For those of you with a family of 5, how many points do you have and how many times do you go?

[MomOTwins]

We're a family of 5, kids age 9, 9 and 6. Before DVC, we would always stay in a regular hotel room at WDW. We became DVC this year (150pts) and did our first stay in a 1 bedroom at Riviera, using up our "bonus" 2020 points from buying direct. Everyone here kept saying we'd never go back to a studio and would get addonitis, but nope--already booked in a studio next time and I'm pretty sure that will be our go to until the kids are much older. We thought the 1BR was beautiful, but completely unnecessary. We ate breakfast one morning in the room, which I thought I'd love, but after having to do dishes, sweep up a bajillion croissant crumbs, scrub sticky maple syrup off the table, and then do the same cleanup on the bed because my sticky/crumb-covered kids immediately ran from the table to their bed after eating to watch cartoons, I said "screw this" and we ate every other meal out the rest of the trip. I did like the jacuzzi tub, but I liked the rainforest shower just as much, and that's in the studios too. And while I could stretch out on the king bed for sure, we have a queen at home, so king/queen doesn't matter much to us. The one thing I REALLY liked on the 1BR was having laundry in-room, but it's not that much of an inconvenience to having to go to the laundry room once a trip.

I say this only because I keep seeing a lot of posts saying how it's completely impossible to share a studio with 3 kids (some posts even say 1BRs are too small) and all I can say is different strokes for different folks.

I would love to go 4-5 times a year but I don't know how you all do it--I don't have vacation days for that, and flights and everything else at disney world (food, merch, tickets, other upcharges) add up even when the room is paid for. Our next trip is just a couple of non-parks days coupled with a 3-night cruise, and we probably won't do a full parks trip again until late 2022 or 2023.

 

[Lorana]

I say this only because I keep seeing a lot of posts saying how it's completely impossible to share a studio with 3 kids (some posts even say 1BRs are too small) and all I can say is different strokes for different folks.

I admittedly don't have 3 kids, only 2, but when my kids were little, studios and hotel rooms were where we always stayed. As they got a little older (pre-teens), we focused on rooms that had 3 sleeping surfaces, as my kids wouldn't share a bed, but we also often did the "make a bed out of the sofa cushions" route. We started moving to 1 BRs then, because the kids were old enough that they wouldn't make much of a mess, it really did save us a lot to be able to eat in the room, and my husband and I wanted some privacy, especially as we didn't necessarily want to go to bed when the kids did. Now my kiddos are in the late teens, and we've moved to getting 2BRs. But we absolutely have and absolutely will share a single room. We do so on cruises, for example, and this past summer, we all crammed into rooms together on our trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. That said, it WAS nice when we got out to Craters of the Moon and rented an AirBnB where everyone had their own room.

For us, we bought into DVC because we want the extra space, and we've gotten a little spoiled by it. But we absolutely can and will stay together in a studio (with three sleeping surfaces) if that's the way it ends up working for us, point-wise.

...Okay, I think all of us would, but DH might gripe a bit. He's definitely gotten used to the extra space, and the boys are quick to point out that they're not the ones complaining about sharing space as much as DH is the one complaining. ;-)

 

[miprender]

Family of 5 here. Bought in 2010 with only 100 AKL points. Quickly realized we needed more so we are up to 205 points. We stayed at mostly in studios but now that they are older I am liking the 1 bedroom just for the washer/dryer. And my oldest just started college so not sure how many times she will be joining us now.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I say this only because I keep seeing a lot of posts saying how it's completely impossible to share a studio with 3 kids (some posts even say 1BRs are too small) and all I can say is different strokes for different folks.

I would agree that I don’t think it’s impossible… but we definitely prefer the 2BR villas for our family. We’ll still stay in a regular hotel room sometimes. We have a couple of upcoming stays at hotels near Disneyland because we have free nights and rewards points so the stays are free except for parking. I’m not about to turn down a free stay because we have to stay in a regular room!

Our kids are young (infant, 2, and 5) and still in the messy phase, so the washer and dryer are so nice. We stayed at the Poly before using the shared laundry room and it was just not as convenient having to baby the load, wait for a machine that wasn’t broken, and move it before someone else got to it. So much more convenient to throw it in before going to bed or leaving for the parks. For WDW trips we usually stay about 2 weeks since we visit from CA, and the kitchen is so great because we don’t really enjoy eating out every meal for that long, and it does also save us money. With our young kids they can’t really eat everything at the restaurants yet, so it’s nice to have food for them in the room to make sure they’re eating properly. Especially with veggies - so much easier to steam some veggies in the room than try to find something at a restaurant that the youngest ones can eat.

