Am I crazy to love AKV?

[ORD2KOA]

Am I crazy to buy all my points at AKV? Is it the type of place I will grow tired of? I realize that this is very subjective, but I am just curious if there is anyone else who loves AKV.

I don't think you're crazy at all. If you love it, it's the perfect resort for you.

One thing that I do like about DVC is that the resorts aren't one-size-fits-all.

 

[majortom1981]

I do not think your crazy. I have all my points there also.

I live on long island. Most of the resorts at disney model places here back home. Even BLT models hotels in NYC. I come to Disney for something different. Feeling like your in africa is different.

Plus i can talk to the african guides all day. last time we would skip the parks at night and sit at the fire outside at kidani village and talk to the guides.

I like akv because they are so different then what i have back home.

 

[zebsterama]

When I first looked to join DVC, I looked at BLT and BCV (resale). But I happened to visit Kidani on a trip and it was love at first sight. There is something about the spirit of the place that is hard to put into words and I'm not sure it really has to do with the animals. But everywhere I look, people seem to criticize its location and size. Am I crazy to buy all my points at AKV? Is it the type of place I will grow tired of? I realize that this is very subjective, but I am just curious if there is anyone else who loves AKV.

Yes, with a name like SpaceshipEarth, you are officially crazy!

Before I get slapped for being argumentative and sarcastic (hello my MOD friends) ... I wanted to say that I was just kidding ... I found the Title of your thread quite humorous considering that your board NAME pays tribute to a park that is not directly associated with AKV.

Please change your board name to something like Jiko or Sanaa or something Animal Kingdomish otherwise you will always be considered crazy in my eyes.

Cheers,
Zebsterama


PS ... it's my favourite too, but please let's keep that secret amongst ourselves.

 

[arthur06]

i don't think people actually dislike any resorts, they just may like others slightly better. i would rather be at my least favorite dvc than where i am right now!

+1

 

[ToddyLu]

We purchased at AKV sight unseen. We purchased our points in 2009. We had never even stepped foot on that property. DH and I, unknown to one another, would wait on our Pop bus each year and watch the AKV buses pull up and pull out with all the lucky resort guests on board. When I got ready to purhcase I approached DH as buying SSR since the points were less expensive. He said, "let me think about it". He wouldn't admit it but I think it took him 15 minutes to get to the website and look at the different rooms. He came back to me and said, " I WANT POINTS AT AKV !! I knew then I loved that man Seems on our eight previous trips we secretly picked that as our fav. He simply loved it best and would only think of owning there. OF course them I had to admit tht was where I really wanted to be but didn't want him to feel like we were spending too much money. We ultimately decided that we deserved it.

He was sooo cute, he made me open the doot to our first room, with my eyes closed....so I could be surprised. I was in awe, it was just like the pictures I had seen. We were so lucky to be there.

As PP has said there are no other DVC resorts that make me feel like AKV does when we drive up to it.

If you want the music from the lobby I will send you a list so when you get home it still feels like you are there. Just PM me.

 

[SEC71]

I love Kidani! We own at WLV and stayed in BLT last October and Kidani last November. We are going back to Kisani in May for my birthday!

 

[dapod423]

AKV is my home resort as well and I LOVE it!!!! I also looked at BLT and while it was beautiful there is just something about AKV. The way I put it to our tour guide was this... BLT is what I want my house to look like, AKV is where I want to go on vacation". I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. There is just so much to explore.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

If I ever buy into DVC, I would want to own there, VWL, or BCV. I love AKV!!!

 

[justloveit]

We just returned from AKV, which is one of our home resorts. There is absolutely nothing better than watching the savanna wake up every morning, drinking coffee on the balcony! One of the Disney memories I conjure up on my worst days at work!!!!

 

[joech]

AKV is our home resorts as well and we have no intention to try anywhere else.

 

[Batstang2000]

We absolutely LOVE Kidani. This trip we are staying 3 nights in club level at Jambo and the rest of the trip in a one bedroom @ Kidani. Every trip we always go "visit" to either eat at Sanaa or Boma. Can't wait to be back home with the animals......

 

[marx]

I own at AKV and love it. If I had to do it again, I would have split my point purchase between BWV and AKV. If you ask which of the two is my favorite the answer would depend on my mood at that time.

