What is the Issue with Studio's????

[dsneygirl]

And the appeal of Disney restaurants starts to wear. We aren't nearly as frequent visitors as many DVCers, but I've eaten almost everywhere I WANT to eat (we still haven't tried 50s prime time cause the kids like the Sci Fi and haven't been to Saana or Victoria and Alberts - those are the only things on the "we should do that sometime" list). Several years ago we switched to mostly signature dining, having had far too much less than great food at Disney, and signature is still often less than great, but at least its almost always a notch above good. Because we've haven't been as much - we still want to fly out of the door to ride Space Mountain, but there is almost no reason to bother with a Le Cellier reservation to eat an overpriced mediocre steak - we've had that experience three or four times, and are pretty much done with it.

We still prefer lunch and dinner in restaurants - my food preferences are beyond boiling noodles and dumping a jar of sauce over the top of it and I don't want to take vacation time to do more. But breakfast in the room is a must - I can do breakfast in the room faster and better for a LOT cheaper than I can get it at Disney without it being a lot of work and with it being on a time schedule that works for us.

ITA with this. We are totally over eating out 2-3 meals a day all week long. I don't even do noodles though. We like to have a big lunch then just bagels, a bowl of cereal and fruit as a snack. Then we can get ice cream, dole whip etc later on.

 

[AmyBWV99]

When your kids are small a Studio is totally fine. if you get cramped later add points then for a 1 bedroom. We like having the washer dryer in the room now that we have more kids but we can get by without it for a shorter trip no problem.

 

[LCoulter]

Each family’s preferences are different and they can change. There is no one right preference; it is whatever is best for you at the time.

Some friends of mine have three girls ranging from tween to teen and they are perfectly content in a studio. We have one DD6 and prefer the space and comfort of the one bedroom. I like having the laundry room and kitchen. We do stay in a studio on occasion when we are trying to save on points.

Do what's best for you and your family.

 

[Andrew015]

Age a available points may be a factor. Our adult children don't mind a studio and the spend all day in the parks.

Us older folk sleep in, go into the parks once in a while, eat most of our meals in the villa and do laundry to reduce the amount of packed clothes. We consider our room and resort like a vacation home but because it's at WDW we get better landscaping, better theming, more restaurants to pick from, convenient free transportation and theme parks.

Bill

I don't know how much age really factors into this equation, but more so, personal preference and budget. My parents (65 and 70) tagged along on my last trip, and they spent very little time in the room itself. They much preferred relaxing in the various common areas at VWL as opposed to the room itself. My mom probably spent 20-30% of her vacation reading books in the quiet lounge chairs located behind Trout Pass bar. Very little time was actually spent in the room itself aside from sleeping, showering and getting ready for the day. Also of note, my parents have been to WDW somewhere between 40-50 times since the very beginning, so it's not like they are trying to "take in every second". This is just our preference, as much as it is your preference to utilize the villas like a vacation home.

For me personally, the biggest factor is stetching my points to maximize the # of days at WDW, and the studio is the best vehicle for me to achieve my objective.

 

[kirstenb1]

I have to have:
1. more than 1 bathroom. I hate trying to shuffle everyone's baths and showers around 1 bathroom.

2. full kitchen---allows maximum flexibility. I buy a few menu items for a couple of dinners in the room, plus everyone's favorite snacks/beverages.

3. washer/dryer is nice, but I could probably be flexible on this.

 

[rlovew]

With only 2 of us we do studios every time- we love having a couch separate from the bed but again we don't need to use it. GFV studios problem however is storage- there is nowhere to keep things for more than a couple of people for a couple of days. I would take a single child with us to a studio at many places but probably spring for a 1 bedroom at BLT because of the space and at VGF for the storage space.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are actually doing a studio (the horrors!) for our next trip of five nights. If our son joins us (and brings a friend), I'll book them a room at the All Stars so the two of us can each have a bed. But when we leave OKW, we'll all be headed to the beach to our new timeshare (two bedroom and not DVC) with a full sized washer and dryer. So I'll wash the dirty clothes at the beach. Plus five nights is a short trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

We just bought into the VGF last week, and ever since then all I've been hearing is how we will not be happy with just a Studio, and we should have bought enough points for a 1-bed. I don't understand this AT ALL, as we walked the Studio's, and LOVE them.

