Just bought into DVC AKL..any tips

had taken a tour last year of Copper Creek, but decided not to buy into at the time...then was looking at resales. Got an email about Riviera from DVC and replied that I wasnt interested in that one, but some older ones if they had resales..So after some talking I was offered points at AKL. Purchases 80 pts and am awaiting paperwork. Any tip from DvC owners and AKL home resort owners. I did verify that i can pay dues with Disney gift cards so will buy them at Target w redcard discount. and that they have member events at the parks twice a month. resale places were a lot cheaper, but then didnt have the direct benefits that you get thru disney. and i can always buy more points thru resalers later if needed

Welcome Home! We own some points at OKW and AKL, but AKL is where we hold the majority of the points.

Not too many tips for you, really. If you are going to plan a trip at AKL using your points, I'd recommend you take advantage of the window between 7 and 11 months in advance. AKL is a bit larger than many of the DVC locations, so you don't need to be online right at 11 months necessarily, but take advantage of your 'home' resort bookings whenever you can. The only exception to that rule is if you decide to use your DVC points to try and book a Club Level room. AKL is the only DVC resort that allows you to book Club Level rooms with your points. The down side is there are VERY few of those rooms available. So if you hope to get a Club Level reservation, you need to be online right at the 11-month window. And even then, many times you still cannot get the rooms with your points.

We tend to stay in the Jambo location most of the time since most of the restaurants are there. But the rooms in Kidani are a bit newer, as is the Kidani pool. But no matter where you stay, we'd recommend getting a savanna view room whenever you can. Nothing beats sitting out on the balcony in the morning or evening and just enjoying the view of the savanna and the animals.

Hope you enjoy your points at AKL as much as we have for the past decade-plus!! Enjoy.

Congrats on your purchase and Welcome Home!!!

Welcome Home!

You may know this, but booking patterns with DVC are completely different from the general bookings at WDW. Middle of September through second week of January (the period known as Fall Frenzy), will be completely booked on or before the 7 month mark. The exceptions may be at SSR and OKW, but even they won't be available much past the 7 month mark. If you plan on traveling during that period, you will want to book at you home resort as close to 11 months as you can. Otherwise you could easily find yourself without a room.

You didn't say what your use year is. Use years can sometimes be confusing, particularly if you have a December use year like we do. We have a trip coming up for the last week of Sept, first week of October. Even though we're almost into 2020 at that point, we'll actually be using our 2018 points since the trip is on our 2018 use year. Keeping the calendars straight can be a challenge at times. If you have more than one contract and more than one use year, it can cause headaches.

Enjoy your points!

Steve

thanks. Ive stayed at AKL a few times in Jambo, twice parking lot view...boo. twice savannah. and a night CL which was nice. my month is June, but i dont go to wdw in summer..usually spring or fall ( F&W)

Congratulations and Welcome Home! We had some leftover points and stayed a night at AKL with one of our sons. We will definitely be going back for a couple of days. Having the animals up close is amazing.

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Originally Posted by SodaPopMGK

Congratulations and Welcome Home! We had some leftover points and stayed a night at AKL with one of our sons. We will definitely be going back for a couple of days. Having the animals up close is amazing.

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thanks. yes it was a nice view. my ex gf named the giraffe we saw. the only thing was the long walk to the room and on 1 of my stays the people next door talked loud. Boma is good so is Jiko.

Congrats and Welcome Home!

Just to clarify, are you buying new or used at about $80PP? A quick search of the web has AKL running at an average of about $110PP used so that would be quite a deal!

We bought used at SS then later pick up two batches of new points at Poly. If you don't have new points then you'll probably want to at least pick up a small batch as Disney continues to try and make up ground on the used market by cutting benefits on used points.

That's being said, we've only stayed at our home resort (Poly) once. So it's nice to have the opportunity for variety, but you do need to be diligent in booking based on windows.

If you are a Disney fan and go regularly then I think you'll find this to be a great investment!

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Originally Posted by baldburke

Congrats and Welcome Home!

Just to clarify, are you buying new or used at about $80PP? A quick search of the web has AKL running at an average of about $110PP used so that would be quite a deal!

We bought used at SS then later pick up two batches of new points at Poly. If you don't have new points then you'll probably want to at least pick up a small batch as Disney continues to try and make up ground on the used market by cutting benefits on used points.

That's being said, we've only stayed at our home resort (Poly) once. So it's nice to have the opportunity for variety, but you do need to be diligent in booking based on windows.

If you are a Disney fan and go regularly then I think you'll find this to be a great investment!

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this was 80 new points thru disney. basically ones they probably bought back that someone was selling.not as good a deal as resale places but getting the benefits from direct hopefully first, then can always buy resale later if needed. now im trying to figure iif a studio willl give 3 of us enough room to sleep separate, like a bed, sofa bed and sleeper chair or if i will have to try for a 1 bedroom..using 80 pts. or can use this and next years points.

