Poll: If you had the option of transferring your ownership to a different resort,would you?
I'm having a difficult time choosing an answer for your poll. On
one hand, I have no
connection with my home resort (SSR). On the
other hand, I've had very little trouble using my points to book other DVC resorts.
We purchased SSR sight unseen in May 2004 based on its longer contract and low dues. We continue to be happy with those aspects. We made our first trip to SSR in Dec 2009 (Treehouse Villas) and look forward to our next visit in Oct (Grand Villa). Beyond those two stays, our points have worked well for stays at Vero Beach, Boardwalk Villas (a favorite!), Animal Kingdom, Grand Californian Hotel (and soon GCV), Old Key West, and Wilderness Lodge (loved it!).
Bottom line for me: while I may not "feel the love" for my home resort, the points are working fine. I don't see anything much better on the horizon -- and thus no specific need to "switch resorts."
Ok - our original thinking was that Kidani (or AK in general) would be cool because of our son and any anticipated future children (which we now have a daughter as well). The animals and the pools really appealed to us for that reason. We bought Kidani while it was still under construction so we had not had the chance to try it out first...Overall, we did not like how dark Jambo House seemed when we went over a couple times during our Kidani stay and Kidani lacked dining options...everything felt so dark and heavy and getting around was labored, inconvenient and somewhat annoying...I am not, in any way, hating on Kidani or AKL but it just didn't end up really being for us
Room location might be a key to enjoying Animal Kingdom resort (lodge and villas)?
Our first stay at AKL (hotel side) was in 2005 following the late summer "Bring the Magic Home" Panama Canal cruise. We booked two standard savanna rooms on AP rates and were upgraded to a huge, end-unit, 2BR suite on arrival. We seriously loved it.
The rooms were large with multiple large balconies and plenty of light. Everything about the unit was simply amazing.
With the memory of our magical visit in 2005 we seriously toyed with an add-on at AKV when it was first announced ... but chose to try booking on our existing points instead. With great anticipation, I phoned on the first day reservations were allowed for "non-owners" and was thrilled to (eventually) book a Club Level 1BR for our first stay in this new resort. We eagerly tacked these nights to the end of our annual BWV stay (conference) as the "vacation" portion of our visit and the opportunity to join the Wanyama Safari (evening event with dinner at Jikos). While we loved the Safari -- we really disliked the room for reasons including: dark (dark, dark, dark), awkward layout, lack of closets, and general feeling of being cramped. (Didn't help that we were assigned an HA unit without jetted tub and having no storage space in the bathroom, too few towel racks, no robe hook and no way to control the shower's water from running all over the bathroom floor.)
Looking back -- I think room location may have something to do with one's impression of AK rooms. Our first room, while having dark furnishings, didn't overwhelm us as it was filled with light from the many windows on two sides. The later CL villa was tucked way into the corner of the building, had fewer windows, and its light obscured by overhanging roof materials. Had the room been brighter (preferably using natural lighting) - I'm sure I could have better handled the cramped and cluttered conditions.
Bill
