AKV- Almost sold it should be my home resort- Only concern is transporation

[lisa3635]

I'm almost convinced that AKV should be our home resort. Absolutely love the theming. My only concern is the transporation to the other parks. We have a 1.5 year old and will need to go back and take naps for awhile. We do not like to drive on vacation and would be using the buses. I'd appreciate any opinions on the transporation to MK and Epcot. I've read several trip reports and it seems people either love or hate the transportation. I'd appreciate any opinions anyone is willing to share.

Thanks...Lisa

 

[bobbiwoz]

I can tell you that last week I stayed at AKV, and had absolutely no problems with transportation. It is true that it was mostly a resort stay, with only one bus trip to each park. For MK, it was for MNSSHP, no wait to get there, we caught a bus right away. I left the party after the fireworks, we didn't stay until the end, but there was a bus "waiting" for us and left within 5 minutes of our boarding for the return trip. I went to Epcot one morning and also within 5 minutes of my arriving at the bus stop, I was boarding an Epcot bus. Since we were moving to BCV that day, I didn't go back to AKV.

I asked my friend which she preferred, and although she was diplomatic, I do think for a normal trip for her at WDW, she would prefer BCV because the AKV seems remote. I am lucky, I don't have to choose, I can do a vacation with stays at both.

I own at 5 different resorts and this trip was originally booked as a 5 night SV studio AKV stay, but since my friend had never stayed at either, she usually stays off site when going to Orlando, (talk about remote ) I switched the last 2 nights to BCV around 5 months out.

Bobbi

 

[hellerjw]

Our last trip to AKV was in August 2007 and the buses then were absolutely fabulous. We never waited more than 20 minutes, even during peak times like park closings, and the average was about 10 minutes.

There were several occassions when we were the only family on the bus. One nice thing about AKV is that the bus route is dedicated so once you are on it there aren't any stops to other resorts.

Compared to some of the other bus waits we have had the AKV buses were slightly above par on speed and frequency.

 

[jerseygal]

When a friend of mine was planning a stay at Polynesian this summer,
she was somewhat concerned about bus transportation by those who were dissapointed with Poly bus transportation.

She couldn't disagree more! She said it was absolutely fine!
She was so glad that she didn't let that deter from her great experience!

Hope that helps a little!

In my honest opinion, your young family will get years of enjoyment at AKV!
The Kidani pool area alone will be fabulous!


Good luck in your decision!

 

[dianeschlicht]

When we stayed in March, we had absolutely the BEST transportation and bus service we have experienced anywhere in Disney! We joked that it seemed that every time we went to the bus stop, the bus we needed was either waiting or just driving up. The last day we did have to wait about 5 minutes for our bus to come, but that was it! We LOVEDD the location. The only place that seemed far way was DTD, and that is probably because we are used to OKW where it's within walking distance!

 

[CarolA]

I think it's actually got some of the BEST transportation on property.

Unlike the other "deluxes" AK does NOT share buses....

Sorry but for Disney prices I don't really WANT to tour all of the other deluxe hotels before arriving at mine LOL!

 

[MikeyNS]

After staying in every DVC, except OKW, I found that the AKV seems to have the best transportation. Even though it is pretty far away from the MK/Epcot/DTD, I don't mind the bus rides at all, even with our toddler.

 

[Marc A.]

Lisa, the bus service did come into play due to the fact that we have a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old but we still purchased AKV's in February. We will just think of little games to play to pass the time if we have to wait. My DW and I have stayed at every level of resort and have only had a problem coming back from late nights in the parks to the All Star Resorts. Our first AKV stay will be in March and I have no worries. I've heard mostly positive reviews.
Good Luck in your choice!

 

[drusba]

The buses right now are direct shots to the parks (making them better than a number of other resorts where buses are shared by two or more resorts). Come Kidani, the buses will stop at both Jambo and Kidani making the trips a tad longer. The Jambo bus stop area actually has separate stopping, sitting and boarding places for each park and is a well treed and shaded area so it is not an uncomfortable wait. Buses tend to be very good but as with anywhere you can have an unreasonble delay on occassion.