I feel like you KNOW the "issue" that people have with the studios, so I don't get what more you need. And I don't understand why it's bothering you enough to make a post about it; YOU like them, YOU feel it's a decent space, and you are happy with it. Tell that to the people who are bugging you, and be done with it.


It would be like if I let the "if I do laundry or cook then it's not vacation" people bug me. I don't agree with that even a tiny little bit. Clothing gets dirty while living life, and stomachs want to get filled each day. If we're lucky (and if we're visiting WDW we are lucky indeed), we can clean clothes and fill those stomachs. Life doesn't stop just because we're on vacation. We already pack enough... I don't want to actually bring every last one of our clothes with us, LOL! And we get REALLY tired of dining out. We have our faves now at WDW, Universal, and just a bit beyond, and after that we get tired of the food pretty quickly.

That said, it's lovely when DH cooks instead of me when we're in a villa with a stove. My cousin, aunt, and I LOVE it when my hubby and cousin's hubby make breakfast when we're all staying in a 2 bedroom together. Gives us the warm and fuzzies that the guys step up like that. Eggs cooked by someone else taste so good!


But we spent so many points on 2 bedrooms for those big extended family trips that we've already stayed at POR twice, and I've cobbled together a bizarre trip encompassing Pop for me and my son, a studio at Boardwalk for a night, a studio at SSR for 2 nights (and my aunt is invited for those 3 studio nights), and then 3 nights at a family suite at All Star Music (aunt and her grandson and *maybe* my hubby will be along for that!). I am looking forward to ALL of it. Staying in a 1 or 2 bedroom, not even our OKW 2 bedroom stays, hasn't ruined me for studios. I find studios to be charming. I adore the studio at Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge. We're happy to bounce around wherever we need to be.

But we're still in early days of going to WDW, and maybe it'll change.


meanwhile, don't let it get under your skin. You've now had 4 pages of people telling you why they have issues with it...you said in your first post that you don't.

I feel like those pictures of the kids have been up in your sig for a good while now; if I'm right, the picture might not be telling us the whole truth of your family situation, so all the "your family is young" comments MIGHT be off. Not sure. Rarely notice or remember sigs, but I feel like I've seen those little guys for a pretty solid amount of time and so I think they might be older than in the pic.

 

[pouncingpluto]

I actually think that in some ways one bedrooms are even more convenient when the kids are little than when they are bigger. Little kids sleep more than adults, so it makes a huge difference to have another room to retreat to with the lights and tv on. Little kids go through clothes quickly, so it's nice to be able to throw a load of laundry in every day. Little kids often have more particular needs/wants with food and drink, so the kitchen is likely to be used a lot.

The other thing I haven't seen mentioned here is the king bed. That is a big deal to us. Of course, we stayed in one bedrooms before DD2 came along, and as we are unlikely to have any more kids, that's probably the size we will stick with forever.

 

[boxer]

I feel like you KNOW the "issue" that people have with the studios, so I don't get what more you need. And I don't understand why it's bothering you enough to make a post about it; YOU like them, YOU feel it's a decent space, and you are happy with it. Tell that to the people who are bugging you, and be done with it.


It would be like if I let the "if I do laundry or cook then it's not vacation" people bug me. I don't agree with that even a tiny little bit. Clothing gets dirty while living life, and stomachs want to get filled each day. If we're lucky (and if we're visiting WDW we are lucky indeed), we can clean clothes and fill those stomachs. Life doesn't stop just because we're on vacation. We already pack enough... I don't want to actually bring every last one of our clothes with us, LOL! And we get REALLY tired of dining out. We have our faves now at WDW, Universal, and just a bit beyond, and after that we get tired of the food pretty quickly.

That said, it's lovely when DH cooks instead of me when we're in a villa with a stove. My cousin, aunt, and I LOVE it when my hubby and cousin's hubby make breakfast when we're all staying in a 2 bedroom together. Gives us the warm and fuzzies that the guys step up like that. Eggs cooked by someone else taste so good!


