Choosing a Home Resort Anxiety

Yacht Club Stitch

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Anyone else stress over things more than necessary?! My husband and I have finally decided to pull the trigger on DVC. We have been going at least once a year since we got married in 2015 and know that it is a place we want to continue going for years. We want to buy in direct at 100 pts but are having issues choosing a home resort. I think we are torn between AKV, BLT, and Poly. We also plan on buying a small BCV contact resale to use but with how short those contracts are it didn't make sense to use that for the direct purchase.

We are leaning toward AKL as the offer club level which is something we use often. How impossible is it to book one of the Club Level rooms at 11 mos? I know we would kiss any hope away if it wasn't a home resort. We also like the idea of being near a monorail so that is also pulling us. It's a fun stress during this garbage year, but still stressing over making the "right" choice.
 
We are leaning toward AKL as the offer club level which is something we use often. How impossible is it to book one of the Club Level rooms at 11 mos?
There are a total of 5 lock off 2BR, for a maximum of 5 studios and 5 1BRs. They are difficult to book and you should expect to not get them every time. When booking at exactly 11 months, there may not be one open for your check in date. Or you may be competing with one hundred others for one unit.
 
I agree that i would not buy AKV for club level, if that is the main reason.

I knew going in what I wanted and I prefer BLT out of all you mentioned. Walk to the park, going from BLT to the main building is all covered so no worry about the rain,...one reason I didn’t like Poly last year when I tried it...and monorail to the other resorts to visit..

I started owning there and over the years, changed things up as I added on, but recently ended up with 100 points there again to add to RIV and SSR.

My advice Is buy where you think you would enjoy staying if you can’t trade out at 7 months to a place you’d like to try.
 
There are a total of 5 lock off 2BR, for a maximum of 5 studios and 5 1BRs. They are difficult to book and you should expect to not get them every time. When booking at exactly 11 months, there may not be one open for your check in date. Or you may be competing with one hundred others for one unit.

Thanks! Better to set my expectations. We are fortunately very flexible on travel dates but good to know I shouldn't expect availability. Besides the CL, I really do love AKL, we stayed there in 2018 and it's been one of my favorites! My husband is just hesitant of the location. This has been a harder choice to make than buying our last house :tongue:
 


Anyone else stress over things more than necessary?! My husband and I have finally decided to pull the trigger on DVC. We have been going at least once a year since we got married in 2015 and know that it is a place we want to continue going for years. We want to buy in direct at 100 pts but are having issues choosing a home resort. I think we are torn between AKV, BLT, and Poly. We also plan on buying a small BCV contact resale to use but with how short those contracts are it didn't make sense to use that for the direct purchase.

We are leaning toward AKL as the offer club level which is something we use often. How impossible is it to book one of the Club Level rooms at 11 mos? I know we would kiss any hope away if it wasn't a home resort. We also like the idea of being near a monorail so that is also pulling us. It's a fun stress during this garbage year, but still stressing over making the "right" choice.

I would also decide between CCV and Riviera in case the one you want of your three choices has a waitlist. The 100 goes up to 125 on October 1st, but the current incentives for the new resorts end tomorrow.

Not to stress you out further, but I'd call today and see what is available, so you can take advantage of the current incentives if you are unable to get your first choice before the minimum rises.
 
I agree that i would not buy AKV for club level, if that is the main reason.

I knew going in what I wanted and I prefer BLT out of all you mentioned. Walk to the park, going from BLT to the main building is all covered so no worry about the rain,...one reason I didn’t like Poly last year when I tried it...and monorail to the other resorts to visit..

I started owning there and over the years, changed things up as I added on, but recently ended up with 100 points there again to add to RIV and SSR.

My advice Is buy where you think you would enjoy staying if you can’t trade out at 7 months to a place you’d like to try.

Agreed. I also just love AKL, we stayed there a couple years ago and loved it. BLT is up there for all the reasons you mentioned as well! Thanks for the input :)
 
AKV, BLT, and Poly are all great choices long term.

I would not buy just for the club level, they are close to impossible and are almost always walked. Even right now, with club level closed, and no reopen date. You are setting yourself up to be disappointed if you think will be able to plan on club level.
 


Agreed. I also just love AKL, we stayed there a couple years ago and loved it. BLT is up there for all the reasons you mentioned as well! Thanks for the input :)
If you love AKL, I would buy there. It's a lower cost direct than BLT or PVB ($186 AKV vs $235 BLT vs $245 PVB), and it is a beautiful resort.

