Just bought into Animal Kingdom villas NOW WHAT?

[cmom]

We decided to do it on the Disney Cruise last month. Now all I know is how many points we have everyyear but thats it. We have bought into The Animal Kingdom Villas. Anything anyone can tell a new person that is nervous and has no idea what their doing?

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Now you get to plan you next Disney vacation.

Did you receive the guide book that list all the points for each resort. If not they are located on this website. You need to find AKV and see what season you will travel in and select from a studio, 1 bedroom, Savannah view rooms or 2 bedrooms. Add up how many points it will cost you (Do you have enough? ) If not you can borrow from the next year.

Call member Services and tell them the date you want to travel. They will book you for those nights and give you a ressie #. They will let you know all the details (but since you came on the Disboards, you will know more than them by the time you call

You then can dream about your 1st trip HOME!!!

Enjoy Planning!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

You probably can't book a vacation that begins before May 1. That's my understanding, that Kidani is all they have for sale and that's when that building opens. However, you can book a vacation that's 11 months out, so if you are planning to go next December or earlier and want to book AKV, you can book that vacation now if it's for December 6th or earlier.

What did you like most about the presentation that spurred you to buy? Welcome Home, AKV neighbor!

Bobbi

PS. Don't know if you got developer points, and if you did, find out if you can book with those now.

 

[Cassie Dean]

Congrats on joining the "family". We also bought at AKV and will be taking our first trip there in 17 days. I can't wait. It was really easy to book our trip. The people at Members Services were very helpful and explained everything to us. I have been on this board for a few months now, and believe me they have the answer to any question you have.Quickly and friendly to boot. So, ask away and have fun reading. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[SunnieRN]

Congratulations! First, if you got developer points look at the point charts to stay at Saratoga Springs. You can decide when you want to use those and call member services to see if they have availability for your dates and size unit you want to stay in. They are good from the day you got them.
Next, look at the points for animal kingdom and decide when (after May 1) you want to go there. You will make your reservation through member services also!
You have an advantage over people who do not own at AK as you can make reservations 11 months before the day you would arrive. People who do not own there have to wait until 7 months before their arrival date. You can also use your AK points at other resorts if you book 7 months or less out. If you do not want to travel for awhile, or if you use your developer points and decide to bank(save) your AK
points so you can take a longer vacation next year (or for whatever reason), do NOT forget to bank your points by your deadline. I have december use years and have to use or bank points by July 31st.
Hopefully this explained things a bit. Read a lot and ask questions. There are a LOT of experts here and they have taught me so much!

 

[emlutz23]

Now what? Do a little happy dance around the room, you're a DVC member! Then follow the advice given in these previous posts! Find the point charts and start the addictive process of planning your DVC vacations!

WELCOME HOME!

 

[Coach81]

Congrats and welcome home!!!!

 

[nikkistevej]

Congratulations neighbor!! We bought in AKV in 2007 on DCL also. We were in a Disney Daze!!

 

[KiminChicago]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why couldn't the OP vacation before May 1st? After all, that's within the 7 month window for any DVC resort. If there's something available, I would think you would be able to book it.

 

[cmom]

Thank you so much everyone. Im very overwhelmed with all this. My husband and I keep talking about how we both keep thinking we were told we got 160 points to use or loose for signing on? Does this sound right or are we going crazy?

I appriciate all the help you have already given me [plus all the help I will get from here.

 

[hakepb]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why couldn't the OP vacation before May 1st? After all, that's within the 7 month window for any DVC resort. If there's something available, I would think you would be able to book it.

Kidani does not open until May 1. If they bought Kidani points, they could not use their Kidani points in Kidani before May 1, thus they cannot "trade" into an existing DVC before May 1. (All stay's outside a user's home resort is essetially a "trade" inside the DVC system.)
The DVC system would be out of balance if Kidani owners could use Kidani points in other DVC resorts.

For example, It would not be fair to an BWV owner if a Kidani owner took pre-May 1 availability and the BWV owner could not, at least, book a pre-May Kidani stay, thus Kidani owners cannot use Kidani points before their resort opens..

Now with developer points, those non-Kidani developer points can be used prior to May 1, but no one can use Kidani points before May 1.

 

[KiminChicago]

OK, but we are also AKV owners and I can't find anywhere in our paperwork where it says we bought either Kidani or Jambo House points. Since Jambo House is already open, I don't see why these points wouldn't be available?

 

[hakepb]

You just need to think about the system needing to maintain a balance

The system would be out of balance if all the Kidani owners (which is a very, very large group) could book elsewhere now and other owners could not book in Kidani. Yes, Kidani and Jambo will essentially operate as one resort, but you need to think about the balance.

The other factor, is Kidani owners did not pay any MF's in 2008 and are only paying pro-rated member fees (dues) for May-Dec in 2009

 

[GuySmiley]

Thank you so much everyone. Im very overwhelmed with all this. My husband and I keep talking about how we both keep thinking we were told we got 160 points to use or loose for signing on? Does this sound right or are we going crazy?

I appriciate all the help you have already given me [plus all the help I will get from here.

Use or lose points sounds like 'Developer Points'. These are bonus points you get for signing up that can only be used at Saratoga Springs Resort within one year of your signing up.

You should have a person assigned to help you with all this called a guide. Figure out who your guide is and ask if you recieved developer points. You could also just call member services and ask I suppose. 1-800-********.

 

[robandkelly13]

Welcome home neighbor!

 

[ekball]

Thank you so much everyone. Im very overwhelmed with all this. My husband and I keep talking about how we both keep thinking we were told we got 160 points to use or loose for signing on? Does this sound right or are we going crazy?

I appriciate all the help you have already given me [plus all the help I will get from here.

No, you are not going crazy. The 160 points are developers points that were a one-time 'gift' (incentive) for buying. Ya know what - maybe give your DVC guide a call to clarify exactly what you got and have them explain. We are new DVC owners as well and my policy is to keep asking until I get it (my guide must hate me! )