has anyone ever worked out the cost between a room with a kitchen vs. studio without

[kfalsey]

has anyone priced out the cost of buying points with a kitchen, a one bedroom vs. a studio and eating out. putting in all the factors, eating out, vs. ordering from disneys grocery list, vs. the dinning package. what I mean is it worth it to spend the extra money to go from studio points to one bedroom points.

 

[DaveH]

I am assuming you mean using more points for a 1 bedroom compared to a studio. First question, do you want to cook while at Disney? Next how many in family? Do you drive or fly? Do you rent a car or use Magical Express? A larger family might save even using a cab to go get groceries or use a grocery delivery service. I have not done any cost checks. We are empty nesters. Now another thing to consider is in a 1 bedroom you have a washer and dryer in room. Easier than using the free ones provided at resorts for our use.

 

[bwvBound]

what I mean is it worth it to spend the extra money to go from studio points to one bedroom points.

That can only be answered by you ... but for us the "cost of dining" has nothing to do with the question. Do we enjoy the extra space of the 1BR? Yes. Do we enjoy the spa tub? Yes. Do we enjoy having the full kitchen? Yes. Do we enjoy having the washer/dryer in the unit? Yes. You get the picture.

 

[FLYNZ4]

That can only be answered by you ... but for us the "cost of dining" has nothing to do with the question. Do we enjoy the extra space of the 1BR? Yes. Do we enjoy the spa tub? Yes. Do we enjoy having the full kitchen? Yes. Do we enjoy having the washer/dryer in the unit? Yes. You get the picture.

Over the years I have found that I agree with almost everything bwvBound writes. This is no exception.

1) We generally dislike studios... but we have stayed in them and will probably do so again if necessary... but it is never our first choice.

2) We think that a 1BR is perfect for the two of us... but we have squeezed kids in, and we probably will again someday (reluctantly).

3) We think that a 2BR is perfect when we bring our two girls along.

4) We have not used a GV yet... but there has been a couple of times where we had extended family members along and our kids slept in the living room. A GV would have been preferable, but we didn't have enough points... so we slummed it in a 2BR.

Like bwvBound... it has little to do with cooking. We do generally eat breakfast in our condo... mostly because we think it saves time, and is actually more convenient for us than going out to restaurants. We have never really "cooked" dinner per se... but we have eaten snacks or leftovers. We really like the extra space of having nobody sleeping in the living room... and we really like the ability to have a washer and dryer in the unit. Our goal is to travel using carry-on luggage only... and that is tougher with a studio - but having an owner's locker does help (Thanks bwvBound for that tip).

/Jim

 

[bwvBound]

Arigato gozaimas, Jim!

 

[FLYNZ4]

Arigato gozaimas, Jim!

Did you realize that I wrote that compliment from the Red Carpet Club in Tokyo? In any case... you are very welcome!

/Jim (finally going home today!)

 

[DVC Mike]

is it worth it to spend the extra money to go from studio points to one bedroom points.

For us -- Yes. However, not because of the full kitchen. We do it for the king-sized bed, the whirlpool tub, the washer/dryer and for separate living room / bedroom areas. The full kitchen is great, but we rarely cook in the villa.

 

[gingermouse17]

With 3 young kids having a washer and dryer is priceless and more space helps too

 

[dianeschlicht]

The 1 bedroom is definitely "worth it", but then we didn't buy DVC to stay in a glorified hotel room. Since I think that's what the studios are, I would choose the 1 bedroom for the real DVC amenities: king bed, master suite, Jacuzzi, seperate living space, laundry,etc, etc, etc. The kitchen is nice and makes it easy for breakfast and snacks, but it's not the reason I stay in a 1 bedroom over a studio....I dont stay in studios except for an occational Friday or Saturday night to save points.

 

[surfer_ed]

While I agree that there are some difference beyond $$, I am also interested in kfalsey's question from strickly a $$ point a few. I also understand some people juts don't cook on vacation...but we do.

