Thinking about more points!

[Chili327]

CC has inferior insulation IMO

Hmm, that’s disappointing to hear. We haven’t stayed there yet, but hoping it’s not too bad.

 

[Girlstar30]

Resale BLT sounds good for you. Low upfront buy in cost and low dues, you like it, its convenient to the parks, really nice one and two bedrooms with extra bathroom, you like the pool, it seems like it checks all the boxes.

 

[Chili327]

Resale BLT sounds good for you. Low upfront buy in cost and low dues, you like it, its convenient to the parks, really nice one and two bedrooms with extra bathroom, you like the pool, it seems like it checks all the boxes.

Do you know if it has 2 bathrooms for the 1bdrm? Or is the “extra” only in the 2bdrm?

 

[eticketplease]

Do you know if it has 2 bathrooms for the 1bdrm? Or is the “extra” only in the 2bdrm?

Yes BLT and AKL-K have an extra REAL bathroom in the 1 and 2 bedrooms.

VGC along with PVB-T & VDH do as well.

AUL adds a half bath if you have a dedicated 2 bedroom.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Right now, we are owners at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We love it! But we don’t have many points and are thinking of getting some more. We bought this so long ago and have never had a guide or talked to anybody about options.
I would love some thoughts and advice because I’m sure I’m not thinking things through as well as more experienced people

We love split stays, often staying at BC, AK, or BLT for a part of our trips. We have also stayed at the Floridian, in BPK but have not used a pool there. We looked at the main pool and it looked pretty small and crowded when we were there, but we love the location and dining options.

We typically spend a lot of time at the resort and pool, and a good pool slide would be a bonus ( WL was disappointing). And we want a resort that has a big lobby/indoor dining/spaces - GF and BLT are fine because options are close, not interested in staying at SS or OKW too huge and we don’t rent a car.

We aren’t sure if we should just get the cheapest points anywhere, I really don’t want a huge annual due bill, so this seems possibly like a good idea now because we typically don’t travel during the holidays or very busy times.

So, where we would like to stay:
Animal kingdom Lodge
Grand Floridian
Beach club
Bay Lake

Not interested in staying at:
Old Key West
Saratoga Springs
Riviera
Boardwalk ( nothing indoors)
Copper Creek or Boulder Ridge ( pool)
Probably not Polynesian as it always seems so crowded to us

Any advice would be much appreciated! And how do I find a good guide?
Thank you!

I’m going to go crazy and say BCV.

1) Great pool
2) Fantastic point chart -> Less points -> Less dues
3) Location, location, location

Con (maybe?): Expires in Jan 2042

Secondary would be VGF.
1) Great location
2) Low dues
3) Excellent dining options
Con: High Point chart

 

[Elephantay]

I will assume you are talking about resale with the preferred list. We have 3 Homes (AK, BL, BC) which gives a nice choice at the 11 month window, although that is not why we acquired them. SSR on the non-preferred list made me smile because we felt like that for many years. Now that we less park orientated we enjoy SSR. Our youngest loved SSR for college Spring break vacations, as she's not a park person but loves the different themed lounges like Edison and Raglan Road. IMO, I think BLT is the best value for resale purchase and would give another Home choice. BC seems expensive even for resale. We like GF but feel it's very spread out. CC has inferior insulation IMO. Waiting for Lakeside means buying direct again - and waiting.

Thanks for sharing this. We liked one stay at SSR, we were near the main pool and the resort was beautiful. Another time though it was a nightmare to try to walk to our room ( we were told it would be over an hour wait for a ride to it so said how bad can it be and it was bad!) and another pool, no sidewalks and lots of cars.
We also didn’t love the night we were at the pool and a bunch of wasted guys walked over from DS and jumped in the pool with all of their clothes on!

 

[Elephantay]

Resale BLT sounds good for you. Low upfront buy in cost and low dues, you like it, its convenient to the parks, really nice one and two bedrooms with extra bathroom, you like the pool, it seems like it checks all the boxes.

It’s at the top of the list I think!

 

[Elephantay]

I’m going to go crazy and say BCV.

1) Great pool
2) Fantastic point chart -> Less points -> Less dues
3) Location, location, location

Con (maybe?): Expires in Jan 2042

Secondary would be VGF.
1) Great location
2) Low dues
3) Excellent dining options
Con: High Point chart

I would love points at BC too! We enjoy quick service at the resorts/ pool and this leaves a little to be desired. Maybe I have just missed it, but if you get quick service are the only seats outside in the walkway towards the villas? Maybe a few in a hallway or something? Or is there a bigger place?

We absolutely loved our room BPK, but we were there in cold weather and never used the pools. The main pool looked pretty small and even in the cold there were only a few seats available so I am guessing it fills up and gets crowded?

A couple of drawbacks here were the laundry at BPK only had one working and would only have two anyway, so there was a huge back up and lots of competition to do laundry there.

Is the bigger DVC building that is further away the same? We did not explore past the pool area, but that would be a bit of a walk to get to the main building for any food. Unless there is something in the villa?