If you don't mind spending the extra points, a 1BR Club is much easier to get than a Studio (but ooof that point cost), though expect it to be difficult to obtain during peak times (I've been fairly successful in obtaining 1BR Concierge at 11 months but not so much Studio). If you decide you really want BLT, it might be better to add on resale for the savings - BLT can be had often for $140-$150 resale, versus $235 direct.

Let's say you would do PVB direct at $24,500 for 100 points, so I'll assume you have $25,000 to spend.
Buy AKV direct instead, for $18,600. That leaves you with almost $6500 leftover to put towards a resale BLT contract.
 
When you’re talking about that much money, and so many wonderful options, it is a tough decision -but as @Lorana pointed out- you don’t need to commit to just one!

My hubby & I actually debated between the same 3 you mentioned when we were first looking. We ultimately decided on BLT (nothing beats walkability to Main Street USA!), with a small Poly add-on to start (the theming is our favorite!).

We were back in 18 months for more points at AKL (where nothing can beat that lobby- or drinking an espresso overlooking the savanna in the morning). Bliss. 😍

As others have mentioned, if you go into buying AKL for club level rooms, you are bound to be disappointed. I went in knowing it would be hard, but still thought I could get one occasionally. Oh, so wrong!! If I preferred Kidani, I would actually regret our AKL purchase, because you can almost always get a room at 7 months, and having more BLT points would always be nice... however, I am extremely partial to Jambo House, and that generally requires home resort advantage for my booking dates, so I’m happy we bought there 😉
 
We bought two BLT resale contracts. We chose BLT because...

-walk to MK is priceless, especially at the end of a long day
-extra full bathroom in the 1 and 2 bedroom units (which you will need someday if you have kids)
-lots of nearby food options on the monorail
-proximity to Top of the World Lounge
-ability to stay in different size rooms to accommodate different amounts of people (some DVC resorts don't have grand villas or a 1BR that sleeps 5)

We've stayed in 1BR, 2BR and GV at BLT. We have also stayed at AKL (we prefer Kidani for the extra bathroom) and Poly (dislike that they only have studios). We like them, but we are glad we bought at BLT.
 
My hubby & I actually debated between the same 3 you mentioned when we were first looking. We ultimately decided on BLT (nothing beats walkability to Main Street USA!), with a small Poly add-on to start (the theming is our favorite!).
We bought two BLT resale contracts. We chose BLT because...

-walk to MK is priceless, especially at the end of a long day
-extra full bathroom in the 1 and 2 bedroom units (which you will need someday if you have kids)
-lots of nearby food options on the monorail
-proximity to Top of the World Lounge
-ability to stay in different size rooms to accommodate different amounts of people (some DVC resorts don't have grand villas or a 1BR that sleeps 5)

We've stayed in 1BR, 2BR and GV at BLT. We have also stayed at AKL (we prefer Kidani for the extra bathroom) and Poly (dislike that they only have studios). We like them, but we are glad we bought at BLT.
You guys are all killing me here. We don't mind locations such as AKV and having a long bus ride; having the animals outside our room matters more to us. The only time I hate the buses is honestly at the parks at the end of the day when I'm hurting from walking, and you have to wait 30 minutes for a bus with no benches to sit on!

That said, having stayed at GCV, Miracosta at Tokyo DisneySea, and of course both BCV and BWV, I admit I love walkability into a park. I just really don't like the theming at BLT from photos and videos I've seen, and we own at BRV and CCV already so we have an MK resort. But every time I see these BLT discussions, I admit that I keep thinking "but...walking to MK..." which then follows along with "should I add-on at BLT?" I find it easier to rationalize BLT over BCV/BWV because of cheaper dues and longer contract. Except I seriously need to stop adding on... stop convincing me I need BLT! ;-)
 
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AKV, BLT, and Poly

Booking at 7 months:
AKV - You won't get Club or Value but those are extremely hard even owning there supposedly
POLY - 2nd easiest probably to get at 7 months since every room is "the same"
BLT - You won't get Standard and possibly won't get Theme Park View

If you are planning on kids having BLT for a short walk to MK is going to be a benefit and not needing to setup and take down the stroller, get on a bus, ect. I also think having a MK resort and Epcot resort is a great combo.

Have you looked at how much extra club level costs would you be willing to spend that? I would some but you might not.

All good options with positives and negatives to each of them.
 
