We're just a family of 3 but nearly always just book a studio in order to conserve & ration points. We started our (direct) buy-in process in Dec. of 2006 & closed in January 2007. We prefer more trips to only one (we own at SSR and have enough points to go 2-3 times a year in studios (or one time in a one-bedroom) depending on trip length and resort points cost). Going more often makes the price of buying AP's easier to swallow tho as we feel it extends their value. We only stayed in a 1 bedroom once and that was due to a fluke where it was a very last minute change in plans and that's all that was available. The extra space, king size bed, larger bath & laundry WAS nice - but wasn't nice enough to get us to change our plans to larger units on a regular basis. Our DS is almost 19 now and would PREFER to have a "real" bed as opposed to a sleep sofa but he ain't paying the dues and even the 1 bedroom doesn't offer that and we don't have enough points to do a 2-bedroom. A 2-bedroom would be overkill for the 3 of us so he's stuck on the sleep sofa if he wants to join us. I don't want to cook on vacation (OR to have to plan to go back to the room for meals - major time suck). But we DO use the kitchenettes for breakfasts. Some of the kitchenettes are larger than others and offer more functionality. AKV Kidani's is the WORST (smallest) while BLT's is the best as far as space. VWL, HHI and VB also have nice size kitchenettes. The rest are all smaller.
We definitely have layout preferences but we like to resort hop from trip to trip so sometimes we go to places that are not as high on our fav list. For example we DON'T like the studio layout at OKW even tho our son would prefer to have the bed. It's a really odd shape & they have the TV on top of a tall chest of drawers at a weird angle. Also, the bathroom is not a split bath - so only 1 person at a time can get ready. That's probably the worst feature of the OKW studio layout - impractical from a bathroom standpoint. That said, even tho it's our least fav resort, DH and I are going on an adults only trip for 4 nights this fall so we booked OKW because it's a short trip and simply to save on points as it's the cheapest (and AKV Jambo wasn't 100% available when we booked). We also don't like the Kidani studio bathroom layout (on top of the kitchenette almost being an afterthought). They have the vanity area in the same room with the tub/shower. So again, no privacy - poor layout - so it's next to last on our choice list.
We don't usually worry about resort location to the parks too much. Each resort really has it's advantages and disadvantages in regard to location. We booked BLT once over spring break for monorail access & walkability during a busy time which was nice. We're staying at the Poly for the 1st time in June - looking forward to being on the monorail again. But it's a major points hog so even if we love it when we go we can't book it very often. When we stay at SSR we tend to go to Disney Springs more often. We often book AKV Jambo (love the theming and it is DS's fav) or we book SSR prior to the 7 mo. window for hard to get times - it's our home resort and we like it fine - both are easy on the points if you book std. view rooms. Since we are usually trying to spread our points out as far as we can we're very frugal with our planning and I work out a lot of scenarios on paper before we book to plan out trips beyond the one we're currently booking just to see what options we'll have in the future. We DO also love BCV and VWL too. But they're sometimes booked up early since they're smaller and depending on time of year. And sometimes we just can't "afford" them. We're due a trip to VWL but will wait until the construction there is over. We have also stayed at VGC and Aulani - loved both of those resorts. They're amazing. Wish we could plan another trip in that direction but it's out of our budget while DS is in college.
We have had some AMAZING vacations with our DVC and are glad we bought when we did. Guess I didn't answer the OP's question yet. Hard to pick a favorite studio - I liked the overall size of the ones at VGC and VWL. VWL has 2 closets and a larger kitchenette...so I'd say those 2 win for layouts. Aulani would win for location!! LOL
Second favorite is actually VGC studios. It's just a few minor differences but they were improvements. Otherwise except for VGF and PVB with the extra baths and now the older resorts with the murphy beds I don't see enough of a difference in the room and would instead be looking at the resort itself for preference.
