AKV Owners, a few questions...

[dianeschlicht]

Admitedly, I was not a fan of AKV when we had the opportunity to buy last year. The dark rooms made me feel sad. I am a light and bright person. But we had never really visted the resort. On our recent DVC research trip we visited and loved the resort. We ate Lunch as Mara's and had had dinner at Boma's. Both are great. LOVED the pool. What a great pool with shade and sun and my DH thought the HOT tub was great because it was huge and looked a little secluded. Slide looked great too.

SO here we are are thinking of buying into BLT or buying AKV direct from Disney (possibly resale at BCV). BLT just left us feeling empty. STudio rooms were small, I didn't like the sink/sink setup and hard as I try I just can't love the contemporary. I am from Florida and that building just reminds me so much of "old Florida" with old concrete and nothing soft and pretty. Please don't bash me on this, since I might still buy there due to it being a better value for some reasons and we LOVE the walk to the MK and I realize the lots of people love this resort.

OK so questions are for current AKV owners...

1. Are you happy with your purchase even though you have to take a bus everywhere.
Absolutely! The bus is not an issue from AKV. We found the bus service to be fantastic everytime we have stayed at the resort. Only one day did we have to wait for a morning bus that didn't come, and then the bus people sent two to take care of the backup.

2. Have you had difficulty getting into the Concierge level with your four month priority?
Not so far, but I think that might be because we haven't tried a busy time yet.

3. Anyone not an owner ever complain about not getting in at 7 months??

4. Do you love being in Jambo house and are not looking forward to Kidani?? Are you worried about Kidani tranportation. I ask because a DVC kiosk guy at AKV told us you would have to shuttle from Kidani to Jambo and get the buses to the parks there. THAT does not sound good.
THAT is also not true. The bus will stop at Kidani first and then pick up folks at Jambo. At least that is what we have been told several times. Think of it as a second bus stop like the multiple ones at SSR and OKW.

5. Is the pool over at Kidani supposed to be as good as Jambo? Also, if there is a pool overthere, are they really not going to have any kind of quick food or refill mugs at Kidani?
It's supposed to be a better pool. At least it sounds better to me! No quick food that we know of, but I don't worry about such things anyway. I never use fast food anyway.

This is one of the reasons I don't like BLT since I will HAVE to buy sodas to have in the villa since I won't have an option at BLT or will have to walk all the way over to the Main building on the 4th floor, go up those itsy bitsy escalotors in my wet, but covered bathing suit. But at least the building is walkable. At Kidani I will have no options. Will they at least have a quick mart or sales shop with sodas? I don't want to be paying at the bar for a soda.
I'm quite sure there will be at least soda machines and probably a mug station just like at the other DVCs.

6. Is there Concierge at Kidani?? NO

7. Do you think the resort will be large enough to have plenty of bookings at 7 months? YES

Thanks everyone, I know this is annoying that we can't make a decision. We have the money sitting in the bank ready to call up and order, and I can't choose!!
For AKV I love the pool, the animals are cool, the Concierge option is great and value points can stretch some years plus I can fit five in a one bedroom. But can some of you tell me some cons for this resort besides the buses to everywhere...

Oh and one more thing. When you make a reservation is it guaranteed to be in one building or another. I don't want to make a reservation, hope I get into Jambo and then end up in Kidani (if I decide I don't like the newer building)Yes, you will specifically book Jambo or Kidani and you will check in to the building you have booked.
Thanks!!

As I have stated above, I don't feel the bus thing is a negative. The pool and animals and concierge at Jambo are a definite advantage and the decor is cool. Now for the negatives.....I dislike the dark decor for function in the bathroom. It's almost impossible to put makeup on in such a dark decor with not enough wattage in the lighting. I also think mousekeeping is questionable at AKV. At least we have found it to be such.

The other short coming in my mind is the way the kitchens are arranged in Jambo. I HOPE and EXPECT that to be improved at Kidani.

 

[JenSop]

We bought into AKV without ever seeing models of the rooms in advance. When we took the DVC tour in 2006, SSR was the only game in town, but we weren't in a position to buy anyway. Then in 2007, we were able to buy and called our guide. (This is also before I found the disboards.) She told us that AKV was an option and we didn't even have to think about it. We had been to the resort to eat and loved the look of it AND THE ANIMALS. We really are animal lovers and the idea of having animals outside your room was a no-brainer for us.

We've only done one stay so far at our home (in 2008) but we LOVED it!!!!

The buses were no problem. We never had a long wait. We had a great view from our savanna view room and there were always animals - which was just wonderful.

We will be returning there at the end of June to stay in a value studio - which is a great deal! 55 points for five nights!

I did try to get concierge for some of those days, but they were already all booked up. I tried one day into our 11 month window. (Should have called the morning of the 11 month window - live and learn!) If all you're interested in is concierge, I would say it's going to be iffy as to whether you'll get it. Maybe during non-busy times?

Since value rooms are only in Jambo, we won't be in Kidani this coming trip, although we will be eating at Sanaa, so we'll be checking it out for sure.