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Originally Posted by Crow

this was 80 new points thru disney. basically ones they probably bought back that someone was selling.not as good a deal as resale places but getting the benefits from direct hopefully first, then can always buy resale later if needed. now im trying to figure iif a studio willl give 3 of us enough room to sleep separate, like a bed, sofa bed and sleeper chair or if i will have to try for a 1 bedroom..using 80 pts. or can use this and next years points.

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Well the good thing is that you can always buy more. Maybe not at the same resort, but if you do then be sure to get them in the same use month. Otherwise you'll get all sorts of unwanted effects on scheduling. That is of course unless you go so much and have enough that it makes sense to say have half January and the other in July as an example.

At about 250PPY we have enough for our family of five to go about every other year on a really nice week long vacation in a 2BR villa. To do this we either borrow forward or backward either way at any given time.

So maybe your 80PPY works now based on your needs of where you want to stay and how often, but as your situation changes over the years it may make sense to add. I'm sure you did the math, but I'm sure you'll find that it is a great investment.

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Originally Posted by baldburke

Well the good thing is that you can always buy more. Maybe not at the same resort, but if you do then be sure to get them in the same use month. Otherwise you'll get all sorts of unwanted effects on scheduling. That is of course unless you go so much and have enough that it makes sense to say have half January and the other in July as an example.

At about 250PPY we have enough for our family of five to go about every other year on a really nice week long vacation in a 2BR villa. To do this we either borrow forward or backward either way at any given time.

So maybe your 80PPY works now based on your needs of where you want to stay and how often, but as your situation changes over the years it may make sense to add. I'm sure you did the math, but I'm sure you'll find that it is a great investment.

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thank you. wondering if most people stay at their home resort or go to others. Ive stayed at most of the resorts that Ive wanted to except at the Treehouse Villas and the Poly bungalows which i doubt i will ever afford. and my 80 pts is enough for now as I dont go in big groups, the most is probably 3 people

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Originally Posted by Crow

thank you. wondering if most people stay at their home resort or go to others. Ive stayed at most of the resorts that Ive wanted to except at the Treehouse Villas and the Poly bungalows which i doubt i will ever afford. and my 80 pts is enough for now as I dont go in big groups, the most is probably 3 people

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We've actually had the good fortune of being able to try most of the different resorts - it's part of the fun and the flexibility of your membership. Remember, since you can only book other resorts at 7 months, sometimes you're going to have trouble getting what you want away from your home resort. It's not unusual for us to book a room at our home resort 9-10-11 months in advance, just to make sure we have a room when we want it. Then at 7 months, we'll see if we can switch our reservation to another resort. Worst case, we cannot, but have our room at the home resort and can still enjoy the vacation. Best case, we get to try a new experience at a different resort!

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Originally Posted by ThanxForNoticin

We've actually had the good fortune of being able to try most of the different resorts - it's part of the fun and the flexibility of your membership. Remember, since you can only book other resorts at 7 months, sometimes you're going to have trouble getting what you want away from your home resort. It's not unusual for us to book a room at our home resort 9-10-11 months in advance, just to make sure we have a room when we want it. Then at 7 months, we'll see if we can switch our reservation to another resort. Worst case, we cannot, but have our room at the home resort and can still enjoy the vacation. Best case, we get to try a new experience at a different resort!

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I like to resort hop, some trips i used to stay at 2 or 3 diff resorts. this has allowed me to stay at all but the most expensive resorts

You can get the Poly Bungalows for a couple of nights using banked, current, and borrowed points (3 years worth). We did it with 70 points for a January stay, although we did have to augment it by purchasing some one use points (which you can do once a year). The Bungalows are not the best use of points, but it is nice to do once.

just booked next years vacation in May using this year and next years points. 1 bedroom standard view at AKL for 4 nights then 1 night club level.

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Originally Posted by Crow

just booked next years vacation in May using this year and next years points. 1 bedroom standard view at AKL for 4 nights then 1 night club level.

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We really enjoy any nights we can get for AKL Club level - tough to grab them! Actually, we enjoy all our nights at AKL! One of the main reasons we are DVC members. Have a great trip!

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Originally Posted by ThanxForNoticin

We really enjoy any nights we can get for AKL Club level - tough to grab them! Actually, we enjoy all our nights at AKL! One of the main reasons we are DVC members. Have a great trip!

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thanks. I did club level once here and club at WL once. WL is my fav resort but AKL was designed by the same guy and its good also. Hope I can check in early when changing rooms so we can enjoy the club level bfast items.

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Originally Posted by Crow

thanks. I did club level once here and club at WL once. WL is my fav resort but AKL was designed by the same guy and its good also. Hope I can check in early when changing rooms so we can enjoy the club level bfast items.

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We have checked in early for breakfast already. They'll activate your magic band (or at worst, give you an access card) so you can use the elevator to get to the Club Level. Get the most out of it!

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Originally Posted by ThanxForNoticin

We have checked in early for breakfast already. They'll activate your magic band (or at worst, give you an access card) so you can use the elevator to get to the Club Level. Get the most out of it!

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YESSSS:thumbsup: