AKL or CCV?

[Moxie]

Hey all! I could use some advice here. Hubby and I are looking at buying into DVC very soon. AKL is our absolute favorite place to stay on park, but CCV is #2. We typically like to go to Disney in October-February each year, and we usually stay in a standard studio - the one-bedrooms are nice but not necessary. We were talking to a DVC rep and they can get us points at AKL, BUT if we buy at CCV, they’ll drop $3500 off the price and give us the 2017 points as well.

I’m honestly torn. I feel like having CCV as a home resort would be handy for booking for the Christmas season 11 months out. However we would also want to stay at AKL when we go in Jan/Feb (definitely NOT marathon weekend!) and I worry about not having AKL rooms left at the 7 month window.

Am I missing anything here? Is AKL difficult to book at 7 months out for studios?

 

[correcaminos]

AKL is easier to book than CCV likely will be in the future. With the exception of values or concierge at Jambo. AKL you could buy resale, where CCV has smaller resale numbers since it's so new.

If you want WL area for Christmas, you have to buy in at Copper Creek. If you want value or concierge rooms you need to own at AKL. If you want just savanna or possibly standard view and you don't' care if you're at Jambo or Kidani then buy Copper Creek.

 

[ParentsOf4]

CCV can be difficult to book at 7 months. Still, we were able to book there for a July stay at 7 months.

AKV value and club rooms are perhaps the most difficult to book at all of WDW. These usually fill up at 11 months.

AKV Standard and Savannah view rooms often are available at 7 months, but AKV Jambo House rooms go a lot faster than AKV Kidani Village.

AKV Jambo House is a great place to stay at Christmas; I like it more at Christmas than the Wilderness Lodge.

One thing to be aware of is Studios at all of the DVC resorts are difficult to book for Christmas time, even SSR. Whichever of the two you pick, you are probably going to have a difficult time booking the other in November and December.

It's a tough choice but my DW and I really like AKV, one reason being that it offers 4 levels of rooms (Value, Standard, Savannah, and Club). No other WDW DVC resort offers that.

But $3500 plus 2017 points is tempting.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[pdude81]

The 2017 points depend on the use year offered. If it's a June through December UY as of now you'd get them. They like to play that free/extra points game sometimes when you're paying as much or more than the people who bought on day one and don't get any more points than they did. You just get them a little bit delayed.

Now if the AKV contract is a Feb - Apr UY you wouldn't get 2017 points.

I would probably lean toward CCV if it were me, but I believe AKV studios are going to be much easier to get at tough times. The most availability will be at Kidani in Savannah view, but it's hard to call that a negative. So really if you want to be able to stay at both you should lean towards CCV, but if you love the Animal Kingdom and ever want to stay at Jambo in December you had better go for that instead.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Wilderness lodge if it works out to cheaper per point.

Cheaper per point is the general rule...it’s overpiced and cut them where you can - goes for any location.

 

[slappy magoo]

Everyone's mileage may vary but I've always found it easier to book Animal Kingdom at the 7 month window than the Wilderness. But this was before CCV. However I still suspect it will generally be able to book VAK at the 7 month window just because of how huge it is. If I'm reading info right, there are 250 studios of various categories at Animal Kingdom, and 91 studios split between Boulder Ridge and Copper Creek. Add to that the fact that most people seem to prefer being in the MK area (even though I know most of us on this forum dig Animal Kingdom), I think it might make more sense to go for CCV now, and you can always add-on Animal Kingdom resale later if you want (the resort's resale value tends to be lower than just about anything except OKW and SSR, but that's probably because of quantity, not quality, since those 3 resorts have the most rooms, it probably has the most points owners and therefore amongst the most resales).

 

[eliza61nyc]

Take my opinion with a grain of salt as I never book studios. I love Wilderness lodge and I'm a firm believer of purchasing where you love. the reason being is that when all else fails, you want to feel that "aaah" when you check in.

Now the only issue I've had in a resort being unavailable at 7 months is the Epcot properties during wine and food festival but I own at the Beach club.

I stayed at kidani village in April, while I enjoy the resort it is toward the bottom of my "list" of dvc resorts. The animal factor is cool but not enough to bring me back consistently. AKL is the bigger resort so it maybe easier to get into at the 7th month mark, as I said I've never had any issues switching at 7 months. heck my trip in April we didn't book until the previous December but again I was in a 2 bedroom.