Purchase Animal Kingdom?

We own at AKV and Love it. We've also stayed at POly, GFV, and BRV. Transportation to parks with AKV has been the least hassle of all resorts. Yes it's just bus but it's dedicated and we've found it really not much more time than even monorail to MK from Monorail resorts. Congratulations. I think you've chosen an excellent home resort.
 
How comfortable are the fold out couches here? I will be letting my daughter try out her very first one out at Hilton Head in October, but I do want to use some points one day at AKVs.
 
I am seriously considering purchasing dvc after years of thinking about it. I have gone around and around regarding Saratoga, Bay lake and now I am thinking Animal Kingdom

My reason is I love animal kingdom. The resort looks amazing. I want to purchase a place that there is some value to booking at 11 months. My only concern is location, but I have stayed at pop and the buses didn't bother me. i loved being on site and being able to use the busses. AK seems to be reasonable right now as far as getting more points for my money as well.

I was set on bay lake mainly due to location but I hate that it is so many points to stay there in anything over a studio. We are only a family of 3 now but may grow and or always try to travel with friends so would prefer a one or two bed more of the time and bay lake is so many points probably could't afford to stay there lots of the time anyway.

I love the idea of buying Saratoga but afraid of the 7 month window issue. At leaset at Animal I could opt for concierge level is want to which I read is next to impossible at less than 11 months.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!! If I am missing something, please let me know, it doesn't seem like AK is one of the popular options.... Thanks in advance. KIM
I really love having Animal Kingdom as our home resort. We feel a bit more secluded and it is so relaxing. Plus the food options are AMAZING. I find their buses to be fantastic. I swear even though we travel further, it takes less time than other hotels. We couldn't be happier with our selection. We did stay there first, just to see and I am so glad we did. Going "home" next week and I am counting the minutes.
 
We own both AKV and BLT. I love my BLT, but it is almost impossible to book unless I am booking right at 11 months out. Even then, it's difficult.

AKV is still our favorite though. We love the rooms, and we love the resort days there. Kidani has a great pool and our resort days we just sit out and watch the animals. You will find as you use DVC that you will spend more of those resort days and a hotel room becomes more than just a place to sleep when the parks are closed, so that's another new thing to factor into your decision. The only thing I DON'T like about Kidani is that the fast service is all the way over at Jambo. There is the outside place that is sometimes open, and you can get a couple things from the gift shop, but overall it's more difficult to get a small meal there unless you want to make sandwiches or a pizza.

Definitely get where you want. As I mentioned, you will want more resort days as you visit more often and get older. There is no guarantee that you will always be able to book AKV at 7 months, and you cannot always get the room you want. Our room is important to us since DW is a huge giraffe fan. :-)


When you say that booking BLT is almost impossible... do you mind telling me what room size/type and length of stay you are trying to book? My husband and I have our choices down to BLT and AKV, hoping to go every other year for a week. If it were AKV we would want a savanna view, if BLT then we would want a theme park view. Either way we'd need a 1 bedroom. In your experience, are these rooms difficult to get at 11 months? We'd be going in October, if that helps.
 


When you say that booking BLT is almost impossible... do you mind telling me what room size/type and length of stay you are trying to book? My husband and I have our choices down to BLT and AKV, hoping to go every other year for a week. If it were AKV we would want a savanna view, if BLT then we would want a theme park view. Either way we'd need a 1 bedroom. In your experience, are these rooms difficult to get at 11 months? We'd be going in October, if that helps.
I am interested in this answer too.. as I am soon to own AKV but also interested in BLT..
 
When you say that booking BLT is almost impossible... do you mind telling me what room size/type and length of stay you are trying to book? My husband and I have our choices down to BLT and AKV, hoping to go every other year for a week. If it were AKV we would want a savanna view, if BLT then we would want a theme park view. Either way we'd need a 1 bedroom. In your experience, are these rooms difficult to get at 11 months? We'd be going in October, if that helps.

October is a slower time for WDW in general but a very busy time for DVC. The fact that you are looking for a one bedroom helps since they are easier to get than studios or two bedrooms. You should be 100% fine 11 months out.. 7 months would be tighter, but I think you *should* be able to get either a theme park view or lake view one bedroom at that time (not necessarily the one of your choice.. lake view is easier to get).
 
When you say that booking BLT is almost impossible... do you mind telling me what room size/type and length of stay you are trying to book? My husband and I have our choices down to BLT and AKV, hoping to go every other year for a week. If it were AKV we would want a savanna view, if BLT then we would want a theme park view. Either way we'd need a 1 bedroom. In your experience, are these rooms difficult to get at 11 months? We'd be going in October, if that helps.

Standard view is the room type that can be more difficult to book. Lakeview is not difficult to book and Theme park view falls somewhere in between. My experience has not been the same as the previous poster and I'd never say it's almost impossible to book - unless talking about standard view studio or 2BR during certain times of the year. For October you do want to book right at 11 months as it's overall a busy DVC time but wanting a 1BR means a greater ease in booking.
 


When you say that booking BLT is almost impossible... do you mind telling me what room size/type and length of stay you are trying to book? My husband and I have our choices down to BLT and AKV, hoping to go every other year for a week. If it were AKV we would want a savanna view, if BLT then we would want a theme park view. Either way we'd need a 1 bedroom. In your experience, are these rooms difficult to get at 11 months? We'd be going in October, if that helps.

