AKV too far?

[snowwhitemom]

It's farthest from Magic Kingdom, in the same range as Coronado Springs and the All Stars. It goes pretty quickly because there aren't any interm stops at other resorts, and there are only 2 stop lights. BWV is closer in miles, but to Magic Kingdom, last time I stayed there, I had to ride around the other 4 Epcot resorts and then two traffic lights.

Amen.......I think I get to the parks faster than with other resorts that share buses or have so many internal stops.....I have never thought of it as being a negative but a positive......Good luck!!

 

[noname70]

We always take our car, so we don't mind the location at all. I timed it 10 minutes to MK one morning (in our car of course).

Sandra

10 minutes to the lot I'd suppose but another 10-15 to unload the stuff/kids, wait for a tramm, arrive at the TTC. Then walk up the ramp or to the ferry. Possibly wait 5-10 (or more) for the monorail/ferry. Another 5-10 to MK, walk down the ramp with loads of people to the security check.

Cars work for other reasons but the bus is faster.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We always take our car, so we don't mind the location at all. I timed it 10 minutes to MK one morning (in our car of course).

Sandra

Yes, but then you have to park, take the tram, choose a way across Bay Lake....Even if it took you 10 minutes to drive the MK parking lot, you are wasting a LOT more time actually getting to the MK. When you take the bus, you are there in the time it takes to drive without all the "Mickey Mousing" around to park and get across Bay lake. The bus drops you right at the park entrance, so it's a BIG advantage over driving. As I said earlier, we found the bus service at AKV to be magnificent!

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

Bus service at AKL/AKV has been great both times that we were there. It is the closest DVC to the AK park of course so it's not that far away from everything. But, even the rides to EPCOT, MK, DHS are really only about 15 minutes. I will say that the only time that we felt that we were on a lengthy bus ride at AKV was when we went to DTD and then even a little further on the way to TL. That did take a while.

 

[DisFlan]

Epcot is our favorite park, so yes, AKV is "too far". That's why we bought BWV. We really love being able to walk/boat to two parks. We occassionally take a bus to the other parks, but we mostly drive. BWV isn't noted for short bus waits, especially to the MK.

DisFlan

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Epcot is our favorite park, so yes, AKV is "too far". That's why we bought BWV. We really love being able to walk/boat to two parks.
DisFlan

That is definitely a good selling point for BWV/BCV!

 

[Chester's Mum]

I bought BWV for the proximity to Epcot and the studios which I think is a really nice feature (and I also love the look and feel of the resort). We were not disappointed in our first stay at the Boardwalk. We did stay at AKV in March for DS school break, and found the bus service to be just fine. We have stayed at several resorts on site, and there is a wait at any resort for busses, and it is a mass transport service not a private car. I didn't feel like the AKV busses were any worse than the others. I'm sure there are times when there could be glitches in the service, but I wouldn't base my decision on the busses.

 

[momof3poohlovers]

Epcot is our favorite park, so yes, AKV is "too far". That's why we bought BWV. We really love being able to walk/boat to two parks. We occassionally take a bus to the other parks, but we mostly drive. BWV isn't noted for short bus waits, especially to the MK.

DisFlan

This is why we own at BOTH BCV and AKV!

 

[MinnieLee]

We have stayed at AKL before and felt is was far from the other parks. Everything about the resort is beautiful and we love the savanas but we like the convenience of being near the parks (especially being able to walk to EPCOT from BCV and BWV. We do make reservations for BOMA every trip to WDW - fantastic restaurant. It depends on what you are looking for. It is a very relaxing and peaceful resort.

 

[RDP]

Your on vacation........does the small amount of extra time realy matter it shouldn't detract from the excellent resort that AKV will be when finished.

 

[jarestel]

That's really an individual determination. It CAN take almost an hour, counting wait times, to get to MK from AKV. Of course, if you're lucky and time it right, it could take a mere 15-20 minutes. Then again, AK could be a mere 5 minutes away or it could be a half hour or so away. The point is one never knows.

Of course, I could tell you horror stories about Disney transportation at every single DVC in WDW. Bottom line is that AKV is a bit further away from most parks than the other DVCs. So transportation times will usually be a little longer. Does the extra few minutes matter? Not to me, but as I said, each person needs to evaluate this based on their own personal situations.

 

[Coach81]

No, we just left AKV a few weeks ago. It has its own bus stop (not multiple stops like BWV, OKW, SSR, etc.), and it is not all that far that it should be a deal breaker by any means. The resort is wonderful, I would highly recommend it!

 

[Tiger926]

We own at SSR and AKV, and last month was our 1st trip with 2 children. Keeping that in mind, we now realize that we need to stay at resorts where transportation is included, or, walking distance to parks. We always have our own car, so the actual mode of transportation isn't the issue, but driving, parking and tramming is. My just turned 5 year old daughter who is on trip 7, decided a few weeks ago that she had enough of driving to the parks, which is what we have to do when staying at SSR and AKV. We have stayed at MK resorts several times and love being able to take a ferry, monorail or walk to MK, and, just last month we stayed at Yacht Club and fell in love with Epcot area. We realized this is where we need to be because if we stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk, we can walk to Epcot (we spend a ton of time there), ferry to Studios and monorail to MK - we can get to 3 parks from this location! We loved this! My daughter loved not having to be strapped back into her car seat and driving/parking to parks for the 4 days we were there. We park hop a lot as well as this is most convenient for our family, as we eat 2-3 table service meals per day, so the way we get to the parks is important.

RE: AKV. We have decided to spend 3-4 days there and do AK and resort stuff (so much to do here) and then move to Beach Club or Boardwalk (hopefully we can get at 7 month window - if not, we will look to add points or resale) to do the other 3 parks.

We have spent a lot of time over the past few years driving from Saratoga - we love the resort and we like visiting Downtown Disney, but this past trip, we realized that driving/parking and schlepping 2 kids (they are 4 years apart, so different sleep schedules as well) around now has changed our vacation style once again and that is ok! We now are planning out our resort time and park time a bit differently and that is what we love about DVC! For us, AK is a bit too far in regards to getting to the other parks, but, we love the resort so much, it's a destination unto itself, and that is how we do AKV.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

That is an excellent point about splitting your stay. I hadn't considered it. My kids are young, 2 and 4, so dealing with strollers, a bus, etc. really is a big consideration for us. Thanks for the input!

 

[Tiger926]

That is an excellent point about splitting your stay. I hadn't considered it. My kids are young, 2 and 4, so dealing with strollers, a bus, etc. really is a big consideration for us. Thanks for the input!

You are most welcome! We are the 'split stay' experts as you can see from my signature - just spent 15 days last month in 5 resorts. It was fairly easy with both kids as they both travel well as they have been doing so since birth. But as I stated, with different sleep and eating schedules with kids being 4 years apart, we realize that split stays are a necessity for our small family for so many reasons: eating, child centred-activities and most importantly, proximity to parks.

Best of luck to you and your family, Tiger