New Purchase - SSR or AKV?

[tidefan]

Hi all. First time post. We are going to be at CSR in a couple of weeks for a conference (which is actually at the Dolphin - go figure) and my Wife and I are thinking about purchasing DVC (we have 1 daughter - 4 yr old this summer). I have been lurking for awhile and have gained a wealth of information on these boards. The big question for me is whether to buy at AKV or at SSR? AKV is 2057 vs. 2054 for SSR, but SSR has lower MFs. Also, it seems like incentives are a little better for SSR (I think someone on another post stated that you get 2006 points in addition to 2007 points there). Also, I am a little concerned that Jambo House units will not be as nice as Kidani Village units at AKV, and those won't be ready until 2009. It would be nice to have the animals right outdoors, however.

We are not real big on which resort we would be at, all of them look good to me. Also, we would not in all probability travel in peak seasons. A bit torn, so any advice would be welcome.

Second, we would expect to use our points mainly at WDW, but let's say on some off year, we decide to go to Hawaii. Would DVC be a good II trade? I saw on another thread the comment was that DVC was not a "good trader", which surprised me since many people that I know with timeshares always comment how they can never seem to be able to trade into a DVC place. I would think that DVC would have very good "tradeability" (though again, that would not be the usual use for this).

Last, we own one other timeshare that we got at an extremely discounted rate on the resale market. It seems as though, through ROFR, that resale is not as good of a deal with DVC. So let's suppose that I buy direct from Disney in a couple of weeks. Will this automatically make my UY April, or is it some randomly assigned month, or do I get to choose this on a new purchase? Also, when would my first payments be, especially if I were to go with AKL which doesn't even open until September?

We are going to tour while we are down there. We did take a tour in spring 2002 when they were selling BCV. Will they still have us in their system?

Thanks!

 

[vandy]

My first advice is since you will be there in a couple of weeks, visit the DVC resorts and see if any resort feels more like "home" to you. Good chance you will still be in their system. It is Disney. You can tour SSR and view a room model at AKV. Ask about seeing the others or just visit them yourself. Sounds to me like those would be more what you want with longer term contracts. SSR, in my opinion, will always have a much lower MF than AKV due to the nature of resorts so if the fees are an issue, SSR is the better choice (only if AKV is not your favorite).

I don't do other travel so the exchange with II I cannot advise on. Again I would say it is worth what each person is willing to pay. I would say though on people wanting to trade into DVC that yes, it probably is nearly impossible. What isn't booked through DVC members are offerred as cash ressies by Disney to others so the availability of rooms probably isn't there.

As far as UY, you can pick from what they have available at the time.
Good luck.

 

[snowwhitemom]

Welcome to the DIS!!!!!!

You will love it here, these boards have saved me thousands over the years and brought on many of good friends to ask questions and advice from.

I own at SSR and I am purchasing AKV as we speak........If you plan on renting out your points on years that you choose not to go ...go AKV all the way and if you are like me and own and still have to rent from others, LOL due not to having enough points then you really should tour. I bought SSR unseen and have only vistrd there one time......it is pretty easy to get any resort at 7 months out UNLESS you are wanting to travel at a peak time...(Christmas, Spring break, July4th....ya get the idea) welcome to the DIS and hopefully welcome to DVC as well.

 

[NYMomof4]

It sounds like you are flexible about where you stay and have the same feeling about the resorts that I do-I love them all SSR has lower annual dues and over time that may make a difference if you do not plan on staying at AKL frequently (if you purchased there). The 3 year difference is minimal.

I bought SSR at a time when it was the only being sold (aside from sold-out DVCs) so I didn't have to make the choice. The first purchase is important to get into the DVC system, but then you can add on if you decide that you love AKL or another resort. I'm planning on adding a small contract at AKL, but my main points are with SSR.

Tour the DVC resorts while you're there-it's fun and you can get a better feel for the resorts.

 

[tidefan]

FYI to the member that sent me a PM, I tried to PM back, but I got the following message:

Could not find phrase 'error_postcount_too_low_pm'.

Anyone know how to fix this?

Also, thanks to everyone for their input on this. I guess that my wife and I will just tour each facility (I have never been to either SSR or AKL) and go with my gut feeling, (and whoever has the best incentives...)

