Owning at Beach Club vs. AKV

[peaches0313]

Talk to me about owning DVC points at Beach Club or AKV? Both are places we would like to stay in the future. We tend to like to book out farther (so 11 months) vs. 7 but would be okay if we got "stuck" with either of those places at 7 months out. I do like that you can walk to Epcot from Beach Club. AKL looks beautiful. Without staying there first, how would one go about choosing where to own? Any tips? I do see the dues are lower at Beach Club. Would it be a decent decision to just go with whichever has the amount of points and use year I would like? Thoughts from those who have stayed at both places? We have 4 and 6 year old girls. Thanks!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

A big selling point to me for AKV was the second bathroom in a one bedroom. Part of me says that AKV would be better for a young family, but there's also the consideration that it's much easier to book a room at AKV at 7 months than it is at BCV. I think you need to look at the cost per point in addition to number of points and the use year.

 

[peaches0313]

Thank you Douglas! All great points, and I didn't realize the difference in bathrooms!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

AKV also has the sleeper chairs, so a one bedroom can sleep 5. There are lots of activities that kids can do on a non-park day, and the pool at Kidani has a fun play area. Of course, BCV has Stormalong Bay. If you don't usually bring or rent a car, Beach Club might be the better choice because of the easy walk. If you do bring or rent a car, Kidani can work pretty well.

 

[peaches0313]

We do not usually bring or rent a car. I like everything about AKV for a family with young children EXCEPT the fact we would have to take a bus everywhere. Our favorite parks are MK, Epcot, and AK.

 

[lovin'fl]

BCV expires sooner...but...you can book AKV at 7 months out most of the time (except club level and value...but standard and savannah views you can) whereas you cannot get BCV as easily. These 2 resorts are our fave. We sold our AKV, however, because we could always book it with our OKW points at 7 months out. And we bought BWV instead of BCV to be able to save points by booking standard view there (but have found that even at 11 months out that can be tough...so we should have bought BCV).

 

[peaches0313]

Hmmmm... I just did some quick math though... and if i did AKV.. .my kids could maybe still be taking their kids to Disney for several years... as we like to do. Whereas, Beach Club would likely expire while my grandkids were super young... so it would run out before they can enjoy it for very long.

 

[lovin'fl]

We do not usually bring or rent a car. I like everything about AKV for a family with young children EXCEPT the fact we would have to take a bus everywhere. Our favorite parks are MK, Epcot, and AK.

We found the busing from AKV to be really good as it doesn't have a lot of internal stops like OKW/SSR nor does it stop at multiple resorts like BWV/BCV. We found the busing from BCV to MK and AK to be God-awful (with all the stops). But I have heard that they recently made BWV single resort buses so maybe they did that for BCV buses too...I am not sure.

 

[Anal Annie]

Both have their pros & cons. AKV would likely be cheaper in the end and the contract longer. We have stayed there multiple times as it's usually super easy to get at 7 months or even less. It also requires fewer points if you do a standard view. We're not fans of Kidani but love Jambo House (but we don't have younger kids so the splash play area at Kidani has no draw for us). BCV is a fantastic resort with a prime location and Storm Along Bay which is easily the best pool on property - and then the walk to Epcot is the icing on top. You can't go wrong with either. And we've been able to book BCV in the summer 2x now PROMPTLY at 7 months - but it is always a more stressful booking to do.

You can't go wrong with either IMO but if money is at all a factor I would go with AKV as you can stretch the points further provided you stick with standard views...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Or the value rooms at AKV Jambo stretch the points even further although they do not have the extra bathroom nor the sleeper chair in the 1 & 2 BR's.

 

[Anal Annie]

Or the value rooms at AKV Jambo stretch the points even further although they do not have the extra bathroom nor the sleeper chair in the 1 & 2 BR's.

They do, but even as a family of 3 we found the studio at least kinda cramped….I think the values are better for couples w/o kids…. But JM2C...

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

Unless you want AKV CL or value, I don't think owning at AKV is really "necessary." Unless you will use and NEED the 11 month window for a resort, you should just buy the cheapest resort (i.e., OKW or SSR). There are many times when the 11 month window is needed for BCV, on the other hand.

 

[lovin'fl]

Unless you want AKV CL or value, I don't think owning at AKV is really "necessary." Unless you will use and NEED the 11 month window for a resort, you should just buy the cheapest resort (i.e., OKW or SSR). There are many times when the 11 month window is needed for BCV, on the other hand.

From late Sept through New Year's (F&W from Sept to Nov and then holiday decorations from Thanksgiving to New Year's) is near impossible to get BCV. We did snag 2 days in a 1BR for F&W 2014 but that was by stalking the resort availability tracker. We were also able to book BCV for a late January trip. Summer months can be hard too.