But we spent so many points on 2 bedrooms for those big extended family trips that we've already stayed at POR twice, and I've cobbled together a bizarre trip encompassing Pop for me and my son, a studio at Boardwalk for a night, a studio at SSR for 2 nights (and my aunt is invited for those 3 studio nights), and then 3 nights at a family suite at All Star Music (aunt and her grandson and *maybe* my hubby will be along for that!). I am looking forward to ALL of it. Staying in a 1 or 2 bedroom, not even our OKW 2 bedroom stays, hasn't ruined me for studios. I find studios to be charming. I adore the studio at Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge. We're happy to bounce around wherever we need to be.

But we're still in early days of going to WDW, and maybe it'll change.


meanwhile, don't let it get under your skin. You've now had 4 pages of people telling you why they have issues with it...you said in your first post that you don't.

I feel like those pictures of the kids have been up in your sig for a good while now; if I'm right, the picture might not be telling us the whole truth of your family situation, so all the "your family is young" comments MIGHT be off. Not sure. Rarely notice or remember sigs, but I feel like I've seen those little guys for a pretty solid amount of time and so I think they might be older than in the pic.

Not sure why you are trying to make more of my post that what it is? I HONESTLY wanted to know if I was missing something with people not liking the Studios---and to be honest, I was more looking for reasoning like they are extremely tough to book. I was glad to hear the only reason(s) people don't like them is because of the room size.

We are new at this DVC thing, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. There are so many variables with booking, availability, etc--that I was worried that Studios are a hassle to book.

As for the boys, yes that picture is a few years old--thanks for noticing, lol. The boys are now 6 and 12--so not 'too' old to mandate a Studio quite yet.

 

[BenDiscipio]

I personally don't get the majority of you saying that you need a 1 bedroom or larger to cook your own meals and stock your refrigerator....

Let's look at this economically....the room expense is the LARGEST expense on your vacation. For the upgrade to a 1 bedroom, you could have everyone on the Deluxe Dining plan and also pay for more alcohol than you could drink.

Look, I can understand if you've got all that money burning a hole in your wallet and you opt for the larger room and still eat out....but I cook dinner every day of the week at home. I don't want to cook when I'm on vacation, and, what's worse is I don't want to pay a fortune to have the opportunity to HAVE to cook.

It's certainly not saving you money. When all is said and done, a family of 4 eating out at signature restaurants, sending laundry out to be done, and partying it up at a lounge at night is going to be less expensive than upgrading to a 1 bedroom and buying all your own food, cooking in your room, and doing your own laundry.

I'm taking my two boys to Disney during april vacation at the VGF (april 21-27)

Point total for a lake view studio is 234

Point total for a lake view 1 bedroom is 476.

Now, the cost of points is a debatable point, because I'm a DVC GFV owner but let's go with an opportunity cost of renting them out at, say $14/point. That's a difference of 242 points or $3,388!!

Just to have a separate room from your kids on vacation? $3,388? Deluxe Dining plan is $2000 roughly....that leaves you with $1300 to enjoy adult beverages or buy whatever for the kids....and that doesn't even factor in the cost of buying your own groceries and or food/wine/beer, etc. for the 1bedroom.

We have stayed in 1 bedrooms before and I admit it's nice and it's easy. But I've never been bothered by having us all in the same room on vacation. The kids fall asleep and we can watch whatever we like on tv as a day in the park sends them off into very deep sleep.

Now, the VGF can even sleep 5, where the 2 boys won't have to share a bed. Granted, if I want to really splurge, and don't mind the wasted money, I will go for a 1br....but it certainly isn't to save money and eat in....my goodness, that's twisted logic. Why would I want to pay soooo much money for a room only to have to watch my pennies while I'm there....

Just my 2 cents.....or maybe a few more....haha

 

[crisi]

Ben, you obviously don't travel with my husband. Meals outstrip lodging on almost every trip we take. Not hard when you like a $200 bottle of wine with dinner.

