into the bathroom and lock the door. Some 25 seconds later there’s an irritating tap-tap-tap on the door. It’s either the boy or Teen One needing to use the toilet.

If it’s the boy I jump in the shower while he does his business. If it’s Teen One, I vacate the bathroom while she does whatever she does in there with her phone. “Are you on your phone?” I yell through the door. No answer. “Teen One!” I yell. Eventually she exits.

A few minutes later after putting bowls of cereal on the table I head to the smaller bedroom where my wife and I sleep, but I’m cut off by Teen One, clothes in hand. She does have her own “room,” a curtain-partitioned portion of the living room, but she won’t change in there. Not enough privacy. She goes into my room and locks the door.

Meanwhile, Teen Two, who stays in bed until she has no choice, is banging on the bathroom door, telling the boy to get out. He does, eventually. But then five minutes later he’s banging on the locked door of the master bedroom, which he and Teen Two share, telling her to open up so he can get his clothes. She rips the door open, yelling “Hurry up!” He gets his clothes, purposely taking his time, and she slams the door, literally letting it hit him on the way out.

Because he wants privacy too, the boy tries to get access to either the bathroom or smaller bedroom, but my wife and I are using them. “Change in the living room,” I say, “nobody is in there.” He refuses. He’s modest. So he waits.

There’s more yelling. Doors are slammed some more and almost immediately ripped open in disgust some more. Everyone is running a little bit late but inevitably we all have to go. Because it’s 8 a.m. The Witching Hour is over.

Good morning.

An outsider witnessing these theatrics might find them comical, as I hope you did.

But if the Witching Hour is all-too-familiar to you, if you live in an apartment or house that is in many ways perfectly nice but has more people than it does rooms, then you already understand the main reason why your family should really, really try to stay somewhere with lockable doors when you travel:

Your family getaway should also get you away from your home living arrangements.

Cost is a factor, of course. If you’re heading to a popular destination during high season, and add to that such variables as booking at the last minute, you and your family may have no choice but to replicate your living arrangements at home and cram into a single hotel room… often more cramped than you are at home.

Or you may end up booking  a “suite” that is in reality a large room with an “L” shape or a living room whose “separate” bedroom is partitioned by a flimsy, unlockable decorative door or slider… or is just a doorframe with no door (!). I have stayed in every configuration of these faux suites with my family and of course the privacy in those situations is no better than it is at home.

What I’m building up to is this: In many popular destinations there are condos you can rent at family resorts that would cost the same or less per night than a hotel room or a suite that’s not a suite because it has no lockable door.

Through Vacatia, you can book a multi-bedroom, multi-bathroom condo in a popular destination like Orlando/Disney without having to belong to the Disney Vacation Club, with the option of booking Orlando hotel suites, Orlando two-bedroom suites, or Orlando three-bedroom suites.

Hypothetically, if I wanted to book a three-bedroom, two-bathroom suite in Orlando during the third week in August, as of this writing I’m finding availability through Vacatia at 21 resorts, with a dozen of those averaging less than $200 per night.

So for the sake of argument, if my aforementioned Witching Hour unfolded in a three-bedroom, 2-bathroom suite – and in some cases you can get 2.5 or 3 bathrooms, the thought of which almost makes me weep longingly – you really don’t need me to re-imagine the scene for you.

The hour still wouldn’t bring out the best in us, and my family would figure out new reasons to yell and slam doors.

But we’d have our own lockable doors to slam. And really, isn’t that what a family vacation is supposed to be about?

This post was sponsored by Vacatia but, as always, all opinions in my posts are my own and certainly that whole Witching Hour thing is real.

For more travel advice, head over to Traveling Mom, where among other things you can read about free things to do with kids.

family-vacation

FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn

Category: Dad Travel 101Tag: Disney, Orlando

You May Also Like

  • Using a Family Vacation Photo for Your Christmas Card
  • Why a Vacation is the Best Way to Bond as a Blended Family
  • Omaha-Family-Vacation-Nights
    Your Family Vacation Is Closer Than You Think
  • Swimming beach safety tips - go into the water as a family.
    Teach Your Kids to Swim Before a Family Beach Vacation
  • Tips on Tipping on Family Vacation
    Tips on Tipping: A Family Vacation Tipping Guide
  • The Fountains Orlando resort
    Timeshare Rental in Orlando? Family Vacation Pros and Cons
Previous Post: «houston hotels, wyndham houston west, houston hotels with indoor pools Wyndham Houston West Energy Corridor: Perfect for Family or Business Travel
Next Post: Amarillo, the “Real Texas,” a Treat for Kids and Adults »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Ask Us!
  • Privacy & Terms
  • Manage Push Notifications
  • Site Admin

Copyright © 2021 Traveling Mom · All Rights Reserved