I finally join disboard after creepin for a while

[Tgladden86]

Hello dvc family,

How is everyone today? Hopefully it’s going well. I’m about to become an owner at AKL after my kids been telling me about how much it would be worth it since we been going every year for the last 4 years and will be going every year for a longggg time. Any pointers for a Rookie that really isn’t talk about??

 

[intamin]

Buying resale or direct? Either way, welcome home!

 

[Tgladden86]

I’m going to by resale at first.

 

[intamin]

I’m going to by resale at first.

Cool, biggest things for any DVC member

1. Don't buy DVC for last minute trips (within 5 months or less at least), book your rooms during the 11 month window and modify the room at 7 months to another resort if you wish
2. This is not an investment, it's an investment in your time with your family at Disney
3. This is AKL specific but don't buy there expecting to be able to book value studios regularly
4. Buy where you want to stay is the general rule; however, certain resorts are easier to book without home resort priority such as OKW, SSR, AKL others like BCV, BWV, VGC can be very difficult to book without owning there.
5. If you don't care about staying on property and in Disney deluxe resorts (I suspect this isn't the case since you've made it this far), then DVC isn't for you
6. Give yourself a small buffer to accommodate for changes in the point chart each year
7. Have fun and enjoy the membership!

 

[Sandisw]

Welcome!

 

[sndral]

Specific to AKV which is one of my home resorts, your deed will be for either Jambo or Kidani, but you can book both during home resort booking at 11 months.
The Jambo villas are all on the 5th floor (except the club villas which are on the 6th floor.) The standard/savanna view villas are on Kudu & Zebra trails & above the lobby. The value villas are on Ostrich & Giraffe trails & are slightly smaller than the regular villas. All Jambo 2 bedrooms are lock offs (a 1 br. & a studio w/ a connecting door - studios have 1 queen bed & a sleeper sofa.) Over half of the standard view Jambo villas actually have a ‘lesser’ savanna view.
Kidani is all DVC, thus the villas are on all floors. The Kidani villas are larger than the Jambo villas & the Kidani 1 bedrooms have 2 bathrooms, the 2 bedrooms have 3 bathrooms. At Kidani you can book either a lock off or a dedicated 2 bedroom villa - the dedicated 2 bedrooms have 2 queen beds in the 2nd bedroom, the lock offs have a queen bed + sofabed in the 2nd bedroom. IMO if you want a savanna view at Kidani it’s worth it to spend the points for it, w/ Jambo I’ll sometimes gamble & book standard hoping to get a glimpse of a savanna. If you’re ever lucky enough to book a 3 br., Kidani has two point saving standard view 3 br.s & they actually abut a very narrow portion of the small Pembe savanna.
AKV is due for a hard good refurbishment, it should happen in 2024, but may get pushed to 2025 - when that happens there may be less inventory to book as they take villas offline to redo them. I’m hoping that they replace the sofa beds in the living rooms & the studios w/ the more comfortable Murphy sofa beds but that they keep some version of a spa tub.
I hope you enjoy staying at AKV as much as I have.

 

[A Squared]

Hello, I'm new here too

 

[eticketplease]

First let me yell “Welcome Home!!”

I also was a long time lurker before joining.

This is a great community that you can learn a lot from. I still learn tips and tricks from others here on this site. I look forward to learning from you and your family experiences soon.

 

[eticketplease]

Hello, I'm new here too

Welcome

 

[sixstylez]

Welcome!

Lot's of great info posted. To add to the resort specific tips, Kidani is a VERY large building. Depending on your plans for the trip and whether you have a car, requesting a room near the lobby, or near the pool, or near the elevator can save you alot of steps at the end of a very long day.

Also, it's easy to get caught up in $/pt when you purchase DVC. Purchase price is important, however the dues over the span of the contract FAR outweigh the initial purchase, and AKL has one of the highest of all WDW properties. As a fellow AKL owner, TOTALLY worth it to have a savannah at your resort! But it is something worth noting.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Welcome Home!

 

[BaymaxForever]

I think something to also think about is when you like to travel and your use year so you will be best able to bank points if needed.

I am a newbie in this area, have my first contract in ROFR right now. So I don’t know a lot, but I have been reading everything in the DVC forum for a while to get a handle on things. There is a lot of great info here and people are always helping answer any questions you might have!

 

[intamin]

I think something to also think about is when you like to travel and your use year so you will be best able to bank points if needed.

I am a newbie in this area, have my first contract in ROFR right now. So I don’t know a lot, but I have been reading everything in the DVC forum for a while to get a handle on things. There is a lot of great info here and people are always helping answer any questions you might have!

General rule of thumb is if you travel at a certain time of the year consistently, you want your use year to be 1-2 months before that. If you go during all seasons then it doesn’t really matter

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Welcome home! AKV is a great resort! We have been members now for 8 years, and the only advice I have is to plan early. I am pretty much anti-timeshare, but we, like you, were coming every year, so it just made sense. We have not regretted it. In fact, we have added on points 2 times.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

I’m about to become an owner at AKL

Congrats and welcome home. This was our first home resort and still tops the list every year of must do split stays. We love it here and know you and your family will equally love it year in and year out. Just expect to spend more money on park tickets because once you no longer have those resort fees you find yourself going back farm more often then you once were going

 

[Disney Spaz]

Just wanted to say welcome home and you will get tons of great information here.

 

[Genie+]

Congrats!

One rookie thing we did was assume the higher point charts at monorail resorts were just an MK tax. The rooms are generally bigger and nicer and now I’m seeing all the ways they’re worth the splurge. All the resorts have their time and place depending on our trip’s goals. You could swing in on a low budget trip or save up points for your ultimate dream villa. Each resort has unique aspects. The variety keeps it exciting.

 

[Genie+]

Another rookie thing was (as previously mentioned) we thought it would cut down our yearly park budget.

I can say we are getting more for the money we spend - but we also are spending more as well. Add-on-itis is real too.

 

[stevelle]

Welcome! We bought AKL resale at the beginning of the year, then during our summer stay we ended up adding on at RIV. Took my husband for a tour thinking to add on a small amount of points to be able to book new resorts, and he said 'shouldn't we get 150 so we can be full members?'. I wasn't about to argue against the idea!

 

[crisi]

Welcome!

Lot's of great info posted. To add to the resort specific tips, Kidani is a VERY large building. Depending on your plans for the trip and whether you have a car, requesting a room near the lobby, or near the pool, or near the elevator can save you alot of steps at the end of a very long day.

Also, it's easy to get caught up in $/pt when you purchase DVC. Purchase price is important, however the dues over the span of the contract FAR outweigh the initial purchase, and AKL has one of the highest of all WDW properties. As a fellow AKL owner, TOTALLY worth it to have a savannah at your resort! But it is something worth noting.

Not to mention all the other costs - park tickets, dining, airfare if you use it. Disney is an expensive proposition with our without DVC, quibbling over a few dollars during purchasing is a drop in the bucket unless you really enjoy working for a deal or are buying under a buy/strip and rent/sell investment strategy.

If you bought points for a one bedroom or larger, there is laundry in the room, which is great when traveling with kids - we'd throw laundry in at the end of every day, move it to the dryer in the morning, and fold it and throw in another load in the evening. That kept us from hauling large suitcases through airports with young kids. There is also a kitchen, which we never thought we'd use, and then discovered that breakfast in the room speeds up our days and is way cheaper than everyone arriving at the park starving or trying to get breakfast at the resort when everyone else is as well. Groceries can be delivered to the resort (watch for overbuying). And having the kids sleep in another room kept my husband much happier (I call it the nookie tax).