Floor Plans for AKV Lodge 2 Bedroom Lock-off -SV

[ADP]

That's it?!

Boy those value point rooms just aren't worth it, are they? Now I know why they haven't released floorplans during the member presale. If that's all they're gonna have for the first year's use, it's a major disappointment. I know I'm not gonna buy any points now.

On the bright side, I'm guessing the specially-built and designed DVC building will have the bigger and better rooms. Downside is it won't really be close enough to share the Lodge's amenities. Certainly not like we've seen in VWL and BCV.

Oh well, this is a resort I'll stay at someday. I just don't see the need to own there. Not before '09 when maybe things will live up to the hype.

Everything I've read and seen show the new DVC building (Kidani Village) very close to the existing lodge (Jambo House). You will have to walk a little, but it is close by.

 

[BroganMc]

Everything I've read and seen show the new DVC building (Kidani Village) very close to the existing lodge (Jambo House). You will have to walk a little, but it is close by.

The nearest estimate is 1/2 mile from the southern end of Kidani to the lobby of Jambo. And that's going past the service areas and parking lot, not from lobby to lobby. That would be even farther.

Call me crazy, but people already complain about the long distances at SSR. None of them are half miles, nor like .25 - .35 miles.

 

[BroganMc]

IMO, when the AKV models finally open at SSR, they'll be the same room styles that are going to be in the stand-alone AKV, not the retro-fitted lodge ones. Also IMO, I don't think they'll resemble any of the plans we're seeing now.

I agree. Now is that bait & switch? They sell you on the big units and you get only small ones for the first year and half.

 

[LisaS]

I thought these units were supposed to be bigger than most of the other units?

The villas in the new building (Kidani Village) will be larger. These are the Lodge villas which are hotel room conversions.

 

[50 years Too!]

I wonder if they are going to raise the points for the new lodge?
The charts we have are only good through 2008.

 

[BroganMc]

I wonder if they are going to raise the points for the new lodge?
The charts we have are only good through 2008.

That would be true bait-n-switch since people are buying according to the point charts.

I highly doubt they'd do that. More like we'll find out that the "value" and "Club" rooms are exclusively in the Lodge building while the new one will have "Standard" and "Savannah" only.

More importantly, will they be allowing separate booking categories for buildings? And if not, are those Savannah and Standard rooms at the Lodge significantly different than the new building.

 

[flechette]

Yup, what Lisa said

Also, the club rooms I listed only include rooms on the 6th floor of the existing building. While there is no guarantee, I expect that some of the savanna view rooms on the 5th floor may also be designated by DVC as Club rooms. This would obviously increase the number of club rooms and decrease the number of savanna view rooms.

Otherwise, it appears that something like 40% of the club rooms will not have savanna views. I would think that those odds will reduce the attractiveness of the club room category.

.. cut..
-- Suzanne

Bolding is mine but that might explain why concierge (same as club?) is not a whole lot more points than SV

 

[Starr W.]

I agree. Now is that bait & switch? They sell you on the big units and you get only small ones for the first year and half.

Will sit back and wait for those threads for the next 1.5 yrs.


Personally I'll wait until 2009 and the whole kit and kaboodle is done.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I think the whole new lodge is going to be open in spring 2009. But has anyone read anything saying they won't open it up in sections as they complete it prior to that? I'd be shocked if there wasn't something open in early 2008. I've been wrong before, though.

 

[pilferk]

Eh, there's good and bad here, IMHO.

I like the kitchen, and really like the "one big deck" off the 1 BR units.

The bathroom looks a little "small", compared to other DVC units, but certainly functional.

For me, especially considering these are the CONVERSIONS, there's nothing here to discourage me from buying in.

It'll be interesting to see how the new construction units compare.

 

[BroganMc]

I think the whole new lodge is going to be open in spring 2009. But has anyone read anything saying they won't open it up in sections as they complete it prior to that? I'd be shocked if there wasn't something open in early 2008. I've been wrong before, though.

Is that even possible? The new building will be one big building with the lobby in the middle and underground parking throughout.

 

[DVC Grammy]

I agree. Now is that bait & switch? They sell you on the big units and you get only small ones for the first year and half.

IMO, as long as the "bait" eventually comes true, I'm happy with an alternative in the meantime. I guess I never expected the retro-fitted rooms to be the same as the built-from-scratch ones.
What can I say............I'm just a "silver lining" kind of gal!

 

[tjkraz]

For me, especially considering these are the CONVERSIONS, there's nothing here to discourage me from buying in.