A lot of people AREN'T watching pennies while they are there. Many DVCers, probably most on this board, are pretty well off. Many of us don't believe we are saving money with DVC (some possibly are, the ones that stick with studios for instance). Some started in studios and added on when they could afford it. Some can afford it with the points they have because they choose less frequent trips with high schoolers than they had with smaller kids (or will have again when they retire) (we had three in a Grand Villa last trip, we had points that needed to be used and were only going to be there a few days - that was overkill - but we also thought we'd have guests that didn't make it - for a good reason - he died).

If I had bought DVC to save money, it would have been the worst thing I'd ever done. Its been a more effective way for Disney to take money from my pocket. I'm content, since I think I'm getting something in exchange, but that something isn't cheaper trips.

 

[DebbieB]

I originally bought DVC for vacations with my mom. I loved the 1 bedroom. It gave us room to spread out, if she needed to go to bed early, I could be in the living room. It was nice to have the convenience of the washer/dryer. Never actually cooked. She used to call it "our apartment". When I bought, it was OKW or BWV, so the points per night were reasonable. She has since passed away and I either go solo or with friends. I've been mostly getting studios because of the high points cost of the new resorts.

 

[Minniesgal]

I personally don't get the majority of you saying that you need a 1 bedroom or larger to cook your own meals and stock your refrigerator.... Let's look at this economically....the room expense is the LARGEST expense on your vacation. For the upgrade to a 1 bedroom, you could have everyone on the Deluxe Dining plan and also pay for more alcohol than you could drink. Look, I can understand if you've got all that money burning a hole in your wallet and you opt for the larger room and still eat out....but I cook dinner every day of the week at home. I don't want to cook when I'm on vacation, and, what's worse is I don't want to pay a fortune to have the opportunity to HAVE to cook. It's certainly not saving you money. When all is said and done, a family of 4 eating out at signature restaurants, sending laundry out to be done, and partying it up at a lounge at night is going to be less expensive than upgrading to a 1 bedroom and buying all your own food, cooking in your room, and doing your own laundry. I'm taking my two boys to Disney during april vacation at the VGF (april 21-27) Point total for a lake view studio is 234 Point total for a lake view 1 bedroom is 476. Now, the cost of points is a debatable point, because I'm a DVC GFV owner but let's go with an opportunity cost of renting them out at, say $14/point. That's a difference of 242 points or $3,388!! Just to have a separate room from your kids on vacation? $3,388? Deluxe Dining plan is $2000 roughly....that leaves you with $1300 to enjoy adult beverages or buy whatever for the kids....and that doesn't even factor in the cost of buying your own groceries and or food/wine/beer, etc. for the 1bedroom. We have stayed in 1 bedrooms before and I admit it's nice and it's easy. But I've never been bothered by having us all in the same room on vacation. The kids fall asleep and we can watch whatever we like on tv as a day in the park sends them off into very deep sleep. Now, the VGF can even sleep 5, where the 2 boys won't have to share a bed. Granted, if I want to really splurge, and don't mind the wasted money, I will go for a 1br....but it certainly isn't to save money and eat in....my goodness, that's twisted logic. Why would I want to pay soooo much money for a room only to have to watch my pennies while I'm there.... Just my 2 cents.....or maybe a few more....haha

We hate eating out every night on vacation. Sure we like a few meals out to feel special but if we try and eat out every night we are sick of the sight of food within a few days. We would far rather have the space and facilities of the 1 bedroom over the deluxe Dining plan any day if the week in fact I can't think of anything I'd like less than to be tied I to Disney dining for the length of my trip.

 

[mrsp1030]

We do studios now while our kids are still young but one bedrooms will be in or future as they get older.

 

[janni518]

One bedroom? Heck with that! I want a 2 bedroom. Now before you go thinking I'm a spoiled diva (I can be), you should know that I can't remember the last time I did a trip with just our family. We always have people with us. Isn't that the point? So we usually take the MBR (I'm nice, not crazy). This leaves the other bedroom with two double beds and another bathroom plus the pullout sofa if needed.

The kitchen means more time in the shower while my grandkids eat their cereal or frozen waffles,watching the Disney info channel. We have a lot of special needs eating and a diabetic so again, kitchen is awesome. Many of our guests are teen/college age so they eat on their own schedules. I'm usually reading a book by 10-11pm (usually ) and they can come in at 2am, have a snack, do laundry and take a shower, without bothering dad and I who are *ahem* soaking in the jet tub.

