AKV and the quarter-mile long hallways

[Inkmahm]

This discussion is a long standing one. Define "long bus ride". I don't consider 20 min to MK (the park furthest away, FYI) all that long. If you're an Epcot resort person, who craves a 10 min walk into Epcot....your perspective may differ (which is one of the great things about DVC...different strokes for different folks).

In addition, from what I've seen, the "transportation" issues are largely concerns of those who have not stayed there. Once guests actually get INTO AKL, they typically rave about how efficient the transportation is and how it's not nearly as bad as they thought it would be. The AKL thread (and others) are littered with guests who have made ressies and are worried about transportation, past guest reassuring them, and "present" guests returning and saying "Hey, you were right!! Transportation was great!".

The bus you get is dedicated- it only goes to one resort rather than stopping at a bunch of them. I think that makes the bus from AKL to any of the parks quicker than a bus you take that stops at multiple locations!

 

[justjudy]

One burns roughly 100 calories for each mile walked. So walking both ways will burn off somewhere between 2 and 4 zebra domes.

My sentiments exactly! That's how I'm gonna justify pigging out at Boma!

 

[owensjro]

At present for me to take a bus to any of the 4 parks would be about 13 hours. Once I am at AKV to take a bus to any of the 4 parks will be less than 20 minutes.

I don't see the problem!

Jim

 

[DVC Grammy]

At present for me to take a bus to any of the 4 parks would be about 13 hours. Once I am at AKV to take a bus to any of the 4 parks will be less than 20 minutes.

I don't see the problem!

Jim

Oddly enough, it takes us about the same time from here....................

 

[BCVBRUCE]

This thread cracks me up. Every DVC resort has a fault.

So let me get this straight, because the hallways are toooooooooooooooooo looooooooooooooong, potential guests at the AKV will pack, travel to WDW by plane, train or automobile, check-in at the AKV, unpack, stay two days, pack, check-out of AKV, travel to resort X, check-in at resort X, unpack, go to the remainder of the parks which were tooooooooooooooo faaaaaaaaaaaaar from the AKV, pack, check-out of resort X and then go home.

Yup, that's much better.

 

[Mississippian]

This thread cracks me up. Every DVC resort has a fault.

So let me get this straight, because the hallways are toooooooooooooooooo looooooooooooooong, potential guests at the AKV will pack, travel to WDW by plane, train or automobile, check-in at the AKV, unpack, stay two days, pack, check-out of AKV, travel to resort X, check-in at resort X, unpack, go to the remainder of the parks which were tooooooooooooooo faaaaaaaaaaaaar from the AKV, pack, check-out of resort X and then go home.

Yup, that's much better.

Bruce,

This started as a thread about the hallways, and then the issue of transportation to the parks came up.

Given your name, you ought to be aware of the advantages of being close to EPCOT, not just that you can walk to the park to ride "rides," but also to eat at night.

So yes, I do think the hallways will be an issue, and will lead many people to want to stay in the Jambo building. And yes, I do think many people will book split stays. They are relatively painless and allow one to squeeze the things one wants out of the resorts.

 

[Slakk]

That's our thought, too. With 3 nights at AKL, we figured the only park we would visit from there would be AK for 2 mornings, and spend the rest of our time at the resort. It seems to be too much of a PITA to get to the other parks, especially in our case, when we're going in August and will have to pull at least our two younger children out for afternoon naps.

OTOH, I know some DVC-ers spend much less time in the parks--for those types, I would think AKL could be wonderfully relaxing, even with a long trek from Kidani to Jambo.

After viewing the new rooms - which blow every other DVC away I think most people will get over the fact AKV is not adjacent to a park.

The fact they do not have to share transportation with another resort is so convenient is another plus.

Per my guide they are on a waitlist for Feb, April and June UY and selling faster than expected. As I said the rooms in person are just phenominal.

 

[MissMet]

Maybe I'm missing something. Don't you think they'll just do as some of the other resorts do & have the buses stop at either one before going wherever they're going? Kinda like an internal bus? You know like Port Orleans, OKW, SSR do.

Just a thought.

 

[BCVBRUCE]

Bruce,

This started as a thread about the hallways, and then the issue of transportation to the parks came up.

Given your name, you ought to be aware of the advantages of being close to EPCOT, not just that you can walk to the park to ride "rides," but also to eat at night.

So yes, I do think the hallways will be an issue, and will lead many people to want to stay in the Jambo building. And yes, I do think many people will book split stays. They are relatively painless and allow one to squeeze the things one wants out of the resorts.

Oh no. I am merely making a joke. I am not getting into a BCV advantages vs AKV disadvantages bashing fest. I just think the concept of split stays is absolutely funny, time consuming and stressful. I think it is a royal PITA just to swap rooms even in the same hotel. Not what I want in a vacation!

You have 40-50 years of DVC ownership to enjoy each and everyone of the awesome DVC resorts. Right now there are six DVC resorts at WDW(seven if CRV soon makes its anticipated debut). If you stay at one each year, you can stay at each resort 6-7 times. You don't have to do it in one vacation.

The other thing that cracks me up is that EVERY time a new DVC resort comes along so does a new gripe.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Kidani village going to have it's own pool, full service restaurant(Sanna), store, resort check-in and etc. An occassional walk to the main resort won't hurt. I seriously doubt long halways will be an issue.

 

[erikthewise]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Kidani village going to have it's own pool, full service restaurant(Sanna), store, resort check-in and etc. An occassional walk to the main resort won't hurt. I seriously doubt long halways will be an issue.

