We are having trouble which DVC to Buy

[H20DogsNDisney]

Our Two Choices are Bay Lake Towers Which I Just loves being that close to Magic Kingdom. The family likes that the Monorails are right their. Howevey we never stayed at the Contemporary, we did have a dinner their one night last week. We ate at Chef Mickey's, My sister and her fience ate at the Wave and just loved the dinner and the resort. We never though about staying thier until we took the DVC tour! We also liked the fact we could get a monorail to epcot as well.

The other choice is AKV my mother loved how you could be close to the animals and animal kingdom park. However the downside it was a longer drive I Guess she felt. But right now AKV is in the Lead.

We know BLT opens soon! But we would like to hear from owners of AKV and BLT! in What made them pick those! We are making a pros and cons list our selves.

Thanks in Advanced!

 

[CMOORE185]

My personal opinion would be BLT. I think it will hold its value longer than AKV, has lower dues and more years. AKV is much larger and IMO will be easier to book out at 7 months.

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

Our other choice was SSR but we felt it wasn't for us except for the tree houses!

 

[dizfan]

Each person is different, so definitely make your own decision based on your families preference.

As many will say, we recommend buy where you wouldn't mind staying. That way you can book it 11 months out. If you can't switch at 7 months, at least you'll be staying some place you don't mind staying.

We had been looking at DVC for 5-6 years. Here are some of the factors that we used to decide between BLT and AKV.

For us, BLT pros

• Walking distance to MK
• Monorail to the two parks we spend the most time at (MK and Epcot)
• Convenient access to lots of restaurants (parks, Contemporary, Polynesian, GF, WL)
• Ability to walk to MK and take a bus to any resort
• MK view
• Monorail is more convenient for handicapped and strollers
• Boat to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness
• Lower maintenance fees. Regardless of which resort we chose, we were buying 160 points.
• Convenient access to MNSSHP, F&W, and MVMCP which are the special events we tend to go to WDW for.
• Ability to see fireworks from some rooms (and the lounge on top)
• Three extra years on the contract

For us, AKV pros

• Animals
• Boma's
• Ability to meet CMs from Africa and learn about their country
• Firepit
• Storytelling
• It feels like two vacations in one (theme parks and Africa)
• Concierge level
• Zebra domes

We ended up going with BLT. For us, the location was the biggest deciding factor.

AKV has more rooms, so we think it will be easier for us to book AKV at 7 months than it would be for us to get BLT at 7 months.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[CMOORE185]

Our other choice was SSR but we felt it wasn't for us except for the tree houses!

If you seriously consider buying SSR consider resale over buying directly from DVC because it is over $30.00 cheaper per point than buying directly from DVC.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I'm another that feels it will be much more difficult to book BLT at 7 mos than AKV -- so if you plan to stay at BLT anytime soon, you'll really benefit from the 11 mo window (especially if you need to travel during popular times like holidays or summer vacation).

 

[5forDiz]

The following info written by DVC Mike on choosing Home Resort is excellent

and well worth reading .

Best wishes on your planning

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2152512

 

[Sandisw]

We just became members in Feb and we bought in to BLT. We have considered DVC for years but LOVED staying at the CR and being so close to MK, our favorite park so knew we would not like to be at the other DVC resorts.

And, when BLT was announced, we knew it was time! I do think that getting a room at BLT will be harder than AKV, if you are booking with 7 or less months. And, if you want the SV or MK view, owning there will be really important, IMO.

Good luck!!!

 

[Laurabearz]

I have to jump on the bandwagon as to which of those two resorts will be harder to book at the 7 month window and BLT wins hands down.

 

[stitchineeyore]

We never planned to do another add-on. Then BLT came along! We are going Sept. 1 for my birthday week, and I can't wait. These points will outlive us, but our kids can continue to enjoy them until they are in their seventies.

Buy where you want to stay most. I thought that BWV and VWL had it covered for me, but being in a monorail resort has me vacation planning in a whole new way. I got my first points as a birthday gift from my DH ten years ago. I have had more fun with them than any present I ever had. I bet you will too. Enjoy!

 

[gkrykewy]

I don't think you can go wrong either way -- both of these resorts are gems. We're going in August and staying at both AKV and BLT! Amazing, can't wait.

