Studio vs. 1br dilemma/rant

[RapunzelRN]

Studios = less points per night, many options sleep 5 and have 3 separate sleeping surfaces (mini murph, murph, queen bed)

1 br = more points per night but only sleep 4!!!??? w/only 2 sleeping surfaces (2 beds). HHI, Kidani, OKW have the extra bed…any others I’ve missed? Why can’t they all be uniform in the extra mini murph or sleeper chair? Seems the extra points upgrade should all offer the 5th person sleeping option.

Anyone else or just me? What do you do? This has made it so difficult to choose the resort and room for my family as the kiddos get older and no longer want to share a bed. We’ve always preferred the space of the 1 br and full kitchen/wd but now we will have to sacrifice those amenities for extra bed and book a studio or either splurge on a 2 br which is really not an option based on our points every year. I realize they are other worse problem we could be facing

 

[Newsies]

Not just you. The 1 BR situation has always driven my family nuts. We are four adults and I have to explain to my parents over and over again that even though the 1 BR sounds larger, my sister and I would have to share a bed -- which we will do anything to avoid.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Riviera and Saratoga both sleep 5 in 1BR units, natively, as do Jambo, VGF and BLT.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

And some studios are only 4 like VDH.
I think VDH 1 bedroom are in the sleeps 5 group too.
But yes get what you mean.

 

[Tigger's ally]

The reason they are not all the same is they are adding the murphy's when the rooms get overhauled. They can't just snap their fingers and the new Murphy beds magically show up in every 1BR. And, some of the rooms are not big enough to have both the big and little murphy' in the living room. But BLT and OKW have pull out sofa and chair.

 

[RapunzelRN]

The reason they are not all the same is they are adding the murphy's when the rooms get overhauled. They can't just snap their fingers and the new Murphy beds magically show up in every 1BR. And, some of the rooms are not big enough to have both the big and little murphy' in the living room. But BLT and OKW have pull out sofa and chair.

that doesn’t make sense though, adding the Murphy bed just replaces the sofa bed, it doesn’t add a 5th person sleeper

 

[Sandisw]

Prior to BLT, the studios and the 1 bedrooms all slept 4. The 1 bedrooms that still sleep 4 have the connecting door in the Living room and why they can’t add a sleeping surface for the 5th person.

Once they built VGF and PVB with studios that slept 5, they then added the under TV sleeper that those had to other studios.

So, that is why they can’t add the under the TV sleeper since it doesn’t fit with the breakfast bar and the connecting door.

In the newer units, that door is near the entrance…

 

[NVDISFamily]

or either splurge on a 2 br which is really not an option based on our points every year

There is an easy solution to that problem. More points

We love WL/CCV but for our family of 4 we go for a 2BR just because it gives us more room and then we don't have to worry about making up the living room and such for relaxing in the room and such. Also the extra bathroom makes getting ready in the AM a much more enjoyable experience.

It would be nice if by some magic they could get an extra sleeping surface into all of the 1BR and keep it consistent across all the resorts.

 

[sndral]

Prior to BLT, the studios and the 1 bedrooms all slept 4. The 1 bedrooms that still sleep 4 have the connecting door in the Living room and why they can’t add a sleeping surface for the 5th person.

Once they built VGF and PVB with studios that slept 5, they then added the under TV sleeper that those had to other studios.

So, that is why they can’t add the under the TV sleeper since it doesn’t fit with the breakfast bar and the connecting door.

In the newer units, that door is near the entrance…

AKV was before BLT & their 1 br.s have always slept 5 (except the smaller value villas.) I hope they keep the sleeper chairs at AKV, they seem bigger to me than the under TV twin beds in newer resorts like VGF.
I haven’t stayed at many resorts other than my home resorts - are the living rooms in the 4 person 1 br.s too small to fit a sleeper chair in, which I assume is why the Jambo value 1 br.s don’t have them?

 

[CarolynFH]

AKV was before BLT & their 1 br.s have always slept 5 (except the smaller value villas.) I hope they keep the sleeper chairs at AKV, they seem bigger to me than the under TV twin beds in newer resorts like VGF.
I haven’t stayed at many resorts other than my home resorts - are the living rooms in the 4 person 1 br.s too small to fit a sleeper chair in, which I assume is why the Jambo value 1 br.s don’t have them?

Yes, the BWV living rooms aren’t large enough to open the sofa bed and a sleeper chair at the same time, and as Sandi points out above, the location of the connecting door to the studio side presents an obstacle to the under-TV Murphy as well as a sleeper chair.

 

[MICKIMINI]

When OKW was built - the original DVC, the designers were trying to wow buyers which they did including us! As DVC saw the villas selling I think they realized how valuable the real estate and square footage was to profits and villas got smaller and smaller.

For the time being I guess you have to strategize where you can - Sunday through Thursdays, seasons you travel etc which is not ideal. As a member since 1996 I get it. We just added on and on until we had enough, ok, too much. We rented extra and then sold a bunch of contracts when the market was high in 2022 so we did very well. If we hadn't just built our dream home this year we'd be buying like crazy now (mmm, actually I bid on a contract this morning LOL).

