How Much Time do you really spend in the Room

[CaskPeg]

If you are looking to add a small contract look for BWV . That location is within walking distance of many amenities and such. Also SSR and OKW are options where you can use the boat to many locations. Stayed many times...when the room was just that...but now rooms are appreciated for what they have to offer during my stay.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I spend a lot of time in the resorts. We went for 9 days last year and only went to Epcot one day and just enjoyed being on vacation! I even cook dinners in the units.

We rented boats and bike and just enjoyed ourselves.

The BLT rooms are awesome....... They are my favorite! I love the way the building is designed. It's so compact sine its 14 stories, unlike the BC and BW where all you seem to do is walk,walk walk to get to your room.

 

[Alexander]

We just arrived home from a 9 day stay at OKW. We spent 3 hours in Magic Kingdom, 5 hours in Epcot, 3 hours at Hollywood Studios, 3 hours at Downtown, and 3 hours at Typhoon Lagoon. Went to one movie at the AMC downtown, and ate one night at 'Ohana. The entire rest of our trip was spent in the room or at the resort pool. We spend a lot of time there!

 

[peabody58]

We are spending more and more time in our villa than previously. We now plan for a pizza/pop corn/DVD movie night. DW is really trying hard to get me to really relax on our trips, and it's starting to work.

When we strat to use our 10 Day NE Tics, I am sure we will spend even more time chilling at the resort vs. Park visits.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We spend ALOT of time in our room. View is important, decor, location. It's just DH and myself traveling. We do not commando at all. If fact, we only do 1 park per visit now. Will have these NE tickets for a looooong time...

 

[wdwlover25]

I think each subsequent trip we spend more and more time at the resort. I love the parks but during crazy busy times and hot temps its so much more relaxing to just hang back and chill in the room.

My most favorite resort to chill at is BLT. Love to relax on the balcony with MK or Bay Lake in the distance and the monorail buzzing by... I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

Also love the themes of AKV and BWV... The theming and pools are so wonderful again I don't feel like I'm missing anything not being at the parks.

I've got big hopes for VGF being another relaxing resort we'll want to spend much time at!

 

[Pirate Granny]

I'm big on balconies with views, even of trees. I spend the morning out there reading and eating breakfast while hubby golfs. Favorites??? OKW with golf course views and LARGE balconies. Not into pool views. Too loud. BLT at night is beautiful TPV.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm big on balconies with views, even of trees. I spend the morning out there reading and eating breakfast while hubby golfs. Favorites??? OKW with golf course views and LARGE balconies. Not into pool views. Too loud. BLT at night is beautiful TPV.

OKW porches.

 

[sandieb]

for us, a stay at some resorts means more room/resort time, at others it is more of a base for park visits. since we've been/go rather frequently, the room & resort have become most important, & the parks just a secondary attraction.
what governs our stays (in order of importance):
- view from balcony (looooove BW view, AKV savanna view, SSR view of DTD. we really dislike any view of cars, parking lots, etc). sipping coffee as the sun rises, sitting outside during the day and absorbing the atmosphere, having some wine and good conversation before bed help make our vacations real vacations. we especially like BW view as it changes during the varying times of day.
- activities at the resort: community hall (ping-pong, crafts, books, etc), nighttime activities. we find the CMs at AKV fascinating, shopping at DTD (SSR), and BW nighttime street performers, carny games, etc lots of fun. we enjoy informal, but good restaurants (turf club, boma, BRG), and places to have a drink & chat with strangers. pleasant places to run/walk around the resort are a wonderful bonus. dorky. i know, but mini-golf is a favorite tradition of ours (walking distance from EPCOT resorts).
- walking distance to a park - we often decide on a whim to go on a ride (on occasion, we've enjoyed the BWV/DHS walk so much, we just turn around and enjoy the walk back rather than ever entering the park). if we are relegated to taking a bus/boat or drive to every park, we spend more time offsite eating, shopping, etc.
- lobby/rooms - we're not fans of bustling, loud interiors (lobbies, hallways), and love the "wow factor" of stunning architecture/decor. i do enjoy the little touches in room: prints and decor that reflect the resort's theme, little touches (3-ring mickey cut-outs on lampshades, etc) that remind us where we are.
in the same ilk, a beautifully landscaped quiet pool is more important to us than a pool with slides and lots of activities going on. love finding quiet nooks around the resort to read & relax.

