Confirmed, better prices for AKV and BLT in the Chicago area office in Schaumburg IL

[vinmar4]

I just wanted to inform you all that I stopped by the Schaumburg office in the mall, and they offered 17 off per point for 320 and over points for AKV. We are still deciding if we want to do 100 at BLT and 220 at AKV. We would get the 17 off the 220 from AKV and 14 off the 100 for BLT as they would use the total number for both and go with that price.
We are undecided about splitting with BLT because I think that we would stay more often at AKV for the kids and the whole feeling. I dot know how crazy we are going to be about having those other 100 points to use only at BLT at the 11 month. But then having to wait to use them until after the 7 month if we just happen not to like BLT after all. I don't really like the contemporary look, but the location is great.
what do u guys think we could get at the 7 month at BLT if we get them all for AKV. We would get the 17 off the current 112 for al the AKV points!

 

[drusba]

At 7 months, most times of year you should be able to get lake view but likely not MK or standard view at BLT. For other times year -- such as Christmas week, December in general, other holidays -- often nothing at BLT unless you are looking for only a night or two. Moreover, you should assume with BLT that it will be very important to call exactly 7 months out and not wait beyond that because there will be a lot of members trying to switch into BLT at 7 months who also will be calling exactly 7 months out.

Personal View: I don't care much for the Contemporary look and area either and I would stick with AKV. In any event, the price difference should not factor in because BLT has lower dues per point than AKV and that is likely to continue into the future.

 

[vinmar4]

we are planning on traveling more during April and Summer and maybe in the near future on a Christmas, do you think that we should be able to get a studio during those times at 7 month?
after writting all the numbers, there is really not a big difference in having them all at AKV versus 220 and 100 at BLT but to be able to take teh boat to the wilderness and the monorail to Epcot and MK sounds pretty good to me also! Gosh why does it have to be so difficult?
thanks for your opinion?
If I take the 320 in Chicago , I would pay pretty much the same as 300 from DW in Florida. pretty nice!

 

[ToddyLu]

My gut feeling is to put all your eggs in one basket. I would buy the 320 at AKV in smaller contracts...like 100+100+70+50. That way you can resale them for more money if needed later. DH and I purchased 210 at AKV and I wish I had none about the smaller contract option. I also wish we had known about resales. But we are very happy with our purchase.

 

[Sandisw]

How do you feel about split stays? If you think you would like that (we love it), then I might do both.

If you would be okay with staying at AKV and going to BLT when you can get the reservation, then I say get them all at AKV.

However, if you think that for those occassional Christmas trips, you would want BLT, then maybe having some points there would work okay.

Remember, another option is to get both resorts, and then use banking and borrowing to stay at BLT every other or 3rd year, if you can't get what you want.

Good luck!

 

[ToddyLu]

Don't forget you may also get 2009 points if your UY hasn't happened, without paying MF. When we bought in June last year at a DEC UY we got 2008 points to bank and then our normal allotment 12/01/09. So you could in essence buy less points and then in a couple of years add on. But I guess at 320 you get the better discount rate. Gee how could I use 640 points ...hmmm

 

[disneynutz]

The Mall sales locations seems to have better deals, so does the DCL.

I think that you should ignore DVC's marketing ploy and buy where you love to stay.

Too many new members end up posting something like, "we have determined that we really don't like the resort we bought, but there isn't much we can do now". Another good one is, "we have never stayed at our home resort, I hope that we can continue to get reservations at BWV's because that's where we really like to stay".

As Disney continues to add additional members, more people are fighting for the best reservations.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

Buy where you want to stay. We owe at both BLT and AKV and there are times that we wish we didn't have two resorts. We don't always have enough points at either resort to cover the days we want so we often have to finagle the points, do splits stays or book at the 7 month mark. My DH is always doing spreadsheets or messing with the vacation planner on the MS website. And then he says, "sometimes I wish we hadn't bought at two resorts". We like both resorts, more comfortable with AKV and love the location at BLT, but in hindsight perhaps it would have been easier to have just the one resort.

 

[vinmar4]

I really appreciate all the responses.
we have never stayed at either resort and I don't think we would mind staying one week at AKV in a 2 bedroom and then 3 nights in a studio if we get two of them. I was just going over maybe our plans for the next 3-4 years in doing that and I find that later on, we will much shorter of points for BLT and not able to use them until the 7 month. As we are starting with double points , we will be OK for a while. So what we don't know is how hard it will be to get rooms at BLT at 7 months if we get them all at AKV. I think that in the future we would want to try different resorts besides AKV.

 

[disneynutz]

We own at 5 resorts, BLT, AKV, BWV, BCV, and VWL and to our surprise BLT is our least favorite and AKV Jambo is next. I will never buy a resort without staying there first again, just like I won't buy a car without going on a test drive.

Bill

 

[dis-happy]

Call me a rebel, but I think being able to walk to a park is huge, and better for resale if you need to do that for some reason.

Have you already stayed a few times at AKV? Will you always plan 11 months out? If not, take your time deciding.

 

[Sammie]

Do what fits you best, I would not be concerned about resale.

I could care less about walking distance to a park. We go in the summer and every extra step, is just one more in the heat. I love walking out the door of my building and getting right on an air conditioned bus.

 

[dkfogt]

So, I live in Texas and can't get to the Chicago or NY malls for the better incentives. Is there anyway I can still get that pricing?

320 points at BLT has a $12 off pp incentive per the guide I spoke with yesterday

 

[disneynutz]

So, I live in Texas and can't get to the Chicago or NY malls for the better incentives. Is there anyway I can still get that pricing?

320 points at BLT has a $12 off pp incentive per the guide I spoke with yesterday

I have been told no several times by various management levels at DVD.

I let them know that their pricing structure was unfair but they didn't care.