We have settled in around 400 DVC and also own over at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is across the street from OKW within WDW property. That contract was essentially *free* as I think we paid $200.00 or so and got a years points free (10 or 11 nights in a 2 BR around Halloween). MF's are about $1500 a year. We use these as overflow points or bank them. DH and I have been known to stay in a 2 BR/2 BA and that will spoil ya real quick! There are 4 BR units.

Buying a small add on now may be an option as IMO I see the market going back up next year. Just a guess. Study your options and good luck!

 

[Sandisw]

AKV was before BLT & their 1 br.s have always slept 5 (except the smaller value villas.) I hope they keep the sleeper chairs at AKV, they seem bigger to me than the under TV twin beds in newer resorts like VGF.
I haven’t stayed at many resorts other than my home resorts - are the living rooms in the 4 person 1 br.s too small to fit a sleeper chair in, which I assume is why the Jambo value 1 br.s don’t have them?

That’s right…I forgot AKV opened before BLT!

 

[RapunzelRN]

There is an easy solution to that problem. More points

We love WL/CCV but for our family of 4 we go for a 2BR just because it gives us more room and then we don't have to worry about making up the living room and such for relaxing in the room and such. Also the extra bathroom makes getting ready in the AM a much more enjoyable experience.

It would be nice if by some magic they could get an extra sleeping surface into all of the 1BR and keep it consistent across all the resorts.

Haha I wish! We’ve stayed in 2BR before and loved it but I’m not ready to buy another contract so alas my dilemma.

I really was just so surprised the options for studio vs. 1Br were so varied across the properties. I used to book where we wanted to stay but now we may end up booking for the space we need/prefer. 1 BR that sleeps 5, so we can also have our w/d

 

[Tigger's ally]

that doesn’t make sense though, adding the Murphy bed just replaces the sofa bed, it doesn’t add a 5th person sleeper

a lot of the places with the pull out sofas also had pull out chairs. If there is room, when they redo the rooms, they add the little pull down murphy with the sofa murphy.

 

[CarolynFH]

https://yesterland.com/bonnet.html

also own over at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is across the street from OKW within WDW property

Umm, technically and legally, never was part of WDW property. Just feels like it because it’s inside that giant entrance!

https://yesterland.com/bonnet.html

 

[crisi]

Book a two bedroom and go fewer nights - which is what we did. Bank and borrow so that once every few years you end up with a non-Disney trip - or a Disney trip that isn't DVC - cruise, ABD..... or once every several years rent points or stay in a cash hotel.

I don't like stuffing a hotel room or tripping over furniture, neither does the fire code which is why there has to be so much navigable square footage and access to the halls needs to remain relatively clear if you need to evacuate in the middle of the night. That isn't possible with the layout in all DVC one bedrooms if you add a sleeper chair or murphy bed - since the door is also there.

 

[MICKIMINI]

https://yesterland.com/bonnet.html

Umm, technically and legally, never was part of WDW property. Just feels like it because it’s inside that giant entrance!

https://yesterland.com/bonnet.html

Yes, yes I understand. The *yesterland* article is fascinating and I read it a few years ago before considering buying WBC.

My point was that it is as easily accessible as any other resort within WDW and the only way to reach it is from WDW property as there is no outside access. Thanks for pointing that out so no one misunderstands.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

There are certainly other WDW that are bus only but I find the walking, monorail and Skyliner resorts much more accessible. Fight me! Haha we have Worldmark points so could stay there but bus is not our jam.
Happy it works great for many people though.
So affordable in comparison.
Someday I’ll convince the hubs to give it a try though. (Can’t get him to stay at OKW, SSR or AKL either haha. Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays everyone. .

 

[MsChristy12]

Are your kids old enough to be staying in one room on their own? Because I'm thinking, what if you book 2 studios? That way no one has to share beds but it's not guaranteed that they will be connected. I think points for 2 studios at most resorts are about the same as 1-bedroom, some of them will cost more for 2 studios but is that an option for your family?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Resorts with 1BR's that have 5 sleeping spaces:
AKV - both Kidani and Jambo with the exception of the Value category
BLT
OKW
VGF
RIV
SSR
VB
HHI
VGC
DLH
Aulani.

If you count AKV as 1 resort and exclude PVB since it doesn't have 1BR's then 11 of the 15 resorts that have 1BR's have 5 sleeping surfaces. I hadn't counted it out recently but that's better than I was thinking. There is one more resort that could - BCV - as most (maybe all) have the connecting lock-off door in the entry way.

That leaves the resorts that don't have the 5th sleeping spot in the 1BR:
BCV
BWV
BRV
PVB
CCV

All except CCV have the 5th sleeping spot in the studios.

I guess you want to stay in 1BR's at either BCV, BWV, BRV or CCV. It may not be a glamorous solution but an air mattress is an option since the 5th adult is allowed to be booked into all of those except CCV. I wasn't a particular fan of them retroactively adding the single murphy bed into the studios at the 3 resorts that they did but with that history I think they should have added them to SSR as well during the refurb. At least there they did get them into the 1BR's which is what they should have done at BCV (IMO).