AKL DVC or Riverside

[ndemmimi]

Hi All!

My mother and I are planning a trip at the end January (2015) for 5 nights.

Our first trip to Disney was a family trip in July 2013. We stayed at Pop, which was perfectly fine because we were never in the room except to sleep and shower. That trip was very fast paced and had very long days because we wanted to do as much as we could. We want this trip to be slower paced (no crazy planning) and include a little bit of down time at the resort. Also, January has shorter park hours than in the summer....

So basically, we are expecting to be spending more time at the resort and therefore want to stay someplace a little nicer than Pop.

We are trying to decide between renting DVC points for an AKL studio, or staying at Riverside. Rates aren't out yet, but I used 2014's rates (+ a little extra) to estimate the costs. At Riverside we could stay in a river or garden view room, but at AKL probably only a value view.

Does the view really matter? We will be spending most of the daylight at the parks.
Which of the two resorts will be more enjoyable for a mother (48) and daughter (24)?

Any thoughts from people who've stayed at these resorts, especially in January/February, would be helpful!

(Also off topic, but any advice on Florida winter appropriate clothes to bring? Where we live, winters are brutally cold and snowy!)

 

[cvjw]

There are only a handful of value studios at Jambo House and are booked up at the 11 month window by AKV owners. The chances of one being available for booking now is very small.

You need to price out the cost of a standard or savannah view studio to get the best idea of costs.

I would pick AKV every time. It is a fantastic resort, but if I were planning a relaxing trip, I would only want a savannah view studio.

 

[goofy4tink]

Love both resorts. I actually think the river view rooms at POR tend to be overrated. The only good thing about them is that they are usually closer to the main bldg.
I love AKL...but as you've already been told, a value studio just isn't going to be an option..DVC owners will have scooped those up at their 11 month window.
If you can afford a standard view studio at either AKL or Kidani, that would be my first choice. But, in all reality, POR isn't a bad choice either.

 

[Mynamewastaken]

AKL is what I would do...is it that much more. Look on davids for pricing and plug in your dates. multiple the number of points by 14.00 for his rate or find a DVC member who can rent for around 12.oo per point. That is what we did and got a nicer resort for around the same price as a moderate.

 

[Unyeah]

AKL is the best no matter what view or room

 

[scm200]

We rented AKL-Kidani through David's in 2012 (November) and loved the resort. I would take it over Riverside just for the ambiance of the resort, and if its cooler the Jambo House lobby has a great fireplace to sit and have a drink around at night. We loved AKL so much we are spending 4 more nights there in August after 3 nights at Riverside and 6 nights at Old Key West. By the way we booked Standard View.

 

[ndemmimi]

Thank you everyone! The information about value rooms being almost impossible to get was very good to know!

My mom is a little nervous about not booking directly through Disney, but it seems like renting DVC points has generally been a very positive experience for everyone.

Do we lose or gain any perks by renting and staying DVC?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thank you everyone! The information about value rooms being almost impossible to get was very good to know!

My mom is a little nervous about not booking directly through Disney, but it seems like renting DVC points has generally been a very positive experience for everyone.

Do we lose or gain any perks by renting and staying DVC?

You are entitled to any perk any hotel guest gets - like free parking at the theme parks or having your purchases sent back to your resort. You are not entitled to any DVC perks since you are not a member. More than likely, you will be required to pay in full to make a DVC reservation and will not be able to modify or cancel with a refund. It's a done deal. If you book directly through Disney (POR), you can cancel, modify, change resorts.

One thing more about the DVC studios. Only OKW has two queen beds in the studio. All the others have a queen sized bed and a double sleeper sofa (except for VWL and GFV which also have a murphy bed).

At POR you'd get two real queen sized beds.

 

[Kingdome8]

We rented points last year at kidani and had a savanah view.
It was pretty cool seeing al the animals. We loves it there.
The lobby and the pool was fantastic.

This year we are staying at por for the first time.
Only reason we didn't rent cause we wanted the free dining plan.
Otherwise renting is such a great deal
Port orleans looks real cool too hope. I imagine we will love it too

Our first trip was pop century too. It was great but staying at akl was a lot nicer. Felt good

 

[ses1230]

Do we lose or gain any perks by renting and staying DVC?

Another difference is that stays booked with points do not get daily mousekeeping.

 

[bumbershoot]

(Also off topic, but any advice on Florida winter appropriate clothes to bring? Where we live, winters are brutally cold and snowy!)

Be prepared for anything. Early/mid December 2010 (and '09, too, as well as a January weekend in '10 but I wasn't there for that) and early/mid January of this year...brutally cold, and I'm saying this not as a Canadian or midwesterner, but as a Washingtonian who does know something about cold. You just don't normally go out to a themepark for 8-10 hours per day when it's, you know, 21 degrees with windchill.

If I go during the winter (or even late fall like the early December trip) I will pack everything from lonjohns on out.



I've stayed at Jambo and Kidani DVC, I've stayed at POR, and AKL is my least favorite of all the WDW resorts I've been to. I just really disliked our two experiences there, and disliked their handling of the not-great experiences.

POR is lovely, the grounds are gorgeous. If I want to see a zebra, I'll travel to AKL and go to the lobby and look outside. Mission accomplished. Then I'll go back to the relaxing and lovely POR.

We had a riverview our first stay there, and it was great for the few minutes we looked out. And then we realized that that particular room was really really far to get down to the path. We stayed at a parking lot view room (upgraded from standard to Royal, which was lovely of them) and it was actually easier to get to the path, more straight forward, than the riverview. So it all depends!