NEW VGF Building

[Robert Stoddart]

Poly is 2066.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Do you know how the expiration year compares? We have been looking into RIV and Poly, leaning towards RIV because of price but I may hold out for VGF now. Just wondering about expiration year.

VGF 2064
PVB 2066
RIV 2070

 

[hcortesis]

One of the reasons we are really looking forward to this new building. We really enjoy the sunrises we get from the water view at VGF. But the sun leaves our balcony by 2:00 depending on the month. This image shows the sun from sunrise to sunset in the new Pine Key building with water view rooms.

 

[Nabas]

One of the reasons we are really looking forward to this new building. We really enjoy the sunrises we get from the water view at VGF. But the sun leaves our balcony by 2:00 depending on the month. This image shows the sun from sunrise to sunset in the new Pine Key building with water view rooms.View attachment 578999

In December, the morning sun on the balcony is glorious.

In June, it’s uncomfortably hot by 9 am.

 

[RebelScum]

April for December open if I remember right

This is right . . . We bought in April and had to wait till December to stay there. So much for the instant gratification of buying direct!

 

[Airb330]

Still convincing myself not to buy more points but I think we may cave if it’s not a ridiculous amount. We own at AUL AKV and VGF. If AKV is now ~$130 resale and VGF is closer to $200 direct…I can still see the value.

I wish we could purchase more VGF at the $145 pre-construction pricing!

 

[Nabas]

Still convincing myself not to buy more points but I think we may cave if it’s not a ridiculous amount. We own at AUL AKV and VGF. If AKV is now ~$130 resale and VGF is closer to $200 direct…I can still see the value.

I wish we could purchase more VGF at the $145 pre-construction pricing!

As a stand-alone, AKV is the single best WDW resort!

But its location hurts it. I wish it had a direct entrance into DAK, the way VGC has an entrance into DCA.

Can you imagine? It would make AKV the best resort at WDW!

 

[Airb330]

As a stand-alone, AKV is the single best WDW resort!

But its location hurts it. I wish it had a direct entrance into DAK, the way VGC has an entrance into DCA.

Can you imagine? It would make AKV the best resort at WDW!

Yes that would be crazy cool but we do actually like the AKL location. You’re right though, the perceived location definitely hurts the price. But knowing we paid $68 pp resale..makes the current AKV pricing painful. The number of points per night is a crazy good deal though!!

But since we paid $145 for VGF direct and then resale a few years later, $200ish somehow still feels reasonable.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

As a stand-alone, AKV is the single best WDW resort!

But its location hurts it. I wish it had a direct entrance into DAK, the way VGC has an entrance into DCA.

Can you imagine? It would make AKV the best resort at WDW!

For us, it's not just the location. Maybe it's because my kids are older, but AKV is the only DVC resort they do not want to stay at. They are not interested in the animals at all. Guess we went to the zoo too much when they were little. lol The weird thing is, we all really like the atmosphere at Animal Kingdom (park). Also, Boma is the only WDW restaurant where nobody in our party liked the food (and we were with extended family). I wish we wanted to own there since it seems like an economical option.

 

[Paul Stupin]

As a stand-alone, AKV is the single best WDW resort!

But its location hurts it. I wish it had a direct entrance into DAK, the way VGC has an entrance into DCA.

Can you imagine? It would make AKV the best resort at WDW!

We absolutely love DAK, and if ever Disney added a beautiful walking path to the park from AKV, we’d buy in wholeheartedly. Not sure it’ll ever happen, though. Its just great to be able to walk to one of the parks, which is one reason we love VGF. The Epcot resorts are all nice, but the 2042 date for us kills the deal. And I don’t really regard Riviera as an Epcot area resort.

Will definitely buy in to VGF2. We stay in the one bedrooms, but contracts are scarce, and of course over priced, so it will be nice to finally add on.
I am wondering what kind of magic Disney will add to the Big Pine Key building, though, in addition to the room remodeling. I’m sure there will be some fun and charming design flourishes they’re not telling us about yet.

 

[sethschroeder]

the perceived location definitely hurts the price.

No the literal location is what hurts not a perceived location. Its the highest priced resort not attached to the parks by a method other than busses. Its also very close to the lowest attended park area on a normal basis for most families.

 

[Airb330]

No the literal location is what hurts not a perceived location. Its the highest priced resort not attached to the parks by a method other than busses. Its also very close to the lowest attended park area on a normal basis for most families.

Ok literal for you, but many people perceive it as so far away but at the end of the day only a few more minutes to some parks compared to other DVC resorts. I stand by what I said. The bus service is pretty good but many people feel it’s “so far away.” For some it is far, that’s fine. Some people don’t like the location; we do like the location.

 

[sethschroeder]

Ok literal for you, but many people perceive it as so far away but at the end of the day only a few more minutes to some parks compared to other DVC resorts. I stand by what I said. The bus service is pretty good but many people feel it’s “so far away.” For some it is far, that’s fine. Some people don’t like the location; we do like the location.

The issue is never physical distance in miles its the total time to get places and the wait for busses for the week in totality.

You are not able to walk, boat, or skyliner to any park and the park closest by bus is the park least visited.

You keep saying perceive like people are incorrect. At the end of the day all the other park adjacent resorts will have you spending less time waiting on busses for the week potentially by a wide margin.

 

[Paul Stupin]

The issue is never physical distance in miles its the total time to get places and the wait for busses for the week in totality.

You are not able to walk, boat, or skyliner to any park and the park closest by bus is the park least visited.

You keep saying perceive like people are incorrect. At the end of the day all the other park adjacent resorts will have you spending less time waiting on busses for the week potentially by a wide margin.

