AKV - Second Thoughts

[Stitch 03]

I am really looking forward to DVC coming to the AKL. I had even decided that I would want to add-on 100 points when I visit next month. Now I am having second thoughts and here are my reasons:

1) Once the full resort is on-line I do not see the home resort advantage being that big. At least compare to BCV and BWV. Savannah view rooms should be fairly easy to come by at the 7 month window.

2) Concierge - This is what I was really looking forward to. But considering the point requirements and the small number of rooms, these will be very hard to get even with the 11 month window. And I do not want to call day by day.

3) Dues - I have to admit that I am concerned what the annual dues will be in the long run. The whole animal care issue is a bit of an unknown. This is a major concern in light of the above two points. If not for those other points, I could probably live with this.

4) I really do not need any more points. Sure more would always be nice. But given the concerns outlined above I may be better waiting to see what else comes down the line (Disneyland).

So, is anyone else having second thoughts or share similar concerns.

I am really looking forward to staying at AKV, I just do not think I need it as a home resort.

 

[Dean]

If you don't need the points and you do not seen AKV offering a value for you, there certainly is no reason to buy. It may be that certain room types will be fairly easy to get if you call day by day at 7 months out. And it's possible part of the year you won't have to call 7 months out. I see the value rooms, 1 BR, concierge and 2 queen second BR units and GV being somewhat difficult for at least a portion of the year. Likely not as difficult as BWV standard or BW view or BCV 2 queen 2 BR but still difficult.

I personally think it will be more difficult than many seem to think for non AKV owners but not enough to justify buying just to get in if you don't need the points, at least not for most people. It will be interesting to see.

 

[Slakk]

If you don't need the points and you do not seen AKV offering a value for you, there certainly is no reason to buy. It may be that certain room types will be fairly easy to get if you call day by day at 7 months out. And it's possible part of the year you won't have to call 7 months out. I see the value rooms, 1 BR, concierge and 2 queen second BR units and GV being somewhat difficult for at least a portion of the year. Likely not as difficult as BWV standard or BW view or BCV 2 queen 2 BR but still difficult.

I personally think it will be more difficult than many seem to think for non AKV owners but not enough to justify buying just to get in if you don't need the points, at least not for most people. It will be interesting to see.

I have to agree. We are buying 100 points simply for the off chance I want conceirge. I do believe that AKV will be like BCV/BWV where many of the owners who buy there plan to stay there.

If I only wanted to stay in a Savanah room I would buy SSR/OKW and save some bucks. But I firmly believe conceirge AKV is the next CRT.

 

[wildernessDad]

I love VWL and I had second thoughts too based on buying points away from my love, but the 15 extra years means that I can pass it on to my granddaughter who was just born in March. She will be able to go until she is 50.

So I took the plunge and became a founding member.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I am really looking forward to DVC coming to the AKL. I had even decided that I would want to add-on 100 points when I visit next month. Now I am having second thoughts and here are my reasons:

1) Once the full resort is on-line I do not see the home resort advantage being that big. At least compare to BCV and BWV. Savannah view rooms should be fairly easy to come by at the 7 month window.

2) Concierge - This is what I was really looking forward to. But considering the point requirements and the small number of rooms, these will be very hard to get even with the 11 month window. And I do not want to call day by day.

3) Dues - I have to admit that I am concerned what the annual dues will be in the long run. The whole animal care issue is a bit of an unknown. This is a major concern in light of the above two points. If not for those other points, I could probably live with this.

4) I really do not need any more points. Sure more would always be nice. But given the concerns outlined above I may be better waiting to see what else comes down the line (Disneyland).

So, is anyone else having second thoughts or share similar concerns.

I am really looking forward to staying at AKV, I just do not think I need it as a home resort.

I had the same thinking as you. I did need points though. I decided to add on at SSR while they had the 15 dollar a point deal. (Of course, 'need' is a relative term)

 

[BroganMc]

So, is anyone else having second thoughts or share similar concerns.

We went through the exact same concerns. As nice as AKV is, there are enough downsides to make it a nonstarter for folks who don't have an innate passion making it a must stay every time.

For me the tipping factor is one I expect will make the resort not have the same prime request status as BWV and BCV. It is far too remote from everything.

We're holding out for CRV instead.

 

[Dean]

If I only wanted to stay in a Savanah room I would buy SSR/OKW and save some bucks. But I firmly believe conceirge AKV is the next CRT.

If I were going to buy anyway, I'd buy the AKV because I feel it will have more long term value than OKW or SSR.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We went through the same thought process, but since AKV is what we wanted when we bought OKW 10 years ago, we decided we HAD to do at least a few points there. We first thought 100 too, but we really don't need that many, so we pared it down. Our long range plan is to probably sell OKW before it devalues with the decreasing years, and buy another AKV contract for the resale value as we get farther down the road.

 

[pilferk]

We were buying in for the first time, so that makes a bit of a difference.

But we weighed AKV and SSR a bit, mainly due to the maint fee difference. In the end, we decided we wanted to buy where we wanted to stay (the age old DVC mantra around here, it seems). That way, as DVC grows, and demand grows, we are assured of some "exclusivity" on booking there (the home resort booking window). Whether it's valuable now or not, I think, as DVC grows, AKV is going to be a place that MOST DVC members want to enjoy at least once...and I think that will, eventually, make the 11 month window more valuable than it will be early on.

 

[jarestel]

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of all of the talk about new resorts, add-ons, and just plain ole mass hysteria when reading these boards. If you're not sure about AKV and you don't need any points anyway, just forget about it. You'll always be able to buy AKV in the future if you decide that's the way to go.

