Every Couple for themselves OR group book for a villa?

TNragdoll1313

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 6, 2020
Hello folks! First time poster.....
I've been to WDW about a dozen times since 2009. A few trips were as a single adult, but majority of my trips were with very small kids. Now, 6 of us (3 adult couples) are looking to spend 7 days in WDW late,late 2021. We're stuck on resort booking. The big question is: Should we just book 3 different rooms at whichever resort each couple prefers, OR should we all split a family villa? Each couple wants their own room.
What do y'all recommend: We split a 3-bedroom villa OR each couple books a room at whatever resort they prefer? We're looking for COST EFFICIENCY.
Please help!
Thank you,
TNragdoll
 
I can't speak for Disney DVCs, but my extended family has done this at Diamond Resorts (another big timeshare company and not in Orlando). The first time, it was 7 adults and 5 kids in one massive 4 bedroom condo, the second time was 6 adults and 3 kids in two separate 2 bedroom condos.

It's amazing. Cooking together, playing boardgames, hanging out at the pool, seeing the sights and binge drinking in our room late at night (while my brother plays bartender). I guess it saves some money on food since we didn't eat out much. And going grocery shopping with my mom and brother (a professional cook) is hilarious. But we're family and a fun bunch, so we get on pretty well.

I've also done the each family gets their own room at the same resort (Caribbean Beach) with another family (8 total people, 4 kids, 4 adults). That worked fairly well. Moms and kids met up in the morning to go to parks while the dads slept in and exercised, etc. We all had lunch and dinner together at various restaurants. Got a sitter and did an adults night out too. We'd split up sometimes in the parks depending on ride preferences. Met up at the pools when we got too hot at the parks. Our rooms weren't too far from each other, but everybody had their own space. We're really close with that family, so I'd be comfortable sharing a condo or house with them. We already go to Great Wolf Lodge with them all the time and have dinner together at least once a week.....

So if you think your relationship can survive sharing a villa, I'd go for it.
 
Hello folks! First time poster.....
I've been to WDW about a dozen times since 2009. A few trips were as a single adult, but majority of my trips were with very small kids. Now, 6 of us (3 adult couples) are looking to spend 7 days in WDW late,late 2021. We're stuck on resort booking. The big question is: Should we just book 3 different rooms at whichever resort each couple prefers, OR should we all split a family villa? Each couple wants their own room.
What do y'all recommend: We split a 3-bedroom villa OR each couple books a room at whatever resort they prefer? We're looking for COST EFFICIENCY.
Please help!
Thank you,
TNragdoll
If you’re looking for cost effectiveness, a 3-bedroom grand villa is going to be more expensive than 3 separate rooms at a Disney resort. The grand villas are amazing but pretty pricey to rent. If all of you want to be in a single dwelling, you might do better offsite in a timeshare or a vacation home rental. A vacation home with pool, outdoor kitchen and game room can be great for days you decide to kick back and skip the parks.
 
If you’re looking for cost effectiveness, a 3-bedroom grand villa is going to be more expensive than 3 separate rooms at a Disney resort. The grand villas are amazing but pretty pricey to rent. If all of you want to be in a single dwelling, you might do better offsite in a timeshare or a vacation home rental. A vacation home with pool, outdoor kitchen and game room can be great for days you decide to kick back and skip the parks.
One thing to note though, it seems there is one very affordable grand villa option - Old Key West. If you book through a reputable reseller, I've seen rates at about $890/night - that's comparable to 3 moderate rooms without any discounts. No telling when discounts will be a thing again.....
 


One thing to note though, it seems there is one very affordable grand villa option - Old Key West. If you book through a reputable reseller, I've seen rates at about $890/night - that's comparable to 3 moderate rooms without any discounts. No telling when discounts will be a thing again.....
OP wants to go in “late, late 2021”. An OKW GV is going to run about $985/night in early- to mid-Dec and goes up from there during Christmas week. The OKW GVs are a bargain IF you can get one. They’re very popular with DVC owners because their points go further there. It’s also a reason why they aren’t as easy to rent. Owners tend to book them up quickly, especially in the period known to owners as Fall Frenzy, which runs from mid-September thru race weekend in January.

ETA: There's also the issue as to how to split up the rooms. The master bedroom has a king bed. The other two bedrooms have 2 queen beds, or in the case of OKW 2 queens in one bedroom and 2 full size beds in the other.
 
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You can rent an absolutely amazing vacation home off site for less than either option on site. It would include a private pool and game room to enjoy, plenty of space, with enough bedrooms and bathrooms for everyone. There are several lovely resort communities very close to WDW.

You can save a LOT of money this way, and have great shared space. We have done both, and vacation rentals remain our preference by a long shot. Adults don’t always feel the need to be in the Disney bubble all the time.
 


I would go with three separate resort rooms. Price will be subjective depending on doing a value, moderate or deluxe accomodations.

If you had previous experience staying with one another then I might consider being all together. You may not be on the same sleep schedule. What if a couple gets into an argument and you are right there? Then, if you do have your own meals together at the together resort will the work involved be evenly distributed? What about the cost of food? This could be a peculiar situation.

This doesn't count times you may want to be alone for the obvious reasons.

We travel often as three different families (all related) and I would never stay together.
 
I would vote for three separate rooms. However, I would probably try to get everyone at the same resort or at least connected by some sort of quick transportation (i'm thinking skyliner here). CBR/POP/AOA give you a few different price points to work with and you can use the skyliner to get between them fairly easily (though you do need to keep the operating hours in mind).

If you plan to do any pool time with the entire group, you would all need to be at the same resort to go to the same pool together.

Sounds like a great trip!!!
 
