Boardwalk 1BR no longer accomadates 5th?

[MISCdisney21]

I was looking to make reservation for Feb 2025 for my family of 5. I have twins that will turn 3 in January.

Was hoping to stay at BWV. Online could only add 4 to reservation.
I thought rule was you could have 5 if you provide the bedding for the 5th.

I called member services and was told BWV no longer will accommodate 5. Has anyone else heard the same or should I try member services again?

 

[drusba]

As far as I know there has been no announcement ending the 5-rule for a BWV 1BR (and that would include BCV and BRV since all three adopted the 5-rule, but bring your own bedding for the fifth, at the same time). You cannot add a fifth online and have to call MS to do so. It is possible you just got wrong information from an inexperienced MS employee, so you should probably try again.

 

[karen4546]

I was looking to make reservation for Feb 2025 for my family of 5. I have twins that will turn 3 in January.

Was hoping to stay at BWV. Online could only add 4 to reservation.
I thought rule was you could have 5 if you provide the bedding for the 5th.

I called member services and was told BWV no longer will accommodate 5. Has anyone else heard the same or should I try member services again?

Where would the fifth person sleep? We had a 2 br lock off in May and there was one bed in the master bedroom, one bed in the living room that pulled down from the wall, and connecting room (studio) would sleep 5 (one bed, one pull-down gull bed, one small pull down bed under television). The one bedroom did not have sleeping surfaces for 5.

 

[Genie+]

Where would the fifth person sleep?

DVC has the exception (unlike cash) that an extra person may be added to occupancy 4 and 8, but makes clear they will not provide the bed, linens or towels. So if a party can make it work on their own (eg- bring their own blow up mattress or have 3 smaller kids that will fit on a bed that’s meant for 2 people, etc), all 5 or 9 people can be listed on the reservation. That last part is important because valid reservation is necessary for things like Early Entry, EEH, MM, pool wrist bands, etc. Of course fire codes and the like is very important as well, just that functionally a party would have issues trying to fully enjoy their trip without the authorization.

I’m not sure if BWV contract includes the ability to add the extra guest or it’s just a perk that DVC can remove.

 

[MISCdisney21]

Where would the fifth person sleep? We had a 2 br lock off in May and there was one bed in the master bedroom, one bed in the living room that pulled down from the wall, and connecting room (studio) would sleep 5 (one bed, one pull-down gull bed, one small pull down bed under television). The one bedroom did not have sleeping surfaces for 5.

I always avoided the rule because my twins were under 3 but this will be a month after their 3rd birthday.

We’ve stayed in poly studio, BRV 1 bedroom, Saratoga studio, VGF studio and 1 bedroom before with our 5.

Poly put 2 pack and plays in extra bathroom. BRV, VGF, Saratoga with cribs next to bed. VGF 1 BR put cribs in that vanity area between bedroom and bathroom.

Our girls are still in cribs now but who knows in 7 months. Size wise they could still fit so that is option. We also have some little child size air mattresses we could bring.

When they’re older it’ll definitely be 2 bedroom stays but figure with 3 kids, 5 and under, we can stretch out our points for now. Also availability isn’t there for 2 bedrooms

 

[MISCdisney21]

As far as I know there has been no announcement ending the 5-rule for a BWV 1BR (and that would include BCV and BRV since all three adopted the 5-rule, but bring your own bedding for the fifth, at the same time). You cannot add a fifth online and have to call MS to do so. It is possible you just got wrong information from an inexperienced MS employee, so you should probably try again.

I tried again and I believe you are correct because the employee I spoke to this afternoon was able to add our 5th to the reservation

 

[Skywalker3]

I tried again and I believe you are correct because the employee I spoke to this afternoon was able to add our 5th to the reservation

Thank you for reporting back. This had me worried. We’ve never had a 5th person in our often booked 1 bedrooms, but wanted the option just in case . Glad it’s still possible. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[FrannyFrogs]

Maybe twin three year olds could sleep foot to foot in the flip down twin? Sounds like fun!

 

[Sandisw]

DVC has the exception (unlike cash) that an extra person may be added to occupancy 4 and 8, but makes clear they will not provide the bed, linens or towels. So if a party can make it work on their own (eg- bring their own blow up mattress or have 3 smaller kids that will fit on a bed that’s meant for 2 people, etc), all 5 or 9 people can be listed on the reservation. That last part is important because valid reservation is necessary for things like Early Entry, EEH, MM, pool wrist bands, etc. Of course fire codes and the like is very important as well, just that functionally a party would have issues trying to fully enjoy their trip without the authorization.

I’m not sure if BWV contract includes the ability to add the extra guest or it’s just a perk that DVC can remove.

The change to this happened well after BWV opened, so it is not something that has to be allowed. The official occupancy for 1 bedrooms at BWV remain at 4.

 

[drusba]

If I am recalling correctly, the ability to put 5 in a 1BR at BWV, BCV, and VWL (now BRV), as long as you provide the bedding of the fifth, occurred in 2010. There was no amendment made to the multisite POS which lists room capacities for the resorts. In 2016, the same three resorts, during a refurb, had the pull-out-from-a-cabinet-murphy-bed added to the studios and DVC changed their capacity to five, again without making a change to the multisite POS.

