For me, it never turns out to be less.
We're a family of 5, and the only boy is adult sized. So, in most of the DVC resorts, that means a 2 bedroom.
I simply cannot work the numbers so it turns out to be less than a single room at a Deluxe.
If there's something I'm missing, please fill me in.. I would LOVE to try DVC!!
Just to clarify - the 5 of you are generally in 1 room at a Value or Moderate resort? In looking at Disney's site, most of the rooms say they'll sleep "up to 4". I could't get Disney's site to let me book 5 people into a room.
If certain resorts let you sleep 5 to a normal room, that might be hard to compare to a Studio in a Deluxe. AFAIK, most Value/Moderate resorts have two double beds or two queens, whereas a studio has a queen and a fold out couch. I'm not sure about that 5th person.
In general, though, an apples-to-apples comparison is difficult, because a lot of it can depend on the time of year, the resort you choose, where you rent points from, the deals Disney is offering, etc.
Having said that, I just did a price check for a week-long reservation (one room, double occupancy) next June. In the value category, Disney's website quotes me $155 per night for All-Star, $165 for Pop Century, and $176 for Art of Animation. All the moderate resorts cost $220 per night.
By contrast, assuming you're renting points at $14/point (the going rate on most sites), a week in the cheapest studio at Animal Kingdom would be $190 / night.
So, for a room that sleeps 4, renting the cheapest DVC studio room falls somewhere in price between a Value and a Moderate resort. The more expensive DVC studios are a little more than a moderate - for example, a standard studio at BLT would run $278 per night, or $58/night more than a moderate. Is it worth about $50 per day to have better pools, better restaurants, a monorail to Epcot, and a walk to MK? Or, a studio at Boardwalk Villas (standard view) runs $218 per night - $2 less than a Moderate, and you get the clown pool, a fun boardwalk atmosphere, a boat to DHS, and short walk into Epcot.
If you're comparing 2 Value / Moderate rooms vs the equivalent DVC accomodations, a 1 bedroom could very well work for your family. As Jade1 said, many of the resorts have a sleeper chair, and can sleep 5. Some resorts only sleep 4 and have one bathroom, but some sleep up to 5 with two bathrooms - plus, as was mentioned, you also get a kitchen, dining room, laundry facilities, etc.
If you don't need the kitchen but would like to stay somewhere fancy, the new studios at the Grand Floridian sleep 5 (there's a foldout couch under the TV, although I don't know how big it is). These studios also have two bathrooms. Again, they're not going to be cheaper than 1 Value or Moderate room, but if you normally get 2 value rooms @ $155 / night, that's $310 for two rooms. A studio at the VGF will run $340 per night, so it's pretty close. Of course, you're all in one room then, but as I said you get the 2 bathrooms, and a studio is more spacious than a value room (at 374 square feet vs 260 for the value rooms).
I've never understood why people question others on this topic either. I work incredibly hard in order to visit WDW (at least) biannually; sometimes I even throw in a third or a couple of long weekends.
