AKL/AKV - Deluxe Studio - Club Level

[DisneyBound2007]

Hello All. It has been a while since I have posted on the boards but I have been doing a considerable amount of research lately on DVC. My home resort of choice would be AKL and even more specific, I'm most fond of the Club Level accommodations. I only really look to go in early to mid September each year and stay for about 8 nights.

My question is, at this point in time with there only being 5 of this room type available,at best, and it being in high demand, plus the concept of "w*lking" which I would think is almost a must to get these rooms...is it even possible to find this accommodation open at any time of the year so that you might be able to "w*lk" it to where you need it. Or does it just continue to maintain a 100% booked rate year round because so many people are doing the same?

I know my decision to purchase DVC shouldn't rest on this one accommodation type but it's what makes AKL so special for us.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If your happiness would depend on getting AKV Club, I think you would be unhappy as a DVC owner.

You would likely get it occasionally, especially if you had points for the 1BR. But you also want high season, low points.

 

[DenLo]

We don't walk reservations but only once since we purchased AKV in 2009 did we get a Club level studio, but then we had to cancel that reservation due to an emergency hospitalization. We haven't come close since then despite the fact we always check at the 11 month mark. I have pretty much given up as we enjoy the views from a Savana view room either at Jambo House or Kidani Village for a lot less points. And don't have to do a split stay since we usually stay 10 - 12 nights at a time.

 

[disneynutz]

We are AKV founders, have stayed club level several times walking reservations. IMO CL has the worse views and CL was okay but no big deal. Due to the resorts location it's like OKW, a destination resort not connected to other resorts, activities, or restaurants. We have since sold most of our AKV contracts and rarely stay there.

Bill

 

[drusba]

Owners of a particular resort can start reserving up to seven nights online at 8 a.m. eastern, 11 months out from date of arrival. For more than 85% of the time during the year, the AKV club level studios (and thus also the 2BRs) fill for a date either before 11 months out or within nano-seconds after 8 a.m. (meaning the prize goes to the few with the computers that communicate fastest with Disney's computer.

AKV owners do try to walk reservations for the club level rooms. That consists of reserving up to 7 nights, 11 months out from some date earlier than when you actually want to start and then call every few days to drop days at the beginning of the reservation and add them at the end until eventually you get the actual reservation you want. What that does is lock out others from getting the room you have while you walk it. However, AKV club level has a particular problem for walkers. Because the demand level is so high year round, it is actually difficult and for many impossible, to find a date where one can begin walking because the dates throughout the year are disappearing as described above. As some have discovered, you may need to look for more than a month before being able to reserve a date to start walking and you may have to walk for two or three months to get to your desired reservation. (The best chance one has for finding a date to start walking is bewteen Feb 1 and the Thursday before Presidents' Day, DVC's lowest demand time of the year at WDW, or during the last three weeks in July, the second lowest demand time of the year).

In addition to the above issues, the club level rooms are actually not that special. Two of five 2BR lock-offs (each lock-off can be a studio and 1BR) face the pool with no view of any savanna. The other three, including one that is designed to be HA, face a savanna but is the very end of the savanna where animals do not often congregate and because of a roof overhang at the balcony, even that view is partially blocked. Noteworthy is that all the savanna view rooms in that same area were converted to standard view several years ago because of the mediocre views. In other words, you get club level services but there is nothing else that justifies the high point cost of the rooms.

Bottom line: don't buy AKV to get club level rooms unless you like risking being disappointed.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Absolutely it is very hard to get CL studios!! The opening 11 month date is often unavailable!

 

[Cyberc1978]

When you stay CL at AKV how is the food and do they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner or how does it work?

 

[DisneyBound2007]

Over the course of the day they have 5-6 spreads made available to those with club level accommodations or club level access. They start with coffee and tea quite early. I believe a little before 7. Then there is a breakfast spread including oatmeal, cereals, certain baked goods, fruit, hard boiled eggs. Etc. They go on to put out numerous snacks during the middle of the day (cheese, crackers, nuts, jelly beans or gummy bears, to name a few) around dinner time they have samplings of dinner type items prepared by AKL restaurant chefs as well as more cold appetizer type items. They then have a dessert spread later in the evening.

I find the food and drink to be quite enjoyable but I wouldn't call it full meals, other than maybe breakfast. A variety of drinks are also available throughout the day.

 

[disneynutz]

When you stay CL at AKV how is the food and do they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner or how does it work?

They set out things like a couple of fruits, a couple of cheeses, three samples of finger food, maybe olives, it's like a tasting of things that you may or may not like. During our stays there we experienced items that were replenished regularly and other times when the items ran out, they were not replenished. Drinks are available in a beverage glass doored case. Again sometimes replenished quickly and other times not. Leaving your room several times to see if things were refilled got old as did seeing people load up and take more than enough back to their rooms.

The CL lounge services the few DVC rooms and all of the AKL CL guests.

Bill

 

[mousestruck]

We are AKV owners and have stayed CL a few times (in a studio). I've never walked a reservation. I've had success by booking at 8:00 a.m. at the 11 month mark and waitlisting, though it seems to be getting harder.

We enjoy the amenities very much, but views are disappointing. If a savannah view is important to you, you'd probably be happier in a savannah view room.

I would not purchase DVC if you're only interested in CL. That being said, we've discovered and enjoyed many other fabulous resorts because of DVC. We stayed in a Poly lake view last summer and it was absolutely amazing! That's a resort we could never afford without DVC.

 

[alisonslp]

We have stayed at CL once. Only for 2 nights - it happened to pop up as I was booking kidani, so I took it and did a split stay. I think it was around 5-6 months out because we had to stay in 3 different resorts to piece meal our vacation. We enjoyed it and we had 7 people in a 2br so it was "worth" it in terms of not having to pay for as much food those days. It was great to experience but we wouldn't do it on a regular basis and I wouldn't do it for a full stay. Not worth it and no good views.

If you would be happy with 1 or 2 nights there with the rest in a regular AK villa, then buying in would be worth it. But if you want a full stay on a regular basis, don't buy. It's nearly impossible.