Considering an Add-on... BWV or AKV

[DJmommy]

Hi all.

We currently own a 100 pt. contract at BWV that we bought earlier this year. We have stayed at both BWV and lucked out getting a few nights at BCV on our two trips to WDW since buying in. We love the EPCOT area and being able to walk there as well as very easy transportation to MGM.

We are talking about adding on since one of the trips we stayed in a 1 BR for a few days and that spoiled us, so of course we need more points. We have 2 kids and will most likely vacation for one long week once a year (most likely August or November). We are not opposed to switching resorts during the middle of our stay which we did on our first trip, such as 4 nights one resort, 5 nights at another. It kind of feels like two separate mini vacations. We have also slowed down our pace since buying in and have enjoyed spending more time around the resort and actually relaxing. What a concept.

My question, does it make more sense to buy another 100 or so points at AKV and get the chance to sleep five in the 1 BR, since at some point our two kids will be opposed to sleeping together? We have stayed at AKL before and loved the theming and food. We had very good service with the buses so we don't mind being far away from everything, either. But I assume that you will need the 11 month window to book anything Concierge and any of the Value rooms, which we would be interested in.

On the other hand, does it make more sense to just have all our points at the BWV? We do love staying there also and have stayed in Standard Views to get the best value from our points. How hard would it be to get into AKV at the 7 month window? We would probably be fine if we had the entire stay at BWV which we could book entirely at the 11 month window, then maybe switch to AKV, or BCV or WLV at 7 months for part of the vacation.

What do you all think? We do love both resorts for different reasons. I do realize that our chances of getting concierge or value rooms would be near nil, but hopefully we could get standard, or splurge on the savanna rooms.

Any feedback from those who own at only one resort but frequent other DVC resorts, or from those who own at multiple DVC resorts and their feelings would really be helpful. We will probably not add on until maybe March or April of next year (after the tax refunds come in ), but we want to consider all the options and have our decision made in case we decide on BWV and have to wait for points to become available. We have an August use year, so if anyone has had any success with adding on points for that use year, please advise.

TIA,
Jacqueline

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am one person who had a ressie get lost while switching a ressie from BWV standard view studio to VB, ocean view inn room. At the beginning of the call, I was told, "Yes your dates are available" then "Please wait." At the end of the call, I had nothing for those 3 nights, and I had booked BWV 11 months out. We got VB inn room exactly on the FRIDAY before we were leaving on the Sunday for the SSR studio we had booked because we needed something.

The other days we had successfully switched from BWV to BCV, so it's NOT something that ALWAYS happens.

It took 3 letters to DVC before I even got a CALL about the problem...and again, that was just before our vacation was beginning.

This happened this year. Now if DVC could promise those things wouldn't happen, I would say keep all of your points at BWV.

Bobbi

 

[thelobstershanty]

Do you want the home advantage for booking at both resorts? If you do, then add on at AKV. As DVC continues to grow by leaps and bounds it gets increasingly harder to book at non home resorts once the 7 month window opens up.

 

[DeeCee735]

We own at BWV and with each of our 2 add ons, we added on at BWV. We absolutely LOVE AKV and did consider adding on here instead of BW with the last add on. The deciding factor was the location of BW and the fact that we could do two parks without buses! As gorgeous as AKV is, the fact is we visit the parks 2/3 of our stay and prefer to deal with the bus system as little as possible (although I've never had a bad experience with the bus system - it's just time consuming). We've stayed in HH, and we booked AKV for an upcoming trip within the 7 months window without a problem.

So for us, we prefer owning all of our points in our home resort and taking a chance on booking other resorts at the 7 month window. I book my vacations at BWV at 11 months out and when the 7 month window arrives I call immediately and change the ressie if what I want is available. If not, no loss, I still have my vacation planned AND in our favorite place to stay!

Its not an easy decision and comes down completely to personal preference. Good luck with your decision and happy planning!

 

[jcodespoti]

you mentioned vacationing in Nov. If its the early part then it would be difficult to get BWV at the 7-month window due to the F&W fest (burp).


Joe in CT

 

[alldiz]

I'm in a similiar situation as you.....

I own at WLV and I am deciding where to add on.....have all my points
at WL or add on at BWV or AKV.....
I'll be interested to read all your responses
Kerri

 

[Chester's Mum]

Something you might consider, in your decision making, is that AKV is the only DVC with concierge level and you can only do the sunrise safari if you stay concierge. Since concierge rooms will only be in Jambo House I think they will be hard to book at 7 months out. Just a thought.

 

[Laurabearz]

We have 5 contracts, 3 home resorts and 2 use years and I LOVE IT!

For the most part we do book things 11 months out. We went from bring Boardwalk view people to Standard view people at BWV. Can't beat Standard view!

At the BCV we bank and borrowed and booked a few rooms at the 11 month window a while back. LOVED that option.

OKW points are our mixed bag points. Last 3 years we have used them for stays at HHI in July... next year 2 rooms at the DLR.... As well as stays at OKW our first love

I am not sure how many points you own, nor what you will use for vacation, but do you have enough BWV points for your desired stay there every OTHER year?? If so you could buy enough AKL points to stay at that resort the off years to switch it up.