Personally we picked AKV for ownership because we just love Animal Kingom Lodge; it's really one of our favorite places in the world. It's a great place to be in its own right, whereas the contemporary is great just because of location/transportation. In other words, I could see myself visiting AKV for 4-5 nights, staying in a savanna view room, and never leaving the resort. At BLT, if you're not hitting the monorail and visiting MK frequently, there's really no reason to be there.

Owning at AKV (with the 11 month booking advantage) is critical to get the concierge rooms, which include food, drink, and turn-down service, as well as other amenities - this is unique among all the DVC resorts.

With the newest price incentives, I think AKV is extremely attractive - even if I weren't already in love with the place.

You should also take a look at SSR on the resale market. If you don't really care where you stay, you can save a boatload of cash by buying there (current going rate is like $65 per point).

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

I don't think you can go wrong either way -- both of these resorts are gems. We're going in August and staying at both AKV and BLT! Amazing, can't wait.

Personally we picked AKV for ownership because we just love Animal Kingom Lodge; it's really one of our favorite places in the world. It's a great place to be in its own right, whereas the contemporary is great just because of location/transportation. In other words, I could see myself visiting AKV for 4-5 nights, staying in a savanna view room, and never leaving the resort. At BLT, if you're not hitting the monorail and visiting MK frequently, there's really no reason to be there.

Owning at AKV (with the 11 month booking advantage) is critical to get the concierge rooms, which include food, drink, and turn-down service, as well as other amenities - this is unique among all the DVC resorts.

With the newest price incentives, I think AKV is extremely attractive - even if I weren't already in love with the place.

You should also take a look at SSR on the resale market. If you don't really care where you stay, you can save a boatload of cash by buying there (current going rate is like $65 per point).

We never planned to do another add-on. Then BLT came along! We are going Sept. 1 for my birthday week, and I can't wait. These points will outlive us, but our kids can continue to enjoy them until they are in their seventies.

Buy where you want to stay most. I thought that BWV and VWL had it covered for me, but being in a monorail resort has me vacation planning in a whole new way. I got my first points as a birthday gift from my DH ten years ago. I have had more fun with them than any present I ever had. I bet you will too. Enjoy!

I have to jump on the bandwagon as to which of those two resorts will be harder to book at the 7 month window and BLT wins hands down.

We just became members in Feb and we bought in to BLT. We have considered DVC for years but LOVED staying at the CR and being so close to MK, our favorite park so knew we would not like to be at the other DVC resorts.

And, when BLT was announced, we knew it was time! I do think that getting a room at BLT will be harder than AKV, if you are booking with 7 or less months. And, if you want the SV or MK view, owning there will be really important, IMO.

Good luck!!!

The following info written by DVC Mike on choosing Home Resort is excellent

and well worth reading .

Best wishes on your planning

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2152512

I'm another that feels it will be much more difficult to book BLT at 7 mos than AKV -- so if you plan to stay at BLT anytime soon, you'll really benefit from the 11 mo window (especially if you need to travel during popular times like holidays or summer vacation).

If you seriously consider buying SSR consider resale over buying directly from DVC because it is over $30.00 cheaper per point than buying directly from DVC.

Each person is different, so definitely make your own decision based on your families preference.

As many will say, we recommend buy where you wouldn't mind staying. That way you can book it 11 months out. If you can't switch at 7 months, at least you'll be staying some place you don't mind staying.

We had been looking at DVC for 5-6 years. Here are some of the factors that we used to decide between BLT and AKV.

For us, BLT pros

• Walking distance to MK
• Monorail to the two parks we spend the most time at (MK and Epcot)
• Convenient access to lots of restaurants (parks, Contemporary, Polynesian, GF, WL)
• Ability to walk to MK and take a bus to any resort
• MK view
• Monorail is more convenient for handicapped and strollers
• Boat to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness
• Lower maintenance fees. Regardless of which resort we chose, we were buying 160 points.
• Convenient access to MNSSHP, F&W, and MVMCP which are the special events we tend to go to WDW for.
• Ability to see fireworks from some rooms (and the lounge on top)
• Three extra years on the contract

For us, AKV pros

• Animals
• Boma's
• Ability to meet CMs from Africa and learn about their country
• Firepit
• Storytelling
• It feels like two vacations in one (theme parks and Africa)
• Concierge level
• Zebra domes

We ended up going with BLT. For us, the location was the biggest deciding factor.

AKV has more rooms, so we think it will be easier for us to book AKV at 7 months than it would be for us to get BLT at 7 months.