 

[lisareniff]

I'm with you Stitch! I thought we 'needed' a few more points, but DH had a different definition of need. We love AKL and wanted to own there for any home resort advantage(we go during busy break weeks), but after working out what they are actually offering... I agree with Stitch

I think you you can get a savanna(h) view at 7 months.

Home resort will be needed for concierge, value, and GV's. (Possibly Lodge building savanna(h) and standard view rooms)

 

[WolfpackFan]

AKV/AKL is the type of resort you either love it or hate it. So I think that will impact how popular it will be. We love it and it was a very easy sell for us to buy our add-on there. But we have some friends who are DVC members who really don't like AKL at all. The wife keeps talking about the music when she enters the lodge. She just doesn't like the drums and how dark the place looks. So they would never buy AKV or stay there. Of all the DVC resorts, I don't think there is a single one that I wouldn't hesitate to stay in or even own. They are all great IMO (even SSR).

 

[sajetto]

Count us in on that. We sort of got caught up in the hysteria of adding-on that is going on around here. I have no idea why, because I don't think we ever would have considered AKV if it weren't for that.

We own 300 SSR points and that's actually already more than we need since we don't have kids. However, I have to admit that our favorite resort is OKW. We love the tight nit community feel and it FEELS like Florida and that's just the theme we're going for.

AKV was a very brief thought in our minds before we started considering an OKW add-on. Finally we figured out that we just needed to shake of this silly case of add-on-itis because we've got more than enough points, we like AKV, but its not our favorite and it definitely wouldn't be worth high maintance fees, and OKW is very easy to get at the 7 month window.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I do believe that AKV will be like BCV/BWV where many of the owners who buy there plan to stay there.

I know that is why my wife and I held off on buying SSR. We want to be able to get into DAKV when we want. Sure maybe some "short notice" trips we'll have to settle for something else. I really doubt many people are buying DAKV just for the points, planning on using them elsewhere.

While we do go on our own to Disney, we like to "entertain" down there, both our DINK friends, and our non-DINK relatives. So having the booking window at 11months, we can book our "known" trips as soon as the dates are known. Like we always goto MNSSHP in late Oct, which coincides with a bike ride in Gainesville.

johno

 

[dianeschlicht]

I know that is why my wife and I held off on buying SSR. We want to be able to get into DAKV when we want. Sure maybe some "short notice" trips we'll have to settle for something else. I really doubt many people are buying DAKV just for the points, planning on using them elsewhere.

While we do go on our own to Disney, we like to "entertain" down there, both our DINK friends, and our non-DINK relatives. So having the booking window at 11months, we can book our "known" trips as soon as the dates are known. Like we always goto MNSSHP in late Oct, which coincides with a bike ride in Gainesville.

johno

See, and we added on at AKV for the very same reason. We likely will be more exclusive with our AKV points though....They will be JUST FOR US!!

 

[DVC Grammy]

AKV/AKL is the type of resort you either love it or hate it. So I think that will impact how popular it will be. We love it and it was a very easy sell for us to buy our add-on there. But we have some friends who are DVC members who really don't like AKL at all. The wife keeps talking about the music when she enters the lodge. She just doesn't like the drums and how dark the place looks. So they would never buy AKV or stay there. Of all the DVC resorts, I don't think there is a single one that I wouldn't hesitate to stay in or even own. They are all great IMO (even SSR).

ITA! (must be something in the Wake County water ).
Is there ANY DVC that doesn't have both die-hard fans and rabid detractors? If so, it hasn't been mentioned on these boards.
Fellow DVCers (no, I'm not running for elected office....... ), isn't the fact that there are so many varied and fabulous choices one of the best features of DVC? Everybody gets to pick their own "happy place"!

 

[pilferk]

ITA! (must be something in the Wake County water ).
Is there ANY DVC that doesn't have both die-hard fans and rabid detractors? If so, it hasn't been mentioned on these boards.
Fellow DVCers (no, I'm not running for elected office....... ), isn't the fact that there are so many varied and fabulous choices one of the best features of DVC? Everybody gets to pick their own "happy place"!

My turn to do it:

ITA!!!! The variety is one of the things that made DVC such an appealing option.

 

[WolfpackFan]

ITA! (must be something in the Wake County water ).

Hi Grammy - Where in Wake County do you live? We live officially in Cary but think of Apex more as our hometown. Believe it or not but DW was actually born in Apex and grew up there. I was born in Raleigh but grew up in Wilmington and Greenville. We are getting quite a bit of rain right now and I'm supposed to play in a golf tournament this afternoon .

 

[gppnj]

I initiated a 25-point add-on at AKV, but I canceled it. As with you, I really didn't need the points. I was mostly buying it just so I'd own a little piece of a place that I love. But I figured I could buy an add-on in a few years when I might be more able to use the extra points.

 

[drusba]

Added on (big time) at AKV. Have always been at BWV (and cared less for any of the others before AKV and would care even less for anything at Contemporary whose main building I consider an eyesore inside and out; I wouldn't buy anything that is near it). Reasons tend to be personal: (a) we like the AKL restaurants; (b) we like watching strange animals; (c) generally reserve 9 to 11 months out and will likely use a 2BR savanna view for most trips (and that will likely be in the AKL building unless the new restaurant at Kidani is just as good); (d) despise any risk of not getting the reservation, room size and exact time, that I want; (e) despise the thought of the waitlist; (f) despise the thought of day by day reserving; (g) the 2057 end date (I won't be around but kids may still be)