 

[DJmommy]

Thank you all for all the good points we should consider.

I feel like I am swinging on a pendulum. One day I am convinced we should just buy in more points at BWV since I don't ever see us not enjoying being in that location. You can't beat it. The kids love the pool and the Community Center and just strolling along the Boardwalk in the evening, enjoying an ice cream and watching the entertainment. Lots of good restaurants within walking distance. And even when our kids are grown, I think that as we get older, this might be the area we will enjoy the most.

On the other hand. just walking into the AKL took my breath away. I loved the music, the wonderful smell and the feeling like you were someplace really unique, the nighttime story-telling around the fire, BOMA, just relaxing on the balcony watching grazing giraffes. Uhhhhhh! See what I mean.

I guess I would be OK with buying in at BWV as long as sometimes we got to stay at the AKV. We would like to try out every resort, but I just get the feeling that BWV, BCV and AKV will be the ones we would like to stay at the most, based on our personal taste and the way we like to vacation.

Any other comments while I continue to drive myself and poor DH crazy. It is a dilemma, but what a wonderful one to have, being that it took alot to convince my DH to buy in, but nearly no time at all to do an add-on. By golly, I think he is in the midst of converting into a Disney nut like me.

 

[nboicepardee]

AKV also has all of the extra years. It would be nice once your BWV contract is up, you would still have your other contract. I don't know your situation, but it may come at a time when you don't need as many points. Just a thought! If you are feeling equally pulled, that is one advantage to AKV. Can't go wrong either way!

 

[Stevegriswold]

Yeah hard to decide.

BWV -

1. You could buy a resale for $85 a point and save some money
2. Easier to get a larger accomidation if you add on more points to your existing contract
3. Can still trade at 7 months out for any other DVC resort

AK -

1. Can get some Deals right now like developer points and maybe $94 a point from Disney. So might cost more but get some perks and extra contraact years.

2. Can book 11 months out for the value rooms and conceirge. So better change to get those limited rooms

It looks like AK is going to be massive. So I think it will be easier to get a room 7 months out their vs. BCV, BWV and the other small resorts. But it would be more difficult to get a conceirge room at AK at 7 months because of the limited number.

There is also the coolness factor that you can tell all your friends that you own at the AK and at BWV.

Lots to think about.

Steve

 

[AKV707]

I am a happy AKV owner who is considering adding on as well. I am in the same place as the OP. Add on to my AKV contract or go with a second resort. My other big fave is OKW, and DW and I also like BWV.

We would likely be adding on in small increments. We tend to go to WDW twice a year.

My thinking is to add on at AKV to keep all of my points in one place, enabling a larger accommodation on occasion and being able to have the 11 month advantage. I think that I could always get into OKW at 7 months and BWV on occasion.

Your decision is a tough one, but BWV is a pretty desirable place as I believe that AKV is. You have to take into consideration how often you go to WDW and do you foresee needing a larger villa where you will need more BWV points at the 11 month window?

Good luck with your decision.

 

[sartello]

One thing to consider if whether there are any points available to addon at BWV. We own at VWL and when I called to add-on, the only places I could add-on at were AKV or SSR. We went with AKV even thought the discount on SSR was larger.

Shelly

 

[DJmommy]

Again thank you to the others who have posted. Some very good points indeed.

I think we are leaning towards buying in at the BWV and keeping all of our points at one resort. We were probably going to just get on the list with Disney so that we add-on for an August use year which works great for us.

But...if we were to see a good BWV resale - should we only buy with the same use year? If we have too separate contracts, how easy is it to use points from both to book one vacation? Would you have to transfer between contracts, or would Disney just consider it to be one contract since both would presumably have the same resort and use year?

Thanks again for all your help.
J

 

[Jaaron2]

Good to know I am not the only one pulling my hair out We already have two contracts (AKV and BCV), want to add on and cant decide which to add on too

On one hand we have our larger contract at AKV (200 points). Our thought with AKV is if we add on there we wont need to borrow into the next UY for our trips all the time (we currently have 200 points at AKV)

We purchased a resale at BCV (for 100 points) figuring we would bank and borrow for those trips every three years. Problem is now we want to hit BCV more often as well.

I think I already changed my mind again twice while writing this. We are only going to add on another 50 points and just cant seem to figure out what the best way to go is.

Maybe I will just flip a coin

 

[LSchrow]

As much as we love BWV, i think your best current choice would be AKL.
the reasoning:
~ a BWV 1BDRM SV for last 2 weeks of august would run 210 pts (so 100 points banked & 10 borrowed, and you can bank/borrow to do BWV every 2-3 years). & re 2 kids against sleeping in same bed: we bought a twin aerobed just for that reason ~ worked GREAT!
~ you obviously really want to stay at AKV, & it appears the home resort advantage is going to matter there.

for now methinks that's your best option, with an eye to adding on at BWV sometime in the future (chances are, this will not be your last add-on )