When renting a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) studio, not all resorts and even studios are created equal. I still remember the first time I tried to rent at the Grand Californian many years ago. I put in a request for a studio on Jan 1 for a Jan 8th stay. Knowing what I know now, that’s pretty hilarious! There was no way I was going to make that happen, it’s one of the smallest DVC resorts with a huge demand.
So lets give you a much better chance by arming you with some good knowledge so we can maximize your chances of getting the perfect reservation! Or you can glory in scoring a hard to get room!
Studio Stats
So Why do the numbers matter?
Category
Generally speaking Resort categories are to distinguish views from your balcony (with a couple of exceptions). So a savanna view studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge will have a view of the savanna and a theme park view at Bay Lake will have a view of view of Magic Kingdom. Standard(older term) or Resort view (new disney term) generally have a view of parking lot, A preferred view will most often have a view of a lake. Some exceptions are Old Key west which is “near hospitality house” or Saratoga where preferred rooms are either closer to the main restaurants and pool or closer to Disney Springs.
These matter as usually standard view rooms are cheaper, but fill up fast. Even more important, if you are flying all the way to Hawaii, you might want to splurge for a view instead of a parking structure roof.
Number of Units
Take a glance at the Aulani Hotel room category in the chart. Yes it’s the cheapest point value and therefore the cheapest room to rent. But with only 8 available in the entire hotel at 11 months, you are not going to be able to easily rent one. Same goes for the value studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We own several contracts at Animal and have made countless reservations, and not once has a value room every appeared as an option, not even at 11 months from check in (which is the max time period to book).
Instead look how many Island Garden Studios there are at Aulani. 93!!! This will most likely (or ocean view) be the room that will be available for you for your vacation. Yes, it is slightly more expensive, but this is why looking at the numbers ahead of time can arm you with the knowledge you need to be a successful renter. We always suggest looking at DVC points charts when starting to plan, that way you know how much your renting will cost ahead of time.
Size
Not all studios are the same size. The smallest is the Duo studio at the Riviera (when we say its small, it’s tiny, but at least it only sleeps two people in a murphy bed), and the largest being the Polynesian original studio and Grand Floridian Deluxe studios. It’s no wonder Polynesian studios are one of our favorite! Bigger studios might even have two bathroom areas which is nice for families trying to get out to the parks in the morning!
Max Occupancy
Disney is very strict with occupancy- don’t expect to have more guests in a room than what Disney posts. Each guest must be listed on the reservation so that they can get any perk of staying at the resort (early hours, Aulani pool band to name a few). An exception is that Infants and toddlers under the age of 3 do not count towards this number.
Did you find a studio that you want for your next vacation? Fill out our request form to get started today.
Leave a Reply