Not only will it not hurt, but it may end up being popular! There are very few places outside where you are allowed to walk at AKL, other than the parking lot.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

After viewing the new rooms - which blow every other DVC away I think most people will get over the fact AKV is not adjacent to a park.

The fact they do not have to share transportation with another resort is so convenient is another plus.

Per my guide they are on a waitlist for Feb, April and June UY and selling faster than expected. As I said the rooms in person are just phenominal.

You may be right about the transportation not being as bad as I imagine. We've eaten at Boma on two past trips, while staying at the Poly, and found bus tranprtation moderately inconvenient. By that, I mean we had a few issues getting back to the Poly (note: it's not direct, we knew that), and our whole evening was dinner at Boma and getting back. Our experience may not be typical. Also, since you've seen the rooms, which I haven't so I may be very pleasantly surprised and impressed.

I will say, we're thrilled to pieces to have joined DVC, and a stay at AKV is highly anticipated. I don't know that we'd buy there (CRV, OTOH, I would buy into faster than you can say "home equity line of credit", but I digress...). But we very, very much want to stay there.

 

[BCVBRUCE]

Not only will it not hurt, but it may end up being popular! There are very few places outside where you are allowed to walk at AKL, other than the parking lot.

It is already popular with my family. On the occassions we visit the AKL, for a scrumptious meal at Boma, we always walk the halls to look at the art, read the interesting fact placards about Africa and look at the animals.

We especially love going to the stairwells and watching the animals on the savanah. We have taken some of our best animal photos on those stairwells.

Relax, go slow and smell the zebra, antelope, giraffe.......

 

[crisi]

My thoughts - I wouldn't prefer a stay at Jambo - the high floors at AKL are the least desireable - and those are the ones that are being turned into DVC rooms. I at least want a chance at being "giraffe level."

As to blowing people away with the rooms, I disliked the models - the extra bathroom does nothing but take up room that I'd rather use and I didn't like the turned bar in the kitchen - so that certainly won't be a universal.

Transportation will change since they will add a bus stop - so the easy AKL dedicated buses will have at least one more stop over at Kidani. That will make the buses less convienent - whether tipping the scales into "bad" bus service, I couldn't predict.

I still like AKL and am still tempted by VAK add on (wouldn't do it, we have enough points for our needs - but it is tempting), but neither Jambo nor the decor is what is tempting me.

Then again, I'm not a Boma fan either - what I like about AKL is watching gazelles.

 

[Mtnman44]

What is in in churros? Or those cookie ice cream sandwhiches....

One burns roughly 100 calories for each mile walked. So walking both ways will burn off somewhere between 2 and 4 zebra domes.

 

[jarestel]

Any walking at all that doesn't end at a theme park is too much walking for some. I expect we will see a number of trip reports from vacationers with aching puppies complaining about the distances at AKV, especially when Kidani Village opens.

As far as bus transportation, AKL to/from anywhere is already the longest bus ride at WDW. The construction of AKV won't make it any shorter.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

jarestel, that's what my thought is. On our trip to WDW last year, we knew what we were in for. We did "Disney conditioning" and had our kids walking the track at our school at night. We even had our then-3yo up to 3 miles a day. But, due to nursing, I was the one taking the two little ones back to the room for a daily nap/feed. So, there I am, midday, with the baby (6mo) in a sling, the 3yo in a stroller, and a diaper bag, slogging back to our room. Believe me, those hallways looked endless--and we were staying at the Poly!

Now my kids are a little older, we bought into DVC, we're going for 11 nights next time--hopefully, I won't feel so much like a pack mule. But it does color my thinking when considering a large $ purchase such as DVC.

 

[Slakk]

You may be right about the transportation not being as bad as I imagine. We've eaten at Boma on two past trips, while staying at the Poly, and found bus tranprtation moderately inconvenient. By that, I mean we had a few issues getting back to the Poly (note: it's not direct, we knew that), and our whole evening was dinner at Boma and getting back. Our experience may not be typical. Also, since you've seen the rooms, which I haven't so I may be very pleasantly surprised and impressed.

I will say, we're thrilled to pieces to have joined DVC, and a stay at AKV is highly anticipated. I don't know that we'd buy there (CRV, OTOH, I would buy into faster than you can say "home equity line of credit", but I digress...). But we very, very much want to stay there.

The extra bathrooms are awesome. They layout of the bathroom in the studio is so much nicer than any others. The Lion King touches like hidden Simba and Nala and Mufasas is really cute - the only thing I can say is the carpet is a bit wild but other than that the rooms are just gorgeous.

I will try and post the pictures tomorrow - we were so impressed we moved our upcoming trip to AKV.

 

[minnie61650]

The bus you get is dedicated- it only goes to one resort rather than stopping at a bunch of them. I think that makes the bus from AKL to any of the parks quicker than a bus you take that stops at multiple locations!

True. But remember once the Villias are open they will share buses with AKL. There will be 2 bus stpos instead of 1.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

True. But remember once the Villias are open they will share buses with AKL. There will be 2 bus stpos instead of 1.

It doesn't affect me as we always have a car, but I wonder about the above statement.
With the number of villas in Kidani there is potential for bus overload. It seems that they must either increase bus frequency, or keep the routes separate.

Does anyone know the bus frequency at other large resorts compared to the current AKL?

MG

 

[minnie61650]

It doesn't affect me as we always have a car, but I wonder about the above statement.
With the number of villas in Kidani there is potential for bus overload. It seems that they must either increase bus frequency, or keep the routes separate.

Does anyone know the bus frequency at other large resorts compared to the current AKL?

MG

POFQ shares with POR

POFQ has 1,008 rooms and POR has has 2,048 rooms for a total of 3,056 rooms.
At present AKL has about 1200 rooms.