If you couldn't stay Beach Club, where would you stay?

[mouschievous]

In Jan 2020, we rented DVC points from a DVC rental company for a Sept 2020 trip to DLR. That was canceled, and we have until Sept 2022 to use the credit for our DVC rental.

The only time we can all go is Jan 2021. We put in for BCV because it seemed like one of the most conveniently located resorts, with being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, so far no one has said they will rent to us and I am getting nervous that no one will. We have the option of changing resorts in hopes that someone who has points for a different resort will rent to us. Currently, the other DVC options &p pricing for our dates is:

• BW isn't available during our trip.
• AKL Kidani has both Standard and Savannah view available. Standard is cheaper than BCV, Savannah is the same price
• AKL Jambo only has Standard available. $1400 less than BCV
• Bay Lake is available, Lake View is $800 more than BCV
• Boulder Ridge is $500 less
• Copper Creek is $500 less
• GF is $3500 more
• OKW is $1000 less
• Riviera Preferred room is available for $2000 more
• Saratoga Springs Standard ( $1000 less) and Preferred (same price as BCV) are also available.

Knowing that we won't have a car, we've never been to WDW before, and we chose BC for its location, what would you advise us to choose as our back up option?

(And if you're in the business of sending good vibes to strangers, we could use some. We can't move forward with planning this trip until we know we have a place to stay, and I can't stomach the thought of losing all that money that we have a in a credit because no one would rent their points).

 

[brockash]

In Jan 2020, we rented DVC points from a DVC rental company for a Sept 2020 trip to DLR. That was canceled, and we have until Sept 2022 to use the credit for our DVC rental.

The only time we can all go is Jan 2021. We put in for BCV because it seemed like one of the most conveniently located resorts, with being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, so far no one has said they will rent to us and I am getting nervous that no one will. We have the option of changing resorts in hopes that someone who has points for a different resort will rent to us. Currently, the other DVC options &p pricing for our dates is:

• BW isn't available during our trip.
• AKL Kidani has both Standard and Savannah view available. Standard is cheaper than BCV, Savannah is the same price
• AKL Jambo only has Standard available. $1400 less than BCV
• Bay Lake is available, Lake View is $800 more than BCV
• Boulder Ridge is $500 less
• Copper Creek is $500 less
• GF is $3500 more
• OKW is $1000 less
• Riviera Preferred room is available for $2000 more
• Saratoga Springs Standard ( $1000 less) and Preferred (same price as BCV) are also available.

Knowing that we won't have a car, we've never been to WDW before, and we chose BC for its location, what would you advise us to choose as our back up option?

(And if you're in the business of sending good vibes to strangers, we could use some. We can't move forward with planning this trip until we know we have a place to stay, and I can't stomach the thought of losing all that money that we have a in a credit because no one would rent their points).

Bay Lake hands down.

ETA...last on my list would be Kidani...especially right now with a lot of it closed. The resort amenities are just too small for the size of the resort and it takes forever to get anywhere.

We stayed at Poly in Sept, Kidani in Oct and CBR about a month ago...at each resort we were on the first bus to the parks in the am, but there was just such a huge difference in the time we actually got to the parks...Poly and CBR we were inside the park at least 45 mins prior to open, but with AKL we were lucky if we got there 25 mins prior to open and it made a huge difference.

 

[JenBush]

My choice would be Copper Creek or Bay Lake Tower.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Def bay lake or copper creek!

 

[Nabas]

In Jan 2020, we rented DVC points from a DVC rental company for a Sept 2020 trip to DLR. That was canceled, and we have until Sept 2022 to use the credit for our DVC rental.

