When Should You Book a Villa Instead of Studio
The beauty of the Disney Vacation Club program involves its elasticity. It’s not a one-size-fits-all sloppy timeshare program.
Disney created something more diverse and forward-thinking. With DVC, you can buy as few or as many points as you like.
Then, you can use these points however you see fit, and that statement includes room sizes, too.
Sometimes, you might wonder whether you should book a villa instead of a studio. Here are a few instances where that’s a good idea.
You Want/Need Space
Some of the reasons are pretty self-explanatory. For starters, you just might want more space.
A dear friend only stays at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. He’s been a member longer than I have, and I cannot recall him ever staying elsewhere.
He’s in love with the massive space of Old Key West‘s one- and two-bedroom villas.
The reality is that some Disney studios – I’m looking at you, Bay Lake Tower! – are fairly tight.
You may feel a bit claustrophobic in a studio. However, for a few points more per night, you can book a villa and gain roughly double the space.
You’re Traveling with a Large Group
Of course, you may not have a choice, either.
Let’s say that you are part of a large family or traveling with a group. In such scenarios, a villa makes much more sense than a studio.
The best-case scenario in a studio is that you have two beds and a foldout.
In villas, seemingly all the furniture converts into beds. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but there’s a reason why a two-bedroom villa sleeps nine at Bay Lake Tower.
Multiple Bathrooms
Do you know what the secret to a happy marriage is? My wife and I don’t share the master bathroom.
She takes one bathroom, and I take the other. That way, neither of us ever messes with the other one’s stuff.
The same logic applies to villas. You gain at least one extra bathroom. That’s the difference between comfort and agony.
If you’ve ever pounded on a door and pleaded with the person to leave so that you can use the facilities, you know what I mean.
In the history of the hotel industry, no customer has ever complained about having extra bathrooms. More is always better.
You Want to Do Laundry
I’ve taken shorter trips to Walt Disney World over the last three years, generally four or five nights in length.
Before that, a 12-night trip wouldn’t have been unusual for my wife and me. In fact, my brother literally got home today from a two-week DVC vacation.
My family likes extended vacations, and Walt Disney World’s perfect for that. You never run out of things to do.
The downside is that you don’t want to pack eight suitcases. So, you’ll need to do laundry while you’re there.
Disney thoughtfully allows DVC members to use the washer/dryer facilities for free. A cast member will even hand you detergent for free if you ask.
Still, you must monitor the laundry room to keep an eye on your clothes. Nobody will steal them at Disney because your dirty laundry isn’t valuable.
However, we have had some people remove our items from the dryer and throw them in a chair more than once.
Washer/dryer units come standard in villas. You see where I’m going with this. You can hang out in your hotel room and do laundry whenever you like.
In fact, you don’t even need to stick around. You can start a load before heading to the park and then fold it when you get back.
Don’t underrate the importance of laundry during a longer Disney vacation! This one reason could prove the deciding factor in booking a villa.
You Plan to Cook in the Room
You can save a LOT of money at Disney by cooking your own meals. However, I’m a diehard Disney restaurant fanatic and rarely go this route.
In truth, I barely even cook at home because I tend to set off the smoke detector.
Still, many folks have deduced that Disney’s food cost markups are comical. They can cook something for $4 and sell it to you for $44. This really happens.
You can beat the system by ordering food delivery via one of the many services like Shipt or Instacart.
Then, you can cook in your room and likely eat three or four meals for the price of one Disney restaurant dinner.
While studios come with kitchenettes, the one-bedroom villas and even larger suites come standard with full kitchens.
You can cook to your heart’s content!
Start planning your next Disney vacation TODAY! Book your next Disney vacation visit by browsing our current DVC Confirmed Reservation Specials, or use our DVC availability tool to see if the dates for your vacation are available. From there, you can start the booking process and one of our team members will reach out to assist!