I track every $$ on vacation. I know that is a bit wierd but everyone has a vice

I know that in a stuido I spend about $40 day on food for me DW and DD(3).

Staying at VAK in a 1 bedrrom in December, wondering what that will do to me food budget??

 

[iluveeyore]

For us, the one bedroom saves $$$ on food for sure, although the other amenities are a big plus as well. We usually fly, so we always rent a car (can get 20% discount with Alamo for DVC), so usually $30 for small rental. We go to the Walmart Supercentre (they have a great Disney souvie area as well as food). For 12 nights and 4 of us, I buy groceries like I would at home, sometimes a few different things or extras to mix it up a bit since we're on holidays. We usually spend about $200 for the 12 nights, and that includes beer, pop and water and lots of snacks. I try to pack the condiments and bring with me to save extra, since I take them home (ketchup, mustard, relish, staples like peanut butter, honey and so on, all in plastic containers and sealed in zip-loc bags in my checked luggage.)
We get breakfast foods, (eggs, cereal, toast), lunch items (lots of sandwich meats, cheese, soup), and for dinner, usually frozen pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs (all the types of things we'd order at CS restaurants anyhow), plus ice cream, chips, popcorn, cookies, etc. We always buy an extra loaf of bread to feed the ducks from our balcony at OKW.
If I added up twelve days of dining for four of us, I'd probably faint!
The dining plan is too expensive as well, even though we get nice meals for it. Our vacations are take a day at a time kind, so having daily ADRs would never work anyhow. We always take a midday break and have lunch to cool off and relax, and we like to sit out on the balcony at the patio table and have dinner in the early evening before heading out to whatever EMH there are. We love our 1 bedroom and having the 'down-time' to share a meal - and it's always 'fast food' so to speak, so I never feel like I spent all day in the kitchen - most times everyone just makes themselves something, so it's not a big production of preparing a bunch of food. Clean up is easy with the dishwasher, and off we go somewhere else or back out onto the patio for a game of Uno!
Now for this trip, we are spending the first week at the AKV in a studio because we really want to stay there and didn't have enough points this year to do a 1 bedroom for the first week (second week is 1 bdrm at OKW ). We're also driving down this year, so I'll be getting a few days' worth of food for the studios that doesn't require a stove. I'm taking our little George Foreman grill for burgers and hot dogs, and we can microwave soup and buy the fixins for subs and sandwiches as well - we won't starve in a studio either. I'll get more groceries when we move to OKW, but we only have five nights there, so it won't be a lot then either. Our first week we have an ADR for WCC for DD's 13th b-day, so that's one night we don't need groceries for, although it means extra $$$.
And I have to put some money aside for the Mickey's Ice cream we must have, plus the cherry turnovers at the MK bakery, but that is soooo necessary!

 

[disfanforlife]

Over the years I have found that I agree with almost everything bwvBound writes. This is no exception.

1) We generally dislike studios... but we have stayed in them and will probably do so again if necessary... but it is never our first choice.

2) We think that a 1BR is perfect for the two of us... but we have squeezed kids in, and we probably will again someday (reluctantly).

3) We think that a 2BR is perfect when we bring our two girls along.

4) We have not used a GV yet... but there has been a couple of times where we had extended family members along and our kids slept in the living room. A GV would have been preferable, but we didn't have enough points... so we slummed it in a 2BR.

Like bwvBound... it has little to do with cooking. We do generally eat breakfast in our condo... mostly because we think it saves time, and is actually more convenient for us than going out to restaurants. We have never really "cooked" dinner per se... but we have eaten snacks or leftovers. We really like the extra space of having nobody sleeping in the living room... and we really like the ability to have a washer and dryer in the unit. Our goal is to travel using carry-on luggage only... and that is tougher with a studio - but having an owner's locker does help (Thanks bwvBound for that tip).

