anyone regret buying AKV?

[anonymousegirl]

My Dh and I are considering buying DVC and are trying to decide on the resort. I think I want BCV (will be staying there on rented points this January) because of the location and the difficulty in getting in at 7 mos. But the incentives from Disney for ALV look good (although we'll have to see what they're offering in Jan 09) and of course, the possible BLT property may be exactly right.

But back to AKV, has anyone bought there and determined that it wasn't all that wonderful? It seems less Disney and more isolated, although I have heard the busses aren't that bad.

 

[CyKosis]

Hi, We just bought there yesterday, and the tour through the sample rooms are great, they look awesome.

We are still unsure about the actual purchase of DVC as we bought right before our flight... but were going to sit down and go through it in the next couple days as you have 10 days to withdraw (by written notice). We just want to make sure its a right fit for us.

Some of the incentives they gave us was that they matched our first set of points so we got double the points right off the bat, plus a credit because the villas are still being built.

We were also told and Im not sure if the sales guy was just saying this so we'd buy now... but he was like, we will be raising the point price from $104 (what we bought at) to around $115-$120 in the next week or so...

Any other questions just ask.

 

[PrincessNewsie]

Hi, We just bought there yesterday, and the tour through the sample rooms are great, they look awesome.

We are still unsure about the actual purchase of DVC as we bought right before our flight... but were going to sit down and go through it in the next couple days as you have 10 days to withdraw (by written notice). We just want to make sure its a right fit for us.

Some of the incentives they gave us was that they matched our first set of points so we got double the points right off the bat, plus a credit because the villas are still being built.

We were also told and Im not sure if the sales guy was just saying this so we'd buy now... but he was like, we will be raising the point price from $104 (what we bought at) to around $115-$120 in the next week or so...

Any other questions just ask.

If they are announcing the villas at the Contemporary, I would expect a price hike... This may be true, but I wonder how much the DVC salespeople actually know!

 

[edk35]

We did an add on to AKV Aug. 22nd (site unseen really) only toured the models at SSR last year. We have never stepped a foot into AKV. You know to be honest at least for ME..I could stay anywhere DVC. Sure I have a few faves but if I had to stay at one of my least faves....I WOULD JUMP ON IT if it meant going to Disney. We have been able to use our points to stay at BCV this past July for 6 nights at the 5 month window. We got 3 week nights (that is all we wanted) at BWV last Aug. at less than 7 months. We stayed at OKW this past July too. Our home is SSR and we have stayed there 2 times and are going home in Nov. I know people say BUY where you want to stay, but for us...we want to try and stay at all of them. Next summer if it all pans out ....we will try AKV and Vero. I think it depends on when you travel and if you are flexible/want to try other resorts. If you absolutely love BCV and know you only want to stay there....then buy there. We wanted to buy at the two newest resorts with great incentive packages at the time. Even if I never stay at AKV (which I am pretty sure we will and soon) I have no problem owning there. People don't like SSR and bought in there for whatever reasons and may never stay there. We bought into DVC to be able to try all the resorts and stay where we want most of the time. We have been members for 19 months and we have already stayed at SSR, OKW, BWV and BCV. I think that is pretty good........
SO NO AKV REGRETS HERE.

 

[nikkistevej]

No AKV regrets for me, we hadn't ever even been to AKV, and bought in on the cruise in Sept 2007!! Then went in May 2008- absolutely loved it!!!
P.S. We just added on 3 weeks ago!!

 

[becca-becca]

We did an add on to AKV Aug. 22nd (site unseen really) only toured the models at SSR last year. We have never stepped a foot into AKV. You know to be honest at least for ME..I could stay anywhere DVC. Sure I have a few faves but if I had to stay at one of my least faves....I WOULD JUMP ON IT if it meant going to Disney. We have been able to use our points to stay at BCV this past July for 6 nights at the 5 month window. We got 3 week nights (that is all we wanted) at BWV last Aug. at less than 7 months. We stayed at OKW this past July too. Our home is SSR and we have stayed there 2 times and are going home in Nov. I know people say BUY where you want to stay, but for us...we want to try and stay at all of them. Next summer if it all pans out ....we will try AKV and Vero. I think it depends on when you travel and if you are flexible/want to try other resorts. If you absolutely love BCV and know you only want to stay there....then buy there. We wanted to buy at the two newest resorts with great incentive packages at the time. Even if I never stay at AKV (which I am pretty sure we will and soon) I have no problem owning there. People don't like SSR and bought in there for whatever reasons and may never stay there. We bought into DVC to be able to try all the resorts and stay where we want most of the time. We have been members for 19 months and we have already stayed at SSR, OKW, BWV and BCV. I think that is pretty good........
SO NO AKV REGRETS HERE.

I so agree with you about just being at Disney in a villa room. We bought without having ever stayed in or seen a "real" villa, only the model rooms. We just stayed at AKV one night before our 3 day cruise and we were so excited. We really liked it. We stayed in a studio and thought it was so neat to see the animals out our window. While we probably wont be in a SV room most of the time, you can easily go down to the lobby and see the animals from that viewing area.

