A 1BR is the most expensive room type

[DonkeyHoTay]

Now that I’ve gone DVC, the idea of a normal hotel room breaks me out in hives.

This.

 

[CraigInPA]

For my wife and I, we've shorted our usual 14-15 night trip to 9 nights, and bought some extra resale points so we can stay in a 1 bedroom each year. There's just no going back to studios!

 

[Brian Noble]

I've told this story before, but: When I had kids in the house, we were never hotel room people. If we were renting a conventional stay for a vacation, it would usually be in e.g. a Residence Inn or something similar in a 2BR suite. More commonly, we used VRBO until we started timesharing.

Inevitably, there would be a point during the trip where my ex and I would be in the liviing room, reading/knitting/whatever, with the kids off in their bedroom doing whatever it was they were doing. One of us would look at the other, and say: "Hotel rooms. How do people do that?"

I mean, we knew that people booked hotel rooms and took vacations in them, but for the life of us we could not understand how that was possible.

The one and only time we did a non-trivial vacation in hotel rooms was at DLRP, using one of Disney's EU web sites to book a buy-two-nights-get-four package promotion at the Sequioa Lodge. Even there, we booked it as two connecting hotel rooms.

 

[Brian rhymes with dyin]

I've told this story before, but: When I had kids in the house, we were never hotel room people. If we were renting a conventional stay for a vacation, it would usually be in e.g. a Residence Inn or something similar in a 2BR suite. More commonly, we used VRBO until we started timesharing.

Inevitably, there would be a point during the trip where my ex and I would be in the liviing room, reading/knitting/whatever, with the kids off in their bedroom doing whatever it was they were doing. One of us would look at the other, and say: "Hotel rooms. How do people do that?"

I mean, we knew that people booked hotel rooms and took vacations in them, but for the life of us we could not understand how that was possible.

The one and only time we did a non-trivial vacation in hotel rooms was at DLRP, using one of Disney's EU web sites to book a buy-two-nights-get-four package promotion at the Sequioa Lodge. Even there, we booked it as two connecting hotel rooms.

Necessity?

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We usually stay in 2 bedrooms, or occasionally grand villas when my parents come along but we have no problem staying in studios. I dont get to see my teens as much as I’d like to so I kind of enjoy the forced togetherness. We stayed 2 weeks in a BRV studio on our last trip and it was perfectly fine. One bedrooms however make no sense to me. The point difference over a studio is huge and at that point you might as well stay in a 2 br. I’ve never stayed in a one br and never would.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Necessity?

Not gonna lie I had to go see your join date to make sure you didn’t make an account to troll @Brian Noble

 

[Brian Noble]

Necessity?

The beautiful thing about timesharing is that, if done carefully, that 2BR condo is about the cost of one of those hotel rooms. That’s harder to do with DVC, but with exchange it is possible. I know because I did for MANY years.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Yep. 1 bed is so much better than a studio. And the point spread from studio to 1 bed is huge. The spread from 1 bed to 2 bed is much smaller but can’t justify a 2 bed for 2 adults and a kid so I’m stuck coughing up 1 bed points.

We do a two bedroom when our youngest son comes with us. I like getting up and enjoying my coffee in the morning without waking him up. It's worth the points.

 

[muppets3d]

In fairness, I will sometimes book a studio, but only for (a) a long weekend with (b) one or two people.

Before I bought my own points, I had a long run of using non-DVC timeshares to exchnage in to Villas, so I'd never done WDW in a studio/hotel room. My first purchase was a fixed week in a RIV studio. I thought maybe I could manage to pull that off for my usual week-long late winter/early spring trip.

It did not take me more than one night to realize that I was going to be flat out resentful at drinking coffee out something other than an actual mug each morning. And yes, I could put one in my OL, but that is NOT THE POINT.

You can call housekeeping and they'll gladly send you a mug if that's your sticking point

 

[atthebeachclub]

You can call housekeeping and they'll gladly send you a mug if that's your sticking point

Dang, doing this for my next stay in a studio! I didn’t realize!

 

[muppets3d]

Dang, doing this for my next stay in a studio! I didn’t realize!

Well I'm pretty sure the deluxe studios at Riviera come with real ceramic mugs anyway, but yes they can just pull one from the ones they supply the villas if you want one. Same thing if you want a glass for the bathroom sink, a real plate, whatever you need.