 

[CarolynFH]

Do you know if it has 2 bathrooms for the 1bdrm? Or is the “extra” only in the 2bdrm?

BLT and Kidani have 2 full baths in 1BR and 3 full baths in 2BR.

 

[Cfabar1]

I would love points at BC too! We enjoy quick service at the resorts/ pool and this leaves a little to be desired. Maybe I have just missed it, but if you get quick service are the only seats outside in the walkway towards the villas? Maybe a few in a hallway or something? Or is there a bigger place?

They seem to not mind if people at in the little lounge next to the restaurant formerly known as Ariels. It is now a vacant space. The lounge has a name, I forget the name of it...

We absolutely loved our room BPK, but we were there in cold weather and never used the pools. The main pool looked pretty small and even in the cold there were only a few seats available so I am guessing it fills up and gets crowded?

The pools at GF are way too small.... And that one is zero entry so you lose half the space to walking in, and another is eaten up halfway by a water slide only exacerbates the problem... The Splash pad area, on the other hand, is fantastic...

A couple of drawbacks here were the laundry at BPK only had one working and would only have two anyway, so there was a huge back up and lots of competition to do laundry there.

Is the bigger DVC building that is further away the same? We did not explore past the pool area, but that would be a bit of a walk to get to the main building for any food. Unless there is something in the villa?

No food options in the VGF main building... That isn't a huge deal for us as we typically stop at Gasparillas after returning from the park or on our way to MK using the walkway... But we love GF because of how open and walkable it is... That's a major plus compared to BLT, and even Polynesian in our view...

 

[Girlstar30]

Do you know if it has 2 bathrooms for the 1bdrm? Or is the “extra” only in the 2bdrm?

Yes it does for the one bedroom

 

[eticketplease]

Maybe I have just missed it, but if you get quick service are the only seats outside in the walkway towards the villas? Maybe a few in a hallway or something? Or is there a bigger place?

I might be thinking the same as @Cfabar1 but there is a little room next to the covered walkway that has some comfortable seating. You can also bring it into the villa building and eat in the drawing room.

 

[bakerworld]

Hmm, that’s disappointing to hear. We haven’t stayed there yet, but hoping it’s not too bad.

I did enjoy the location of our CC villa within the resort and the DVC pool. We did manage to stay a post cruise night in the cabin and that was a stellar experience.

 

[Chili327]

Yes BLT and AKL-K have an extra REAL bathroom in the 1 and 2 bedrooms.

VGC along with PVB-T & VDH do as well.

AUL adds a half bath if you have a dedicated 2 bedroom.

BLT and Kidani have 2 full baths in 1BR and 3 full baths in 2BR.

Excellent news!!
1BR’s are going to work out great at 2 of my home resorts, now I just need to get some Aulani points.

I’m going to go crazy and say BCV.

1) Great pool
2) Fantastic point chart -> Less points -> Less dues
3) Location, location, location

Con (maybe?): Expires in Jan 2042

Secondary would be VGF.
1) Great location
2) Low dues
3) Excellent dining options
Con: High Point chart

Curious about your Pros and Cons for BLT?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Excellent news!!
1BR’s are going to work out great at 2 of my home resorts, now I just need to get some Aulani points.



Curious about your Pros and Cons for BLT?

BLT:
1) Lowish upfront ppp
2) Lowish dues
3) Nice new refurb (home run, IMO)
4) Great for Magic Kingdom
5) Layout of villas (extra bathroom)
6) Reasonable point chart
7) Electric Water Parade (I love this darn thing, although it works for almost all MK resorts)

Cons:
1) Boring, absolutely no “feels” on property
2) Sad pool
3) You have to go over to the Contemporary for EVERYTHING
4) The main Contemporary area is just a sad place, IMO.


For us, our unquestioned favorite part of WDW is WS in EPCOT. And if we are split staying near MK, I’d rather be at Poly or GF.

 

[VGCgroupie]

BLT:
1) Lowish upfront ppp
2) Lowish dues
3) Nice new refurb (home run, IMO)
4) Great for Magic Kingdom
5) Layout of villas (extra bathroom)
6) Reasonable point chart
7) Electric Water Parade (I love this darn thing, although it works for almost all MK resorts)

Cons:
1) Boring, absolutely no “feels” on property
2) Sad pool
3) You have to go over to the Contemporary for EVERYTHING
4) The main Contemporary area is just a sad place, IMO.


For us, our unquestioned favorite part of WDW is WS in EPCOT. And if we are split staying near MK, I’d rather be at Poly or GF.

This is exactly how we feel about BLT. For me I need the feels. So while I will stay at BLT it’s not something I would own.

 

[AstroBlasters]

This is exactly how we feel about BLT. For me I need the feels. So while I will stay at BLT it’s not something I would own.

The OP knows the system and has stayed on property at all of these resorts.

Perhaps buying BLT to use as Sleep Around Plus points is the best way for them to go…. especially if they are more price sensitive.

Of course, we are BW people… and are quite happy having groceries delivered or using all of EPCOT as our quick service.