 

[d-r]

our first two home resorts were wilderness lodge and beach club. Beach club just made so much sense, with stormalong bay and location. But my "heart" always preferred wilderness lodge. Oh, I love them both, but wilderness lodge was always more special, if that makes sense. When SSR opened we had the chance to buy some points and added on there. We stayed there a couple of times but never really had a love connection. When we heard they would dvc at animal kingdom villas, we sold our SSR points and bought AKL points. I'm glad that we did. Honestly, at first I thought we'd stay more at jambo house. We're resort types of folks I guess. But we've stayed at Kidani three times, and I LOVE it. I love if for all the reasons a lot of folks love old key west, but that I never "got." I love that I can park downstairs. I love the bbq grills - twice we've had people over for cookouts. I love the pool. I love that my kids can go fishing in that pond. OH, and I LOVE the animals outside. I love the decor. I love the art on the walls. Did you know animal kingdom lodge has one of the largest collections of African art in north America? I love the pool. I love that I can get a blue moon at the pool bar and splurt a splash of lemon aid in it from the drink dispenser. I love the smallness of the store. I love that there isn't a fast food place. I love Sanaa!! We've eaten there three or four times and I've had a good experience each time. I love the cast members and how friendly they are. I love them playing drums in the lobby. I love the library. I love the programs they have for kids. I love the flat screen tvs. I love the layout of the bathrooms more than the other dvcs. I love that you can drive over to places like miller's ale house so easily. I love the dark colors. I love the Okapi.

There's still a place in my heart for wilderness lodge, and nobody will ever get my beach club points away from me, over my dead body, but there's a lot to love about Kidani.

I had promised Melissa that if they ever had points at contemporary we'd buy them, so when they announced blt we did. But honestly at this point after staying there a couple times, I'd rather they were Kidani points. Kidani is the jewel of DVC imho. Kidani, Wilderness lodge, bcv, vero beach, those are my favorites. I "get" the draw of old key west, but those are my favorites.

 

[taurus8012]

I had tried every resort except AKV & BLT. I was all set to purchase BCV or WVL but the family had dinner at Boma so we went early to look around area. When we went through the main doors and we wereworship in total shock.I never had a feeling like that before , needless to say, I bought there the next day and never looked back because " I WAS HOME " I don't have any problem visiting any of the other resorts but I love my home. Now I am bringing my wifes friends to experience the Magic. So no you are not crazy you just found your home.

 

[stopher1]

Not crazy at all.

Where you own your points is entirely up to you, not anyone else... unless your spouse/co-purchaser has something to say about it - which is exactly what happened in my situation. We first looked at SSR to buy in; took the tour, the whole nine yards. I loved it, my DW was so-so. Then we saw the AKV models and for her it was at first sight. I knew that if we were going to purchase at that time, it would be AKV. I liked the models, but preferred SSR. BUT with our first stay at AKV... I too was in love with the place. It's awesome. We later got the SSR points too... as after staying at SSR the first time, my DW had a much higher opinion of the resort than just touring the models... and now love staying at both. They both offer such different, & fun experiences in their own way - as do all of the different DVC resorts. We'll be OKW in just over a week, and look forward to that experience as well. We don't love all of the individual resort themes, but look forward to sampling them all in future vacations - we still need to try BCV and BLT to complete what's currently available at WDW, and get to VB and HHI to complete the current DVC circuit (Aulani isn't counted in the mix just yet since it isn't open yet...but that's on our agenda for 2012). So far, unless I'm miscounting, since we became members we've had 15 DVC stays, and 5 of them have been to AKV - we love it. Each resort, and each vacation has been wonderful in its own way - but of course we look forward to getting back to AKV and those terrific savannahs once again.

It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about your home resort choices... only what you and your family think.

 

[3girlsfun]

We are planning on adding on at least 2 more times so that we can give each of our children their own contracts at some point. We will most likely start with AKV next, and we haven't even stayed there! We toured the model, and I have read so many good things about it, that I want to buy in there, site unseen. We are hoping for some pixie dust once we pass ROFR, and get everything closed on our contract, so that we can stay at AKV. My ODD will be completely happy to stay there the rest of her life with the animals! AK is her favorite park!

 

[JenSop]

You're not alone! We absolutely LOVE AKV!!!

It's the best place to stay at Disney - the whole resort is amazing. We own all of our points there. (The only other place we'll ever own points at is if they finally do a Poly DVC.)

We bought in in 2007 and have stayed at AKV four times. (We've also stayed at BLT and BCV.) It's wonderful every time!

 

[AnnaS]

We do not own here but have stayed at Kidani and we absolutely loved it!

 

[amystevekai&bump]

But, we had been torn about AKV, because we have two home resorts and each offers us a unique experience.

We just got back from a split stay at BLT/AKV and we thought it was a perfect combination. First, we stayed at BLT, concentrated on MK and Epcot while we had monorail access, and ate dinner at places along the monorail. Then, we moved on to AKV and, by then, we were glad to have the more peaceful environment. While at AKV, we did AK and DHS, which are the closer parks to AKV.

We absolutely loved the combination of those two resorts.

.

We too own at both BLT and AKV and for the exact same reasons as you have described We had our first 2 centre trip at christmas between BLT and AKV and whilst we loved the easy access to MK from BLT, we also loved the 'getting away from it all' feel of AKV - truly the best of both worlds in my eyes!!

 

[wildernessDad]

We love AKV. It's a great resort.