 

[Sandisw]

Well I'm pretty sure the deluxe studios at Riviera come with real ceramic mugs anyway, but yes they can just pull one from the ones they supply the villas if you want one. Same thing if you want a glass for the bathroom sink, a real plate, whatever you need.

They do!!!

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Just not the Tower studios - or at least they didn't used to.

 

[Brian Noble]

Huh. I was in a RIV Studio last year, and don't remmeber An Actual Mug. It was only one night, so maybe I just didn't bother making coffee that morning.

But, it's not just the mug. At one point, Disney referred to this hotel category as "Home Away From Home" rather than "Deluxe Villa". And, that's what I want in a vacation experience. I want a living room in which no one has to sleep. I want kitchen facilities so that I can throw together some cereal, peanut butter toast, and coffee and eat it at a table with real dishes and silverware like a civilized person without having to look presentable enough to leave the room. I want to be able to throw some laundry in the washing machine without having to think about how I'm going to get it right when the cycle ends. And really, it's not any of those particular things. Instead it is the qualitative experience of being in a condo rather than a hotel room.

And yes, it is expensive.

That's why I did not buy DVC until I was in my 50s and no longer had to worry about raising kids, paying for college, and was both downsizing and moving to a less expensive school district. If I had to choose between a DVC studio and a Wyndham Bonnet Creek 2BR for a family vacation, I would (and did) choose Bonnet every day and twice on Sundays. I didn't often have to make that choice thanks to RCI or Interval exchanges, and I was happy to take the DVC "leftovers" when I could get them inexpensively. But, they were absolutely the leftovers---lots of OKW and SSR villas.

Because of all of this, I used to hang out on the offsite board here on the DIS. About once a month, someone would ask whether or not it was "worth it to stay in <Insert Disney Resort Room Here>" I would always respond the same way....

There are three things someone might want in WDW vacation lodging:

1. To stay onsite.
2. To have a reasonable amount of space.
3. To spend a reasonable amount of money.

For most people, and most definitions of "reasonable", it is impossible to do all three at the same time. Instead, you have to decide which of the three (if any) are non-negotiable, and which you are most willing to live without.

When my kids were still in the house, #2 was non-negotiable. I insisted on having a lockable door between the kids and the parents, because it was my vacation too. Earlier in my life, when money was tighter, #1 was the thing I was most willing to live without.

Over time, I learned that for me, the difference between staying onsite and offsite wasn't usually a big deal. The vacations had much more in common than they had differences. Partly that's because I nearly always rent a car, and I tend to drive myself to most places not named Magic Kingdom even when staying onsite. I also learned that Disney is a downright average hotelier/timeshare developer, as there are many many properties as nice or nicer within a stone's throw of WDW borders, and they usually cost much less.

 

[Genie+]

Big Pine Key studios also have mugs And ROBES lol. And all the travel toiletries, like mouthwash and the little boxes with shower cap, q-tips, nail file, hair tie, and mini sewing kit.

 

[muppets3d]

Big Pine Key studios also have mugs And ROBES lol. And all the travel toiletries, like mouthwash and the little boxes with shower cap, q-tips, nail file, hair tie, and mini sewing kit.

I'm not sure why they only provide those things in BPK and seemingly nowhere else in DVC rooms, but you can (and I have) asked for the toiletry kit, tooth brush, etc., when I need it at other resorts and had them delivered to my room no problem. They are included by default in other deluxe rooms, like the Jambo cash rooms.

 

[airjay75]

Just noting I stayed in an AKV and RIV studio this past summer. The AKV studio only had the paper products for cups, plates, etc. but the RIV studio definitely did have real cups, plates, and silverware. It was a very nice change after AKV. But, regardless, no comparison to 1 BR+ villas. Studios are upgraded hotels rooms. Villas are vacation apartments, or, in other words, a home away from home.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

This might be a better tier arrangement

Studio - sleep 4
1 Bedroom - sleep 5
2 Bedroom - 9

This is what I would like to see for all resorts.

 

[LoveToDisney]

We like having a King bed and never stay in a studio even when there’s just 2 of us. I appreciate the WD, full fridge, microwave, the table/chairs and sofa, as well as all the space.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

I'm not sure why they only provide those things in BPK and seemingly nowhere else in DVC rooms, but you can (and I have) asked for the toiletry kit, tooth brush, etc., when I need it at other resorts and had them delivered to my room no problem. They are included by default in other deluxe rooms, like the Jambo cash rooms.

They have robes in the west coast DVCs as well. Now I can remember if it’s at VGC and VDH or just one. Also room service.