BLT or AKV

[ToddyLu]

DH and I just got our paperwork last week, signed it and it was in Orlando on Friday. He is 44 and I am 40. WE do not have children. Loke you we plan to do studios. DH loves to photograph animals...so my deciding factor...the look on his face when the Guide booked us 2 studios with Savannah View for our trip in Oct. We thought BLT was beautiful.... but DH is a pacer....he likes to wonder about. I do not know where the sky bridge connects to CR...still seems like a bit of a walk to me. Now if the monorail actually went throught the BLT or stopped at it......DH would have had to suck it up

Will we ever be able to stay at BLT with our points...maybe/maybe not....but I know that the scenery will always be different at AKV. We live in a small community in Southern Mississippi. A bus ride is a thrill for us and I tend to chat with others...not so much on the monorail for some reason...I guess because we are there so quick, I don't get the chance.

I think splitting them would be an excellent option for you. The best of both worlds...which is why we all 'do' Disney anyway. Now DH walks around the house saying, "Buy us more points or the dog gets it" I answer, " You just love me for my points!"

A savannah view beats walking under the Big Wheel at Pop any day (OK, Pop folks its just an analogy)

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Like many people, my wife and I LOVEthe location of BLT but also loved the look and feel of AKV. We decided to buy points at both and either stay at each every other year or stay a few days at one followed by a few days at the other. Our thought process is, the first part of any given trip we stay at BLT in a MK view, are in the middle of the action, yet close to "home" and can easily get to everything in the World in short amount of time.....then the later part of the week we move over to AKV Savanna view so we can relax, sit on the balcany watching the animals, go to a much nicer pool complex than BLT (based on pictures so far BLT looks pretty sterile), eat at some great restaurants, go to AKV and wind down our vacation...especially since we have 50 more years of them! So to us, having the ability to switch off is what sold it for us...plus it is nice to have home booking priorities for 2 resorts...

thats exactly what i'm doing!!

 

[csatulovsky]

I just finalize my vacation reservation and I will be staying one week at BLT and 3 days at AKV.They even take care of getting your luggage to the next resort!!! you just have to get your stuff in the suitecase...go to the park and take a different bus!

C

 

[jonandrenee]

Thanks for all this great info. I'm considering buying into BLT myself.

 

[RayJay]

Big dilema. Which would you choose---BLT or AKV? We are buying but need help with picking our home resort. We are in are mid-40's and like MK and AK and we do not have kids. We love the theme at AKV but the BLT is in the m iddle of the magic. The dues are $1 more at AKV but you get $20 OFF COMPARED TO $18 at BLT. We enjoy the concerige service and the larger rooms at AKV but BLT will have computers in the rooms. I think that there is more ammenities at AKV but more restaurant choices at BLT. We need to decide by Thursday. Thanks for the help.

Please help me understand this offer?

We were just there and the offer was:

$5 off BLT
$19 off AKV

And we had to do it before we left Saturday.

Thanks
RayJay

 

[ToddyLu]

on the 10th of June when we signed our paperwork. Points at AKV were $112 per point with a $10 discount, then we got another $8 dollars off having a referral name. So we purchased our points for $94, then got 2008 points for free. My UY is DEc. so I had the option to bank the free 2008 points and combine them with new 2009 points coming in Dec. We could have had 420 points Dec.1, 2009. Not a bad deal....we are using our free points this Oct for our trip. BLT prcing was about the same maybe a couple of dollars more than AKV and the MF are less than AKV. I checked with DVCNews.com to see what the current incentived were and got the free points as a surprise. We were going to purchase just becasue we could get $18 off per point.

 

[RayJay]

on the 10th of June when we signed our paperwork. Points at AKV were $112 per point with a $10 discount, then we got another $8 dollars off having a referral name. So we purchased our points for $94, then got 2008 points for free. My UY is DEc. so I had the option to bank the free 2008 points and combine them with new 2009 points coming in Dec. We could have had 420 points Dec.1, 2009. Not a bad deal....we are using our free points this Oct for our trip. BLT prcing was about the same maybe a couple of dollars more than AKV and the MF are less than AKV. I checked with DVCNews.com to see what the current incentived were and got the free points as a surprise. We were going to purchase just becasue we could get $18 off per point.

Thanks again for the info, but above was offered to us this past Thursday.

Only BLT for $5 off. Which doesn't really matter because we want to go with AKV.

