Why is AKL less points to stay at?

[PrincessMom4]

We just became DVC members about a month ago. Our kids don't know that and we are surprising them with a stay at Animal Kingdom Kidani Villas. Any details you can give me.

 

[Swimmergirl]

We just bought BLT, and partly chose it over AKV because of the maintence costs. Yes, the points to stay at BLT are higher, but over the long haul you will make up for some of the diffence with lower yearly dues than the other resorts have. BLT is newer, has less landscaping, a smaller footprint, etc. As a result, the annual dues are smaller, making it actually more affordable than you might initially expect.

 

[gkrykewy]

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.

I disagree. We do not drive, and rely on DME and Disney Transportation for all of our trips.

For access to Magic Kingdom and the other monorail resorts, BLT's location can't be beat! However, for access to pretty much anything else, the location and transportation are fairly terrible. The buses to Hollywod Studios and Animal Kingdom are shared with the Poly and GF, and are **terrible**. how they can get away with such slow, crowded theme park buses for such expensive resorts is beyond me. Even the monorail to EPCOT is slower than a bus from AKL, in my experience, because of the transfer required at TTC.

The bus service to/from AKL is actually great, because all of the buses are dedicated to the resort and not shared with other resorts.

We just bought BLT, and partly chose it over AKV because of the maintence costs. Yes, the points to stay at BLT are higher, but over the long haul you will make up for some of the diffence with lower yearly dues than the other resorts have. BLT is newer, has less landscaping, a smaller footprint, etc. As a result, the annual dues are smaller, making it actually more affordable than you might initially expect.

This is a good point; although the reason for the lower dues has nothing to do with landscaping, etc.: it's because the per night point costs are higher. Dues paid per time stayed evens out. However, this does make BLT a comparative dues bargain if you use your BLT points at other resorts.

 

[adminjedi]

We just became DVC members about a month ago. Our kids don't know that and we are surprising them with a stay at Animal Kingdom Kidani Villas. Any details you can give me.

For your first trip, it is worth the points for a guaranteed SV! Our kids walked out onto the balcony and were mesmerized! I will never forget that memory making moment with our kids.

I give all of the kids a gift bag before we leave - Filled with treats for the plane ride, nods to Disney, t-shirts, travel games etc. Even though they are older, they love it and it gets us all excited for the trip!

 

[PrincessMom4]

This will hopefully be our annual Disney trip. Assuming everything goes well with hubby's work. We always have something for them.

 

[magicron]

We stayed at VWL for the first time last week; we stayed at WL before becoming DVC members.

Anyway, on the way out we stopped at Kidani to take a look. Very nice rooms, and the Savanah view is great. Kids want to stay there next time we go. BLT is our home, we may switch our Spring Break reservation to Kidani (pending 7 mos window availability). Pool was very nice, too.

Did not have a chance to look at Jambo. Wanted to see the pool there and restaurants.

I believe this is the first time we drove to every park, except MK, where we took the book from WL. After discovering how easy it is to drive to and from the parks, we'll probably do this again. I feel like we saved a lot of time, too. Beats waiting for buses when parks are closing, etc.

All that to say, that if we're going to drive to the parks anyway, then the long distance from AK to the parks doesn't seem like a big deal.

 

[drusba]

I believe this is the first time we drove to every park, except MK, where we took the book from WL. After discovering how easy it is to drive to and from the parks, we'll probably do this again. I feel like we saved a lot of time, too. Beats waiting for buses when parks are closing, etc.

True as to driving save for MK. There you park, take a tram, then take monorail or boat. Usually best to bus there from AKV or other non-MK area resorts. If you leave park at closing trip from park to car can take 45 minutes because of crowds. Even if you leave mid-day you can spend up to 30 minutes getting to car if you have to wait for boat or monorail.

 

[JBx3]

I disagree. We do not drive, and rely on DME and Disney Transportation for all of our trips.

For access to Magic Kingdom and the other monorail resorts, BLT's location can't be beat! However, for access to pretty much anything else, the location and transportation are fairly terrible. The buses to Hollywod Studios and Animal Kingdom are shared with the Poly and GF, and are **terrible**. how they can get away with such slow, crowded theme park buses for such expensive resorts is beyond me. Even the monorail to EPCOT is slower than a bus from AKL, in my experience, because of the transfer required at TTC.

The bus service to/from AKL is actually great, because all of the buses are dedicated to the resort and not shared with other resorts.

I sure agree with your assessment of another assessment in your post!



This is a good point; although the reason for the lower dues has nothing to do with landscaping, etc.: it's because the per night point costs are higher. Dues paid per time stayed evens out. However, this does make BLT a comparative dues bargain if you use your BLT points at other resorts.

And as history shows, when BLT sells out and DVC pulls partial MF's from there budget, MF's at BLT will follow suit like the other resorts and show increases. This will happen at AKL as well....

 

[ssawka]

For access to Magic Kingdom and the other monorail resorts, BLT's location can't be beat! However, for access to pretty much anything else, the location and transportation are fairly terrible. The buses to Hollywod Studios and Animal Kingdom are shared with the Poly and GF, and are **terrible**. how they can get away with such slow, crowded theme park buses for such expensive resorts is beyond me. Even the monorail to EPCOT is slower than a bus from AKL, in my experience, because of the transfer required at TTC

You may be right on the travel time to AK and HS, however for us these two parks are about half a day each, but to each their own. As for transportation to other resorts, don't forget that the MK bus station is a few minutes walk from BLT, enabling direct access to all resorts, not just the monorail resorts.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

There have also been many reports here on the DIS of the rooms at BLT having shoddy furnishings which are not holding up well already. This will likely lead to MF increases in the future as items will need to be replaced much sooner than probably initially planned. I would be upset if I were a new owner at BLT and ended up in a room with torn or stained couches and tables.

