Looking to purchase at AKL within the next couple of years...

[skyywalker]

Hi we're looking to purchase DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge within the next couple of years. I spoke to someone with DVC today and she said they were all sold but I could get on a waiting list. Anyone have any experience/feedback with being on a waiting list to buy? How long could I expect to be on the list? What are pros and cons of buying direct vs buying resale? Thanks very much for any info you guys can give me!

 

[hayesdvc]

Among other parts of this site, this thread is a vast knowledge of buying resale or direct

Good Luck !

http://www.disboards.com/threads/buy-direct-from-dvc-or-buy-resale.3430899/#post-54076788

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DVC guides prefer to sell what DVC directs and that's currently Poly and Aulani. Being on a waitlist for points will just vary depending on contracts they foreclose on or get back thru ROFR. But I'd actually be surprised they didn't have points right now unless there was a particular UY you were looking for.

But - really you lose nothing of good value going resale and save a lot of $$$$'s if you are looking for a contract of any size. AKV direct is around $155/point and resale will be more around $85-$90/pt. On a 150 points contract that's paying over $10k more direct than resale. With resale points you are restricted from trading into the Disney Collection and Concierge collection and booking the member cruise. Those trades require a lot of points though. But you can book all the DVC resorts, will get all the same benefits such as annual pass discount, dining discounts etc and can still trade thru the World Collection which includes RCI and the Buena Vista Trading Co.

 

[DisDadDVC]

Hi we're looking to purchase DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge within the next couple of years. I spoke to someone with DVC today and she said they were all sold but I could get on a waiting list. Anyone have any experience/feedback with being on a waiting list to buy? How long could I expect to be on the list? What are pros and cons of buying direct vs buying resale? Thanks very much for any info you guys can give me!

tl;dr version: AKV is a no-brainer for resale. Other resorts may not be as clear cut.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

tl;dr version: AKV is a no-brainer for resale. Other resorts may not be as clear cut.

And the long version:

Anything they tell you about the benefits of direct? Anything save staying in a DVC room on points is not guaranteed for the life of the contract. So, ask yourself: Do you feel lucky, punk?

No, no. Ask yourself: Are these non-guaranteed benefits worth $50/point more?

 

[skyywalker]

Thanks for the quick replies! This is basically what we have in mind: We want to go every other year (that's practically how often we've been going for the past 6 years), therefore we were looking to buy in at 100 points. If I understood correctly a week stay would only use 104 points at the beginning of December. So we'd either sell or roll over our extra points. I would certainly prefer to save some money and buy resale! I'm not sure what the Disney Collection or Concierge Collection includes, but our main want is to stay at AKV. We would eventually like to book other places now and then, but mostly stay at AKV. How do I go about buying resale? Is there a website?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for the quick replies! This is basically what we have in mind: We want to go every other year (that's practically how often we've been going for the past 6 years), therefore we were looking to buy in at 100 points. If I understood correctly a week stay would only use 104 points at the beginning of December. So we'd either sell or roll over our extra points. I would certainly prefer to save some money and buy resale! I'm not sure what the Disney Collection or Concierge Collection includes, but our main want is to stay at AKV. We would eventually like to book other places now and then, but mostly stay at AKV. How do I go about buying resale? Is there a website?

Best use of DVC is for DVC resorts.

There are quite a few DVC resale brokers.

Here's links to a few:

http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvclisting.cfm

https://www.dvcbyresale.com/

http://www.dvcresalemarket.com

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the quick replies! This is basically what we have in mind: We want to go every other year (that's practically how often we've been going for the past 6 years), therefore we were looking to buy in at 100 points. If I understood correctly a week stay would only use 104 points at the beginning of December. So we'd either sell or roll over our extra points. I would certainly prefer to save some money and buy resale! I'm not sure what the Disney Collection or Concierge Collection includes, but our main want is to stay at AKV. We would eventually like to book other places now and then, but mostly stay at AKV. How do I go about buying resale? Is there a website?