RayJay

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks again for the info, but above was offered to us this past Thursday.

Only BLT for $5 off. Which doesn't really matter because we want to go with AKV.

RayJay

That is surprising since it sounds like the gave you the base discount for BLT, but the member referral discount for AKV.

Do you have a member referral? If so, you should be able to get BLT at $11.00 off (160) and $13.00 off for 200+ points.

But, with AKV, the base is $13.00 and with a member referral it is $19.00 (unless you go to 200 and then I think it is $21)

Good luck!

 

[Tozzie]

My thought process was straightforward:

o A DVC membership is a form of real estate investment.

o The 3 rules of buying real estate are "location, location, location."

o No other location compares to BLT--monorail access and a 5 minute walk to MK. I also love the location of BWV and BCV, but nothing beats walking to the MK!

It was just that simple for me!

That is your opinion I personally gag everytime I see the Pictures of BLT. I don't think being that close to any park is that important I want to be relaxed when I am at the resort and I wouldn't be if I were staying at BLT. I own at AKV and love it. It is a matter of personal preference I don't like the CR never did and I feel the same way about BLT.

I think the original poster needs to figure out where she feels most comfortable and buy where she would be comfortable and relaxed

 

[RayJay]

That is surprising since it sounds like the gave you the base discount for BLT, but the member referral discount for AKV.

Do you have a member referral? If so, you should be able to get BLT at $11.00 off (160) and $13.00 off for 200+ points.

But, with AKV, the base is $13.00 and with a member referral it is $19.00 (unless you go to 200 and then I think it is $21)

Good luck!

Sandi,

Your probably right, the guide did tell me BLT was selling so good that there was no more great discounts????

No we have no referral, we won't be buying until we save the cash for it. I'm not
financing it, but man I was tempted. We want AKV or BCV.

Maybe by our next year trip we'll be ready.

We just got back from Yacht Club and it was disappointing, (the room that is),
not the vacation.

RayJay

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Mike: I just read "Choosing Your Home Resort - What to Consider? and based on the following, I have decided to keep all my points at BLT. Thanks for the info.


"Keep in mind that if you have more than one home resort, all vacation points being used to make a reservation during the Home Resort Priority Period must be associated with that home resort. That is, you cannot combine points from multiple resorts to book one resort during the Home Resort Priority Period. You may combine all the points you have at all your home resorts and book any DVC resort only at the 7-month window."

That's correct, but you can bank your AKV points one year and use two years' worth of points to book a stay at AKV. The year you go to AKV, bank your BLT points and use two years' worth of points the next year to stay at BLT. You get the 11-month priority with both resorts that way.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at AKV for the first time last June and just returned from another stay this week. Before my first stay, I thought location would be an issue, it seemed so far from everything. But I didn't find that to be the case. I always rent a car, I really don't like the busses. We stayed at Kidani last week and loved the covered parking with a quick elevator ride directly to your floor. None of our destinations were more than a 10 or 15 minute car ride. We did ride the busses a few times and they weren't that bad, there are 2 stops at AKV - Kidani then Jambo.

I can see the attraction of BLT, it looks great. Sure the dues are less but the points required per night are higher.

One thing I was thinking this week is how much DVC has changed for the better since I bought 10 years ago. There are so many WDW options! When I bought it was OKW and BWV and for the first few years I alternated between the 2. I've now stayed at all of the WDW DVC's except SSR.

 

[toniosmom]

That's correct, but you can bank your AKV points one year and use two years' worth of points to book a stay at AKV. The year you go to AKV, bank your BLT points and use two years' worth of points the next year to stay at BLT. You get the 11-month priority with both resorts that way.

What a great idea! It makes perfect sense. I was wondering how you could work around getting the 11-month priority when using points from two different home resorts. Awesome. Thanks!

 

[toniosmom]

When we finally decided to buy, we looked at the rooms online again and really focused on the Studios. We don't have kids, so that would mostly likely be the type of room we would reserve.

I had the same thought since I am a single mother with a 4 year old. However, we stayed at SSR in a one-bedroom this past March and now I can't imagine staying in anything smaller than a one-bedroom ever again. Yes, the studio is large enough for us -- certainly better than a room in any of the value resorts, but I loved loved loved having the full kitchen. Nope, I didn't feel like a slave to the kitchen -- I cooked very simply and dumped everything in the dishwasher, including the cookware, running the dishwasher every single day. It was GREAT and MUCH cheaper.