HI, my family has stayed at OKW, BCV, and AKV - Kindani. We really enjoyed all three. We all love AKV, i missed it for a day when we went to BCV but then i fell in love with BC for another whole set of reasons. I believe, from my experience that its hard to go wrong with many of the deluxe resorts. they are all grand and special in their own way. I always look at pictures and try to stay at the resorts that stir up emotion or feeling and fit into my budget. Looking at pictures, AKL, BC, WL, and POR, POFQ, AND AOA wow me or make me feel something special that comes from the inside. it does get so confusing because there are so many variables like time of year, transportation, number of days, number of days on ticket, special events, etc. I try to create numerous scenarios and price out different vacations options to see which fit into our budget, then from those i consider the advantages and disadvantages of each. It takes quite a while as my family leaves it up to me (no input at all
). And i continue to have new ideas as time passes. Its hard to make a decision and commit to it.
AKL and Contemporary are hands down my childrens favorites. There are alot of activities at AKL, nice pool, everything is in one building, bus transporation isnt bad at all (really easy to walk out of building and hop on a bus without much walking). aklresort.com has sample activity pages to look at and it has a little more inforation too.
We were able to stay with a 40% off room discount at AKV - Kindani studio room in 2009 and we rented points to stay in a studio room at BCV in 2010. We rented from a dvc owner who posted points for rent here on the disboards.(you have to be signed in on the dis to see this thread in the dvc section). We did our research before deciding too -getting contact information, calling 3 references or people who had previously rented points from the dvc owner, visited orange county website to verify land deed was in owners name, paid through paypal only after getting and verifying with disney the reservation confirmation number. The experience was great but we definately were taking a chance because the dvc owner owns the reservation and can change or cancel it. We were given the ability to cancel up to 30 days prior and pay half up front and half 45 days out.
If I decided to rent points again i would go through dvcrequest.com (davids rental). HE rents for $13.00 a point and has a point calculator on his website. dvc resorts include OKW, SSR, BLT, BCV, BWV, WLV, AKV (some in kindani and some in Jambo - upper floors of AKL). GFV are currently under construction. Rooms types available at dvc include a studio room with one queen bed and sleeper sofa and a kitchenette, or 1 bedroom villas with a full kitchen or 2 bedroom villas with a full kitchen (these are usually the one bedroom plus the studio room). OKW studio rooms have 2 queen beds however.
The advantage of renting dvc points.
1. you can stay for a fraction of the expense of rack rate. But sometimes disney will offer discounts that come close in comparison - depending on variables of your trip.
2. You can rent 1 or two bedroom villas to accomadate more people without renting 2 separate rooms.
The disadvantages are:
1. You do not get daily maid, trash, and towel service (but you can pay a daily rate for these if you need them). Cleaning service will come every four days for no extra charge.
2. You have to pay for reservation upfront (im not sure if its 100 percent or not). there is a small fee for submitting application and you may not get your first choice.
3. There is no cancellation (if you have to cancel your reservation you lose your deposit).
4. You need to try to book reservation through davids rentals at 11 months out to find availabity. In 2010, we were able to find availability a 7 months out but renting has increased in popularity since 2010 making it more difficult to find DVC owners with availability for the exact dates you need.
5. DVC rooms are in a separate building from the main resort building. Some have their own front desk but some don't. Therefore, there will be a little walk to get to front desk or amenities. (however the walk is probably shorter than at values and moderate resorts).
6. Once you decide on a resort you cant really change it because most likely availabity will not exist.
We had a great experience renting but I would think very long and hard before doing it again because of the disadvantages i described above.
I believe AKL would be a great option for your family.
) and she can't afford to go on her own. She will be thrilled and since this trip may be her last for awhile I want to make it special. That's a lot of backstory to lead up to this:
