My head wants AKV but my heart wants BWV...

[glamdring269]

For me, the reason is you can't WALK from the AKL complex to other venue. If they put a walking path (protected from nature as appropriate) to the Animal Kingdom theme park, I'd be most satisfied. A boat, mentioned above, would also be sooooo lovely. But a path is sufficient.

We don't rent generally have a car at WDW. We fly in and really enjoy Magical Express. The bus system is grand overall but only OK when it is the only option. At AKL, it is the only option. Meh.

Edited: Given the "disconnect" from walkable venues ... perhaps allowing the bus system to go "resort to resort" from AKL would be helpful? Or let me walk to some major transportation hub. One of the big failures, relying on the bus from AKL, is that you likely end up doing a transfer if going to another hotel for dining, decorations, pool hopping, etc. AKL > a theme park or Disney Springs > alternate hotel; reverse.

I guess my reference is more in terms of just getting to the parks and the stigma associated with AKV that doesn't tend to hit other resorts with no walkable access. For example, BRV/CCV. They have a boat to MK which I would equate to being about as valuable as a bus from AKV to AK but those resorts don't usually come up in a distance discussion for some reason.

Now with that said I love staying at BWV simply because of how easy it is to get to both Epcot and DHS. I actually prefer its proximity much more than BC. But this is kind of back to what I was saying earlier in the thread. I'd rather buy at a place like AKV and use those points to get a 1BR at BWV. (This is obviously going to be more of a person to person thing. Studio or 1BR works perfect for us as we are 2 adults / 0 kids). A lot of this is going to come down to if a person values length of contract or not. Some folks are simply not going to care and I completely understand that viewpoint.

 

[Lorana]

I guess my reference is more in terms of just getting to the parks and the stigma associated with AKV that doesn't tend to hit other resorts with no walkable access.

I think it's the combo of bus only transportation, far away from MK, perception (like, many WDW make it seem like it's "only close to AK"), and the potential long, long, long hallway walks. When you're room is at the end of one of the arms, it sometimes can feel like it takes forever to get anywhere. It's not that some other resorts don't have long walks, mind you, but those long corridors just FEEL longer.

I own at AKL and love it, and I agree, it's not really as far as people think it is. Of course, having stayed at SSR Treehouses, now THOSE are forever and far away from everywhere (much as I love them). ;-)

 

[MamaBear12]

As your kids get older, the one bedroom will probably become a two bedroom. Especially if they are different genders or have a "I don't want to share a bed" personality. At the point that happens, your kids will also have definite ideas about their favorite parks - and will eventually be old enough to sleep in while you hit rope drop, then meet up around lunchtime, and then they close the parks while you have a leisurely dinner. They may also develop different ideas about what a great vacation is - my oldest would like every vacation to involve a beach (Mexico or Hawaii) and has since he was ten or eleven. My youngest is actually intending on a career in museum curation - as an undergrad she's already helped set up two museum exhibits - wandering a city with a wealth of museums is way better than any attraction at Disney. Other people discover their vacation time and dollars are used to get to their kids activities as they travel for gymnastics or little league. So you may find you have more than enough points without adding more in the future. Trust me (mine are 20 and 21 - we bought when they were 3 and 4), it will happen quickly.

That’s another reason why I like AKV: sleeper chair and sofa sleeper in the 1bedroom so they each can have their own bed. I’m sure a 2-bed is in our future though. Fortunately we’re in a position where we can take multiple vacations/year (not this year obviously under the current circumstances), so we’re able to do WDW, beach vacation, and international/culture/history-type vacation annually.

 

[E2ME2]

We’ve established that DVC makes sense for us...but now to decide which resort. AKV checks all the boxes:
-close to my favorite park (AK)
-room size, bathrooms, etc. in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas
-great pool
-food (I would much rather munch on the sanaa bread service than a hamburger)
-educational/cultural activities
-animals
-longer contract length
-lower price/point

But, I love the BW area...walking/boating to two parks, leisurely strolls or runs along the BW...it just has that vacation vibe for me. I’m not particularly taken with the resort (I would be fine with BWV or BCV), but I just love that location.

We sometimes travel just the 4 of us and would probably book mostly 1-bed villas (which I know are easier to get so we could use our cheaper AKV points to stay at BWV or BCV sometimes). We do have family or friends joining us sometimes, so we would like to be able to do 2-bed villas on those occasions (in which case I think AKV will be more fun and comfortable).

