How much time do you actually spend in your room?

[Amy&Dan]

The time I spend in my room depends on the room itself! If we stay in a one bedroom, then we spend quite a bit of time. My kids love being able to rent a movie (for free) from the store at SSR, dh and I can enjoy a glass of wine or beer out on the balcony. The kids love the jacuzzi tub and so some nights are anxious to get back to the room to soak in that, watch a movie, make a snack like popcorn in our microwave etc. There's more room to spread out in so we find it pleasant to hang out in our one bedroom. It is a home away from home in that you can spend time doing mundane things that somehow seem more fun at WDW (my kids never look forward to bath time at home thats for sure ).

I love the values and mods, stay in those quite often too and when we stay there we do enjoy our resort but not so much the room itself. We may spend quite a lot of time in the pool area but the room is something for sleeping and getting ready only for the most part.

Also, at SSR, you have a lot of things to enjoy around the resort. The pool area, community hall, the lovely grounds, quiet pools, all make you want to spend time enjoying them. So in addition to your unit, you'll have all of that to enjoy.

Frankly, with two young kids, the one bedroom will be your new best friend! Having that extra space makes a vacation free from the hassles you have on a typical vacation.

 

[apulk]

Everyone is different for what they want from their vacation. We're probably a little spoiled too in that we are Hilton Head DVC members and we always do a beach week -- which is our relaxing vacation so we do tend to spend a lot of time at the parks. We have evolved a lot too. When we had less money we were happy for the moderates and were very happy. When income grew we had a period in the deluxe resorts -- loving every minute of them too. We did a trip to Pop back in Feb 2004 and really liked the place and that really changed our mind about where we stay at WDW then had a trip the following year at BCV and VWL. We love those places but when the trip was over we realized that we had only spent about 7 hours at the pool -- most of that at BCV on Memorial Day when the parks got crowded very early in the day and fast passes were gone by Noon.

Personally I think you should give the villas a try -- you will love having the kitchen and believe it or not -- may love having the washer and dryer in the room even more. With 6 of us in the family that is one huge benefit of DVC for us -- going home with clean clothes.

We have booked OKW on points for our next trip but I also just booked us at Pop on cash. The family has voted to do Pop so we can still do our week in Hilton Head. I even suggested we move up to Port Orleans Riverside (really one of my favorites) but they didn't think it was worth the extra $900 for the week.

 

[murcor]

With young children you will LOVE the space provided by a 1BR villa. I am certainly not one to play Betty Crocker on vacation but having the kitchen for breakfast, etc with little ones is great....there will be days when the kids have just had enough and you will be able to go back to the room, fix them a PB&J or whatever and let them nap or put them to bed...and you will be SOO thankful for that nice big villa, where you and DH can still visit, watch TV or a movie or whatever after the kids are down..

. The jacuzzi is great and the washer dryer are handier than you even thought they would be.

If you are in a small room at a Value resort you probably will not do anything besides sleep and shower there, but if you have a nice unit at SSR it will feel a LOT more like vacation and you will probably find yourself spending more time in the room and at the resort because it is so enjoyable.

My words exactly.

You will also love the deck for relaxing when the kids are asleep or a morning coffee (a value or mod, wont give you that) You rush around all year its nice to just take some to savour the moments when on vacation

The washer/dryer cuts down on half the clothes you have to take. We always toss in a load of laundry when we head out of the room.

Kids like space, this unit will make everyone happy

The full size fridge, stores lots of beverages, fruits & veggies

 

[rcraw45425]

We have made several trips to the World since we had children, we tend to stay deluxe. As a rule we head back to our resort after lunch to relax, then head back out at dinner, dine, then hit another park in the evening once the temperatures drop. We like to proximity that the deluxes give to the "action", you can generally be in a park within 30 minutes from a deluxe resort.

 

[MickeyNicki]

When we stayed at value and mods we did not spend much time at the resort at all, just sleep and shower there. Now that we stay in deluxe units we tend to go back to the resort and hang out alot more and take afternoon breaks

 

[klmall]

When DS was younger we were always on the go so we spent very little time in the room. But as we have gotten older (notice I said we, but it's mainly DH) I found that we really enjoy spending time in the room and especially on the balcony. I am really a 'balcony belle' at any hotel.

Most trips now I get up early, ride and take pictures and meet the family somewhere. Then we all hit favorite attractions and rides, eat and head back for rest. After dinner somewhere we might hit a park or might not but I go back for pictures with DS and we all relax later in the room. Turns out concierge with its snacks, especially the readily available liquid refreshments really meets our needs now!

I would say that we spend several waking hours in the room on some days; especially DH with me spending the least. It is a vacation after all, especially for DH who is still working!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

With a toddler in tow (our son was 2 last trip and one month shy of 3 this trip) we spent alot of time at the resort and in the room. With naps and breakfast it is more time than you think. The BWV was awesome with the ability to have breakfast in the room and then the washer and dryer. I think you have made a great choice in booking a villa. The jacuzzi tub is awesome. I am sure you will have a fantastic trip.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I think the other thing you don't really think about but still do (well, -I- do) when you stay at a HoJo down the street is that I don't *want* to stay in my room except to sleep when I'm at a value-hotel. Basically you're just there, laying on your bed, staring at the TV with channels that you're not familiar with. I'd much rather be out doing something.

My guess is that if you stay at a resort property that you've got things to do to keep you occupied so that you don't mind hanging around the hotel/motel as much.

