Deciding on Home Resort

[GOOFY D]

We are trying to decide between BLT and AKV as our home resort. We love the location of the BLT on the monorail and walking distance to MK. We have enjoyed staying at the Contemporary in the past. However, we love the theming of AKV and the animals. We typically travel around Thanksgiving, so expect it may not be east to book that time at many resorts on te 7 month window. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of the ability to book either (i,e. is one easier than the other or one impossible?) for Thanksgiving week using the 7 month window? We would be probably using a studio or at most a 1 bedroom. Any other differences we should consider (I know BLT currently has lower MFs).

 

[hakepb]

AKV is the larger resort, and savanna view is the largest category at that resort.
On shorter notice last year we got a few Jambo standard view 1br nights for earlier in the week.(but left on Wed)
If you are not concerned if you stay in Jambo or Kidani or the room category you should do fairly well at 7 months, Studios do book full before 1BR though in any resort. You may be very disappointed if you expect a small category like value or concierge and you may have to be flexible enough to consider standard and/or savanna views.


Of course no one knows what the future holds, and patterns can change, and the only guarantee is your home resort booking advantage.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think BLT would be harder to get into for Thanksgiving at 7 months. MK has the Christmas parties around that time, so more people want the convenience of walking to MK.

Bobbi

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

When we were making the same decision, our guide asked us two questions...

Is money an issue?

AKV was cheaper and we could have gotten a few more points there for the same money as BLT, but we were fans of the location of BLT. In our case, we said that money wasn't an issue.

Where would we most want to stay?

Our answer??? All of them... Her reply??? There are XXX keys at BLT and XXXX keys at AKV. I want to say the difference was close to 400 rooms. She said that it would be easier to get a 7 mo reservation at AKV than it would be at BLT.

There were other bits and pieces that drove us to purchase BLT... The monorail, walk to MK, TotWL... It's a personal choice, but these 2 questions help diminish the confusion we felt when deciding on our primary home resort. We have since purchased points at Kidani as well...

 

[DebbieB]

I think you would be better off having the 11 month window for BLT.

 

[Disneypapa]

You didn't say how many points you were planning to purchase. Splitting that purchase and buying points at both locations may be a workable solution.

 

[Missyrose]

It depends on what type of villa you are hoping to get at each resort. You need home-resort priority (most of the time) to get Standard View or Theme Park View at BLT most of the time (especially during times of the year when MK is having hard-ticket parties: Sept.-Dec.). For AKV, you need home-resort priority for concierge villas and value villas, both are downright impossible to get at 7 months because there are so few of each.

There are other things to consider, such as the point charts. Overall, nights at BLT cost more points than AKV are you willing to use more points for the better location?

Personally, I would choose BLT over AKV. I like the proximity to MK and Epcot and you can get standard or savannah view villas at AKV fairly easily.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[spiceycat]

are you going to use your DVC points for other places - non-Disney - if not you have a bunch more places to choose from.

they are definitely cheaper.

OKW and SSR - especially if you can't even make a reservation until the 7 month.

now I love BLT - but it can be gone pretty fast - you can't make the reservation at 11 months? - if you know Thankgiving can't you guess when you will be off??

BLT is very expensive thru DVC.

wishing once VGF is open - it will take some of heat off BLT and it will be easier to get.

love being able to walk to the MK - that is worth BLT to me everytime.

 

[GOOFY D]

now I love BLT - but it can be gone pretty fast - you can't make the reservation at 11 months? - if you know Thankgiving can't you guess when you will be off??

Sure, that is why I was asking the question. I can book pretty regularly at the 11 month window, so that is why I was asking. If BLT is to hard to get at the 7 month window (and AKL not so much), it may make sense for me to buy into BLT to give me that window. Thanks

 

[spiceycat]

for thanksgiving if you want the standard views at BLT - call exactly at opening on the 11 months - they go that fast.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We have been able to book AKV within a few months several times.
In January 2010 we booked a standard Kidani studio for a week in February.
This April I booked a Kidani savannah view studio for June for 5 nights.
In the last month I booked a Jambo standard studio for a week in December--known as one of the busiest times for DVC. I could not get the entire stay at Kidani at that time.

You also need to think of your priorities 10, 20, and 30 years from now. Our kids are older and we avoid the resorts that are so popular for young families. We want a quieter experience, don't need to take the monorail back to give the kids a nap, avoid SAB, etc. MK is our least favorite resort now. We actually considered OKW as a base for golf vacations but know we can almost always get in there with a few month reservation.
Think of very long term when you buy and choose your home resort.

 

[vandy]

Never had a problem getting AKV at 7 months, BLT will be much tougher. For some people the maint. fees are an issue, 5.44 at AKV versus 4.22 at BLT for 2012. BLT looks better under those two scenarios.

 

[monorailmom]

We started with Saratoga Springs, which we love...then added on when AKL came onboard....never expected that there would be a DVC option at the Contemporary. So, the typical DVC'ers that we are, we added on again when BLT came around. BLT is our favorite resort. Looking back, I wish we had held off on buying the add on at AKV so we could have bought more points at BLT.