Thanks for all the input! Lot's to think about and consider. We definitely will be deciding before the point requirement goes up. I am so much of a type A person that I have made pages of notes on each resort to compare cost, location, point requirements, stuff about each resort we like, and contract length. At least it all exciting stuff!
 
Booking at 7 months:
AKV - You won't get Club or Value but those are extremely hard even owning there supposedly
POLY - 2nd easiest probably to get at 7 months since every room is "the same"
BLT - You won't get Standard and possibly won't get Theme Park View

If you are planning on kids having BLT for a short walk to MK is going to be a benefit and not needing to setup and take down the stroller, get on a bus, ect. I also think having a MK resort and Epcot resort is a great combo.

Have you looked at how much extra club level costs would you be willing to spend that? I would some but you might not.

All good options with positives and negatives to each of them.
Thanks! We don't have kids nor plan to but we love the walkability to parks which is why we have primarily stayed at YC and BC. I think we have decided not to worry about trying for Club Level but getting one bedroom villas when we go for added space, my husband works from home and tends to have to do small things from the rooms while we travel so the extra space may be more valuable to us. I really appreciate all the input from everyone here. It's a huge decision and bouncing thoughts off of others is helpful!
 
You guys are all killing me here. We don't mind locations such as AKV and having a long bus ride; having the animals outside our room matters more to us. The only time I hate the buses is honestly at the end of the day when I'm hurting from walking, and you have to wait 30 minutes for a bus with no benches to sit on!

That said, having stayed at GCV, Miracosta at Tokyo DisneySea, and of course both BCV and BWV, I admit I love walkability into a park. I just really don't like the theming at BLT from photos and videos I've seen, and we own at BRV and CCV already so we have an MK resort. But every time I see these BLT discussions, I admit that I keep thinking "but...walking to MK..." which then follows along with "should I add-on at BLT?" I find it easier to rationalize BLT over BCV/BWV because of cheaper dues and longer contract. Except I seriously need to stop adding on... stop convincing me I need BLT! ;-)
Haha!! & you with your CCV love isn’t helping me with my addonitis either!!! 😂
 
We don't have kids nor plan to

In that case BLT/POLY will have easy access to VGF for dinners especially if you do V+A every so often.
Poly is going to have quicker access to Epcot since you can walk to the monorail station that goes directly to Epcot for when festivals are going on and you want to grab dinner.
AKV has the benefit of 2 great restaurants on site.
 
Haha!! & you with your CCV love isn’t helping me with my addonitis either!!! 😂
I feel like this is where I should suggest we make a pact; I add on at BLT and you at CCV! Except I think you're getting the better deal here, since you could get CCV at $170 per point for 100 direct points! ;-) $235 direct for BLT is too rich for my blood at the moment. But I may just keep my eye out for a small BLT contract with Sep UY on the resale market going forward... ;-) At the very least, I need to plan a stay there to decide for certain if I want to add-on there.
 
Thanks for all the input! Lot's to think about and consider. We definitely will be deciding before the point requirement goes up. I am so much of a type A person that I have made pages of notes on each resort to compare cost, location, point requirements, stuff about each resort we like, and contract length. At least it all exciting stuff!
I'll just note that if you were going to spend $24,500 for 100 points PVB direct, that you could buy 150 AKV points for only $2650 more than that (as 150 points qualifies you for the $5 off promotion as a new owner), presuming you purchase by end of day tomorrow.

While it seems you might want BLT over AKV, if you don't mind Lake View, it's still possible to get BLT Studios at 7 months, and 150 points will get you more days at BLT! And AKV points will give you the 11-month advantage if you want to stay Club level at AKV at any point! :)

If you've never seen the availability charts, check them out here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/
 
Thanks! We don't have kids nor plan to but we love the walkability to parks which is why we have primarily stayed at YC and BC. I think we have decided not to worry about trying for Club Level but getting one bedroom villas when we go for added space, my husband works from home and tends to have to do small things from the rooms while we travel so the extra space may be more valuable to us. I really appreciate all the input from everyone here. It's a huge decision and bouncing thoughts off of others is helpful!
1-bedrooms sound like a great fit for you!! I bought in with the thought of booking studios and 2-bed’s, but never 1-bed’s... however, I’m thinking more and more that those would be the best fit for us down the road (as my hubby works from home as well). But 1-bed’s, while easier to book, do mean more points... 100 points is definitely not enough to sustain annual weekly trips (I’m not sure your plan there). I’m sure you’ve considered this, but shifting to a 1-bedroom plan (vs studios), changes the numbers pretty drastically.
 

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