Bill

 

[Camping Griswalds]

It totally stinks that certain areas get better incentives or the cruise!

We bought BLT and love it. Would never have anything like the Contemporary decor in our home, but the location and 5 being able to sleep in a one bedroom, plus 2 bathrooms and the walk are just awesome. We will eventually add on, but it will most llikely be at BWV or BCV, again, that walking to and from a park is awesome. We were there a few days after Easter this year and would have waited longer for the bus in the heat than to walk. So for us, the ability to stay DVC and walk to 3 out of the 4 parks overrides anything else.

 

[drusba]

we are planning on traveling more during April and Summer and maybe in the near future on a Christmas, do you think that we should be able to get a studio during those times at 7 month?
after writting all the numbers, there is really not a big difference in having them all at AKV versus 220 and 100 at BLT but to be able to take teh boat to the wilderness and the monorail to Epcot and MK sounds pretty good to me also! Gosh why does it have to be so difficult?
thanks for your opinion?
If I take the 320 in Chicago , I would pay pretty much the same as 300 from DW in Florida. pretty nice!

For travel in April and summer, except for holiday times (Easter, Memorital Day, and particularly July 4 and several days on either side), you should have a good chance at Lake View at BLT as long as you call exactly 7 months out. For Christmas, you should assume the absolute worst in that you might never be able to get it; likewise any July 4 time and April if it is the week before or week of Easter.

Moreover, you should not assume in buying that you will fact get BLT at 7 months out for the time and room size you want for any time of year; at 7 months there will always be some risk that you could be blocked out any time of year.

In any event, here is one more factor to consider and this is another of my personal views: I personally would not buy at a second resort until I had enough points for a week in a 2BR in Magic season at one resort. Why? because we usually go for at least a week, we prefer a 2BR (a preference that resulted from family size, 5, for a while, but now exists because we really have become spoiled and would die in a studio for lack of space and even a 1BR seems too small -- a word of advice: if you always stay in a studio you are safe for continuing to do so, but if you wander and stay in a 2BR once you are finished because mentally you will never be able to go back to a studio), and there is no way I want to take any risk in not being able to get exactly what I want for at least one week of the year. Having exactly what you want for at least 1 week of the year then gives you the option of maybe buying at another resort .

 

[vinmar4]

thanks Drusba
ok, I see, what I did as we are starting with double points for both, we would have the needed points for a week at AKV for a 2 bedroom and then 3 nights in a studio at BLT, but later on we may not have enough in 3-4 years with teh points splitted. Maybe I should keep them all at AKV and try at 7 months for BLT, but they take some many points that I could only get 2 studios after the first year if my married daughter and he husband travel with us as I'm pretty sure they will. So maybe we will be lucky and get a LV studio at 7 months, if not too bad!
I just hated to have to walk so much after MK to cross over on the ferry to get to the buses. Maybe we can drive to MK instead of taking the bus from AKV. Now, how are the studios at the Wilderness? my son loved the resort when we went by it. But I would think that those would be harder to get at 7 months that BLT, Am I correct?
thanks again

 

[Sandisw]

thanks Drusba
ok, I see, what I did as we are starting with double points for both, we would have the needed points for a week at AKV for a 2 bedroom and then 3 nights in a studio at BLT, but later on we may not have enough in 3-4 years with teh points splitted. Maybe I should keep them all at AKV and try at 7 months for BLT, but they take some many points that I could only get 2 studios after the first year if my married daughter and he husband travel with us as I'm pretty sure they will. So maybe we will be lucky and get a LV studio at 7 months, if not too bad!
I just hated to have to walk so much after MK to cross over on the ferry to get to the buses. Maybe we can drive to MK instead of taking the bus from AKV. Now, how are the studios at the Wilderness? my son loved the resort when we went by it. But I would think that those would be harder to get at 7 months that BLT, Am I correct?
thanks again

I don't know if it would be harder than BLT as we were able to get a studio for 3 nights last year. We bought and booked the nights in March for August (so only 5 months out).

My DD loved the resort and the studio at VWL is bigger than the ones at BLT. It was a very peaceful resort and the boat ride to/from MK was easy. We never waited more than 5 minutes which was great. We still love BLT and it is our favorite, but VWL is right up there.

 

[vinmar4]

Thanks Sandi,
I think that we are going to get them all at AKV so I can make sure that my points are available at 11 months and book there and then check at 7 months for 3 nights either at BLT or The Wilderness. Now Let's say that I reserved 10 night at AKV, if at 7 months I get the 3 nights that I want somewhere else, can I just change the nuber of nights that we are staying at AKV?

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks Sandi,
I think that we are going to get them all at AKV so I can make sure that my points are available at 11 months and book there and then check at 7 months for 3 nights either at BLT or The Wilderness. Now Let's say that I reserved 10 night at AKV, if at 7 months I get the 3 nights that I want somewhere else, can I just change the nuber of nights that we are staying at AKV?

Yes, that is all you do. You call and tell them that you want to switch whichever nights if there is availability. If there is, they will cancel the old nights and re-book the new ones.

We did that for our upcoming summer trip. I booked 3 nights in a studio at BLT and then 3 nights in a 1 bedroom at BLT at the 11 month window. I did have to call twice to do this as I was switching room types.

But, at 7 months, I called and changed the 3 nights at BLT to BCV. The reason I booked it as 3 and 3 to begin with, instead of all 6 in a 1 bedroom is because I didn't have the points to do it that way, plus I knew that I was hoping to trade out to BCV (or VWL) anyway and that would be just the studio.

We are only going to have 3 this trip so a studio is really plenty big. But, I wanted at least a few nights in the 1 bedroom so that I could do laundry and have a few nights in that jacuzzi tub!!!!

Congratulations. I know that you are going to love it!!!