I am going to apologize now.... TRIP REPORT OKW

[vandy]

Good things:
WE HAD A GREAT TIME EVERY MINUTE WE WERE AWAY FROM OKW

Thus meaning every minute they were IN OKW was bad?

3) I AM NOT BASHING THE RESORT, ACTUALLY I REALLY ENJOYED THE REORT AND IT'S AMENITIES. I WAS VERY CLEAR ABOUT THIS.

Now they really enjoyed OKW?

I think this thread would have had more "positive"(?) discussions if the OP had not contradicted themselves as has been pointed out with this and other examples in this thread. If it is true criticism of a resort and you are consistent in your criticism, great; and if it is a real problem then maybe as owners we should try to address it. I believe the lack of consistency in their posts is why this thread has gone the way it has. I don't really think this is a "my resort is better than your resort" or "your resort sucks" or any other type of resort-bashing thread. (Read some of the past SSR threads to see that!) The thread needed to go the way it did to get to the real underlying problem and eliminate some of the other "problems" in the OP that ended up not being problems afterall (owning DVC, hated OKW, etc).

 

[zalansky]

Forgive me, I've not read all ten pages. OKW was horrible because of bad bus service and unavailable Disney Dollars at the gift shop? Oh and a rude CM? I didn't see any mention about the pool or the room itself. Those things mentioned could have gone wrong at any resort. I know if I was pregnant, I would not rely on bus service and would have sprung for a rental car. They are so cheap to get in Orlando! That I just don't get.

We've encountered less than enthusiastic CM's before plenty of times, but we don't let it ruin our trip. Or any of our time! Rude people are everywhere, you've got to learn to ignore them and move on.

I did see someone had mentioned maybe the Op was upset because the friends were unimpressed. I can certainly understand feeling that way, I might feel disappointed too. I did not like VWL at all however we love the lodge itself. I came back from that trip knowing we probably won't stay there again in the future. Live & learn! OP - try and just let it go and don't book OKW in the future.

 

[MiaSRN62]

mprewitt says :Seriously, I enjoy the more positive threads or even those with constructive criticism than the negative posts...

I think the thread went a little in this direction because of how the OP is presenting it. Some parts of his claims are confusing.....others are contradictory...some are a bit unfair (albeit he is entitled to his opinion). But then when you post like this, even the OP has to be open to all kinds of varying viewpoints.

When a can of worms is opened up in this matter, there's bound to be discussion and debate. It's human nature. One can't post as the OP did, and then expect everyone is just going to go along with it and agree with him and everyone be all positive ?
All threads can't be positive.......and some of the negative is coming from the OP himself. Some have questioned him on certain points and he has retorted with somewhat of a snappy reply. I'm sure he's tired of the questions and of being grilled. But people are curious about the details and specifics. Alot of us stay at this resort and want to know.

 

[3DisneyKids]

In a Rush to Buy DVC

Thanks, Granny! I knew that someone would find the thread! I am pretty sure that there was another one, similar to this, started by the OP.

It baffles me the amount of $$ people will spend without really knowing what they are getting into. I spent A YEAR on the DVC boards before buying in...ok, I'm a little OCD, I admit....

 

[lizanne]

In addition I travel every week and stay in Marriott & Ritz Carlton resorts which are a hell of a lot nicer than any DVC resort. Believe me I am not a hotel snob by any means. I have stayed at other resorts and in our opinion this is the bottom of the barrel and we would never stay here again. Your opinion is yours and ours is ours. A lot os people love OKW and that's great, it's just not for us and I was warning those that have not stayed there yet.

I'm the last person to post something negative on these boards, I have to say I don't like that you chose to insult me. "BOTTOM OF THE BARREL" - I'd like to know what barrell your talking about. I certainly don't think that this is the best in the world, or even the best at WDW but I have to take exception to your opinion.

It is your opinion, and you're entitled to it, but if you choose to express it on this board then I have the right to express my opinion that you're wrong.

I have had many problems when staying at OKW, none to do with transportation, but I would never tell someone that their choice of accomodations was the "BOTTOM OF THE BARREL". My last stay at WDW was in at the Grand Floridian. I'll just say I was very disappointed. Sometimes bad things happen at the best of places.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Here's an interesting old post as well:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1385390
(scroll down a bit)

As confused as OP has been throughout this thread...I'm wondering if he was even at OKW.

 

[dizzknee3]

Here's an interesting old post as well:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1385390
(scroll down a bit)

As confused as OP has been throughout this thread...I'm wondering if he was even at OKW.

That is so funny!

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

i can't seem to get the search by user id to work for me. I'm always skeptical when we have the combination of low post count and extreme negativity....

 

[Cee]

.....if folks who have a bad experience never go to that resort again, then there
is more availability for the folks who love that resort. It's all good! YAY!

 

[cymomtx]

i can't seem to get the search by user id to work for me. I'm always skeptical when we have the combination of low post count and extreme negativity....

I haven't been able to either, and I PM'd webmaster Pete and he has been ignoring me!

 

[3DisneyKids]

I haven't been able to either, and I PM'd webmaster Pete and he has been ignoring me!

I doubt that Pete is personally ignoring you Do you know how many DISers there are and how many PMs he gets every day? He can't possibly handle them all. Try Webmamster Doc who is the WM for the DVC Boards.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Great sluething at tracking down that he had 2 studios reserved at SSR. Now, wouldn't THAT be funny! Maybe he had so much bus trouble because he was trying to go to the wrong resort!!!

 

[starbox]

Great sluething at tracking down that he had 2 studios reserved at SSR. Now, wouldn't THAT be funny! Maybe he had so much bus trouble because he was trying to go to the wrong resort!!!