We did a big family trip in January (18 of us) and I can so I am SO grateful each family had their own room. We all stayed at the Grand Floridian (Club Level) and the GF team got us all on the same floor. We met in the mornings for breakfast - kind of come and go. And then met back in the evenings for drinks. It was just nice to have little quiet time just DH and I...
 
We really like our privacy so I would go with 3 different rooms. You don't know if someone has a loud snore, or if one couple likes to stay up late watching TV, etc. It is easy to plan to meet up in the mornings.
 
I'd vote for each couple on their own/do their own thing. A shared villa might be to much togetherness for me, especially if you are obligated to move around the parks during the day as one group! And it lets everyone handle the mornings & evenings at their own comfort - whomever likes to sleep late or get up late/stay up late or turn in early...everyone can comfortably do that w/ their own spaces.
 
I would go with three separate reservations at a DVC but instead of three studios have two studios and a one bedroom. This gives you all some place to meet and access to a kitchen and a W/D but you still have some privacy. Split the cost, the two couples with studios give a little money to to couple in the one bedroom.
 
Depends on how well you all get along. I know some folks I would split a vacation house with - and I know folks I would need my own space with. While I am normally in the camp on staying on property - you likely could find a better joint living option off--property - just be sure to still have three cars. When traveling with folks it works with - I love sharing the common living spaces, meal preparation, hanging out time in larger shared rentals as long as everyone has their units sleeping and bathroom space. It really adds to the experience.

But there are other folks I'd be happy to be vacationing with during the day - but would want a clear separation from them at times. Noise and sleeping habits might be too different from mine or maybe they are so messy (or over the top neat) it would drive me insane.

I would base this decision more on how to have the best experience for the trip!
 
Should we just book 3 different rooms at whichever resort each couple prefers, OR should we all split a family villa? Each couple wants their own room.
What do y'all recommend: We split a 3-bedroom villa OR each couple books a room at whatever resort they prefer? We're looking for COST EFFICIENCY.
"Cost efficiency" wise I would think 3 rooms at a value would be cheaper than a villa? Or a 3 bedroom accommodation offsite. DVC only starts to equal out when you compare to moderates so it's not the most cost efficient option.

My consideration personally would be more regarding how well I knew the other couples. When you're all in the same villa there will likely be an expectation that you do things together... which has good and bad points depending on the people you're vacationing with. I specifically remember a family vacation where an older cousin came with and her style of vacationing was sleeping until 11 while everyone else was rope drop. The first couple days she kept up but then it turned into everyone else being ready at 8:30am but we're still waiting at the resort at 9:15 because she's "almost ready." By day 4 it was "we're going to the bus stop tomorrow at 8:30am and if you're not there we'll meet up with you later." :-)

Sometimes much easier to have some space between you and other groups to do your own thing.
 
I can speak to the Villas at the Grand Floridian as that is our DVC home. With three couples you can book a two bedroom and a studio in the same hall. This way each couple has their own bath facilities and bedroom privacy. The two bedroom will have a full kitchen, living area, and washer/dryer that all three couples could use. This is less expensive than getting the three bedroom villa. As there is a full size refrigerator, stove and dishwasher you can easily make meals if you so desire. We normally eat out one meal a day. At GF villas you have access to a nice outdoor grilling area too. And a great workout space at the spa if that is your desire. You may have groceries and liquor delivered as you will have plenty of room in cupboards and the refrigerator. The studio will have a small refrigerator, microwave, and small sink. (We have been known to take our wine suitcase on the plane filled with wine, bourbon and vodka.) We do not park crawl from open to close so we enjoy the extra space and the use of a kitchen and evening drinks and conversation etc. if we are not in the parks. You can "shop" at GF Sandy Cove or do a 5 minute walk to the Poly and get eggs, peanut butter, bagels, English muffins, fresh fruit, margarine, milk, oatmeal, bottled water, and snacks etc. Eggs are 4$ a dozen. Bottled water is 8$ for 24. A small jar of PB is 3$. Bagels are $3.50. Yes, more expensive than a grocery BUT so convenient if you are just needing snacks and or breakfast type foods. However, depending on who we are traveling with we have gone the grocery route and done cooking of full meals. Captain Hook's at the Poly is a five minute walk and Gasparilla's at the GF is a five minute walk the opposite way. We have our favorite snacks or quick meals at both. With three couples you should check into Tables in Wonderland. Depending on how much eating/drinking out you do this could be a savings. Also if ONE person in your group has an annual pass you will get free parking and discounts at many eateries. Only one person has to have the AP but all can benefit. My info is limited to GF Villas as that is what I know best. Hope this helps. (I believe the two bedroom villas at Bay Lake Tower have three full baths and one couple could sleep on the pull out sofa. These also have laundry and a full kitchen. This would be more cost effective.)
 
You can rent an absolutely amazing vacation home off site for less than either option on site. It would include a private pool and game room to enjoy, plenty of space, with enough bedrooms and bathrooms for everyone. There are several lovely resort communities very close to WDW.

You can save a LOT of money this way, and have great shared space. We have done both, and vacation rentals remain our preference by a long shot. Adults don’t always feel the need to be in the Disney bubble all the time.
I agree with this. We rented a 5 bedroom house with it's own pool 15 minutes down the road for a week for less than the price of one night in a Disney grand villa. If saving money is a concern, I'd save a TON and get a nice house off property. They are a dime a dozen and the sky is the limit but you can bet that it will be a fraction of the cost. The norm for a big house is around $800ish a week depending on time of year.
 
For me it would depend. When we travel with our adult DD & DSIL we usually get separate rooms, sometimes even separate hotels. They live 60 miles down the road and we see them all the time.

When we travel with our friends living in Germany spending time together is important and we tend to rent a house/condo/cabin.
 

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