The DVC board official Animal Kingdom Villas discussion thread

[dianeschlicht]

LOL, this is like the 7th or 8th thread now, but I'll dance again!

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

Has anyone else seen this news yet? Found this on allears.net.

Disney Vacation Club to expand to Animal Kingdom Lodge

The Disney Vacation Club announced on October 11, 2006 that the Animal Kingdom Lodge would be the home of the next DVC resort at Walt Disney World. Rumors have been circulating for some time that the Contemporary was next on the list, but in recent weeks the focus had shifted to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The first phase will be the opening of 134 remodeled existing rooms at the resort in late 2007. The next phase will be the opening of a new building containing 324 villas.

 

[harra]

(2) I doubt that they will convert the entire fifth floor of AKL to DVC. It seems more sensible that they would convert the rooms on the left side (next to the new construction), perhaps on two floors. If I am right then it is almost certain there will still be concierge at AKL -- I think that will be true in any case.

I agree with Erik. I pulled out my map of the AKL from when we stayed in September and started counting rooms. I wasn't even halfway through the rooms on the 5th floor before I counted more than the 134 rooms that was in the press release that were going to be converted.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Another one of these threads to dance on!

 

[pilferk]

I agree with Erik. I pulled out my map of the AKL from when we stayed in September and started counting rooms. I wasn't even halfway through the rooms on the 5th floor before I counted more than the 134 rooms that was in the press release that were going to be converted.

It does sorta depend on what those 134 rooms are. I'm going to assume (for no other reason that it makes the math relatively convenient) 40% 1BR and 60% Studio (with the option to have a 1BR + Studio as a 2 BR, maybe). The 1 BR would take 2 room "bays". I'm thinking (and this is just a wild guesstimate) that it'll be something like 188 total rooms they'll be taking over (80 as studios, 108 for 1 BR's...since you need 2 rooms to get one). Still not too bad, probably.

 

[Stitch 03]

I expect (hope) that sales will have to start pretty quickly. If the first phase is slated to open in late 2007, lets say November, then the eleven month booking window will be this December.

It will be kind of hard to book a room if you cannot buy points.

 

[dsneygirl]

DH and I know we will need to add on at some point (to stay in 1 bedrooms) and I was speculating if a lot of resales would come on the market as people buy at VAKL.

Disney still has ROFR but at least there may be more choice...Thoughts?

 

[dairyou]

Just read it on the community board. They found out through the Orlando Sentinel. Bummer we just added on 100 points 3 months ago. Oh well

Deb

 

[Sammie]

Absolutely not, I am glad other are excited but I will not be adding on and probably will not stay there to try it out. The AKL just offers no appeal to my family.

I will be interested in the discussions on the size of this resort. Since SSR has taken a severe beating from many for being too large, it will be interesting to see what affect the size of this resort has on bookings.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have been busy today dancing on all these VAKL threads so....

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

I was just reading all the reports about the new DVC AKL and thought New Restaurant that would be nice. But it would be great to have a new Dinner Show with an African Theme, I know it would be wonderful.

 

[Boston5602]

LOL, this is like the 7th or 8th thread now, but I'll dance again!

I love watching Diane doing all her dances

 

[3DisneyKids]

Thanks, our awesome Mods, for streamlining this discussion for us!

I agree that (1) the point values will not be out of line when compared to BCV, BWV-PV, VWL. Yes, AKV will have those wonderful Savannah views...but the BW views and fireworks views, etc. are alos stunning and in demand. I don't think they can say that one is "better" than the other by too much of a degree; (2) AKL seems to always have promos to attract guests...more than other deluxes, it seems. Many people book standard view at AKL knowing that they will get automatically upgraded to Savannah view because the resort will not be full.

Of course, time will tell..

As for sales dates...one of the articles I read here on the DIS said sales will begin in Spring, 2007.

Again with my mantra...time will tell...

 

[Mickeydad]

This news is just incredible!

So many people have questioned why we purchased DVC , saying won't it get boring going to the same place every year?!?!?!

Well, Disney continues to make my investment decision grow in value, and makes answering all the "neighsayers" so much easier .

I don't know about all of you, but we really didn't buy into DVC only because of the parks. Don't get me wrong, we do LOVE the parks, but I want a vacation that is fun for my family, relaxing, with great accomodations, good food, and HOT weather. DVC give us all of this AND MORE !

This is great news for all of us DVCers!

Mickeydad

 

[LisaS]

...(3) I don't think they could get away with any dramatic changes in price per point or in point charts. Two reasons. this will be a fairly large DVC resort and they will have trouble with sales if they scare away too many potential buyers. Also AKL has had trouble filling its rooms, so no matter how desirable it may be to some of us, it can't be considered a prime location like BWV, BCV, or a potential CRV.

I agree. The hotel rates for AKL are less than the other deluxes because of AKL's location and the slightly smaller rooms. And from a DVC perspective, the DVC resorts furthest from the parks require the fewest points per night (except for BWV standard view). So I think they have to be careful about the price/point for AKV and the points/night as well.

I definitely want to add on there but if the price/pt is too high I just won't be able to justify doing so. And if the point charts are out of line with the other DVC resorts, I won't be staying there as often as I would like.

 

[KyleRayner]

This is so exciting!!

I agree with a previous poster that I would definitey want to stay at AKV, but only once in a while to change things up a bit.

But its definitely too far away from my favorite parks for it be my home resort.

 

[spiceycat]

I will be interested in the discussions on the size of this resort. Since SSR has taken a severe beating from many for being too large, it will be interesting to see what affect the size of this resort has on bookings.

SSR was the new kid on the block - so expect the same people to take shots at AKLV. they always pick on the new thing.

SSR is a wonderful resort. I prefer OKW - but hey everybody has different taste.

 

[zulaya]

I am echoing diane's dance...



I am very excited about this announcement. But I also would love details like...
Price per point?
what else is being added?
Are there really going to be GVs there?

I'm down this year in December...I hope that model room is up and running at SSR. That might be my first stop after check-in.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We will stay at AKLV, but don't plan to buy. It is the usual draw - to buy where you will want to be the most, and we are an Epcot family. So BCV & BWV work for us.

People who are fans of VWL, BCV, & BWV should be rejoicing this too. With all the enthusiasm here, it makes sense that more people will be trying to get the new VAKL, freeing up the Epcot resorts more at the 7 month window for people who don't own there or who make late plans.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Oh, decisions, decisions...

As much as we love AKL, we had agreed that we would add-on at CRV if it became available. Of course, now we're going "but we love AKL!"

I'm very interested to see all the info. on this. I do like that it will be a nice-sized resort, so if we decide not to add-on, we can still have the hope of staying there from time to time.

This is so exciting!!!