DVC Occupancy Thread Part 2

[momto3pirates]

We are a family of 5. We own at AKV and love the value 2 bedrooms. Gives us the extra space, extra beds, extra bathroom and extra tv for about 20 more points per week than a standard 1 bedroom. You definately need the 11 month advantage to book them though.

 

[myxdvz]

I do have to say - that it really depends on your family. For us, vacation time means, it's "Sleep with Mommy and Daddy" time.

So - on weekends, summer break, etc - my kids fight over who's sleeping in our bedroom. When @ Disney, my girls and I will normally snuggle in the King bed, and the boys (DH and DS) will snuggle on the sofa bed.

When my girls become teens and take forever in the bathroom, I'm sure I would start dreaming about and booking the 2 BR with separate bathroom. For now, they still like taking a bubble bath together.

 

[disfanforlife]

We are a family of 5 and one of the reasons we bought DVC was so that we could have more comfortable and larger accommodations on our WDW trips. We bought 200 points at AKV which we thought would be enough for a 1 bedroom. But, our first trip we stayed in a two bedroom and have not stayed in anything smaller yet. We "may" try a one bedroom in January because we are only having our two daughters with us. And because this will be our first year with two trips - so I am seeing how far I can stretch our points. We just added on another 100 - so hopefully it will be enough - for now.

 

[miprender]

So, I've only had our membership for 3 years, but I have been able to book my family of 6 (one under 3) on BCV and BWV without problems.

I don't know if this has changed, or hast just been an implicit rule.

You can still do this. We had 3 Adults and 3 children ( one being under 3) in a 1 bedroom and booked it with no problem.

 

[dbs1228]

Family of 5 bought into DVC once DD's were teens and bought enough points to do a 2 bedroom every year - thats WHY we bought. We like down time and family time in the villa as much as we like park time!

 

[eandesmom]

Online booking still states that 5 are allowed in a 1B, 9 in a 2B at BWV at least if you provide your own bedding for the 5th or 9th person. No age caveat.

 

[Dean]

I am on the lookout for purchasing into DVC. Although we are looking at OKW, we are open to other resort options. My concern is housing our family of 5 with our youngest being 5. Most of the options jump from 4 to 8. Is it possible/permissible to put 5 in a 1 bedroom? If not, what other options exist?

I think you should plan for a 2 BR going forward as the kids get a little older.

Online booking still states that 5 are allowed in a 1B, 9 in a 2B at BWV at least if you provide your own bedding for the 5th or 9th person. No age caveat.

And they will allow that but what they will not generally do is allow that number plus another under 3 other than Kidani, OKW and BLT 1 BR.

We were a family of 5 when we purchased. My kids were then 5, 3 and 1. I bought enough points for a 1BR in BLT for an EOY trip. So far we have stayed at AKV Jambo 1 BR, OKW 2 BR and VGC 1 BR.

Now we are a family of 6, and still book 1BR @ BCV and BWV. We'll probably do this until our youngest is 3 then we'll have to move to 2BRs. Otherwise, 1 BRs have always been the plan.

Try reserving online and see what you get. You were given benefit outside the rules and outside of the normal approach. I wouldn't count on this option going forward nor would the argument that you were allowed to do this previously be reasonable. But DVC is nothing if not inconsistent.

 

[sweetdana]

I do have to say - that it really depends on your family. For us, vacation time means, it's "Sleep with Mommy and Daddy" time.

So - on weekends, summer break, etc - my kids fight over who's sleeping in our bedroom. When @ Disney, my girls and I will normally snuggle in the King bed, and the boys (DH and DS) will snuggle on the sofa bed.

When my girls become teens and take forever in the bathroom, I'm sure I would start dreaming about and booking the 2 BR with separate bathroom. For now, they still like taking a bubble bath together.

This is exactly the opposite of us. So yup individuals make it different. DH n I lovvvvve our alone time a 1 bedroom gives us, and I'd have a harder time relaxing being in a studio for long periods of time. i like talking to him, sitting on the porch outside with a glass of wine after they sleep ( or coffee b4 they wake). I think the value 2 br at Ak is the value-est option for you, if u can live with the busses ( or rent a car). ( fam of 4 with our new addition.