The only time we can all go is Jan 2021. We put in for BCV because it seemed like one of the most conveniently located resorts, with being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, so far no one has said they will rent to us and I am getting nervous that no one will. We have the option of changing resorts in hopes that someone who has points for a different resort will rent to us. Currently, the other DVC options &p pricing for our dates is:

• BW isn't available during our trip.
• AKL Kidani has both Standard and Savannah view available. Standard is cheaper than BCV, Savannah is the same price
• AKL Jambo only has Standard available. $1400 less than BCV
• Bay Lake is available, Lake View is $800 more than BCV
• Boulder Ridge is $500 less
• Copper Creek is $500 less
• GF is $3500 more
• OKW is $1000 less
• Riviera Preferred room is available for $2000 more
• Saratoga Springs Standard ( $1000 less) and Preferred (same price as BCV) are also available.

Knowing that we won't have a car, we've never been to WDW before, and we chose BC for its location, what would you advise us to choose as our back up option?

(And if you're in the business of sending good vibes to strangers, we could use some. We can't move forward with planning this trip until we know we have a place to stay, and I can't stomach the thought of losing all that money that we have a in a credit because no one would rent their points).

Bay Lake puts you on the Monorail and within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom. But it is a bit 'corporate' feeling and has a terrible (for a Deluxe Resort) pool. Still, since you are going in January, the pool will be less important. It's another $800. I suggest looking at online photos to see if it appeals to you.

Kidani has a small lobby and is far from most theme parks. Even though we own there, I've never been crazy about it. We much prefer Jambo House, which is a special hotel. Great pool, great lobby, great dining options. But I assume you lose $1400 if you go with a Jambo Standard View.

Boulder Ridge and Copper Creek are both at the Wilderness Lodge (WL). The WL has a lot in common with Jambo House. (Jambo and WL were designed by the same person.) Copper Creek followed by Boulder Ridge would be my top 2 choices of your options. From there, you can take a boat or a bus to the Magic Kingdom. The boat ride is fun!

I would not spend more to stay at the Grand Floridian or Riviera. You are trying to get your credit spent, not pay even more.

OKW and SSR feel more like Moderate Resorts than Deluxe Resorts.

Again, based on what you describe, I would go with Copper Creek or Boulder Ridge.

The Copper Creek rooms are newer, but the Boulder Ridge rooms have a fold-down Murphy bed below the TV, meaning you have 3 separate sleeping surfaces. You didn't mention the make-up of your party. If you don't need the extra sleeping surface, go with Copper Creek.

Here's some photos from our last trip to WL in March.

 

[karen4546]

In Jan 2020, we rented DVC points from a DVC rental company for a Sept 2020 trip to DLR. That was canceled, and we have until Sept 2022 to use the credit for our DVC rental.

The only time we can all go is Jan 2021. We put in for BCV because it seemed like one of the most conveniently located resorts, with being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, so far no one has said they will rent to us and I am getting nervous that no one will. We have the option of changing resorts in hopes that someone who has points for a different resort will rent to us. Currently, the other DVC options &p pricing for our dates is:

• BW isn't available during our trip.
• AKL Kidani has both Standard and Savannah view available. Standard is cheaper than BCV, Savannah is the same price
• AKL Jambo only has Standard available. $1400 less than BCV
• Bay Lake is available, Lake View is $800 more than BCV
• Boulder Ridge is $500 less
• Copper Creek is $500 less
• GF is $3500 more
• OKW is $1000 less
• Riviera Preferred room is available for $2000 more
• Saratoga Springs Standard ( $1000 less) and Preferred (same price as BCV) are also available.

Knowing that we won't have a car, we've never been to WDW before, and we chose BC for its location, what would you advise us to choose as our back up option?

(And if you're in the business of sending good vibes to strangers, we could use some. We can't move forward with planning this trip until we know we have a place to stay, and I can't stomach the thought of losing all that money that we have a in a credit because no one would rent their points).

IYou do know that January has long since passed us by.....
v
But if you are mistaken and you mean January 2022 then I would definitely say stick with BCV or maybe BWV. My home resort is AKV. I prefer Jambo even with the closures of the restaurants and gift shop.