we usually go as 2 people (DD or DH and myself), and stay in a studio. we don't care about a full kitchen (we're not big eaters, & rarely cook at home), or the Jacuzzi (yuk ). any more than 2 people, and we get a larger villa.

our preferences are based on our stays at almost all DVCs, deluxes, and mods, but they are still our preferences. they suit us & you might prefer the total opposite - it's fun finding what makes your vacation a true vacation

I love your reply. While we actually get 2 bedroom units, otherwise I would mimic your list. Our favorite is the Beach Club Villas with a pool view or AKV or SSR. I greatly enjoy the quiet time on the balcony in the morning or evening. We also spend part of most days in one of the parks - either early morning in a park, water park, or evening attractions. But we may end up at DisneyQuest, miniature golf, or out to dinner at one of the hotels. Gosh, some evenings we have just taken a boat ride around Bay Lake!

 

[the who #3]

we did not spend much time in the room at the beginning of our trips to disney, but the space was still important. regular rooms are just not big enough for a whole family.

after 12 yrs of going to disney several times a yr. i have gotten 12 yrs older and a lot slower. some times i enjoy staying closer to the resort and just relax. or go out for shorter times instead of all day. the room became very important to me. after all it is my home while i am at disney.

 

[Micca]

Probably around 12 hours a day. We're out in the morning, but we usually return to the room after dinner--maybe 8pm or so. It's fun to spend time in the DVC accomodations.

 

[nolanboys]

We spend more time in the room than before. We usually hit a park in the morning and come back after lunch. Spend some down time at the pool and then an hour or two in the room. It's so nice to be able to have room to speak out and relax. The older two boys watch some sports, the younger two watch some tv or we play cards, and sometimes I even get a siesta in. It makes fir a much more enjoyable evening in the parks. Having 3 rooms and a balcony helps us have some alone time - which makes together time more pleasant! It also means we're refreshed instead of exhausted after vacation.

 

[the who #3]

i love having the larger rooms that dvc has to offer. also the lobby and rooms ment for relaxation of friends and family are just marvelous. when we meet new friends or old at disney those rooms are great for visits outside your room.

 

[OneMoreTry]

We spend some time in the room, enough to make us glad we have a 1 or 2 BR villa instead of a hotel room. I don't think I would want to spend much time in a studio, but I've never been in one.

We do spend a lot of time at the resort, though, not at parks. The resort matters as much to us as the room, probably more.

The only time the room was a huge plus was our lake view at BLT. The windows are huge and the view of Bay Lake was incredible. We spent a lot of time just enjoying, talking, relaxing.

 

[Ms. WDW]

I think that each trip is different for me. If DH is with me, we tend to relax more in the afternoons. But that might mean me being at the pool or just relaxing on the balcony with a nice cocktail after a morning at a park. We're usually out of the park before noon on certain mornings.

But if I'm on my yearly solo trip, I usually spend a little bit more time in the room. It's not uncommon for me to skip the parks and hang out at the pool then later in the evening decide what I want to do.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are SOOO opposite of everyone else here. Just spent 9 nights in a 1-bedroom at SSR in August. Bought AP's and I got so much flack from DH and DS for wanting some pool & nap time. We spent so much time at the parks that I had multiple blisters by day #2. By the end of the trip I was almost ready to rent a wheelchair! We came back to the room several days for about 3 hours or so to hit the pool & to shower up to go back out for the evening. We hit EMH's nearly every day. Well, probably on all but about 3 days. There were a couple of days tho that they didn't want to stop at all so I left them & went back to the villa by myself then went back out to meet them for dinner. I just had to get off my feet for a couple of hours. It was hot and my left foot was swollen so bad by about day 6 or 7 that I had cankles. I couldn't hardly bend my left ankle. Then there were the blisters. I had to wear a diff. shoe / sandal every day. That plan pretty much only avoided rubbing the same spot over & over - but it created a NEW spot every day somewhere else. My feet were just not designed to walk for 14 or 15 hours a day.

But DS and DH did complain that I wanted to spend too much time in the villa. Even tho it was only for about 3 hours every afternoon. They were geared up to spend every waking minute in a park. DH was very concerned that we get the most out of our AP purchase. I DID enjoy the peace & quiet tho of being alone to take a nap. I did not feel obligated to stay out with them every single day.

 

[franandaj]

Me too Laurie.

OP, lots of time as I LOVE to hang out!

I agree with Lisa, I LOVE to hang out!

