Max Occupancy in DVC Resorts

[Dean]

Yes, I realize that. We were staying in a 3 bedroom for the night before our cruise with 4 families, we were 2 kids over which while booking, the reservation CM said we were fine. However, as I stated, when we tried to all get on the bus, it wouldn't work. We weren't trying to "pull a fast one" on Disney, just trying to have an easy transition for the cruise without using all our points.

cheryl

Your only OK if they're listed.

 

[SalandJeff]

...What is in writing will hold up in court. The verbal statements will not...

There is no offense intended to anyone in what I am about to say....firstly, I don't think anyone is going to court over 5 in a DVC room. I find it comical that this thread is going on 4 years old and over 1900 posts. The debate will go on forever. Anyone who wants an answer to the question about how many in the room is probably not going to read more than a couple of pages of this novel.

JMO - if you need to put 5 in the studio and some are children and you think you can be comfortable, call and make the ressie and put all the names on it. We've done it (before we realized we weren't "supposed" to). We even added the 5th person at a later time. Member services never questioned it and happily added the 5th name to Magical Express and the Dining plan. And if I were someone asking the occupancy question now, I'd start my own new thread!

Now....back to the debate

 

[Chuck S]

And if I were someone asking the occupancy question now, I'd start my own new thread!

Just a point of clarification. May people do start their own occupancy thread with a simple question. We mods close those thread, and refer posters to this thread. Like other hot topics, we limit occupancy discussions to one thread only.

 

[janni518]

You were right when you said they were all wrong. It is posted in the Public Offering Statement what the occupancy of the villas is. What a DVC guide tells you verbally and what you get in writing via your closing documents are often two different things. What is in writing will hold up in court. The verbal statements will not.

DVC Guides are salespeople. And they want to make that sale.

I understood that they were hedging a bit. In our case I was asking about having someone spend the night (I have tons of relatives in Florida) not stay with us for the whole stay.

These were the same people who told me that it didn't make a difference where your home resort was. I do have to say that it wasn't my actual guide. I'd already signed on the dotted line, not sure why they felt the need to chat me up. Ah, future sales I guess.

 

[CarolMN]

The DVC system is designed such that the resorts are (or should be) near or at capacity all times of the year.

The hallways, exits and doorways were not designed to handle lots of extra people trying to get out at the same time. If enough reservations add "just one more" to the stated occupancy maximums, there could be a HUGE problem in the event of a fire.

Perhaps chances of a resort fire are small, but that won't matter if it happens and guests are injured or killed because they couldn't get out in a timely manner.

To me, safety is the most important reason by far to avoid exceeding the stated maximum. I wish the occupancy maximums were firmly enforced 100% of the time. Think about it.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The DVC system is designed such that the resorts are (or should be) near or at capacity all times of the year.

The hallways, exits and doorways were not designed to handle lots of extra people trying to get out at the same time. If enough reservations add "just one more" to the stated occupancy maximums, there could be a HUGE problem in the event of a fire.

Perhaps chances of a resort fire are small, but that won't matter if it happens and guests are injured or killed because they couldn't get out in a timely manner.

To me, safety is the most important reason by far to avoid exceeding the stated maximum. I wish the occupancy maximums were firmly enforced 100% of the time. Think about it.

I totally agree, Carol! I don't have much of a problem with 5 in a 1 bedroom if one is an infant, but an infant must be carried out by someone else anyway, so that doesn't add to the mayhem in an emergency. I'm quite sure that fire safety was EXACTLY the reason occupancy limits were set in the first place! I often wonder if Disney (broader picture) realizes that some of their own are encouraging the breaking of that policy.

 

[Scraper]

I totally agree, Carol! I don't have much of a problem with 5 in a 1 bedroom if one is an infant, but an infant must be carried out by someone else anyway, so that doesn't add to the mayhem in an emergency. I'm quite sure that fire safety was EXACTLY the reason occupancy limits were set in the first place! I often wonder if Disney (broader picture) realizes that some of their own are encouraging the breaking of that policy.

Iam sure that over crowding would not be an issue if there were a fire. Plenty of the studio's only have 2 or 3 people in them. Plenty of two bedrooms have onle 6 people not 8. So if one or two or more studio's have five people I am sure it would not be a big deal.

 

[momtotanmanandraerae]

Nice to see the same old arguments are still made on this topic .

Yes, public offerings, contracts, etc., etc. are the legal documents, and they comment on occupancy.....but while we leave the lawyers to sort out exactly what that means, here is what DVC MS reps will take a reservation for:

Studio at BWV with a "Studio Plus" request - 5 people. (the request is noted, not guaranteed, and you get 5 in your studio whether you get the daybed or not)
Studio at any other DVC location - 4 people, plus an infant under 3
1 BR at any location - 5 people.

In any Studio or 1 BR you will only be provided bedding and towels for 4 people. An important thing to note is that in order to be issued a room key (used for EMH admission), use the DDP, or use Magical Express you must be listed on the reservation. Will Disney do bed checks to see if you have more than the number of people on your reservation in the room? No, but you won't be able to take advantage of these items.

