Booking 1-Bedrooms vs. Studios

We are a family of 4 with a just turned 2 year old and a 5 year old. We bought DVC bc specifically we like staying in one bedrooms with our young kids for 4 reasons:

1) Separate sleeping spaces for napping/early to bed kids
2) Full kitchen (we feed our kids a lot in the villa bc they just don't eat enough to justify buying them meals in the parks)
3) In-unit washer dryer (I never did laundry on any vacation ever until I had kids, but I find this so helpful with little ones)
4) Extra square footage bc we tend to spend more time in the villa taking breaks now that we have kids

We feel like (and we could be very wrong about this) when our kids are older we won't need the one bedroom anymore and can start staying in studios again. We figure that while separate sleeping spaces might always be nice, once our kids are a few years older, they won't be napping, so we won't NEED the separate space during the day, and we also won't neeeeed the full kitchen and washer dryer as much as we do now. My family of 4 always traveled together in one hotel room...but we didn't really start traveling until my sister and I were 7 and 4, whereas we started traveling with my own children from the time each was about three months old. Also once our kids are much older and involved in activities, there will always be the possibility of one parent taking one kid at a time, or something like that. But right now, when we are always all traveling together, and bringing the occasional grandparent or aunt/uncle, and with a lot more baggage, both literally and figuratively, the one bedrooms are ideal for families with small kids.
I don't know, it is awfully difficult giving up those in-room washers and dryers, even traveling solo, because I can throw clothes in the washer in the morning, take off to the parks, and then put them in the dryer when I return. It beats having to hang out around a pool or laundry room waiting on your laundry while on vacation.
 
Starting as a family of 4, we booked 1 bdrms only (1 week a year). Fast forward to 2 person trips, and we progressively changed over to 2 13-day vacations in studios. Once they renovated studios, removing most storage along with the fridge freezer, we decided it was back to 1 bdrms for both 13-day vacations or nothing (plus 1-2 weeks in a studio for adult son).
Since we do spend time in the room, with the parks as a secondary attraction, the 1 bdrm is perfect.
 
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We prefer one bedroom units now, but have booked studios in the past. We’ve also done a fair number of split stays to save points. If we need to save points on a longer trip, we’d book a studio for a few nights if necessary. And it also kind of depends how “theme park centric” our trip is. If we plan to basically chill out, we find it more pleasant to do so in a larger unit. Also, it’s nice to have somewhere to “hide out” (other than the bathroom!) when vacation togetherness gets to be too much of a good thing!
 
I prefer studios because it allows me to stretch my points and visit twice a year (sometimes 3). I've stayed in a one bedroom at AKL Kidani, and it was a lovely room, but more nights wins out in our household. We don't have a problem with a smaller room and we don't spend much time in there anyhow. Having said that, if the points for a 1 bedroom were lower, as in not twice the points of a studio, I would spend a little extra for a 1 bedroom.
 


I don't know, it is awfully difficult giving up those in-room washers and dryers, even traveling solo, because I can throw clothes in the washer in the morning, take off to the parks, and then put them in the dryer when I return. It beats having to hang out around a pool or laundry room waiting on your laundry while on vacation.

I hear ya. That was a HUGE drawback when we did a Poly studio stay a couple years ago. Loved the resort, the size of the villas, the split bathrooms, etc, but if we stay there again, I'm requesting a room in Moorea close to the laundry. Wherever we travel, I'm always on Home Away or Air BnB, or whatever website looking at places to stay and I'll totally cross places off my list if they don't have in unit W/D...I've been spoiled by the 1 bedrooms...
 
We are a family of 4 with a just turned 2 year old and a 5 year old. We bought DVC bc specifically we like staying in one bedrooms with our young kids for 4 reasons:

1) Separate sleeping spaces for napping/early to bed kids
2) Full kitchen (we feed our kids a lot in the villa bc they just don't eat enough to justify buying them meals in the parks)
3) In-unit washer dryer (I never did laundry on any vacation ever until I had kids, but I find this so helpful with little ones)
4) Extra square footage bc we tend to spend more time in the villa taking breaks now that we have kids