You might consider SSR instead, about 20% cheaper long term for the same # of points and now it will have the standard view options as well. You should be able to get into AKV consistently. I'm not sure what room type you're looking at but most that start out looking at studios don't stay with them consistently. Points can change and I think it's likely they will for that time at some point. Also, for AKV, I wouldn't count on the value rooms as a core part of the decision process.

 

[suebeelin]

I concur with Dean and Kat4disneys advice. Definitely go resale if you're primarily looking to stay at AKL (animal kingdom). Also, unles you're set on a value room or concierge level room at AKL, it is more economical to purchase SSR (Saratoga) because the dues are substantially less. You'll be able to use those cheaper SSR points for most rooms at AKL at 7 months out, with the exception of the value and concierge rooms.

However, in 10/15 years, if they build a walking path to animal kingdom, I hazard to guess it would be a more vied for dvc option. The concern that people have with that resort is the maintenance fees, and how it's climbed over the years.

Good luck!

 

[mickeyman]

I just bought AKL for $75 per point resale

 

[DisneyDiana]

We have several home resorts, Animal Kingdom Villas is one. I chose not to buy at SSR and book AKV at 7 months because we book at 11 mos exactly and get a value studio for a week every June. In addition, we much prefer Jambo over Kidani. I am a New Jersey teacher and we often go over Jersey week in November and have found even 1 bedrooms at Jambo unavailable 7 months out when trying to combine our points from other contracts. At times Jambo is already booked at 7 months out. Kidani is usually available though so if you don't mind having to book Kidani at certain popular times of year or don't plan on always booking value villas you'd be fine buying SSR.

 

[quinnc19]

I concur with the pp. Early December is a very high demand time and if you prefer Jambo to Kidani, it would be good to have the home resort advantage. I generally prefer it for studio stays due to proximity to more dining options and because the standard view rooms are pool or reclassified savannah views at Jambo versus parking lot at Kidani.

 

[kristenrice]

... This is basically what we have in mind: We want to go every other year... at the beginning of December...

This is the most difficult week to book with DVC so I think it would be a bit of a gamble to buy at SSR and try to get a studio at AKV for a week at the 7-month window on a regular basis. Almost any other time of year and I think you would be OK, but if the beginning of December is when you plan to do most of your travelling, then I would suggest buying at AKV if that is where you want to stay.

 

[sndral]

... We want to go every other year (that's practically how often we've been going for the past 6 years), therefore we were looking to buy in at 100 points. If I understood correctly a week stay would only use 104 points at the beginning of December....

You might consider SSR instead, about 20% cheaper long term for the same # of points and now it will have the standard view options as well. You should be able to get into AKV consistently...

Don't know how often Dean has tried to get AKV in early Dec., but buying SSR planning to stay @ AKV in early December is unlikely to work. Early Dec. is an extremely high demand DVC time so it's particularly important to buy where you want to stay if you plan to visit then.
AKV and SSR initial buy in price per point resale are about the same these days. AKV costs more in MFs at present @ $6.42 per point v. SSR @ $5.44. We visit early December or early January so for us the extra $100-200 per year in MFs was worth it to assure that we could stay at a resort we like v. staying at SSR, which we're not interested in staying at.
The minimum buy in when they were selling AKV was 160 points - so finding a 100 point contract may be a bit more of a challenge than finding a 100 point contract.

 

[Dean]

Don't know how often Dean has tried to get AKV in early Dec., but buying SSR planning to stay @ AKV in early December is unlikely to work. Early Dec. is an extremely high demand DVC time so it's particularly important to buy where you want to stay if you plan to visit then.
AKV and SSR initial buy in price per point resale are about the same these days. AKV costs more in MFs at present @ $6.42 per point v. SSR @ $5.44. We visit early December or early January so for us the extra $100-200 per year in MFs was worth it to assure that we could stay at a resort we like v. staying at SSR, which we're not interested in staying at.
The minimum buy in when they were selling AKV was 160 points - so finding a 100 point contract may be a bit more of a challenge than finding a 100 point contract.

