The Villas at GF, which room, Deluxe Studio or Resort Studio and why?

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Villas at GF. 4 people (2 adults 2 kids) which room do you think may be preferable and why? Deluxe studio or Resort Studio? Also, would there be room inside for an ECV in the Deluxe Studio, to park by the front of the room?

Does the Deluxe studio have a mini fridge with small freezer portion?

 

[sndral]

The resort studios are 100 square feet larger than the deluxe studios. I assume you’d park an ECV against the wall space where the connecting door is. Not all of the resort studios have that wall space for a connecting door, though - the ones that don’t connect have a desk like piece of furniture in that space. The resort studios on the 6th floor have vaulted ceilings & it would likely be challenging to store the ECV in those villas.
The deluxe studios are all part of lock offs & have an indent w/ the connecting door off the entry hall, which an ECV might fit in, not sure where an outlet would be. The deluxe studios also have a split bath, maybe you could park an ECV in the non toilet room at night & during the day when the Murphy bed is a couch there’s more room in the living space.
Personally I’d watch YouTube video tours of both studios to see which would work better for you.
Good luck.

 

[eticketplease]

The resort studios are 100 square feet larger than the deluxe studios. I assume you’d park an ECV against the wall space where the connecting door is. Not all of the resort studios have that wall space for a connecting door, though - the ones that don’t connect have a desk like piece of furniture in that space. The resort studios on the 6th floor have vaulted ceilings & it would likely be challenging to store the ECV in those villas.
The deluxe studios are all part of lock offs & have an indent w/ the connecting door off the entry hall, which an ECV might fit in, not sure where an outlet would be. The deluxe studios also have a split bath, maybe you could park an ECV in the non toilet room at night & during the day when the Murphy bed is a couch there’s more room in the living space.
Personally I’d watch YouTube video tours of both studios to see which would work better for you.
Good luck.

Maybe it's just me but I would not want the dirt and germs from everywhere in the parks to get transferred from the ECV to the bathroom floor especially when I would be clean stepping out of the standalone shower. Also if you do park the ECV in that section you would have to wash your hands in the kitchenette sink as it would be blocked.

 

[Tiggerette]

Can't speak to the ECV. Having stayed at both the resort and deluxe room, I prefer the deluxe because of the kitchenette area. I find the layout and function to be much better for what I like out of a resort room. There are merits to both though.
I'm not sure of the sizes of your 2 kids, but they may not like the sofa bed and may prefer an actual bed that the resort room gives. The proximity of the resort is closer to the park and monorail, since the deluxe is a standalone property.
I often study floor plans to determine which room to reserve, and you might find that helpful for your family of 4.

 

[Disneyepcot]

Villas at GF. 4 people (2 adults 2 kids) which room do you think may be preferable and why? Deluxe studio or Resort Studio? Also, would there be room inside for an ECV in the Deluxe Studio, to park by the front of the room?

Does the Deluxe studio have a mini fridge with small freezer portion?

First let me apologize for this negative review of what almost everyone considers the primo DVC resort. I made the mistake of staying in the resort studio, because it had 2beds, without checking out more about the room.
The room was no better than a resort studio at Port Orleans. (I love Port Orleans but don’t expect it to be at DVC level).
GFV resort studio had no kitchenette. You could request a toaster and microwave but we had to put the toaster in the bathroom. There was a small mini fridge. There was a single cup coffee maker instead of a full size coffee maker. We had to ask for paper towels since they were not standard equipment in the resort. There were no chairs in the room so I pulled a deck chair in to watch TV. The couch was against the same wall as the TV so you couldn’t see TV from the couch. I didn’t notice any space to put a ECV.
Again- I did get what I requested but I was very disappointed since it was my first and probably last stay at GFV.
Stay in deluxe studio since it costs the same amount of points.
I should have done more research.

 

[muppets3d]

I think you'll like the bigger rooms in Big Pine Key (the resort studios) more, even though you lose the split bathroom and full kitchenette of the deluxe studios. You also have two "real" queen beds rather than the queen and murphy of the deluxe studio. The murphy beds are nice, but are not as nice as the real beds IMO.

 

[radiodome21]

We’ve only stayed at the Resort Studio and are staying at a Delux studio in 2 weeks. My son will take the Murphy bed and my daughter can fit on the pull down. I like the idea of putting the Murphy bed up during the day as it makes the room more open.

When we were there in January I saw that people left ECVs in the hallway. We were in the top floor with the vaulted ceiling.

 

[eticketplease]

First let me apologize for this negative review of what almost everyone considers the primo DVC resort. I made the mistake of staying in the resort studio, because it had 2beds, without checking out more about the room.
The room was no better than a resort studio at Port Orleans. (I love Port Orleans but don’t expect it to be at DVC level).
GFV resort studio had no kitchenette. You could request a toaster and microwave but we had to put the toaster in the bathroom. There was a small mini fridge. There was a single cup coffee maker instead of a full size coffee maker. We had to ask for paper towels since they were not standard equipment in the resort. There were no chairs in the room so I pulled a deck chair in to watch TV. The couch was against the same wall as the TV so you couldn’t see TV from the couch. I didn’t notice any space to put a ECV.
Again- I did get what I requested but I was very disappointed since it was my first and probably last stay at GFV.
Stay in deluxe studio since it costs the same amount of points.
I should have done more research.