Should I go with my head and buy AKV (knowing we could add on with a BWV contract in the future if we find we want more points and need home booking advantage there), or my heart and buy BWV?

We have similar preferences-
Head likes BWV: walking to 2 parks is "uber"-convenient.
Heart likes AKV : seeing giraffes and okapi from your balcony can't be duplicated elsewhere.
Wallet likes SSR : All 3 of our contracts are at SSR. The wallet wins every time, and we have gotten both AKV & BWV at 7 months!! That's the DVC Trifecta
ET

 

[bwvBound]

I guess my reference is more in terms of just getting to the parks and the stigma associated with AKV that doesn't tend to hit other resorts with no walkable access. For example, BRV/CCV. They have a boat to MK which I would equate to being about as valuable as a bus from AKV to AK but those resorts don't usually come up in a distance discussion for some reason.

For me, and perhaps I'm the only person who likes to travel by foot, I can walk to Fort Wilderness from BRV/CCV. Thus, I have at least one venue I can reach by walking.

Beyond that, I truly love the water transportation options. Taking a boat from BRV/CCV to MK as transfer point to catch a bus elsewhere almost doesn't count in my brain. Yes, certainly it is a transfer but the boats are delightful compared to the bus.

 

[Lorana]

For me, and perhaps I'm the only person who likes to travel by foot, I can walk to Fort Wilderness from BRV/CCV. Thus, I have at least one venue I can reach by walking.

Beyond that, I truly love the water transportation options. Taking a boat from BRV/CCV to MK as transfer point to catch a bus elsewhere almost doesn't count in my brain. Yes, certainly it is a transfer but the boats are delightful compared to the bus.

So much this. The boats are one of the reasons we love BRV/CCV so much.

You mentioning FW certainly makes me think of how much I wish the FW Cabins were part of DVC...

 

[Lorana]

Should I go with my head and buy AKV (knowing we could add on with a BWV contract in the future if we find we want more points and need home booking advantage there), or my heart and buy BWV?

How many points are you looking for? Could you buy two contracts, one at each, and alternate trips between the two? That's what I would do... and did do. We bought at BRV and AKL. Admittedly, both were "from the heart" as we love both of them. And much as CCV would have been the better "head" decision, the reason we bought BRV was: 5th person in studios and 1BR, we love the location, and the price to buy in was significantly lower. Yes, it expires in 2042, but we love it, and we know we will get many wonderful years out of it. By the time we get to 2042, hopefully CCV will be at similar pricing to BRV now.

 

[jennypenny]

You can also catch the smaller boat at CCV/BRV directly to the Contemporary. I find that a nice trip before heading to dinner at the Contemporary or another monorail resort. So they have that as well as the boat to MK going for them.

 

[MamaBear12]

For me, and perhaps I'm the only person who likes to travel by foot, I can walk to Fort Wilderness from BRV/CCV. Thus, I have at least one venue I can reach by walking.

Beyond that, I truly love the water transportation options. Taking a boat from BRV/CCV to MK as transfer point to catch a bus elsewhere almost doesn't count in my brain. Yes, certainly it is a transfer but the boats are delightful compared to the bus.

So much this. The boats are one of the reasons we love BRV/CCV so much.

You mentioning FW certainly makes me think of how much I wish the FW Cabins were part of DVC...

I do love the water transportation and walking options! I think adding either of these from AKV to AK would have been amazing (and made the resort even more popular/desirable).

 

[MamaBear12]

How many points are you looking for? Could you buy two contracts, one at each, and alternate trips between the two? That's what I would do... and did do. We bought at BRV and AKL. Admittedly, both were "from the heart" as we love both of them. And much as CCV would have been the better "head" decision, the reason we bought BRV was: 5th person in studios and 1BR, we love the location, and the price to buy in was significantly lower. Yes, it expires in 2042, but we love it, and we know we will get many wonderful years out of it. By the time we get to 2042, hopefully CCV will be at similar pricing to BRV now.

We’re wanting to purchase 150-ish points initially to see how we like it and how much we use it.

 

[Anuhea35]

Isn’t there a rumor out there that there is some kind of plan to add the skyline to AKL

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We’ve established that DVC makes sense for us...but now to decide which resort. AKV checks all the boxes:
-close to my favorite park (AK)
-room size, bathrooms, etc. in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas
-great pool
-food (I would much rather munch on the sanaa bread service than a hamburger)
-educational/cultural activities
-animals
-longer contract length
-lower price/point

But, I love the BW area...walking/boating to two parks, leisurely strolls or runs along the BW...it just has that vacation vibe for me. I’m not particularly taken with the resort (I would be fine with BWV or BCV), but I just love that location.

