Why is AKL less points to stay at?

[supersuperwendy]

We did a split stay at BLT and Kidani in May. I fell in love with BLT, but DH did not. He preferred Kidani so much more. For our 2011 use year we are planning 3 trips, each at Jambo in a value 2 bedroom. We just can't pass up the great deal on points there! I think I will like staying at Jambo as compared to Kidani. Jambo feels a little more "grand" to me!

 

[rentayenta]

I think the AKV are the best point deal in town especially because so many of the Value villas end up having SV!

 

[lisaviolet]

I will use points for an extra day if my flight leaves after 6pm

OMG. Liferbabe - I LOVE YOU and I love this!

I was this close to doing that on my next vacation. Even after two DVCers said, "WTH?" I ended up doing an earlier flight.

 

[spiceycat]

first since most of the units are savannh view - it is not less points - it is around the same.

the savannah view charges the same amount of points as BWV preferred, BCV, VWL, BLT standard

standard and value are less.

standard because of the views - pool (at Jambo house), and parking lot, garden or pool at Kidani

values because they are smaller. enough smaller that it is noticeable.

BLT is the only place where the studios are alot smaller and you get to pay for it. really think wth BLT - DVC is definitely saying go for 1-bedroom. just because the 1-bedroom are so much bigger. they could have used a little of the 1-bedroom for the studio. they did not. that to me says alot.

sorry will still stay in studios.

now enough with BLT.

when AKL was just a hotel it was never completely filled. One reason that Disney did away with DV and make it SSR. AKL is still one of the last to get enough regular guest there.

since dvcers can take the time to enjoy the resort that most WDW guests can not. AKV works. AKV is a visit by itself. You can have a wonderfully time and never the leave the resort.

now if you are trying to encourage your guest to go to the WDW theme parks - then AKV is not a success. because it doesn't. the bus ride to MK is long. that say the bus ride to Epcot or Studios is not much longer than the other DVC resorts - except of course BWV and BCV - which can walk over.

now love AKV - but won't buy there. despite loving the place and the animals.

the maintence costs will always be high. Animals are not cheap to kept or replace. the resort itself is big. so getting there even last minute is not a big problem. the MK and Epcot are my 2 favorite parks - AKV is just to far from them.

all these reasons to me are the real reason that standard and value are cheaper.

but kept in mind that 80% of the resort is savannah view - so it only appears to be less points.

at Kadani the CM's told me that most of the maintence areas are in the standard area. so although it looks like it is half of that resort - it is only 20%.

 

[dburg30]

Location, Location, Location!

If you drive to WDW or rent a car then AKL is a bargain, however if you fly, take DME, and use Disney's transportation on site, then AKL becomes less of a bargain when you have to waste time on the buses for everywhere you go. For example, if you go to the MK one day, you just cannot beat a 10 minute walk back to your room for lunch or a nap.

While I get the MK is just a walk away, after that I just dont get why people think it's such a great location. How can you tell me looking at this map that AKL is in the middle of nowhere? I would have to say it's closer to AKL, EPCOT, and DHS then the MK is.... You will be the last dropped off for DME and almost for sure the first picked up, but those are pretty minor IMO. I thought that SSR was in the middle of nowhere and was horrible for getting anywhere except for DTD... I hope to never stay in that area again if I can help it..

 

[gkrykewy]

While I get the MK is just a walk away, after that I just dont get why people think it's such a great location. How can you tell me looking at this map that AKL is in the middle of nowhere? I would have to say it's closer to AKL, EPCOT, and DHS then the MK is.... You will be the last dropped off for DME and almost for sure the first picked up, but those are pretty minor IMO. I thought that SSR was in the middle of nowhere and was horrible for getting anywhere except for DTD... I hope to never stay in that area again if I can help it..

Hear hear! The thing to remember is that for some people, MK is the center of the universe. We've never had a problem with AKL's location, especially with the dedicated bus service.

 

[spiceycat]

for some DVC members riding the monrail to Epcot is a much better option than a bus or even driving their own cars.

since you can ride the monrail to Epcot you also get access thru the boat at IG to studios.

AKV/L is beautifully but even the transportation to AK was pretty sad.got there at 8:10 to get the EMH bus to AK - well guess what it did not show up until 8:55....

now most people did not seem to see this as a problem - because AKL/V is so beautifully.

carry a stop watch - it also had problems getting back for studos.

until the bus transportation is improved - then AKL/V is not going to have fass transportation to the parks.

of course if that is what I was after - would stay at Pop - it had the best transportation of any of the WDW resorts.

 

[gkrykewy]

since you can ride the monrail to Epcot you also get access thru the boat at IG to studios.

Are you serious? Monorail to TTC, then monorail to EPCOT, then walking through EPCOT, then boat to HS via all those resorts.... That's gotta be a 2-3 hour trip. That boat ride is a disaster. You could get from epcot to HS faster on foot than via those boats, even if you're elderly. Or dead.

We've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus to anywhere from AKL, over the course of 5 or 6 trips. Maybe you just had bad luck.

 

[spiceycat]

We've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus to anywhere from AKL, over the course of 5 or 6 trips. Maybe you just had bad luck.

well I would agree except these were 3 trips. now the bus to the MK have never had a problem with - but gettng to AK from AKL/V seems to be a problem no matter when I go.

like to do EMH - and AKL/V has a problem with it on my trips.

now love the place but the transportation is pretty bad based on my trips.

put on the stop watch when I arrived at the stop. try to always do this so can judge accurately.

now would only go from Epcot to Studio - when Studios had EMH night hours.
and only after had enjoyed Epcot or as much as could enjoy it before illiuinations

 

[KiminChicago]

We've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus to anywhere from AKL, over the course of 5 or 6 trips. Maybe you just had bad luck.

