Boulder Ridge Refurb Has Begun!

Too bad the dining table only has seats for 4-5 people, in a unit that sleeps 9. This is NOT only at BRV, but most of the DVC units. Why can't that do a better job of matching the sleeping to dining spaces? Must we continue to eat in shifts?
Counter has stools.
 
Too bad the dining table only has seats for 4-5 people, in a unit that sleeps 9. This is NOT only at BRV, but most of the DVC units. Why can't that do a better job of matching the sleeping to dining spaces? Must we continue to eat in shifts?
At least I think the table is a bit larger than what they had at BRV and the built in bench vs chairs should help. Somewhat of an improvement perhaps for numbers. Plus they kept stools at the kitchen counter. I don't think that was done in all the refurbs.
 


I'm sold. Going to book my sister in law and her family in a 2BR for the first half of our reunion stay as long as the rooms don't all fill up by the 7 month window. I hope it won't be a bad choice and too far of a walk from our room to their room (we have a 3BR GV booked at CCV). The updated rooms at BRV look awesome!
 
Too bad the dining table only has seats for 4-5 people, in a unit that sleeps 9. This is NOT only at BRV, but most of the DVC units. Why can't that do a better job of matching the sleeping to dining spaces? Must we continue to eat in shifts?
I think you have to make compromises somewhere. Granted, the 2BR unit DOES "sleep" 9, but realistically if it were an equivalently sized condo or apartment, you'd never shoehorn that many people into that living space. It's a practical "living" space for 3 or 4 ideally, that's had sleeping capacity expanded for vacation utility.

A dining room table that fit that many, even with leaves removed, would take up way too much valuable floor space (and even if you collapse a table, you're still stuck with 8+ chairs that need to go somewhere). I think they try their best between the smaller tables that sit 4 or 5 (with the settee variations), plus two or three at the kitchen counter.

I think people would rather eat in shifts than be tripping over twice the number of chairs and a correspondingly larger dining room table, versus reducing the sleeping capacity to something more in line with the real "living" space of the unit. As an aside, generally speaking, most home designers would say you need somewhere between 200 and 400 Sf per occupant in a comfortably designed permanent living space (some will argue it's as high as 1,000 Sf, and that's a bit extreme, but I think it's closer to 400 than 200), so just by that metric alone you can see that you'd never be able to accommodate more practical elements of the living space (like appropriately numbered bathrooms, kitchens, dining areas, etc.) based on the occupant capacities most people expect of DVC.
 


The DVC resorts in HHI and VB certainly offer more comfortable dining seating in the 1BR/2BR units... but they built those resorts knowing that they'd have limited food service (i.e. Disney restaurant profitability) onsite at those resorts. The 1BR/2BR room layout designs and sizes at most WDW onsite DVC resorts are much more similar to hotel suites than to other timeshare resorts around Orlando and even throughout the U.S. The tight, cramped DVC kitchen & dining room amenities reflect Disney's interest in encouraging guests to spend more $ to eat at their many nearby Disney restaurants.

Offsite timeshare resorts at DVC HHI/VB and timeshares built/managed by other companies designed and built them with space for a real dining room table and seating to accommodate at least as many people who can sleep on all of the beds in the BRs, if not on the sleeper sofas as well. No question in my mind that Disney knew exactly what they were doing with the small room designs at all of their resorts after the first one, OKW. :cool: ::yes:: When staying at a WDW DVC 2BR with 6 people, we've really disliked the tiny table too, and the cramped LR where only 4 people can sit on comfortable, softly upholstered furniture, with others having to sit in hard chairs while relaxing together. But there's nothing else you can really do now with that footprint. :flower:
 
I think you have to make compromises somewhere. Granted, the 2BR unit DOES "sleep" 9, but realistically if it were an equivalently sized condo or apartment, you'd never shoehorn that many people into that living space. It's a practical "living" space for 3 or 4 ideally, that's had sleeping capacity expanded for vacation utility.

A dining room table that fit that many, even with leaves removed, would take up way too much valuable floor space (and even if you collapse a table, you're still stuck with 8+ chairs that need to go somewhere). I think they try their best between the smaller tables that sit 4 or 5 (with the settee variations), plus two or three at the kitchen counter.

I think people would rather eat in shifts than be tripping over twice the number of chairs and a correspondingly larger dining room table, versus reducing the sleeping capacity to something more in line with the real "living" space of the unit. As an aside, generally speaking, most home designers would say you need somewhere between 200 and 400 Sf per occupant in a comfortably designed permanent living space (some will argue it's as high as 1,000 Sf, and that's a bit extreme, but I think it's closer to 400 than 200), so just by that metric alone you can see that you'd never be able to accommodate more practical elements of the living space (like appropriately numbered bathrooms, kitchens, dining areas, etc.) based on the occupant capacities most people expect of DVC.
We did 7 last trip to BRV in a 2 bed and it was tight. Not horrible, but definitely could feel crowded. The balcony helped, and we used the balcony table and chairs to eat some meals all together. Our next trip is 5 in a 2 bed at BRV, which I think will be about right...6 wouldn't be horrible...but I really can't imagine 9 😳
 
We did 7 last trip to BRV in a 2 bed and it was tight. Not horrible, but definitely could feel crowded. The balcony helped, and we used the balcony table and chairs to eat some meals all together. Our next trip is 5 in a 2 bed at BRV, which I think will be about right...6 wouldn't be horrible...but I really can't imagine 9 😳
We did 7 adults in a VGC 2 BR once. It was tolerable I think because it has the 3rd bathroom but I'd not have wanted any more. At most the additional 2 would have to be babies. Who always slept exactly when you wanted them to. :rotfl:
 
We did 7 last trip to BRV in a 2 bed and it was tight. Not horrible, but definitely could feel crowded. The balcony helped, and we used the balcony table and chairs to eat some meals all together. Our next trip is 5 in a 2 bed at BRV, which I think will be about right...6 wouldn't be horrible...but I really can't imagine 9 😳
5 is perfect in a 2 bed. We took my parents to WDW in May and we had a 2 bed at BLT. My parents had the master and I shared the second bedroom with my kids. It was great having that 3rd bathroom too.
 
We did 7 adults in a VGC 2 BR once. It was tolerable I think because it has the 3rd bathroom but I'd not have wanted any more. At most the additional 2 would have to be babies. Who always slept exactly when you wanted them to. :rotfl:
One of ours in 2019 was a 19 mth old who slept in a crib we stashed in one of the large walk in closets so he could have kind of a quiter place to sleep. He'll be almost 5 on our next trip...don't think he'll be quite as cooperative this time around...
 
Thanks for posting the pictures. These rooms look good! I think it's a nice improvement over the existing rooms, though I'll miss the Bambi pillows.
 
One of ours in 2019 was a 19 mth old who slept in a crib we stashed in one of the large walk in closets so he could have kind of a quiter place to sleep. He'll be almost 5 on our next trip...don't think he'll be quite as cooperative this time around...
You never know! My 15 year old nephew set himself up in one of the walk in closets! He wanted to sleep in it, however his mother would not allow that. :hyper:
 

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