New to DVC ... which resort to go to?

[autismgoesdisney]

I am new to renting points and to DVC.

It will definitely be the five of us (me, my husband, 3 kids (8, 6 and 4 at trip time). It could possibly be my mother in law as well, who is a (young) 75 year old.

My daughter (the oldest) has been reading up on deluxes (we have never stayed deluxe) and she is sold on AKV, however, we are on a tight budget as it is and I'm not sure that is our smartest move.

We will be flying this trip so relying SOLELY on Disney transportation. We also, most likely, will be purchasing the dining plan to go with it. So a sit down restaurant would be ideal. Our favorite parks are 1. MK 2. Epcot 3. DHS 4. AK

As for room, we aren't in the room all that much and really as long as my mother in law has her own bed (to share with one of the kids I am thinking) and my husband and I have a bed, we could put the other two kids on a fold out sofa or something.

Really price, transportation, location and of course some fun pools are most imporatnt to us I think!

Suggestions?

 

[chalee94]

realistically, you will need to rent a 2BR. no 1BRs will accommodate 6.

i love AKV but if you'll be spending a lot of time at the MK, you'll find the bus trip a bit long.

for a trip with multiple visits to MK and epcot, i'd try to get BLT (walk to the MK and have the option of a monorail transfer over to epcot)...VWL is also a great option (boat to the MK).

for price, OKW 2BRs are the largest and cost the fewest pts.

at 11 months out, DVC owners have exclusive access to booking their home resorts. at 7 months out, it's a free-for-all, with all owners having access to any DVC resort...that makes it easier as a renter in not having to find an owner of a specific resort, but you also risk the owners having booked all the higher demand villas...if you wait too long, larger resorts like OKW and SSR might be your only option, unless they are booked up, too.

edited to add: here is a link to the 2012 pt charts:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

 

[tjkraz]

DVC members can begin to make reservations 11 months in advance of arrival. For September 2012, people have already been booking on points for 3 months now. For that reason you will not have unlimited options. Everything is subject to availability and I'm sure there are certain locations and room classes which are already full.

Among the things I would not count on finding are:

BoardWalk Standard or BoardWalk View
Bay Lake Tower Standard or Theme Park View
Animal Kingdom Villas Value or Concierge

If you are ready to rent more than 7 months prior to arrival, you will have to find a member who owns points at the resort you wish to stay at. Renting 7+ months in advance does increase the odds for success, but it can be more challenging to find someone who owns the proper resort. Less than 7 months out you can rent points from any resort, but availability will be harder to come by.

For a group of 5, you will need a One Bedroom Villa. If the 6th person comes along you will need a Two Bedroom Villa. (Maximum occupancy for a Studio is four plus one child under age 3.)

All One Bedroom Villas have a King-size bed and a queen sofa bed. Select resorts also have a twin-size sleeper chair.

Two Bedroom villas have a king bed, queen sofa bed and either two additional queen beds OR one queen plus one full sofa bed.

Based upon your comments about not being in the room much, being on a budget and the size of the party, I doubt renting points is going to work well for you. If mother in law comes along you will need a two bedroom villa. That's 1200 sq ft of space and I can guarantee it will cost more renting than two rooms at a Value or one of the new family suites.

Also note that "free dining" is frequently offered during some dates in September but DVC point rentals do not qualify for that promotion.

 

[taaren]

Technically you can sleep 5 in a 1 bedroom AKV, BLT, and I believe OKW since the refurb. Any of the other resorts you'll need a 2 bedroom for your immediate family of 5.

If your mother in law comes you'll need a 2 bedroom, which is nice to have anyways.

The least amount of points is going to be OKW, followed by AKV and SSR I think. Though you're outside of the 7 month booking window for AKV, its likely that many of the value or standard views will be gone since the 11 month window has long since passed and you'd be stuck with (oh no!) a Savannah View which is a lot more points. With your crowd, I'd probably go for an AKV 2 bedroom so that Grandma can have her own bathroom, the kids have their own, and you'll have the master.

Can't help you with restaurants since I haven't been to the World in 20 years myself, but I picked BLT and BWV for the proximity to the parks for our trip this December since that was our priority, even though BLT is one of the highest point requirements it was what we really wanted due to the extra baths, etc. Transportation from the various resorts to other points you'll hear varying opinions on.

 

[hakepb]

AKV savannah view is stunning and wonderful, if you take time to enjoy it on your balcony. If you are not in the room much it may seem like a waste because animals go to the "barns" each morning for their vet checkup and you may only see an empty savannah.

I would hesitate to take a 2BR in Jambo because there is no bathroom attached to the master bed, and that shower is in the jacuzzi tub. It might be OK due to the bathroom in the 2nd bathroom.