I also don't feel like it is too isolated from the parks. We have never stayed at a monorail resort, and it seemed even when we were at WL (not the villas) it still took quit a bit to get to Magic Kingdom. So, I just build the transportation time into a part of our trip and a time to relax before the business of the parks or to rest after the business of the parks!!

We love DVC and our only regret is we just assumed it was too expensive and out of our league in 2005 when we got a DVD/info and just putting it aside. We would have more than paid that off if we had bought then. Oh well!

 

[drusba]

We were long time owners (since early '97) at BWV and then added on at AKV in 2007 before it opened and have been there twice since. We have no regrets and very much like AKV. Pros and cons:

1. At BWV we always get boardwalk view which we consider the best view of all the resorts. At AKV, we will always get savanna view which is also about as good as it gets. I would not own there unless I was going to get savanna view (I won't even do concierge, which many consider a huge plus, because two of the five 2BR lock-offs that make up concierge level are pool view and I want guaranteed savanna view) . There is nothing like sitting out on your porch in early morning or evening at sunset (with a glass of your favorite) and see a giraffe walk by.

2. Room sizes at AKV Jambo are comparable to the other DVC resorts (rooms are a little narrower than at others but a little longer), except OKW which has the largest 1 and 2BR's. We like the kitchen area of the 1BR better at AKV Jambo which has everthing set up along the wall rather than the alcove style of BWV, BCV, VWL, and SSR. Kidani will have larger rooms and extra bathroom in the 1 and 2BRs, but will have the alcove style kitchen.

3. AKV is isolated and gives the sense of being out there away from everything. We consider that a pro, some consider it a con. The savannas are mostly open land but everything else is heavily wooded and the ultimate feel is that you are not in Florida but really are on a savanna (example: you can stand out right in front of the main doors and look across where the parking lot is about 70 yards away but you really don't see the lot or any cars because of trees). You are confined unlike at other resorts -- the only exits to the outside are to the pool area, designated viewing areas, and the front of the building; they can't have you exiting onto the savannas which surround all other parts of the building; the animals do get fairly close to the building.

4. Obviously at AKV you cannot walk to a park, but we found the bus service to be fine, particularly because you are not sharing with another resort like you do with BWV -- the actual distance from AKV to MK is significantly longer than BWV to MK, but the time spent traveling is often 15 or more minutes less than BWV. Moreover, the bus stop area actually has a separate pick-up area for each park so that everyone does not bunch up in one place to wait for busses.

5. What we miss most being there is the inability to walk to essentially 20 restaurants like we can at BWV (at Epcot resorts, Epcot and Studios). However, Boma, in our view, is the best buffet restaurant in WDW and Jiko's has a wine list, our preferred dinner drink, that takes 20 minutes to review. Having Mara's, a food court (cafeteria) for something quick is also a plus for AKV.

6. We like the BWV pool area but like AKV Jambo's better, including because there are many areas with trees and the ability to find both seclusion and shade.

7. Dim lights, pro and con. AKV Jambo is dimly lighted throughout except for the main store and Mara's, the fast food cafeteria. The room lights also are not very bright. Morever, the decor is on the rustic, dark side. This is one those things where your first reaction is why can't we have more light and your different, long-term reaction is that it adds to theme of the place of being isolated and somewhere in Africa around dusk.


8. The Jambo lobby is very impressive, large, african theme, and open from floor to ceiling at top of building and the Kidani lobby will likely be comparable.

9. Some other cons: Jambo one bedrooms have combined tub and shower, prefer separate (Kidani will be separate). The ethernet hook-up for internet in the 1BRs at Jambo is in the bedroom; prefer living room. You can have very long trek from room to lobby if you get rooms near the end of the long wings, longer actually than BWV from lobby to end of the resort. However, they did something clever to create a sense of shorter. There are elevators in the lobby but then there are also elevators about half-way down each wing. Thus you can walk half-way, stop a minute and take the elevator and walk on a different floor the other half and you do not have the same sense like at BWV that you have walked a long way.

 

[Laneychris]

We love our AKV, my kids are huge fans of the animals, so that was a big seller to us.

 

[jarestel]

We primarily bought at AKV for the ability to view the animals from our balcony. That's something you won't find at any other resort. I do wonder though if the lure of our four-footed friends will be enough to draw me there the number of times necessary to make my purchase worthwhile. We're not all that crazy about the other aspects of the resort area to be honest.

It does seem AKV will be large enough to accommodate occasional visits at the 7-month window. So do I regret buying AKV? I'll get back to you in a year or so.

 

[anonymousegirl]

Thanks for all the insights, folks. I was trying to convince DH to buy in the next few weeks because of the awesome incentives, but he has put his foot down, funnily enough, because we off the South Africa and Botswana for safari in 10 days.

I only hope the next round of incentives are just as good adn the rumor of the price increase is just a rumor.