Studio vs. 1BR for family of 4 (Spin off of Studio/Cruise thread)

[jodifla]

I'll be honest: I've never understood the 1BR "thing" at the most of the DVC resorts. At AKV, I get it...you get the extra person (5) over a studio, and at Kidani (the new, to be constructed building) you get an extra bathroom, as well.

But for the rest of the DVC resorts, I agree with your perspective. In either case, your kids will be on a (albeit comfy) sofa bed, in either case you're converting the "living" area into a bedroom, of sorts, and if you don't see any use for the kitchen.....well, I think you've got it right. The 1BR is likely not for you.

The ONE benefit is some privacy for the adults and not having to turn the lights out at the kids bed time. You have your own room, own TV, and your own access to the bathroom (and whirlpool tub) after the kids have turned in for the night. That may, or may not, be worth it to you.

Frankly, I don't see why anyone bothers buying DVC just to stay in the studios. You can stay in the Values cheaper, and get about the same thing.

The benefit of DVC is the one-bedrooms and up.

 

[wdwcoltsfan]

Frankly, I don't see why anyone bothers buying DVC just to stay in the studios. You can stay in the Values cheaper, and get about the same thing.

The benefit of DVC is the one-bedrooms and up.

This is an interesting perspective. We have been considering(very strongly) purchasing DVC, but we had planned on using the studios a lot. Maybe we need to reconsider if DVC is a wise investment.


Rachel

 

[RosiePosie35]

This is an interesting perspective. We have been considering(very strongly) purchasing DVC, but we had planned on using the studios a lot. Maybe we need to reconsider if DVC is a wise investment.


Rachel

You might want to try the All Stars Family Suites. This worked out great for us last year, and we are a family of five. We purchased DVC AKL because of what the Kadani will offer in a one bedroom, and we want to do more of a relaxed approch to a Disney vaction.

 

[wdwcoltsfan]

You might want to try the All Stars Family Suites. This worked out great for us last year, and we are a family of five. We purchased DVC AKL because of what the Kadani will offer in a one bedroom, and we want to do more of a relaxed approch to a Disney vaction.

Thanks! Although, I don't think I'll get my family away from AKL or the Poly. One of the reasons we are considering DVC is because we always stay in the deluxe resorts and we love AKL. AKV became very enticing to us. The studio rooms seemed like they would be a good fit for some of our vacations. I was surprised to see the studios compared to the value rooms. This isn't a knock on the value resorts, I'm strictly referring to the price difference.

Anyway, I guess it means we'll have to do some more research so we can make a wise decision.


Rachel

 

[ChelleinNC]

Frankly, I don't see why anyone bothers buying DVC just to stay in the studios. You can stay in the Values cheaper, and get about the same thing.

The benefit of DVC is the one-bedrooms and up.

I would have to disagree. With DVC you are staying at a deluxe resort, with deluxe ammenities. --I fully admit that I am a resort snob --I believe the studios are still bigger than a regular room at the values, and you also get the kitchenette. Laundry isn't in the room, but it is complimentary.
We survived a ten day trip this summer in a studio, DH & I & DD13,DS10. It was snug at times, but we mangaged. I'll most likely only book 1 & 2BR's for us from now on, but if it's just DH & I, we can get by with a studio.

 

[crisi]

I would have to disagree. With DVC you are staying at a deluxe resort, with deluxe ammenities. --I fully admit that I am a resort snob --I believe the studios are still bigger than a regular room at the values, and you also get the kitchenette. Laundry isn't in the room, but it is complimentary.
We survived a ten day trip this summer in a studio, DH & I & DD13,DS10. It was snug at times, but we mangaged. I'll most likely only book 1 & 2BR's for us from now on, but if it's just DH & I, we can get by with a studio.

No you aren't.

When I stay in a Deluxe someone makes my bed every day. I have two queen beds and no pullout. Rooms are better appointed and better maintained (in my opinion and my experience) on the Deluxe side of the house.

DVC resorts are nice, but they are neither Deluxes nor moderates nor values - they are a resort type unto themselves. Even the DVC resorts attached to the Deluxes are not the same as staying in a Deluxe room.

If you stay in Deluxes anyway - and don't mind the DVC differences (like lack of daily maid service) - you can save money with DVC staying in Studios. If you are happy offsite or staying in Values (the argument on moderates is pretty break even in my opinion), DVC won't save you money. However, DVC creates an opportunity to "add value" with multi-room units - only you know if the nookie perk is worth the cost difference (and lack of maid service).