Getting into AKV at the 7 month mark is not that difficult from what I've seen including early Dec. Getting Value or Jambo in general is more so. It may require use of the wait list for some days though some years.

 

[icc2515]

I agree with Dean, you should be able to get into AKV at 7 in early Dec. Since you have quite a bit of time before you buy, ask at the first of May what avail of AKV is. AKV will most likely always have higher dues than SSR. You are paying for all the same things as at SSR and paying to feed and care for those animals.

The best advice I can give you is do not buy just enough points to stay in a standard or value studio at any resort you want to stay at. There are so many threads about people upset, even at their home resort, that they cannot get into a standard view room and did not buy enough points to stay in a higher point room. I have plenty of points to afford a better view, but I will always book a standard view if avail. I am sure that many other people do the same. If I cannot get the standard I will book the next up and waitlist the standard. So the chance of getting a standard is low.

Once again, buy enough points.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for the quick replies! This is basically what we have in mind: We want to go every other year (that's practically how often we've been going for the past 6 years), therefore we were looking to buy in at 100 points. If I understood correctly a week stay would only use 104 points at the beginning of December. So we'd either sell or roll over our extra points. I would certainly prefer to save some money and buy resale! I'm not sure what the Disney Collection or Concierge Collection includes, but our main want is to stay at AKV. We would eventually like to book other places now and then, but mostly stay at AKV. How do I go about buying resale? Is there a website?

If you'll go every other year then another thought is to buy a smaller contract and use either banking or borrowing. 50-75 points would cover the stay you are looking for every other year. 75 points would even cover a 1BR value at that time of the year, going every 2 years, if you bought AKV and used the 11 month window although the value room view isn't guaranteed to be savannah and could be pool or the front of Jambo.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I agree with Dean, you should be able to get into AKV at 7 in early Dec. Since you have quite a bit of time before you buy, ask at the first of May what avail of AKV is. AKV will most likely always have higher dues than SSR. You are paying for all the same things as at SSR and paying to feed and care for those animals.

The best advice I can give you is do not buy just enough points to stay in a standard or value studio at any resort you want to stay at. There are so many threads about people upset, even at their home resort, that they cannot get into a standard view room and did not buy enough points to stay in a higher point room. I have plenty of points to afford a better view, but I will always book a standard view if avail. I am sure that many other people do the same. If I cannot get the standard I will book the next up and waitlist the standard. So the chance of getting a standard is low.

Once again, buy enough points.

Agree with all this. The best thing you can do is educate yourself before you buy. Never, never, ever buy with the intent of only booking the lowest category at most resorts...AKV value, Boardwalk standard, probably now SSR standard, etc...you WILL be disappointed more times than not.

 

[Dean]

Agree with all this. The best thing you can do is educate yourself before you buy. Never, never, ever buy with the intent of only booking the lowest category at most resorts...AKV value, Boardwalk standard, probably now SSR standard, etc...you WILL be disappointed more times than not.

I'd agree with this in the absolute but I think there are special situations where it's reasonable. I don't think there are many where it's reasonable for first time buyers though. For those where it'd work if unchanged, they need a plan that accounts for reallocations, inability to book the cheaper or special options, etc.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I'd agree with this in the absolute but I think there are special situations where it's reasonable. I don't think there are many where it's reasonable for first time buyers though. For those where it'd work if unchanged, they need a plan that accounts for reallocations, inability to book the cheaper or special options, etc.

What I meant was the first time buyers (not talking about the OP here) who look to buy 50 points at AKV with the intent on staying 5 nights a year in a value...or 50 points at Boardwalk with the intent of staying 5 nights in a standard every year...etc. It's just not a reasonable plan of action. They are out there, and they oftentimes end up bitter about their purchase because they can't get what they want, when they want it, and they have no other options for 5 nights yearly with the number of points they have, outside of one-time use points or transferring from another member.