 

[lindsroc]

Ahhhh, I cant wait. Thank you all for reinforcing my thoughts that I did make the right decision! 2 weeks from tomorrow we leave on our drive! Yay!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

SSR is our home resort and we love it. It continues to be our favorite place to stay. The 1BR villa has lots of space, and the kitchen and laundry in the room are wonderful.

Having a separate bedroom is definiately a plus with small kids. The only down side is the bedroom is where you'll want to sleep. That is unless the two of you want to give up the nice king-sized bed for the full-sized pull-out couch in the living room. (Not hardly, huh?)

If you're planning to put them to bed early, you'll need to either carry them out to the couch later when you're ready to go to bed, or let them go to bed on the couch and spend your night in the bedroom. There's a TV and jacuzzi tub in there, so the bedroom isn't a bad place to hang out. But if you want to be doing laundry, fix a snack in the kitchen, or work at the desk, you have to tip-toe around in the semi-dark. Same thing again in the morning when you're fixing coffee or maybe making breakfast.

This probably won't be all that big of a problem, though. We don't have kids ourselves, but on the trips we've taken with family, the adults were generally just as tired (if not more so) than the little ones. There weren't a whole lot of nights when we didn't all go to bed at the same time.

 

[Portugal1000]

We go for 3 weeks at Xmas and spend the first 12 days at a Homewood Suites as only $104 with breakfast and managers reception included which I think is great. We really go for it with the parks. Last year we moved onto FW from 19th December until 28th when we came home. We had got a good deal which I think was around $170 as we arrived on the last day of value season. We loved it and although we could have stayed on at Homewood for the cheaper price I am glad we moved. This year we are doing the same but are also staying at SSR from 19th again. $222 a night with the 40% code and I cant wait. Will spend lots of time at the resorts and in the pools (hopefully will be warm enough, but coming from London anything in Florida feels warm to us!)

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

We just got back from the Poly on Sunday and we have a 2, 5 & 8 year old. We spent a lot of time at our resort - we'd break in the afternoon. DD2 slept in a couple of days w/either me or DH while the other parent went to the parks w/the others. We spent a lot of time in the pool as well. When I booked our resort I looked at room size (ours was 476sq ft - not as big as your 1 bedroom would be), transportation options (monorail, bus & boat, near the TTC), pool (zero entry - very important to us for the little ones) & has to have a water slide for DS8. Has to have at least one good restaurant on site and room service is a plus. The Poly fit this for us - we did have a one bedroom booked at OKW but I liked the proximity to the MK better w/the Poly and the monorail w/stroller so we switched.

So I would write down your needs & priorities and find a resort that fits them as close as possible. I think a one bedroom would be great - the w/d would come in extra handy and a full kitchen as well for snacks & meals. Good luck and have a great time.

 

[apr9twins]

Another really nice thing about having the extra space is if someone gets ill there is a place for that person to be where it can be dark, quiet, etc. - and you can do other things in the villa while they're resting. We stayed at CSR this April and my 5 year old twins took turns getting strep throat - my dh spent a day and 1/2 in the room with our son and I spent a day and 1/2 in the room with our daughter. I loved CSR, but I really felt trapped in that room while she was sleeping, playing quietly, etc. - having an extra room and kitchen would have really made a difference.

 

[f7prez]

To me it is more about how much time is spent at the resort not the room. We do not spend every waking hour at a theme park. We enjoy hanging around the resort relaxing by the pool, taking a walk or a bike ride. I'm on vacation. You will be very happy with your choice. Being able to wake up and have breakfast in your room without having to rush off to some food court is great. Having a w/d in room is even better. If you don't have to stay in a cramped motel room, why would you do it

 

[prekteacher]

Our plan is sleep and take a nap in the room . We wil be in our rooms for a short time.

 

[Sammie]

We spend more time at our resort than out of it. So yes a nice room is a definite for us, we always get a 2 bedroom DVC villa.

 

[Deb & Bill]

For the three of us, we get a one bedroom villa (we're DVC members) and would never get anything smaller. We spend a lot of time just sitting around, sitting on the porch (especially at OKW), watching TV, cooking, afternoon naps (me and my husband while our son swims at the pool or goes to the arcade). You'll like the SSR one bedroom. Very nice.

 

[lindsroc]

Thank you all for your replies! I definitely think we made the right choice! Now... if only I can resist becoming a DVC member. Yikes!

 

[Shasta]

We've used our time share several time to go to Disney and hardly cooked in the room or spent any time so now we stay at the values and use those time share nights for locations that don't have so many activities to do near the resorts.

Our typical day is to wake, shower and leave. Come back for about 1-2 hours mid day and then back out until 10:00 or so. In other words, 2-3 hours awake in our room.

Everyone is different and there is no wrong or right.

 

[tlens]

When our kids were really little, we stayed off site in a one or 2 bedroom condo with a kitchen and laundry. SOOOO worth it. WE would often tack on a few days on site at the end of the week to get the Disney magic.

I agree that for our family, the Value resort rooms are just simply too small. We couldn't comfortably fit both a playpen and a stroller in the room and not be walking all over one another. The mods are better andwe found that with POR,Bayou section, not having the kids sleep in the same bed was a HUGE bonus. NExt trip we are deluxe mostly for the space and the kids again not having to sleep together. (AKL bunkbeds) and Beach Club.

We don't spend a TON of time in the room but enough that if the room isn't adequate it throws off the day.