It all depends on the time of year. We tried earlier this year to book end of November / early December which USED to be fairly open, but for some reason I still do not comprehend, it was booked to 100% capacity except for a day here or there. Still never figured out why that was - but only booking dates were right at the 11 month line.

USUALLY we book 1BR.

In general, I can get a BLT room at 9-11 months; but I may have trouble getting exactly what I want. For example, right now:
upload_2017-5-9_15-44-14.png

However, there are Lake and Theme Park views available.

2BR:
upload_2017-5-9_15-47-10.png

But there are Lake and Park views open.

However, Back it up to a 7 month window and these are the 3 1BR rooms:
upload_2017-5-9_15-50-50.png
upload_2017-5-9_15-51-13.png
upload_2017-5-9_15-51-41.png

So if you want to get into BLT, you almost have to have points in it.

Slight contrast to that, I can almost always get AKV 7 months out. EXCEPT RIGHT NOW. I still don't know why December is so fubared.

If it helps, DW and I used to go every year at end of October / Early November (usually between Oct 10th and November 18th before thanksgiving hit). If we were flexible in the dates, we could almost ALWAYS find a 1 week period for a 1BR in there in BLT at 10-11 months out. It may not have been the exact date or bedroom we wanted, but with a little flexibility there was usually SOMETHING.
 

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It all depends on the time of year. We tried earlier this year to book end of November / early December which USED to be fairly open, but for some reason I still do not comprehend, it was booked to 100% capacity except for a day here or there. Still never figured out why that was - but only booking dates were right at the 11 month line.

USUALLY we book 1BR.

In general, I can get a BLT room at 9-11 months; but I may have trouble getting exactly what I want. For example, right now:
View attachment 236339

However, there are Lake and Theme Park views available.

2BR:
View attachment 236340

But there are Lake and Park views open.

However, Back it up to a 7 month window and these are the 3 1BR rooms:
View attachment 236343
View attachment 236345
View attachment 236347

So if you want to get into BLT, you almost have to have points in it.

Slight contrast to that, I can almost always get AKV 7 months out. EXCEPT RIGHT NOW. I still don't know why December is so fubared.

If it helps, DW and I used to go every year at end of October / Early November (usually between Oct 10th and November 18th before thanksgiving hit). If we were flexible in the dates, we could almost ALWAYS find a 1 week period for a 1BR in there in BLT at 10-11 months out. It may not have been the exact date or bedroom we wanted, but with a little flexibility there was usually SOMETHING.


Great information! Thank you so much.
 
Between Friday and Monday over last weekend, I went from LV studio availability for the whole week we wanted in February to missing the Friday night. In ALL studios. The lowest points accommodation with full availability left during that week is 1BR LV and that's too many points for my taste right now.
 
Between Friday and Monday over last weekend, I went from LV studio availability for the whole week we wanted in February to missing the Friday night. In ALL studios. The lowest points accommodation with full availability left during that week is 1BR LV and that's too many points for my taste right now.

Kinda why I was saying it's hit and miss. In general if you book 10-11 months out (the closer the better to your boarder date) and you want a 1BR, you are likely to get it - because the 1BR's are more points than a lot want to spend. In general people are either snatching studios (standard) to get the cheapest point outlay possible, or they are grabbing the 2BR's because they have a whole group going.

DW and I are in the middle. We are 2-3 people depending if we bring my son, but we like the 1BR even if it's just us. If we wait until 10 months out, we may see less options. At 9 months, we will start losing their weeks due to a single day that we can't get and the dates become stricter. At 8 months, we have to choose whats there. At 7, we are down to usually picking a few open days or going to another resort.
 
I've been wondering the same thing. We bought a small contract at the bottom of the market a few years ago at VWL mainly because the price was right and, while we hadn't actually stayed there, we knew we liked the location and the environment. I've been toying with the idea of buying a contract for AKL and then deciding whether to sell off the VWL or just keep it for flexibility and rent out the points. Either way I have a feeling we will end up owning at AKL as we have stayed there and I absolutely know we love that resort.
 
Awesome!! I am very excited for you, "Welcome Home!!" and "Jambo Everyone!"
 
Ended up getting 180 points, loaded and with banked points for 83 per point, waiting on closing papers to arrive!

Congrats, and welcome home!
Before we bought at AKL I had rented points (at BLT)to take my DD and family for DGS's first trip to Disney, and when I told her we were staying at one of the DVC villas, all she asked was if there would be giraffes! Right then I knew that when I bought it would be AKL and we couldn't be happier.
No matter where we stay, we always feel like AKL is home, and its the only resort we keep thinking about and longing to get back to.
 
Congrats, and welcome home!
Before we bought at AKL I had rented points (at BLT)to take my DD and family for DGS's first trip to Disney, and when I told her we were staying at one of the DVC villas, all she asked was if there would be giraffes! Right then I knew that when I bought it would be AKL and we couldn't be happier.
No matter where we stay, we always feel like AKL is home, and its the only resort we keep thinking about and longing to get back to.
thats so cute! I am super excited... so glad you like it so much! I know we will too. Can't wait!
 

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