Copper Creek is great. I have never stayed at GFV, OKW, or SSR. I would NOT shell out more money though. good luck

 

[mouschievous]

IYou do know that January has long since passed us by.....
v
But if you are mistaken and you mean January 2022 then I would definitely say stick with BCV or maybe BWV. My home resort is AKV. I prefer Jambo even with the closures of the restaurants and gift shop.

Copper Creek is great. I have never stayed at GFV, OKW, or SSR. I would NOT shell out more money though. good luck

Whoops! Yes, I meant 2022. Thanks for pointing that out!

To answer a couple questions, we're 2 couples staying in a 2 br villa. Our credit is actually about $1000 less than the cost to stay at BCV, so AKL would mean we lose about $400, which isn't ideal but not terrible.

I'm still hoping BCV pans out but if not, I need a back up plan. How is it getting to HS and Epcot from Wilderness Lodge?

 

[starry_solo]

You need to look at spending the exact amount of credit, if at all possible, rather than kicking in more money.

Fortunately you still have a little time before the 7 month window opens up but when in January are you looking?

 

[mouschievous]

You need to look at spending the exact amount of credit, if at all possible, rather than kicking in more money.

Fortunately you still have a little time before the 7 month window opens up but when in January are you looking?

Jan 11-17

We're not worried about spending the exact amount. With the reschedule we added nights to made the trip longer, so it's ok if we spend a little more than the credit.

 

[Nabas]

Whoops! Yes, I meant 2022. Thanks for pointing that out!

To answer a couple questions, we're 2 couples staying in a 2 br villa. Our credit is actually about $1000 less than the cost to stay at BCV, so AKL would mean we lose about $400, which isn't ideal but not terrible.

I'm still hoping BCV pans out but do if not, I need a back up plan. How is it getting to HS and Epcot from Wilderness Lodge?

If your primary concern is transportation to DHS and Epcot, you are “not worried about spending the exact amount”, and you cannot get BCV or BWV, then just stay at the Riviera. That puts you on the Skyliner to both theme parks.

If you stay at BLT or Grand Floridian and if the Monorail to Epcot opens by January 2022, then you can take the Monorail from BLT to Epcot.

All other DVCs require buses to Epcot and DHS.

Picking a DVC is not a one-size-fits-all answer. To offer recommendations, we need information from you about your party (4 adults) and what you prefer.

What exactly is most important to you? Money? Location? Transportation convenience? Something else?

What theme parks do you plan to visit most often? Do you plan to spend time relaxing poolside each day? As a group of 4 adults, do you want a place to drink?

What do you want out of this vacation?

Again, the more you tell us about your vacation goals, the more we can help.

 

[Marthasor]

Whoops! Yes, I meant 2022. Thanks for pointing that out!

To answer a couple questions, we're 2 couples staying in a 2 br villa. Our credit is actually about $1000 less than the cost to stay at BCV, so AKL would mean we lose about $400, which isn't ideal but not terrible.

I'm still hoping BCV pans out but if not, I need a back up plan. How is it getting to HS and Epcot from Wilderness Lodge?

The transportation to any park other than MK is not great from WL. If you are willing to take uber/lyft, you will get to the parks faster. If EP/DHS are your preferred parks, I would continue to try for BCV and BWV. If they don't pan out, I agree with the others - go for BLT or CCV. RIV is nice, but I would not spend $2000 more for that resort over BLT and CCV. When the Skyliner goes down, it's not convenient. $2000 would get you a lot of lyft/ubers from WL. VGF is GORGEOUS, but I don't think it's worth $3500 more than BCV.

 

[Marionnette]

In Jan 2020, we rented DVC points from a DVC rental company for a Sept 2020 trip to DLR. That was canceled, and we have until Sept 2022 to use the credit for our DVC rental.

