I am going to respond to my own post, updating on what happened during our recent stay 2 weeks ago. I reserved a Woods/Courtyard view room, and the only request I made was for a King/Day bed/sleeper chair configuration. Well, we checked in around 4pm on a Wednesday, and were told we were in an updated room (so far, so good since this configuration is new in the updated rooms). I had to ask what the bedding was, and he said 2 queens and a day bed. I kindly asked if there was any of the requested configuration available (4 night stay). He first tried to tell me the sleeper chair was too small for one of my children (they are 10 and 12 years old), and so I wouldn't want that room anyway. I asked if it was the same sleeper chair in the AKL villas, Aulani villas and BTL villas, all of which we have stayed in and used easily, and he was unsure. Another CM jumped in and said yes, they are the same sleeper chairs as the villas, and yes she should easily fit (she was with me at check-in). Second CM told the original CM what the "code" was for that bedding configuration, as the CM didn't seem to know what to look for in the computer. We did not care about location/floor/view. Original CM types for a while, then leaves to go to back room area. He is gone for about 10 minutes. Comes back and says nothing available in the resort, not even on a later night where we could switch rooms mid stay. I'm not sure if that was true or if he didn't know what to look for, but it is what it is. There was some kind of aviation convention going on at GCH at that time, and many of those folks were adult-only couples. Perhaps they requested all of the King rooms ahead of us??
I was surprised they would give us a room for 5 people, since we were only 4, since I figured the rooms that can hold 5 are a hot commodity. It was not as ideal as adults having a king and kids each with their own space, but it was better than just 2 queens which is what I thought we would otherwise get.
It was room 4108, which looked over the courtyard and monorail (and some roof tops). The nice part was the location, just around the corner from the elevator. In the past, we had stayed in the 2 bedroom suite right over WOD store, and while that was lovely to look out on, it was an incredibly long walk to the elevators, lobby and parks. This location was excellent for accessing everything. So while I didn't get the bedding, the location was great.
We did a 1 bedroom suite at DLH earlier this year, and didn't get our bedding request then either. It must not be our year... If we go to WDW, we typically rent the DVC villas on a cash reservation, and then I know what bedding I am getting (outside of 2 queens versus 1 queen and one sleeper sofa in the "studio" part of a 2 bedroom villa).
I honestly don't know why Disney can't let you reserve a bedding configuration??? They do at some resorts, such as many at WDW. Yes it makes room assignment a little more complex for them. But maybe it saves time and aggravation at the front desk when people check in and don't get their request and then they have to scramble.