That's all well and good, but the problem I have is that it's not like DVC is cutting us any slack price-wise. The fact that they are conversions is DISNEY's problem. I don't see them slashing prices based upon that fact. They are set to see revenues on the order of $1.5 MILLION for every two bedroom unit, plus all of the dollars members will pour into the theme parks over the subsequent 5 decades.

Nobody ever said that Disney needed to convert existing rooms in the first place. SSR sales didn't suddenly rise by any significant magnitude to justify a rush job on its follow-up resort. The conversions are occurring because Disney over-built at AKL in the first place. Now DVC members are being asked to accept (IMO) a step-down in the quality of accommodation.

I would really like to know that DVC will have a system in place to guarantee the location of the room (new or old building) at the time of the reservation. Even when the resort is complete, over 30% of the units in the DVC development will be converted rooms. It seems like they should be able to tell arriving guests where to check in since there will be two separate front desks. I hate to think people will be forced to flip a coin before selecting the front desk they THINK is closest to their assigned unit.

But this is just another aspect of the entire sales process in which DVC has dropped the ball. Instead of being able to inform owners exactly how these processes will work, it's left to members to draw their own conclusions after scouring public information websites.

 

[tjkraz]

Is that even possible? The new building will be one big building with the lobby in the middle and underground parking throughout.

Actually it's 16 SEPARATE buildings linked under a single expansive roof. (Which makes me wonder how the resort is going to play with the "I like hotel-style accommodations with interior hallways" crowd. While walking to their room, guests won't be subject to the elements since they will be under the large roof, but they most definitely will be outside.)

The press release listed a completion of spring '09, and it's certainly feasible that the new building will open in phases. But history has shown that large-scale construction projects at Walt Disney World take a minimum of about 2 years to complete. In addition to completing at least one building, at opening they will have to have finished work on the lobby, restaurant, pool complex, and all of the other infrastructure required to begin hosting guests (guard shack, parking lots, resort entry, bus stops, landscaping, etc.)

Early 2008 is out of the question. Late 2008 is a distinct possibility.

 

[UConnJack]

That's all well and good, but the problem I have is that it's not like DVC is cutting us any slack price-wise. The fact that they are conversions is DISNEY's problem. I don't see them slashing prices based upon that fact. They are set to see revenues on the order of $1.5 MILLION for every two bedroom unit, plus all of the dollars members will pour into the theme parks over the subsequent 5 decades.

Nobody ever said that Disney needed to convert existing rooms in the first place. SSR sales didn't suddenly rise by any significant magnitude to justify a rush job on its follow-up resort. The conversions are occurring because Disney over-built at AKL in the first place. Now DVC members are being asked to accept (IMO) a step-down in the quality of accommodation.

I would really like to know that DVC will have a system in place to guarantee the location of the room (new or old building) at the time of the reservation. Even when the resort is complete, over 30% of the units in the DVC development will be converted rooms. It seems like they should be able to tell arriving guests where to check in since there will be two separate front desks. I hate to think people will be forced to flip a coin before selecting the front desk they THINK is closest to their assigned unit.

But this is just another aspect of the entire sales process in which DVC has dropped the ball. Instead of being able to inform owners exactly how these processes will work, it's left to members to draw their own conclusions after scouring public information websites.

ITA!!! If it turns out that the conversions will be exclusively the value and concierge units, I won't have much of a problem with the rooms. These are different enough concepts in DVC rooms that I will give them some design flexibility, but they really need to explain if this is the case. I would even be tempted to use the AKL value room (particularly a studio) to save some points. But at the very least, there would need to be a reservation guarentee for the two buildings if the lodge rooms share unit class and point structure with rooms in the new building.

However, if the new building rooms are the same as these conversions, there are going to be some very disgruntled members.

I agree DVC has done a poor job of rushing this out to sale without explaining the room structure better.

 

[UConnJack]

In addition, this is exactly why I think it is dangerous to buy sight unseen, even if you do trust DVC's quality. Actually, this case is even worse since there is nothing other than a couple artist renditions, a point chart, and a description of a few amenities to base a purchase decision on. Other than that, we have only had rumor, speculation, and plans dug up from Orange County by DIS members to base our assessment of AKV on. Since DVC is obviously doing some different things with room designs, layouts, point structures, etc., I do not think it is prudent to buy sight unseen until Disney is more forthcoming about the details of the resort. I am planning an add-on at AKV, don’t get me wrong, but it will not be until I know what it is I am buying.