Good luck with your decision.

We want to thank you all for you help. We are still unsure but now we seem to lean to buy into BLT and stay AKV. Or Just do AKV. However, if we get more points then we are planning on buying then we will be able to do two Vacations. Then it maybe better to stick with BLT so we would be able to book at 11 months and then at 7 months. we would have hopefully to much trouble book at AKV. We will let everyone know soon!

 

[gkrykewy]

We want to thank you all for you help. We are still unsure but now we seem to lean to buy into BLT and stay AKV. Or Just do AKV. However, if we get more points then we are planning on buying then we will be able to do two Vacations. Then it maybe better to stick with BLT so we would be able to book at 11 months and then at 7 months. we would have hopefully to much trouble book at AKV. We will let everyone know soon!

You should not have a trouble booking a savanna view AKV room or a lake view BLT room at or near 7 months, pretty much ever. These are both rather numerous room types.

Re: room categories, if you'd commonly spring for an MK view room, buy at BLT. If you'd spring for an AKV concierge room, buy at AKV. These are points-comparable, and will often/always require the 11-month advantage (AKV concierge moreso).

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

You should not have a trouble booking a savanna view AKV room or a lake view BLT room at or near 7 months, pretty much ever. These are both rather numerous room types.

Re: room categories, if you'd commonly spring for an MK view room, buy at BLT. If you'd spring for an AKV concierge room, buy at AKV. These are points-comparable, and will often/always require the 11-month advantage (AKV concierge moreso).

thanks!

 

[Disney Spaz]

We had the same delima and ended up with 200 AKV and 160 at BLT. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Slakk]

Our Two Choices are Bay Lake Towers Which I Just loves being that close to Magic Kingdom. The family likes that the Monorails are right their. Howevey we never stayed at the Contemporary, we did have a dinner their one night last week. We ate at Chef Mickey's, My sister and her fience ate at the Wave and just loved the dinner and the resort. We never though about staying thier until we took the DVC tour! We also liked the fact we could get a monorail to epcot as well.

The other choice is AKV my mother loved how you could be close to the animals and animal kingdom park. However the downside it was a longer drive I Guess she felt. But right now AKV is in the Lead.

We know BLT opens soon! But we would like to hear from owners of AKV and BLT! in What made them pick those! We are making a pros and cons list our selves.

Thanks in Advanced!

I own at both so here is my opinion. If you want to stay MK View or Standard View when you stay at BLT then you may want to buy there. If you have to have Conceirge then you should buy AKV.

If neither of them matter then I would buy SSR - preferably resale. Both BLT and AKV should be easy to get into if you do not care about the premium areas (MK and Standard for BLT, Conceirge for AKV)

We sold our SSR because we had too many points when we bought AKV and I wish we had kept it - the costs are low and I don't think we will have issues getting the rooms we want at AKV.

 

[photobob]

One point to remember is that home resort only matters if you can plan 7-11 months ahead of time. The main advantage to buying a specific property is that you have that 4 month jump on non-owners. If however you aren't able to plan that fair in advance then the best deal would be your best deal.

*BTW great thread by DVCMike.

 

[dizfan]

DVC Mike posted a link to a video from the recent BLT preview.
DVC Mike's BLT preview post

 

[tinkerbell of winter]

I bought in at AKV and my daughter and I really enjoyed our stay there this past vacation. We were in Jambo house for five nights after staying 4 at SSR, and this was reserved prior to our add-on purchase. We also own at SSR as that was the only thing for sale when I initally bought into DVC. Now I have more points than I really need so I will be staying comfortably in 1 bedrooms from now on which will be nice, or I will be able to save up points and take many family members along which I did in 2006 and it was a blast.

 

[kaffinito]

I had trouble with that too. I couldn't make up my mind between AKV and BLT. I realized that I'm not interested in AKV Club Level, and that AKV would be easier for me to book - especially since I like pool view rooms, so I went with BLT.

Plus I like the looks of BLT's rooms, the access to the monorail, and the fact that I can walk to MK. The saying on here "buy where you want to stay" definitely applies. If you like one DVC resort over another than buy there. If it's not currently available through Disney, then you can buy resale. Some resorts are also easier to book at 7 months out. I booked VB for NYE and I know I can book OKW at 7 months out too, so you can factor ease of booking into your decision.

Good luck!