Yes you should have done your research. However if you don't own at VGF and want to stay the resort studios are most likely what you will wind up with since they added nothing but Resort Studios from BPK with the expansion even if you had done your research.

I agree I wouldn't want to stay in that room type either as I prefer to have the couch face the TV as well but did think they were a lot larger than I expected when I had toured them.

Did your Resort studio not have the long vanity table next across from the bathroom? This has a chair and ample space to put a toaster from the looks of it. I realize some rooms are configured differently in BPK so it may not have had it.

I would also classify this as a knock on the room you booked not on the resort itself unless you had other issues while staying there which hopefully you did not.

Hopefully you will give VGF another try and be able to grab something in the original DVC building.

 

[Tink0808]

Can’t comment on the deluxe but recently stayed in resort villa and I thought it was beautiful and roomy. Now there was an ECV parked outside the door in the hallway of room next to us so I’m assuming it didn’t fit comfortably in the room.

 

[Disneyepcot]

Yes you should have done your research. However if you don't own at VGF and want to stay the resort studios are most likely what you will wind up with since they added nothing but Resort Studios from BPK with the expansion even if you had done your research.

I agree I wouldn't want to stay in that room type either as I prefer to have the couch face the TV as well but did think they were a lot larger than I expected when I had toured them.

Did your Resort studio not have the long vanity table next across from the bathroom? This has a chair and ample space to put a toaster from the looks of it. I realize some rooms are configured differently in BPK so it may not have had it.

I would also classify this as a knock on the room you booked not on the resort itself unless you had other issues while staying there which hopefully you did not.

Hopefully you will give VGF another try and be able to grab something in the original DVC building.

We did not have the vanity table which would have been nice since we also did not have a chair.
If we are ever able to use our points on a deluxe studio then I may try again. Thanks for your response.

 

[eticketplease]

We did not have the vanity table which would have been nice since we also did not have a chair.
If we are ever able to use our points on a deluxe studio then I may try again. Thanks for your response.

Well you are certainly right to be disappointed (again with the room). I have only stayed in the original building but when taking the tour and watching room videos they always appeared to have the table. With the table missing I don’t think it mattered how much research you conducted.

 

[Girlstar30]

I would do one of those virtual tours and see what you think. The original rooms look beautiful. We did not like the resort studios so we are excited to try the og soon.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I thought I read that the resort studios didn't have microwaves at first, but that they had so many complaints from members, that they added microwaves very shortly after they opened. But what I'm wondering is do they all have refrigerators or the dreaded beverage coolers?

 

[muppets3d]

I thought I read that the resort studios didn't have microwaves at first, but that they had so many complaints from members, that they added microwaves very shortly after they opened. But what I'm wondering is do they all have refrigerators or the dreaded beverage coolers?

It is a refrigerator. I don’t think any DVC room has a “beverage cooler”.

 

[Shellyred8]

If being centrally located on the property is important to you, I would vote for the Resort Studio. We stayed there once and it was fine for our needs, but I really liked the central location of it. Our one complaint was the noise. There are pretty big gaps at the bottom of the doors, so there is lots of sound that is let thru. We ended up putting rolled up towels at the base of the doors to cover the gap and that helped a lot.

 

[eticketplease]

It is a refrigerator. I don’t think any DVC room has a “beverage cooler”.

Are you sure about that when they were built? They were certainly advertised as beverage coolers. I can see adding microwaves to rooms that didn’t have them. I cannot see them swapping out all the beverage coolers for refrigerators. But they may be able to get away with it and use them as spares for the value resorts.

 

[LadybugsMum]

It is a refrigerator. I don’t think any DVC room has a “beverage cooler”.

I've had beverage coolers in a couple of studios I've stayed in. So, yes, it's absolutely possible. If you need a mini fridge, you can contact mousekeeping or go to the front desk to request one.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I have my first GFV stay coming up in November and we have a Resort Preferred View studio (what was available at 7 months if I didn’t want to pay for the suspect “Theme Park View” resort studio). I researched both rooms and decided that I wanted two real beds (staying with my friend and while we’d share, it’s nice we each get a queen). Also the location of the BPK rooms is so much closer to the “action” of GF. I’ve stayed at GF multiple times and I haven’t had a problem with any of the rooms in the outer buildings and they have always felt spacious. Are you worried about someone messing with the ECV in the hallway or do you need it to get around the room?

 

[muppets3d]

I've had beverage coolers in a couple of studios I've stayed in. So, yes, it's absolutely possible. If you need a mini fridge, you can contact mousekeeping or go to the front desk to request one.

what makes it a beverage cooler to you? The refrigerators at big pine key get cold enough for food. It’s not very big but it is cold. Its not like a cruise ship “fridge” that is barely cold.

 

[eticketplease]

what makes it a beverage cooler to you? The refrigerators at big pine key get cold enough for food. It’s not very big but it is cold. Its not like a cruise ship “fridge” that is barely cold.

I don’t carry a thermometer with me but I remember reading that the coolers only get down to 40-45 range. Since that is the lowest multiple people had reported that supplies for breakfast aka milk and creamer were going bad.