 

[disneynutz]

FYI to the member that sent me a PM, I tried to PM back, but I got the following message:

Could not find phrase 'error_postcount_too_low_pm'.

Anyone know how to fix this?

This will go away after you have made a few posts.

 

[Eventer98]

Thanks for the tips on this thread...DF and I hope to buy DVC this summer and I will be taking a tour when we are there in June. We are also torn between AKV and SSR. It seems that a 160pt contract at AKV would only be about $320 more with the incentives they are offering. MF's are an issue with us but a minimal one. So we are torn as well. My guide did not mention being able to see AKV and she seemed to think SSR was a good bet for us...although no clue why she came to that conclusion. Anyway, thanks for all the great info!

 

[girt25]

We asked ourselves the same questions about a month ago before settling on AKV. We made our decision because we like AKV a lot, and would prefer to stay there over SSR. Got a lot of great advice from DIS folks here, but most importantly "BUY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY". If you have no preference between to the two, then SSR is probably a better financial decision, especially in the short term. Not only is the initial cost lower, it also has lower annual dues.

Correctly me if i'm wrong here.. but I believe you would get 2006 points to use/bank immediately vs. no points until September at AKV. Of course, You'll get those point in 2055-2057.. but that's a long way off.

 

[tidefan]

We will be touring with a 3 1/2 year old in tow. I thought that I saw somewhere that Disney provides childcare during your tour. Can anyone confirm this for me?

Thanks!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Thanks for the tips on this thread...DF and I hope to buy DVC this summer and I will be taking a tour when we are there in June. We are also torn between AKV and SSR. It seems that a 160pt contract at AKV would only be about $320 more with the incentives they are offering. MF's are an issue with us but a minimal one. So we are torn as well. My guide did not mention being able to see AKV and she seemed to think SSR was a good bet for us...although no clue why she came to that conclusion. Anyway, thanks for all the great info!

When did you visit? The AKV model has only been open for about a month.

 

[chalee94]

there's also a model room for BWV on the boardwalk which you might want to check out...(and you can at least get a look at BCV across the water and see the lobby and grounds, even if seeing a room at BCV is more complicated since they don't have a model.)

SSR and AKV are pretty compelling options though, IMO. (unless you want to be on the monorail and are willing to wait till they announce the CRV... )

 

[Eventer98]

When did you visit? The AKV model has only been open for about a month.

I will be visiting in June!

 

[bapvoeller]

They do provide childcare while you are doing the tour. We signed the paperwork for SSR a couple of weeks ago. We were already going to Disney and waited to sign once we got there. My 6 year old stayed at the supervised child care area while we toured and signed the papers. She had a good time while we were touring.

SSR currently has model rooms for SSR and AKV. My wife really liked the look of the AKV rooms, but I liked SSR better. So I would go look at the model rooms and choose for yourself. We are like you and will be happy staying at any of the DVC resorts. That being said we bought into SSR before they raised the minimum points and price. AKV wasn't available when we started our paperwork.. If you really want to stay at AKV and can book your rooms more than 7 months out, I would go for AKV. Otherwise I would probably do SSR because of the lower MF and initial cost.

We purchased in March and asked for an October use year and were able to get it. You can ask for a specific month and they will try to get it for you if possible. Take some time and figure out which use year would be best for you. We will normally be traveling to Disney in December and March.. If we have to cancel these vacations, an October UY still gives us time to bank the points.

 

[DeanDoug]

We bought SSR sight unseen 2 years ago... and have never gone yet (we've rented our points due to the birth of our second daughter and not wanting to travel).

Just last week, we were in Orlando at a professional conference, and took a day trip to Disney. We walked over to SSR and asked to see the rooms... while we were there, we also asked to see the AKL model (which is in SSR).

Both were BEAUTIFUL We especially loved AKL... the space is amazing... the view will be amazing... and the bathroom? Well... amazing (you have to see it to believe it). SSR was also beautiful, and an easy walk to Downtown Disney...

I don't think you can go wrong with either... in terms of the AKL... we have stayed at the lodge and it is our favorite. The pool, the restaurants, are some of the best... we love it.

Good luck in deciding... we may be purchasing AKL soon!