Most DVC members posting here don't seem to mind the lack of maid service. I do, not enough to pay for it, however.

 

[Snookies]

...
I will tell you that the 1BR has a washer/dryer, and that is very important to me now that I've had it. It's so easy to come back from the parks, throw a load of clothes in, and know I'll have clean laundry - we just don't have to pack that much. And the refrigerator is great, even if we are not coooking or eating any meals in the villa, which we never do, either. But we load up on soda, cheese and crackers, etc for the room and we really like that feature, more so than if we were staying in a regular room.

I will tell you that we are a family of three, with a mom and 2 teenage girls, and we have found BY FAR that a 2 BR is the best way for us to vacation using DVC. We are all so happy when we have 2BRs and each girl has her own queen size bed and mom has a king. When we go to WDW we tend to collect a lot of stuff, too, and there's nothing better than a separate bedroom for the girls!!!! I hate to have our living area cluttered with a bed.

I don't know that this helps you any!!! But we have found that for us it's better to use our points on a 2BR, and we bought enough to be able to do that on most trips...

I bought DVC to be able to do wild things, like stay in a 2 bedroom, not in a hotel type room.

So my family of 3 normally gets a 2 bedroom for trips. Half the trip DS, 5, has his own room, and the other half we normally invite friends down, and DS sleeps with us in the King. Although I think there's enough room in the one bedroom for a couple of sleeping bags/twin air mattresses.

You have a lot of flexibility with a one bedroom. You could have the kids go to sleep in the master, then just move them to the sofa sleeper when you are ready to go to sleep. Or you could have them in sleeping bags in the master.

We LOVE being able to put DS asleep in another room, then be able to sit out on or balcony with drinks, or inside watching a movie. THAT's why we bought DVC, so we could have some privacy, and we could share with our friends.

I feel like I'm reading trip reports of one of my WDW trips.

I agree with DVCLiz and jodifla. We are 3 and have stayed in hotel rooms, studios and 1 bedrooms. However, since we normally take at least one of DD's friends along, we rarely stay in anything other than 2 bedrooms. I value not only the extra space, but also the W/D and kitchen facilities. I'll never say never, but I doubt we'll use studios again even if there are only 2 of us.

 

[Disney Doll]

There are 2 things that make the 1BR better than the studio, IMHO...the fullkitchen and the washer/dryer.

We don't cook full meals on vacation, but we do have brealfast in the room in the morning. It usually consists of ham, egg & cheese sandwiches, coffee, fruit. Pretty simple, but I am always amazed at how much smoother the day goes by eating breakfast in the room. And it's nice to drink your coffee/tea on the balcony. Of course, the fridge is nice to have for snacks and so forth, but there are little fridges in the studios, so that isn't as much of a benefit.

The other thing I like about the 1BR is the laundry. I have no problem doing laundry on vacation...especially if it's in the room, so you just literally throw it in while you're hanging around the room. The cycles are pretty quick. Sometimes I throw the wash in when we are leaving, and when we return it goes into the dryer. No issue.

Pulling out the sofa bed is no biggie. It goes in & out pretty quickly, and there is plenty of storage space in the room so that no one's suitcases have to be laying all over the place...especially if you are in OKW.

We stayed in a studio once. It was nice, but once we did a 1BR, there was no going back.

Now, if you want your kids to have their wn bedroom and you your own bedroom without ever having to mess up the "common" living area, a 2BR is the way to go!

 

[iloveokw]

Not to be snobby, but if we only planned to stay in a studio we would have never bought DVC. We don't spend every waking moment in the parks - very little anymore, and enjoy the room to spread out. Especially during bad weather - which happens quite often in Florida. We almost always eat breakfast in our room and are able to pack 1/2 the clothes because of the washer and dryer. If my husband or teenager wants to stay up late on the laptop or watching tv I can hit the sack. We've stayed in a OV Inn Room at Vero and it was ok for a couple of nights - thank goodness the weather was good. We always get a 2 bedroom at HH cuz the point differences are small and we often bring someone else along.

 

[Enna]

As the OP of this thread, I wanted to check it to say that we toured the models this past weekend.

Once I saw the difference between the studio and the one bedroom in terms of square footage and layout, I can definitely see the appeal of the one bedroom.