The only time we can all go is Jan 2021. We put in for BCV because it seemed like one of the most conveniently located resorts, with being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, so far no one has said they will rent to us and I am getting nervous that no one will. We have the option of changing resorts in hopes that someone who has points for a different resort will rent to us. Currently, the other DVC options &p pricing for our dates is:

• BW isn't available during our trip.
• AKL Kidani has both Standard and Savannah view available. Standard is cheaper than BCV, Savannah is the same price
• AKL Jambo only has Standard available. $1400 less than BCV
• Bay Lake is available, Lake View is $800 more than BCV
• Boulder Ridge is $500 less
• Copper Creek is $500 less
• GF is $3500 more
• OKW is $1000 less
• Riviera Preferred room is available for $2000 more
• Saratoga Springs Standard ( $1000 less) and Preferred (same price as BCV) are also available.

Knowing that we won't have a car, we've never been to WDW before, and we chose BC for its location, what would you advise us to choose as our back up option?

(And if you're in the business of sending good vibes to strangers, we could use some. We can't move forward with planning this trip until we know we have a place to stay, and I can't stomach the thought of losing all that money that we have a in a credit because no one would rent their points).

Most likely, they're telling you that BCV is unavailable because they don't have a BCV owner with enough points lined up to book that 2BR villa in January for you and not because BCV is booked up. There are only a few nights is January when DVC is traditionally busy - nights just following New Year's Day, MLK weekend and Marathon Weekend. It's quite likely that your dates are not booked up for dedicated 2BR villas at BCV.

Only BCV owners can book BCV for January 2022 dates right now. When we are 7 months away from the start of a vacation, any DVC owner can book nights at a resorts at which they do not own. We are 8+ months away from January. Are you willing to gamble? In a couple of months, when all points are equal, any DVC owner that the rental company has will be able to use their points to secure your reservation.

Personally, if I had my heart set on staying in the Crescent Lake area, then I would hold out for either BCV or BWV. And I would monitor the DVC availability tool to see if availability is dwindling. It's not a real-time look at what DVC has open but as a non-owner, it's the best that you will have available to you.

https://dvcrentalstore.com/guests/availability/
But if you're not a gambler and want to button down a reservation ASAP, then I would choose CCV over BRV (BRV is in need of a soft goods refurb and may get it before January but with COVID everything is behind schedule).

 

[Best Aunt]

If you've never been to Disney World before, you need to make sure you understand the general layout and transportation options (assuming you will not have a car). Being able to walk to the parks is a big deal to me; maybe it's not to your group. People who are claustrophobic and very subject to motion sickness might not enjoy the Skyliner; maybe that's not a problem for your group.

I'm surprised that BCV is available and BWV is not. In my experience, it usually is the other way around.

If it's you and another couple, have they agreed to an amount they would be willing to pay over and above the credit you have on file?

 

[mouschievous]

What exactly is most important to you? Money? Location? Transportation convenience? Something else?

We are DLR people. We're used to being able to walk from park to hotel, then hop back and forth as we desire. So distance/transportation is a huge piece. Current plan is 4 park days - 1 MK, 2 HS and 1 AK. Since Epcot typically opens & closes later, we were thinking on hopping there in the afternoon/evenings, especially on our 2 HS days.

Money would be a close second. We want the easiest transportation bang for our buck. That's why we chose BC in the first place, it seemed to do just that. But, if it books before we can rent it, we'll have to look elsewhere. That in mind, we're not opposed to using Uber, Lyft or a taxi - as someone else said, $2000 is a lot of Uber rides! In that case, it probably makes the most sense to look at a resort that has convenient transportation to MK, since Uber can't drop off at the front gate.

The pool is a nice plus, but not a requirement, and we're not big drinkers so that's not a factor in our decision.

Most likely, they're telling you that BCV is unavailable because they don't have a BCV owner with enough points lined up to book that 2BR villa in January for you and not because BCV is booked up. There are only a few nights is January when DVC is traditionally busy - nights just following New Year's Day, MLK weekend and Marathon Weekend. It's quite likely that your dates are not booked up for dedicated 2BR villas at BCV.

Only BCV owners can book BCV for January 2022 dates right now. When we are 7 months away from the start of a vacation, any DVC owner can book nights at a resorts at which they do not own. We are 8+ months away from January. Are you willing to gamble? In a couple of months, when all points are equal, any DVC owner that the rental company has will be able to use their points to secure your reservation.