There have not been such reports about Kidani at this time. For whatever reason, their darker furnishings are tolerating wear better. As for buses, we never had a long ride from AKV to any of the parks. We chose AKV because 1) the savannah view greatly appealed to us; and 2) the variety of points per night options made it a great way to stretch our minimum 160 point purchase!

 

[gkrykewy]

And as history shows, when BLT sells out and DVC pulls partial MF's from there budget, MF's at BLT will follow suit like the other resorts and show increases. This will happen at AKL as well....

Most of the resorts' rate of increase is fairly consistent over time; I'd be more concerned about the BLT wear/tear issue noted in the post above mine. I actually made a graph of MF over time that I update every year:

 

[magicron]

Thanks for the comments on transportation to/from AKV. We're very used to using the buses. BLT spoiled us with easy acces to MK. And VWL boat ride to MK is fairly easy. We've used buses for everything else. I had the same concern about time to take car from AKV to TTC, then TTC to MK, etc. Probably just as well to take a bus.

Nice graph of historical MFs. Looks like something I'd do; I would also think to graph changes in points requirements over time, too.

 

[chalee94]

Nice graph of historical MFs. Looks like something I'd do; I would also think to graph changes in points requirements over time, too.

easy. flat as a board.

the point chart for each resort (as a whole - all the villas) for the whole year cannot change.

if you show me an increase, i can show you a corresponding decrease. sunday to thursday stays have gone up a little over the last few years, but fri-saturday stays have declined...and so on...

if you are committed to a certain set of dates or type of room, anything can happen. but to increase the point cost of your stay, DVC would have to make something else cheaper.

 

[Jitzy]

We just returned from a stay at Kidani on Friday. My mom and I each have a contract there, my sister has a contract at BLT. There was many a discussion about location and travel time. My sister pointed out that she loved being on the monorail and she could walk to BLT if she were at MK. I pointed out that the bus rides to MK and EPCOT and DHS were fairly easy rides that didn't have a lot of those annoying stoplights Disney seems to throw up every 100 feet.

We keep the resort map in our cars here at home because on the back of them are the transportation maps for all of Disney World. I like to think that MK is the park that is out of the way, not AK!!!

 

[rentayenta]

AKV is a bargain if you want a Value or Standard view. I will warn you though, once you stay Sav. view, it will be very hard to go back to a Value view.

 

[gkrykewy]

AKV is a bargain if you want a Value or Standard view. I will warn you though, once you stay Sav. view, it will be very hard to go back to a Value view.

Ah, but that's the beauty of the value room: the good chance that your view will be savanna, and at significant point savings!

I personally would never book a standard view room at AKV. Value, savanna, or concierge only.

 

[tjkraz]

There have also been many reports here on the DIS of the rooms at BLT having shoddy furnishings which are not holding up well already. This will likely lead to MF increases in the future as items will need to be replaced much sooner than probably initially planned. I would be upset if I were a new owner at BLT and ended up in a room with torn or stained couches and tables.

While this may be an issue, I suspect the financial impact on members is more than a bit overblown.

A single two bedroom Lake View villa at BLT represents about 37,000 points. Even if DVC had to throw in the towel and spend $10,000 for a new dining room table, new end tables, new nightstands and furniture re-upholstery, the impact on owners would be about $.27 per point.

The funds would come from the capital reserves and could actually be spread over several years. In all likelihood members may see added charges of about $.05 (that's a nickel) per point for 5-6 years to fund an unexpected five-figure refurbishment. And it would be a limited-time charge which is removed when reserves are replenished.

Of course, that's assuming fixture replacement isn't be covered by any product guarantees obtained when the items were originally purchased. It's entirely possible that manufacturers will be on the hook for replacements if certain items are proving to not be as wear-resistant as advertised.

 

[rentayenta]

Ah, but that's the beauty of the value room: the good chance that your view will be savanna, and at significant point savings!

I personally would never book a standard view room at AKV. Value, savanna, or concierge only.

That happened to us! We booked a 2 bedroom Value and ended up with an amazing SV in Jambo. How did that happen? Are most Value villas really SV view villas?

 

[gkrykewy]

That happened to us! We booked a 2 bedroom Value and ended up with an amazing SV in Jambo. How did that happen? Are most Value villas really SV view villas?

Most value villas are either savanna view or pool view (with distant savanna). There are only 2 studios (out of 18) that have a parking lot view. Value rooms are the green ones in this image:

And this is a breakdown of the specific units available in those areas:

 

[dizfan]

I think that it also depends on what season you are looking at traveling. We have to travel in Magic season and when you compare a weeks stay in savannah view rooms to those at BLT, you can stay at BLT for simliar point costs.

SV 1 bedrooms at BLT in 2011 will be 268 with a savannah view at AKV being 272. For the 2 bedrooms, SV is 352 at BLT but savannah view at AKV would be 372.

Of course, since AKV has cheaper options (value and standard view) it is definitely a place that someone can stay for less and that is one of the benefits for those would enjoy staying there.

Owning at BLT to take advantage of getting those SV rooms can certainly allow one to stay there for the same as AKV. I think it is important when looking at the points charts to compare to what you would use. For us, if we were to ever stay at AKV, it would only be in savannah view rooms so the fact that the other rooms are less would not really come in to play. We did this for all the resorts that we would most likely choose--BWV, BCV, and VWL. In all cases, BLT comes out very comparable.

Very good post.

For a future family trip, I was surprised to find BLT SV compared very well with BWV (non-SV), BCV, and WLV.