I called MS on Saturday to add my mom to our 1-bedroom at OKW. We are a family of four so adding her makes 5 people. She decided to go with us in July and called to get a studio for nov.5-9 at OKW but had to waitlist the 5th and 6th. It still hasn't come through so we decided to just add her to our reservation so we could get our ME information. MS first told me, "Well, you already have four in your room and the max occupancy is 4." I said, "I read the disboards and have for years and I know that you allow 5 people in a one-bedroom". She then said, "Is it just her?" I said, "Yes." And she said, "OK." and we added her. So they did try and give me a hard time about it. My kids are 4 and 7 and my four year old will just sleep with us in our king bed which she does a lot at home. Our 7 year old will sleep with my mom on the pullout. We are still hoping her studio comes through so she will have her own space but if not it is only for two nights!

 

[Chuck S]

Actually, the "official" occupancy is 4 for all one bedrooms, except non-value AKV and BLT. While they have been allowing 5, that can change at any time and revert to 4, and it may change after more of the units that actually officialy hold 5 become available for occupancy.

 

[CarolMN]

Iam sure that over crowding would not be an issue if there were a fire. Plenty of the studio's only have 2 or 3 people in them. Plenty of two bedrooms have onle 6 people not 8. So if one or two or more studio's have five people I am sure it would not be a big deal.

Don't you think the design already takes that into consideration?

If you have never been in a large building that is on fire, you have no idea what it is like or how people react in that situation. Talk to an experienced fire fighter some time.

Safety IS a big deal.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't you think the design already takes that into consideration?

If you have never been in a large building that is on fire, you have no idea what it is like or how people react in that situation. Talk to an experienced fire fighter some time.

Safety IS a big deal.

 

[Scraper]

Don't you think the design already takes that into consideration?

If you have never been in a large building that is on fire, you have no idea what it is like or how people react in that situation. Talk to an experienced fire fighter some time.

Safety IS a big deal.

Not sure what your point is I would think that the design would be set up to be able to safley get everyone out of the building if that were at max. occupancy.

 

[Dean]

Not sure what your point is I would think that the design would be set up to be able to safley get everyone out of the building if that were at max. occupancy.

I can't speak for Carol but I suspect she's making the point that the resort is designed to accommodate a maximum but with the expectation up front that there is a certain density expected even when booked up and that the resort and amenities are design accordingly. And that expected density is far less than the max capacity. Thus there is no CREDIT to overstuffed rooms because another is under capacity. There's far more to this argument than fire safety though that is a part of it. To me it comes down to the wear and tear on the units and the saturation of the amenities (bus, pools, etc). And IF one sneaks them in, the honesty of the guest.

 

[bookwormde]

I have posted this before but in a cursory review of the DVC accommodations most have a large amount of overhead when it comes to maximum occupancy when it comes to the life safety code and IBC, so any time DVC uses this as the reason for limiting occupancy it is likely not valid.

There are certainly other reasons for limiting occupancy.

bookwormde

 

[TLSnell1981]

There's a king-size bed in the master. It would be easy enough to let three small kids sleep there. Mom and dad can sleep on the sleeper sofa.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There's a king-size bed in the master. It would be easy enough to let three small kids sleep there. Mom and dad can sleep on the sleeper sofa.

TL, that's just plain WRONG!!!!! It's not called the midget bedroom. It's the MASTER bedroom.

 

[TLSnell1981]

TL, that's just plain WRONG!!!!! It's not called the midget bedroom. It's the MASTER bedroom.

 

[christa112]

Thanks for referring me here. I didn't even know this thread existed. I was surprised how fast my thread got closed and it wasnt even heating up yet. LOL

Just a point of clarification. May people do start their own occupancy thread with a simple question. We mods close those thread, and refer posters to this thread. Like other hot topics, we limit occupancy discussions to one thread only.

 

[christa112]

Disclaimer--This post is not to get anyone angry. I am just asking an innocent questions because of what I was told by the DVC sales person in Sept.

We had the tour of Saratoga DVC property when were in WDW in Sept. The lady who gave us the tour said that even though most of the 1 bedrooms say 4 people, that if we were part of DVC they would let us stay in a 1 bedroom. Is this statement accurate?

I have been researching the DVC and hope to buy in 2009 and I am still trying to figure out how many points we will need and if I should do with a resale. But I also want to make sure we can stay in a one bedroom and not a 2 bedroom. Because if that is case I think I will look into other time share options.

Just wondering what other families of 5 have done in the past. BTW my kids are 9, 7 & 4 so they can very well fit on the pull out couch and pull out chair with no issues.

TIA

Christa

 

[CarolAnnC]

Thanks for referring me here. I didn't even know this thread existed. I was surprised how fast my thread got closed and it wasnt even heating up yet. LOL

Any thread discussing occupancy on our DVC boards is automatically closed by the moderators. This is a very hot topic and can turn sour very quickly. We allow this single thread to remain so we can more easily moderate and keep a close eye on the replies. As far as opening other threads on the topic, well we close em as fast as they open em LOL!!

That being said, I would purchase DVC only with the idea of requiring a 2 bedroom for a family of 5. Only two resorts AKV and BLT will offer accomodations to sleep 5 in a one bedroom. Even at that are your children all the same gender? If so, by the time they are teenagers you will find it difficult at best to juggle at any resort other than these two in a one bedroom. My family of 4 (two DD's) can only comfortably stay in a two bedroom. With one more thrown in the mix, well I would never attempt anything else, lol.