 

[DebbieB]

When my mom and I used to vacation together (she has since passed away), we loved the 1 bedroom for the 2 of us. She could go to bed early, I could watch TV in the living room. We loved the large bathroom, the washer/dryer, the nice kitchen (never actually cooked but liked the real dishes, the large fridge, the dishwasher). The main reason I bought DVC was because I wanted the larger room/more ammenities and didn't want to pay over $400 per night. If we were going to do studio type accomodations, I would not have bought DVC, especially since most are not 2 queens.

 

[jodifla]

As the OP of this thread, I wanted to check it to say that we toured the models this past weekend.

Once I saw the difference between the studio and the one bedroom in terms of square footage and layout, I can definitely see the appeal of the one bedroom.

Amazing, isn't it!

I'm not saying we never stay in studios. We do....mainly on weekends or short trips.

But the real appeal of DVC to me, and why we bought it 11 years ago, was to be able to stay in large accommodations we'd NEVER consider plunking down the cash that the nightly rates are.

We love to travel with friends and family, and DVC makes that easy and fun.

 

[pilferk]

Frankly, I don't see why anyone bothers buying DVC just to stay in the studios. You can stay in the Values cheaper, and get about the same thing.

The benefit of DVC is the one-bedrooms and up.

FYI, we're a 1BR AKV family...but before AKV would have bought in only with enough pts for a 2BR...so I don't entirely disagree with you.

However, you answer the "why" in your own post: You'd have to stay in the values. Not that that's a bad thing, but....not many people's cup of tea. I like having the amenities that accompany a deluxe resort. I'm sure others feel the same way.

Even then, a studio offers some benefits over Value accomodations: more space, a fridge/microwave/kitchenette, access to a free laundry, etc. Again, just like with a 1BR at any place but AKV (which offers the +1 sleeping capacity)...you have to decide if those things have value for you or not.

I can see why those traveling in a party of 2 to 4 would stick with a studio.

 

[jodifla]

FYI, we're a 1BR AKV family...but before AKV would have bought in only with enough pts for a 2BR...so I don't entirely disagree with you.

However, you answer the "why" in your own post: You'd have to stay in the values. Not that that's a bad thing, but....not many people's cup of tea. I like having the amenities that accompany a deluxe resort. I'm sure others feel the same way.

Even then, a studio offers some benefits over Value accomodations: more space, a fridge/microwave/kitchenette, access to a free laundry, etc. Again, just like with a 1BR at any place but AKV (which offers the +1 sleeping capacity)...you have to decide if those things have value for you or not.

I can see why those traveling in a party of 2 to 4 would stick with a studio.

You make good points. Of course, DVC studios are way nicer than the values. But not enough nicer that if the ONLY thing I was interested in was going to the parks, and cramming my family into one room, that I just wouldn't stay at Pop.

What made us sign on the dotted line for those many thousands of dollars was walking into a one bedroom or two bedroom or grand villa and think: I could stay here????????????

 

[pilferk]

You make good points. Of course, DVC studios are way nicer than the values. But not enough nicer that if the ONLY thing I was interested in was going to the parks, and cramming my family into one room, that I just wouldn't stay at Pop.

What made us sign on the dotted line for those many thousands of dollars was walking into a one bedroom or two bedroom or grand villa and think: I could stay here????????????

Yeah, we were close to that experience, with one slight difference: We looked at the capacity for a standard room (5) at many deluxes and said "We HAVE to stay here?". We couldn't even consider values (other than the AS music family suites). We quickly realized we were going to need a LOT more space (and bathrooms....).

We were considering SSR, but would have opted for a 2BR simply because of the capacity "rules" (yes, I know...MS will "allow" 5 in a 1br...that's not for me). When AKV's "rules" were announced, and given AKL is our FAVORITE resort...we pounced. We bought enough points to do a 1BR for 6 nights (our typical trip) + 40 points per year. We bank the 40 for the first 3 years (while the kids are still young) and have enough built up points to do a 2BR for about 12 years...just in time to need it with the kids getting older, and Kidani opening up for the extra bathroom space! Of course, I'm sure addonitis will hit at some point over those 15 years, but....