We are probably different as we live less than half an hour from DL so we can go, do a ride go home as often as we so desire. We more prefer to go out and dine and then shop and relax more than do the parks commando style.

If we are going to really do DL I have more points at the VGC than any other resort, but that wasn't because we wanted to tour the parks, I bought them back when CA had a F&W festival. Since they have canceled it I have been scrambling to use my points, doing silly things like booking a GV for one night so my friends in band can stay over the night before we perform at DL, and other things. If they don't bring back the festival in the next couple years, I will definitely need to rethink the points there.

But needless to say, we have the points so that we can have a home away from home, not to run around commando style. When we stay at the VGC we bring preprepared meals from home and cook them in the Villa and enjoy the scenery. We don't have to spend $30 for breakfast when we have yogurt, V8 and cereal that costs less than $7 for as many as four people.

In Florida, it is much the same thing. We have sworn off studios in CA (thank goodness) and never even considered staying in one in Florida. We originally thought that we were splurging just by staying at the VGC, but realized that studios did not meet our needs, so if we were going to stay we were going to do a 1 br or not stay at all. When we bought into DVC we only thought it would be used in Florida and we had already assumed that we would only get the 1 bedroom units.

We had previously stayed at efficiency type units on our stays only because we really needed a fridge and stove. With my spouses' RA, she can't get out of bed in the morning quick enough to get breakfast. I have learned that we need to have Yogurt, or breakfast handy because to get out of bed, she needs pain pills and when she takes those she needs food in her stomach. It's a catch 22 and most of the time we end up moving a lot slower than we like.

We own at BCV and VWL, but have yet to stay there. We loved SSR and I loved the THV, and of course you know about VGC. One of the things we enjoy about the resorts we don't own at is that BLT and AKL have two bathrooms in the 1 BRs. While most folks don't have a problem, we really love each having our own bathroom, and from what I hear folks with teenagers really enjoy this too. Since both resorts are so large, we have never had a problem getting in during the off season at 7 months.

We cook a lot in the room, usually every other night unless we are doing a F&W trip, then we are taking advantage of the Kiosks or the special events. We actually do a lot of time in the room because of the RA, my partner needs to rest a lot. That' means I have a lot of DIS time while she rests!

I tend to enjoy relaxing on the balcony with the beverage of choice depending on time of day. And like many others have said, I'm not sure I care about décor, but function is important, and that can change from trip to trip. It may be two bathrooms, or location to park of focus. It could be relaxation factor (ie Treehouses), it all depends on the trip, so I'm glad we own at multiple locations!

 

[Golden Rose]

We spend a lot of time in our rooms. We currently have a daughter who naps, and our son needed at least a rest in our room when we bought. We've generally had someone who needed a break in the middle of the day for all the trips we've made in the last 8 years.

Additionally, when we stay at AKV, which is DS's favorite resort, we often devote a day or two to just relaxing at the resort, and quite a bit of that time is often in our room on our balcony.

This makes our views and the amount of space in a room extremely important to us. We try to always book savannah view at AKV, and boardwalk view at BWV. We always get at least a one bedroom for the 4 of us, and a 2 bedroom if anyone else is coming with us. We need a quiet room to put DD in for her naps, and a space for whomever is hanging out in the room while she rests.

When my DM and DstepF come with us, they hardly go into the parks at all; they golf and hang out at the pools, and they spend a huge amount of time in the room as well. When we bring our friends with us, they rarely spend as much time in the room as we do, because most of our friends go a little more commando and actually want to get there at rope drop. We're often still asleep at rope drop. ;-)

 

[AnnaS]

Definitely keep in mind that your vacation habits of today will/can change as times goes on.

We definitely enjoy more down time at the resort/room than when we first bought. We always threw in one or two non-park days even when the kids were younger but now so much more. Trips are more relaxed, enjoying the resort, pool, resort hopping, etc. When we spend the day at the resort, there is more going back and forth to the villa (relax, shower, a meal, etc.).

 

[disneynutz]

Definitely keep in mind that your vacation habits of today will/can change as times goes on.

We definitely enjoy more down time at the resort/room than when we first bought. We always threw in one or two non-park days even when the kids were younger but now so much more. Trips are more relaxed, enjoying the resort, pool, resort hopping, etc. When we spend the day at the resort, there is more going back and forth to the villa (relax, shower, a meal, etc.).

So true and the pattern is less park days, not more so buying at your favorite resort can be important.

Bill