We sometimes travel just the 4 of us and would probably book mostly 1-bed villas (which I know are easier to get so we could use our cheaper AKV points to stay at BWV or BCV sometimes). We do have family or friends joining us sometimes, so we would like to be able to do 2-bed villas on those occasions (in which case I think AKV will be more fun and comfortable).

Should I go with my head and buy AKV (knowing we could add on with a BWV contract in the future if we find we want more points and need home booking advantage there), or my heart and buy BWV?

It actually sounds like the heart says AKV for resort but also loves the Boardwalk area. I'd go AKV and I'll bet you'll be getting into BWV at times too. Since you'd plan on AKV for the larger groups when you go anyway you won't need to get a 2BR at BWV which is as difficult as booking the studios. Flexibility and waitlists work to stay other locations and January travel will be the best to plan on BWV for with AKV points.

 

[igrsod]

I vote for AKL. I own there... and LOVE it. I have also stayed in studios at many other resorts. I have only been a member for 2 years and have stayed at BCV, SSR, OKW, BLT, and AKL. I have an upcoming vacation staying at BWV in a standard view studio. If you love AKL and are not disappointed staying there (how can you be????). Book there at 11 months and then for curiosity sake, see what is available at 7 months.

 

[rich dream vacations]

So many owners here have a long list of positives for the 2042 expiration date resorts and that 2042 being the only negative.

If it is a resort that is difficult to secure (BWV and BCV during F&W, CCV, BRV and VGF at Christmas) you should consider buying there as your home resort.

If you will never plan your vacations 11 to 7 months in advance go with the lowest price and annual dues.

I personally purchased at a 2042 for the love of that resort and if Disney offers a contract extension (which I feel they will) then even better!

 

[MamaBear12]

Isn’t there a rumor out there that there is some kind of plan to add the skyline to AKL

I hope so!!!

 

[chicagoshannon]

We own at both. We own a very small contract at BWV and wish we had more points there. We bought BWV first to test it out. We get a studio here because of the pull down bed since my kids need separate beds.

Last summer we bought AKL. We love the resort and we also loved that the 1 bedrooms have 3 sleeping surfaces and 2 bathrooms.

I would love more BWV points but just can't justify the point cost at this point.

 

[MamaBear12]

We own at both. We own a very small contract at BWV and wish we had more points there. We bought BWV first to test it out. We get a studio here because of the pull down bed since my kids need separate beds.

Last summer we bought AKL. We love the resort and we also loved that the 1 bedrooms have 3 sleeping surfaces and 2 bathrooms.

I would love more BWV points but just can't justify the point cost at this point.

Good to know. Thank you! How many points do you have with each contract and how often do you go?

 

[chicagoshannon]

Good to know. Thank you! How many points do you have with each contract and how often do you go?

BWV- 25 points
AKL- 100 points

We also own Wyndham so stay there frequently.

We are in Orlando several times a year. Until last year we would usually just stay 1 night at BWV in a studio (would get 2 studios and my parents would stay also) This will be the first year we will stay about 10 days split between BWV and AKL. We banked and borrowed points in order to do this. We stay at Wyndham a lot. We LOVE the location of BWV but because of the cost of points right now we don't have more there. I think we'd actually prefer BCV because of the pool but when we bought our 25 points we were just dipping our toe in the water and the small contract popped up for BWV for a lot less than BCV. Have tried for 3 years to stay at BCV with no luck.

 

[karen4546]

We love Jambo House and when we bought into DVC last May. 100 points direct purchase AKV.
Now, our favorite parks are AK and EP (F&W and F&G mostly). We were fortunate to get Beach Club villas as our welcome home booking and now we really want 125+ points there (We now have 125 at AKV because we added 25 more points in October 2019)

We are looking at resale contracts: Boardwalk, Beach Club, and Poly. In a perfect world, I would have 150 each at AKV, CC, Beach Club , and Poly. If the "perfect" timing hits for Boardwalk though, we will go for it.

There is no bad decision though and like others have mentioned, book your home resort at 11 months and try for anywhere else at 7.

 

[syderial]

I have the same problem right now. Not resolved lol, I think we will end up with AKL though because I like Lyft just fine and prefer the atmosphere