We feel like (and we could be very wrong about this) when our kids are older we won't need the one bedroom anymore and can start staying in studios again. We figure that while separate sleeping spaces might always be nice, once our kids are a few years older, they won't be napping, so we won't NEED the separate space during the day, and we also won't neeeeed the full kitchen and washer dryer as much as we do now. My family of 4 always traveled together in one hotel room...but we didn't really start traveling until my sister and I were 7 and 4, whereas we started traveling with my own children from the time each was about three months old. Also once our kids are much older and involved in activities, there will always be the possibility of one parent taking one kid at a time, or something like that. But right now, when we are always all traveling together, and bringing the occasional grandparent or aunt/uncle, and with a lot more baggage, both literally and figuratively, the one bedrooms are ideal for families with small kids.
I've had many thoughts along these lines as well. We fully plan to break up our day with a room break, and naps for at least a couple more years. The 1 bedrooms would seem more advantageous for that. As the kids get older we may find ourselves in the room less... Thank you for sharing this.

A couple others have mentioned the extra space being nice on longer, or less park-centric, trips. This makes a lot of sense to me, but also presents a catch-22... On a faster paced 5-day park-centric trip, the studio is probably sufficient. On a longer, more relaxed 8/9-day trip, the 1 bedroom is much appreciated. But 9 nights in a 1BR is almost quadruple 5 nights in a studio! Still, this argument does make sense to me, and ultimately we may end up with more points to support the 1BRs if we feel that way.
 
Our trips are now just hubby and I. We book both studios and 1 BDR. It all depends on how I am using my points and if my "kids/their children are traveling with us.

Two of my sons have their own small contract but it is never enough. They use some of my points many times. If I am point rich one year, I splurge for the 1 BDR - if I am treating my family/friends - I will have no problem booking a studio.

The first few years, I booked a 1BDR or a 2BDR for our family of 5.

There have been two trips that I can think where my dd decided to come with us last minute and stayed with us in a studio. Since she is an "adult", a 1 BDR would have been preferred. We survived. We go all the time and will be going back a ton more so it's all good.

Your children are still young, you can make it work with the studio for a while. Of course, the 1BDR will spoil you........whatever is comfortable for your family - physically and $$ - will be what is right for you.
 


As the kids get older we may find ourselves in the room less..

This is exactly how we felt. We've always been midday break people, but before kids, and when I was a kid traveling with my own parents and sisters, we would just midday break at the pool. It was rare that my entire family of 5 growing up was all in a hotel room at Disney at the same time once my siblings and I were pre-teens, except for sleep. Although since our last two Disney trips have been in one bedrooms, and our upcoming June trip is as well, we are getting spoiled by them, and it may be tough to go back to a studio in a few years ;-)
 
Something that either hasn't been mentioned (or I simply missed by skimming): The 1BR unit has King bed while the studio offers a Queen. That King bed can be quite a wonderful thing!!
 
Serious question..

Are you guys not packing enough clothes / staying for longer trips thus needing to do laundry on vacation? The only time we "needed" to do laundry on vacation was when we didn't pack warm enough clothes and had to go buy some (and I always wash before we wear). But really, a lot of people would have just worn the clothes without washing....

I guess one other time my DH had soaking wet shoes and hadn't brought another pair, so he tried drying his shoes in the dryer (which is one reason why I don't like doing my laundry away from home - you never know what someone put in there - I know someone who owns a laundromat and YIKES!!!).

Anyway, just curious.
 
Serious question..

Are you guys not packing enough clothes / staying for longer trips thus needing to do laundry on vacation? The only time we "needed" to do laundry on vacation was when we didn't pack warm enough clothes and had to go buy some (and I always wash before we wear). But really, a lot of people would have just worn the clothes without washing....

I guess one other time my DH had soaking wet shoes and hadn't brought another pair, so he tried drying his shoes in the dryer (which is one reason why I don't like doing my laundry away from home - you never know what someone put in there - I know someone who owns a laundromat and YIKES!!!).

Anyway, just curious.

Accidents happen in real life. Once I was at Sea World in San Diego, there were 5 of us, we ordered beverages and the server removed one from the tray, then the tray came crashing down covering me in pink punch. Fortunately, I had a change of clothes in the car. You never know when you may need to wash something. I also stay 7 to 12 nights, so I wash clothes rather than over packing. ANd if you travel with kids...well...the ways in which clothes can get dirty seem endless.
 
Serious question..

Are you guys not packing enough clothes / staying for longer trips thus needing to do laundry on vacation? The only time we "needed" to do laundry on vacation was when we didn't pack warm enough clothes and had to go buy some (and I always wash before we wear). But really, a lot of people would have just worn the clothes without washing....

I guess one other time my DH had soaking wet shoes and hadn't brought another pair, so he tried drying his shoes in the dryer (which is one reason why I don't like doing my laundry away from home - you never know what someone put in there - I know someone who owns a laundromat and YIKES!!!).

Anyway, just curious.
I like coming home with clean clothes if it's not a PITA. I hate coming home with 8-10 days worth of dirty clothes for 5 people. I don't bother in regular hotel rooms or studios. Actually I did do laundry once at POFQ years ago because it was ridiculously cold and I didn't bring enough warm clothes.
 
We usually do some laundry prior to returning home. We like to take our vacations as far as we can and head to work immediately after returning. We did laundry at PVB last year and that was a hassle, waiting for the machines. We are usually studio people, however we have our first 1 bedroom stay coming up and it might make us want the extra space, not to mention the bigger tub.
 
In 10 years of DVC, we have never stayed in a studio. (My husband did stay in one for 2 nights last spring on his own), but we had a teen age girl and a younger boy. They do/did not share a bed with each other. So we started out with 1 and even two bedroom units. If our kids had been as young as yours, we would probably have tried out studios some. However we have always stayed at least 7 days (and had a beadwetter for a long time) so the washing machine was essential.
Now that we are contemplating kidless trips, we will use studios.
 
When we bought in we received bonus points that had to be used in a certain amount of time or you lost them. We did a 1 bedroom and it was nice. However, when we ran the numbers we also decided we preferred longer stays (typically do 2 weeks) vs having more space. We have done studios frequently with up to 4 adults and really nobody has complained as they are at Disney. Washer and dryer are nice, but they do have free laundry for DVC and I usually do that when everyone is napping or getting ready. We found we didn't really use the kitchen and that the kitchenette in the studios is just fine for our needs.
 
If we wanted to stay in one room with our son in the bed next to us, we would have just booked a hotel room. We bought DVC for the one bedroom villas. Of course, we bought our first points direct from DVC in 1997 and paid $50 a point for them. We might stay a few nights in a studio for a quick trip, but only OKW studios. Neither of us like sleeping on the sleeper sofa and we can't sleep in a queen bed together. It's just not comfortable for us.
 
5 nights in a Poly studio and then 5 nights in a one bedroom

This is exactly what we like. 5 nights VGF then 5 nights 1-Bed AKV. Higher point locations for studio, lower 1-Bed (AKV, SSR, OKW) but my favorite is VGF then move in AKV. We usually do the studio first, Tue-Sun then move into a lower point 1-Bed from Sun-Fri. Perfect balance and if feels good to get a bigger room the 2nd half.
 
Serious question..

Are you guys not packing enough clothes / staying for longer trips thus needing to do laundry on vacation? The only time we "needed" to do laundry on vacation was when we didn't pack warm enough clothes and had to go buy some (and I always wash before we wear). But really, a lot of people would have just worn the clothes without washing....

I guess one other time my DH had soaking wet shoes and hadn't brought another pair, so he tried drying his shoes in the dryer (which is one reason why I don't like doing my laundry away from home - you never know what someone put in there - I know someone who owns a laundromat and YIKES!!!).

Anyway, just curious.

I travel in the summer...and I have two small children. We sweat through/spill through a lot of clothes. We each wear two outfits per day plus a bathing suits. Plus ponchos/rain jackets and multiples pairs of shoes bc...rain in the summer. We pack light if we're flying and only check one large suitcase for all four of us. To make that doable, we do laundry :-) That being said, before having children, I never did laundry on vacation. I didn't worry about carrying luggage, car seats, etc, so my husband and I just packed what we could each carry on and went!
 
My wife and I bought our initial contract with the intention of staying in 1 bed units which we did for several years. At some pint we decided we would rather visit more and switched to studios. Since then we have added more points as well as more trips. While we both prefer 1 bedrooms and king beds nothing beats more days in Disney.
 

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