has anyone ever

[disneydad1]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

 

[mouseketeermama]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

What about an Alligator Bayou room at POR?

 

[Missytara]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

You are exceeding the room occupancy as set by the local jurisdication regarding fire and exiting in case of an emergency.

You run the risk of being asked to leave and forfeit the remainder of your reservation, if you are found to be in violation of the fire code and the occupancy of the room.

That is standard in any hotel, not just Disney.

 

[LONES]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it. As the previous poster suggested, the AB rooms at Port Orleans Riverside are the least expensive option for a family of 5.

 

[cwt580]

you are better off getting 2 rooms at value before getting a suite in most or a cabin at FW campground.... POR AB will sleep 5, a bit tight, but legal. Or go deluxe(most not all). The 5th person if under 3 is doable but once they hit that magical age, its room upgrade/upcharge that makes some people upchuck


Rooms have occupancy limits. Disney must abide by them for fire codes,etc.....


Knew someone who got caught trying to sneak in a 5th person for a couple days. The people in room next door busted them because they asked why they werent allowed 5 in a room... Asked to leave or make a reservation change or another room completely.

besides all that....cant get DDP,TIX, roomkey for 5 in the room limited to 4 occupants.

 

[maxiesmom]

besides all that....cant get DDP,TIX, roomkey for 5 in the room limited to 4 occupants.

The 5th person wouldn't be able to use Magical Express or Extra Magic Hours either.

 

[LONES]

You are exceeding the room occupancy as set by the local jurisdication regarding fire and exiting in case of an emergency.

You run the risk of being asked to leave and forfeit the remainder of your reservation, if you are found to be in violation of the fire code and the occupancy of the room.

That is standard in any hotel, not just Disney.

I've seen you answer these kind of occupancy questions in the past, and you seem to be in the know..... Can I ask a question purely out of curiousity? Why are there occupancy limits on the king bed rooms? Does the configuration of the room have something to do with fire codes? This came up last year for us. For our dates, the only rooms available at POFQ with free dining were King rooms. DH & I would have been fine sharing that with our 2 young kids, but it's not allowed. I understand the total occupancy limitations, but wasn't sure why it would make a difference how many beds were in the room.

 

[buzznina]

The 1st question is how old is the youngest child? When you mentioned "to big for a crib", to me it sounds like they are less than 3 yrs old. If he/she is less than 3 then yes it can be done, but if 3 or older then you have to do POR, a deluxe resort or a family suite.

 

[Polydweller]

I've seen you answer these kind of occupancy questions in the past, and you seem to be in the know..... Can I ask a question purely out of curiousity? Why are there occupancy limits on the king bed rooms? Does the configuration of the room have something to do with fire codes? This came up last year for us. For our dates, the only rooms available at POFQ with free dining were King rooms. DH & I would have been fine sharing that with our 2 young kids, but it's not allowed. I understand the total occupancy limitations, but wasn't sure why it would make a difference how many beds were in the room.

Fire codes are about more than the occupancy in one room. They also look at the number of people that can be evacuated through the available exit's within a short period of time, roughly 90 seconds though districts do vary that. So if x number of rooms have to be evacuated through a specific exit then the maximum number of people in those rooms is how many can get out that exit in the specified time. For simplicity, basically take the divide the number of people by number of rooms.

Really, it's much more complicated than that and includes a number of factors such as burn rates and flammability of materials, fire supression available, width of doors, hallways, and other building code factors, but the principle above remains correct.

Number of beds is not a factor, it's number of people in the room. You could have people sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor as long as the number of prople doesn't exceed the code.

 

[Missytara]

Fire codes are about more than the occupancy in one room. They also look at the number of people that can be evacuated through the available exit's within a short period of time, roughly 90 seconds though districts do vary that. So if x number of rooms have to be evacuated through a specific exit then the maximum number of people in those rooms is how many can get out that exit in the specified time. For simplicity, basically take the divide the number of people by number of rooms.

Really, it's much more complicated than that and includes a number of factors such as burn rates and flammability of materials, fire supression available, windy of doors, hallways, and other building code factors, but the principle above remains correct.

Number of beds is not a factor, it's number of people in the room. You could have people sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor as long as the number of prople doesn't exceed the code.

You beat me to it. That is it.

To the PP, I am an architect and a construction manager. So I have to deal with the codes on a daily basis.

 

[sndral]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

Nope, I've never done this. I did not want to set an example of dishonest behavior/rule breaking as being acceptable, my belief being that children behave as they see the adults in their life behaving.

I read on another post by OP that the youngest just turned 4 - aging up sticker shock, I call it.

 

[Upatnoon]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

There are plenty of affordable options off-site for larger families. Try Wyndham Bonnet Creek to start.