Let's put it this way, after our stay at AKV in July, we both decided that we HAVE to do an add on before it sells out - we don't want to add on anywhere else; we love it that much! So now we just have to save up for an add-on!

 

[Monorail Purple&Gold]

OK so questions are for current AKV owners...

1. Are you happy with your purchase even though you have to take a bus everywhere.

Absolutely--longer bus rides allow DD4 and DS1 to fall asleep after park time.

2. Have you had difficulty getting into the Concierge level with your four month priority?

Don't know personally. See a lot of "success stories" on the boards of folks who get Concierge at 11 mos.

3. Anyone not an owner ever complain about not getting in at 7 months??

Maybe for all rooms except Savanna view, where there are the most rooms.

4. Do you love being in Jambo house and are not looking forward to Kidani?? Are you worried about Kidani tranportation. I ask because a DVC kiosk guy at AKV told us you would have to shuttle from Kidani to Jambo and get the buses to the parks there. THAT does not sound good.

That's us, we love Jambo House and are like, "Kidani's opening, great." But love Jambo, maybe seeing KV we'll fall in love there too.

5. Is the pool over at Kidani supposed to be as good as Jambo? Also, if there is a pool overthere, are they really not going to have any kind of quick food or refill mugs at Kidani?

This is one of the reasons I don't like BLT since I will HAVE to buy sodas to have in the villa since I won't have an option at BLT or will have to walk all the way over to the Main building on the 4th floor, go up those itsy bitsy escalotors in my wet, but covered bathing suit. But at least the building is walkable. At Kidani I will have no options. Will they at least have a quick mart or sales shop with sodas? I don't want to be paying at the bar for a soda.

Pool is supposed to have more features (water play, etc.). I think something along the lines of the snack bar at the SSR Grandstand pool would be logical.

6. Is there Concierge at Kidani??

No.

7. Do you think the resort will be large enough to have plenty of bookings at 7 months?

There will be a lot of rooms at Kidani, just depends a lot on time of year I'm sure.

We love AKV! Good luck!!

 

[pickles]

I do own now at akv, however, I have never booked at the 11 month window for any resort.

I just waitlisted and had come thru 2 bedroom at jambo last week april. I just tried for that this past feb, so 2 months out? There were other size rooms I could have gotten at Jambo and of course Kidani

I don't go during peak dvc times, but have rarely had trouble getting what i want.
That said, if you love BCV and that is your favorite one, then buy there for the advantage, odds are it will be harder to book than a bigger resort like AKV
If you have no fav then save money and buy SSR (tho keep in mind that resort seems to be harder to sell quickly if you need to, despite its lower fees)

I never understood the comments about the AKV buses. I have never found them to be anymore of a problem than any other resorts. In fact, I think the BCV buses are the worse, too many stops shared, too many people on them.

 

[Greyhound22]

New owner here (AKV) and I appreciate the answers. I learned some things about my home resort! Thanks a ton

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Is there a AKV lovers thread somewhere around here? Thanks

 

[stopher1]

Is there a AKV lovers thread somewhere around here? Thanks

There sure is - come on over and join in!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1815576

 

[pixie08]

1. Are you happy with your purchase even though you have to take a bus everywhere. We couldn't be happier. We too jumped around between BWV & AKV (BLT does not appeal to me either). I find the bus service to be far, far superior to any other DVC (or deluxe for that matter). I think they over compensate a bit for being a bit further away. NEver waited more than 15-20 mins for a bus and that was low, low season.

2. Have you had difficulty getting into the Concierge level with your four month priority? Never tried but I am going to assume this is harder because of the limited rooms

3. Anyone not an owner ever complain about not getting in at 7 months?? I would say this is a very popular resort so not getting in could be a possibliity if you do not own, then again with Kidani opening not sure.

4. Do you love being in Jambo house and are not looking forward to Kidani?? Are you worried about Kidani tranportation. I ask because a DVC kiosk guy at AKV told us you would have to shuttle from Kidani to Jambo and get the buses to the parks there. THAT does not sound good. Not true, it will work just like POR & PoFQ. Not Worried. Although I do love Jambo- just having all the restaurants right there- we are big fans of both Boma and Jiko

5. Is the pool over at Kidani supposed to be as good as Jambo? Also, if there is a pool overthere, are they really not going to have any kind of quick food or refill mugs at Kidani? From the renderings I've seen ebven better at Kidani- either way if you are staying at Jabo you can use it and vice versa. Most likely you will refill at the pool bar and possibly a mug station. Anyway this used to concern us but we are getting so accustomed to villa style we like to have groceries delivered and have drinks in our room so we can have one in the middle of the night if we want.Plus it is much cheaper than buying and you can have water for the parks


6. Is there Concierge at Kidani??
No but no other DVC resorts have coneirge to my knowledge beside AKV. Even if you own at Kidani you can stay at Jambo. We own at Jambo and will be staying Kidani- you own at the "AKV" resort.

7. Do you think the resort will be large enough to have plenty of bookings at 7 months? Not sure. So many factors would go into that. Season being number one.