That was our experience last October too. My DSis and her family were staying with us and they were amazed at how efficient the transportation was. One afternoon we were leaving the Magic Kingdom and she stopped to pick up something from one of the shops as we were leaving. As soon as we walked up to the bus shelters, an Animal Kingdom Lodge bus pulled up. DSis looked at me and asked "how does this keep happening to us?" I laughed and asked her why she hadn't noticed me calling for the bus. For a while I think she actually believed that I had some special phone number to call and request a bus.....

 

[gkrykewy]

but gettng to AK from AKL/V seems to be a problem no matter when I go.

But that's the one that's unequivocally never a problem. It's literally a 5 minute loop. Certainly there could be delays for wheelchair loading, etc, but even that would not explain what you're reporting.

We always do EMH as well; it's always been entirely fine

 

[tjkraz]

But that's the one that's unequivocally never a problem. It's literally a 5 minute loop.

Disney buses don't run on loops, though. When a bus arrives at a theme park, the driver receives dispatch instructions telling him where to go next. A bus that goes from AKV to DAK could next be sent to take guests from Pop Century to Epcot.

Disney's goal these days is to provide service about every 20 minutes. Anything substantially better than that is really just the luck of the draw.

We stayed at Kidani last fall and I didn't think the service was noticeably better or worse than any other resort. We had times when we certainly waited 15-20 minutes for a bus to arrive. Returning to the resort from the MK we once waited around 30 minutes--that was around 12-1pm.

 

[ssawka]

While I get the MK is just a walk away, after that I just dont get why people think it's such a great location. How can you tell me looking at this map that AKL is in the middle of nowhere? I would have to say it's closer to AKL, EPCOT, and DHS then the MK is.... You will be the last dropped off for DME and almost for sure the first picked up, but those are pretty minor IMO. I thought that SSR was in the middle of nowhere and was horrible for getting anywhere except for DTD... I hope to never stay in that area again if I can help it..

You maybe correct about the trip to HS & AK, but for everything else BLT is awesome. Especially for ADRs at other resorts. When you consider the MK bus depot is a few minutes walk, you have direct access to all resorts that are not on the Monorail, plus all of them that are. Also, I try to avoid the buses as much as possible and BLT allows me to take the monorail to Epcot.

 

[gkrykewy]

Disney buses don't run on loops, though. When a bus arrives at a theme park, the driver receives dispatch instructions telling him where to go next. A bus that goes from AKV to DAK could next be sent to take guests from Pop Century to Epcot.

Disney's goal these days is to provide service about every 20 minutes. Anything substantially better than that is really just the luck of the draw.

We stayed at Kidani last fall and I didn't think the service was noticeably better or worse than any other resort. We had times when we certainly waited 15-20 minutes for a bus to arrive. Returning to the resort from the MK we once waited around 30 minutes--that was around 12-1pm.

I stand corrected! However, my impression from recent visits is that the AKL / DAK bus commonly runs on a continuous loop, since it typically drops us off at the park in the AKL bus bay, where guests are there waiting to return to the resort. My guess is that this is a default operating pattern for most times of day, unless the bus is otherwise instructed.

IMO, AKL bus service is noticeably better than other resorts that have shared bus service; perhaps not in terms of frequency, but certainly in terms of travel time. Direct service makes a big difference.

 

[rstackjd]

AKV is our home resort and we wanted that. We love it (especially Jambo) more than any other property. We spoiled ourselves with Concierge and will probably do that every few years just for a treat.

Not sure if it's been said, but remember that the dues at AKV are, if not the highest, among the highest, becasue "we" contriobute to the cost of the care and feeding of the animals.

7 days and we're HOME! Can't wait!

 

[gkrykewy]

Not sure if it's been said, but remember that the dues at AKV are, if not the highest, among the highest, becasue "we" contriobute to the cost of the care and feeding of the animals.

Middle of the pack overall:

Have a great trip!

 

[rstackjd]

Middle of the pack overall:

Have a great trip!

I stand corrected! Interesting - thanks!

 

[spiceycat]

IMO, AKL bus service is noticeably better than other resorts that have shared bus service; perhaps not in terms of frequency, but certainly in terms of travel time. Direct service makes a big difference.

ssr, okw also have direct service - but multiply stops. time wise have not used by stop watch - so can't say for certain. but it feels about the same. Since Kidani is the first stop then it goes to Jambo house - these are not close together.

Pop is the only place with faster transportation to all the WDW theme parks & DD.

on the other side - SSR due to its location also have easy access to all the resort parks. It is a short walk to DD. that say SSR is spread out and the walk from some of these can be long. BLT is one building.

 

[spiceycat]

Middle of the pack overall:

Have a great trip!

well at one time OKW was the least maintence fees - this went on for years until SSR came along. never understood half the cost for OKW - once SSR went online.

then realized it was the older CM who were being retired and the new ones could not do the same thing. So before when OKW only needed 2 gardeners then suddenly they needed 12 to do the same thing.....

also don't like the shared management between OKW and SSR - this was one reason sold OKW. In a fight OKW will loss (my opinion)

the chances of AKV will be the more expensive of the DVC at WDW are there. It is further away so transportation costs will be more. It has more rooms than everything except SSR and OKW. It is spread out like BWV - so even HK costs will be more. It takes longer to walk long halls - than short ones. or separate building when you can ride a cart between building. althpugh Kidani is build much better than BWV - it has lots of maintence type closets - so the HK should be able to access their supplies w/o going back. DVC does learn.

animals are expensive to keep up. and the costs must be transfer to the members.

you can't count VB and HH - those are offsite and not part of WDW.