family of 5 options

[mikewdw]

just thinking of looking into DVC. Could we book a studio and just squeeze in it with 5. we are 9, 6, 6 now. would this be "legal"? just beginning to check prices. I know it would be tight but we are really park people and spend a lot of time at parks. price is big deal for us.
thanks
mikewdw

 

[Lynne M]

Sorry, they absolutely won't allow you to have 5 in any DVC studio unless one of the 5 is a child under 3.

You're officially allowed to book 5 in a one bedroom villa at AKV, OKW, BLT. Currently, they're allowing you to have 5 in one bedroom villas at the other DVC resorts, but since the stated occupancy for those villas is 4, that can change at any time, and then you'd need to get a two bedroom. Also, in all resorts but OKW, BLT and AKV, there are only sleeping spaces for 4, and they won't provide additional bedding, so you'd need to bring your own air mattress or sleeping bag, plus pillows, etc.

 

[AirGoofy]

To add to previous post, those 1 BR mentioned have a fold out double bed sleeper sofa in the living room and a chair in living room that folds out for a single sleeping bed. The ones at BLT and AKV Kidani do have two bathrooms, which is a big plus.

 

[Chuck S]

If price is your main driving force behind considering DVC, then I doubt DVC would work out well for you. While it can save some money in accommodations, there are ongoing maintenance fees and taxes. Plus, if you decide at some point that Disney vacations are no longer a priority, chances are you will take a fairly large loss when you sell your contract, even if you pick one up on the resale market, as is the case with almost any timeshare.

It is likely that DVC will never be less expensive than staying at a Disney value class resort or mini-suite.

Now, if you routinely would normally stay in Deluxe class room, or rent a DVC room directly from Disney, then DVC ownership would make sense.

Remember that DVC receives none of the special promotions designed to fill the cash resorts, like the free dining promotions. From a strictly financial point of view, Disney doesn't need to offer those promotions to DVC. There is no advantage to Disney. They technically do not own those rooms, they don't pay the taxes and upkeep, and it isn't a financial liability to the Disney company if a DVC room sits idle...except for the percentage of room ownership that Disney retains.

 

[Chuck S]

To add to previous post, those 1 BR mentioned have a fold out double bed sleeper sofa in the living room and a chair in living room that folds out for a single sleeping bed. The ones at BLT and AKV Kidani do have two bathrooms, which is a big plus.

Aren't the one bedroom sofa sleepers queen sized? They are at OKW.

 

[AirGoofy]

Aren't the one bedroom sofa sleepers queen sized? They are at OKW.

Yes, queen.

 

[Lynne M]

If price is your main driving force behind considering DVC, then I doubt DVC would work out well for you. While it can save some money in accommodations, there are ongoing maintenance fees and taxes. Plus, if you decide at some point that Disney vacations are no longer a priority, chances are you will take a fairly large loss when you sell your contract, even if you pick one up on the resale market, as is the case with almost any timeshare.

It is likely that DVC will never be less expensive than staying at a Disney value class resort or mini-suite.

Now, if you routinely would normally stay in Deluxe class room, or rent a DVC room directly from Disney, then DVC ownership would make sense.

Remember that DVC receives none of the special promotions designed to fill the cash resorts, like the free dining promotions. From a strictly financial point of view, Disney doesn't need to offer those promotions to DVC. There is no advantage to Disney. They technically do not own those rooms, they don't pay the taxes and upkeep, and it isn't a financial liability to the Disney company if a DVC room sits idle...except for the percentage of room ownership that Disney retains.

To look at it from a slightly different angle....

OP, given the list of past stays in your signature, I'm assuming that you're looking into DVC because you're looking for a step up in your resort stays, and as Chuck said, that step up is going to come with a higher cost that what you're paying now. The good thing about being a member is, the cost is still going to be less than you'd pay for a cash reservation for the same villa.

Since your family won't be able to book anything smaller than a 1-bedroom villa, the cost increase over what you're paying for values and moderates now is going to be significant. But, that one bedroom villa does give you a full kitchen and washer/dryer, plus the separate bedroom, jacuzzi tub, etc.

The other thing to consider with DVC is, you're committed to paying 40 years or so worth of maintenance fees, whether you vacation with DVC that year or not.

One way to get the cost savings without the financial commitment is renting a reservation from an owner. That would work out well for you if you think you won't be going at least every other year for the next several decades.

If after looking things over, you decide to buy, definitely look into resale instead of direct from Disney. You can save a boatload of money that way.

 

[lovin'fl]

You have to do a 1BR and we have done that with 5 many times. As already mentioned some resorts have beds/bedding for 5 while most only have for 4 (but you can bring airbed and bedding and towels for the 5th person...we did several times). Now, our kids are all teens (2 girls and a boy) so we prefer a 2BR.

 

[Dean]

just thinking of looking into DVC. Could we book a studio and just squeeze in it with 5. we are 9, 6, 6 now. would this be "legal"? just beginning to check prices. I know it would be tight but we are really park people and spend a lot of time at parks. price is big deal for us.
thanks
mikewdw

It's very doubtful DVC will save you money compared to your previous trips. The 1 BR is the least value and most difficult to show value in comparison. However, it depends on what you compare to. With 5 you're looking at suites at the values or moderates or the sleep 5 units at PO or certain deluxe options like AKL or WL, esp the bunk bed options. With 5 you'll likely need a 2 BR pretty soon, esp if the kids are not all the same gender. I would look mostly at OKW, AKV and BLT for this size group and then compare prices and consider what you're getting and not getting.

 

[bbn1122]

We are a family of 5 and bought into DVC rather late, our eldest just started college. But, for the two years he did go away with us we were very comfy.

We brought DVC because we are 5, but now that we may be only 4 on many of vacation we are still happy we made the decision. We enjoy the space, the privacy for Dh and myself. We enjoy being able to have breakfast or any meal in our rooms. We enjoy the luxuries and extra perks of the resorts. We recently went to HHI resort and absolutely loved it. We definitely will be back.

We found ourselves in the past before DVC needing two rooms or a deluxe resort just to fit 5. I personally, like to do it up a little on vacation, I am not frugal when I vacation, so DVC is perfect for me.

The last thing, with my son in college, if we did not purchase DVC we probably would not be able to go on vacation every year to come with out it.....and we have 2 more college education to come.

Oh, and we are not WDW every year people. We usually go every 3 years, we have already used our DVC for a cruise. Next, year we are planning to go to Vero Beach, then hopefully another cruise, back to HHI and then hopefully Aulani.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Okay, so I was going to respond, but it looks like the OP is absent.