 

[JCW]

Here are some zoomed images of the master bath and kitchen and the studio bath and kitchen. This will make it easier for people to see where the W/D is located and what that thing is in the corner of the master bath. I also filled in the area where I think the safes will be in green. You can also see there is a difference in the bathtubs in the master bath and the studio.

Thanks for posting these. You may be onto something with the safes, I certainly hope so

 

[pilferk]

That's all well and good, but the problem I have is that it's not like DVC is cutting us any slack price-wise. The fact that they are conversions is DISNEY's problem. I don't see them slashing prices based upon that fact. They are set to see revenues on the order of $1.5 MILLION for every two bedroom unit, plus all of the dollars members will pour into the theme parks over the subsequent 5 decades.

Nobody ever said that Disney needed to convert existing rooms in the first place. SSR sales didn't suddenly rise by any significant magnitude to justify a rush job on its follow-up resort. The conversions are occurring because Disney over-built at AKL in the first place. Now DVC members are being asked to accept (IMO) a step-down in the quality of accommodation.

I would really like to know that DVC will have a system in place to guarantee the location of the room (new or old building) at the time of the reservation. Even when the resort is complete, over 30% of the units in the DVC development will be converted rooms. It seems like they should be able to tell arriving guests where to check in since there will be two separate front desks. I hate to think people will be forced to flip a coin before selecting the front desk they THINK is closest to their assigned unit.

But this is just another aspect of the entire sales process in which DVC has dropped the ball. Instead of being able to inform owners exactly how these processes will work, it's left to members to draw their own conclusions after scouring public information websites.

Which is all well and good for you.

For ME...none of that really worries me or is a compelling reason to not buy in. The rooms "work" for us...they're not optimal, but they're not awful, either. I expected, going in, that there would have to be some "compromises" on the remodels. Heck, I'm surprised (and happy) that the 1 BR's will SHARE a deck rather than having 2 seperate decks. If I was "condemned" (note sarcasm) to stay in that 1 BR floor plan, every year, I'd be fine with that. And if the new rooms in the new building are more optimally laid out, and we can book in one of those as a sure thing...that's great too. I, too, wonder (and have since the announcement) how they'll handle check in, at the two different locations, once the new building is up. But it's not enough of a worry for me to NOT buy AKV.

Remember, too...this is going to be our initial buy in..not an add on. Maybe that makes a difference.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Early 2008 is out of the question. Late 2008 is a distinct possibility.

My CA Dept of RE report dated 7/05 lists 4 phases at AKV: Phase I opening Summer, 2007; Phase II opening Fall 2007; Phase III opening Spring 2008; and Phase IV opening Spring 2009. Obviously, the opening of Phase I has already slipped by a few months.

This report also says that there will be 250 2 BR lockoff units, which will be a minimum of 945 SF and 140 dedicated 2BR which will be a minimum of 1,075 sf. For the dedicated, this is the exact same size as SSR, so I would expect a similar floor plan.

-- Suzanne

 

[LisaS]

I'm not surprised by these floor plans. DH and I knew going in it was a conversion of the existing 5th and 6th floor rooms. Knowing how those rooms are laid out, we were pleasantly surprised by how well they are using the space.

With the studios, it makes sense to put the kitchenette in the space originally occupied by the closet so my only question was where they would build the new closet. Since none is shown on the floor plan, they must be putting a wardrobe/armoire in the room. And it looks to me like there will be a room safe so provided that turns out to be true, I'll be all set.

With the 1BRs, I figured the kitchen would be built where the bathroom was in the hotel room so again, no surprise that you enter into the kitchen area. I think the L-shaped kitchen makes best use of the space. If they had created an entryway it would mean pushing the kitchen forward, sacrificing either kitchen or living space in the process. Given the limited space they had to work with, I would rather give up the entryway space in favor of more kitchen and living space.

So overall, I'm pleasantly surprised. For those asking if the floor plans in the new building will be different from the existing DVC villas, I think they have to be. Remember that the 1BRs in the new building will have two separate bathrooms (one master, one in the living/kitchen part of the villa). So I'm guessing the master bath will be all in one room, but with the shower stall included. The other bath will probably be similar to a studio bathroom, though with just a single sink to save space.

ETA: For those who are wondering why someone would opt to stay in the smaller Lodge villas rather than in Kidani Village, I could see my DH making that choice just to be closer to Boma, his favorite restaurant in all of WDW. I could see him trading off room size for easy access to Boma. But then again, we like to take a walk after dinner so walking back to Kidani Village after dinner at Boma also works for us.