Planning first trip as DVC owner, which resort?

[dsnygirl2006]

Hi everyone
We will be going to WDW in October and our home resort is SSR, I have already booked that but I am thinking of changing to AKL, I am the only one wanting to stay here, my DH and DS think its too far away from everything? Help me choose?

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Congrats! and

We love OKW, Kidani, SSR, BWV in that order. Having tried them all, I don't book at WLV, BLT or BCV, nothing wrong with the villas we just prefer the theme and the locale of the other resorts!

The best feature about SSR & OKW are their proximity to DTD which we love and frequent quite a bit! As far as distance from everything else, it's just a bus ride, I'm on vacation, that doesn't' bother me at all!

Try them all, which one 1st, flip a coin, go with the democratic vote or you decide for them. No matter which you pick you can't go wrong, your vacation will be fabulous!

 

[dsnygirl2006]

Thanks so much, that's the one thing I really like about SSR is being close to DTD....I am having no luck in talking them into AKL, we shall see

 

[erionm]

Honestly, AKV is not really that far from any of the parks distance wise. MK is a little over 7 miles away, Epcot is about 6 miles, DHS is about 5 miles.

 

[BabsBunny]

I don't think the distance from AKV to the parks matters either...unless you are walking.

Would you be getting a savannah view? Your son would probably love that.

 

[poohj80]

We also own at SSR but prefer BLT, BCV, BWV, and VWL in that order for proximity to parks since we travel with our DD. I agree about distance from AKV but DD loved waking up each morning to see what animals she could see from our balcony.

 

[Cruise04]

I love AKL Jambo House. I've stayed in both Jambo and Kidani and prefer the conveniences and variety of things at Jambo. If you want to sell your family on AKL you should try Jambo first. And you can request a Savannah view. It's remarkable and so awesome. And it isn't that far from things. And the bus stops seem to be closer than for some of the other resorts. I love AKL. My home is OKW but we've stayed at OKW, BCV (LOVE), BWV, AKL, and SSR. SSR was ok. I really like BCV and that area in general. I do like OKW for the quiet atmosphere. I have been wanting to stay at VWL but they are always booked.

Any place you stay you will love and it will hook you to try them all!

 

[joelp]

We LOVE AKV/AKL!!!

We had the chance to stay in the SSR Treehouses our first DVC trip this past Nov - but both the DW and DD-9 insisted we stay at AKV.

There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning, stepping on to the balcony, and seeing a "herd" of zebra grazing away ...

And there are a lot of activities for the DS (and us adults) at the resort, too. The resort is like a theme park itself.

Bus-wise, the only park that "seems" to have longer travel times is MK ... and AK is only 5 minutes away ...

If you've never even visited AKL/AKV, you're missing something very special ... And I'd recommend Jambo House for your first stay ... And dinner at Boma!!

 

[juncker]

Our first stay was at SSR which is our home resort. There certainly was something nice about using that as our pilot run. We love SSR.

SSR has to be the easiest reservation to get though and with it being your home resort, you'll have lots of opportunities to stay there. AKV is not that difficult to obtain either. We ate dinner at Sanaa last time we were there. It was great.

It's up to you, but I might try and get into one of the tougher locations (BCV, BLT, etc...) and fall back to SSR or AKV as an alternate. I think that we would like to try all of the resorts at some time, but getting SSR would be the easiest. Much of this depends on what you can get. On my radar for our next stay, I want to try OKW. It looks to be a great facility and has the largest rooms. BLT is also on my "wanna try" short list.

Don't overthink it. There isn't a bad choice in the bunch.

 

[wendypooh]

First

We are owners at AKV/Kidani - so, I think you can see where I'm headed here.............. LOL - but seriously, the "talk" that AKV/Kidani is so FAR from everything cracks me up, as it honestly isn't - like others have stated, it's a bus ride, relatively, a short ride to anywhere!! My suggestion, stay at Kidani in a sav. view room - if you have the pts. make it a 1br. - I promise you - your family will be HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only will you get stunning, gorgeous, exceptional views from your balcony - (there is NOTHING like seeing the animals right outside your room) to a beautiful room, and if you're anything like me, the 2nd bathroom will be heaven sent!!!! I also suggest dining at Sanaa - it is a MUST DO on every trip for us, it's excellent. On another note, we've stayed at SSR before, and not to upset anyone, but we hated it - it felt like a cheap motel............ I don't like being "outside" of the building, the rooms felt old, only 1 bath, it just wasn't for us, but to each his own. But, I honestly think you cannot go wrong with EITHER Jambo or Kidani, I prefer Kidani ONLY because of the 2nd bathroom and it feels much "cozier" than Jambo - which is equally as stunning - just a lot busier. Good Luck and have fun - and try out ALL the resorts - that's what makes it fun!!

Here are a couple of threads you might want to look at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3049102

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3003371 <-- this second one is much less formal, but we ALL love AKV/Kidani and will answer any questions you might have - come join us, we LOVE new people!!!

 

[spiceycat]

well if you are going for the food/wine festival then BWV or BCV - being able to walk to Epcot (IG) to get to WS is a big plus for that time.

now if you going for the MNSSHP then would go for BLT or VWL.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm

 

[wendypooh]

well if you are going for the food/wine festival then BWV or BCV - being able to walk to Epcot (IG) to get to WS is a big plus for that time.

now if you going for the MNSSHP then would go for BLT or VWL.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm

Well............ I totally AGREE with this!!!

We ARE going for F&W and we ARE staying at BCV!!

 

[butsy113]

First

We are owners at AKV/Kidani - so, I think you can see where I'm headed here.............. LOL - but seriously, the "talk" that AKV/Kidani is so FAR from everything cracks me up, as it honestly isn't - like others have stated, it's a bus ride, relatively, a short ride to anywhere!!

I completely agree with this statement. We love AKV!! I actually think even with the slightly farther distance from MK, it can be faster to get to than from some of the closer resorts. We have found the bus service at AKV more reliable than elsewhere.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Our very first DVC stay was at AK Kidani and it did WOW us. It really has a more upscale feel to it and we were delighted with our purchase! We have also stayed at BWV and OKW and love those two as well, but I think with the age of the resorts, they do feel a little more 'timeshare'. Really, there is no wrong answer to this, but just my two cents.

 

[dsnygirl2006]

Thanks everybody I am going to let my DH read all the comments and then talk him into staying at AKV He hasn't even looked at pics of the resort yet so I will have to show him both places and see what he thinks!!!!