/Jim

Thank you!!!! I love reading a response that sounds like me. We have 3 children and are going to stay at SSR for the first time in a 2 bedroom in November and are looking forward to everything you mentioned - the extra room, enjoying the living room and not having to have anyone sleep in it - the whirlpool, king size bed, and we are only planning to eat there for breakfast - we are getting the dining plan. We may not do that every year, but this year I do want to live it up!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

For us -- Yes. However, not because of the full kitchen. We do it for the king-sized bed, the whirlpool tub, the washer/dryer and for separate living room / bedroom areas. The full kitchen is great, but we rarely cook in the villa.

Just like Mike except that we mostly do cook or prepare our meals in the villa. I'm sure we're the oddballs in this matter.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, when we have guests with us, we too cook in the villa. Of course it is a lot less costly to do that, but I can't say I have actually tracked the savings with the exception of the times we have stayed in a GV. In those cases, we DID track food costs, because we had multiple family groups. We certainly spent a LOT less than we would have had we eaten at the restaurants, and in those cases, that was the whole idea. The folks traveling with us couldn't afford restaurant dining, and for 12 of us in a GV, our grocerty costs for 3 meals a day for 5 days was about $250. Of course, that was 2 and half years ago, so it would be more now, but certainly a big savings.

 

[bz8bls]

It depends who's going.

If it's just DH and I, we get a studio (although sometime we splurge for the 1-bedroom) and dine out.

When we go with grown daughters and their families during Xmas holidays, I have actually cooked the Xmas dinner (just as if we were at home). Then we eat leftovers. However, we do eat at couple of restaurants (charcter breakfast).

In July, it will be DH, myself and three grandchildren (3,3 and 5). We are staying at SSR in a 1-bedroom for five days and plan on eating in villa and two character meals. We will then go on the 3-day Disney cruise.

We will return to WDW for two more days and will probably eat quick meals (maybe even some offsite, as we will have a car)

 

[DisFlan]

I don't know if it's "cost effective", but we'll be in a studio for a week in Sept. - there'll just be the two of us this trip. We had enough points left for a studio, and we wanted to squeeze out one more use of APs, DDE and golf cards. Actually, this IS pretty darned "cost effective". I know it''ll be one of the cheapest trips we've had in years. No little ones or in-laws with us this time. We love 'em dearly, but...

DisFlan

 

[crisi]

As a cost analysis I think its more than "what is cheaper."

What else are you intending on using points for? We bought enough points to stay in a two bedroom, so we usually do. If we stayed in studios we'd have too many points for the number of days we normally spend at Disney. Since points can't easily be converted into cash (rent them), and I'm not likely to use them to trade, might as well spend them. Now, if I were in saving points mode in order to cruise, I might get a very different answer.

How much value do you place on dining out? Some DVCers cook in their room and it doesn't really impact their vacation style at all. Some wouldn't pass on their California Grill reservations if it meant spending the gross national product of a third world nation. We lean toward the second group, we enjoy dining out, and cooking in takes TIME at Disney we'd rather spend somewhere else. If I wanted to spend less, we'd spend less dining out rather than take the time to eat in.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

has anyone priced out the cost of buying points with a kitchen, a one bedroom vs. a studio and eating out. putting in all the factors, eating out, vs. ordering from disneys grocery list, vs. the dinning package. what I mean is it worth it to spend the extra money to go from studio points to one bedroom points.

While we always stay in 1 or 2-BRs, we could not justify it as cheaper. For our vacations, we almost always eat breakfast and lunch in the room (unless we go to a park) and dinner out. Since studios have a small frig, we could still keep everything we normally do (lunch meat, milk, pop, etc.), and for a family of 4, we could make it work for a week even with a smaller frig. So for us, no, it wouldn't be cheaper.

Another quick way to think of it...a studio at OKW for a week in July is 109 points versus 218 for a 1-BR. If you rented the difference (109 points) for $12 a point, that would be $1,308. Would you spend that much in food over 7 days? For a family of 4, that's roughly $15.50 per person, per meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for 7 days. Even with tips, we wouldn't personally spend that much. If you do, though, that's a quick and dirty on a possible break-even point!