The bus wait time goes away if you have a rental car. I kind of like the fact that the resort is off by itself, and is pretty much it’s own world. If they would only put in a walking path!!

 

[sethschroeder]

The bus wait time goes away if you have a rental car. I kind of like the fact that the resort is off by itself, and is pretty much it’s own world. If they would only put in a walking path!!

Having a car there is a good move and you even have that parking under the resort which is nice.

I think what could spike AK resale pricing even short term is if they built a walking path but in addition to finally completely redoing the Dino area of the park. I might be wrong but I think we are going to see Epcot and HS bypass AK again in a couple years time if they don't do something new in AK.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The issue is never physical distance in miles its the total time to get places and the wait for busses for the week in totality.

You are not able to walk, boat, or skyliner to any park and the park closest by bus is the park least visited.

You keep saying perceive like people are incorrect. At the end of the day all the other park adjacent resorts will have you spending less time waiting on busses for the week potentially by a wide margin.

MK is a 21-23 minute trip from Kidani and that includes a stop at Jambo. It's maybe 5 minutes to AK and 12-15 minutes to DHS and Epcot. I'd bet you that other than MK it takes that long or longer to do CR to any of those other 3. 30-40 minutes is not uncommon to get to Epcot via the monorail. And if you take the transportation to MK from CR it's 10 minutes or more.
It is a perception that it takes a longer time from AKL/AKV because it's only buses. There was a Disney transport travel wizard that used to be done by a website and it consistently backed up that AKL/AKV did not have the worst travel times. MK resorts, Epcot resorts can all be pretty bad if you're not willing to walk and that walk gets you to one park quickly.

 

[Paul Stupin]

MK is a 21-23 minute trip from Kidani and that includes a stop at Jambo. It's maybe 5 minutes to AK and 12-15 minutes to DHS and Epcot. I'd bet you that other than MK it takes that long or longer to do CR to any of those other 3. 30-40 minutes is not uncommon to get to Epcot via the monorail. And if you take the transportation to MK from CR it's 10 minutes or more.
It is a perception that it takes a longer time from AKL/AKV because it's only buses. There was a Disney transport travel wizard that used to be done by a website and it consistently backed up that AKL/AKV did not have the worst travel times. MK resorts, Epcot resorts can all be pretty bad if you're not willing to walk and that walk gets you to one park quickly.

Yes, but a walk from AKV gets you to no park quickly. One of the reasons I bought at VGF this year, aside from it being a beautiful resort, was the walking path. I enjoy being able to walk to at least one resort, or to take any transportation other than a bus.

But AKV is so unique and special. I doubt if they’ll ever extend the Skyliner (except maybe after the deeds expire in 2057 and they need to resell it), but how hard would it be to hack through some shrubbery and make a path?! I know it’s no doubt more difficult than that, but it would be sooooo great!

And, as noted already, the resort would be helped by replacing Dinoland in AKV. Or, more likely, an expansion of Pandora with another E ticket to coincide with the release of Avatar 2.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Yes, but a walk from AKV gets you to no park quickly. One of the reasons I bought at VGF this year, aside from it being a beautiful resort, was the walking path. I enjoy being able to walk to at least one resort, or to take any transportation other than a bus.

But AKV is so unique and special. I doubt if they’ll ever extend the Skyliner (except maybe after the deeds expire in 2057 and they need to resell it), but how hard would it be to hack through some shrubbery and make a path?! I know it’s no doubt more difficult than that, but it would be sooooo great!

And, as noted already, the resort would be helped by replacing Dinoland in AKV. Or, more likely, an expansion of Pandora with another E ticket attraction to coincide with the release of Avatar 2.

 

[Brian Noble]

t is a perception that it takes a longer time from AKL/AKV because it's only buses. There was a Disney transport travel wizard that used to be done by a website and it consistently backed up that AKL/AKV did not have the worst travel times.

In many ways, AKL/AKV is one of the better locations to the rest of the parks if you are driving. If memory serves, there is only one traffic light between it and any of the theme park toll plazas, at the intersection of Osceola and Sherberth. After that it is smooth sailing using only Osceola and World Drive, both of which are more than sufficient for the traffic they carry. Google Maps suggests it is 9-11 minutes to each of DS, MK, EP toll plazas from AKL.

The EP and MK areas have gotten better with the widening of Buena Vista and the flyover avoiding the MK plaza, respectively. But, Buena Vista is still a sequence of several (mis-timed) traffic lights, and the Seven Seas area itself is always congested at prime times. True, those resort areas are within a (healthy) walk to one or more parks, but on balance it is not hard to believe that AKL/AKV come out pretty good overall for a typical vacation.

 

[Airb330]

In many ways, AKL/AKV is one of the better locations to the rest of the parks if you are driving. If memory serves, there is only one traffic light between it and any of the theme park toll plazas, at the intersection of Osceola and Sherberth. After that it is smooth sailing using only Osceola and World Drive, both of which are more than sufficient for the traffic they carry. Google Maps suggests it is 9-11 minutes to each of DS, MK, EP toll plazas from AKL.

The EP and MK areas have gotten better with the widening of Buena Vista and the flyover avoiding the MK plaza, respectively. But, Buena Vista is still a sequence of several (mis-timed) traffic lights, and the Seven Seas area itself is always congested at prime times. True, those resort areas are within a (healthy) walk to one or more parks, but on balance it is not hard to believe that AKL/AKV come out pretty good overall for a typical vacation.

Thank you, great post. That’s why I’ll keep saying ‘perceived location’ whether some posters here like that phrase or not.

That said, I do Agree that it not being VGF or BLT or BCV, etc. in walking distance definitely keeps the pricing down.