 

[tjkraz]

One Bedroom Villas are great for families of 4 or 5 when the kids are young. But you really need to go into it with the understanding that you will eventually have to upgrade to a Two Bedroom Villa. That means either more points purchased or shorter trips.

 

[staceymay00]

Family of 5 bought into DVC once DD's were teens and bought enough points to do a 2 bedroom every year - thats WHY we bought. We like down time and family time in the villa as much as we like park time!

Same with us. We thought we'd book 1BRs for a few years until our kids got older (they are now 8, 11 and almost 13), but then we booked a 2BR for our first trip and have never looked back. We've been to WDW plenty over the past six years, and would now rather have a shorter stay in a 2BR over a longer stay with less space. It has gotten more difficult scheduling a full week at WDW now, anyway, with school/sports schedules, plus wanting to visit other places besides WDW. We would have been fine in a 1BR for the first few years we visited WDW, but we did not buy DVC until after a few years of Disney trips and by that time were ready for more time relaxing in our villa.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[myxdvz]

Try reserving online and see what you get. You were given benefit outside the rules and outside of the normal approach. I wouldn't count on this option going forward nor would the argument that you were allowed to do this previously be reasonable. But DVC is nothing if not inconsistent.

What do you mean? I DID book my reservations online. I wasn't given benefit outside the rules and outside of the normal approach by some nice MS that I happened to talk to. That's what I've been saying all along. Everyone always say "DVC is nothing but inconsistent". "MS doesn't allow this". And what I said was maybe it has always been allowed but before online booking, it's always been dependent on the MS if they're going to even try it or not. Human intervention always causes inconsistencies due to different ways of interpreting rules. Systems do what they've been programmed to do. In this case, either its developer error on implementing a business rule or something that has always been allowed but is not obvious to members.

With online booking, everyone gets direct access to the booking system. If it wasn't allowed, the system shouldn't allow it to be booked or present them as options.

All I am doing is refuting the "common wisdom" that everyone has had even before online booking and presenting a case where it was allowed by the system. Not sure if those who keep on saying it's not allowed has even tried to do it lately with the new online booking system. I booked 3 trips with our family of 6: 1BR BCV, 1 BR BWV and 1 BR BLT. I was surprised myself when it happened. I was glad I tried it instead of just doing what I read from the boards.

 

[myxdvz]

This is exactly the opposite of us. So yup individuals make it different. DH n I lovvvvve our alone time a 1 bedroom gives us, and I'd have a harder time relaxing being in a studio for long periods of time. i like talking to him, sitting on the porch outside with a glass of wine after they sleep ( or coffee b4 they wake). I think the value 2 br at Ak is the value-est option for you, if u can live with the busses ( or rent a car). ( fam of 4 with our new addition.

Yeah, the only alone time we ever get is after all the kids are in bed

 

[Dean]

What do you mean? I DID book my reservations online. I wasn't given benefit outside the rules and outside of the normal approach by some nice MS that I happened to talk to. That's what I've been saying all along. Everyone always say "DVC is nothing but inconsistent". "MS doesn't allow this". And what I said was maybe it has always been allowed but before online booking, it's always been dependent on the MS if they're going to even try it or not. Human intervention always causes inconsistencies due to different ways of interpreting rules. Systems do what they've been programmed to do. In this case, either its developer error on implementing a business rule or something that has always been allowed but is not obvious to members.

With online booking, everyone gets direct access to the booking system. If it wasn't allowed, the system shouldn't allow it to be booked or present them as options.

All I am doing is refuting the "common wisdom" that everyone has had even before online booking and presenting a case where it was allowed by the system. Not sure if those who keep on saying it's not allowed has even tried to do it lately with the new online booking system. I booked 3 trips with our family of 6: 1BR BCV, 1 BR BWV and 1 BR BLT. I was surprised myself when it happened. I was glad I tried it instead of just doing what I read from the boards.

I tried it before I posted, for BCV it wouldn't allow you to proceed with 6 listed or 5 with plus an infant. Regardless of how you did it, you were allowed to do so beyond the rules and normal application of those rules thus you should not expect that option to continue nor should others expect that same option.