 

[FireDancer]

slept 5 people in an on-property resort room meant for 4 people?

So many places to stay for family of 4 but we are a family of 5 and the cost to get the "family suite" to accomodate a 3rd young child (too big for crib) is excessive.

Growing up my family of 5 didn't have a lot of money and on the few vacations we took we would sleep all of us in a Days Inn or some other motel room. We did this on our first trip to Disney when my brothers and I were 13, 11, and 9. Not sure what the official occupancy was but we didn't care. The room was about the size of a Disney value meant for 4 so I say go for it if you want.

Was it ideal? No. Did we survive and still have a great vacation? Yes.

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

You can comfortably sleep 3 adults and 2 children in a room at Poly or CR. Not sure how that works in your budget, but we were able to do that as those rooms can have a daybed/couch in addition to the beds.

I wouldn't be willing to risk trying to get around occupancy rules and as PPs stated, you can't do tix or DDP for one individual then.

 

[Polydweller]

You beat me to it. That is it.

To the PP, I am an architect and a construction manager. So I have to deal with the codes on a daily basis.

I'm a hotelier so not as knowledgeable as you but deal with those constantly, every time we're inspected or change something. Way more complex than people think.

Noticed that my autocorrect turned width into windy in the quote. Darn autocorrect.

 

[Missytara]

I'm a hotelier so not as knowledgeable as you but deal with those constantly, every time we're inspected or change something. Way more complex than people think.

Noticed that my autocorrect turned width into windy in the quote. Darn autocorrect.

That is too funny!!!!!

Sadly, the NFPA (National Fire Protection Act) is based on all prior fires that have occurred and we find better ways to prevent them. But in the end, almost every change in the code is based on an actual event that took place and either a building or a life was lost......

 

[DebbieB]

Fire Codes and Occupancy Rules are 2 different things. A hotel can choose to set an occupancy limit less than the fire code. For example, at POR, a Magnolia Bend room is a limit of 4 but Alligator Bayou is a limit of 5. Adding a trundle bed would not change fire code, most likely the fire code is 5 or more but Disney chooses to only allow 4 in a non-trundle room. Another example is at some of the DVC resorts, 1 bedrooms have a max of 4 but they allow 5 on a points reservation.

 

[Polydweller]

Growing up my family of 5 didn't have a lot of money and on the few vacations we took we would sleep all of us in a Days Inn or some other motel room. We did this on our first trip to Disney when my brothers and I were 13, 11, and 9. Not sure what the official occupancy was but we didn't care. The room was about the size of a Disney value meant for 4 so I say go for it if you want.

Was it ideal? No. Did we survive and still have a great vacation? Yes.

The bolded advice is terrible and doing so and getting caught can get you thrown out, plus the ticket issue. But, from a safety point of view, if a fire occurs you have very little time to get out before potentially toxic smoke either prevents your escape or incapacitates you. And we are talking very little time, could be as little as a couple of minutes. It's the smoke not the fire that's the concern and smoke travels throughout a building very fast.

This is like most low probability but high impact events. You may never need to escape a fire, and hopefully never will, but when you need to! you need to get out of there fast and you need the escape routes to work. Too many people in an area and they won't work. That's what fire codes are for and follow them for everyone's safety, not just your own.

 

[Missytara]

Fire Codes and Occupancy Rules are 2 different things. A hotel can choose to set an occupancy limit less than the fire code. For example, at POR, a Magnolia Bend room is a limit of 4 but Alligator Bayou is a limit of 5. Adding a trundle bed would not change fire code, most likely the fire code is 5 or more but Disney chooses to only allow 4 in a non-trundle room. Another example is at some of the DVC resorts, 1 bedrooms have a max of 4 but they allow 5 on a points reservation.

As an architect, that does work with fire officials, I believe the Fire Marshal most likely allowed them to upgrade to a room of 5 for AB, because they were only two stories. So you have the entire first floor going out directly to grade and only the second floor corridor and stairs has to accommodate that one floor.

In the case of the mansions, now the second floor has to accommodate the second AND third floor occupants through the corridors and down the stairs, and therefore could not take the load of all of those occupants if they added a fifth person to each room at the Mansions. You would calculate on the worst case scenario.

 

[disneydee6]

Well, we stayed at BC with a family of five, every night the kids would rotate who slept in the daybed. When we were younger, it wasn't too bad, but our last trip with two in their late teens and one in the twenties, it was too crowded, esp when we are all getting ready, four women trying to do their makeup in one area was too small. Our next trip we will be booking two rooms at the resort. So can you stay in one room with five people? Yes. Is it crowded? YES!
Not sure if this question is about booking a room for four with five, or if its regarding what its like to have a standard room with five people...