One Bedroom AKL vs. Studio Near park

[justme0729]

Im not a DVC member but am considering purchasing either AKL or an MK resort. When I picture my vacations, I am slightly leaning towards owning at AKL so that I can have enough points to do a one bedroom every other year. We have no kids yet but I’m curious...if you had a family of 4-5, would you rather stay in a one bedroom at AKL or a studio on the monorail or walking distance to a park?

 

[skippytx]

I like AKL as a resort, I do not care for it's location.

Long story short, I purchased at BLT due to location. Much easier to walk back to the room from MK with the kids than it is to deal with transportation. So I'm in camp 2, rather stay close to the park.

 

[quandrea]

As a family, a one bedroom is non-negotiable. I’m not going on vacation unless dh and I have our own room. So I’d go AKL with the one bedroom.

We own at AKL and the transportation options don’t bother me. I do admit to preferring BWV for location. We stay there often though.

Can you make a 1Br work at BWV? Fabulous location. Standard view is the best deal in dvc. Maybe that’s a resort to consider. You could book standard views for less than the AKL Villas and you could walk to two parks. Shorter contract life though.

 

[rer1972]

We purchased at BRV (was VWL) because we loved the resort so much and because it was close to MK. I was always told buy where you want to stay the most, and it's definitely the way to go in deciding on where to purchase. The 11 month vs 7 month window makes a difference in being able to get the rooms you want whenever you want them.

My vote would be MK resort, because that tends to be the park visited the most often. We enjoy being able to take the boat from BRV to MK, or even a boat from BRV to one of the other MK resorts.

We also own at AKV and love that resort almost as much as BRV, but it is farther away from everything (except AK) compared to other resorts.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I love staying in 1 or 2 bedrooms. It’s so nice when kids are little to not be trapped in a dark hotel room trying to be silent while the kids nap or sleep. We stayed in a studio at BLT one trip and were miserable. We missed our 1 bedroom so much.

I agree with considering BWV. It’s our favorite resort even though we own AKL and SSR.

 

[justme0729]

We purchased at BRV (was VWL) because we loved the resort so much and because it was close to MK. I was always told buy where you want to stay the most, and it's definitely the way to go in deciding on where to purchase. The 11 month vs 7 month window makes a difference in being able to get the rooms you want whenever you want them.

My vote would be MK resort, because that tends to be the park visited the most often. We enjoy being able to take the boat from BRV to MK, or even a boat from BRV to one of the other MK resorts.

We also own at AKV and love that resort almost as much as BRV, but it is farther away from everything (except AK) compared to other resorts.

Thanks! I know everyone says buy where you want to stay but my problem is I can’t decide where I want to stay! Lol

 

[Mpadovani2]

Folding up the stroller to get on a bus is a royal pain. To have to do that every day for every park is a bit much. It is also a long ride on a bus anywhere from AK, especially holding little ones and a folded stroller. We own at Beach club and love it as you can walk to two parks and stroll onto the friendship boat without taking baby out of stroller. We own at VGF because you don’t have to fold up stroller on monorail and it is a stunning resort. We have stayed at BLT and find the studios a little tight. We do also own at AK but only stay there for 2 or so nights to enjoy the animals and resort. Your decision making process reminds me of mine way back when. I would encourage you to buy more points than you might think you need. You will need them and you won’t have to keep adding on. We do stay in both studios and 1 bedrooms...1 bedrooms are beyond compare. Good luck.

 

[quandrea]

True about the stroller. We always had a car in our stroller days. Where we stayed didn’t matter so much. Now we appreciate park proximity.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

True about the stroller. We always had a car in our stroller days. Where we stayed didn’t matter so much. Now we appreciate park proximity.

Us too! We used to play a game of “beat the parking tram!” We always one.

 

[sndral]

I’ve read that the studios at BLT are tiny. We favor 1 bedrooms & own at AKV and VGF.
BLT has it’s fans, I’m not one of them - walkability to MK aside, I just am not into the aesthetics of the resort.
I quite enjoy our AKV stays.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Kids are only little for a short time and the DVC contract is 25-50 years.

 

[Tenacious K]

Kids are only little for a short time and the DVC contract is 25-50 years.

True!! My kids are my everything, but when I bought a contract with 49 years left I was thinking about ME .. where I wanted to be staying 20 years from now!

For OP's original question, there's not a real big difference to me between studio and 1 bedroom for a family of 4. The BIG difference in terms of space, privacy, and convenience starts at 2 bedrooms. We will probably stick at studio for as long as possible then upgrade to 2 bedroom eventually.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The difference between an AKV 1BR and a BLT studio is actually pretty big.

I would also point out that the monorail is mostly past use by dates, all recent refurb aside. Lots of breakdowns.

 

[CarolMN]

While I love the ability to walk to the MK, no way would I consider trading a BLT studio for an AKV 1 bedroom if my usual traveling party included 4 - especially if we were staying more than a few days. IMO, BLT studios are great for a couple or perhaps even a couple with one small child, but for more than that, they feel more like a cruise cabin than a resort room.

When we stayed at AKV, the bus service was quite good. Based on my experiences, time on the bus is pretty much the same no matter where you stay on property because many resorts either stop several times within the resort (SSR, OKW) or serve more than one resort (BRV/CCV, VGF, Poly, BLT). Now that there are the "expected bus arrival" screens at the bus stops, it's not so hard to wait a few minutes than it used to be.

OP - If you go with BLT, I predict you will soon be adding on so that you can book those 1 bedroom villas.

 

[aoconnor]

There is a perception that AKL is far from everything, but it's really only far from MK. If you look up bus travel times it's actually closer to 3 of the 4 parks than any of the monorail resorts or Wilderness Lodge.

 

[MrsM]

We're a family of 6 but our oldest is headed to college in the fall. I was excited to be able to book a 1 BR for our next trip using fewer points than a 2 BR. With 3 teenage daughters, one of our most important priorities was making sure we had a 1 BR that still had two bathrooms so AKL it is! Especially now that the kids are older and we no longer have to worry about strollers, naps, etc the location of AKL doesn't bother us at all, we actually like how quiet the resort is.

 

[Chuck S]

One bedrooms are easier to book than studios. Near MK is nice for convenience, but you just really can't beat a one bedroom. I'd probably buy enough points for an AKL one bedroom, but purchase them at a near MK resort. That way you'll be assured of a near MK studio when you want one, and can stay in an AKL one bedroom when you want to.

 

[southerngirl528]

We purchased at BRV (was VWL) because we loved the resort so much and because it was close to MK. I was always told buy where you want to stay the most, and it's definitely the way to go in deciding on where to purchase. The 11 month vs 7 month window makes a difference in being able to get the rooms you want whenever you want them

Amen! This is sooooooo true!

One bedrooms are easier to book than studios.

This has become more and more true as the minimum buy-in decreased so much, and with folks buying a tiny master on the resale market.

 

[Airb330]

While walking to the park is great (Bay Lake), we actually find transportation at AKL to be very good. Sure, it's all buses, but overall we think AKL transportation is a little better than Grand Floridian or Boardwalk. As others have pointed out, AKL is really only 'far' from Magic Kingdom. The rides to Epcot and DHS are pretty quick. We also find the seclusion (or distance from other parks) to be a positive at AKL. Of course, this is purely subjective. No one is wrong or right here. Also, more space is always a plus. There are a lot of great points in this thread but also be sure to do your research; you're in a great forum to learn before your purchase!

 

[DenLo]

Five in a studio at BLT, I wouldn't recommend it.