 

[dbs1228]

Same with us. We thought we'd book 1BRs for a few years until our kids got older (they are now 8, 11 and almost 13), but then we booked a 2BR for our first trip and have never looked back. We've been to WDW plenty over the past six years, and would now rather have a shorter stay in a 2BR over a longer stay with less space. It has gotten more difficult scheduling a full week at WDW now, anyway, with school/sports schedules, plus wanting to visit other places besides WDW. We would have been fine in a 1BR for the first few years we visited WDW, but we did not buy DVC until after a few years of Disney trips and by that time were ready for more time relaxing in our villa.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

It took 16 years of trips before buying in (late boomers) We even get a 2 bedroom if it is 4 or more, we have traveled with friends also - 4 in a 2 bedroom. My problem is we stayed in the GV BLT for 6 nights over NYE with all 3 DD's each had a friend/boyfriend and my niece what an awesome trip! I am afraid I keep eying the GV's now Been trying to buy BWV resale and we kept going back in forth between BCV and BWV but the option to book a GV at BWV solidified our decision!

 

[myxdvz]

I tried it before I posted, for BCV it wouldn't allow you to proceed with 6 listed or 5 with plus an infant. Regardless of how you did it, you were allowed to do so beyond the rules and normal application of those rules thus you should not expect that option to continue nor should others expect that same option.

I don't know what you're doing. I just tried it again tonight and both BCV and BWV is allowing me to do it. Maybe it's the ages of my kids? I don't really know.

If I select a studio, I get an error message: "The room type selected cannot accommodate your travel party. Please make another selection."

But a 1BR Villa goes thru fine. I really only have 1-2 years left to do it before we HAVE to graduate to a 2BR, so if the system continues to allow me, I will continue to try to do it to save points

 

[Dean]

I don't know what you're doing. I just tried it again tonight and both BCV and BWV is allowing me to do it. Maybe it's the ages of my kids? I don't really know.

If I select a studio, I get an error message: "The room type selected cannot accommodate your travel party. Please make another selection."

But a 1BR Villa goes thru fine. I really only have 1-2 years left to do it before we HAVE to graduate to a 2BR, so if the system continues to allow me, I will continue to try to do it to save points

I put in 6 adults and 5 adults 1 infant, my statement stands that for whatever reason your getting an unintended benefit you cannot expect to persist.

 

[myxdvz]

I put in 6 adults and 5 adults 1 infant, my statement stands that for whatever reason your getting an unintended benefit you cannot expect to persist.

Well, my kid won't be under 3 forever, so it definitely won't persist

And I don't put 6 adults or 5 adults + 1 infant. I put 2 adults, 4 kids since that's my situation and the only situation I ever ask/say other folks to try it. I've never said 6 adults or 5 adults + 1 infant to begin with.

 

[madelyn]

I was just curious and tested out some occupancy limits and it looks like as long as a child is an "infant" (under 3) it doesn't count towards occupancy. I didn't try every resort/room type but for those studios or 1 bedrooms I queried for, it didn't care whether the 4 people in a studio were adults or kids or whether the 5 people in the 1 bedroom were adults or kids. It allowed 5 total in a studio/6 total in a 1 bedroom as long as the 5th/6th person was an infant.

Well, my kid won't be under 3 forever, so it definitely won't persist

And I don't put 6 adults or 5 adults + 1 infant. I put 2 adults, 4 kids since that's my situation and the only situation I ever ask/say other folks to try it. I've never said 6 adults or 5 adults + 1 infant to begin with.

 

[babesboo99]

We own at BCV and we are booking this Nov for next Oct .It's me, my DH, and my DD (adult), and our twins age 6 at the time of travel. I guess my question is last time we stayed at BCv we had a studio they were a little younger ,would we have to get a 1 BR this time or can we still get a studio?

 

[madelyn]

You would have to get 2 studios, a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom villa. If your twins were under 3 years old they would allow you all to stay in a studio.

We own at BCV and we are booking this Nov for next Oct .It's me, my DH, and my DD (adult), and our twins age 6 at the time of travel. I guess my question is last time we stayed at BCv we had a studio they were a little younger ,would we have to get a 1 BR this time or can we still get a studio?