This is helpful, I like the idea of it being a DVC only resort. I would never stay in a studio even when I’m with myself and another or alone. I require...no DEMAND a kitchen haha. I enjoy the room as much as I can.
I’m a AKV now for the first time. The Savannah view is great but I can see myself liking the RIV more. Disney springs is as far of a drive from AKV as it was when I was staying at Sheraton vistana villages last week.
I am leaning SSR for the tree house booking at 11mo or RIV and just staying there and enjoying it. I do have an RCI account where I can get OKW or SSR when things pop up there.
I love the kitchens, too, and the jetted tubs in the master bedroom. We bought DVC because we wanted the villas, but I confess that the price point of 1BRs vs 2 Studios kills me. ;-). We are hoping to spend 4-6 weeks in the winter in Disney when we retire, so we’ll likely be mixing up studios and 1BRs then to stretch our points, especially as we’re thinking of doing mid-February to end of March (which is the slog of winter in New England), which is more expensive than, say, January to mid-February. Maybe we’ll change our minds when we eventually get there, but we both can usually deal with early winter cold and snow, but by the time we get to early to mid-February, we’re ready for it to be done, and so it seemed like the right time to go to Disney! But it means we’ll likely need to mix up between studios and 1BR to stretch the points
The Treehouses at SSR are wonderful, and it’s part of why we decided to add on some points for SAP (mostly to upgrade to 1BRs), but also to get that 11 month priority around Thanksgiving and other big holidays when we might travel with family (my SIL and family live In FL, too, so we often visit WDW with them).
AKV is one of my favorites. I like the theming and decor and I can admittedly watch animals forever. As my husband and teenage sons don’t get up early in the morning, it makes for nice mornings for me to sit out there with a cup of tea, watch animals, and read while I wait for them to motivate.
We bought RIV after initially resisting - I was not a fan of the resale restrictions, the high
point charts or the dues - but DH really liked the resort (though we’ve admittedly never stayed there), and we both realized we’d really want a resort near Epcot and HS, and we love the Skyliner as a means of transportation. The studios are pretty large, so we’d be fine staying in them, and it’s be perfect for Food & Wine. The incentives offered last summer were too good to pass up, and current resale rates made me realize that if we need to sell, we’d likely recoup our cost. I’d have preferred BCV personally, but it costs almost as much resale as we ended up paying for RIV direct, and it expires in 2042. So RIV it was!
What I really want is Reflections, and I’m holding out some desperate hope Disney will continue it some day. It admittedly hits all the buttons for me: wilderness themed, lazy River pool, cabins & treehouses.