The New Studios Only Sleep Four

Disney has confirmed that the Bambi-inspired Deluxe Studios at Lakeshore Lodge will sleep a maximum of four adults, with one queen bed and one queen-size pull-down bed. The resort’s standard Resort Studios also max out at four guests, while Duo Studios sleep two. If you’re traveling as a party of five, you’ll need to move up to a one-bedroom villa or one-bedroom Lake House, both of which accommodate five. And Disney fans noticed.

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On Instagram, @kristin_hatch wrote, “Unfortunately they missed the mark with studios for 4 and one bedrooms with only one bath… Island Tower wins!”

Another commenter had an even stronger reaction. @happfilyeverafter wrote, “Love the photos, but I’m disappointed the studios only sleep 4. We were seriously considering buying a direct contract. Not anymore. I guess we’ll wait for the next DVC resort or stick to resale.”

©Disney

That’s more than somebody disliking a headboard. For at least one potential buyer, the room capacity was enough to take an entire DVC purchase off the table.

Five-Person Studios Already Exist

The interesting part is that accommodating five guests in a Disney Vacation Club studio isn’t exactly uncharted territory. Several DVC resorts at Disney World currently have Deluxe Studios that sleep five guests, including:

• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows in the original longhouse Deluxe Studios

At many of these resorts, Disney gets that fifth guest into the room by adding a single pull-down bed alongside a queen bed and a queen-size pull-down bed. That makes the Lakeshore Lodge decision especially noticeable. This is Disney’s newest resort. The rooms weren’t inherited from a decades-old floor plan Disney was trying to retrofit. Lakeshore Lodge was designed from scratch, and Disney already has multiple examples of studios that can accommodate five.

Polynesian Tower Room

Even Boulder Ridge Villas, located right next door at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, has Deluxe Studios that sleep five. That’s a hard comparison to ignore.

Four-Person Studios Aren’t New

To be fair, Lakeshore Lodge isn’t breaking some sacred DVC rule. There are several Disney World DVC resorts where studios sleep only four guests. Animal Kingdom Villas and Bay Lake Tower are two examples, and four-person studios can work perfectly well for couples, smaller families, and groups that don’t need that extra sleeping surface.

©Disney Vacation Club | Animal Kingdom Lodge

There’s also an obvious argument in Disney’s favor here. Five people in one studio can get cozy VERY quickly. Five suitcases. Five pairs of park shoes. Five people attempting to get ready before Early Entry. One bathroom. May the odds be ever in your favor.

A one-bedroom villa offers significantly more breathing room, plus a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and separate living and sleeping areas. At Lakeshore Lodge, the one-bedroom villas will sleep five guests. For plenty of families, that will unquestionably be the better room. The problem is that families of five don’t get to make that choice themselves.

That Fifth Guest Could Get Expensive

This is where the studio capacity could become a genuine problem. We’re still waiting on the full DVC points charts and pricing information for Lakeshore Lodge, so we don’t yet know exactly what staying in each room category will cost. But studios are generally an important part of the DVC equation because they let members stretch their points farther than larger villas.

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A family of five staying at BoardWalk, Beach Club, Riviera, Grand Floridian, Boulder Ridge, or the Polynesian can choose a studio if squeezing everybody into one room works for them. At Lakeshore Lodge, guest number five automatically sends that family into a larger accommodation.

©Disney

Maybe you have three younger kids and don’t mind sharing a smaller room. Maybe you spend 12 hours in the parks and essentially use your hotel to shower and collapse. Maybe you’d rather save those DVC points for a second vacation. At Lakeshore Lodge, none of that matters. Five means one-bedroom.

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And that could be especially frustrating because Lakeshore Lodge otherwise looks designed to court families. There’s a lazy river, recreation, Disney character-inspired rooms, and multiple accommodation types. Yet one of the most accessible DVC-style room categories excludes one of Disney World’s most common traveling groups.

Fans Have Other Opinions About the Rooms, Too

The occupancy issue wasn’t the only thing that caught fans’ attention. Some readers felt the rooms themselves looked a little too restrained. One commenter called the Deluxe Studios something you’d see “in an IKEA display,” while another wrote, “It’s so… Marriott. I miss the Disney Magic.” Another was even more specific, saying, “The rooms look like a place I’d go for a business conference.”

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Not everybody agreed. Other commenters called the hotel “beautiful,” praised the artwork, and said they loved the overall vibe. And that’s probably where Lakeshore Lodge will land for a lot of people. The design is intentionally subtle, and subtle Disney theming tends to divide a room faster than somebody saying they don’t like DOLE Whip. But room capacity is harder to dismiss as personal taste.

Did Disney Miss an Opportunity?

We’re not writing Lakeshore Lodge off. Far from it. Its Bay Lake location is fantastic, the lazy river has our FULL attention, and some of the larger accommodations look seriously impressive. Disney has also built an enormous variety of room types into this resort, from tiny Duo Studios all the way up to three-bedroom Grand Villas and waterfront Lake Houses. That variety is precisely why the four-person Deluxe Studios feel a little strange.

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Disney has already proven it can build a studio that sleeps five. Several existing DVC resorts do it right now. For parties of four, this entire debate may be meaningless. For a family of five deciding whether to buy into Lakeshore Lodge or spend considerably more points on every trip, though? That missing fifth bed could be a very big deal.

Keep following DFB for more details and news as we learn even more Disney plans and projects for new resorts and park expansions!

Everything We Know About Disney World’s Newest Hotel: Lakeshore Lodge