AKV vs. BCV

[tink_lover]

Long story short - we were set to buy BCV directly from DVC earlier this year when DH very unexpectedly lost his job. Things are back on track and we are looking to buy later this summer. We simply cannot decide which way to go. What is the better choice for a family of 5? BCV with enough points for a 2 BR or AKV knowing we can stay 5 in a one BR. Has anyone ever purchased at a home resort and not stayed there? I would love to hear feedback. Also, we are looking this time to go resale as it will save us about $2,000.

 

[bellazachmom]

OK - I will start with the standard answer ... buy where you want to stay!

That being said, we chose BCV for a few reasons:

1. LOVED that we could walk to Epcot and MGM
2. LOVED the pools at BC
3. Enjoy all the dining available at BW, YC/BC and WS at Epcot.
4. It is a smaller resort, therefore a bit harder to book at 7 months. We decided we would always enjoy staying there and could book at 11 months ... if, at 7 months, we wanted to stay somewhere else it would probably be easy to change most times of the year.
5. We are big fans of Flower&Garden and of Food&Wine, both at Epcot so we wanted to be able to stay close and walk.
6. Liked taht we were only dependent on buses for 2 parks, AKV needs them for all parks.

Hope this helps! Jennie

 

[joech]

You might able to save $2k through resale for BCV. But I doubt you can save more than $1k for AKV. Before we bought ours at the DL event, the most I could have saved was $500 for a stripped contract for 160 points and it wasn't worth it to buy resale at that time.

 

[drag n' fly]

We are a family of five and chose AKV. The one bedroom, the themeing and yes it's location even appealed to us. The future developments are incredible. I often read of people wanting to buy BCV because of SAB. My theory is would you buy a house cause the pool was cool....probably not. List your reasons for liking/disliking each resort and booking availability and eventually you may have a clearer answer.

 

[Jaaron2]

We had the same problem you did as well with deciding between AKV and BCV.

We also have 5 in our family which is why we initially bought at AKV (and for the longer term)

but....we were still in love with BCV.....

So you can see from below what we ultimately decided.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think the 1 bedrooms at Kidani will be in higher demand than the other 1 bedrooms, so I don't think that only owning at BCV would necessarily be good. I think you are a candidate for both resorts! Decide which one you like the most, and will go to the most, and add on at the other!

Bobbi

 

[shortypots]

With the incentive points and lack of maintenance fees for 2008 pts, it isn't worth it to buy AKV on the resale market.

We personally bought at AKV because of the incentive points options and we love the concept of the savannah rooms! We had always wanted to stay there when it was the lodge, and now we own there! I like the 2 bathrooms even in a 1bd, and the fact that it has a sleeper chair for a 5th person.

Although I would think the Beach Club location within walking distance to Epcot would appeal to me.

 

[tink_lover]

Thanks for the replies...clear as mud You are probably right about the AKV direct vs. resale only I don't know what they are offering right now - extra points? Also, isn't there a new AKV area that will open soon? Does anyone know when those will be offered?

 

[utahkennedys]

Since you are a family of 5, I would buy AKV so you can stay in a 1BR, then do an add on at BCV. Right now I think you can still buy 100 points directly from Disney for AKV, then any add on at any resort for 25 or more points. We are possibly buying a small BCV add-on for the sole reason of staying there every 2 or 3 years and we want the booking advantage.

 

[shortypots]

Kidani is the Phase II of AKV. It doesn't open until May 2009. If you are lucky enough to get Jambo house, they will usually give you 2007 pts for no MF's if you get a later month UY like Dec, but I hear they are pretty well sold out of Jambo.

When we purchased AKV just a month ago, we were offered Kidani village for $8 off per point (regular price $104/pt), and equal developer points that can be used at SSR. This was available to all new members purchasing 160 pts or more. If you purchase the 100 pt deal you get the $8/pt discount, but no matching developer points.

What intrigued us is we knew we really couldn't use it before 2009 anyway, so the fact that the 2008 pts had to be banked didn't bother us at all. Since AKV Kidani is not scheduled to open until May 1, and our UY was June, we would have only had a month in which to use the points so they told us we should bank them. The key was there are no MF's due until May 2009. So our 2008 pts as well as developer points were maintenance free. Then the 2009 MF's will be prorated based on Kidani only being open for 8 months (so only 2/3 MF's.)

 

[Mamiamjo]

We adhered to the advice of buying where we want to stay. We chose BCV for it's location first and the pool second. If we had 5 in our family we may have chosen differently
We bought resale and got a contract that had some points left from previous year and all current years points although you have to be careful if buying resale as some are stripped of current year's points. By buying resale we saved about $8 per point versus through disney (although our closing costs were a bit higher, we still saved money).

We are now in the process of buying an additional resale contract (also at BCV).

My advice is to try both resorts and see which you'd rather stay at most often.

Good Luck,
Mike

 

[CPTJAK]

If costs are a main factor than AKV is the deal.

One additional item is that AKV has rooms that have lower point values per night allow more stays on fewer points than BCV (check point charts).

Also AKV has the advantage of have 3 bedroom villas which will go quickly during high seasons. BCV does not have 3 bedrooms.

We bought BCV because we like it the best for location/theme etc..and were willing to spend extra $$$ & points to stay there.