Overall, I would go with proximity to the parks and restaurants you visit most, but as just mentioned, renting DVC may not be your best bet for this trip.

 

[jrtoastyman]

Our favorite parks are 1. MK 2. Epcot 3. DHS 4. AK

If AK is your least favorite park and MK is your favorite, you may want to rethink staying at AKV. The fact that you don't see yourself spending a lot of time in the room underscores this point -- you want to be close to the places you plan to be, and AKV is an awkward location if you plan to spend a lot of time at MK.

In terms of restaurants, there's something for most everyone, and wanting a sit-down restaurant doesn't really narrow it down because there are oodles of them. Take a look at the menus at allears.net and see if there's something that tickles your fancy, or give us a little more insight into what sort of experience you're looking for, and we can offer some better guidance.

There has been lots of digital ink spilled on the virtues (or lack thereof) of the dining plan, and I don't mean to rehash that here. With that said, however, two things bear mention for someone using DVC points that is also considering paying out of pocket for the dining plan (as opposed to taking advantage of the free DDP that is often offered as part of a promotion):

• One of the primary benefits of the DVC rooms is that they have a full kitchen. If you're planning on doing the dining plan, though, that may not be all that useful to you, and it may not be worth paying the premium for a DVC villa as opposed to just doing a couple of regular rooms or a family suite, as a PP mentioned
• The best part about the dining plan is that you have a good sense up front of what you'll be spending on food, so there's some peace of mind there. With that said, unless you would ordinarily eat the way the dining plan is set up, it might actually end up costing you more than you would otherwise spend. Do you eat dessert for every single meal, for instance? I haven't done a breakdown of the cost, but we did DDP on our last trip, and I'm pretty sure we would have eaten less and accordingly spent less had we just eaten what we wanted at the time.

Just some stuff to consider.

 

[spiceycat]

for a budget 2-bedroom AKV value or standard view is probably your best bet.

that say OKW is next in line. then BWV standard view - the problem with BWV is there is no real 2-bedrooms so you would get a 1-bedroom and studio. Not a good situation if you have small children. but probably great for the granny.

BLT is the most expensive of the choices. It is lovely and I do love it - but it comes with a higher price. more points are needed for it generally. (standard is the same as the others but standard is very hard to get as Tim said)

now would also suggest 2 studios - since a studio is about the same as a hotel room. It has a kitchennett. and I love studios. a 2-bedroom is more expensive than a studio - both sleep at least 8.

the problem is the only connecting rooms to a studio is a 1-bedroom not another studio.

there are some studios that adjoin (but definitely they are few and not all DVC resorts have them)

in disney terms - adjoining is next too
connecting is next too and there is a door between the 1-bedroom and studio (or in a hotel rooms -the two hotel rooms)

now also think that BLT would be great for your family - you can walk to the MK - but easy access is more expensive.

vwl if you like AKV is a good bet too - but it does not have the standard or value units that AKV has. however it is a good place to consider if you are going to the MK alot.

 

[aymekae]

As a disclaimer, we've only been to WDW once, are recent enough members of DVC that we haven't gone anywhere yet, and we don't have kids.

That said, we LOVED our stay at the Wilderness Lodge! I never got over the fact that we could take a BOAT to the Magic Kingdom. (I live in the Californian desert, so any water delights me, lol.) But in addition, we ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe 3 times over our 6 days there, and would have more if we hadn't had ADRs for other places. We loved their food. I dream of their food.

FWIW, I agree with the other posters that you may be better off renting rooms on the hotel side and getting the free dining promotion.

But... next time we go to WDW, I have my heart set on AKV for the savanna-view rooms. So I definitely understand its appeal. But I think I would still recommend WL for you, and just visit AKL to see the animals.

 

[rentayenta]

If you don't love AK you could skip it and get your animal fix by staying at AKV. You'd have an extra day to go to another of your favorite parks. AKV is a gorgeous resort. If you really won't spend a ton of time at the resort, consider 2 standard rooms.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I have never been daunted by the fact that AKV uses only buses for transportation and I've had faster transport to MK from there than I've had from several other resorts. The value 2BR's are going to be your least expensive DVC accommodation for a party of 6 if they are still available. Add on 2 great pools at the resort (although the better one for the age of your kids may be at Kidani instead of Jambo), 3 sit down restaurants and 1 QS, the animals and the fact that one of your kids has researched and wants to stay there and I'd say you've got more positives than negatives. Transportation is really the only possible downside but as I said I consider that a non-issue personally as each resort has plusses and minuses in that department.

Another thought - if one of your children would be comfortable staying in a room with Grandma then 2 studios would be a less expensive option than a 2BR for the 6 of you. AKV value studios would still be the least expensive but AKV standard, BWV standard and OKW studios would also come in less than the AKV value 2BR if I've done the math correctly.