I see no reason for DVD/DVC to reverse either of those room capacity changes, particularly since those changes were made to aid DVD in selling points by being able to tell purchasers they could put five in a studio and a 1BR. Moreover, to attempt to reverse course now could itself lead to members, who purchased in reliance on those representations, to seek to rescind their purchases and get back what they paid to purchase their points.

 

[kilik64]

If I am recalling correctly, the ability to put 5 in a 1BR at BWV, BCV, and VWL (now BRV), as long as you provide the bedding of the fifth, occurred in 2010. There was no amendment made to the multisite POS which lists room capacities for the resorts. In 2016, the same three resorts, during a refurb, had the pull-out-from-a-cabinet-murphy-bed added to the studios and DVC changed their capacity to five, again without making a change to the multisite POS.

I see no reason for DVD/DVC to reverse either of those room capacity changes, particularly since those changes were made to aid DVD in selling points by being able to tell purchasers they could put five in a studio and a 1BR. Moreover, to attempt to reverse course now could itself lead to members, who purchased in reliance on those representations, to seek to rescind their purchases and get back what they paid to purchase their points.

Thanks for the history, I was under the impression it happened the other way around, that the studios got 5th occupancy before 1br and people got mad about that so they then let 5 in 1br too.

They also allow 9 in 2br dedicated at bcv and brv as well correct? Same thing where 9th is not provided bed or bedding?

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for the history, I was under the impression it happened the other way around, that the studios got 5th occupancy before 1br and people got mad about that so they then let 5 in 1br too.

They also allow 9 in 2br dedicated at bcv and brv as well correct? Same thing where 9th is not provided bed or bedding?

That was my recollection, too, that it was after the 2016 refurb made the studio capacity = 5 that DVC started allowing 5 in a 1BR if the guest provided bedding and towels. We never took advantage of that, so I could be mistaken.

 

[drusba]

My recall may not be rock solid, but I remember seeng reports probably as early as 2010 that one could have five in a BWV 1BR if you supplied your own bedding. And now that I am thinking about, there was actually no formal announcement allowing that. DVC just started allowing it if a member requested it when making a reservation, and at the time all reservations were made via phone. It took a few years before many were aware of the possibility and it applied to BWV, BRV and BCV.

 

[BeachClub2014]

My recall may not be rock solid, but I remember seeng reports probably as early as 2010 that one could have five in a BWV 1BR if you supplied your own bedding. And now that I am thinking about, there was actually no formal announcement allowing that. DVC just started allowing it if a member requested it when making a reservation, and at the time all reservations were made via phone. It took a few years before many were aware of the possibility and it applied to BWV, BRV and BCV.

We were a family of 5 and would stay in a BWV 1-bedroom as early as 2003, if I remember correctly. It may not have been officially allowed, but we did it.

 

[stat]

DVC has the exception (unlike cash) that an extra person may be added to occupancy 4 and 8, but makes clear they will not provide the bed, linens or towels. So if a party can make it work on their own (eg- bring their own blow up mattress or have 3 smaller kids that will fit on a bed that’s meant for 2 people, etc), all 5 or 9 people can be listed on the reservation. That last part is important because valid reservation is necessary for things like Early Entry, EEH, MM, pool wrist bands, etc. Of course fire codes and the like is very important as well, just that functionally a party would have issues trying to fully enjoy their trip without the authorization.

I’m not sure if BWV contract includes the ability to add the extra guest or it’s just a perk that DVC can remove.

I'm familiar with the ability to book a 5th/9th person at BWV, BRV, and BCV, but are those the only ones?

My understanding is this "BYOB" rule is not allowed at BLT studios, CCV studios/1-2 bedrooms, OWK studios, and SSR studios, and that they're hard capped at 4/8 people. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Mle8308]

I'm familiar with the ability to book a 5th/9th person at BWV, BRV, and BCV, but are those the only ones?

My understanding is this "BYOB" rule is not allowed at BLT studios, CCV studios/1-2 bedrooms, OWK studios, and SSR studios, and that they're hard capped at 4/8 people. Can anyone confirm?

Can confirm for CCV studios. Plus, there would be no room! BRV studios have the small twin size Murphy bed in addition to the regular Murphy.

 

[crvetter]

I'm familiar with the ability to book a 5th/9th person at BWV, BRV, and BCV, but are those the only ones?

As far as I know yes these are the only locations. I think it was adding the 5th sleeping surfaces around 2016 or so to the studios at those resorts. So the 1 and 2 bedrooms (specifically the 1 bedrooms) likely had a huge drop off in popularity because their capacity was below that of the studios.

However, I also could be wrong and the 1 bedrooms always could add a 5th guest "BYOB".

But in any case only those 3 resorts allow the extra person "BYOB" in 1/2 bedrooms.

 

[DebbieB]

The 5th in a 1 bedroom goes way back. When they first started selling DVC, families of 5 balked at having to buy points for 2 bedroom. So Guides would say 5 will be ok in a 1 bedroom. It was unofficial, caused a lot of controversy. You could probably find posts going way back. Are verbal statements enforceable? Did Guides intentionally lie? Are members breaking the rules?

OKW resolved the issue by adding the sleeper chair, not sure what year but it’s probably in the last 10 or 15 years. But BWV, VWL and BCV didn’t have room for it. That’s when they came out and officially said 5 was OK but no bedding provided.