I have a feeling he probably switched to get the cheaper points and the HUGE rooms that everyone raves about. I think this is one of the problems with the boards in general - when people come asking for advice about what resort to choose, lots of time we don't give very balanced advice listing the pros and cons of each resort.

When people come taking friends, there is always an almost unanimous chorus of "OKW for the space" - well, yes if you are wanting a "home away from home" and are planning to spend alot of family reunion downtime hanging and eating in your room. No if you are going to be hitting the parks all day and won't touch the kitchen. We do the same thing with "EPCOT Resorts for the location!" - well, yes if you love EPCOT and MGM. No, if you want to spend lots of time at AK or MK or (God forbid) a waterpark. I'm guessing that on a busy holiday week, perhaps an EPCOT resort would have been very advantageous.

In general, I think we do a poor job expressing the fact that there are five very different resorts with very different strengths and very different weaknesses, and that "my home resort X" is not the perfect fit for everyone in every situation.

 

[Anthony1971]

Wow this is more like a lesson.
I rarely see the OKW owners this way you guys are in general them most even tempered....
Or are you the Evil Stepchildern?

P.S. I do not own at OKW but enjoy this resort over all others.... I stay on the off season.....

 

[DVC Grammy]

ITA with you, Starbox !

I know that even with just DH and me, we often stay at the different DVCs depending on "what kind of vacation do we want for this trip". "Northwest"?; "Margaritaville"?, "Atlantic City/Coney Island"?; "Crisp New Condo(in a good way)"?; "African adventure"?, etc. Since we go 3-4X/year, it makes each trip a unique experience, and we enjoy them all.

When we have guests join us, before making reservations, we all sit down and decide what would appeal best for that individual stay.
(IMHO, if we don't know those people well enough to be able to talk this way with them, we have no business sharing a vacation with them. )

 

[jekjones1558]

i can't seem to get the search by user id to work for me.

Click on "User CP" at the top of this page. Click on "Edit options." Scroll down to "Miscellaneous" and choose "California Gold" under "Forum Skin." Scroll further and click on "Save changes." Your DVC pages will not display in California Gold, but many other pages will. For now, at least, finding posts of users only works when the CG skin is chosen.

 

[MiaSRN62]

starbox says :When people come taking friends, there is always an almost unanimous chorus of "OKW for the space" - well, yes if you are wanting a "home away from home" and are planning to spend alot of family reunion downtime hanging and eating in your room. No if you are going to be hitting the parks all day and won't touch the kitchen

Of all the DVC resorts we stay at OKW 85% of the time. We like to try something new now and again.
But we ALWAYS do the parks all week.........we don't spend family reunion "downtime" just because we're at OKW. And we RARELY use the kitchen. I don't see OKW as any different than other spread out resorts like SSR, POR, CBR, CSR etc...........when you're in WDW, there's bound to be some walking to be done. We've had more walking and longer bus waits at other resorts (POR and CBR).
You really do add on more walking time if you walk back and forth to Epcot from BWV for instance. It's a 10-15 min walk each way to the World Showcase part of Epcot.

Bus service is no different than ANY other disney resort. You can't walk to Epcot or anything from OKW but it's a 10 min bus ride there. My mil had a very hard time walking around the parks anyway when we took her the last two trips, and the 10-15 min walk to Epcot to and from BWV just used up more energy for her. She said she preferred the busses vs walking extra in the heat. Also, as a young family, my kids prefer Future World and the attractions there vs the World Showcase. So taking a bus from OKW gets you to Future World quicker than walking from BWV/BCV etc and having to enter via Worldshowcase and walk all the way around. So everyone is different. There truly are pros and cons to EVERY resort. Most disney resorts you can't walk to a park from. Why does OKW get singled out as some deserted resort on some far away island ?

We have been vacationing there since the kids were little---they're teens now and we still love to stay there and we don't stay in the room that much. We're a very active family and always out doing something. So (respectfully) sorry starbox, but I find your reason to stay at OKW just as "off" as you are accusing others for giving reasons to stay at OKW ("huge rooms"). My kids would never just hang in the huge rooms at OKW and I certainly don't stay there so I can use the kitchen ? We are out and about having fun in the world. I've seen very good descriptions of OKW. I, myself, tell people that it is like a neighborhood, vs a hotel and I hear this very frequently on these boards. So if the OP didn't do his homework, either before purchasing DVC or before booking OKW, then so be it. But the information is abundant and helpful on these boards. We understood how this resort was before we purchased DVC---we read alot. I read these boards alot before I even registered and started posting. But to say OKW is just for "family reunions" and those wanting to "hang in the rooms" is just plain incorrect.

 

[jbrowna]

Click on "User CP" at the top of this page. Click on "Edit options." Scroll down to "Miscellaneous" and choose "California Gold" under "Forum Skin." Scroll further and click on "Save changes." Your DVC pages will not display in California Gold, but many other pages will. For now, at least, finding posts of users only works when the CG skin is chosen.

Didn't work for me. I made the changes as you mentioned, and then tried to do a search by username, using my own username (so that I know there are posts), and I received the response "no matches found". Is there something else I might be missing?

 

[jekjones1558]

Is there something else I might be missing?

Try clicking on the user name in a post and choosing the "Find all posts by ---" pop-up.

 

[BroganMc]

But to say OKW is just for "family reunions" and those wanting to "hang in the rooms" is just plain incorrect.

I don't think starbox meant that was the only reason to chose OKW over other resorts, just that was one of the main amenities you get at OKW which you can't get at others.

If you look at the threads giving recommendations, I often find we get various viewpoints from several posters. The only issues we run into is when we get a one resort fan who doesn't qualify their recommendation. Well that and the bash threads that seem to stick a label to a resort.