For Disneyland trips, we have a couple of hotel stays coming up that are free, and we drive to Disneyland so that cost is minimal. We have APs so it’s mainly just any food or merch costs. For WDW trips, we usually use credit card rewards for the flights, we have APs, and we get food for the room, so that all helps. With all the changes they’re making things will definitely start adding up more, like renting a car instead of DME, possibly paying for Genie+, etc. But ultimately it’s still worth it for us, and DVC has been great in our experience because we can stay in a much larger room with better amenities on property for less than paying cash for the same room.

 

[DisTime25]

We are a family of 5 with three kids (6,11 and 14). We started with 120 points at RIV and have stayed in studios primarily for 5-6 nights. We have been comfortable in the studios especially at RIV with pull down bed and two showers. We have since bought a 160 point AKV contract so we can either take a second trip per year in studios or do a single trip in a one bedroom for a week splitting the stay between RIV and another resort. Our AKV contract was loaded with expiring points so we have taken a couple of extra unplanned trips in the past 12 months and slipped in a couple of short 2 bedroom stays at the BCV and BRV. Can’t complain about the extra space and it will certainly be needed when the kids get older but we are going to try and stretch it out in studios for 2 more years. We enjoy stretching our points as much as we can and are flexible on travel dates so that tends to help.

 

[smisale]

we are a family of 6 adults and 1 child and we have 235 points at AKL
Usually book a 2 bedroom

 

[Unclelude]

100 pts SSR. Bought them a year ago. Primarily for 25 anniversary trip we just took to Aulani. (Fantastic btw)

Because of ez cancel rules and availability, we took a 3 night getaway last Jan. 1BCV and 2BWV... Stayed in studio for 3 nights for 36 pts .

We have triplets - 18 yo (now 19 all in college).

For us the studio was fine. We spend most of our time outside the room anyway. We can roll with it. We also will not travel at busy times... So our point chart will be friendly.

That being said. The next target with all 5 is back to Aulani. We will get a 1 BR. ( Have to, but would have anyway )

Math wise off season 1BR can be found in the 30s per night... So with 100 pts that's roughly a week every other year.

 

[Lumee23]

We are a family of five with a 10yo, 7yo and almost 3yo and we just bought 125 at Riv. Hubby wanted to start low because he was concerned about the cost and risk. Right now the kids are still fairly little so we are okay with the idea of staying in studios; however, we also like to travel with extended family. We are blowing through almost 2.5 yrs of points to do a 7N stay at a 2BR for the 50th with my mom, sister and niece next year during low season. I am feeling the point pinch because of that.

We like to do a lot of other vacations besides Disney so for now our 125 points works out okay with our 5yr vacation plan. We are doing Disney in 2022 and in 2023 we will probably do a Disney cruise with a short pre or post stay in studios with our leftover points that weren't borrowed. We don't need to go every year but long term I would like to be at 175-200 points for flexibility to book larger rooms as the kids get bigger. I am hoping to add on next fall/winter but have no idea where yet!

 

[kenyoncad]

We have 500 points and generally do 2 approx week long trips a year in a 1 bedroom. Started out with 150 poly resale, and added 50 AKV resale, then 75 Rivera direct for direct benefits. Then we inherited 150 direct SSR points but a different use year. So we bought 175 CCV resale and 100 AKV direct in the same use year as SSR. We have since sold our original poly and AKV.
Initially we thought we would be good with studios, but once you try a 1 bed or larger its hard to go back.

 

[AliceIn]

That's really helpful! We have 3 kids too and I've been watching so many video room tours on you tube and can't see a 1 bedroom working well in the near future. We are really new to DVC's... we just got it this year. We have 160 banked points from 2020 for BLT and also 200 points banked from 2020 on Saratoga. I'm hoping to stretch them out as best as possible. How did you feel doing the split stay?

We are a family of 5. Two sons, college and high school age, one daughter in high school. We have done 1 bedrooms at Kidani and brought an air mattress. The two bathrooms in those rooms made a big difference, as long as we have 3 sleeping surfaces they are fine. Two bedrooms is ideal, but we don’t want to increase points because it won’t be long until it is just my husband and I. We have 285 regular points, and we have 60 banked. We will all go this year (two bedrooms booked) but likely skipping next year as all 3 will be in college that year and it will be too tough to travel.

 

[Mrskmid]

I'm a DVC newbie with 160 points at RIV (kids 10,8,5). We rented points for years before diving in, all studios. We bought into it with the plan to stay in studios for the next few years then getting 40-60 more points to switch to 1-bedrooms. I can't see us needing a 2-bed unless we are traveling with another family. Right now our travel pattern is a long family trip every other year with a mom and dad Food and Wine trip in the off years.