I think I could go back to a studio if it meant an extra trip (we try to go twice a year) with just my husband and I, but I would miss my big tub and washer/dryer and yes, all the commotion. I'd probably still have a magical vacation. Maybe just a few less of Tink's sparkles

 

[BenDiscipio]

We hate eating out every night on vacation. Sure we like a few meals out to feel special but if we try and eat out every night we are sick of the sight of food within a few days. We would far rather have the space and facilities of the 1 bedroom over the deluxe Dining plan any day if the week in fact I can't think of anything I'd like less than to be tied I to Disney dining for the length of my trip.

Are you kidding me? When you look at the breadth of potential restaurants, including Signature restaurants, you're talking about some of the finest collection of restaurants near any resort anywhere....what more do you want? and you don't have to eat 3 meals a day or constantly. Even with a $200/night bottle of wine per night, you're still coming out ahead in a studio vs. a 1 bedroom. I'm not saying 1 bedrooms are lousy, I'm just saying all of this "you can't stay in a studio" mullarkey is just that....mullarkey. If you want to spend almost $4000 more for a week in a 1 bedroom, all the best to you....I wish I could justify that. But a studio is perfectly luxurious for my family and it allows us to really do it up. I don't go on vacation to sit in my room....can't for the life of me understand why anybody would.

 

[Desnik]

When our kids were little we always stayed in a studio. We felt like you, OP. Then our kids got older, we stayed in a 1 bedroom and are now spoiled lol. I don't cook on vacation, but I love having the washer/dryer in the room! Also, the 2 bathrooms are heaven, especially with a teenage daughter!! We have gone to WDW so often that we spend a lot of down time at the resort and in our room. We've done week long trips without going to the parks! So the more space for us, the better. We added on so we could have a 1 bedroom every trip. Now, we need to ad on again because a 2 bedroom would be ideal for our family now with the ages of our kids. Don't get me wrong, if we are going to WDW for 2-3 nights and we plan on being at the parks, we'd stay in a studio, but we'd miss the space of a 1 bedroom for sure!

 

[tjkraz]

I personally don't get the majority of you saying that you need a 1 bedroom or larger to cook your own meals and stock your refrigerator....

Problem is your unique set of numbers doesn't carry over to every person posting in this thread.

We all know VGF is the most expensive DVC resort, therefore it has the greatest disparity between Studio and 1B costs. Yet the costs of the dining plan don't change regardless of resort or dates.

In your one, specific example, the difference between Studio & 1B is 242 points. For my next scheduled DVC stay it would be 114 points over the course of a week.

Additionally, my kids are now of the age where they would be considered Disney "adults." Our dining plan cost would be $206 per day or $1443 per week just for the STANDARD DDP. Gratuities would add another $200+.

For the Signature dining, it would be $399 per day / $2793 per week plus tips.

We don't spend an exorbitant amount of time in our room, but I also have no desire to mirror my kids sleeping schedules. The kids sleep about 9-10 hours per night on vacation. I'm lucky if I get 6 hours. I don't want to have to be lights-out at 10pm so that my 12 year old son isn't a grouch the next day.

I'll also note that the basis for your argument--point rental prices--are not the prices that owners actually PAY for the points.

10 years ago I bought my SSR points for $79 each, giving me 50 years' worth of use. Thus my 2013 cost for each point is:

($79 per point / 50 years) = $1.58 + $4.81 dues = $6.39 per point for 2013.

Given the 114 extra points (noted above) to upgrade from a Studio to 1B, my total out-of-pocket cost is $728.46 for a week's vacation.

And yeah, it's well worth $700 bucks to go from a Studio to a 1B.

In my opinion.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[wcpamotm]

There are just the two of us, and unless we invite guests there are not now nor ever will be kids in the picture.

We like a studio just fine. To us, the kitchenette is more than adequate for our continental-style breakfasts in the room, and would be for sandwiches and microwave meals if/when we choose.

We did add on a second contract that will allow us to stay in 1-bedrooms some of the time. We do appreciate the jacuzzi tub, washer/dryer and the extra space.

But it's still quite the luxury for us, even above and beyond Disney trips in general.