 

[speakupjc]

Ok I admit it I am a resort snob. We are a family of 3 that mainly stays in DVC studios and wouldn't dream of staying at a value resort. We like deluxe properties (BCV, VWL etc.) for the location and ammenties (SAB, ease of getting to the park etc.). If we stay at BCV we can chose to dine at any of the EPCOT restaurants as they are in our backyard. My family has stayed in a 1 bedroom and yes we did like the space but what we discovered was that we weren't using the laundry or the kitchen. Bearing this in mind we know we could get more trips etc. if we stayed in a studio instead of a 1 bedroom so we changed over. To make it simple - some of you prefer a 1 bedroom and that is fine but we prefer a studio. Those of you who prefer more space can have it while we have a longer trip in less spacious accomodations at Disney World. You will be home long before we leave our second home. I would rather have 14 days at Disney in less spacious accomodations than a trip of only 7 days in more spacious accomodations. All other ammenties are the same (we used SAB etc.) just like you do! Each person has what they deem important so please consider it from the other person's perspective. No one is right no one is wrong it is just a different perspective.

 

[Lady V]

well, I can tell you that for me I really do love the value of the studio rooms! For example, last New years I booked a two bedroom for 8 nights and it was right at 280 points. This upcoming new years I booked a one bedroom for 7 nights and it was 215 points. Well, I just got off the phone with Member services and booked 19..yes 19 days in a studio for next summer for a total of 311 points for a Studio at Saratoga Springs. It is just me and my two kids (ages 6 and 8), so far for this trip next summer and I can't wait! 19 days of relaxing by the pools, playing and sleeping in....so, for me, until the kids are older...a studio is awesome!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

well, I can tell you that for me I really do love the value of the studio rooms! For example, last New years I booked a two bedroom for 8 nights and it was right at 280 points. This upcoming new years I booked a one bedroom for 7 nights and it was 215 points. Well, I just got off the phone with Member services and booked 19..yes 19 days in a studio for next summer for a total of 311 points for a Studio at Saratoga Springs. It is just me and my two kids (ages 6 and 8), so far for this trip next summer and I can't wait! 19 days of relaxing by the pools, playing and sleeping in....so, for me, until the kids are older...a studio is awesome!!

The washer and dryer in the one bedroom is worth more to me than 19 nights in a studio. I have 12 nights at OKW booked for late May/early June right now for under 300 points in a one bedroom. I might have extra points left either to bank or add a couple more days.

 

[kimberh]

When it is the two of us, we book a studio, more than that I book a one bedroom or larger. The washer/dryer in the room is a major plus. We usually stay 5-6 days, I have never stayed any longer. You that stay for weeks, what do you do? Maybe that is topic for new Thread?? I think it's wonderful that you guys can stay so long, my husband would never agree to that.

 

[Anal Annie]

We're just a family of 3 and tried a studio at OKW in August. Gotta say, other than the microwave it wasn't a whole lot different than any hotel room. Maybe the frig. was a little larger? Anyway, we just bought enough points to be able to do either two 1 week vacations in a studio or 1 one week vac. in a 1 bedroom OR enough to take one week in a studio and bank the rest for a blowout the following year (which is what we're doing this yr. - booked a 4 n cruise with our banked points and next years points).

We bought into DVC for a few reasons. We like the nicer, upscale resorts and the steady increase in the room rates was pricing us into the value resorts. We wanted to lock in the price for the room portion of our vacations. This way, we can still afford to use the nicer resorts without paying any more. DS will inherit the ability to take his family to WDW one day - and can you imagine how much a deluxe resort will cost in 25 years?! We can be frugal if we want & do 2 weeks in a studio in July or we can rent multiple studios and bring family (for 5 nights if we do Sun - Thurs). We can cruise. We can get that all impt. discount on the AP's (which even though we're out of points we're taking advantage of the member cash discount for a ressie in Jan.) I don't go on vacation to cook or do laundry - we only do breakfast in the room. No doubt, the 1 bedroom models are beautiful - but are not necessary for us right now. Maid service would be nice, but I'll live without it (I don't have it at home). We also like to travel to other destinations (Hawaii every 5 years) and liked the timeshare aspect where we can trade out for a week and still have enough points left for a few days at WDW!

I'm not trying to start the old "you get more bang for your buck at the DVC resorts" arguement. That depends entirely on your individual vacation habits. We just really liked the opportunities that DVC offered and the flexibility of the point structure.

To the OP - I think 4 ppl in a studio can work just fine and DVC offers a lot of flexibility. You can always "start small" and use the studios and then you can do add-on's once you get the feel for it!!