BRV vs AKL

[JoeD07]

Coming back from our 1st trip as DVC members. Had a great time. Stayed at BRV and Poly. Loved BRV and totally did not expect to.

Thinking about adding on at BRV but we are worried about the 2042 end date. I know people say “buy where you want to stay”, but the price for AKL is very comparable to BRV but you gain 15 years in usage.

Seems silly to be concerned over an end date 20+ years away, but even if I just rented those points out for those 15 extra years, I’d like make the original purchase price back twice over ($15 per point x 15 years = $225 per point)

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[aoconnor]

Do you typically stay in studios or one bedrooms? One bedrooms at BRV are generally wide open except the extremely popular holiday decoration season. If you want to stay there during November and December you 100% need to own there.

Studios are fairly easy to get in winter, spring and summer but not during "fall frenzy" (October - Marathon Weekend in January).

 

[Drewferin]

Depends on your family size... Are you wanting a studio or 1 bedroom? I have a family of 5 and prefer a 1 bedroom so this limited my options to some degree. After all things consider we selected AKV due to pp cost, years left, and the resorts actual decor.

 

[JoeD07]

Do you typically stay in studios or one bedrooms? One bedrooms at BRV are generally wide open except the extremely popular holiday decoration season. If you want to stay there during November and December you 100% need to own there.

Studios are fairly easy to get in winter, spring and summer but not during "fall frenzy" (October - Marathon Weekend in January).

As I said, 1st trip just completed, but we are definitely in need of 1BRs for future trips. We liked the Poly, but felt like we were on top of each other and couldn’t even unpack our suitcases. The 1BR at BRV was perfect for us, although a sleeper chair or Murphy bed for the 3rd kid would have been ideal. 3 in the pullout won’t work for much longer.

 

[JoeD07]

Depends on your family size... Are you wanting a studio or 1 bedroom? I have a family of 5 and prefer a 1 bedroom so this limited my options to some degree. After all things consider we selected AKV due to pp cost, years left, and the resorts actual decor.

We are also a family of 5 and will be booking 1 BRs moving forward.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

AKV does have the sleeper chair in all 1Br's except for the Value rooms so that may work better for your family anyway. Have you ever stayed at AKL or AKV prior to buying? Where do you currently own and what's the purpose for adding on? That can help with recommendations too.

 

[meekey7197]

1 bedrooms at Kidani also have a 2nd bathroom

 

[JoeD07]

AKV does have the sleeper chair in all 1Br's except for the Value rooms so that may work better for your family anyway. Have you ever stayed at AKL or AKV prior to buying? Where do you currently own and what's the purpose for adding on? That can help with recommendations too.

We currently own at BLT. After burning through our points this year on this trip, we realized that more points are needed (we bought 100 initially).

I had figured AKL would be the best option due to the price and contract length. We’ve never stayed there, though we have visited and had dinner there a few times and liked the feel of it.

However, on this trip, my wife and I fell in love with BRV, so that threw an emotional monkey wrench into my logical evaluation of next best place to add on. I’ve been eyeing a BRV contract with our use year the last few days and the mantra of buying where you want to stay keeps ringing in my head, lol.

So I’m trying to determine if the savings over AKL ($10-20 per point) on the initial point purchase is worth it to lose the 15 years of usage.

The feedback about the sleeper chair and BRV 1 BRs being available at 7 months regularly is giving my logical side more firepower to compete with the emotional side, so I appreciate the info and welcome more.

 

[JoeD07]

1 bedrooms at Kidani also have a 2nd bathroom

Awesome! My logical side appreciates the firepower... keep it coming

 

[meekey7197]

With the exception of the fall season, I don't think you will have much trouble booking an WL one bedroom at 7 months. If you look right now, every single night is available between May 27th and Dec 4th. (In all fairness, AKV is pretty similar). We own at Poly and AKV (and soon SSR). We bought Poly with our heart and the others with our head LOL.

I really think in your case AKV makes more sense. If you intended to always book studios I probably wouldn't say that.