 

[Jake & Crew]

Our revised SSR paperwork just came in last night, we will sign it over the weekend. We were at WDW in Feb and did the tour ( dds 4 and 6 stayed in the supervised play area, then we all had a nice treat!)

We decided on SSR due to the incentives (net is $91 per point the way they are writing it up and the 2006 points included as a bonus!) We changed our use year and upped our points from the original contract.

We plan on visiting all of the Disney DVCs between now and 2054 so location was not the biggest factor. That said we liked that SSR was nearer DTD, EP and MGM when the girls are older ( now it is all about the MK!) We find the AK lodging and park a distance from everything and AK is our 3rd ( or 4th depending who you talk to in our house) favorite park. Though we are very interested in staying there at least once in the future!

Be sure to take the tour and be sure to ask for your super duper instant fast passes, they do not offer them freely but if you ask you receive!

 

[ecna]

I just got back from a stay at SSR and toured the model for AKL. Though the rooms looked great, the only thing appealing to me about AKL is the larger 1BR's that will sleep 5 as I have 3 kids. With one child, I'd stick with SSR.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Yes, there is a great facility for kids when you tour. Our kids (DS-11 and DD-4) loved it. After paying full price for the 1-bedroom unit at OKW and entrance into the parks, they asked DH and me if they could go back to SSR the next day instead of going to the park! Did I mention that I no longer have DS and DD??? Just teasing!

As for trading out for other non-DVC vacations...my BIL/SIL do it every other year or so. They've been to Aruba, Hawaii, Portugal, Paris, England, etc. While I know some will say that trading out isn't very economical, they have stayed in beautiful resorts (have seen their photos) and they say they never have to worry about their accommodations, as DVC ensures that the trade-outs are comparable.

In choosing among AKV, SSR and all other resorts, we decided on SSR for the following reasons:

1) Loved both resorts and didn't have a big personal preference.
2) 2006 points came with SSR and you could purchase SSR via resale (which we ended up doing).
3) Cheaper maintenance fees at SSR. This was a big consideration knowing that we could likely trade into other resorts if we wanted to (based on our travel habits).
4) Will be SO OLD that 2054 vs. 2057 really didn't matter!!! However, 2042 was a little too early to call it quits.
5) One of my very favorite places at WDW is DTD. I really like the fact that it's within walking distance since we spend several evenings of our visit down there eating and just walking around. Also, thought this would be appealing to the kids as they got older.

Just our journey! Best of luck with yours and your decision. FWIW, we're taking our first trip as DVC members this summer and staying at BWV. Since we're not going to do parks this time (since we were just there at Christmas), we thought it would be fun to stay there. That's the beauty of DVC!!!

 

[tidefan]

Thanks everyone for the info. We will be doing the tour (we are at CSR starting this Saturday for a week) and seeing what we like best. We do like perhaps getting 2006 points when we buy. My MIL and FIL are now talking about doing a European Cruise next year, so we may not get back to WDW until Fall 2008, so that may push us more towards AKV, but the MFs may push us towards SSR...

Anyway, been going back and forth on this for many days. We've pretty much decided to look and see which one we like best and just to buy there. I'll let everyone know how it goes...

 

[mickeyworld]

Just bought in AKV two days ago with blind faith in Disney!!! AKL is our favorite place to stay but at the room rates, it is usually an every other trip location. Now I can call it home!!!!
Also got "executive" fast passes for our incentive for listening and did they come in handy over spring break. Now I am doing the homework I should have done before I bought but I am so excited I am breathless!!!!
Where is the best place to start becoming a savy owner????

 

[chunkygal]

buy where yo want to stay....yes...but we hardly ever stay where we bought!
OWn at BWV, but usually stay at OKW.Sometimes BWV is full,sometimes we want more room, this time we are at SSR only availabilty... but they are all nice. When I have been in Hawaii (Marriott Timeshare) we have looked at the other "trade properties" for DVC -- some not so nice or not what you'd expect after staying at disney. The hotels they partner with are top notch and we have known people who have done the concierge exchange, but then you are only getting a hotel room, nice yes, but not a 1 or two bedroom. Overall I think our DVC money (members since 1996) is the best money we ever spent.If i don't use them, I give as gifts to friends or employees or rent my points. I think its a no lose.