 

[todd222222]

When we stayed in AKV back in January I could not have been happier with the bus service. I would say 80% of the time we didn't wait at all or less then 5 minutes....but never over 10.

One other thing to think about, it might be harder for the first few years, but your kids are going to grow up and you will have your interest in AKV for many, many years.

It's going to take time to go back for naps no matter where you stay.

If AKV is your style, then go for it.

 

[Nursejilly]

Todd, I loved your slide show!! Great pics!! Glad to hear that the buses are pretty reliable. We probably won't be staying at home at AKV til 2010 but seeing your slide show sure made me wish we could stay there sooner!!

 

[Kmango]

If you love AKV, go for it. They do have some of the best transportation on property, and besides, you won't be doing the afternoon nap run for long. After all, when the AKV contract finally ends, your 1.5 year old will be 50!

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed there in late June and bus transportation was surprisingly good!

 

[dsneygirl]

We stayed there the first week in Sept and had good bus experiences. We also have a toddler and the busses were great for putting him to sleep The rides to Studios and Epcot were about 15 min and MK was about 20min. Never had anything longer than the standard 20min wait.

 

[Crisgw]

We just got back from AKL (we bought AKV while down there ) Sept 6-14 and the transportation was superb! We had a harder/longer trek taking the monorail from MK to the Poly for dinner! We hardly waited 5 minutes for most every bus. It was fantastic!

 

[gppnj]

I stayed at Animal Kingdom Villas and Villas at Wilderness Lodge three weeks ago. Bus service was great at both. We never waited an unreasonable time for the bus to come.

Usually on every trip, there's one disaster related to the bus transportation. This trip, it happened when we tried to get from the Disney Village Marketplace to Boardwalk for Welcome Home Wednesday. It took forever for the bus to come at all, then we stopped at Typhoon Lagoon, the West Side bus stop, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club, and Beach Club. We even went right past Boardwalk on the way to the Swan. The bus was going to Boardwalk after Beach Club, but we got off at Beach Club because Welcome Home Wednesday was over by that point.

 

[cogero]

so glad to hear this. I am always worried about transportation but take it in stride being from NYC.

This makes me happy I can't wait for my first trip to AKV next year.

 

[fadedgirl]

All of this is very nice, and surprising, to hear! The majority of what I'd read (until finding this thread) was quite negative regarding getting to everywhere else from AKV. I'd read to count on it taking at least 45 minutes to get to the MK and possibly even longer than that to get back to AKV. This is very good if that is not the case! I wonder if they changed something?

 

[castleri]

All of this is very nice, and surprising, to hear! The majority of what I'd read (until finding this thread) was quite negative regarding getting to everywhere else from AKV. I'd read to count on it taking at least 45 minutes to get to the MK and possibly even longer than that to get back to AKV. This is very good if that is not the case! I wonder if they changed something?

Stayed at AKV 9/11-9/15 and had great bus service. One day there was a large group at the MK waiting area and someone said that those people had been waiting 40 minutes but we never waitied more than 10 minutes for any of the buses. That day 2 Mk buses pulled in at about the same time so apparently someone was working to correct the situation. If you do get to the stop just after a bus has left you may wait 15-20 minutes for the next one depending on the time of day and it may then take you 20-25 minutes to get to the MK but we never had that happen in the times we traveled. One day we had a bus all to ourselves to MK which indicatred to me that they kept the schedule even with limited passengers.

 

[photobob]

I haven't stayed at AKV but given the fact that everything requires bus service, transportation could be a concern. The same is true for SSR and OKW. BC and BWV have the great access to Epcot and DHS, but bus service to AK and MK can be a problem there. VWL has boat service to MK but bus service for everything else. I say all of that to make this point, none of the resorts are perfect. Each one has its own advantages or disadvantages. I say if you really like AKV then buy there!