Noise between suites - VGF and others

[DisVacationClubMommy]

We are here at VGF now. I'm a hard sleeper, slept through a tornado years ago! But I've been awake off and on all night. Either its wind in an exhaust fan or someone is yelling like its Halloween every 5 minutes. All. Night. Long. We are now standing in different parts of the unit trying to figure this out!

 

[dors316]

We felt like we could hear everything going on at VGF

 

[dvc at last !]

We felt like we could hear everything going on at VGF

interesting...

 

[lisaviolet]

It is interesting.

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Found this thread, Touring plans has rated the resorts for sound transfer. I certainly don't think it's anywhere close to the be all and end all because they are strictly judging noise transfer, not room to room as I would assume they couldn't nab that.

http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/hotels/sound-ratings


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[BirdsOfPreyDave]

This is such a subjective thing, because everyone's idea of what's an acceptable/unacceptable level of noise varies. Also, you never really know if it's the room design, itself, or that you've been situated next to "that" family.

I'll knock on wood, first, before saying that we've never really had a stay where noise was enough of an issue that it bothered us at any DVC resort. Sure, we could occassionally hear talking or other noises from other rooms, but nothing to the extent that it was bothersome. In general, the worst source of noise at any resort seems to be excited kids in the halls. But what are you going to do about that? It's WDW, and kids are going to be excited no matter how many times their parents remind them to be considerate of other guests.

As to noise from next door, as has previously been mentioned by other posters, the lock-off rooms have the most issues because of their very nature. The floor plans do have an impact, here, and not all resorts are created equal. At SSR, for example, the noise from the connecting door is mitigated, to some extent, because the connecting door is up by the front door. You're really only near the connecting door in either room when you're coming or going. At BWV, by contrast, the connecting door is in the middle of the living room. This puts the people in the studio side-by-side with the family in the one-bedroom hanging out around the TV. Other resorts fall into these two general categories, those with the doors in a smart place, and those where noise wasn't a design consideration.

At home, we always sleep with a white noise machine. So it was only natural for us to get one for Disney, too. We keep it in our Owner's Locker. Between that and the additional white noise of my CPAP machine, we've never been disturbed by noise while trying to sleep at any DVC resort. My son-in-law did something on our most recent trip that never would have occurred to me. He downloaded a white noise app for his phone, and used that in their room to keep the kids from being disturbed. It was one of those "could've had a V-8" thump-the-head moments when we realized we didn't need the dedicated machine we bought.

 

[DisVacationClubMommy]

Not being able to sleep is unacceptable.

 

[lisaviolet]

, and not all resorts are created equal.
.

This is my only point.

And then in turn look at where you did well and follow it.

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And as far as subjective (I'm laughing) -I'm used to noise living in the city. And could care less about noise in the halls. As in that's life. I have it here. I do ask children with me to not run or rough around in the halls though - here and at the resorts. And I sleep late on vacation, so that's MY issue. I'm surrounded by city noise here. Heck my terrace faces city trains. And there's ambulances and police sirens and the streetcars. I hardly even hear all three, over years here, so I'm not hyper sensitive.

Also, you never really know if it's the room design, itself, or that you've been situated next to "that" family.

*That family* shouldn't matter if construction choices are made. See below.

I'll say it again there is no excuse for room to room - and above - no matter if they're kids and loud people. I live in a condo with a younger demographic, many who party - a newborn next door. I hear NOTHING in my suite. Also, we all have hardwood/laminate floors and still nothing from above etc.

So my point is it doesn't have to be that way - with any suite to suite (taking out the lock off part for this one and if this is the greatest issue - work on the doors chosen/placement - BLT is great for this in placement IMO). I owned another condo which did have tremendous noise transfer - - a girl four doors down, opposite side of the condo could wake me up partying - that never happens here yet people party - so I know choices have been made in construction practices/choices, for better or worse.

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And at HHI I shouldn't be hearing a man - simply making long calls to someone - word for word in my studio while I am talking or watching TV myself. You could tell he was on his own and just simply calling to a couple of loved ones. That shouldn't happen. For his privacy as well. And it didn't impact my joy there at HHI, I'm not that kind of person - I'm simply using it as the worst example for all my DVC stays re: noise for this discussion about the differences. I've stayed at all DVC resorts, multiple times, in various suite sizes - except for VGF, VGC and Aulani.

And if a heavy sleeper can't sleep at VGF because of a ductwork issue, that's not okay.

I have a great time at WDW and do not let little things bother me at all. But the last two examples are not okay (I have returned to HHI and will do so it's lovely - it's not a deterrent for me). But I do expect improvements over time, learning from their building choices.

 

[pace0123]

Noise level is definitely a concern.

 

[pace0123]

We just stayed at VGF in a dedicated 2BR, 6th (top) floor. We didn't hear any noise in our villa.
However, I stood in the hall one night, and listened to my 5 year old loudly complaining about something. She was in the unit, and I was in the hall. It made me cringe. I think that anyone standing outside our unit, could have heard everything going on inside.

@moreisgood We plan to stay in a dedicated 2 bedroom at VGF our next trip. Can you tell me more about the view? Can you see MK? The castle? Fireworks? I would think that the 6th floor would be great as well as quieter.

 

[gdrj]

Yup, the problem at ALL villas is not the construction, it's the occupants. Some people don't even HAVE an "inside voice", and some parents have no clue that everyone in a one mile radius can hear their kids. I'm shocked at how many folks walk through the halls yelling and screaming as if no one else in the world exists. Disney can't fix that.