 

[Twohsieh]

We are a family of 5 with 570 points. We started with 300 points at VGC but added 270 Aulani points. We really didn't need to buy more points since we travel only once per year for a bigger vacation of 7-10 days but we really didn't want to hassle any more with the 7 month booking issues during peak summer months at Aulani. We stay in a 1 bedroom as a family, but when we invite my parents to join us, we move up to a 2 BR.

 

[davidl81]

I really love seeing on this post how many different ways people can use DVC points. For a lot of people they can make 150 points work, stay in a studio, and save a bunch in the long run over Disney resort rates. Others really enjoy the larger rooms, so they need more points. There really is no wrong/right way to do this, just depends on what you personally want to do.

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

We are a west coast family of 5 with three younger kids (8,8,2). 485 VGC, 100 SS, and 271 AUL. We travel 1-2 times a year to VGC in a 2 bedroom in low season, every other year to AUL in a 2 bedroom (or every year in a 1 bedroom), and rent out our SS points to offset annual dues, or eventually bank and borrow for a WDW trip. The washer/dryer, full size kitchen, and extra bathroom sealed my fate, 1 bedrooms and larger for us!

 

[KevinLightyear]

We did a family trip of 5 last week at three resorts (RIV, AKV, SSR). We really enjoyed the 1Bedrooms for the full kitchen and laundry but quickly realized one toilet and one shower for getting ready every morning and waiting to shower at night after coming back from a long day at the parks was not ideal. May try a 2 bedroom going forward but afraid it will spoil us which will cause add onitis.

 

[DaveNan]

We did a family trip of 5 last week at three resorts (RIV, AKV, SSR). We really enjoyed the 1Bedrooms for the full kitchen and laundry but quickly realized one toilet and one shower for getting ready every morning and waiting to shower at night after coming back from a long day at the parks was not ideal. May try a 2 bedroom going forward but afraid it will spoil us which will cause add onitis.

Were you in Jambo or Kidani? I am guessing Jambo. The 1BR in BLT and Kidani actually have 2 full separate Bathrooms. Each with a shower and toilet. My favorite 1BR for that reason with older kids. Also, this means the 2BR (LO and dedicated) in those resorts have 3 bathrooms.

 

[KevinLightyear]

Were you in Jambo or Kidani? I am guessing Jambo. The 1BR in BLT and Kidani actually have 2 full separate Bathrooms. Each with a shower and toilet. My favorite 1BR for that reason with older kids. Also, this means the 2BR (LO and dedicated) in those resorts have 3 bathrooms.

Yeah, we stayed at Jambo house. I wasn't aware that Kidani had two separate bathrooms, that is good to know for next time. I'm assuming those would get booked up faster if AKL isn't home resort? My home resort is RIV and SSR.

 

[dd08]

We have 160 points AKV and 100 points at VGF

We bought in 2008 and were a family of 4 until 2017 and now we are 5

We feel we have enough points. The only time we have had an issue of not enough points is right now in fact due to taking and extra 6 family members for a week and even then if there wasn’t the current borrowing restriction we would have been fine.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Yeah, we stayed at Jambo house. I wasn't aware that Kidani had two separate bathrooms, that is good to know for next time. I'm assuming those would get booked up faster if AKL isn't home resort? My home resort is RIV and SSR.

Crazily enough, Kidani is easier to book than Jambo (bc Kidani has so many more rooms!). & There are actually (2) resorts with extra bath/1-beds on property… the other is at Bay Lake.

 

[DaveNan]

Yeah, we stayed at Jambo house. I wasn't aware that Kidani had two separate bathrooms, that is good to know for next time. I'm assuming those would get booked up faster if AKL isn't home resort? My home resort is RIV and SSR.

Kidani is bigger as stated by another post. But in general Jambo is more popular. In lots of different threads on the resort side, it is in general more popular.
Jambo Pros..... Bigger, more grand lobby, "preferred" pool, more dining options, including a Quick service, better gift shop, better bar, more compact resort (Kidani halls can be very long and your room can be far from lobby....)
Kidani Pros. for 1BR and 2 BR you get an extra bathroom, parking is under the building so your car is in the shade and with 5/6 elevators you are parked closer to your room.

(so if you don't have a car and you are in a studio, almost everyone prefers Jambo....)

In general, at Jambo many feel like they are in the "main" resort. At Kidani some feel like they are in the "Annex". Personally, I get 1BR and 2BR rooms and I drive (including to all parks except MK), so I prefer Kidani (unless I score a value room).