RR, OKW, or AKL????????

mhilldj88

Earning My Ears
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Aug 7, 2020
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Looking to add on the 125 to get my blue card and can’t decide between RR, OKW, or AKL.

Riviera would be best value for length of contract.
OKW would be most budget friendly.
AKL for 11 month window for Value rooms and Club Level rooms.
 
As "They" say. buy where you want to stay. All good choices.OKW is a personal favorite of mine ,just love the vibe.
 
Getting akv values should be viewed as a bonus. I’ve owned for 7 years and gotten at 11 mths 50% and shut out 50% even trying to “walk” a few days. I have gotten an entire 5 days reservation by waitlisting single days and pieced it together. So, I wouldn’t really use values too much in an analysis to buy.
 
Where do you currently own at? If its a monorail or epcot resort I'd pick AK, if you don't already own at a resort with easy access to a park I would pick RIV. I own at all three, so I think you can't go wrong with any of the choices. RIV does have a high point chart though vs AK & OKW
 

Looking to add on the 125 to get my blue card and can’t decide between RR, OKW, or AKL.

Riviera would be best value for length of contract.
OKW would be most budget friendly.
AKL for 11 month window for Value rooms and Club Level rooms.
Personally, I like OKW as a direct add on. It would be an extended contract (expires 2057). The points chart is very friendly and dues are reasonable. It's great as SAPs or just for a trip that isn't focused on hitting the parks from rope drop to close.
 
I am partial to RIV but I agree it’s where you want to use the points.

If you are comfortable with staying at AKV or OKW, those are the best choices to give you the best of both worlds,

If you want to stay at RIV and have a good chance for SV rooms, especially studios, then owning there is going to be important!

I am hoping in the next few weeks to add on another 100 points there!
 
I just added on direct at AKL. I like to have an exit strategy so riviera was never a choice. I’ve never stayed at okw and haven’t had a desire to. AKL has great point charts,value and club rooms are never guaranteed but at least possible with 11 months. I’m not a fan of the location but IMO the savannah makes up for that.
 
Obviously every decision is personal, and we may be suffering from recency bias, but we stayed at Jambo couple weeks ago and have added it to our shortlist of add on candidates when the time arrives. It was a fantastic stay, great views of the savanna (even some days without animals it was still beautiful), awesome pool for the kiddos, great food options (and hopefully more coming back soon). Our thinking is making AKV a mini vacation inside of a vacation. Using our points to stay there a couple nights to experience the resort and AK Park for a couple days then use the balance of our week at another resort and the other parks.
 
Obviously every decision is personal, and we may be suffering from recency bias, but we stayed at Jambo couple weeks ago and have added it to our shortlist of add on candidates when the time arrives. It was a fantastic stay, great views of the savanna (even some days without animals it was still beautiful), awesome pool for the kiddos, great food options (and hopefully more coming back soon). Our thinking is making AKV a mini vacation inside of a vacation. Using our points to stay there a couple nights to experience the resort and AK Park for a couple days then use the balance of our week at another resort and the other parks.

This is our plan as well. I own at blt as well so I have the benefit of using those points for more park oriented stays.
 
Having just went through this decision, we decided to add 125 at RIV. We wanted our blue card, too. This gives us around 50 years of blue card privileges, which is nice based on our age.

We probably will stay in deluxe studios. Yes, the point charts are higher at RIV, but I feel like they are more compressed at the studio level. It can really start to hurt at the one bedroom or beyond, so I guess expected accommodations might be in the evaluation process.

We aren’t bothered by the resale restrictions. My fiancé was an annual pass holder at WDW for years; I grew up 5 miles from Disneyland. We feel like we know what to expect from Disney, both the good and the bad, and it’s something we are committed to staying as part of our life.

We also own resale at SSR, so we get the appeal there too. And my fiancé loves OKW. Tough decisions but just giving you some food for thought. Good luck!
 
tough choice, I lean towards AKV for value and concierge rooms. OKW does give you the low point chart with 11 month access to the best value GV on property. RIV I would only purchase if you really want RIV. Plus to RIV is access to epcot and hollywood and beautiful resort (but I like all the dvc resorts). Minus are resale restrictions and inflated point chart, especially for preferred view, which I think the guess is 25% will be standard and the rest preferred, making standard a difficult booking category, even in the 11 month window.
Third option is to mix it up- do 50 points at one resort and 75 at the other (maybe 50 at AKV and 75 at RIV) then you can bank and borrow to mix up your stays. AKV is the best value for Christmas week.
 
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AKV value villas, especially studios, are very hard to get, there are only 8 dedicated studios plus 10 lock off studios. Club villas are even harder to get, there are I think only 5 lock off club studios & they take a lot of points.
OP a couple of months ago you wrote that you really liked RR, because of that I’d go w/ RR. I own at & love staying at AKV and am not a fan of RR, but in your case you love RR, it’s what they are selling now & it makes sense IMO to pay a few dollars more for the 11 month booking advantage at a resort you prefer, especially since you already own your resale sleep around points.
The only factor I can think of that might change things is if you need to sell in a few years, where RR resale value will land is an open question w/ the new resale restrictions unique to that resort, but resale value of any resort is not guaranteed.
 
I go with RIV and the only resorts close to contending for me are BWV/BCV/VGF.

AKV is a great resort but has bad transportation. OKW is nice resort but has multiple bus stops and is spread out (plus no elevators which is bad both for strollers and handicap vehicles).

Finally over the next 20 years a majority of contract sold at BWV/BCV are going to only be used at those resorts which will slowly make it harder than it already is to get at 7 months. Meaning owning at RIV is a great way to get a nice resort close to Epcot/HS via the skyliner.

For me though RIV and BWV are the top resorts.
 



















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