Personally, if I had my heart set on staying in the Crescent Lake area, then I would hold out for either BCV or BWV. And I would monitor the DVC availability tool to see if availability is dwindling. It's not a real-time look at what DVC has open but as a non-owner, it's the best that you will have available to you.

https://dvcrentalstore.com/guests/availability/
But if you're not a gambler and want to button down a reservation ASAP, then I would choose CCV over BRV (BRV is in need of a soft goods refurb and may get it before January but with COVID everything is behind schedule).

Correct. It's not that BCV is unavailable, it's that so far they don't have a BCV owner lined up to rent. I guess I'm looking for a back up option in case BCV becomes unavailable while we wait. Originally I thought I would use BW as the backup, but it actually is not available - I looked at the calendar and a 2BR at BW is only available for one of our nights.

If you've never been to Disney World before, you need to make sure you understand the general layout and transportation options (assuming you will not have a car). Being able to walk to the parks is a big deal to me; maybe it's not to your group. People who are claustrophobic and very subject to motion sickness might not enjoy the Skyliner; maybe that's not a problem for your group.

I'm surprised that BCV is available and BWV is not. In my experience, it usually is the other way around.

If it's you and another couple, have they agreed to an amount they would be willing to pay over and above the credit you have on file?

We are paying for the whole thing - the other couple is my parents, and this trip is their 50th anniversary gift. I've done a ton of research on the locations, looked at the map, watched real time videos on getting from various resorts to the parks. Being able to walk to parks is a big deal, it's why we chose BC. My gut says BLT is the next best choice, but I wanted to see if other people agree with that. I hadn't looked much at the WL options, but I will now. We're not opposed to Uber/Lyft if we need to.

 

[Nabas]

No one hotel is going to get you close to everything. Since you have only one day planned at MK, there’s no particular reason to stay at a Monorail resort.

Similarly, with only one day planned at DAK and with no hotels within walking distance of that, there’s no particular reason to stay at Jambo or Kidani.

Really, the Riviera sounds best for you since you can take the Skyliner over to DHS in the morning, and then do the same to Epcot at night.

BWV would have been ideal (you can walk to both Epcot and DHS) but it has no dedicated 2-bedroom villas, which means it will be difficult to book at 7 months since a lot will be booking the Studios.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I own at BC and AKL and I would bite Bay Lake as it is one of my favorites can’t beat location and restaurants !!
Copper Creek would be my second choice

 

[mouschievous]

BWV would have been ideal (you can walk to both Epcot and DHS) but it has no dedicated 2-bedroom villas, which means it will be difficult to book at 7 months since a lot will be booking the Studios.

Oooooh. That explains a lot. I wonder if we could have them look for 2 studios at BWV for us, instead of a 2 BR.

 

[supamaki]

What about a split stay? How long are you going for?

 

[mouschievous]

What about a split stay? How long are you going for?

We'll be there 6 nights. I'm not sure that we can do a split stay through the rental company, and if we can I'm not sure I can convince my parents that's a good idea!

 

[Anthony1971]

If you are set in the Crescent lake area and want peace of mind switch to BWV. even if they are fully booked when the 7 month window opens which usually does not happen it can be waitlisted and the chances are extremely high of getting that resort. In the same ask about the rentals waitlist policy if they cater to it? you can book now at a resort that costs the same as BC and BW and ask if you can switch to one of those resorts or be put on the waitlist at the 7 month mark if not available. If the waitlist comes true great if not you have a reservation.

As far as choice of resorts... look at the resorts and locations to see what fits you best as far as transportation is concerned if you are going to all 4 parks you will end up the same as far as time spent getting to the parks. If you are only going to MK than a MK resort is right for you. If you are only going to EPCOT than an EPCOT are resort is right for you ( I leave out HS as the walk is long and few do it as opposed to EPCOT where it is a short walk and the boats are slooooooow)