Agreed. However I will say that hall doorways and connecting doorways from studios will tend to allow more noise.

 

[moreisgood]

@moreisgood We plan to stay in a dedicated 2 bedroom at VGF our next trip. Can you tell me more about the view? Can you see MK? The castle? Fireworks? I would think that the 6th floor would be great as well as quieter.

I don't think you're going to see MK from any of the 2 BR units. If you look at the villa building, it looks like a "T". We stayed in the room, right in the intersection of the 2 lines of the T, on the longer side. We were looking right at the construction for the new villas at the Polynesian. When you look at Disney's map, it looks like we'd be looking more at MK, but we weren't. If we looked to the left, we saw the Contemporary.

From our balcony, I saw people that were on the short side of the T, out at the end, closest to the Poly. I asked if they could see MK, and they said "no". Maybe, the units at the very end, closest to the back of the resort, could see MK, but I believe those are Grand Villas. And I think that's why none of the views are labeled "Magic" views - you simply can't see the Magic Kingdom.

If you want to see the fireworks from the resort, the boat dock has a nice view, and the music is piped outside from Narcoosseee's.

Also, in respect to my earlier post, my complaining child was not screaming. She was just protesting something to her father,in a loud voice. It sounded amplified in the hall. I don't know if it's all the hardwood and tile, or how the kitchen/breakfast area is close to the exterior door, but people talking in the kitchen can be heard in the hallways. I also wish people wouldn't yell and run in the hallways, and we always remind our children before we enter a hotel hallway, but it seems that not everyone does that. And some of the people don't have children to blame.

 

[katdralion]

We are just back from a 3 week split stay trip and the noise level varied quite a bit.

We stayed in a studio at VGF and could hear every word our neighbours said, loudly! They woke us up when they came back late from the parks and I don't think they were being particularly noisy or rowdy, the sound just carried easily through the adjoining door. We also heard the monorail every time it went by our window which wasn't surprising since it was practically within touching distance from our balcony. They should have been aware that this could be a potential problem and built the resort with adequate soundproofing. The night before our flight we stayed at the airport in a room overlooking the runway. Planes taking off and landing right outside our window and we didn't hear a thing, slept like a log! So it can be done.

Our week at Kidani in a 1 bed was Heaven on Earth! Peace, perfect peace.

BWV was the noisiest! We were in a 1bed and didn't hear much from the neighbours, it was the outside noise that was troublesome. We were on the 4th floor opposite the bus stop and were kept awake by the, what felt like constant, beeping from the buses when they lowered the ramps for wheelchairs and scooters. We have stayed in this location many times before and have never noticed this beeping so not sure if it is a new thing or if the volume has increased or we just had a room with poor soundproofing on the balcony doors. Also on 2 separate nights of our stay, Epcot was blasting out music at 2am. When I asked at the front desk I was told that they had to do soundchecks for Illuminations after the park had closed. Again this was a first for us and we have been members at BWV since 1998.

This year I think it will be Kidani or Wilderness Lodge for us. We love the peace and quiet.

 

[DenLo]

Our worse experience was in a studio at VWL. Yep it was a lockoff and the connecting door is in the living room of the 1BR and into the bedroom area of the studio (what was DVC thinking on that design?). Unluckily our neighbors had a colicky baby that cried every night. The baby slept in the living room. And other DVC resorts have that design including OKW and BWV.

We haven't had any problems at BLT; AKV, Kidani was especially quiet, Jambo House was mixed, one room had elevator noise in the wall the bed was on (the elevator was across the hall); and SSR was great. OKW was strange because we could hear everyone walk by outside and the families in the living rooms on both sides of our studio (the lockoff 1BR attached to our studio and the dedicated 2BR next door).

 

[DonnaL]

Agree with Bobbiwoz about the loud flushing toilets..and that's at EVERY DVC resort I've stayed. Also, people walking by in the hallways are sometimes very loud.....I've often wondered if they can hear what's going on INSIDE a villa as well as we can hear them OUTSIDE in the hallway! But, honestly, the only time I recall hearing anything from a next door villa was last January (2013) at VGC... our first two nights there....we had someone next door who snored unbelievably loud! So bad it actually woke me from a sound sleep....which is unusual since DH has been known to snore...and when I first woke up I sleepily thought it was him.....and then realized it was coming thru the wall and not from next to me!! It was in the master bedroom I heard it.....so it wasn't thru the lock-off door which was in our entryway on the other side of our villa.

 

[cubsblue]

I really appreciate this thread because I am a light sleeper and it sounds like VGF is a place to avoid. I wouldn't want to spend that many points only to be kept up all night.

 

[lisaviolet]

Oh no who bumped this thread?

It makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

 

[disneynutz]

I really appreciate this thread because I am a light sleeper and it sounds like VGF is a place to avoid. I wouldn't want to spend that many points only to be kept up all night.

Stayed in a VGF lake view 1 bedroom last month and didn't see or hear anyone.

I think it just the luck of who your neighbors are and where your room is.

BWV we enjoy a high floor and never hear and Boardwalk noise.

At VWL we were above a service area and heard noise every morning.

OKW we hear the buses driving by in the resort if we are next to a road.

At all of the resorts we can hear kids running in the halls and some neighbors yelling on occasion.

Bill